May 5th: A Virtual Conversation With Science Journalist Roxanne Khamsi Author of Beyond Inheritance: Our Ever-Mutating Cells and a New Understanding of Health
David Levine
May 5th: A Virtual Conversation With Science Journalist Roxanne Khamsi
Author of Beyond Inheritance: Our Ever-Mutating Cells and a New Understanding of Health
Tuesday, May 5, at 7 pm EDT on Zoom
Science Writers in New York is excited to have as our guest journalist Roxanne Khamsi, author of Beyond Inheritance (Riverhead Books, 2026). Roxanne will talk to SWINY chair David Levine (dlloydlevine.bsky. social) about her book, which reveals how we mutate genetically every day of our lives and how the DNA changes that accumulate within us can profoundly affect our health.
About Beyond Inheritance
Our DNA is the indispensable set of instructions that guides our growth and vitality. The common misconception is that this molecular blueprint stays the same throughout our lives. In reality, the genetic makeup of our cells is continuously mutating, from the moment we are conceived until our last breath. The hidden changes that amass in our genomes can have a huge influence on our health.
Beyond Inheritance describes our bodies as active landscapes of mutation. The book reveals how the forces of Darwinian evolution operate within our own tissues. The effects can be devastating, such as when mutant blood cells outcompete their normal counterparts and increase the risk of heart attacks. But mutations can also make our bodies more resilient: Liver cells with genetic changes seem to cope better with excess calories. And immune cells with remixed DNA can make more effective antibodies against the microbes that threaten us.
By letting go of the antiquated idea that every cell in a body has the same exact DNA, we can usher in a whole new era of medicine, including better vaccines and treatments that outsmart cancer. Beyond Inheritance will open your eyes to the immense genetic diversity that exists within you and its incredible potential to shape your well-being.
About Roxanne Khamsi
Roxanne Khamsi is an author, speaker and contributing writer for The Atlantic. Her writing has appeared in publications such as The New York Times, The Economist, Popular Science, The Atlantic, Scientific American, Slate, Nature, New York magazine, WIRED magazine and National Geographic.
Roxanne’s March 2020 article in Wired magazine, They Say Coronavirus Isn’t Airborne—but It’s Definitely Borne By Air, was the first major news piece to argue that the pandemic coronavirus could transmit readily through air and was included in The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2021 anthology. She has appeared on television programs such as CBS News and has guest-hosted the national radio shows On The Media and Science Friday.
Roxanne served as chief news editor at Nature Medicine, one of the most widely read research journals in the world, for more than a decade. Prior to that, she worked as a reporter for the popular UK-based magazine New Scientist covering biomedical research. In addition to her work as a writer and editor, she has taught at Stony Brook University in Long Island, New York, through the Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science, and at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY. She also served on the Editorial Advisory Board of TEDMED. Roxanne earned her degree in biology from Dartmouth College, with a concentration in genetics. She lives in Montreal.
When:
Tuesday, May 5, at 7 pm EDT on Zoom
Register: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_ajWC1WQBSFqT-NSXh0rdyA