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Mark Johnson

@markjohnpost.bsky.social

296 followers 236 following 68 posts

Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post science reporter. Author of the novel "Though The Earth Gives Way." Co-author, "One in a Billion: The Story of Nic Volker and the Dawn of Genomic Medicine." University of Toronto grad. Signal: majohnso.20

Posts Replies Media

Mark Johnson @markjohnpost.bsky.social · 5h

The 30-year quest to treat the ultrarare disease C3G: How science and its supporters banded together to save lives. I was blessed to work on this story for the last year. Thank you to The Atavist and editor Seyward Darby for bringing it into the world. magazine.atavist.com

magazine.atavist.com

Homepage - The Atavist Magazine

The Atavist Magazine publishes one incredible true story every month. We specialize in longform narratives, the kind you want to read to the very last word.

Mark Johnson @markjohnpost.bsky.social · 01/05/2026

In February, I was one of 350 journalists The Washington Post laid off. Today the divorce is final. People say it's not personal. It just feels that way. I'm grateful for my time at The Post. I learned from the best. Still hunting for cool stories at: markjohnson6926@gmail.com.

Mark Johnson @markjohnpost.bsky.social · 29/04/2026

OUT OF THE LAB AND INTO THE STREET. I have a freelance story in The Guardian US today profiling the woman at the helm of the Stand Up For Science organization, Colette Delawalla. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

theguardian.com

She set out to become a clinical psychologist. Now she’s leading a US movement to save science

Colette Delawalla launched Stand Up for Science to push back against Trump’s cuts to medical and scientific research

Mark Johnson @markjohnpost.bsky.social · 20/02/2026

A day or two after The Washington Post laid me off, I was contacted out of the blue with an offer to go on Peter Friedman's excellent Get the Tip podcast. Turned out to be a lot of fun. www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXQY...

After the Washington Post Layoffs: A Pulitzer Prize Journalist Speaks Out

YouTube video by I'll Get The Tip

Mark Johnson @markjohnpost.bsky.social · 09/02/2026

Read this excellent article in EdSurge on the new book, "Miracle Children." It tells the story of how a small Louisiana school misled families and thwarted students’ college dreams. www.edsurge.com/news/2026-02...

How a Small Louisiana School Misled Families and Thwarted Students’ College Dreams - EdSurge News

“Miracle Children” explores how tiny T.M. Landry College Prep sold big dreams of getting to the Ivy League to dozens of kids, only to be exposed as a ...

Reposted by Mark Johnson

Fenit Nirappil @fenitn.bsky.social · 05/02/2026

Our second most read story right now comes from @markjohnpost.bsky.social, a Pulitzer-winning science reporter on our team, who announced he was laid off. Just the latest example of how he found the most fascinating areas of science to unpack beautifully www.washingtonpost.com/health/2026/...

washingtonpost.com

These patients saw what comes after death. Should we believe them?

Researchers have developed a model to explain the science of near-death experiences. Others have challenged it.

Mark Johnson @markjohnpost.bsky.social · 29/01/2026

Doctors in Chicago saved a man with a rare infection that had liquefied his lungs, hooking him up to what they have called a total artificial lung. My story in on The Washington Post web site: www.washingtonpost.com/health/2026/...

washingtonpost.com

An infection liquefied a man’s lungs. This invention kept him alive.

Doctors at Northwestern Medicine in Chicago saved the life of young man using a total artificial lung that sustained him until he could receive a transplant.

Mark Johnson @markjohnpost.bsky.social · 29/01/2026

Doctors in Chicago saved a man with a rare infection that had liquefied his lungs, hooking him up to what they have called a total artificial lung. My story is on The Washington Post web site: www.washingtonpost.com/health/2026/...

washingtonpost.com

An infection liquefied a man’s lungs. This invention kept him alive.

Doctors at Northwestern Medicine in Chicago saved the life of young man using a total artificial lung that sustained him until he could receive a transplant.

