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Harvard expands its definition of antisemitism – when does criticism of Israel cross a line?

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theconversation.com – Joshua Shanes, Professor of Jewish Studies, College of Charleston – 2025-01-24 07:37:00

Harvard has adopted a broader definition of antisemitism.
Education Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

Joshua Shanes, College of Charleston

As part of Harvard University’s agreement in response to two federal lawsuits filed by Jewish students alleging antisemitic discrimination, it will adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, or IHRA, “working definition” of antisemitism.

This is a definition favored by many Jewish community leaders and politicians because its broad language can be applied to most anti-Israel rhetoric. This includes Kenneth Marcus, who served as assistant secretary of education during the first Trump administration and represented the students as chairman of the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law.

In contrast, many scholars prefer either the competing Jerusalem Declaration on Antisemitism or the definition offered by the Nexus Task Force, a committee of experts led by the Bard Center for the Study of Hate. I am a member of the Nexus group and also helped compose its 2024 “Campus Guide to Identifying Antisemitism.”

The controversy over this move indicates that many well-intentioned people still struggle to understand what exactly constitutes antisemitism and when anti-Israel rhetoric crosses the line.

As a scholar of modern Jewish history, I offer this primer that helps answer this question.

History of antisemitism

There has been a sharp increase in antisemitism around the world since the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre by Hamas and Israel’s subsequent military attacks in the Gaza Strip.

Anti-Jewish animosity dates to antiquity. The early Christian church attacked Jews, whom it blamed for crucifying Christ, and claimed to replace them as God’s chosen people. The Gospel of John in the New Testament accused Jews of being Satan’s children, while others called them demons intent on sacrificing the souls of men.

Medieval Christians added other myths, such as the blood libel – the lie that Jews ritually murdered Christian children for their blood. Other myths accused them of poisoning wells or desecrating the consecrated host of the Eucharist to reenact the murder of Christ; some even claimed that Jews had inhuman biology such as horns or that they suckled at the teats of pigs.

Such lies led to violent persecution of Jews over many centuries.

Modern antisemitism

In the 19th century, these myths were supplanted by the additional element of race – the claim that Jewishness was immutable and could not be changed via conversion. Though this idea first appeared in 15th-century Spain, it was deeply connected to the rise of modern nationalism.

Nineteenth-century ethno-nationalists rejected the idea of a political nation united in a social contract with each other. They began imagining the nation as a biological community linked by common descent in which Jews might be tolerated but could never truly belong.

Finally, in 1879, the German journalist Wilhelm Marr pushed the term “antisemitism” to reflect that his anti-Jewish ideology was based on race, not religion. Marr imagined the Jews as a foreign, “semitic” race, referring to the language group that includes Hebrew. The term has since persisted to mean specifically anti-Jewish hostility or prejudice.

The myth of a Jewish conspiracy

Modern antisemitism built on those premodern foundations, which never completely disappeared, but was fundamentally different. It emerged as part of the new politics of the democratic modern era.

Antisemitism became the core platform of new political parties, which used it to unite otherwise opposing groups, such as shopkeepers and farmers, anxious about the modernizing world. In other words, it was not merely prejudice; it was a worldview that explained the entire world to its believers by blaming all of its faults on this scapegoat.

Unlike earlier anti-Jewish hatred, this was less about religion and more about political and social issues. Antisemites believed the conspiracy theory that Jews all over the world controlled the levers of government, media and banking, and that defeating them would solve society’s problems.

Thus, one of the most important features of modern antisemitic mythology was the belief that Jews constituted a single, malevolent group, with one mind, organized for the purpose of conquering and destroying the world.

Negative traits attributed to Jews

Antisemitic books and cartoons often used claws or tentacles to symbolize the “international Jew,” a shadowy figure they blamed for leading a global conspiracy, strangling and destroying society. Others depicted him as a puppet master running the world.

In the late 19th century, Edmond Rothschild, head of the most famous Jewish banking family, was villainized as the symbol of international Jewish wealth and nefarious power. Today, the billionaire liberal philanthropist George Soros is often portrayed in similar ways.

This myth that Jews constitute an international creature plotting to harm the nation has inspired massacres of Jews since the 19th century, beginning with the Russian pogroms of 1881 and leading up to the Holocaust.

More recently, in 2018, Robert Bowers murdered 11 Jews at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh because he was convinced that Jews, collectively under the guidance of Soros, were working to destroy America by facilitating the mass migration of nonwhite people into the country.

