I’m trying something new with my Coronavirus posts, which is to ask readers of this blog for their questions about the biology of this infection. I’ve been inspired by reading Heather Cox Richardson’s wonderfully informative posts and podcasts on Facebook where she puts current political news in a broader historical context (she also is on Twitter, but I’m not, so I haven’t followed those). Every week she asks her readers and followers for their own pressing questions, and she does her best to put together answers to those questions from her own experience, from talking with colleagues and other professionals, and from reading published scholarly work.
I’d like to do for science news stories what Heather Cox Richardson does for political affairs news. Each week I will look at what is being talked about most in the news media and any questions posted by readers, and I will write one or two posts addressing those issues. Please post any questions you have as messages on my blog. You can also put them as comments on any posts I put on Facebook about my blog, or you can send me them via my Linked In page.
This all comes with a very important disclaimer: while I have a Ph.D. in biology and am broadly trained in a variety of fields, I am NOT a medical doctor, an epidemiologist or any other medical specialist. On the other hand, my credentials include teaching college courses in genetics, cell & molecular biology, immunology, neurobiology, developmental biology, and, weirdly, marine biology, and I have years of experience communicating science to those with and without a science background. Also, I hope everyone understands that I may not be able to address every question that comes my way, but I promise I will read all your messages and comments.
To get us started, this week I am choosing the topic “Coronavirus variants”, and I will be posting I think two separate posts on that within the next day or so, so please watch for those. After that, I’ll be scouting for my next post topic, so start sending those suggestions!
I’m trying something new with my Coronavirus posts, which is to ask readers of this blog for their questions about the biology of this infection. I’ve been inspired by reading Heather Cox Richardson’s wonderfully informative posts and podcasts on Facebook where she puts current political news in a broader historical context (she also is on Twitter, but I’m not, so I haven’t followed those). Every week she asks her readers and followers for their own pressing questions, and she does her best to put together answers to those questions from her own experience, from talking with colleagues and other professionals, and from reading published scholarly work.
I’d like to do for science news stories what Heather Cox Richardson does for political affairs news. Each week I will look at what is being talked about most in the news media and any questions posted by readers, and I will write one or two posts addressing those issues. Please post any questions you have as messages on my blog. You can also put them as comments on any posts I put on Facebook about my blog, or you can send me them via my Linked In page.
This all comes with a very important disclaimer: while I have a Ph.D. in biology and am broadly trained in a variety of fields, I am NOT a medical doctor, an epidemiologist or any other medical specialist. On the other hand, my credentials include teaching college courses in genetics, cell & molecular biology, immunology, neurobiology, developmental biology, and, weirdly, marine biology, and I have years of experience communicating science to those with and without a science background. Also, I hope everyone understands that I may not be able to address every question that comes my way, but I promise I will read all your messages and comments.
To get us started, this week I am choosing the topic “Coronavirus variants”, and I will be posting I think two separate posts on that within the next day or so, so please watch for those. After that, I’ll be scouting for my next post topic, so start sending those suggestions!
Science in Translation 