April 10, 2024

GLP podcast: RFK Jr. recycles ‘gay frogs’ pesticide conspiracy; GMO v organic debate is over; Scientist behind gene-edited twins back in the lab

36 minutes

RFK, Jr. has resurrected the long-debunked speculation that atrazine, a low-toxicity weedkiller, causes sexual dysphoria in frogs—and humans. The oft-reported GMO vs. organic agriculture debate is a marketing myth; one farmer says we should quit taking sides in this meaningless dispute. The Chinese scientist who illegally edited the DNA of human embryos in 2018 is out of jail and back in his lab. What sort of experiments is he up to?

Podcast:

Join hosts Dr. Liza Dunn and GLP contributor Cameron English on episode 261 of Science Facts and Fallacies as they break down these latest news stories:

* Video viewpoint: Humans as frogs? Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. claims that unsubstantiated but perceived rise in male sexual dysphoria is driven by atrazine in our water supply

More than 20 years ago, a one-off study roiled the world of agriculture by concluding that exposure to low doses of atrazine caused sexual abnormalities in frogs, and may have similar effects in humans. Follow-up research conducted by the EPA and independent experts over the next decade demonstrated that the hormone-disrupting effects of the weedkiller were non-existent, bringing the scandal to an unceremonious end. RFK, Jr. wasn't convinced, however. "If it’s doing that to frogs, there’s a lot of other evidence that it’s doing it to human beings as well," he claimed during an interview in late March. Has Kennedy uncovered new evidence, or has he been seduced by anti-chemical campaigners?

* Viewpoint: There’s enough common ground for organic, regenerative, and conventional agriculture to live in harmony

Reporters and environmental activists regularly portray organic and conventional agriculture as warring factions in a pitched battle for control of global food production. The truth is much less pugnacious. In reality, many farmers grow conventional and organic crops; there is also significant overlap between the practices employed in conventional and organic farming. For these reasons, at least one farmer says it's high time we abandon the adversarial framing that has polluted the public's understanding of food and farming for so long.

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* Challenging bioethical taboos: Chinese scientist He Jiankui who modified the genes of human embryo...

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By Cameron English

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