Genetic Literacy Project
Viewpoint: ‘Dump Dimorphism’ — Challenging orthodoxy, neuroscientists claim 30 years of studies show ‘no meaningful male-female brain differences’
Everyone knows the difference between male and female brains. One is chatty and a little nervous, but never forgets and takes ...
Science Facts and Fallacies podcast: Dr. Paul Offit takes on anti-vaccine activism as COVID shots stem new infections
Early in the pandemic, Children's Health Defense—the anti-vaccine group headed by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.—alleged that SARS-COV-2 was being used ...
Climate change is roiling the African continent. With cutting-edge biotech solutions largely blocked, governments rely on tweaks of more traditional technologies to boost output
While Africa is currently responsible for a negligible amount of total global greenhouse gas emissions, the continent is under significant ...
Viewpoint: Vaccine resistance is a growing concern. So far, the US is bungling its response
Research shows that vaccine skepticism appeals to people who already distrust authority. Solutions proposed during the COVID-19 pandemic may be ...
Good and bad news: What we know about vaccines and containing COVID variants
Glimmers of hope are beginning to shine through the gloom of the past year. That was evident in a recent ...
‘Super smellers’: 4 ways some people are hard-wired to sniff out even the subtlest aromas
Do certain smells make you feel uncomfortable, even nauseous? Or is your nose so good that you can detect even ...
Podcast: ‘GMOs’ are more natural than you think; CRISPR mosquitoes fight malaria; Dating apps and syphilis
A growing body of research shows that dozens of naturally transgenic plants have existed for millions of years, undermining a ...
Viewpoint: Organic farming offers some sustainability benefits, but ‘fear-driven marketing campaigns’ exaggerate advantages and demonize acceptable alternatives
When the “Risk-Monger’s Dirty Dozen” list of pesticides used in organic farming was published, I had broken a taboo. Before ...
The Green Revolution was built on manipulating genes to breed higher-yielding, disease resistant crops. Here’s an ode to one of its pioneers, Sanjaya Rajaram
Few people are aware of the heroes behind the surge in yields of wheat and other crops that began in ...
Viewpoint: COVID lockdown denialists are immune to the hard realities of a relentless virus
I am no lockdown junkie. I’d like to get that straight before I explain why the most extreme variant of ...
The age of genetically-enhanced children is approaching. Novelist Kazuo Ishiguro imagines a have-and-have not future, and it’s not pleasant
Biotech interventions to help sick children—like gene therapy—are approached with supreme caution. If a treatment has a reasonable chance of ...
Viewpoint: Advocacy disguised as journalism? Meet Carey Gillam, the prolific purveyor of crop biotechnology and agri-chemical disinformation
When it comes to science, how much do media narratives influence public opinion and policy? The answer is, a lot ...
Viewpoint: Can European Commission reverse 20 years of backward, precautionary regulation of crop biotechnology? CRISPR presents an opportunity
The expected report of the European Commission on “new genomic techniques” was published as announced before the end of April ...
Sharon Peacock: COVID-19 Variant Hunter
The UK is a world leader in sequencing SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. Of all the coronavirus genomes that ...
Debating the possible origins of COVID-19: A lab-escaped bioweapon? Animal poop? Random mutations of an existing virus?
“Virus outbreak: research says COVID-19 likely synthetic,” shouted the headline in the Taipei Times on February 23, 2020. The idea ...
Sierra Club endorsement of disease-resistant chestnut tree divides the anti-GMO movement
Across the eastern seaboard, the majestic American Chestnut tree once dominated forests. A main source of timber for cabins, shipbuilding, and ...
Podcast: NatGeo promotes pesticide fears; How weed affects your brain; Real-life Jurassic Park?
Despite its long history as a reputable science magazine, National Geographic has recently embraced simplistic narratives about the environmental impact ...
The evolutionary history of human tolerance
Environmental pressures may have led humans to become more tolerant and friendly towards each other as the need to share ...
Viewpoint: 6 debunked anti-GMO talking points activists should abandon for good
The public still accepts some blatant untruths about biotechnology, food safety, and sustainability ...
Rural, Republican America deeply skeptical about the reality of COVID and the importance of vaccines. Here’s why
At 70, Linda Findley has long been active in her small town of Fort Scott, Kansas, which sits more than ...
Podcast: Media’s COVID hypocrisy; Mandatory vaccines; Biodegradable plastic from GM plants
The mainstream press has viciously criticized COVID conspiracy theorists and vaccine rejection. Yet when it comes to other critical science ...
Would you agree to be infected with COVID for science? Intentional ‘challenge’ studies underway as researchers explore new vaccines and treatments
Lauren Thomas, who just turned 26, is trying to get into a clinical trial at the University of Oxford, where ...
Viewpoint: FDA’s ‘pause’ on distribution of the J&J vaccine was overly risk-averse
Citing “an abundance of caution,” the FDA on [April 13] recommended a “pause” in the administration of Johnson & Johnson’s ...
Battling AIDS has provided valuable lessons for managing the pandemic
World AIDS Day this year finds us still deep amid another pandemic – COVID-19. The highly infectious novel coronavirus has ...
Our food has never been safer, so why are we so scared of it?
Why you shouldn't trust your brain ...
How the Biden Administration can accelerate prosperity by fixing agricultural-biotech regulations
The Biden administration has a rare opportunity to accelerate agricultural innovation and spur broad and lasting economic growth by taking ...
Viewpoint: ‘War against the West’: Russia powers global vaccine rejectionist movement even as it inoculates its own citizens
Anyone active on social media is aware that there is a great deal of passionate but ill-founded opposition to vaccination, ...
Podcast: Nature makes ‘GMO’ fish; Biology and gender; Curing sickle cell with CRISPR
Anti-GMO groups have long warned about the dangers of AquaBounty's genetically engineered salmon. But as it turns out, transgenic fish ...
