Categories
Antivaccine nonsense Bad science Pseudoscience

Denis Rancourt on COVID-19: No virus, just psychological stress

It’s hard to believe that in the 21st century there are still those who are “not convinced that viruses exist.” Virus denial and antivax go together and always have. Denis Rancourt, while far from the first or more vociferous virus denier, is an excellent example.

Categories
Bad science Medicine Skepticism/critical thinking

GenoPalate and “personalized” DNA-based diet recommendations: More like astrology than science

GenoPalate is a company that claims to give “personalized” dietary recommendations based on DNA testing. Unfortunately, what is provided by such companies is more akin to astrology than science.

Categories
Cancer Evolution Medicine

Cancer and evolution (2020 edition)

Several new studies were published earlier this month describing the sequencing of over 2,600 cancer genomes. What the results show include what sorts of mutations drive cancer development and how evolution makes cancers so difficult to treat.

Categories
Antivaccine nonsense Bad science Cancer Medicine Pseudoscience Quackery

James Lyons-Weiler and Leslie Manookian are still battling for the title of Most Antivaccine Crank

Yesterday’s crank fight continues, as James Lyons-Weiler, antivax warrior and founder of the Institute for Pure and Applied Knowledge, stung by Leslie Manookian’s attack painting him as insufficiently antivaccine and even a tool of the vaccine-industrial complex, strikes back. Hilarity ensues as he battles Manookian for the title of Most Antivaccine Crank in the World.

Categories
Cancer Clinical trials Science Skepticism/critical thinking

Precision medicine: Hype over hope?

I am fortunate to have become a physician in a time of great scientific progress. Back when I was in college and medical school, the thought that we would one day be able to sequence the human genome (and now sequence hundreds of cancer genomes), to measure the expression of every gene in the genome […]