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Mark Johnson @markjohnpost.bsky.social · 18/01/2026

Story in today's Washington Post describes fascinating new study of same-sex relations among primates that suggests the behavior offers evolutionary benefits. www.washingtonpost.com/health/2026/...

washingtonpost.com

The evolutionary upside of same-sex sex among primates

New science suggests why monkeys and other primates engage in same-sex relations

Mark Johnson @markjohnpost.bsky.social · 16/01/2026

If you've been diagnosed with four psychiatric disorders and take four different pills, maybe you don't need to. What if they come down to the same problem? My story in today's Washington Post examines this question. www.washingtonpost.com/health/2026/...

washingtonpost.com

Science shows very different psychiatric disorders might have the same cause

A sweeping new study of psychiatric and genetic records has the potential to change treatment for millions of psychiatric patients.

Mark Johnson @markjohnpost.bsky.social · 06/01/2026

The stimulants Ritalin and Adderall have been prescribed to treat ADHD for decades, but it turns out they don't work the way scientists previously thought. My story is in today's Washington Post. www.washingtonpost.com/health/2026/...

washingtonpost.com

ADHD drugs work, but not the way experts thought

New brain research could reshape our understanding of ADHD and the most common drugs that treat it.

Mark Johnson @markjohnpost.bsky.social · 12/12/2025

Scientists build world's tiniest robot, smaller than a grain of salt, bringing medicine closer to Fantastic Voyage into the human body. My story is in today's Washington Post. www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...

washingtonpost.com

Robot smaller than grain of salt can ‘sense, think and act’

The device advances medicine toward a future that might see tiny robots sent into the body to rewire damaged nerves, deliver medicines and analyze a patient’s cells without surgery.

Mark Johnson @markjohnpost.bsky.social · 08/12/2025

Beating back the effects of aging by "supercharging cells". Here's my story on the Washington Post home page: www.washingtonpost.com/science/2025...

washingtonpost.com

The quest to slow aging leads scientists into the powerhouse of cells

Scientists have developed a new method to boost the energy of aging or damaged cells, an innovation that could improve treatment of a variety of conditions.

Reposted by Mark Johnson

Dino Grandoni @dinograndoni.bsky.social · 01/12/2025

And here's the 2nd story in the series! It's on the stunning & unexpected connection between the 📉 in vultures and the 📈 in rabies in India -by @markjohnpost.bsky.social & Saumya Khandelwal www.washingtonpost.com/climate-envi...

washingtonpost.com

Humans killed millions of vultures. Now people are paying the price.

The near-extinction of vultures in India has had severe consequences.

Mark Johnson @markjohnpost.bsky.social · 30/11/2025

The lightning decline of vultures in India, led to a surge in dogs, dog bites and rabies deaths. I was able to report the story in India, thanks to The Washington Post, the Pulitzer Center for Crisis Reporting and my reporting partner Dino Grandoni. www.washingtonpost.com/climate-envi...

washingtonpost.com

Humans killed millions of vultures. Now people are paying the price.

The near-extinction of vultures in India has had severe consequences.

Mark Johnson @markjohnpost.bsky.social · 19/11/2025

Swiss researchers have developed a microrobot guided by magnets that can deliver medications to precise locations, a possible solution to a major cause of drug side effects. Here's my story in The Post: www.washingtonpost.com/science/2025...

washingtonpost.com

Robots in your bloodstream could deliver drugs with greater precision

Scientists in Switzerland are pioneering a way to precisely target drugs in the body using tiny devices controlled by magnets, a technique that could one day reduce unintended side effects.

Mark Johnson @markjohnpost.bsky.social · 02/11/2025

A new clinical trial at Children's National Hospital in D.C. is taking aim at children's solid tumors an area with little progress to show for the last 30 years. My article in The Washington Post ran today: www.washingtonpost.com/science/2025...

washingtonpost.com

Why this clinical trial is offering some young cancer patients hope

Children’s National Hospital is poised to recruit patients for a new clinical trial that will take on an old, implacable foe: children’s solid tumors. Little progress has been made in 30 years.

Reposted by Mark Johnson

Eileen Clancy 🧿 @clancyny.bsky.social · 23/10/2025

GIFT! Study Finds mRNA Covid Vaccines Prolonged Life of Cancer Patients By @markjohnpost.bsky.social "Covid-19 vaccines, credited with saving millions of lives during the pandemic, set off a powerful alarm that rallies the human immune system against cancer and nearly doubles the median survival."

