Carolyn Johnson
@carolynyjohnson.bsky.social
science reporter - Washington Post
Email: carolyn.johnson@washpost.com
Signal: carojo.55
Email: carolyn.johnson@washpost.com
Signal: carojo.55
"A priority among local transportation agencies remains avoiding traffic jams rather than responding to concerns of pedestrians in the most danger, who are more likely to live in poor neighborhoods and wield less political influence." www.washingtonpost.com/business/int...
November 19, 2025 at 3:23 PM
"A priority among local transportation agencies remains avoiding traffic jams rather than responding to concerns of pedestrians in the most danger, who are more likely to live in poor neighborhoods and wield less political influence." www.washingtonpost.com/business/int...
In a first, scientists sequence the oldest RNA from a 39,000-year-old woolly mammoth wapo.st/4qXwTxU
How a frozen mammoth named Yuka is redefining the study of ancient RNA
Scientists sequence the oldest RNA from a 39,000-year-old woolly mammoth.
wapo.st
November 14, 2025 at 5:14 PM
In a first, scientists sequence the oldest RNA from a 39,000-year-old woolly mammoth wapo.st/4qXwTxU
A provocative preprint showed AI designing novel viruses. Some of them could kill E. coli!
Even scientists don't totally agree on "what it means" -- but they've been talking about it. A window into the debate
🎁link:
wapo.st/4hR6A8t
Even scientists don't totally agree on "what it means" -- but they've been talking about it. A window into the debate
🎁link:
wapo.st/4hR6A8t
Inside the debate over a tech breakthrough raising questions about life itself
A research team at Stanford University has harnessed the power of AI to design phages, raising questions about the future of biotechnology and its applications.
wapo.st
November 11, 2025 at 3:45 PM
A provocative preprint showed AI designing novel viruses. Some of them could kill E. coli!
Even scientists don't totally agree on "what it means" -- but they've been talking about it. A window into the debate
🎁link:
wapo.st/4hR6A8t
Even scientists don't totally agree on "what it means" -- but they've been talking about it. A window into the debate
🎁link:
wapo.st/4hR6A8t
It is a tender time for the nascent field of CRISPR gene editing...
A small trial shows the potential to use the tech to lower LDL cholesterol and trigylcerides, but a patient died this week in a different trial now on hold
🎁link: wapo.st/4oGpJfS
A small trial shows the potential to use the tech to lower LDL cholesterol and trigylcerides, but a patient died this week in a different trial now on hold
🎁link: wapo.st/4oGpJfS
How a ‘one and done’ gene-editing treatment could lower cholesterol
A cutting-edge medical experiment in a small trial has demonstrated the effectiveness of a one-time CRISPR gene editing treatment in lowering cholesterol levels
wapo.st
November 8, 2025 at 3:46 PM
It is a tender time for the nascent field of CRISPR gene editing...
A small trial shows the potential to use the tech to lower LDL cholesterol and trigylcerides, but a patient died this week in a different trial now on hold
🎁link: wapo.st/4oGpJfS
A small trial shows the potential to use the tech to lower LDL cholesterol and trigylcerides, but a patient died this week in a different trial now on hold
🎁link: wapo.st/4oGpJfS
A ferocious paleontology debate -- over teenage T. rex vs. Nanotyrannus -- may finally be settled. @arctomet.bsky.social @stevebrusatte.bsky.social @jgn-paleo.bsky.social
As an editor of mine used to say... ain't no fight like a science fight. 🎁link: wapo.st/47D18l5
As an editor of mine used to say... ain't no fight like a science fight. 🎁link: wapo.st/47D18l5
A ferocious debate over teenage T. rex fossils may finally be settled
For decades, paleontologists debated whether fossils were of a young T. rex or a species called nanotyrannus. A new study settles it: Nanotyrannus is real.
wapo.st
October 30, 2025 at 4:31 PM
A ferocious paleontology debate -- over teenage T. rex vs. Nanotyrannus -- may finally be settled. @arctomet.bsky.social @stevebrusatte.bsky.social @jgn-paleo.bsky.social
As an editor of mine used to say... ain't no fight like a science fight. 🎁link: wapo.st/47D18l5
As an editor of mine used to say... ain't no fight like a science fight. 🎁link: wapo.st/47D18l5
In the middle of a shutdown, NIH appointed a new head for its institute on environmental health sciences. The new NIEHS director, Kyle Walsh, is a Duke neurosurgeon who studies glial cells. He also calls VP JD Vance, who officiated his wedding, one of his closest friends.
