Emily Gosling

Emily is a freelance writer based in London. Formerly senior editor at AIGA's Eye on Design; editor-at-large at contemporary arts magazine Elephant; senior writer at Creative Review; deputy editor at It's Nice That; and reporter, later acting editor, at Design Week. She specialises in art and design.

Showing 225-240 of 727 articles

Anil Sebastian
Not all viruses lead to global pandemics. Some have evolved to our benefit. An ancient virus called HERV-K may protect human embryos from other viruses, according to Joanna Wysocka, a professor of both chemical and systems biology and of developmental biology at Stanford University. When an embryo reaches the eight-cell stage (as projected at left), HERV-K is activated and may nudge the cells to build proteins that shield them from infection. It turns off when the embryo implants in the uterus. Ancient viruses make up nearly 8 percent of human DNA, with HERV-K joining an ancestor's genome more than 30 million years ago. Scientists like Wysocka are continuing to untangle how viruses have become a part of us. (Craig Cutler/National Geographic)
Late Works: Of Noise
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