Modern antisemites ascribe many immutable negative traits to Jews, but two are particularly widespread. First, Jews are said to be ruthless misers who care more about their allegedly ill-gotten wealth than the interests of their countries. Second, Jews’ loyalty to their countries is considered suspect because they are said to constitute a foreign element.

Since Israel’s establishment in 1948, this hatred has focused on the accusation that Jews’ primary loyalty is to Israel, not the countries they live in.

Antisemitism and anti-Zionism

In recent years, the relationship between antisemitism and anti-Zionism has taken on renewed importance. Zionism has many factions but roughly refers to the modern political movement that argues Jews constitute a nation and have a right to self-determination in that land.

Some activists claim that anti-Zionism – ideological opposition to Zionism – is inherently antisemitic because they equate it with denying Jews the right to self-determination and therefore equality.

Others feel that there needs to be a clearer separation between anti-Zionism and antisemitism. They argue that equating anti-Zionism with antisemitism leads to silencing criticism of Israel’s structural mistreatment of Palestinians.

Zionism in practice has meant the achievement of a flourishing safe haven for Jews, but it has also led to dislocation or inequality for millions of Palestinians, including refugees, West Bank Palestinians who still live under military rule, and even Palestinian citizens of Israel who face legal and social discrimination. Anti-Zionism opposes this, and critics argue that it should not be labeled antisemitic unless it taps into those antisemitic myths or otherwise calls for violence or inequality for Jews.

This debate is evident in these competing definitions of antisemitism. Remarkably, the three main definitions tend to agree on the nature of antisemitism except regarding the relationship of anti-Israel rhetoric to antisemitism. The IHRA definition, which is by design vague and open to interpretation, allows for a wider swath of anti-Israel activism to be labeled antisemitic than the others.

The Jerusalem Declaration, in contrast, understands rhetoric to have “crossed the line” only when it engages in antisemitic mythology, blames diaspora Jews for the actions of the Israeli state, or calls for the oppression of Jews in Israel. IHRA defenders use that definition to label a call for binational democracy – meaning citizenship for West Bank Palestinians – to be antisemitic. Likewise, they label boycotts, even of West Bank settlements that most of the world considers illegal, to be antisemitic. The Jerusalem Declaration does not.

In other words, the key to identifying whether anti-Israel discourse has masked antisemitism is to see evidence of antisemitic mythology. For example, if Israel is described as leading an international conspiracy, or if it holds the key to solving global problems, all three definitions agree this is antisemitic.

Equally, if Jews or Jewish institutions are held responsible for Israeli actions or are expected to take a stand one way or another regarding them, again all three definitions agree that this crosses the line because it is based on the myth of a global Jewish conspiracy.

Identity and pride

Critically, for many Jews living in other countries, Zionism is not primarily a political argument about the state of Israel. It instead constitutes a sense of Jewish identity and pride, even a religious identity. In contrast, many protests against Israel and Zionism are focused not on ideology but on the Israeli government and its real or alleged actions.

This disconnect can lead to confusion if protests conflate Jews with Israel just because they are Zionist, which is antisemitic. On the other hand, Jews sometimes take protests against Israel in defense of Palestinian rights to be attacks on their Zionist identity and thus antisemitic, when they are not. There are certainly gray areas, but in general, calls for Palestinian equality, I believe, are legitimate even when they upset people with Zionist identities.

Harvard’s statement captures this distinction. It posted a statement that, “For many Jewish people, Zionism is a part of their Jewish identity,” and added that Jews who subscribe to this identity must not be excluded from campus events on that basis.

This does not mean that Jews are protected from hearing contrary views, any more than they are protected from hearing Christian preachers on campus or professors who teach secular views of the Bible. It means that they cannot be excluded based only on those beliefs.

This does not, however, require an adoption of the IHRA definition of antisemitism, which goes much further. Many advocates of the IHRA definition use it to label political calls for Palestinian equality as antisemitic, as well as accusations against Israel that they consider wrong or unfair.

Harvard’s adoption of the IHRA definition, accordingly, would mean that any speech that calls for full equality for Palestinians risks academic and legal sanction, even without any material discrimination against Jewish students. It is thus opposed by students who advocate for Palestinian rights as well as supporters of free speech more generally.