October 17, 2025 at 9:17 PM
In the middle of a shutdown, NIH appointed a new head for its institute on environmental health sciences. The new NIEHS director, Kyle Walsh, is a Duke neurosurgeon who studies glial cells. He also calls VP JD Vance, who officiated his wedding, one of his closest friends.
Reposted by Carolyn Johnson
Drugs treating cancer, epilepsy, & HIV were developed thanks to millions in federal funding for universities.
What lifesaving drugs are future patients missing out on due to Trump’s attacks?
https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/interactive/2025/trump-university-research-medicine
What lifesaving drugs are future patients missing out on due to Trump’s attacks?
https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/interactive/2025/trump-university-research-medicine
www.washingtonpost.com
October 6, 2025 at 10:07 PM
Drugs treating cancer, epilepsy, & HIV were developed thanks to millions in federal funding for universities.
What lifesaving drugs are future patients missing out on due to Trump’s attacks?
https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/interactive/2025/trump-university-research-medicine
What lifesaving drugs are future patients missing out on due to Trump’s attacks?
https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/interactive/2025/trump-university-research-medicine
Just got the best, ever, response when trying to track down a Nobel winner: "Dr. Ramsdell is currently living his best life and is off the grid on a pre-planned hiking trip."
t.co/j5nCkpejnf
t.co/j5nCkpejnf
https://wapo.st/3WmtESD
t.co
October 6, 2025 at 7:34 PM
Just got the best, ever, response when trying to track down a Nobel winner: "Dr. Ramsdell is currently living his best life and is off the grid on a pre-planned hiking trip."
t.co/j5nCkpejnf
t.co/j5nCkpejnf
Reposted by Carolyn Johnson
Another excellent piece by @carolynyjohnson.bsky.social et al. that raises the question: what is the administration doing other than dismantling for dismantling's sake?
🎁
wapo.st/4q1M3ly
🎁
wapo.st/4q1M3ly
Trump slashed funding for universities that helped create these vital drugs
Medications that prevent HIV, shrink tumors and treat seizures were invented with government funding. At research universities, that money is now canceled or in jeopardy.
wapo.st
October 6, 2025 at 1:23 PM
Another excellent piece by @carolynyjohnson.bsky.social et al. that raises the question: what is the administration doing other than dismantling for dismantling's sake?
🎁
wapo.st/4q1M3ly
🎁
wapo.st/4q1M3ly
AI can design toxic proteins. They’re escaping through biosecurity cracks. wapo.st/4nxxeFv
AI can design toxic proteins. They’re escaping through biosecurity cracks.
Artificial intelligence can design toxic proteins that escape biosecurity cracks, sparking concerns over potential misuse.
wapo.st
October 3, 2025 at 2:46 PM
AI can design toxic proteins. They’re escaping through biosecurity cracks. wapo.st/4nxxeFv
Reposted by Carolyn Johnson
@carolynyjohnson.bsky.social completes my "mitomeiosis" trifecta for the day: www.washingtonpost.com/science/2025... “Even when they succeeded, it didn’t really succeed,” said Hank Greely... “It’s interesting, but not useful yet.”
Cool story & I'm happy to see good labs working on this stuff!
Cool story & I'm happy to see good labs working on this stuff!
Scientists keep trying to create human eggs in a dish. It’s not easy.
Scientists are working to create human eggs in a laboratory dish, but the process is proving to be more challenging than expected.
www.washingtonpost.com
September 30, 2025 at 9:34 PM
@carolynyjohnson.bsky.social completes my "mitomeiosis" trifecta for the day: www.washingtonpost.com/science/2025... “Even when they succeeded, it didn’t really succeed,” said Hank Greely... “It’s interesting, but not useful yet.”
Cool story & I'm happy to see good labs working on this stuff!
Cool story & I'm happy to see good labs working on this stuff!
How an obscure budgeting shift is leaving great science -- including a trial for a devastating children's brain tumor -- in limbo
wapo.st/4ngFN7u
wapo.st/4ngFN7u
NIH pulled off a ‘near miracle.’ Scientists say there’s still a problem.
