Hannah Thomasy, PhD, Drug Discovery News Author Profile

One hand holding the other, depicting pain in the joints

A Bacterial Culprit for Rheumatoid Arthritis

Hannah Thomasy, PhD, Drug Discovery News | Apr 27, 2023 | 4 min read

Scientists identified a species of Subdoligranulum that may drive disease.

An image of a pale, dead tree taken from the ground, so that the tree limbs stretch up into the sky.

Certain Tree Species Are More Susceptible to Death by Lightning

Hannah Thomasy, PhD, Drug Discovery News | Dec 12, 2022 | 2 min read

Expected increases in lightning strikes due to climate change could alter the botanical composition of tropical forests.

A fossilized mammoth tusk sitting in a grassy field during sunset

Woolly Mammoth Genomes Reveal Genetic Adaptations to Cold

Hannah Thomasy, PhD, Drug Discovery News | Dec 12, 2022 | 2 min read

Researchers identified mutations in genes that may be involved in fat regulation, fur growth, and morphology.

Ankur Jain Explores RNA Aggregations in Neurodegenerative Disease

Hannah Thomasy, PhD, Drug Discovery News | Oct 3, 2022 | 3 min read

The MIT biologist studies how RNA molecules self-assemble and the role these accumulations may play in diseases such as ALS and Huntington’s.

Newly hatched stinkbugs climbing over a pile of eggs.

Best Bugs: How E. coli Evolves into a Stinkbug Symbiont

Hannah Thomasy, PhD, Drug Discovery News | Aug 15, 2022 | 3 min read

Experimental evolution study sheds new light on the origin of animal-microbe symbioses and what it takes for bacteria to support their insect hosts.

A wire mesh garbage can has toppled over, spilling crumpled papers onto the ground.

Gone but Not Forgotten: Retracted COVID-19 Papers Still Cited

Hannah Thomasy, PhD, Drug Discovery News | Jul 14, 2022 | 5 min read

University of Wollongong epidemiologist Gideon Meyerowitz-Katz speaks with The Scientist about his team’s finding that flawed and fraudulent COVID-19 research continues to be cited.

Close-up of the head of the Aldabra Giant Tortoise. Her face is dirty from eating grass on a sandy beach.

How Slow Can You Go?

Hannah Thomasy, PhD, Drug Discovery News | Jun 23, 2022 | 5 min read

Two studies show negligible rates of aging in some types of turtles and other cold-blooded creatures, but that doesn’t mean they’re immortal.

Ribonucleic acid strands consisting of nucleotides important for protein bio-synthesis

Katharina Höfer Probes the Machinery of Bacterial Gene Expression

Hannah Thomasy, PhD, Drug Discovery News | Jun 13, 2022 | 3 min read

The molecular biologist studies how chemical modifications to RNA building blocks change the way RNA regulates complex cellular processes.

Tiliqua rugosa, sleepy lizard, on reddish soil in western Australia

Researchers Probe Genetics Behind a Lizard’s Odd Immune System

Hannah Thomasy, PhD, Drug Discovery News | May 10, 2022 | 4 min read

Deletions in the sleepy lizard genome leave it without an important type of T cells found in most other vertebrates.

Spiders Catapult Themselves to Avoid Becoming Their Mate’s Meal

Hannah Thomasy, PhD, Drug Discovery News | Apr 25, 2022 | 2 min read

During their escape, male spiders can reach speeds in excess of 3 kilometers per hour thanks to their springy front legs.