Contributor

B. David Zarley

Senior Staff Writer

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B. David Zarley is a senior staff writer for Freethink, where he covers health and medicine, including infectious disease, psychedelic research, mental health, and the brain. A graduate of SUNY Fredonia, his work has also appeared in The Atlantic, The Verge, Jezebel, Frieze, Sports Illustrated, VICE, Paste Magazine, and numerous other publications. He lives in Chicago and can be reached via Signal by request. Send him story ideas!

DeepMind AI cracks the code of protein structures

A protein’s structure is crucial to its function. Predicting how a protein will fold was a challenge decades in the making — and answered by DeepMind.

B. David Zarley

Genetics

This databank of mammalian genomes is the Noah’s Ark of DNA

The Zoonomia Project is the largest database of mammalian genomes to date, and it’s already helping researchers study SARS-CoV-2 and extinction risk.

B. David Zarley

Public Health

Congo just used vaccines to beat Ebola. What they learned could stop COVID, too.

Congo’s recent success delivering frigid Ebola vaccines to remote areas may provide invaluable experience for a COVID-19 vaccine cold chain.

B. David Zarley

Medicine

Cancer immunotherapy “baits” the immune system into attacking hidden lung tumors

When cancer spreads, it often ends up in the lungs. ImmunoBait can ride a red blood cell in mice to deliver cancer immunotherapy where they live.

B. David Zarley

Virology

We can now see a virus invasion in real-time

Understanding how a virus infects and replicates in a cell is crucial to stopping them. Now, researchers can see an infection in real-time.

B. David Zarley

Coronavirus

The hep C cure may also fight COVID-19

SARS-CoV-2 uses a number of key proteins to infect us, including its main protease. New research has found hepatitis C drugs can bind this protein.

B. David Zarley

Genetics

Bacteria’s self-destruct mechanism may unlock next-level genome editing

A mystery for 30 years, retrons are showing potential as genome-editing tools. Now, we know what they actually do.

B. David Zarley

Virology

A flu vaccine grown in tobacco plants just aced its clinical trials

Plant-based vaccines can be made cheaply and at scale. A tobacco plant-based vaccine for influenza has now been the first to complete clinical trials.

B. David Zarley

Public Health

Finally! A smart toilet offers fecal testing for the masses

Fecal testing can reveal a surprising amount of medical data. Israeli startup OutSense wants to do so from your home.

B. David Zarley

Public Health

Can a new polio vaccine help finish the virus off once and for all?

Thanks to polio vaccines and public health campaigns, polio is on the run — although COVID has it fighting back. Can a new vaccine help turn the tide again?

B. David Zarley