Human Genetics Features
The GLP tackles innovations in human genetics and biotechnology. We highlight the work of our own writers, as well as that of contributors from around the Web. The GLP does not take a position on genetics-related issues; any opinions expressed belong to the authors.
Categories include:
- CRISPR and gene editing
- Gene therapy
- Stem cell research
- Genetic diseases
- Synthetic biology
- Epigenetics
- Biodrugs (pharmacogenetics)
- Personal genomics
- Ancestry and evolution
- Ethics and regulations
Viewpoint: Will 5G harm you? Activist groups succeed in stirring conspiracy health risk phobias, as New York State legislature prepares to debate ‘growing evidence’ of harm
Two bills were recently introduced in the New York State legislature (in the Assembly and in the Senate) to establish ...
Why some diseases confer lifelong immunity and others do not
Some diseases, like the measles, infect us once and usually grant us immunity for life. For others, like the flu, ...
Was the devout evangelical Christian who murdered 8 people in Atlanta suffering from ‘sex addiction’?
A 21-year-old white man is alleged to have entered three different spas in the greater Atlanta area on March 16 ...
About bats and COVID: Why the Wuhan ‘lab leak’ theory shouldn’t be dismissed out of hand, and other reflections one year into the crisis
Winston Churchill famously observed that in wartime the truth must be surrounded by a bodyguard of lies. Many of my ...
Viewpoint: Heard reports that dozens of environmental chemicals found in pregnant women pose health dangers? It’s junk science, and here’s why
Tracey Woodruff, PhD, MPH, of the University of California San Francisco, frequent collaborator of anti-vaccine activist and organic industry trade ...
Viewpoint: How a God-like superintelligent AI set free in the world could destroy us
The person in the photo that sits to the left of this paragraph does not exist. It was generated using Artificial ...
Can big data fight cancer by identifying those genetically predisposed to disease?
Present-day cancer care is reactive. When an individual begins to have symptoms of cancer, a tumor has typically already formed ...
Podcast: Are you a genetic superhero? Finding the hidden powers in our genes
Geneticist Dr Kat Arney explores the science behind so-called ‘genetic superheroes’, and why you might also have hidden powers within ...
Herd immunity is the key to controlling COVID. How many people need to get the vaccine?
It has been clear for a while that, at least in the U.S., the only way out of the coronavirus ...
Vasectomies are becoming a political statement
The fate of male reproductive organs is not a traditional concern in debates about the environment. But this is the ...
The Anti-Vaxx Playbook: Exposing the 5-step anti-vaxx conversion program escalating the COVID pandemic. Its proponents include Barbara Loe Fisher, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., and Sherri Tenpenny
The Anti-Vaxx Playbook is based on in-depth analysis of speeches and presentations by leading digital anti-vaccine advocates at a meeting ...
Using CRISPR to fight antibiotic-resistant ‘superbugs’
The superbugs are winning the antibiotics wars. CRISPR could turn the tide ...
‘We humans might never have evolved’: Chance is the central narrative of human evolution
Prince Hamlet spent a lot of time pondering the nature of chance and probability in William Shakespeare’s tragedy. In the ...
Cloned ferret Elizabeth Ann and the future of conservation: The promises and perils of biotechnology
From Borneo to Britain, it’s the scientific breakthrough that captured the world’s attention. No, not the Perseverance rover landing on ...
Anxious about getting a COVID vaccine because you don’t know what’s in it? We know a lot more about it than the safety of hot dogs
“So, you’ve been eatin’ hot dogs and chicken nuggets all your life and you don’t want the vaccine ‘cuz you ...
8 advocacy organizations and websites spreading misinformation about technology, chemicals, food and environmental risk
Are you worried about the environment and the 'proliferation of unnecessary chemicals'? Concerned that CRISPR and other forms of genetic ...
Fighting the next pandemic: Antibiotic resistance
If a two-year-old child living in poverty in India or Bangladesh gets sick with a common bacterial infection, there is ...
Podcast: Dogology—The science of our four-legged friends
Geneticist Kat Arney brings you some scientific tails as we explore the genetics of dog breeds and behaviour ...
Part 2: Why is Africa the global COVID-19 ‘cold spot’? — The historical challenge of disentangling genes and environment
Does greater prior exposure to pathogens, including other recent coronaviruses, help explain why Africa is a COVID-19 cold spot, despite ...
Part 1: Defying all predictions, Africa is the global COVID-19 ‘cold spot’. How come health officials and the media are not honestly exploring why?
The first confirmed COVID-19 case in Africa was on February 14, 2020 in Egypt. The first in sub-Saharan Africa appeared ...
Viewpoint: New York Times’ Nicholas Kristof echoes scientifically dubious fears about falling sperm counts and ‘endocrine disrupting’ chemicals
The New York Times' Nicholas Kristof has shown an admirable commitment over the years towards highlighting under-reported stories. He fights ...
Human evolutionary timeline: Key moments in the emergence of our species
The long evolutionary journey that created modern humans began with a single step—or more accurately—with the ability to walk on ...
Coffee reduces risk of heart failure? What are we to make of a new study based on artificial intelligence (AI)
When I was starting out in epidemiology in the early 1980’s I attended a lecture by Thomas Pearson, a cardiologist, ...
Can anything be done to counter anti-vaccination activists?
Recently, anti-vaxxers protests shut down the mass vaccination program underway at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. In Israel, the global poster child ...
Mosquito massacre: Can we safely tackle malaria with a CRISPR gene drive?
CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing quickly decimated two caged populations of malaria-bearing mosquitoes (Anopheles gambiae) in a recent study, introducing a new ...
Podcast: When science and politics collide: How JBS Haldane’s radical views clouded his scientific mind
Dr Kat Arney explores the life and complex legacy of JBS Haldane, whose work, writing and dominant personality made him ...
Reversing aging: We can turn back cognitive decline in mice. Will the same techniques work on humans?
The ageing global population is the greatest challenge faced by 21st-century healthcare systems. Even COVID-19 is, in a sense, a ...