Study finds mRNA coronavirus vaccines prolonged life of cancer patients

A study found that covid-19 vaccines appeared to awaken the immune system in lung and skin cancer patients, helping them live longer than those not vaccinated.

Reposted by Mark Johnson

allen institute @alleninstitute.org · 06/10/2025

Why do optical illusions work? The culprit may be a group of neurons in the visual cortex that help us fill in missing information. @markjohnpost.bsky.social for @washingtonpost.com dives into the science and how it could help demystify visual hallucinations: www.washingtonpost.com/science/2025...

washingtonpost.com

The origins of hallucinations are traced in specialized brain cells

Researchers used lasers to record and stimulate the activity of neurons in mice to learn how the brain processes and interprets optical illusions.

Mark Johnson @markjohnpost.bsky.social · 23/10/2025

Two months after HHS eliminates almost $500 million in funding for mRNA vaccine development, a new study finds evidence that the covid-19 vaccine almost doubled median survival length in some cancer patients. www.washingtonpost.com/science/2025...

washingtonpost.com

Study finds mRNA coronavirus vaccines prolonged life of cancer patients

A study found that covid-19 vaccines appeared to awaken the immune system in lung and skin cancer patients, helping them live longer than those not vaccinated.

Mark Johnson @markjohnpost.bsky.social · 05/09/2025

Would Xi or Putin plonk down a $1 billion bet on someone living to the age of 150? Here's my story in today's Post: www.washingtonpost.com/science/2025...

washingtonpost.com

The $1 billion wager riding on whether a human will live to 150

The leaders of China and Russia discussed medical advances and whether a human might reach the age of 150. Two experts in the longevity field have a “$1 billion” wager riding on the question.

Mark Johnson @markjohnpost.bsky.social · 15/08/2025

New weapon in the fight against tooth decay may come from sheep's wool or human hair. I have a story in The Washington Post on research from King's College London. www.washingtonpost.com/science/2025...

washingtonpost.com

The potential key to upgrading toothpaste? Sheep’s wool and human hair.

Scientists find keratin from hair can form a protective coating on teeth, potentially preventing tooth decay and promoting better dental care

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Mark Johnson @markjohnpost.bsky.social · 14/08/2025

Great reporting by my colleagues at The Washington Post on the administration's "war on data." www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

washingtonpost.com

Trump’s answer to numbers he doesn’t like: Change them or throw them away

From D.C. crime rates to census collection to labor statistics, the administration has suppressed inconvenient data and conjured inaccurate statistics to bolster policy objectives.

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Mark Johnson @markjohnpost.bsky.social · 12/08/2025

I'm in awe of my colleagues' excellent work on the shooting at CDC headquarters in Atlanta. Read this terrific story by Lauren Webber and Lena Sun. www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...

washingtonpost.com

After CDC shooting, its employees turn their anger to RFK Jr. and Trump

Documents from the shooter’s home showed his discontent with coronavirus vaccines, authorities said. CDC workers want RFK Jr. to denounce vaccine misinformation.

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Mark Johnson @markjohnpost.bsky.social · 06/08/2025

Harvard Medical School researchers have discovered that the depletion of lithium in the brain leads to much of the deterioration in Alzheimer's disease. In a mouse model, they were actually able to reverse the damage. Here's my story in The Post: www.washingtonpost.com/science/2025...

washingtonpost.com

Research on reversing Alzheimer’s reveals lithium as potential key

Years of investigation by scientists at Harvard has revealed that lithium is deeply involved in Alzheimer’s disease, a finding that could lead to new treatments.

Mark Johnson @markjohnpost.bsky.social · 30/07/2025

Is NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya "not a politician" as he says? Here's my story in The Post. Let me know what you think: www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...

washingtonpost.com

NIH director says cuts aim to reduce ‘ideological research,’ focus on health

Science and American politics have become intertwined as perhaps never before.

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Reposted by Mark Johnson

Elizabeth Warren @warren.senate.gov · 03/07/2025

Protecting his stock portfolio while ripping away health care from 17 million Americans. This is Washington at its worst. We need to ban Congressional stock trading.

