Xander Balwit
@AlexandraBalwit
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Editor-in-chief at @AsimovPress. Well-fed vegan. Currently reading: Thank you for arguing
Joined March 2022
I have been brain-obsessed since first reading "Phantoms in the Brain" over a decade ago. Its plasticity and centrality in overall health have completely ensorcelled me. This piece on the history and tools surrounding connectomics was a joy to write. Thank you @E11BIO!
But still, history suggests structure matters. The Human Genome Project didn’t reveal everything about the cell, but it led to surprising tech that slowly transformed medicine. A brain map could do the same for neuroscience. Read & subscribe:
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RT @Andrew_C_Payne: Fantastic deep dive on our mission to map entire human and mouse brains, and the #connectomics field by @AlexandraBalwi…
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Also, a reminder that we are now recording all @AsimovPress pieces so you have no excuse not to read them. You can now listen to me struggle over French names and equations on your runs and on the way to work.
Can we treat brain disorders by restoring neural connections? For centuries, neuroscientists could only guess. But connectomics—a method seeking to create a 3D model of every neural connection in the brain—is moving closer to providing answers. @E11Bio is at the forefront...🧵
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And still absolutely loving this accompanying piece of art from @pewpewpewris. Neuroscience really is a kind of speleology.
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Thrilled to be covering some of the brilliant work coming out of @Convergent_FROs My piece on @E11BIO, the history of connectomics, and what brain maps might hold for the future comes out tomorrow!
Today we're announcing our first partnership of 2025! This year, we're partnering with @Convergent_FROs to publish seven deep articles about nonprofit, focused research organizations. Our first article, an inside look at @E11BIO, comes out tomorrow.
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Hit us up if you have connections to restaurants in Boston! We have insanely cool partners for this, just looking for a good space
On March 27th, @AsimovPress is hosting a "GMO dinner" in Boston. We have the ingredients & the chef, but we need a venue. If you know of a space that can host ~50 people with a full kitchen (ideally not a restaurant), please DM me! We're glad to list you as a sponsor or pay.
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@ChanaMessinger I like to return to folks I have interviewed and ask them if their quote 1) is accurate 2) makes sense in the context in which I have used it. While not every journalist will do this, I think it is worth asking if you will get an opportunity to verify usage and accuracy.
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Another excellent piece from @trevor_klee, whose predilection toward reading and dissecting papers never gets old. This one concerns whether we have found (and why we might want to find) Parkinson's in monkeys or other animals.
The question is: Why haven't the findings been duplicated, and what will it take to find more “natural” animal models? Read our latest column by @trevor_klee:
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I was thrilled to commission this from @lfschiavo! It was also great fun to speak with her behind the scenes. Listen to find out why we got the 70s’ color pallet that we did. Also, let @AsimovPress know what kind of interview you want with our authors! What do you want to know?
An insanely ambitious article on the history of air by @lfschiavo. I hope you'll read it. We learned a ton. Also, the great @AlexandraBalwit recorded a "behind the scenes" interview with the author for this one. It's our first foray into (somewhat of) a proper podcast.
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Richard did it again. It’s stirring. And ya’ll have no excuse to not read it because I recorded a version for you.
I have a new story out with Asimov Press. It’s called The Gentle Romance, and it’s about living through the transition to utopia. This is the one story that I've put the most time and effort into; it charts a course from the near future all the way to the distant stars.
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Spoke at a workshop at Stanford today on how biotechnology can improve welfare across species. Here is me passionately shilling for @AsimovPress. Write for us, so I can brag about your work.
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Excited to talk at this session leading up to the @AI_forAnimals conference in March. Tickets to the main event are still available but definitely join us for this free talk on what lab animal welfare, affective behavior, and communicating with whales have in common.
Get a sneak peek of what’s in store for the AIA Conference at our Lightning Talks Webinar on Monday, February 10th! Each of our three featured speakers— @AlexandraBalwit (@AsimovPress), @JTSLucas (Animal Pain Research Institute), and @davidfgruber (@ProjectCETI)—will present a brief talk followed by a Q&A session. Register today to secure your spot to secure your spot!
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I remember when I thought a sticker book was peak book. We have reached peak book @AsimovPress
"An Entire Book Was Written in DNA—and You Can Buy It for $60." Our @AsimovPress book was just featured in @WIRED magazine! (Pre-orders are still open, by the way. We're shipping books out in February.)
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I love it when my colleague @NikoMcCarty devours and synthesizes biographies so I don't have to. He just learned everything there is to know about Gregor Mendel, the monk who gave us insights into everything from Mendelian genetics to tips on how to tend an apiary. Read below!
Read our latest article by @NikoMcCarty in Issue 05!
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In San Diego this weekend at #PAG2025 to glean the latest on hop and weevil genomics. Please reach out if you want to meet up! We are always looking for writers and ideas for @AsimovPress (Vegan recs in San Diego welcome too)
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And more prescription burning is also key. For excellent resources on this, I recommend the books "The Big Burn" and "Pyrocene" as well as "Life with Fire" podcast
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We are commissioning! And as a bonus ... we are tossing out more ideas for pieces we want to publish. Please reach out if you are a good person to cover these (or related!) stories. As always, we are after mechanistic and evocative writing on biological science and innovation
We are sharing another list of stories that we’d like to publish.🎉 Check it out and let us know if any ideas resonate. We’ll help you every step along the way, and then pay you (and, perhaps, print it in a forthcoming book)! Email: editors@asimov.com
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