Editor’s note: This is an updated version of an article first published on Jan. 29, 2024The Conversation

Joshua Shanes, Professor of Jewish Studies, College of Charleston

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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The Conversation

Chaos gardening – wild beauty, or just a mess? A sustainable landscape specialist explains the trend

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theconversation.com – Deryn Davidson, Sustainable Landscape State Specialist, Extension, Colorado State University – 2025-08-19 07:35:00


Chaos gardening is a trending, informal practice of scattering mixed seeds—often leftover or wildflower mixes—onto soil with little planning, resulting in a dense, colorful garden. It appeals as a low-pressure, playful alternative to traditional garden design, which can feel intimidating and time-consuming. Success depends on some “guardrails”: choosing compatible, region-appropriate plants, prepping the site, and supporting pollinators with native flowers. However, chaos gardening isn’t ecological restoration and requires maintenance to thrive. While not a replacement for curated gardens, it can inspire novice gardeners, encouraging experimentation, connection with nature, and appreciation of biodiversity through a more intuitive gardening approach.

A mix of annuals and perennials can look colorful and carefree.
Deryn Davidson

Deryn Davidson, Colorado State University

If you’ve spent any time in the gardening corners of social media lately, you’ve likely come across a trend called “chaos gardening.”

The name alone is eye-catching – equal parts fun, rebellious and slightly alarming. Picture someone tossing random seeds into bare soil, watering once or twice, and ending up with a backyard jungle of blooms. No rows, no color coordination, no spacing charts. Just sprinkle and hope for the best.

As a sustainable landscape specialist at Colorado State University Extension, I think a lot about how to help people make designed landscapes more sustainable. Occasionally, a new trend like this one crops up claiming to be the silver bullet of gardening – supposedly it saves water, saves the bees and requires no maintenance.

But what is chaos gardening, really? And does it work? As with most viral trends, the answer is: sometimes.

What chaos gardening is and isn’t

At its core, chaos gardening is the practice of mixing a wide variety of seeds, often including leftover packets, wildflower mixes, or cut flower favorites, and scattering them over a planting area with minimal planning.

The goal is to create a dense, colorful garden that surprises you with its variety. For many, it’s a low-pressure, joyful way to experiment.

But chaos gardening isn’t the same as ecological restoration, pollinator meadow planting or native prairie establishment. Unlike chaos gardening, all of these techniques rely on careful species selection, site prep and long-term management.

Chaos gardening is a bit like making soup from everything in your pantry – it might be delicious, but there are no guarantees.

Chaos gardening’s appeal

One reason chaos gardening may be catching on is because it sidesteps the rules of garden design. A traditional landscape design approach is effective and appropriate for many settings, but it is a time investment and can feel intimidating. Design elements and principles, and matching color schemes, don’t fit everyone’s style or skill set.

A flower bed with a curved border, and curved rows of white and pink flowers, with equally spaced hedges and bushes
Organized and manicured home gardens such as this can be stressful to maintain.
Elenathewise/iStock via Getty Images Plus

Even the apparently relaxed layers of blooms and informal charm of an English cottage garden actually result from careful planning. Chaos gardening, by contrast, lets go of control. It offers a playful, forgiving entry point into growing things. In a way, chaos gardening is an antidote to the pressure of perfection, especially the kind found in highly curated, formal landscapes.

There’s also the allure of ease. People want gardening to be simple. If chaos gardening brings more people into the joy and mess of growing things, I consider that a win in itself. Broader research has found that emotional connection and accessibility are major motivators for gardening, often more than environmental impact.

When does chaos gardening work?

The best outcomes from chaos gardening happen when the chaos has a few guardrails:

  • Choose plants with similar needs. Most successful chaos gardens rely on sun-loving annuals that grow quickly and bloom prolifically, like zinnias, cosmos, marigolds, snapdragons and sunflowers. These are also excellent cut flowers to use in bouquets, which makes them doubly rewarding.

  • Consider your region. A chaos garden that thrives in Colorado might flop in North Carolina. It is beneficial to select seed mixes or individual varieties suited to your area since factors like soil type and growing season length matter. Different plants have unique needs beyond just sun and water; soil pH, cold hardiness and other conditions can make a big difference.

  • Think about pollinators. Mixing in nectar- and pollen-rich flowers native to North America, such as black-eyed Susans, bee balm or coneflowers, provides valuable resources for native bees, butterflies, moths and other local pollinators. These species benefit even more if you plan your garden with phenology – that is, nature’s calendar – in mind. By maintaining blooms from early spring through late fall, you ensure a steady food supply throughout the growing season. Plus, a diverse plant palette supports greater pollinator abundance and diversity.

  • Prep your site. Even “chaos” needs a little order. Removing weeds, loosening the top layer of soil and watering regularly, especially during germination when seeds are sprouting, will dramatically improve your results. Successful seed germination requires direct seed-to-soil contact and consistent moisture; if seeds begin to grow and then dry out, many species will not survive.

When does chaos gardening not work?

