Contributor

B. David Zarley

Senior Staff Writer

Contact

b.david@freethink.com

B. David Zarley is a senior staff writer for Freethink, where he covers health and medicine, including infectious disease, psychedelic research, mental health, and the brain. A graduate of SUNY Fredonia, his work has also appeared in The Atlantic, The Verge, Jezebel, Frieze, Sports Illustrated, VICE, Paste Magazine, and numerous other publications. He lives in Chicago and can be reached via Signal by request. Send him story ideas!

Brain

This “ultrasound vortex” can quickly clear blood clots

Using spiraling ultrasound waves, researchers hope to remove stroke-causing blood clots faster and safer.

B. David Zarley

Public Health

Microbiome-safe method could head off Staph infection

A microbiome-friendly method of controlling Staph colonization has aced phase 2 clinical trials.

B. David Zarley

Medicine

This “living medicine” can eliminate a deadly lung infection

Researchers have engineered bacteria to create a “living medicine” against a nasty respiratory bug.

B. David Zarley

Mental Health

New biomarker test accurately predicts who will respond to antidepressant

Alto Neuroscience’s depression drug seems effective in early trials, a proof-of-concept for biomarker-based design.

B. David Zarley

Cars

Autonomous race cars go head-to-head, break records in Las Vegas

Autonomous race cars took to the track at CES, opening new forms of competition and setting speed records.

B. David Zarley

Virology

Moderna’s RSV vaccine over 80% effective in early analysis

Moderna’s mRNA RSV vaccine for adults looks to be over 80% effective, based on early data from a large phase 3 trial.

B. David Zarley

Coronavirus

Stanford nasal study could lead to “morning after” virus spray

A “morning after” antiviral nasal spray could be created using new knowledge about how SARS-CoV-2 invades your nose.

B. David Zarley

CRISPR

Resurrecting a 2.6 billion-year-old ancient CRISPR system

Researchers have resurrected an ancient CRISPR system 2.6 billion years old, capable of editing genes in the modern day.

B. David Zarley

Public Health

Google sister company aims to eradicate dengue from a tropical country

Verily, owned by Google parent company Alphabet, believes it can eliminate Singapore’s dengue problem.

B. David Zarley

Animals

The first ever honey bee vaccine has arrived

The USDA has conditionally approved a honey bee vaccine to protect the important insects from American foulbrood, a brutal bacterial infection.

B. David Zarley