RECENT POSTS 
Let’s try something new. I predicted that my story on a ‘Measles Outbreak Traced to a Fully Vaccinated Patient for First Time’ would generate a cloud of comments on Facebook (Science Magazine + ScienceNOW). Like a storm offshore, I saw it coming. So I posed extra questions to my sources that could cover the eventual deluge. So here is a true-or-false pop quiz on measles based on reader comments and answered by the extra reporting that couldn’t fit into a... Read more
Back in November, I wrote this ScienceShot about a stress-related heart condition discovered in seals for the first time. Given baby seals are always topical (I mean look at them !!) and given some misunderstood the point, you can find the reporting/images that didn’t fit into the 150-word bulletin pasted below. ##### "Relax or you’ll have a heart attack" applies not only to stressed people, but to baby fur seals as well. Wildlife veterinarians working on Chile’s remote Guafo Island uncovered... Read more
A report in Nature Biotechnology highlights a simple way to control gain-of-function flu viruses. Days after the controversial announcement that scientists want to conduct “gain-of-function” H7N9 influenza research, which may create more potent strains of the virus, researchers from Mount Sinai offer a clever solution that could keep these lab-enhanced “Frankenstein” germs from causing disease in human cells. GOF, The Sequel Two years ago, Ron Fouchier – a virologist at Erasmus MC – shocked the scientific community by announcing his lab... Read more
If you’ve ever been a fan of Sherlock Holmes or obsessed with the TV show Law and Order – I’m guilty on both counts – then this thought has probably flashed thru your mind: Exactly how hard would it be for me to get away with a crime? Now before you rush to call an FBI tipline, I should point out that I’m morally incapable of such a thing. (I once took a bag of chips from my college’s... Read more
Taiwanese research lab uses tiny diamonds to track stem cell transplants in mice. Stem cells are slated to become the stars of regenerative medicine, with nearly 2,000 clinical trials currently open for business. It’s simple enough, in concept, to toss some stem cells into a damaged body part and hope for the best (See: the auspicious NeuralStem ALS trial or Family Guy for examples). But without a method to track how many cells actually survive the implant process, quantifying the... Read more
Two stories of waiting. Does this ever happen to you? You read a story, and it just sticks with you. Over the past 2 weeks, I felt like I was repeatedly playing that Portlandian game “did you read…?” with the following: Story 1: ‘Babies-in-waiting’ First up is a brutally honest essay from the Wall Street Journal by a woman who flipped the script on societal / self-inflicted pressures to settle down and opted to cryopreserve her eggs in her late-30s.... Read more
A historical investigation into the mysterious disease that haunted the famous evolutionary biologist. Week number 1 at the new job is complete, and I’m exhausted! I’ve written more pieces this week than I have in the past year, which led one of my buds to remark, “you are knocking these back at a crazy pace.” Too true, my friend. Too true. Some were good and others…well, ‘Lindsay Lohan’ counts as a health topic in her own special way, am I... Read more
How to use sound to beat illiteracy and age-related memory deficits. It’s debatable whether I would have graduated from college without The White Stripes. My study prep for every exam was accompanied by one of their tracks, played mercilessly on repeat. The song ‘Seven Nation Army’ is a perfect example. As it opened with its thumping, militaristic chords, I would drum on my desk, and my mind would automatically lock into whatever I was reading. While it’s easy to regard... Read more
Instead of writing a love letter to an ex, I wrote one to stem cells. My Dearest Stem Cells, When we first met in 2004, I couldn’t stand you. I was 18, a college junior, and finally learning to question the common scientific rhetoric, a rite of passage for becoming an “adult scientist”. You let the press and politicians make so much fuss about taking you from embryos, at a time when we knew so little about you. You stood... Read more
Earlier this week, I wrote a story for Scientific American, "Fiscal cliff" threatens to impede biomedical discoveries, which discussed the potential impact of the looming federal budget cuts on the health research industry in the U.S. As I recover from the adrenaline rush/dopamine overload that was triggered by publishing my first piece, I thought it’d be worthwhile to share a few factoids (with some related resources) that didn’t make it into the piece: Half a million The National Institutes... Read more
