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Carrie Arnold

Contributing Writer

Video microscopy of a large C. elegans roundworm flanked by several much smaller ones.
evolution

In Sexy Worms, Inheritance Beyond Genes Can Help Evolution

By Carrie Arnold
April 19, 2022
Read Later

Traits from RNA molecules passed between multiple generations of worms can work with genetic changes to influence future evolution.

Illustration of COVID-19 virus particles rolling across a 3D landscape.
COVID-19

Evolution ‘Landscapes’ Predict What’s Next for COVID Virus

By Carrie Arnold
January 11, 2022
Read Later

Studies that map the adaptive value of viral mutations hint at how the COVID-19 pandemic might progress next.

Photo showing the glow of a forest fire and bush fire in the Blue Mountains of Australia.
biodiversity

Wildfires of Varying Intensity Can Be Good for Biodiversity

By Carrie Arnold
November 29, 2021
Read Later

The spate of furious wildfires around the world during the past decade has revealed to ecologists how much biodiversity and “pyrodiversity” go hand in hand.

Close-up video of bubbles in a lava lamp moving and splitting under the influence of heat.
origins of life

At the Dawn of Life, Heat May Have Driven Cell Division

By Carrie Arnold
November 23, 2021
Read Later

A mathematical model shows how a thermodynamic mechanism could have made protocells split in two.

Photo of Karen Miga of the University of California, Santa Cruz, with a representation of chromosomes in the background.
Q&A

Karen Miga Fills In the Missing Pieces of Our Genome

By Carrie Arnold
September 8, 2021
Read Later

Driven by her fascination with highly repetitive, hard-to-read parts of our DNA, Karen Miga led a coalition of researchers to finish sequencing the human genome after almost two decades.

A rock, a piece of paper and a pair of scissors, each formed from a mass of microbes, are arranged in a cycle.
ecology

Biodiversity May Thrive Through Games of Rock-Paper-Scissors

By Carrie Arnold
March 5, 2020
Read Later

Recent findings add weight to the evidence that the intransitive competitions between species enrich the diversity of nature.

Lungs made from a collection of “tasting” tongues.
immunology

Cells That ‘Taste’ Danger Set Off Immune Responses

By Carrie Arnold
November 15, 2019
Read Later

Taste and smell receptors in unexpected organs monitor the state of the body’s natural microbial health and raise an alarm over invading parasites.

cell biology

Bacterial Clones Show Surprising Individuality

By Carrie Arnold
September 4, 2019
Read Later

Genetically identical bacteria should all be the same, but in fact, the cells are stubbornly varied individuals.

Art for "Dormant Microbes Bide Their Time Over Decades - Old Fires"
ecology

Heat-Loving Microbes, Once Dormant, Thrive Over Decades-Old Fire

By Carrie Arnold
April 16, 2019
Read Later

In harsh ecosystems around the world, microbiologists are finding evidence that “microbial seed banks” protect biodiversity from changing conditions.


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About the author

Carrie Arnold is a freelance health and science writer living in Virginia. She covers all aspects of the living world for publications like National Geographic, Scientific American, Discover, New Scientist and Women’s Health.

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