Having a nose for current events is perhaps a cliché. But it is key to a journalist’s ability to spot important and unique stories. This issue is about a scientist intending to use yeast to create vaccine beer is a great example of this style of business journalism.
Tina Hesman Saey, senior molecular biology editor, first met National Cancer Institute researcher Chris Buck when she attended the World Vaccine Conference in Washington, DC, last April. He was in the middle of a battle with his employer over his plan to test a homemade polyomavirus vaccine on himself.
“There were so many layers to this story that I wanted to explore,” Saey told me. “Who decides whether a scientist can experiment on themselves? Is it legal and ethical to market a vaccine as a food or dietary supplement? What effect might this approach have on public acceptance and trust in vaccines? What is the science behind this potential vaccine, and would it work for other diseases?”
Saey pressed Buck on these issues, studied them herself, interviewed other scientists, and researched the potential benefits and risks of Buck’s approach, both to the population and to public confidence in vaccines. We leave it to our readers to decide whether Buck’s vaccine beer is misguided or prescient.
This issue also includes a unique approach to nuclear physics, using the disappearance of a pioneering particle collider at Brookhaven National Laboratory on Long Island to update readers on advances in this area. Emily Conover, senior physics editor, grew up near Brookhaven and attended a summer program there as a teenager. This experience led her to become a physicist herself, then a science journalist. His tour of the lab as it transitions from one type of particle collider to a new, more advanced one, highlights the challenges of advancing science that require long-term investment.
And for the cover storywe look at how scientists are experimenting with using artificial intelligence as a research tool, which could evolve to conduct the research itself. Independent writer Kathryn Hulick explores the potential of AI to make science more effective, but also its dangers. Risks include the flood of unwanted AI-authored research papers that threaten the integrity of scientific publishing. Stay tuned; We will continue to report on this important and rapidly evolving issue.
