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Author Archives: almostlikescience
How to Survive a STEM PhD
I recently wrote a short eBook, which is now available on Amazon! It was a fun project and primarily a way to collect lots of advice I’ve received over the years. I’m including a short excerpt here—for the full book, … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
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Plantation Peril
Replacing rainforests with farms has many obvious consequences, but a recent paper from Nature Communications suggests that the ecological effect of deforestation is even greater than previously imagined. In this study, researchers, including several from UC Berkeley, showed that species … Continue reading
Posted in BSR, Policy, research, Uncategorized
Tagged Conservation, Environment, Labscope, Nature Communications, research
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Book Review—Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams
Lying awake at three o’clock in the morning, I began silently cursing the pillow, the blankets, the streetlight filtering in through my window. I had never had trouble sleeping before, but a perfect storm of deadlines and responsibilities had made … Continue reading
Posted in Book Review, BSR, Personal
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Berkeley Science Review: From the Editor (Fall 2017, Issue 33)
The past year has been a whirlwind as Editor in Chief of the Berkeley Science Review. This is a reprint of my final From the Editor, which describes some of the work I’ve helped edit and produce over the past … Continue reading
Posted in BSR
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Beyond the Controversy: How CRISPR/Cas9 Permanently Modified Molecular Biology
CRISPR/Cas9, a new, easy, and rapid genome editing technique, is at the center of heated debates over gene therapy, human embryo manipulation, and genetically-modified crops. While the most controversial applications of CRISPR/Cas9 likely will not affect the general public for years, this technique immediately and … Continue reading
Posted in Medicine, research
Tagged basic research, CRISPR, Medicine, research, RNA, UC Berkeley, Zika
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The business of microbiology
Last night, Bill Gates spoke to a thousands of scientists at the opening night of the American Society for Microbiology conference. Over an hour, he discussed past and current work on various diseases including polio, malaria, tuberculosis, and others. In each … Continue reading
Posted in ASM 2016, Business
Tagged ASMS 2016, conference, eradication, infectious disease, microbiology, research, vaccination
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Editing sensationalism (or: Don’t throw away your cellphone)
Earlier this week, a top story on my Google News feed caught my eye. “Report claims cellphones cause cancer!” one site blared. “Mobile phones can cause cancer,” read another headline. One was particularly bad: from the headline, to the buried critiques, to … Continue reading
Posted in Medicine, research
Tagged cancer, cellphones, research, science writing, sensationalization
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Chimpanzees, Top Hats, and Biomedical Research
I’d heard a lot about Emma before I finally met her. I’d heard about her resourceful, clear nonverbal communication, where she seemed to use magazine pictures or toys to get her point across. I’d heard that her games were playful and varied, and her … Continue reading
Protecting gut bacteria: Targeted antibiotics reduce microbiome disruption in mice
Broad-spectrum antibiotics, commonly prescribed for many kinds of bacterial infections, are one of the great medical triumphs of our time. Before antibiotics, scientists had few tools to fight diseases that had affected humans for centuries; now, we can simply swallow an oral pill to … Continue reading
Posted in Medicine
Tagged antibiotics, Medicine, microbiome, research, selective therapies
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Reducing transphobia, one conversation at a time
A recent study published in Science shows that personal conversation—with an emphasis on actively taking another person’s perspective—can reduce anti-transgender prejudice for up to 3 months. Most research to date (and many people’s personal experiences) show that changing deeply ingrained prejudices is … Continue reading
Almost Like Science 