Mark Johnson @markjohnpost.bsky.social · 03/07/2025

What happened to Kilmar Abrego Garcia in El Salvadoran prison: "guards, who had determined that he wasn’t a hardened gang member, threatened to put him in with real gang members who would 'tear' him apart." Read story by Steve Thompson, of The Washington Post. www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/...

washingtonpost.com

Kilmar Abrego García’s lawyers describe ‘severe beatings’ in El Salvador prison

In a rare account of conditions inside the notorious Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT), Abrego’s attorneys say he and others deported there from the United States were beaten and forced to kneel fo...

Reposted by Mark Johnson

Ferric Fang, MD @fangferric.bsky.social · 21/06/2025

This is a terrible decision that threatens what has long been an indispensable resource for patients and their providers. The federal HIV guidelines have been a model for a living document that is constantly updated through a rigorous and collaborative process.

Mark Johnson @markjohnpost.bsky.social · 21/06/2025

What next at HHS? My story on the phasing out of NIH support for HIV clinical practice guidelines. www.washingtonpost.com/science/2025...

washingtonpost.com

Administration to phase out NIH support of HIV clinical guidelines

The National Institutes of Health will phase out its support of the clinical practice guidelines that advise doctors how to diagnose and treat HIV.

Mark Johnson @markjohnpost.bsky.social · 11/06/2025

One of the greatest composers of the modern era. R.I.P. www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2...

washingtonpost.com

Brian Wilson, singer-songwriter who created the Beach Boys, dies at 82

His early hits — “Surfer Girl,” “I Get Around,” “All Summer Long,” “Help Me, Rhonda” and “California Girls” — evoked a fantasy world of fast cars, beautiful youth, eternal surf and sunshine on an imm...

Mark Johnson @markjohnpost.bsky.social · 03/06/2025

Doing the right thing. Finally. www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2025/...

washingtonpost.com

Tulsa announces reparations for the 1921 ‘Black Wall Street’ massacre

It took decades of research by historians and journalists — and reports by state and federal commissions — to uncover the violence that claimed more than 300 Black lives.

Mark Johnson @markjohnpost.bsky.social · 03/06/2025

A bleak future for the government's chemical safety agency. www.washingtonpost.com/climate-envi...

washingtonpost.com

White House proposes shutting down chemical safety agency

Since 1998, the Chemical Safety Board has played a key role in probing the causes of major chemical accidents.

Reposted by Mark Johnson

allen institute @alleninstitute.org · 28/05/2025

You can't treat what you can't reach. A new fleet of 1,000 "gene delivery trucks" could help bring more targeted gene therapies to the brain and spinal cord. Dive deeper in this great article by @markjohnpost.bsky.social for @washingtonpost.com. 🧠📈 www.washingtonpost.com/science/2025...

Mark Johnson @markjohnpost.bsky.social · 29/05/2025

Yet another batch of pardons. www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

washingtonpost.com

Trump’s clemency spree extends to ex-gangster, artist, former congressmen

Trump said he also is considering pardons for men convicted in the kidnapping plot against Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan.

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Reposted by Mark Johnson

Quinn Sievers @quinnsievers.bsky.social · 27/05/2025

We discussed this incredible article in lab meeting today from @markjohnpost.bsky.social in @washingtonpost.com wapo.st/3ZDCj5d

A grim prognosis, a gamble and one patient’s fight to defy cancer

After a Stage 4 cancer diagnosis and a prognosis of 16 months to live, Katie Doble didn’t know whether she should plan her wedding or her funeral.

Mark Johnson @markjohnpost.bsky.social · 28/05/2025

The Washington Post has published a story I wrote on important new discoveries made through the NIH Brain initiative. www.washingtonpost.com/science/2025...

washingtonpost.com

Scientists develop gene delivery ‘trucks’ that could treat brain diseases

Gene delivery systems can target specific brain cells, a breakthrough that could lead to treatments for Parkinson's, Alzheimer's and other neurodegenerative diseases.

Mark Johnson @markjohnpost.bsky.social · 28/05/2025

More pardoning. www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

washingtonpost.com

Trump to pardon reality stars Todd and Julie Chrisley

The former stars of USA Network’s “Chrisley Knows Best” were sentenced to 12 and seven years, respectively, in 2022 for fraud and tax evasion.

