Stuart Blackman earned his PhD in evolutionary biology from the University of Edinburgh before realizing his scientific interests were too wide for a detailed-oriented career in research. He has been working as a science writer ever since. On page 28, Blackman examines the danger when scientists over-promise results. “I’ve long been interested in the interface between science and politics,” says Blackman. “Promises and predictions are a great arena for exploring these tensions.” Blackman’s work has been published in the Financial Times and several BBC magazines and radio programs. He lives in Edinburgh, Scotland and plays guitar and piano in his free time.
A presentation at an international biology meeting in 1993 caused cancer immunologist Mark Smyth to stumble upon an intriguing new way of looking at an old question: “Do cells of the immune system detect and kill cancerous cells?” Smyth and his colleague, Joe Trapani, learned about a protein ...