May 31, 2023

GLP podcast & video: How activism threatens technological innovation; Why mosquitoes only bite some people; Combating RFK Jr.’s scientific misinformation

1 hour 4 minutes

Activist groups effectively use fear-based PR campaigns to drive pesticides and other important products off the market. What can scientists do to stem this threat to technological innovation? Mosquitoes tend to bite some people while ignoring others. A recent study may have uncovered why these "little flies" have a preference when it comes to whom they bite. Prominent anti-vaccine advocate and environmental lawyer Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. (RFK, Jr.) has many supporters on the political left and the right. How has a figure as polarizing as Kennedy earned the endorsement of people who have fundamentally different worldviews?

Podcast:

Video:

Join guest host Dr. Liza Dunn and GLP contributor Cameron English on episode 220 of Science Facts and Fallacies as they break down these latest news stories:

* Mythinformation: ‘Fear campaigns from anti-biotech NGOs make it a challenge to even keep products on the market let alone introduce new technologies’

Technological innovation yields essential products that protect public health and promote sustainability. For example, low-toxic pesticides help control weeds and insects that threaten crop yields and jeopardize the safety of our food supply. Developing these technologies is an expensive, time-consuming endeavor on its own, but the science community faces another massive challenge: defending these products against ideological activist groups that spread falsehoods about pesticides, vaccines and other important products in order to get them banned. Scientists and the industries they work with have to continue developing their communications skills so they can answer these activist challenges to their work. If they don't, there's a risk that future innovations will never materialize.

* Blood dinner: Why are you targeted by mosquitoes but some lucky few are spared?

Why do mosquitoes bite some people but not others? A study recently conducted in Zambia indicates that certain individuals produce the right combination of chemicals—a mixture of carbon dioxide, carboxylic acids and other compounds—that mosquitoes find appetizing. Future research based on this study could help identify why certain chemicals in specific quantities attract the insects, potentially leading to the development of a repellent that could further prevent the spread of mosquito-borne illness.

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* Viewpoint: Trump of the left? Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

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By Cameron English

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