Category: news

Phages carry antibiotic resistance genes, 8 December 2016

Gut microbes linked to neurodegenerative disease, 1 December 2016

First glimpse at infectious prion shape, 8 September 2016

Tasmanian devils developing resistance to transmissible cancer, 30 August 2016

Using RNA to amplify RNA, 15 August 2016

The latest project from Google’s high-risk, secretive research arm, Google X, focuses on defining health for human beings. According to the Wall Street Journal, which broke the newsin July, an initial pilot of the so-called “Baseline Study” will collect biological samples from 175 healthy individuals. The samples, which include blood, saliva, urine, and tears, will then be analyzed and the resulting data mined by Google X in order to find genetic and biochemical patterns that correlate with health. ScienceInsider reports that, after the pilot, Google X plans to enroll thousands more participants through collaborations with Duke University and Stanford University.

Read more at the Duke Science & Society blog.

As the number of Ebola virus deaths in West Africa climbs, much of the media hype in the United States has centered instead on the transfer of two infected American health workers to Emory University Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia for treatment. As is common in the 24-hour news cycle, misinformation sometimes outweighs the facts, and on Twitter, the reaction to bringing Ebola patients into the U.S. has bordered on hysterical.

Read more at the Duke Science & Society blog.

The stragglers from my time at TS. 

Online:
Does Brain Training Work?

Magazine:
Contributors
Maria Spies: Molecular Machinist
Have Herpes, Will Travel
Stem Cell Alter Egos
Going Long

I’ve officially stopped working for TS, though I am still finishing up a story and have some others coming up in the April issue. I already miss the virtual newsroom, and I am so thankful for what I learned over the past five months!

Magazine:
Discovering Archaea, 1977
Early Evidence
Path Finding
Contributors

News and Roundups:
Skin-to-Liver Cell Shortcut
Imaging the Canine Brain
Behavior Brief
Genome Digest

Nutshells (like blog posts, with links to other coverage elsewhere):
New Bird Flu Threat?
Not Seeing is Hearing?
Triglyceride Clock
Molecular Motors
Genetic Atlas
Not Swine Flu
Obituary for Alison Jolly
Imaging Musical Improv
Paralyzing Illness
A Wine Bacterium’s Proteome
Dad’s Contribution

I am coming down the home stretch of this internship, and just as I get in the swing of things, I have to get ready to leave. And so it goes.

Magazine:
Epigenetics of Regeneration
Protein Function Refuted
Phil Baran: Molecule Magician
New School
Contributors

News:
Capturing the Body’s Energy
Cancer Cell Protein Profiling
Settlement Signal

Roundups:
Genome Digest (8 January 2014)
Behavior Brief (13 January 2014)
Behavior Brief (29 January 2014)

Nutshells (similar to blog posts, these summaries link to reports elsewhere):
Really Bad Breath
Petunia pH
Understanding Exercise
First North American H5N1 Death
GeneLink Settles
Toxin Evolution
Flight Plan
Fixing Fearful Memories
Person-to-Person H7N9?
Visualizing X Chromosome Inactivation
Schizophrenia’s Intracacies
Fish of Many Colors
New River Dolphin
Gamers Solve RNA Structures
Inner Neanderthal
Gift-Wrapped

Magazine:
Farmer Fungi
Neurons on Demand
Avoiding Salt
Fantastical Fish, circa 1719
January Contributors (two short biographies that I wrote and one about me by Tracy Vence)
December Contributors

I’ve been the editorial intern at The Scientist for a month, and it has been a super fun whirlwind. Here are my compiled clips from that first month:

News (reported under embargo):
Autophagy’s Role in Alzheimer’s
Computational Chemistry Wins Nobel
Fossilized Mosquito Blood Meal
Next Generation: Cells Communicate with Light

Behavior Briefs (roundups of recent behavioral research):
27 September 2013
8 October 2013

Nutshells (similar to blogposts, these summaries link to reports elsewhere):
Traces of Life
That New Baby Smell
Genius Life Scientists Get Grants
Obituary of Nobel Laureate David Hubel
Ballet Brain
A Hole in the Head
Bacteria Trade Genes
Prehistoric Pollen
RNAi Remedy Lowers Cholesterol
On Women Studying STEM
Fecal Pills
Controlling Cockroaches
Open Data Helps Citations
Clinical Silence
On Point
Useless Peer Review?
Ada Lovelace Day
Ketamine Alternative Shows Promise
Understanding Cats