John C. Wathey

John C. Wathey

John C. Wathey is a retired computational biologist whose interests include evolutionary algorithms, the biology of nervous systems, and the biological roots of religion. He got his PhD from the Department of Neurosciences at the University of California, San Diego, and spent most of his career working on computer simulations of protein folding. His first book, The Illusion of God’s Presence, explores the evolution of the emotions and intuitions behind religious belief, emphasizing behavioral and psychological research. His latest book is The Phantom God: What Neuroscience Reveals about the Compulsion to Believe. It relates the motivating forces behind religiousness to the neural circuitry of embodiment, mother-infant attachment, adult sexual pair-bonding, addiction, selective attention, hallucinations, and many other neurological surprises.

Articles by John C. Wathey

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Book Excerpt from The Phantom God

Book cover of The Phantom God by John C. Wathey

Opinion: Neuroscience Could Help Demystify Religious Experience

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February 2025, Issue 1

A Nanoparticle Delivery System for Gene Therapy

A reimagined lipid vehicle for nucleic acids could overcome the limitations of current vectors.

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Enhancing Therapeutic Antibody Discovery with Cross-Platform Workflows

Enhancing Therapeutic Antibody Discovery with Cross-Platform Workflows

Considerations for Cell-Based Assays in Immuno-Oncology Research

Considerations for Cell-Based Assays in Immuno-Oncology Research

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From Water Bears to Grizzly Bears: Unusual Animal Models

Sex Differences in Neurological Research

Sex Differences in Neurological Research

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Scaling Lentiviral Vector Manufacturing for Optimal Productivity

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Putting Pathogens to the Test with Wastewater Surveillance

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Generating High-Quality mRNA for In Vivo Delivery with lipid nanoparticles

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Tecan introduces Veya: bringing digital, scalable automation to labs worldwide