The article gives some background to Donald Trump’s Tylenol-autism claims and the response from the scientific community. They link to a partner article by The Sun which provides a more detailed analysis of the claims and includes the further impacts this has had on the autistic community and for pregnant individuals (https://www.thesun.co.uk/health/36794140/paracetamol-autism-trump-reversal-treatment/). Importantly, that article highlights the large-scale study examining acetaminophen usage during pregnancy (Ahlqvist VH et al., JAMA. 2024. DOI: 10.1001/jama.2024.3172), which finds no significant link to autism once shared genetics and environmental confounders between full siblings are accounted for.

Whilst the current article makes no claims about the causes of autism, the title and strapline may be misleading readers by implying a link between our paper’s findings and paracetamol. Our publication studied naturally-occurring chemical modifications to DNA to better understand neurodiversity and brain development (Franklin et al., Cell Genom. 2025. DOI: 10.1016/j.xgen.2025.101010). Maternal exposures were not the focus of this research.

For a tabloid newspaper, I think this article has done well to steer clear of sensationalism and support the science backing up the arguments against Donald Trump’s claims. In combination with The Sun’s additional linked article, the reader can receive a more balanced view of the claims.

The article clearly explains how mRNA vaccines work and how this differs to other types of vaccines. They reaffirm the importance of mRNA vaccines and their success during the Covid-19 pandemic, where other vaccine types such as the inactive virus method would not have provided a sufficiently rapid response. The article would be improved with more references to peer-reviewed articles as currently there is only one external link supporting the data. It is easy to miss the link to the "Full story" (another BBC article from the same date) which I believe is important for people to also read; they interview a former US FDA official and a vaccine expert based in the US, and address additional quotes from RFK not included in the current article. Taken together, the article is weighted against RFK's decision - with justifiable reason - but could be further balanced by the inclusion of more varied interviewees such as those in the "Full story" and the addition of more references.

The article references peer-reviewed papers and does not sensationalise results.

There is a clear description of stem cells, epigenetic memory and why iPS cells will be useful in treating human diseases. They briefly discuss the ethical concerns surrounding the use of embryonic stem cells, and portray adult iPS cells as the solution. However, more could have been done to balance the ethical considerations of adult iPS cell usage, such as individual privacy.