CRISPR, 10 Years On: Learning to Rewrite the Code of Life

Posted on June 27, 2022August 31, 2022 by Matt Kristoffersen

The New York Times, June 27, 2022

Ten years ago this week, Jennifer Doudna and her colleagues published the results of a test-tube experiment on bacterial genes. When the study came out in the journal Science on June 28, 2012, it did not make headline news. In fact, over the next few weeks, it did not make any news at all.

Looking back, Dr. Doudna wondered if the oversight had something to do with the wonky title she and her colleagues had chosen for the study: “A Programmable Dual RNA-Guided DNA Endonuclease in Adaptive Bacterial Immunity.”

“I suppose if I were writing the paper today, I would have chosen a different title,” Dr. Doudna, a biochemist at the University of California, Berkeley, said in an interview. Continue reading “CRISPR, 10 Years On: Learning to Rewrite the Code of Life” →

You Don’t Need a Microscope to See the Biggest Bacteria Ever Found

Posted on June 23, 2022August 31, 2022 by Matt Kristoffersen

The New York Times, June 23, 2022

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In a Caribbean mangrove forest, scientists have discovered a species of bacteria that grows to the size and shape of a human eyelash.

These cells are the largest bacteria ever observed, thousands of times bigger than more familiar bacteria such as Escherichia coli. “It would be like meeting another human the size of Mount Everest,” said Jean-Marie Volland, a microbiologist at the Joint Genome Institute in Berkeley, Calif.

Dr. Volland and his colleagues published their study of the bacteria, called Thiomargarita magnifica, on Thursday in the journal Science. Continue reading “You Don’t Need a Microscope to See the Biggest Bacteria Ever Found” →

Think All Viruses Get Milder With Time? Not This Rabbit-Killer.

Posted on June 20, 2022August 31, 2022 by Matt Kristoffersen

The New York Times, June 20, 2022

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As the Covid death rate worldwide has fallen to its lowest level since the early weeks of the pandemic in 2020, it may be tempting to conclude that the coronavirus is becoming irreversibly milder. That notion fits with a widespread belief that all viruses start off nasty and inevitably evolve to become gentler over time.

“There’s been this dominant narrative that natural forces are going to solve this pandemic for us,” said Aris Katzourakis, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Oxford.

But there is no such natural law. A virus’s evolution often takes unexpected twists and turns. For many virologists, the best example of this unpredictability is a pathogen that has been ravaging rabbits in Australia for the past 72 years: the myxoma virus. Continue reading “Think All Viruses Get Milder With Time? Not This Rabbit-Killer.” →

Ivermectin Has Little Effect on Recovery Time From Covid, Study Finds

Posted on June 12, 2022August 31, 2022 by Matt Kristoffersen

The New York Times, June 12, 2022

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The antiparasite drug ivermectin does not meaningfully reduce the time needed to recover from Covid, according to a large study posted online Sunday. It is the largest of several clinical trials to show that the drug, popular since the early pandemic as an alternative treatment, is not effective against the virus.

The new trial, conducted by researchers at Duke University and Vanderbilt University, tested more than 1,500 people with Covid, about half getting the drug and the others a placebo. The study has not yet been published in a scientific journal.

“Given these results, there does not appear to be a role for ivermectin outside of a clinical trial setting, especially considering other available options with proven reduction in hospitalizations and death,” Dr. Adrian Hernandez, the executive director of the Duke Clinical Research Institute who led the trial, said in a statement on Sunday night. Continue reading “Ivermectin Has Little Effect on Recovery Time From Covid, Study Finds” →

Mysteries Linger About Covid’s Origins, W.H.O. Report Says

Posted on June 9, 2022August 31, 2022 by Matt Kristoffersen

The New York Times, June 9, 2022 (with Benjamin Mueller)

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In its first report, a team of international scientists assembled by the World Health Organization to advise on the origins of the coronavirus said on Thursday that bats likely carried an ancestor of the coronavirus that may have then spilled over into a mammal sold at a wildlife market. But the team said that more Chinese data was needed to study how the virus spread to people, including the possibility that a lab leak played a role.

The team, appointed by the W.H.O. in October as the organization tried to reset its approach to studying the pandemic’s origins, said that Chinese scientists had shared information with them, including from unpublished studies, on two occasions. But gaps in Chinese reports made it difficult to determine when and where the outbreak emerged, the report said. Continue reading “Mysteries Linger About Covid’s Origins, W.H.O. Report Says” →