Author: Matt Kristoffersen

As an industry giant invests in science fairs, we all invest (for better or worse) in biotech

Posted on by Matt Kristoffersen

STAT, May 26, 2016

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At the American Museum of Natural History, the venerable Science Talent Search announced Thursday that it was changing sponsors for the second time in its 74-year history.

In 1942 Westinghouse became the corporate partner for the nation’s largest research competition for high school students. In 1998, Intel took over as a sponsor for the next 18 years. Now it’s handing off to Regeneron Pharmaceuticals.

That’s a telling sequence — one that speaks to how science fairs have been a microcosm for how we look to science to help our country thrive, and how we’ve looked to different kinds of science along the way.

Continue reading “As an industry giant invests in science fairs, we all invest (for better or worse) in biotech” →

Friday’s Elk, May 20, 2016

Posted on by Matt Kristoffersen

Greetings–

In previous issues of Friday’s Elk, I’ve shared a number of stories about ancient DNA and what it’s telling us about our history. This week, I wrote a long profile for the New York Times about one of the most intriguing figures in this exploding discipline, a geneticist named Eske Willerslev. His story conveys not only the excitement of this field, but the powerful, complex resonance that ancient DNA has for today’s world. Continue reading “Friday’s Elk, May 20, 2016” →

Friday’s Elk, May 13, 2016

Posted on by Matt Kristoffersen

Greetings–
 

Getting Astronaut Blood From Space

I’ve got a new video out in my Science Happens series for Stat. This time, I paid a visit to the lab of Chris Mason in New York, where he and his colleagues are studying blood and other samples from astronaut Scott Kelly. They’re examining his DNA to see if life in space brings about any changes in how his genes work. Check it out. (GIF from NASA) Continue reading “Friday’s Elk, May 13, 2016” →

Friday’s Elk, May 6, 2016

Posted on by Matt Kristoffersen

Greetings–

I’m back, with some further reading for your enjoyment and edification (I hope!).
 

Fighting Zika with the Most Amazing Microbe

Have you ever heard of Wolbachia? If not, you have a wonderful surprise in store. It’s arguably the most successful symbiont on Earth, a species of bacteria that lives inside several million species of invertebrates. And it thrives in those hosts with weird manipulations of their reproduction. I’ve written about Wolbachia a few times in the past (here for example), and this week in the New York Times I revisit it to explore an exciting possibility: that Wolbachia could block mosquito-borne diseases including Zika and dengue fever. Check it out. Continue reading “Friday’s Elk, May 6, 2016” →

Friday’s Elk, April 22, 2016

Posted on by Matt Kristoffersen

Greetings–

It’s a short email today. Also, a head’s up that I won’t be sending out a Friday’s Elk next week. I’ll be back in touch in May. Happy Spring!
 

California’s Mysterious Foxes

About nine thousand years ago, gray foxes arrived on California’s Channel Islands. They’ve since evolved into a new species–a tiny animal that’s smaller than a house cat. In my column this week in The New York Times, I write about a new study that peers into their genomes–and finds next to no genetic variation. How they’ve survived with that kind of DNA is a mystery. Continue reading “Friday’s Elk, April 22, 2016” →