When the CDC conveys uncertainty, but the evidence is certain, public trust is compromised and it fosters science denialism; results of a randomized study of ~3,000 participants
@science.org
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
First real post on the new blog!
If you follow human genetics, you've likely of "missing heritability". If you look at twins to estimate heritability, you get values much larger than what molecular genomic methods produce. IQ, for example, goes from 50-80% heritability to 10-15%. Which is right?
Amazon has a global technical issue; my paperback is still stuck.
But! The eBook & hardback are available.
If you want to read beyond telling and retrieval get a copy:
mybook.to/teachingmean...
I'd really appreciate the support (and an honest review to help this calamitous launch).
Eric Topol
I wrote for @lareviewofbooks.bsky.social about Kathryn Paige Harden's new book, an attempt to popularize the eugenics of criminality. I read it as a gambit to build liberal support for the project animating far right politics today, inspired by Replacement theory.
With @remyfurrer.bsky.social, a new piece in Nature Human Behavior. The standard description of a polygenic score as a "genetic predisposition" essentializes a statistical construct. It's not language policing: PGS are a new kind of entity; now is the time to think carefully about what they are.
A brilliant colleague who now has to leave science education research…
www.statnews.com/2026/04/07/b...
Just published: "Improving scientific mentoring with history and philosophy of science" (open access)
With my good friends and colleagues Alan Love and Tobias Uller.
royalsocietypublishing.org/rspb/article...
A nice review of my book Trusting Science by Dana Zeidler in Science & Education. Delighted and grateful to read this.
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
« …the growing divide between how much universities say they value interdisciplinary research and how poorly their internal structures are set up to reward it. What made Donovan a singular talent also made it easier for him to fall between the cracks. » So true …
My review of Crick by @matthewcobb.bsky.social . A fine book.
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...
Kevin Bird
Christian Moore-Anderson
Nature Human Behaviour - Polygenic risk scores are not genetic predispositions
A brilliant colleague who now has to leave science education research…
www.statnews.com/2026/04/07/b...
"The book reads like an 'Eat Pray Love' of biotech grifting, designed to make her into a public figure based on her personal journey."
Jonathan Basile reviews Kathryn Paige Harden’s “Original Sin.” https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/original-sin-eugenics-scientific-calvinism-kathryn-paige-harden/
Brian Donovan had persuaded high school teachers and education researchers that prejudice might be ended by changing how genetics is taught.
