The Viruses That Could Cure Cancer (or Wipe Out Humanity)

Gideon Lichfield: OK, but let me play the synthetic biology devil’s advocate for a second. Lauren Goode: OK, OK. Gideon Lichfield: When you have kids, you are throwing the genetic dice, you are mixing your DNA and that of your partners, and— Lauren Goode: Oh, is that how you have kids? [laughter] Should we get […]

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Brace Yourself for a Triple Wave of Seasonal Viruses

Every year it’s the same. As soon as it starts to get cold, people gather indoors. Windows are pulled shut. Commuters forgo walking or cycling, opting for packed buses and subways. Our whole world retreats to where it’s warm, our breath condensing on the windows of homes, offices, schools, and transport, showing just how well […]

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Viruses to Fight Superbugs? Scientists Are Working on It

In 2015, Steffanie Strathdee, distinguished professor of medicine and associate dean of global health sciences at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), was confronted with an antimicrobial-resistant infection the likes of which she had never come across. The patient involved was a man who had developed pancreatitis, an inflammation of the pancreas, but further […]

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