There are a few key pitfalls to chaos gardening that often get left out of the online hype:

  • Wrong plant, wrong place. If your mix includes shade-loving plants and your garden is in full sun, or drought-tolerant plants whose seeds end up in a soggy low spot, they’ll struggle to grow.

  • Invasive species and misidentified natives. Some wildflower mixes, especially inexpensive or mass-market ones, claim to be native but actually contain non-native species that can spread beyond your garden and become invasive. While many non-natives are harmless, some spread quickly and disrupt natural ecosystems. Check seed labels carefully and choose regionally appropriate native or adapted species whenever possible.

  • Soil, sun and water still matter. Gardening is always a dialogue with place. Even if you’re embracing chaos, taking notes, observing how light moves through your space, and understanding your soil type will help you know your site better, and choose appropriate plants.

  • Maintenance is still a thing. Despite the “toss and walk away” aesthetic, chaos gardens still require care. Watering, weeding and eventually cutting back or removing spent annuals are all part of the cycle.

Beyond the hashtag

Beneath the chaos gardening memes, there’s something real happening: a growing interest in a freer, more intuitive way of gardening. And that’s worth paying attention to.

Once someone has success with a zinnia or cosmos, they may be inspired to try more gardening. They might start noticing which flowers the bees are visiting in their garden. They may discover native plants and pay attention to the soil they are tending, seeing how both are part of a larger, living system. A chaotic beginning can become something deeper.

An orange and black butterfly perched on top of a flowerhead with small, pink flowers
Choosing nectar-rich flowers such as milkweed for your seed mix can help local pollinators.
Brian Woolman/iStock via Getty Images Plus

Chaos gardening might not replace the structured borders of a manicured garden or a carefully curated pollinator patch, but it might get someone new into the garden. It might lower the stakes, invite experimentation and help people see beauty in abundance rather than control.

If that’s the entry point someone needs, then let the chaos begin.The Conversation

Deryn Davidson, Sustainable Landscape State Specialist, Extension, Colorado State University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Organized and manicured home gardens such as this can be stressful to maintain.
Elenathewise/iStock via Getty Images Plus

Even the apparently relaxed layers of blooms and informal charm of an English cottage garden actually result from careful planning. Chaos gardening, by contrast, lets go of control. It offers a playful, forgiving entry point into growing things. In a way, chaos gardening is an antidote to the pressure of perfection, especially the kind found in highly curated, formal landscapes.

There’s also the allure of ease. People want gardening to be simple. If chaos gardening brings more people into the joy and mess of growing things, I consider that a win in itself. Broader research has found that emotional connection and accessibility are major motivators for gardening, often more than environmental impact.

When does chaos gardening work?

The best outcomes from chaos gardening happen when the chaos has a few guardrails:

  • Choose plants with similar needs. Most successful chaos gardens rely on sun-loving annuals that grow quickly and bloom prolifically, like zinnias, cosmos, marigolds, snapdragons and sunflowers. These are also excellent cut flowers to use in bouquets, which makes them doubly rewarding.

  • Consider your region. A chaos garden that thrives in Colorado might flop in North Carolina. It is beneficial to select seed mixes or individual varieties suited to your area since factors like soil type and growing season length matter. Different plants have unique needs beyond just sun and water; soil pH, cold hardiness and other conditions can make a big difference.

  • Think about pollinators. Mixing in nectar- and pollen-rich flowers native to North America, such as black-eyed Susans, bee balm or coneflowers, provides valuable resources for native bees, butterflies, moths and other local pollinators. These species benefit even more if you plan your garden with phenology – that is, nature’s calendar – in mind. By maintaining blooms from early spring through late fall, you ensure a steady food supply throughout the growing season. Plus, a diverse plant palette supports greater pollinator abundance and diversity.

  • Prep your site. Even “chaos” needs a little order. Removing weeds, loosening the top layer of soil and watering regularly, especially during germination when seeds are sprouting, will dramatically improve your results. Successful seed germination requires direct seed-to-soil contact and consistent moisture; if seeds begin to grow and then dry out, many species will not survive.

When does chaos gardening not work?

There are a few key pitfalls to chaos gardening that often get left out of the online hype:

  • Wrong plant, wrong place. If your mix includes shade-loving plants and your garden is in full sun, or drought-tolerant plants whose seeds end up in a soggy low spot, they’ll struggle to grow.

  • Invasive species and misidentified natives. Some wildflower mixes, especially inexpensive or mass-market ones, claim to be native but actually contain non-native species that can spread beyond your garden and become invasive. While many non-natives are harmless, some spread quickly and disrupt natural ecosystems. Check seed labels carefully and choose regionally appropriate native or adapted species whenever possible.

