Los Angeles freelance science writer and editor
Last fall in an email to a friend, after COVID cycled through vaccinated, boosted, and sometimes boosted again friends and family, I wondered whether a classic vaccine of attenuated or inactivated virus would have been a better choice to provide long-term immunity against SARS-CoV-2. Then I wrote, “Not sure, as enough people have had the... Continue Reading →
As a scientist, you don’t get much time in the spotlight. It’s late nights and weekends, and you are often alone when you make your discoveries most of which go unnoticed by anyone outside of the niche of other scientists working on similar ideas. The pandemic brought a rare opportunity for a captive audience for... Continue Reading →
by Janice Nigro Early in the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, a non-scientist, the husband of a cousin of mine, asked, “Does life-threatening COVID-19 have anything to do with your genes?” At the time, he saw Italians and men dominating the list of persons worldwide succumbing to the pathogen. I didn’t know, and truth be told, as a molecular... Continue Reading →
by Janice Nigro Every mystery has a cast of characters that sidetracks you from the culprit. A good one keeps you guessing until the end. Then it surprises you. Is Covid-19 one of those stories? I didn’t think it was, and I may be overthinking the dump truck load of information out there on various... Continue Reading →
by Janice Nigro If you didn’t know what molecular biologists did before SARS-CoV-2, you might now know that what they do matters. While the rest of us are locked down in our basements, molecular biologists have come out of theirs, forcing people to bone up on their basic biology. “What is a virus?” or What... Continue Reading →
by Janice Nigro If you had asked me a month ago what I knew about bats, I would have said, “They are the only flying mammals on Earth.” That’s it. While the world has been spinning out of control in the last two months over the Covid-19 pandemic, I have spent a portion of my... Continue Reading →
by Janice Nigro Nature can still surprise us. One sperm, one egg and you are a whale shark, a red hairy shrimp, or a bat terrorizing humans by showering pandemic disease causing viruses down upon them. I’m as caught up as everyone else in the interruption of life, business and the stock market brought upon... Continue Reading →
Janice Nigro I just got done discussing how much I dislike New Year's resolutions, and now here I am writing about them. Because if you're like me, New Year’s resolutions set up a certain dilemma. Panic sets in already on New Year’s Eve when the pact with the new year might fall apart at the... Continue Reading →
by Janice Nigro My colleagues and I just submitted a scientific paper we have been working on for seven years. Seven years. It’s hard for me to admit that. Maybe I shouldn’t admit it. A lot can happen in seven years. Babies have been born, and people spread around the western world like they were... Continue Reading →
by Janice Nigro Like a lot of beginning business writers, I waver between those moments of feeling like an imposter and feeling professional. The only way to gain confidence is to go out and do the job. “Say yes” people tell me. Saying yes is the easy part. “Saying yes, 50% deposit thank you very... Continue Reading →
Janice Nigro 