The New York Times, June 10, 2021 (with Jonathan Corum and Sui-Wee Lee)
Author: Lori Jia
The New York Times, June 3, 2020
Why do some people infected with the coronavirus suffer only mild symptoms, while others become deathly ill?
Geneticists have been scouring our DNA for clues. Now, a study by European scientists is the first to document a strong statistical link between genetic variations and Covid-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus.
Variations at two spots in the human genome are associated with an increased risk of respiratory failure in patients with Covid-19, the researchers found. One of these spots includes the gene that determines blood types.
Continue reading “Genes May Leave Some People More Vulnerable to Severe Covid-19”
The New York Times, June 1, 2020
A lot of people are reading scientific papers for the first time these days, hoping to make sense of the coronavirus pandemic. If you’re one of them, be advised the scientific paper is a peculiar literary genre that can take some getting used to. And also bear in mind that these are not typical times for scientific publishing.
It is hard to think of another moment in history when so many scientists turned their attention to one subject with such speed. In mid-January, scientific papers began trickling out with the first details about the new coronavirus. By the end of the month, the journal Nature marveled that over 50 papers had been published.
Continue reading “How You Should Read Coronavirus Studies, or Any Science Paper”
The New York Times, May 27, 2020
The first confirmed coronavirus infections in Europe and the United States, discovered in January, did not ignite the epidemics that followed, according to a close analysis of hundreds of viral genomes.
Instead, the outbreaks plaguing much of the West began weeks later, the study concluded. The revised timeline may clarify nagging ambiguities about the arrival of the pandemic.
For example, while President Trump has frequently claimed that a ban on travelers from China prevented the epidemic from becoming much worse, the new data suggest that the virus that started Washington State’s epidemic arrived roughly two weeks after the ban was imposed on Feb. 2.
Continue reading “Coronavirus Epidemics Began Later Than Believed, Study Concludes”
The New York Times, May 20, 2020
Scientists are developing more than 100coronavirus vaccines using a range of techniques, some of which are well-established and some of which have never been approved for medical use before.
Most of these vaccines target the so-called spike proteins that cover the virus and help it invade human cells. The immune system can develop antibodies that latch onto spike proteins and stop the virus.
A successful vaccine for the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus would teach people’s immune systems to make antibodies against the virus without causing disease.
Continue reading “Different Approaches to a Coronavirus Vaccine”