  • Soil, sun and water still matter. Gardening is always a dialogue with place. Even if you’re embracing chaos, taking notes, observing how light moves through your space, and understanding your soil type will help you know your site better, and choose appropriate plants.

  • Maintenance is still a thing. Despite the “toss and walk away” aesthetic, chaos gardens still require care. Watering, weeding and eventually cutting back or removing spent annuals are all part of the cycle.

Beyond the hashtag

Beneath the chaos gardening memes, there’s something real happening: a growing interest in a freer, more intuitive way of gardening. And that’s worth paying attention to.

Once someone has success with a zinnia or cosmos, they may be inspired to try more gardening. They might start noticing which flowers the bees are visiting in their garden. They may discover native plants and pay attention to the soil they are tending, seeing how both are part of a larger, living system. A chaotic beginning can become something deeper.

An orange and black butterfly perched on top of a flowerhead with small, pink flowers

Choosing nectar-rich flowers such as milkweed for your seed mix can help local pollinators.
Brian Woolman/iStock via Getty Images Plus

Chaos gardening might not replace the structured borders of a manicured garden or a carefully curated pollinator patch, but it might get someone new into the garden. It might lower the stakes, invite experimentation and help people see beauty in abundance rather than control.

If that’s the entry point someone needs, then let the chaos begin.

Read More

The post Chaos gardening – wild beauty, or just a mess? A sustainable landscape specialist explains the trend appeared first on theconversation.com



Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.

Political Bias Rating: Centrist

This content focuses on gardening practices and environmental awareness without promoting any particular political ideology. It presents information in a balanced, informative manner, emphasizing sustainability and ecological considerations while avoiding partisan language or viewpoints. The article encourages accessibility and experimentation in gardening, appealing broadly without aligning with left- or right-leaning political perspectives.

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RFK Jr.’s plans to overhaul ‘vaccine court’ system would face legal and scientific challenges

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theconversation.com – Anna Kirkland, Professor of Women’s and Gender Studies, University of Michigan – 2025-08-15 07:39:00


The Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP), established in 1986, provides a legal process for compensating individuals harmed by vaccines while protecting manufacturers from lawsuits. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. criticizes the system as biased and slow, proposing reforms or dismantling it. Experts acknowledge the program needs updates, such as increasing judges, adjusting damage caps, and expanding vaccine coverage. However, significant changes face legal and political challenges. Kennedy’s suggestion to add unproven injuries like autism to the list contradicts scientific consensus and may face lawsuits. Proposals to move claims to regular courts could hinder compensation efforts and threaten vaccine supply stability.

The Vaccine Injury Compensation Program was established in 1986 by an act of Congress.
MarsBars/iStock via Getty Images Plus

Anna Kirkland, University of Michigan

For almost 40 years, people who suspect they’ve been harmed by a vaccine have been able to turn to a little-known system called the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program – often simply called the vaccine court.

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has long been a critic of the vaccine court, calling it “biased” against compensating people, slow and unfair. He has said that he wants to “revolutionize” or “fix” this system.

I’m a scholar of law, health and medicine. I investigated the history, politics and debates about the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program in my book “Vaccine Court: The Law and Politics of Injury.”

Although vaccines are extensively tested and monitored, and are both overwhelmingly safe for the vast majority of people and extremely cost-effective, some people will experience a harmful reaction to a vaccine. The vaccine court establishes a way to figure out who those people are and to provide justice to them.

Having studied the vaccine court for 15 years, I agree that it could use some fixing. But changing it dramatically will be difficult and potentially damaging to public health.

Deciphering vaccine injuries

The Vaccine Injury Compensation Program is essentially a process that enables doctors, lawyers, patients, parents and government officials to determine who deserves compensation for a legitimate vaccine injury.

It was established in 1986 by an act of Congress to solve a specific social problem: possible vaccine injuries to children from the whole-cell pertussis vaccine. That vaccine, which was discontinued in the U.S. in the 1990s, could cause alarming side effects like prolonged crying and convulsions. Parents sued vaccine manufacturers, and some stopped producing vaccines.

Congress was worried that lawsuits would collapse the country’s vaccine supply, allowing diseases to make a comeback. The National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986 created the vaccine court process and shielded vaccine manufacturers from these lawsuits.

Here’s how it works: A person who feels they have experienced a vaccine-related injury files a claim to be heard by a legal official called a special master in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims. The Health and Human Services secretary is named as the defendant and is represented by Department of Justice attorneys.

