McGill Office for Science and Society

When a natural compound is introduced inside of a piece of plastic in the lab where individual cells grow, scientists will often see something interesting happen, and these preliminary findings are often used to market the plant to an eager audience. Natural compounds are said to have anticancer activity, or antibacterial activity, or anti-inflammatory activity. It’s true. In artificial conditions, when a large dose of some natural compound is repeatedly dropped on top of cells that have been plucked from the human body, they do cause interesting changes. But that’s a little bit like choosing a child who has just learned to ride his tricycle and immediately putting them in the driver’s seat of an eighteen-wheeler to drive cross-country. Driving in the real world is a little bit more complicated than this.

We are bombarded with the message that nature is one giant pharmacy.

But extracting drugs from it is a lot harder than wellness influencers believe.

My latest for @mcgilloss.bsky.social

For the Love of Fibre Recently, while browsing the candy aisle (my natural habitat as a gummy connoisseur), I was confronted by a monstrosity: protein candy. Listen, I get it. This gummy abomination is merely a reflection ...

Protein snacks are everywhere, but what about fiber? Ignoring it isn’t just uncomfortable (hello, constipation), it’s tied to serious health risks like heart disease and cancer. Learn why fiber deserves a comeback and how to get more of it on your plate.
mcgill.ca/x/iRq

I am actually reading this book as I write this (well, not *literally*) and will be reviewing it for @mcgilloss.bsky.social shortly!

The Bystander Effect Started from a Lie You have just been attacked. How likely is it that someone will come to your help? If you remember the infamous case of Kitty Genovese in 1960s New York, you may despair at ever receiving assistance. ...

The latest in my growing line of “all the big cases you were taught in psychology class are lies, exaggerations, or taken out of context.”

Today: the Kitty Genovese case.

Will strangers come to your help in a crowd?

Cc @mcgilloss.bsky.social

www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/...

“Electric Feel”: A Guide to How Touchscreens Work I love the beach. What I don’t love is when I try to use my phone after taking a dip. One droplet of water hits my phone and somehow opens an app I didn’t know I had. Unfortunately for me, this is not...

Have you ever wondered how touchscreens worked? You’re certainly not alone and you’re in the right place!

Here’s the inside scoop on the history and technology behind the screens we use every day 📱⚗️

mcgill.ca/x/iEA

All About the Tylenol-Autism Brouhaha At an unhinged press conference last Monday, Donald Trump and his medical acolytes revealed an actionable cause of autism at long last: Tylenol. In what felt like a social media post come to life, Tru...

All About the Tylenol-Autism Brouhaha www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/... via @jonathanjarry.bsky.social

"A large amount of scientific evidence points out to autism being mainly caused by variations in certain genes..."

Leucovorin "...the scientific evidence behind this is of terrible quality."

The History of Acetaminophen President Trump’s unhinged, ill-informed and potentially dangerous attack on Tylenol has focussed attention on its active ingredient, acetaminophen. Many others have, and will dissect his harangue (se...

💊🇺🇸 With Tylenol under attack by President Trump and his entourage, Dr. Joe takes the opportunity to give a short history lesson on the drug’s main active ingredient: Acetaminophen.
mcgill.ca/x/iEQ

All About the Tylenol-Autism Brouhaha At an unhinged press conference last Monday, Donald Trump and his medical acolytes revealed an actionable cause of autism at long last: Tylenol. In what felt like a social media post come to life, Tru...

I read close to 50 papers in order to give an evidence-based, accurate response to Monday's press conference.

There's a lot to unpack here. I hope you find this informative.

Cc: @mcgilloss.bsky.social

www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/...

I'm going to leave it here.

I'll be reviewing the evidence for acetaminophen/autism and leucovorin/autism and will write about this for @mcgilloss.bsky.social this Friday.

Lithium For Alzheimer’s Disease? Mention lithium and you likely conjure up an image of lithium batteries or a medication to treat bipolar disease. But researchers are now looking at another aspect of lithium. The possibility that lit...

New research suggests lithium in the diet may play a role in reducing the risk of Alzheimer’s disease. Early findings are promising, but human trials are still needed.
🔗 Read the full article here: mcgill.ca/x/iBD

AI Comes for Academics. Can We Rely on It? By now, the fact that artificial intelligence can hallucinate is, I hope, well known. There are countless examples of platforms like ChatGPT giving the wrong answer to a straightforward question or im...

