If genetics is my business, virology is my side hustle.
I double majored in biology – with a focus on genetics – and journalism in undergraduate. I fell hard for genetics in those early days. The Human Genome Project was just wrapping up, and we were still learning so much. The fact that two decades later we finished decoding the last the human genome was but a fanciful dream back then. I sat in my genetics courses with only one other science journalism student sucking the marrow out of every lesson.
My second passion quickly became viruses by way of a bacteria I had fallen for years before: e. coli 0157:H7, a nasty little bug with a viral insertion that created an intestinally distressing toxin. Viruses are really nothing more than genetic material (RNA or DNA) inside a protein shell, and that fascinated me. While I only took a few microbiology courses in between my undergraduate and nursing degrees, I loved reading study after study, journal article after journal article and book after book on the tiny germs in my spare time. Once a person understands the genetics, it’s not hard to understand viruses and how they work.
When the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic struck in 2020, I was still sidelined by my own health. But I immediately found myself fascinated by the discussions between virologists versus immunologists versus public health experts versus others.
Now that I’m attempting to return to journalism, I’m bringing with me both my primary passion for genetics and my secondary love for virology. I hope to put it to good use.