A syringe leaning against a gavel on a white background
Many experts agree that the vaccine compensation program could use some updates.
t_kimura via iStock / Getty Images Plus

Doctors who work for HHS evaluate the medical records and make a recommendation about whether they think the vaccine caused the person’s medical problem. Some agreed-upon vaccine injuries are listed for automatic compensation, while other outcomes that are scientifically contested go through a hearing to determine if the vaccine caused the problem.

Awards come from a trust fund, built up through a 75-cent excise tax on each dose of covered vaccine sold. Petitioners’ attorneys who specialize in vaccine injury claims are paid by the trust fund, whether they win or lose.

Some updates are needed

Much has changed in the decades since Congress wrote the law, but Congress has not enacted updates to keep up.

For instance, the law supplies only eight special masters to hear all the cases, but the caseload has risen dramatically as more vaccines have been covered by the law. It set a damages cap of US$250,000 in 1986 but did not account for inflation. The statute of limitations for an injury is three years, but in my research, I found many people file too late and miss their chance.

When the law was written, it only covered vaccines recommended for children. In 2023, the program expanded to include vaccines for pregnant women. Vaccines just for adults, like shingles, are not covered. COVID-19 vaccine claims go to another system for emergency countermeasures vaccines that has been widely criticized. These vaccines could be added to the program, as lawyers who bring claims there have advocated.

These reform ideas are “friendly amendments” with bipartisan support. Kennedy has mentioned some of them, too.

A complex system is hard to revolutionize

Kennedy hasn’t publicly stated enough details about his plan for the vaccine court to reveal the changes he intends to make. The first and least disruptive course of action would be to ask Congress to pass the bipartisan reforms noted above.

But some of his comments suggest he may seek to dismantle it, not fix it. None of his options are straightforward, however, and consequences are hard to predict.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, testifying in Congress
HHS Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. has said he plans to revolutionize the vaccine court.
Kayla Bartkowski / Staff, Getty Images News

Straight up changing the vaccine court’s structure would probably be the most difficult path. It requires Congress to amend the 1986 law that set it up and President Donald Trump to sign the legislation. Passing the bill to dismantle it requires the same process. Either direction involves all the difficulties of getting a contentious bill through Congress. Even the “friendly amendments” are hard – a 2021 bill to fix the vaccine court was introduced but failed to advance.

However, there are several less direct possibilities.

Adding autism to the injuries list

Kennedy has long supported discredited claims about harms from vaccines, but the vaccine court has been a bulwark against claims that lack mainstream scientific support. For example, the vaccine court held a yearslong court process from 2002 to 2010 and found that autism was not a vaccine injury. The autism trials drew on 50 expert reports, 939 medical articles and 28 experts testifying on the record. The special masters deciding the cases found that none of the causation hypotheses put forward to connect autism and vaccines were reliable as medical or scientific theories.

Much of Kennedy’s ire is directed at the special masters, who he claims “prioritize the solvency” of the system “over their duty to compensate victims.” But the special masters do not work for him. Rather, they are appointed by a majority of the judges in the Court of Federal Claims for four-year terms – and those judges themselves have 15-year terms. Kennedy cannot legally remove any of them in the middle of their service to install new judges who share his views.

Given that, he may seek to put conditions like autism on the list of presumed vaccine injuries, in effect overturning the special masters’ decisions. Revising the list of recognized injuries to add ones without medical evidence is within Kennedy’s powers, but it would still be difficult. It requires a long administrative process with feedback from an advisory committee and the public. Such revisions have historically been controversial, and are usually linked to major scientific reviews of their validity.

Public health and medical groups are already mobilized against Kennedy’s vaccine policy moves. If he failed to follow legally required procedures while adding new injuries to the list, he could be sued to stop the changes.

Targeting vaccine manufacturers

Kennedy could also lean on his newly reconstituted Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices to withdraw recommendations for certain vaccines, which would also remove them from eligibility in the vaccine compensation court. Lawsuits against manufacturers could then go straight to regular courts. On Aug. 14, 2025, the Department of Health and Human Services may have taken a step in this direction by announcing the revival of a childhood vaccine safety task force in response to a lawsuit by anti-vaccine activists.

Kennedy has also supported legislation that would allow claims currently heard in vaccine court to go to regular courts. These drastic reforms could essentially dismantle the vaccine court.

People claiming vaccine injuries could hope to win damages through personal injury lawsuits in the civil justice system instead of vaccine court, perhaps by convincing a jury or getting a settlement. These types of settlements were what prompted the creation of the vaccine court in the first place. But these lawsuits could be hard to win. There is a higher bar for scientific evidence in regular courts than in vaccine court, and plaintiffs would have to sue large corporations rather than file a government claim.

