Jon Cohen
@cohenjon.bsky.social
Staff writer at Science, specializing in infectious diseases and immunology. Vaccine history geek. Hate outbreaks, love covering them. Serious surf addiction, occasional contributor to the incomparable Surfer's Journal.
Nice to see my boss, Tim Appenzeller, riding the reporter horse again and delivering this history-altering scoop about Rosalind Franklin and her famous photo 51 that helped unravel DNA's structure and function. www.science.org/content/arti...
How did Rosalind Franklin miss the helix in her iconic DNA image? She didn’t
New analysis refutes James Watson’s claim he was first to recognize significance of famed photograph 51
science.org
bhekisisa.org/special-repo... @idajooste.bsky.social and @bhekisisa.bsky.social are the cat’s meow.
SA and Zambia’s HIV shot dilemma: Demand versus supply - Bhekisisa
Early data shows South Africans and Zambians have a big appetite for the twice-yearly HIV prevention injection. But clinics don’t yet have enough doses for everyone who wants it. It’s a balancing act: how do you persuade people to want a new medicine when there isn’t enough of it to go around?
bhekisisa.org
www.science.org/content/arti... Note Kash Patel X link at end. Anyone know what, exactly, he is referring to here?
Former Fauci adviser pleads guilty to hiding COVID-19 communications
David Morens awaits sentencing after admitting to trying to avoid Freedom of Information Act requests
science.org
www.science.org/content/arti... Note additional graph at end with NIH response. Be interesting to hear responses to their provided statement from affected research groups?
NIH lifts ban on funding research in South Africa
Researchers who study HIV, tuberculosis, and other infectious disease in the country welcome policy change
science.org
Many thanks to Pulitzer Center, once again, for supporting us on ambitious reporting projects. This is part of a series that's looking at the restructuring of global health architecture in the wake of cuts in foreign aid, primarily by the U.S. government. www.science.org/content/arti...
This drug could help end the HIV epidemic. Its rollout has hit speed bumps
One shot of lenacapavir can protect for 6 months—but aid cuts and uncertain demand mean little drug has reached the countries that most need it
science.org
John Powers III will replace Jeffrey Taubenberger as NIAID's acting director. Powers, an infectious disease specialist who focuses on antimicrobials, worked as a contractor for NIAID and was employed by Leidos Biomedical, which runs NCI at Frederick. Taubenberger will return to his lab.
An Ecuadorian biologist is accused of scientific misconduct, inflating species counts, mishandling animals, entering reserves without permission and potentially complicating the development of lifesaving snake antivenoms. For more than a year, I investigated him for @science.org:
Did this scientist go too far trying to save Ecuador’s wildlife?
Alejandro Arteaga’s efforts to identify and protect tropical reptiles and amphibians have entangled him in controversy
science.org
Recent news of a Hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship has some worrying that it could become the next pandemic. Journalist @cohenjon.bsky.social breaks down which viral offenders may spark the next worldwide contagion, and how ready we are to address it. bigpicturescience.org/episodes/pre...
From my book, Planning Miracles: How to Prevent Future Pandemics. We know how to make Ebola vaccines that are safe and effective. We could have had a Ebola Bundibugyo vaccine at the ready.
www.science.org/content/arti... Important story by @kakape.bsky.social
BREAKING: WHO declares major outbreak of rare Ebola virus species an international emergency
No vaccines or treatments exist for Ebola Bundibugyo, which has caused hundreds of suspected cases and 80 deaths in Congo and Uganda; WHO warns of
science.org
After 15 years of reporting on infectious disease outbreaks, what continues to fascinate me about them is the challenge of making high-stakes decisions under uncertainty. The hantavirus outbreak on the MV Hondius is a perfect example My story in @science.org is here (and a thread to come): 🧪 #IDsky
What to do with the passengers on the cruise ship hit by hantavirus?
Past studies of Andes virus offer scant evidence on transmission risks, and have sparked debate
science.org
“You would hope that German officials would support scientists’ advice, but they have ignored it,” says one marine biologist who asked not to be identified because they feared repercussions. Must-read story by @martinenserink.bsky.social in @science.org. Feels like an encapsulation of our times 🧪
Chaotic whale rescue shocks marine biologists
Timmy, a humpback whale stranded in Germany 6 weeks ago, was ailing and may already be dead
science.org
