December 5, 2025
Weeds, ghosts, and rage
Influential study on glyphosate safety retracted 25 years after publication
25-year-old “glyphosate is safe” study pulled; commenters rage at ghostwriting and weak penalties
TLDR: A 2000 paper claiming glyphosate is safe was retracted for suspected ghostwriting by Monsanto staff. Commenters demand harsh corporate penalties, debate pet safety and gut microbe risks, and note a coauthor still publishing—underscoring shaken trust in science and why this matters to anyone with a yard or a liver.
Internet outrage meter: maxed out. A major journal just yanked a 2000 paper that said the weed killer glyphosate was safe, after evidence from the “Monsanto Papers” suggested company employees ghostwrote it. Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology now calls it undermined by “critical issues” — and the comments instantly turned into a courtroom drama meets meme fest.
The hottest take? Calls for a “corporate death sentence” if fake science hurts people, with others cheering for EU-style chunky fines that actually sting. Meanwhile, everyday life crashes the party: one reader admits they’ve got Roundup in the garage, torn between weed-free grass and where their dog rolls — cue a mini soap opera about waiting for spray to dry vs. trust issues with science. Another points out the paper’s surviving author, Gary M. Williams, is still publishing, dropping a link like a mic. And the science nerds weigh in: if glyphosate targets the plant-only “shikimate” pathway, is it messing with our gut bacteria instead? The thread splits into camps — punish-the-corporations, protect-the-pets, and explain-the-mechanism — with a side of dark humor about “corporate fanfic” ghostwriting. In short: the study is gone, the trust is shaken, and the comments are on fire.
Key Points
- •Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology retracted a 2000 study that concluded glyphosate was safe.
- •The journal cited multiple critical issues undermining the article’s academic integrity and conclusions.
- •Internal Monsanto documents released during U.S. court cases (“Monsanto Papers”) suggested Monsanto employees ghostwrote the study.
- •The paper listed Gary M. Williams, Robert Kroes, and Ian C. Munro as authors, despite evidence of corporate ghostwriting.
- •Ghostwriting is identified as scientific fraud used to lend credibility to industry-favorable studies by obscuring corporate authorship.