About Me
My name is Niko McCarty. I'm a biotechnology writer.
Advances in biotechnology have already enabled incredible breakthroughs in food, medicine, and agriculture. Genetic engineering is the foundation of the mRNA vaccines for COVID-19, FDA-approved salmon that grow twice as fast as wild fish, modified bulls that do not grow horns and thus do not suffer upon their removal, advanced CAR-T cancer therapies in which 9 out of 10 people with treatment-resistant lymphoblastic leukemia experience remission, artificial heme proteins for Impossible Burgers, plant microbes that fix nitrogen and thus reduce the planet's reliance on artificial fertilizer, and most of the planet's insulin supply.
Many biological research advances are never covered by journalists because they are technically dense, difficult to decipher, or rich in nuance. My life's goal is to ameliorate the divide between biotechnology journalism and the general public. I want everyone to know about the amazing, biological achievements that are driving this century of progress.
Let's build a better future together.
Send me an email: nsmccarty3 [at] gmail.com
Making
I was a biological engineer, working at the bench, for seven years. I've studied the links between diabetes and heart failure, have invented tools to make dozens of genetic edits in living cells simultaneously, and have quantified the binding energies between proteins and a cell's DNA.
My peer-reviewed research has appeared in Nature Communications, eLife, JCI Insight, and other journals. A full list of my work can be found online.
After dropping out of Caltech's PhD program in bioengineering, I went to study science journalism at New York University and, afterwards, became a staff Data Journalist at the Simons Foundation in New York. My published work has appeared in Scientific American, The Counter, Retraction Watch, Forbes, Spectrum, and elsewhere. A full list of my articles can be found on the "Published Work" tab.
Doing
I'm currently a Learning & Curriculum Specialist at MIT, where I'm studying how genetic engineering is currently taught, and how it can be improved, with Christopher Voigt. The long-term goal is to build a flourishing bioeconomy, wherein young people can learn all the skills they need to design and manipulate DNA — and living organisms — to produce medicines, food, and advanced materials without obtaining a PhD.
I also work as a Writer at Asimov, a full-stack genetic design company in Boston. I'm working on writing, creative, and education projects.
Previously, I was Head of Media at New Science, a 501c3 nonprofit that made grants to highly talented scientists with the aim of accelerating basic science. I've also worked as a data journalist at Spectrum in New York and as a journalism intern at Retraction Watch, where I broke several stories that were later covered by the Financial Times and WIRED.
Before that, I was a research scientist at Caltech (with Rob Phillips), Imperial College London (with Rodrigo Ledesma-Amaro and Tom Ellis), and the University of Iowa (with E. Dale Abel).
Learning
New York University | MA in Science Journalism
California Institute of Technology | MS in Bioengineering (dropped out of PhD)
Imperial College | MRes in Systems and Synthetic Biology (Fulbright Scholar)
University of Iowa | BS in Biochemistry (Goldwater Scholar)
More Writing
My edited articles have appeared in Scientific American, Forbes, The Counter, Retraction Watch, Spectrum, and elsewhere.
Recommended
Switching neurons on and off to probe autism circuits | Spectrum
Hacking Photosynthesis | Codon Magazine
The Laws of Science | New Science
Foodborne diseases kill thousands of Americans each year. Tracing food with genetically engineered spores could help. | The Counter
Bad blood at a lab leads to retraction after postdoc publishes study without supervisor’s permission | Retraction Watch
Prominent Chinese scientist failed to disclose company ties in COVID-19 clinical trial paper | Retraction Watch (later covered in the Financial Times)
New Science's Report on the NIH (Editor) | New Science
Interactive Autism Drug Tracker | Spectrum
New Science
Scientific American
Retraction Watch
Clinical trial paper that made anemia drug look safer than it is will be retracted
Prominent Chinese scientist failed to disclose company ties in COVID-19 clinical trial paper
Ecologist who lost thesis awards earns expressions of concern after laptop stolen
Editor declines to correct paper with duplicated image after earlier study disappears
University in Japan revokes doctorate for plagiarism of text, image
The rector who resigned after plagiarizing a student’s PhD thesis
An author asked for multiple corrections to a paper. PLOS ONE decided to retract it.
Seven barred from research after plagiarism, duplications in eleven papers
Paper claiming Muslim patients are “particularly sensitive” retracted
Editor who opined on author excuses has paper subjected to an expression of concern
“Riddled with errors”: Study of cell phones and breast cancer retracted
University clears scientist of logging industry’s misconduct allegations
After grad student suicide, misconduct findings, university suspends professor
University of Tennessee investigation finds manipulated images in Science paper
Meet the postdoc who says he’s been trying to retract his own paper since 2016
Eleven papers corrected after nutrition prof fails to disclose patent, company ties
Leading evidence-based group blames pandemic for 9-month delay pulling flawed cancer review
Mathematician ranked as Clarivate “highly cited researcher” has third paper retracted
Journal pulls two studies that listed an author without his permission
What is a figure about budgies doing in four different plant papers?