Raising the idea of reforming the vaccine court has provoked strong reactions across the many groups with a stake in the program. It is a complex system with multiple constituents, and Kennedy’s approaches so far pull in different directions. The push to revolutionize it will test the strength of its complex design, but the vaccine court may yet hold up.The Conversation

Anna Kirkland, Professor of Women’s and Gender Studies, University of Michigan

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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The post RFK Jr.’s plans to overhaul ‘vaccine court’ system would face legal and scientific challenges appeared first on theconversation.com



Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.

Political Bias Rating: Center-Left

The content presents a fact-based, nuanced analysis of the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program and Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s criticisms and proposed reforms. It acknowledges the safety and effectiveness of vaccines, aligns with mainstream scientific consensus, and highlights bipartisan efforts for reform. While it critiques Kennedy’s more controversial positions, especially regarding discredited vaccine-autism links, it does so with measured language and provides context on legal and public health complexities. Overall, the article leans slightly left by supporting established science and public health perspectives but remains balanced and informative without strong partisan rhetoric.

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Genomics can help insect farmers avoid pitfalls of domestication

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theconversation.com – Christine Picard, Professor of Biology, Indiana University – 2025-08-14 07:29:00


Insect farming is gaining popularity for animal feed, pet food, and human consumption, but domestication poses challenges. Lessons from traditional domestication—selective breeding for desirable traits—apply to insects like silkworms and honeybees, which have become dependent on humans. New insect species such as black soldier flies and mealworms offer sustainable protein by recycling organic waste. However, domestication often reduces genetic diversity and immune strength, increasing vulnerability to diseases, as seen in factory-farmed chickens and monoculture crops like bananas. Modern genomics and gene-editing tools can help monitor and maintain genetic health, preventing collapse and supporting sustainable insect agriculture.

A biologist maintains a large population of black soldier flies for protein farming.
picture alliance/Contributer via Getty Images

Christine Picard, Indiana University and Hector Rosche-Flores, Indiana University

Insects are becoming increasingly popular to grow on farms as feed for other animals, pet food and potentially as food for people. The process of bringing a wild animal into an artificial environment, known as domestication, comes with unique challenges. Luckily, there are important lessons to be learned from all the other animals people have domesticated over millennia.

As researchers who study how domesticating animals changes their genes, we believe that recognizing the vulnerabilities that come with domestication is important. Today’s powerful biotechnology tools can help researchers anticipate and head off issues early on.

Domestication is nothing new

From grain domestication starting as far back as 12,000 years ago to today’s high-tech, genome-based breeding strategies, humans have long bent nature to suit their purposes. By selectively breeding individual plants or animals that have desirable traits – be it appearance, size or behavior – humans have domesticated a whole host of species.

The same principle underlies all domestication attempts, from dogs to crops. A breeder identifies an individual with a desired trait – whether that’s a dog’s talent for tracking or a plant’s ability to withstand pests. Then they breed it to confirm that the desired trait can be passed down to offspring. If it works, the breeder can grow lots of descendants in a lineage with the genomic advantage.

People have made crops resilient to disease and environmental challenges, docile cows that yield more milk or meat, large-breasted poultry and cute dogs.

A long history of insects working for people

Insect domestication is also far from new. People have reared silkworms (Bombyx mori) to produce silk for over 5,000 years. But selective breeding and isolation from wild relatives have led to their inability to fly, dependence on one food source and need for assistance to reproduce. As a result, silkworms are wholly reliant on humans for survival, and the original species doesn’t exist anymore.

A white moth sitting on a white cocoon on top of a leaf
Silk moths have lost their ability to fly and are completely dependent on humans for survival.
baobao ou/Moment Open via Getty Images

Similarly, people have maintained colonies of the western honeybee (Apis mellifera) for pollination and honey production for centuries. But bees are at risk due to colony collapse disorder, a phenomenon where worker bees disappear from seemingly healthy hives. The causes of colony collapse disorder are unknown; researchers are investigating disease and pesticides as possible factors.

Now the insect agriculture industry has set its sights on domesticating some other insects as a source of sustainably farmed protein for other animals or people.

Insects such as the black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens) and the mealworm (Tenebrio molitor) can grow on existing organic waste streams. Rearing them on organic farm and food waste circularizes the agricultural system and reduces the environmental footprint of growing proteins.

But these insects will need to be grown at scale. Modern agriculture relies on monocultures of species that allow for uniformity in size and synchronized growth and harvest. Domesticating wild insects will be necessary to turn them into farmed animals.