AI platforms like Consensus claim they can’t hallucinate scientific papers, but are they really reliable? We tested eight AIs on science questions and found subtle errors and inconsistencies that matter when research and health are on the line.

Read more on our site.
mcgill.ca/x/iLP

Health Canada and Natural Health Products “Bach Rescue Remedy” features a Natural Product Number (NPN) issued by Health Canada so one would naturally assume that it will relieve stress and nervousness as the label claims. If you have an earac...

There are over 90,000 natural supplements that have hit store shelves after being granted a Natural Product Number (NPN)🌿💊

Don't be fooled by this accolade🏅 as it is not proof of significant efficacy.

Get the whole scoop in Dr. Joe's latest👇
mcgill.ca/x/iLd

AI Comes for Academics. Can We Rely on It? By now, the fact that artificial intelligence can hallucinate is, I hope, well known. There are countless examples of platforms like ChatGPT giving the wrong answer to a straightforward question or im...

Move over, ChatGPT. Newer AI platforms are aimed at academics and doctors and they're not supposed to hallucinate citations.

I tested many of them, but especially Consensus AI.

My latest for @mcgilloss.bsky.social.

www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/...

How to Beat a Fruit Fly Infestation As I type this, I occasionally have to pause and swat away tiny annoying flying bugs that seem drawn specifically to my face. In light of my plight, let’s look at some fruit fly science – specifically...

The flies infesting your house are probably not fruit flies.
I may have left my fly problem behind when I moved, but if you're still suffering, check out some science-based tips in my latest article for the @mcgilloss.bsky.social: www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/... #ChemSky #ScienceSky

Is There Really Room for Beer in Your Wellness Routine? “Beer Spa” –– two words that you wouldn’t think to put together. Well, go to the center of Prague, and there is seemingly no end to the signs for these curious retreats. When I think of a spa day, I i...

Beer Spas claim that a one-hour 🕒 soak in warm beer offers health benefits, thanks to brewer’s yeast. 🍺 While brewer’s yeast may aid some aspects of health, these effects certainly are not gained by soaking in beer 🚫🛁. So for now, skip the soak; your nostrils will thank you. 👃🏻

mcgill.ca/x/i6Q

Mozart, Mice and Microbes I must admit that my interest in Mozart has mostly focused on the various theories of his demise in the prime of his youth. The composer had always been sickly, and it is well known that he had often ...

🎶🧫 For our adult female mice who have ingested Salmonella—new research suggests that Mozart’s Flute Quartet in D major 🎻 may reduce your chances of feeling unwell 🤒

Read more on our website👇
mcgill.ca/x/i6M

PragerU Targets Kids and Parents with Shockingly Bad Science If we’re trying to understand our era, we need to recognize the following: mainstream institutions and their various consensuses are being replaced by fringe alternatives. In the United States right n...

The fetishization of the subversive—the next Galileo, or Einstein, or Tesla—is something PragerU is intent on teaching not just to adults but to kids as well.

I had a look at the science/med content on PragerU for @mcgilloss.bsky.social.

The contradictions are wild.

www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/...

2025 Trottier Public Science Symposium The Genesis of the COVID Vaccine & The Path to the Nobel Prize

Registration is required! Follow the link below👇
tr.ee/T70VzN

The event is free. It will be recorded and made available for viewing afterward on our website & YouTube channel.

On Tuesday, October 21, we will hear from Nobel Laureate and co-inventor of the COVID vaccine Dr. Drew Weissman, on the twists and turns of this historical vaccine development and the road to the Nobel Prize🏅

With vaccine skepticism on the rise 💉 and the US healthcare system heading in a backward direction ( 👎), this year’s Trottier Symposium could not be more relevant.

PragerU is known for its political and historical propaganda. But did you know that it also tackles medicine and science? And that it tries to teach science to kids?

I watched a lot of it for my article, which comes out tomorrow via @mcgilloss.bsky.social.

Scrambler Therapy: Rewiring Pain, or Just Static? Our bodies are wired to avoid pain—and yet, for millions, it’s a daily, unwelcome companion. One minute you’re climbing stairs, opening a jar, or just existing, and the next you're googling “is this w...

