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Antivaccine nonsense Bad science Medicine Science Skepticism/critical thinking

Tom Chivers and “reasonable” apologia for science denial

Tom Chivers takes Lee McIntyre to task over his book How to Talk to a Science Denier. In the process he shows himself to be a crappy Bayesian and a “reasonable” apologist for science denial.

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Bad science Computers and social media Medicine Science Skepticism/critical thinking

Ivermectin is the new hydroxychloroquine, take 5: But it won the Nobel Prize!

Ivermectin continues to be the new hydroxychloroquine, an unproven repurposed drug promoted to treat COVID-19. Now the advocates are pointing to the history of the drug’s developers being awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine, as though that has anything to do with its effectiveness against COVID-19.

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Antivaccine nonsense Bad science Biology Medicine Science

No, mRNA COVID-19 vaccines do NOT “hack the software of life”

Antivaxxers and COVID-19 conspiracy theorists were always going to spin conspiracies about COVID-19 vaccines. Unfortunately, some scientists have made it so much easier for them by having likened mRNA vaccines to “hacking the software of life” and being unclear on what gene therapy is.

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Clinical trials Medicine Science Skepticism/critical thinking

A blast from the early pandemic past: Healight to treat COVID-19

In April, I wrote about Healight, a device intended to treat COVID-19 by shining UV light directly into the lungs of patients on a ventilator. Its creators have finally published a clinical study. Unfortunately, it is…underwhelming.

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Antivaccine nonsense Bad science Cancer Medicine Science Skepticism/critical thinking

No, the mRNA in the Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines does not cause cancer by targeting tumor suppressor genes

The latest antivaccine propaganda claims that a 2018 research paper published by researchers at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center shows that the RNA in the Moderna and Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines can cause cancer by targeting tumor suppressor genes. As usual, it’s a complete misapplication of a cherry picked study grounded in a lack of understanding of molecular biology. Same as it ever was.