Asimov Press

In a little over a century, the electron microscope evolved from a tool barely capable of resolving virus particles into one able to capture atomic detail. By Smrithi Sunil.

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Genetically modified crops are finding a foothold in the Global South, producing some unlikely leaders in agritech. By Dr. Alex Wakeman.

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How aquaporin and potassium channels filter hundreds of millions of water molecules or ions each second, by positioning the correct amino acid in the perfect place. By Niko McCarty.

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How a liver goes from a brain-dead donor to a living recipient. By Donna Vatnick. Read every article from Asimov Press, for free, at press.asimov.com.

There has been a push toward animal-free alternatives in scientific research. But the success of such alternatives hinges upon whether and where they can outperform standard animal models. By Celia Ford.

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Biotechnology needs more and better transducers. A column by Niko McCarty.

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In 4,000 years, cataract surgery went from a crude procedure involving thorn instruments to a 20-minute operation with a 95 percent clinical success rate. The next step is broadening access. By Dr. Sangeetha Aravinda

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A new paper from Arc Institute shows that a generative AI model can be used to design viable bacteriophages. By Niko McCarty.

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Our ancestors once spread their excess effluent on their fields; now we mine it for vital molecules. By Calum Drysdale.

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Seasonal dormancy features in the life cycle of many insects. We can harness it for biological control, insect farming, and disease vector management at scale. By Ulkar Aghayeva.

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A single yeast cell weighs about one million times less than a grain of sand. But how do we know this? By Niko McCarty.

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While we’ve derived useful molecules from the leech, live leech therapy has been largely marginalized in the West. It is time we reevaluate why. By Khushi Mittal & Xander Balwit.

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A plant biologist’s quest to design and create 1,000 unique flowers, mostly in his spare time. By Niko McCarty.

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Sunlight represents a seemingly endless source of largely untapped energy. Just how endless is it? Written by Sam Clamons.

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A look inside Parallel Squared Technology Institute, a focused research organization trying to make analyzing a proteome as easy as DNA sequencing. By Niko McCarty.

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By spinning bacteria in circles, scientists figured out how phage viruses time their escape from an infected cell. By Kamal Nahas.

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By spinning bacteria in circles, scientists figured out how phage viruses time their escape from an infected cell. By Kamal Nahas.

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How a discovery in a Danish lake changed our understanding of biological communities and energy. By Niko McCarty.

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Mechanism alone cannot make a science credible. It must describe its subject matter in terms of entities, properties, and rules. By SLIME MOLD TIME MOLD.

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Long before Ozempic and Mounjaro, there were mitochondrial uncouplers. While deadly if not used with care, it might be time for them to make a comeback. By Alex Telford.

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The history of humanity’s pharmacopeia is often muddied by folklore. What can the origins of aspirin teach us about separating fact from fiction? By Sean Harrison.

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A science fiction story brought to life through a pro-GMO dinner. By Xander Balwit.

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Prominent scientists continue to claim life is “just” slime on a spinning rock. However, in an age when the rarity and fragility of life are increasingly evident, it’s time to retire the metaphor.

By Thomas Moynihan.

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The slow growth of model organisms delays biological research. Engineering cells to divide more quickly could speed it up. By Kamal Nahas.

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Researchers at the Institute for Protein Design have made a computationally-designed, multi-step enzyme.

(Sci-Fi) Bioart emerges where biological science, technology, and aesthetics collide. For one terminally ill artist, it offered a chance at immortality. By Spencer Nitkey.

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Toxic amino acids, peptides, and proteins — which first evolved as molecular weapons deployed by species in conflict — can also serve as blueprints for pharmaceutical innovation. By Noah Whiteman.

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Further evidence of biological intelligence. Read every article, for free, at press.asimov.com.

From the archives: What it will take to transform bacteriophages into a 21st-century medicine. By Tom Ireland.

New technologies, such as in-ovo sexing, on-farm hatching, and in-ovo vaccination can make the poultry supply chain both better for animal welfare and more efficient. By Robert Yaman.

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By studying the millennia-old arms race between soil-dwelling microbes, scientists can pre-empt antibiotic resistance before it emerges in people.

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We have the technology to detect airborne pathogens in real time. Now we must use it. By Deena Mousa.

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A research study reveals that some vertebrate genomes mutate 40-times faster than others. Researchers should account for this when it comes to replicating studies.

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Revisiting Lewis Thomas' classic essay, "Seven Wonders," more than 40 years after it was published. By Niko McCarty.

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The modern centrifuge was first designed for milkfat separation in the dairy industry. Today, it is ubiquitous in research laboratories. To whom do we owe its astonishing versatility? By Roberta McLain

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How a chance discovery in bioluminescent jellyfish led to one of the most transformative tools in modern biology: green fluorescent protein.

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How a chance discovery in bioluminescent jellyfish led to one of the most transformative tools in modern biology: green fluorescent protein. A behind-the-scenes interview with the article's author, Smrithi Sunil.

With a litany of gene therapies and longevity medicine staving off biological death, those paid to write about it must reimagine their craft.

Written and recorded by Xander Balwit.

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A behind-the-scenes interview with Xander Balwit, author of our recent piece entitled, "Eulogy to the Obits."

Some researchers claim that a Chilean vine can mimic the leaves of a plastic houseplant thanks to a form of primitive vision. But extraordinary claims require equally extraordinary evidence. Written and recorded by Martin Bourdev.

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Why biologists should operate with a sense of urgency. A guest column by Stephen Malina.