“The whole thing is yucky:” When you’re surprised to find yourself as an author on a paper
“I don’t think I slept for a day and a half:” Bad news for study about bad news
The Counter
Earth Island Journal
Forbes
New this ski season: A jacket brewed like spider’s silk (with John Cumbers)
Meet eight tech titans investing In synthetic biology (with John Cumbers)
Spectrum News
Six steps to using machine learning for animal behavior research
Spectrum Index: Self-harm hospitalizations, everolimus flops in phase 2 trial
Psychiatric conditions hospitalize almost one in four autistic women by age 25
Autistic LGBTQ+ people report frequent mental health problems
Clinicians lack confidence in diagnostic interviews with Black mothers
Spectrum Index: Dip in autism screening, null cancer risk, therapist surge
By the Numbers: Services cliff, hospital costs, co-occurring ADHD
Miniature microscope records thousands of neurons in moving mice
Spectrum Index: Rare genetic diagnoses, obesity odds, violence against children
By the Numbers: Mental health diagnoses, melatonin-tied polypharmacy, journal gender gap
Health-care barriers prevent many autistic people from seeking medical treatment
Electronic health record alerts for physicians boost autism study enrollment
Controlling neurons with ultrasound: Q&A with Sreekanth Chalasani
Spectrum Index: IQ deviations, rural disparities and underweight infants
Women outnumbered among editors of top journals in neuroscience, but not in autism
By the Numbers: Autism funding over time, West African research, racial reporting
Most autism intervention studies lack data on race, ethnicity
Anorexia before or during pregnancy linked to having a child with autism
By the Numbers: Unequal ABA access, autism incidence by insurance type, criminal charges counts
By the Numbers: Autism in translation, rising prevalence figures, intelligence quotients
By the Numbers: Black neuroscience speakers, mildly effective CBT, autism’s diagnostic odyssey
Age at autism diagnosis, first intervention drops to under 3 years
Cognitive behavioral therapy may be only mildly effective for anxious, autistic children
By the Numbers: Preschool antipsychotics, COVID-19 vaccinations, delayed autism diagnoses
Missed check-ups, delayed autism diagnoses among low-income children
Few autism researchers plan to attend conferences in person this year: Survey
Q&A with W. David Lohr: Antipsychotics, polypharmacy among autistic preschoolers
By the Numbers: Machine learning, dementia link, antipsychotics while pregnant
Autism study earns ‘expression of concern’ over unavailable data
By the Numbers: Coronavirus infection odds, Medicaid waivers, correlating conditions
New optogenetics technique minimizes thermal damage to neurons
Polypharmacy, shifting prescriptions common for autism comorbidities
By the Numbers: Polypharmacy, outpatient autism care, pandemic behaviors
Disrupted cell skeletons may explain brain wiring changes in autism-linked condition
Copyright claim prompts retraction of study on alexithymia in autism
SynBioBeta
How automation and machine learning help explore the dark corners of the genome
Spiber’s biomaterials stack: From new production facility to fashion runway
One lab in Germany is using robots to advance computer-aided synthetic biology
Synthetic biology gets a makeover with Evonetix's DNA synthesis technology
Synthetic biology for sustainable cities (with John Cumbers)
Why carbon recycling could be synthetic biology's crowning achievement
Biology unlocked: Emerging applications of cell-free systems
Biotechnology meets fashion and sports performance: Trends in the apparel industry
Synthetic biology and reproducibility meet on the internet (of things)
Scientists are engineering organisms to create new materials
Caltech Letters
Scienceline
AI can make music. But will it replace your favorite musician?
Black veterans more likely to test positive for coronavirus than white veterans
Massive Science
A proposal to use CRISPR to prevent opioid overdoses is a useless approach to healthcare
Here’s why many CRISPR/Cas9 experiments could be wrong – and how to fix them
Little Village Magazine
Iowa’s dwindling bee population is part of a larger, frightening trend (cover story)
UI students are rewiring genes to create biodegradable plastic
By ‘poking’ cells, a University of Iowa lab studies the science of healing
Six groundbreaking research projects at the University of Iowa
CRISPR News
The Official PLOS Blog
Science Behind-the-Scenes: Multiplexed CRISPR and sgRNA arrays with the Howard Salis lab
Science Behind-the-Scenes: CRISPR for metabolic engineering with Dr. Raphael Ferreira
Science Behind-the-Scenes: Engineering microbial consortia with Dr. Marika Ziesack
Science Behind-the-Scenes: Tethered ribosomes with Dr. Erik Carlson