Author: Lori Jia

Buildings May Soon Have ‘Immune Systems’ That Fight Airborne Disease

Posted on by Lori Jia

The New York Times, June 19, 2026

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Linsey Marr, an environmental engineer, stood next to a pair of clear plastic boxes packed with tubes, nozzles and electronics, an odd-looking prototype that one day might serve to protect children in day care from airborne pathogens.

A nozzle filled the right-hand box with a faint silvery mist. A pump pulled some of that air into the left-hand box, where a sampler trapped floating particles and droplets. Soon, a digital screen bolted to the box turned red: “Detected! Dust mite allergen Der f 1.”

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A Deadly Outbreak of Plague, Nearly 5,000 Years Before the Black Death

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The New York Times, June 17, 2026

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In ancient Siberian graves, scientists have discovered the oldest traces of one of humanity’s greatest enemies. Examining skeletons of hunter-gatherers who lived 5,500 years ago, the researchers have isolated DNA from the bacteria that cause the plague.

The findings suggest that the plague, which would later devastate Europe in the “Black Death,” was already a lethal threat early in human history. That would be a big change from the earlier view of scientists: that these bacteria were originally relatively mild, and only later produced deadly outbreaks.

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Scientists Race to Test Treatments as Ebola Outbreak Widens

Posted on by Lori Jia

The New York Times, June 12, 2026 (with Stephanie Nolen)

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In a hastily assembled Ebola treatment center in Rwampara, Democratic Republic of Congo, Dr. Papys Lame and his colleagues rehydrate patients who arrive in paroxysms of diarrhea and vomiting, transfuse those who bleed uncontrollably from their noses and mouths, and provide oxygen for those in respiratory distress. They monitor patients’ hearts and blood pressure, and treat their intense pain.

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Neil Shubin on Trusted Science in a ‘Deeply Partisan Age’

Posted on by Lori Jia

The New York Times, June 12, 2026

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Neil Shubin, a renowned evolutionary biologist at the University of Chicago, will become the new president of the National Academy of Sciences on July 1, just as the Trump administration is slashing funding for research and seeking to impose greater political control over scientists and their work. He spoke to The New York Times about the state of American science and his hopes for his five-year term as president. This conversation has been edited for brevity and clarity.

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Scientists Edit Human Embryo Genes With Startling Precision

Posted on by Lori Jia

The New York Times, June 4, 2026

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Scientists at Columbia University have edited the DNA of early human embryos with unprecedented accuracy, an achievement that could open the way to babies engineered with particular characteristics.

The prospect has fueled controversy for years. On the one hand, the technology might one day enable parents to safely repair disease-causing mutations in embryos. But it might also be used to select desired traits — a practice that some ethicists have argued is nothing short of eugenics.

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