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Mark Johnson @markjohnpost.bsky.social · 28/05/2025

Historians purged. www.washingtonpost.com/history/2025...

washingtonpost.com

These historians oversee unbiased accounts of U.S. foreign policy. Trump fired them all.

An advisory committee of historians helps ensure the record of America’s history remains unbiased, transparent and thorough. Trump just fired the entire panel.

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Mark Johnson @markjohnpost.bsky.social · 28/05/2025

RFK Jr. continues his push to dictate what constitutes good science. www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...

washingtonpost.com

RFK Jr. says he may bar scientists from publishing in top medical journals

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. took aim at reputed journals such as the Lancet and said the agency will create “in-house” publications instead.

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Mark Johnson @markjohnpost.bsky.social · 28/05/2025

Great reporting by my Post colleagues raising questions about the President's picks to provide oversight. www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

washingtonpost.com

Trump oversight picks include scandal-hit ex-lawmaker, antiabortion lawyer

Several nominees have clearly partisan backgrounds, including two with controversial histories and two with ties to the agency they would be investigating.

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Mark Johnson @markjohnpost.bsky.social · 27/05/2025

Strong editorial: www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...

washingtonpost.com

Opinion | In defense of nationwide injunctions

The Supreme Court has good reason to preserve this check on presidential power.

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Mark Johnson @markjohnpost.bsky.social · 27/05/2025

More pardoning by the Pardoner-in-Chief. www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

washingtonpost.com

Trump pardons former Virginia sheriff convicted of bribery, fraud

Former sheriff Scott Jenkins was found guilty of accepting more than $75,000 in bribes.

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Mark Johnson @markjohnpost.bsky.social · 27/05/2025

Justice Neil M. Gorsuch called the court’s refusal to review the case a “grievous mistake — one with consequences that threaten to reverberate for generations.” www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

washingtonpost.com

Supreme Court declines to stop transfer of Native American site for mining

The justices left in place a lower-court decision that allows the transfer of land in central Arizona known as Oak Flat that is sacred to Western Apache Indians.

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Mark Johnson @markjohnpost.bsky.social · 15/05/2025

White House is planning a military parade that costs $25 million to $45 million. How many canceled research projects might that have paid for? How many RIFed government workers? www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/202...

washingtonpost.com

Price tag for Trump’s military parade could reach $45 million

Soldiers will be housed in U.S. Department of Agriculture and General Services Administration buildings for days, an Army spokesman said.

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Mark Johnson @markjohnpost.bsky.social · 15/05/2025

The Washington Post's David Nakamura tells the powerful story of the man who's fight led to birthright citizenship. www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/...

washingtonpost.com

His great-grandfather enshrined birthright citizenship. Norman Wong is trying to save it.

One hundred and twenty-seven years after Wong Kim Ark’s Supreme Court victory enshrined birthright citizenship, Norman Wong is fighting to protect that legacy.

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Mark Johnson @markjohnpost.bsky.social · 15/05/2025

Republicans go demure when asked about the $400 million plane from Qatar. www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

washingtonpost.com

Analysis | The Republican squirm is in full swing

Amid extraordinary Trump gambits in recent days, Republicans are straining — hard — to avoid passing judgment.

Mark Johnson @markjohnpost.bsky.social · 12/05/2025

Scientists say a new AI device can tell your biological age from a photograph of your face. Not how old you are in years, but how old you are in health. Here's my story in The Washington Post: www.washingtonpost.com/science/2025...

washingtonpost.com

New AI tool predicts your biological age from a selfie

Scientists at Mass General Brigham in Boston have developed an AI tool called FaceAge, an algorithm designed to tell patients’ biological age from a photograph.

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Mark Johnson @markjohnpost.bsky.social · 12/05/2025

Some much welcome good news. Would be wise to study what factors have resulted in the lower number of mass shootings. www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...

washingtonpost.com

Opinion | This year there have been zero public deadly mass shootings

The first third of the year saw the fewest mass fatalities involving firearms since at least 2006.

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Mark Johnson @markjohnpost.bsky.social · 12/05/2025

Why it's not OK to use the IRS to punish enemies. Read this Washington Post column. www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...

washingtonpost.com

Opinion | Trump’s attack on nonprofits has an ugly history

The White House’s war on Harvard is testing the guardrails that Congress put in place after Watergate.

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