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Sebastian Cocioba, a vocal advocate for amateur science, built a home laboratory from spare parts and second-hand machines purchased on eBay.

While we know how to break organisms down to their constituent parts, even at the atomic level, building them from scratch remains difficult.

Engineered ants are helping to reveal the neuroscience of pheromone signaling. Written by Taylor Hart.

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Prions are extremely resilient, infectious proteins. Studying their shape-shifting abilities could reveal lessons for how proteins fold at a molecular level, helping scientists design better ones.

Prions are extremely resilient, infectious proteins. Studying their shape-shifting abilities could reveal lessons for how proteins fold at a molecular level, helping scientists design better ones. Written by Eryney Marrogi and Theodore Sternlieb.

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Cultivarium, a small nonprofit, is building tools to grow and engineer peculiar organisms—and then giving their discoveries away for free.

Water is the most significant bottleneck in terraforming the Red Planet. An article by Devon Stork.

A tiny fern has a genome 50 times larger than a human’s. Energy and diffusion—not the nucleus volume—are the key bottlenecks to more expansive growth.

More than a century after the invention of vaccines, a veterinarian stumbled across a technique to boost their efficacy in an unlikely way — by observing wounded horses. By Kamal Nahas.

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A cautionary tale about the competitive pressures of scientific research, and how they alter the course of history. Written by Metacelsus and recorded by Xander Balwit.

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A behind-the-scenes discussion with Metacelsus, author of "The Nobel Duel," a cautionary tale about the competitive pressures of scientific research and how they alter the course of history.

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Two physical constraints help explain why cells are so tiny: surface area-to-volume ratios and diffusion. This is the first article in our new Data Series.

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Serratia marcescens’ vivid blood-red color has prompted its use in a wide range of experiments that have increased our understanding of how germs disperse within human bodies, buildings, and populations. Sightings of the striking microbe outside the lab have awakened both fear and awe in the general population. 

The awareness that certain strains of Serratia marcescens can cause severe harm to humans — counter-intuitively, the paler varieties are most dangerous — only became evident decades after Gordon’s investigations. Before then, hospitals deliberately sprayed Serratia marcescens inside their facilities to investigate microbial dispersion, and laboratory handbooks demonstrated transmission by handshake by hav...

Serratia marcescens, a pathogen with an uncanny resemblance to blood, has had an outsized influence on modern science. In the latest article from Asimov Press, author Corrado Nai explains how research into this organism has revealed how handshakes transmit disease, how bacteria enter the bloodstream, and how an illness can spread through large cities. Our audio correspondent, Carlos Bricio, interviewed Corrado Nai to learn more.

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A look inside FutureHouse, a nonprofit research institute in San Francisco.

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A nanopore sequencer is a tiny device that can read DNA with high accuracy. Its invention, made possible by merging hardware with machine learning, holds lessons for other measurement tools. By Stephen Malina.

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How genetics and IVF empowered one researcher's family to leave cancer behind.

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Reports suggest that between 40 and 60 percent of the population died during the bubonic plague that swept through Europe in the mid-1300s. What accounts for this wide range of estimates?

In 2024, the pharmaceutical company Gilead announced that a single injection of lenacapavir protected 96 to 100 percent of recipients from HIV for up to six months. This article explains how they made it, how much it costs, and how we can help ensure it reaches those who need it most.

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A new AI model for biology, released today by Arc Institute and NVIDIA, can predict which mutations within a gene are likely to be harmful and even design small, eukaryotic genomes.

Connectomics — a technique that maps physical connections between neural cells — is expensive and inefficient. E11 Bio, a non-profit research group, is designing a tool to expedite progress.

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A 2020 study suggests that monkeys can develop Parkinson’s, just like humans. Why haven't the findings been duplicated, and what will it take to find more “natural” animal models?

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A brief history of how our built environments have been shaped by everything from flues and humble windows to cutting-edge HVAC systems.

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An interview with Larissa Schiavo, author of "The Battle for Better Air." We talk about Schiavo's interest in medieval architecture, miasma theory, and far-UVC.

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The Central Dogma is not a "dogma," and it has never been broken.

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What happens when an AI designs the chips needed to make its successors? Science fiction by Richard Ngo.

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Modern flu vaccines have an average efficacy of just 40 percent, and they must be revamped each year. How can we make vaccines that are “universal” — both broadly-protective and highly potent?

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An interrogative technique to identify the root of molecular problems. By Trevor Klee.

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What the journey from AI assistant to full-virtuality can teach us about the nature of love. A science fiction short story by Richard Ngo.

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The physical world is an intricate dance between matter, information, and energy. Recognizing that mitochondria are alive will open new horizons into how we learn about, and build with, biology.

Living cells are frenzied, crowded places. Numbers help us make sense of it.

The science of animal welfare is exploding, offering new ways to improve conditions for millions of research animals a year. Read all articles from Asimov Press by visiting press.asimov.com.

A 19th-century physicist, Lord Rayleigh, was the first to experimentally measure the size of individual molecules. He did it using little more than oil, water, and a back-of-the-envelope calculation.

The micropipette, an instrument favored by researchers around the world to measure and move liquids from one container to another and used for everything from forensic analysis to DNA sequencing, was invented by an obscure, 32-year-old German postdoc after a particularly productive two-day tantrum. This is the story of how it came to be.

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After his death in 1884, thousands of Gregor Mendel’s letters and notes — filled with scientific data and figures — were destroyed. What did the friar discover, and what have we forgotten? Published by Asimov Press. Visit press.asimov.com to read all of our articles for free.