The National Institutes of Health is on track to give away all of its grant money to labs, but research on cancer, aging and diabetes is still being left behind.
wapo.st
September 26, 2025 at 2:11 PM
How an obscure budgeting shift is leaving great science -- including a trial for a devastating children's brain tumor -- in limbo
wapo.st/4ngFN7u
wapo.st/4ngFN7u
Reposted by Carolyn Johnson
This is a big advance, folks. We've never had a disease-modifying drug for this devastating inherited disease
www.science.org/content/arti...
www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...
www.economist.com/science-and-...
www.science.org/content/arti...
www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...
www.economist.com/science-and-...
September 25, 2025 at 8:13 PM
This is a big advance, folks. We've never had a disease-modifying drug for this devastating inherited disease
www.science.org/content/arti...
www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...
www.economist.com/science-and-...
www.science.org/content/arti...
www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...
www.economist.com/science-and-...
Reposted by Carolyn Johnson
"Unraveling how [Robertsonian translocations] form is basic science, unlikely to have an immediate impact on anyone’s health or fertility, but it shows how new technologies continue to open doors, solving decades-old mysteries."
For decades, scientists puzzled over a genetic anomaly. They just solved it. wapo.st/3VyLmlx
For decades, scientists puzzled over a genetic anomaly. They just solved it.
By examining “junk DNA,” scientists are finding clues to understanding human biology.
wapo.st
September 24, 2025 at 9:13 PM
"Unraveling how [Robertsonian translocations] form is basic science, unlikely to have an immediate impact on anyone’s health or fertility, but it shows how new technologies continue to open doors, solving decades-old mysteries."
For decades, scientists puzzled over a genetic anomaly. They just solved it. wapo.st/3VyLmlx
For decades, scientists puzzled over a genetic anomaly. They just solved it.
By examining “junk DNA,” scientists are finding clues to understanding human biology.
wapo.st
September 24, 2025 at 7:42 PM
For decades, scientists puzzled over a genetic anomaly. They just solved it. wapo.st/3VyLmlx
‘Can we talk about RFK Jr.?’ Inside the chill sweeping vaccine makers wapo.st/3JVbyEz
‘Can we talk about RFK Jr.?’ Inside the chill sweeping vaccine makers
The ascendance of vaccine critic Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as the top health official is creating an environment where promising vaccines are harder to develop, scientists and investors say.
wapo.st
September 14, 2025 at 2:25 PM
‘Can we talk about RFK Jr.?’ Inside the chill sweeping vaccine makers wapo.st/3JVbyEz
Terry Tao, the world’s greatest living mathematician, avoided politics. Then Trump cut science funding.
Tao on math, funding and why America has been such a special place to do research. 🎁 link: wapo.st/47r7Ig1
Tao on math, funding and why America has been such a special place to do research. 🎁 link: wapo.st/47r7Ig1
The world’s greatest mathematician avoided politics. Then Trump cut science funding.
Terence Tao, a renowned mathematician at UCLA, faced funding challenges after the Trump administration froze federal research funds.
wapo.st
September 8, 2025 at 1:15 PM
Terry Tao, the world’s greatest living mathematician, avoided politics. Then Trump cut science funding.
Tao on math, funding and why America has been such a special place to do research. 🎁 link: wapo.st/47r7Ig1
Tao on math, funding and why America has been such a special place to do research. 🎁 link: wapo.st/47r7Ig1
Reposted by Carolyn Johnson
The No. 2 at NIH repeatedly insisted vaccines are unnecessary in a healthy society even when presented evidence healthy children died of flu, according to whistleblower complaints.
@carolynyjohnson.bsky.social reports www.washingtonpost.com/science/2025...
@carolynyjohnson.bsky.social reports www.washingtonpost.com/science/2025...
September 5, 2025 at 12:35 PM
The No. 2 at NIH repeatedly insisted vaccines are unnecessary in a healthy society even when presented evidence healthy children died of flu, according to whistleblower complaints.
@carolynyjohnson.bsky.social reports www.washingtonpost.com/science/2025...
@carolynyjohnson.bsky.social reports www.washingtonpost.com/science/2025...
Reposted by Carolyn Johnson
BREAKING Florida moves to end all school vaccine mandates, first in nation to do so. @davidovalle.bsky.social
www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...
www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...
