Ten years ago I exchanged a career in biochemistry for one in journalism. Since then I’ve written about Europe’s hypocritical history of cannibalism for Smithsonian, the strange molecules found in platypus venom for Scientific American, and about the Mona Lisa’s perfect complexion for the Economist. Here’s a select sample of my print work…
My day job
I’m the European correspondent for a weekly news magazine about molecules called Chemical & Engineering News, where I also write a blog called Artful Science about the research that happens on art and artifacts in museums and galleries around the world. Below is a taste of my work for C&EN:
Baked bread, roasted coffee & steak owe their awesome flavor, odor and color to the Maillard reaction, which was discovered 100 years ago. But the reaction also has a dark side: It produces carcinogenic molecules in our meals and in our bodies.
Counterfeiters of fake pharmaceutical pills have put everything from Viagra to ecstasy in bogus tablets, and they are up to a whole lot more. According to the WHO, an estimated 1% of drugs sold in the U.S., Canada and Europe are fakes while between 10-50% of medicines in developing nations are counterfeit.
There’s been much furore about the chemical bisphenol A — a potential hormone disrupter — which leaches from plastic bottles into the liquid inside. But bisphenol A is just one of tens of thousands of packaging chemicals that leach from wrappers into both food and pharmaceutical drugs. Ink in particular likes to sneak through packaging to end up in everything from breakfast cereal to injectable drugs.
Curious about what it was like to do science behind the Berlin Wall? In this article, I speak to scientists who escaped by foot to the west, were spied on by the Stasi secret police and who made it through the post-communist turmoil to be successful researchers today.
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Sweat history, science and culture
Creating the fear of stink in America in The Smithsonian — August 2012
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A hundred years ago, deodorants and antiperspirants were obscure products that few people used–or even knew about. Now they are an $18 billion industry worldwide. Find out how a traveling Bible salesman and high school entrepreneur helped launched our fear of sweat.
The article was picked up by Boing Boing, Andrew Sullivan, and others. The story was also republished on Jezebel.
The history of sweat on NPR-WBUR’s Here and Now show
- I talk about the science and history of sweat, including what the ancient Egyptians used to do to control B.O.
The truth about pheromones in The Smithsonian Magazine – March 2012
- Any bodily fluid is a possible source of human pheromones… not just sweat.
What exactly are deodorants and antiperspirants made of? in What’s That Stuff?
- Find out what makes these anti-sweat products work.
The secret to the Mona Lisa’s perfect face
Economist – July 22, 2010
The Mona Lisa’s lure is so strong that Louvre Museum officials find it wise to keep her safely stowed behind bulletproof glass. She is let out of her protective cage once a year, for a whiff of fresh air. And this is when many a researcher would love to get their hands on Leonardo da Vinci’s most famous muse, in order to find out more about how she was painted.
How green is your Viagra?
NewScientist — March 13, 2010
Humans rely on the chemical industry for a majority of the stuff we use on a daily basis: shampoo, medications, cell phones, jeans, sofas, paint, decaf coffee, to name just a few.
Many of these products are made using ingredients or processes that are potentially harmful to the environment, human health or both. Yet the chemical industry’s redemption route comes through a 12-step program established over a decade ago called the Principles of Green Chemistry.
Find out more about how these principles are greening up pharmaceuticals, electronics, fashion, food, cosmetics and your home.
Canada’s spy agency criticized
Canadian Press wire service — July 12, 2004
This Access to Information (Canada’s Freedom of Information mechanism) article was picked up by 12 newspapers across Canada including the Toronto Star, Edmonton Journal, Vancouver Sun, La Presse, among others.
Canada’s spy agency is still asking about homeland ties and sexual practices when vetting Canadians pursuing a top-level career in the government – questions some critics consider relics of the Cold War and contrary to multicultural policy.
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The genetics behind a great bottle of wine
Maclean’s Magazine — August 30, 2004
Tasting the fruits of laboratory labour is not a typical perk for most scientists. But when Steven Lund sips a delightful cabernet sauvignon, he is, in fact, doing research.
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The biting black dog of Guatemala
Globe and Mail – November 5, 2005
Let me say off the top, I do not have rabies. I don’t foam at the mouth (regularly) and I have no urge to bite anybody. But I wasn’t always sure.
Creeping around the Mayan underworld
National Post — October 18, 2003
If the skeletons in your closet aren’t creepy enough for you this Halloween, the skulls in Actun Tunichil Muknal cave probably are. Thousand-year-old Mayan food and human-sacrifice remains are attracting archeologists and tourists alike to a creepy cave wonder near San Ignacio, Belize.
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A matter of taste
Catalyst — Spring 2005
If Brussels sprouts on your plate make you miserable, your DNA just might be at fault. Read the rest of this page »
Secret surveillance at a conference
Last July, amid tapas and cocktails at a Euroscience Open Forum (ESOF) conference mixer in Barcelona, I was served something far less appetizing: The news that for five days, unbeknownst to me, a radio frequency infrared device (RFID) hidden in my name tag had been reporting my conference attendance habits to organizers. Ditto for the rest of the conference’s nearly 5000 participants, many of whom were science journalists.
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