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From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.The Human Genome Project has vocal detractors. The $3bn plan to map the three billion chemical units of our DNA – what the then-US President described as "learning the language that allowed God to create life" – was completed. Yet more than a decade on, the promise of medicine transformed and groundbreaking cures developed remained unfulfilled. Was the genome a red herring, after all?
Absolutely not. The critics were – as critics often are – too quick to judge. As The Independent reports today, within five years men could be screened for prostate cancer using only a simple saliva test. All thanks to the Human Genome Project's "healthy" template against which the dozens of mutations linked with the disease can be checked. And that is just the beginning. Detection of and treatment for any number of other cancers will follow. It just may take a little time.
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