Chronic pain rewires the brain. What if you could rewire it back? Scrambler Therapy promises just that—with real results, real skeptics, and real questions. FDA-cleared and quietly gaining traction, is this the future of pain relief or just more static? 🧠⚡

Read more 👇
mcgill.ca/x/iBz

Health influencers like the Glucose Goddess are a dime a dozen. They break free of the dullness of academia with vibrant branding, themed colours, and aspirational photo shoots. They drum up excitement with a wall of anecdotes from anonymous people who say that they changed their lives. They get book deals, and TV shows, and speaking engagements, and ambassadorships with Vichy to promote “holistic health,” and online courses where you too can become “Glucose Revolution certified” by paying a thousand dollars to watch six hours of online classes. And, of course, they have a supplement to sell you. Inchauspé’s is the Anti-Spike Formula—no relation to COVID-19’s spike protein. She claims it can reduce your blood glucose spikes by up to 40% with its combination of vegetable extracts, cinnamon, lemon extract, and white mulberry leaf extract. Like the glucose monitor she endorses, the formula is sold as a subscription, this one just shy of USD 30 a month.

The Glucose Goddess is everywhere. She advocates for the wearing of a continuous glucose monitor even if you don't have diabetes, and she sells a supplement.

Is she medicalizing normalcy?

My latest for @mcgilloss.bsky.social.

Magic, Critical Thinking and UFOs This article was first published in The Montreal Gazette. My interest in magic was sparked at an early age, and I spent many a Saturday afternoon either at Perfect Magic or Morrisey Magic, Montreal’s ...

🪄 Dr. Joe reflects on how magic taught him critical thinking: the miraculous often has simple explanations. That lesson applies just as well to UFOs as it does to card tricks 🛸

Read the full article here: mcgill.ca/x/iXT

Is 25 Really the Magic Number? You’ve probably heard it before—maybe on TikTok, in a health class, or from your therapist: “The frontal lobe isn’t fully developed until 25.” It’s become a sort of modern mantra, used to explain bad ...

“Your brain isn’t fully developed until 25” is everywhere—from TikTok to courtrooms. But is it actually true? (Spoiler: not really.) Let’s unpack the science behind the myth—and what it means for how we view maturity, responsibility, and ourselves.🧠✨

mcgill.ca/x/iXN

Virtually Virtuous: Are Video Games the Future of Medicine? One day in 2014, I came home from school only to see my uncle fiddling with a small cardboard box on the couch. This wasn’t any old cardboard box, but one that looked like the world’s chunkiest pair o...

In a world dominated by virtual reality technologies, putting yourself in someone else’s shoes takes on a whole new meaning. VR is rapidly transforming patient care and medical education, opening the door for a promising frontier in empathy-driven care and immersive learning.

mcgill.ca/x/iXc

Mosquito Patches: The Itch They Can’t Scratch While camping this weekend, I got to mind a very cute 7-month-old baby. She was super social, giggly and sporting a patch that inspired this article. As she laid her head on my shoulder, I noticed a p...

While babysitting a baby during a camping trip, I began to write this article all because of a mosquito patch she was wearing.

In this article we cover:
⚠️ The deadliest animal in the world
🩹 The truth about Nat Pat’s “all-natural” mosquito patches
✅ Don’t fear DEET

mcgill.ca/x/i8U

In case you’re wondering how RFK is diagnosing mitochondrial malfunction in the kids he sees, I wrote about where he probably got misinformed

👇🏻

Einstein’s Brain Vladimir Lenin lies in a mausoleum in Red Square in Moscow in a preserved state. But he has no brain. That’s because the Soviet government had it removed after he died in 1924. They wanted to have the...

The brilliant Albert Einstein kept proving theories even after his death. Upon examining his brain 🧠 scientists have concluded that size doesn’t matter 😉

mcgill.ca/x/i8Z

Cracking the Case on Seeds, Nuts, and Bowel Issues This article was first published in The Montreal Gazette. If you have diverticulosis, you were probably told to avoid eating nuts and seeds. The worry was that tiny food particles could get stuck in t...

Told to avoid nuts & seeds if you have diverticulosis? Research says that advice may not hold up. Studies in men & women found no link—overall healthy diet matters more. Dr. Christopher Labos breaks it down in this article:

mcgill.ca/x/i8w