Florida moves to end all school vaccine mandates, first in nation to do so
Florida Surgeon General Joseph A. Ladapo criticized school vaccine mandates, which every state has, and likened them to slavery.
www.washingtonpost.com
September 3, 2025 at 4:12 PM
BREAKING Florida moves to end all school vaccine mandates, first in nation to do so. @davidovalle.bsky.social
www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...
www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...
Reposted by Carolyn Johnson
Scoop - SUSAN MONAREZ, nation’s newly installed CDC director, is being ousted, people familiar tell @lenasun.bsky.social @laurenweberhp.bsky.social + me
CDC director being ousted weeks into job
Susan Monarez, a longtime federal government scientist, was confirmed by the Senate in late July to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
www.washingtonpost.com
August 27, 2025 at 8:19 PM
Scoop - SUSAN MONAREZ, nation’s newly installed CDC director, is being ousted, people familiar tell @lenasun.bsky.social @laurenweberhp.bsky.social + me
Reposted by Carolyn Johnson
NEW: More than 750 current and former staff of HHS, including @CDCgov, and NIH, have signed a letter to RFKJr and members of Congress accusing him of endangering the lives of employees and the American people following the Aug 8 attack on the CDC.
www.savehhs.org/letter/hhs-s...
www.savehhs.org/letter/hhs-s...
HHS Staff Response to the August 8th Attack — Save HHS
Public servants and allies are standing together to demand work environments free from violence, accountability for leaders and policymakers who put everyday Americans in danger, and public health lea...
www.savehhs.org
August 20, 2025 at 1:00 PM
NEW: More than 750 current and former staff of HHS, including @CDCgov, and NIH, have signed a letter to RFKJr and members of Congress accusing him of endangering the lives of employees and the American people following the Aug 8 attack on the CDC.
www.savehhs.org/letter/hhs-s...
www.savehhs.org/letter/hhs-s...
Reposted by Carolyn Johnson
The thing that underlaid Trump’s first impeachment — impoundment — is back.
And if anyone is going to do something about it, it’s gotta happen soon.
www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...
And if anyone is going to do something about it, it’s gotta happen soon.
www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...
August 19, 2025 at 5:01 PM
The thing that underlaid Trump’s first impeachment — impoundment — is back.
And if anyone is going to do something about it, it’s gotta happen soon.
www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...
And if anyone is going to do something about it, it’s gotta happen soon.
www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...
"What I would simply say is cancer can't wait." --Richard Schlueter, a 56-year-old metastatic cancer patient whose therapy was delayed due to terminations at NIH.
August 18, 2025 at 10:18 PM
"What I would simply say is cancer can't wait." --Richard Schlueter, a 56-year-old metastatic cancer patient whose therapy was delayed due to terminations at NIH.
Reposted by Carolyn Johnson
"It is acceptable to engage a child in conversations that are romantic or sensual." Meta removed that language from its internal guidelines after I raised it.
AI experts worry financial incentives will blur the line between human relationships and bot engagement.
www.reuters.com/investigates...
AI experts worry financial incentives will blur the line between human relationships and bot engagement.
www.reuters.com/investigates...
Meta’s AI rules have let bots hold ‘sensual’ chats with children
An internal Meta policy document reveals the social-media giant’s rules for chatbots, which have permitted provocative behavior on topics including sex and race.
www.reuters.com
August 14, 2025 at 2:11 PM
"It is acceptable to engage a child in conversations that are romantic or sensual." Meta removed that language from its internal guidelines after I raised it.
AI experts worry financial incentives will blur the line between human relationships and bot engagement.
www.reuters.com/investigates...
AI experts worry financial incentives will blur the line between human relationships and bot engagement.
www.reuters.com/investigates...
Reposted by Carolyn Johnson
Yesterday I discovered that ChatGPT's PhD-level expertise didn't extend to bird anatomy. This morning I thought, perhaps I was being too hard on the half-trillion-dollar company. Birds are a little weird, anatomically speaking. Let's try something more familiar. A mammal. Behold.
August 14, 2025 at 2:16 PM
Yesterday I discovered that ChatGPT's PhD-level expertise didn't extend to bird anatomy. This morning I thought, perhaps I was being too hard on the half-trillion-dollar company. Birds are a little weird, anatomically speaking. Let's try something more familiar. A mammal. Behold.