freelance science journalist and author
Medical reporting
From The Australian, 7 March 2009: When a journalist from The New York Times asked British mountaineer George Mallory why he was planning to scale Mt Everest, the reply was simple: “Because it’s there.” I feel the same way about a drug-free childbirth. When confronted with the opinion that because modern medicine has developed the … Continue reading When push comes to scalpel
From Australian Doctor, 3 March 2009: IT should have been a routine operation: a knee arthroplasty for an elderly man that would have cost about $15,000 and kept the patient off his feet for perhaps a few weeks. There would have been some small risks of complications, but in a high- standard health care environ … Continue reading Sun, surf and sutures
From The Australian, 21 February 2009: Emerging into the cold, harsh light of the delivery room can hardly be a pleasant experience for newborns. And to add insult to injury, just as they are adapting to this new world a baby’s delicate, soft heel is assaulted with a needle and several drops of blood are … Continue reading Screening for fragile X sidelined
From ABC Science, News in Science, 23 January 2009: A bacterial parasite known to cause stomach ulcers is shedding new light on ancient patterns of human migration across the Pacific region, according to an international study. In the latest edition of Science, researchers report that their study of the distribution of Helicobacter pylori genotypes has … Continue reading Gut bacteria reveals human migration
From Pathway magazine, the Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia, Winter 2008: Being a baby one hundred years ago was a pretty dicey affair. Up to one in three would not live to see their first birthday, instead falling victim to any one of a long list of diseases including smallpox, diphtheria, measles, tetanus and … Continue reading The vaccine revolution
From The Australian, 10 January 2009: At age two years and seven months, William Long is already an unstoppable chatterbox. “People say ‘oh my goodness, he really doesn’t stop talking’,” says his mother Sandra. Not that this would normally be considered that unusual, except for the fact that William is profoundly deaf, and has been … Continue reading This sound barrier can be broken
From The Australian, 10 May 2008: THEY were just ordinary pork spare ribs, properly cooked and harmless. But they were enough to land Peter Moore in hospital with a severe allergic reaction. “It wasn’t instantaneous,” says Moore, 32. “Maybe a couple of hours later I went to bed and woke up with hives, really big … Continue reading One tick red meat can do without
From Scientific American, December 2007: HIV is devastating because it attacks and destroys the body’s defense system against pathogens, leaving patients fatally exposed. So what would possess scientists to treat HIV-positive patients with drugs that suppress the immune system? Such therapy may in fact offer a new approach in the battle against AIDS. An unexpected … Continue reading T cell turnoff
Bianca Nogrady 