A large number of white larvae in a dry food medium
Black soldier fly larvae feed on a mixture of wheat bran, corn and alfalfa when reared in labs and farms.
Christine Picard

Domestication has an immunity downside

Chickens today grow faster and bigger than ever. But factory-farmed animals are genetically very homogeneous. Moreover, people take care of everything for these domesticated animals. They have easy access to food and are given antibiotics and vaccines for their health and safety.

Consequently, industrially-farmed chickens have lost a lot of their immune abilities. Building these strong disease-fighting proteins requires a lot of energy. Since their spotless, controlled environments protect them, those immune genes are just not needed. The energy their bodies would typically use to protect themselves can instead be used to grow bigger.

In the wild, individuals with faulty immune genes would likely be killed by pathogens, quickly wiping these bad genes out from the population. But in a domesticated environment, such individuals can survive and pass on potentially terrible genes.

The H5N1 bird flu provides a recent example of what can go wrong when a homogeneous population of domesticated animals encounters a dangerous pathogen. When disease broke out, the poor immune systems of domesticated chickens cracked under the pressure. The disease can spread quickly through large facilities, and eventually all chickens there must be euthanized.

Hundreds of brown chickens with red crowns being reared in an indoor facility
Industrially-farmed chickens are genetically homogenous and have lost much of their immune defenses.
pidjoe/E+ via Getty Images

Domestication and the risks of monoculture

Weak immune systems aren’t the only reason the bird flu spread like it did.

Domestication often involves growing large numbers of a single species in small concentrated areas, referred to as a monoculture. All the individuals in a monoculture are roughly the same, both physically and in their genes, so they all have the same susceptibilities.

Banana cultivars are one example. Banana plants grown in the early 1900s were all descendants of a single clone, named Gros Michel. But when the deadly Panama disease fungus swept through, the plants had no defenses and the cultivar was decimated.

Banana growers turned to the Cavendish variety, grown in the largest banana farms today. The banana industry remains vulnerable to the same kind of risk that took down Gros Michel. A new fungal strain is on the rise, and scientists are rushing to head off a global Cavendish banana collapse.

Lessons about weaknesses that come with domestication are important to the relatively new industry advancing insects as the future of sustainable protein production and organic waste recycling.

How genomics can help correct course

Modern genomics can give insect agriculture a new approach to quality control. Technological tools can help researchers learn how an organism’s genes relate to its physical traits. With this knowledge, scientists can help organisms undergoing domestication bypass potential downsides of the process.

For instance, scientists combined data from hundreds of different domesticated tomato genomes, as well as their wild counterparts. They discovered something you’ve probably experienced – while selecting for longer shelf life, tomato flavor genes were unintentionally bred out.

A similar approach of screening genomes has allowed scientists to discover the combination of genes that enhances milk production in dairy cows. Farmers can intentionally breed individuals with the right combinations of milk-producing genes while keeping an eye on what other genes the animals have or lack. This process ensures that breeders don’t lose valuable traits, such as robust immune systems or high fertility rates, while selecting for economically valuable traits during domestication.

Insect breeders can take advantage of these genetic tools from the outset. Tracking an animal population’s genetic markers is like monitoring patients’ vital signs in the hospital. Insect breeders can look at genes to assess colony health and the need for interventions. With regular genetic monitoring of the farmed population, if they begin to see individuals with markers for some “bad” genes, they can intervene right away, instead of waiting for a disaster.

Mechanisms to remedy an emerging disaster include bringing in a new brood from the wild or another colony whose genes can refresh the domesticated population’s inbred and homogeneous genome. Additionally, researchers could use gene-editing techniques such as CRISPR-Cas9 to replicate healthy and productive combinations of genes in a whole new generation of domesticated insects.

Genomics-assisted breeding is a supplement to standard practices and not a replacement. It can help breeders see which traits are at risk, which ones are evolving, and where natural reservoirs of genetic diversity might be found. It allows breeders to make more informed decisions, identify genetic problems and be proactive rather than reactive.

By harnessing the power of genomics, the insect agriculture industry can avoid setting itself up for an accidental future collapse while continuing to make inroads on sustainable protein production and circularizing the agricultural ecosystem.The Conversation

Christine Picard, Professor of Biology, Indiana University and Hector Rosche-Flores, Ph.D. Student in Biology, Indiana University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.

Political Bias Rating: Centrist

The content presents a factual, science-based discussion on insect domestication and sustainable agricultural practices without promoting a specific political agenda. It focuses on the benefits and risks of domestication and biotechnology, highlighting both challenges and technological solutions in a balanced manner. The article underscores environmental sustainability and advances in genomics while maintaining an objective tone, characteristic of centrist perspectives that weigh multiple facets pragmatically.

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