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The ignorance surrounding what agricultural practices are truly "sustainable," even among people and institutions that should know better, is astonishing. The contributions of genetic engineering will be essential.

First it was heroin. Next, it was fentanyl-laced heroin. Then it was fentanyl. Now it’s xylazine-laced fentanyl. Will nitazenes be next? Will policymakers ever learn that the Iron Law of Prohibition cannot be repealed?

A concerning shortage of Adderall, one of the drugs commonly used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), is putting patients at risk. What caused it, and how can we fix it? The EPA has set new guidelines to keep PFAS out of drinking water. There's a problem, however: the agency's standards are absurd.

The FDA is responsible for the approval of medications in the U.S. Many similar agencies are doing the same work in other countries. But unlike the U.S. – where cost is not a consideration – several countries including the UK, Canada, and Australia, apply a Health Technology Assessment to consider a new medication’s clinical and economic cost and benefits. A recent study shows they disagree with the FDA’s decision about 20% of the time.

This body is trying to require all physicians to force-taper Oregon patients on prescribed opioids to less than 90 MME per day, or transition them to Buprenorphine. The Board should resign or be fired.

A recent trip to Israel included a stop at the Dead Sea. Many people from around the world travel to the Dead Sea for treatment for psoriasis and other diseases. As I have often questioned flawed studies and research without a scientific basis, I wondered whether there are facts behind the claimed beneficial effects of the Dead Sea. 

The Lancet reports that a clinical study of different doses of glucocorticoids for managing COVID pneumonia was stopped because treatment led to more deaths. There is power in saying, “We were wrong.”

As humans march toward creating more sophisticated robotics, computers, and AI technology, the question has always lurked: Are these techno-devices human? Will they ever be? 

Are hiccups a tell-tale warning?
China and Fentanyl
Artificial, Natural, or Processed
Riding a bike is the best

It's a commonly held belief that a full moon brings out the crazies and the craziness. The word "lunatic" – derived from the combination of "luna," or moon, and "atic," meaning “of the kind of” – was first mentioned in a fourth-century Bible. A new study looks at the influence of the moon and some circadian genes on the incidence of suicide. 

A not-so-recent paper estimated that for every £ spent on cardiovascular research, there was a continuing 9% savings in health costs 17 years later. If the time from the research bench to the bedside was reduced to 10 years, those continuing savings rose to 13%. Why does it take so long to translate medical science into medical care?

The combination of Artificial Intelligence (AI), chatbots, and deep fakes is going to make life interesting in the near future. It won't all be smooth sailing.

Adderall, one of the primary drugs to treat ADHD, has been in the news lately because of a shortage. But there are a number of different ADHD drugs that contain amphetamine – the active ingredient in Adderall. Perhaps this will help clarify what's going on.

A bill recently introduced in the California State Assembly would prohibit five chemicals: brominated vegetable oil, potassium bromate, polyparaben, red dye #3, and titanium dioxide – all banned in Europe – from food products in California. Let’s dig past the headline.

Gender detransitioning – reversing your transition – is rare, in that less than one percent of persons choose to detransition. Related lawsuits are even rarer; so far, only two cases have been filed in the U.S. and a few in England. But the public reaction couldn’t be more different on both sides of the Atlantic.

Dr. Fauci, speaking on vaccinations: “Past unsuccessful attempts to elicit solid protection against mucosal respiratory viruses [COVID-19] and to control the deadly outbreaks and pandemics they cause," he said, "have been a scientific and public health failure that must be urgently addressed.” That's a lot to unpack.

Does masking reduce the transmission of SARS-CoV-2? The Cochrane Collaboration tried to analyze the messy evidence and re-ignited an incendiary political debate. What conclusion should we draw from their findings? There's lots of misinformation out there; there's also rampant misinformation about misinformation. Don't be fooled by either of them.

Mega journals – peer-reviewed, open-access publishing of more than 2,000 articles annually – provided 6% of 2015’s scientific literature. Today, they publish nearly 25%. An opinion piece written in part by Dr. John Ioannidis, the researcher that everyone loves to hate or hates to love, considers the consequence of mega journals increasing dominance.

Are we plant blind?
Artificial heart
Thinking Out Loud to Yourself
Academia, metaphorically speaking

No matter how you slice it "Jamaican vomiting sickness" is something you want to avoid. You can do so by not eating the ackee fruit, a staple of that Caribbean nation – or at least waiting until it's ripe. Here's a lesson about metabolic toxicity wrapped in a mini-travelogue.

A long life free of disease and illness is preferable for many of us. The evolving science behind life expectancy gives us clues on how to achieve this goal by looking at eight risk factors – the ones most under your control – that can add years to your life and, evidently, life to your years.

Social media influencers (SMI) are a growing advertising market, returning nearly six dollars for every dollar invested – a return on investment of 5.78. These SMI are the next step in direct-to-consumer (DTC) marketing. A new study looks at the patient influencers in healthcare.

That's a good question. Masks remain one of the non-pharmaceutical means of controlling the spread of infection. But how effective has COVID masking been in practice?

The recent Office of Science and Technology Policy report demonstrates that the federal government is not serious about feeding the country or developing a strong bioeconomy. The White House’s assessment contains decades-old unworkable initiatives. So we ask: Is the administration moving a ‘bold’ and ‘innovative’ agenda – or one simply focusing on climate initiatives, while China advances its bioeconomy?

Borlaug was a brilliant scientist and plant breeder, but the other secrets of his success were his perseverance and persuasiveness.