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Roxanne Khamsi

@roxannekhamsi.bsky.social
574 followers 97 following 46 posts

- contributing writer at The Atlantic - author of BEYOND INHERITANCE, available now, including audiobook: amazon.com/dp/059354191X (free alerts: roxanne.substack.com)

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Reposted by Roxanne Khamsi
Sarah Karlin-Smith @sarahkarlin-smith.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
What could go wrong... "Investors on the libertarian fringe of the biotech industry are making their dream of widespread access to experimental drugs a reality in Montana." www.politico.com/news/2026/09...
politico.com
Montana’s giving the biotech industry sweeping authority to sell unapproved drugs
Americans will soon be able to travel to Big Sky Country to take experimental drugs in defiance of federal regulators.
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Roxanne Khamsi @roxannekhamsi.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
Thinking about this as discussion ramps up around bombing Pickaxe mountain. Not apples to apples, but war and radiation are no good. www.theguardian.com/news/datablo...
theguardian.com
Mona Chalabi’s datablog: Iraq war leukemia rates worse than after Hiroshima bombing
Bombing of Falluja preceded 2,200% increase in leukemia rates, as well as 1,260% increase in childhood cancer
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Roxanne Khamsi @roxannekhamsi.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
Excited to announce that I've got a few videos on a startup YouTube channel. 🎬📣 Here's the latest one. 👇 Subscribe if you dig 🙂 youtu.be/R50kUpYRmak?...
youtu.be
Epigenetic Editing Finally Got Precise
YouTube video by Roxanne Khamsi
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Tulio de Oliveira @tuliodna.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
In the age of scientific misinformation & disinformation, we decided to invest in to create a scientific magazine that is curated using professional journalists and media communicators to highlight excellence of African science and innovation! Access the full magazine online at: ceri.africa/the-gem/
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Roxanne Khamsi @roxannekhamsi.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
A brilliant book, and an exhilarating summer read for all who are in science or curious about how it really works. Congrats, @robertakwok.bsky.social!
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Shawn Adamsson @adamsson.ca · 13/07/2026
Book 101. @roxannekhamsi.bsky.social’s Beyond Inheritance is both eye opening and, for me as a free-will skeptic, bias confirming (although that’s not remotely the premise of this book, and Roxanne may disagree on this point). A fascinating and accessible read. #booksky 📚
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Roxanne Khamsi @roxannekhamsi.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
Tune in to the latest episode of @alanalda's Clear+Vivid podcast. @alda and I speak about how he genomes we're born with are not the ones we die with. Listen here: clear-vivid-with-alan-alda.simplecast.com/episodes/rox... and read more in my new book: www.amazon.com/dp/059354191X
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Kerri Smith @kerri-smith.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
It was a delight to work with the awesome @roxannekhamsi.bsky.social on this feature about epigenetic editing for disease - no need to cut the DNA itself www.nature.com/articles/d41...
nature.com
CRISPR’s next act: the companies editing the epigenome to treat disease
A handful of start-up firms are testing therapies that target specific epigenetic markers to treat everything from high cholesterol to a rare muscular disorder.
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Roxanne Khamsi @roxannekhamsi.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
What if the problem is not that they burn all the books... but that we forget how to read them? Really profound piece by @rosehorowitch.bsky.social in @theatlantic.com: www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...
theatlantic.com
The End of Reading Is Here
Optimists once believed that universal literacy was inevitable. Now it seems that the age of reading might be a short anomaly in human history.
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Roxanne Khamsi @roxannekhamsi.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
A new review of my book, Beyond Inheritance (www.amazon.com/gp/product/0...) in The New York Review of Books, written by David Quammen: www.nybooks.com/articles/202...
nybooks.com
Song of Our Cells | David Quammen
Though a mystery to Darwin in his lifetime, the constant mutation of our genes is what allows for life’s magnificent diversity.
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Roxanne Khamsi @roxannekhamsi.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
The life-saving DNA of genetic outliers - I write all about how the search for these individuals who have variants of modifier genes is influencing medicine. Here's a post about my latest story for The Atlantic: roxanne.substack.com/p/the-life-s...
roxanne.substack.com
The life-saving DNA of genetic outliers
Some people sidestep deadly mutations, and they're inspiring new treatments.
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David Shaywitz @dshaywitz.bsky.social · 28/06/2026
(My recent @wsj.com review of @roxannekhamsi.bsky.social thoughtful albeit disconcerting book on mutations, "Beyond Inheritance") -> www.wsj.com/tech/biotech... (gift link)
wsj.com
‘Beyond Inheritance’ Review: Divisional Danger
Genetic mutations are more pervasive than previously thought, causing cancer and other ailments. Are there possible benefits as well?
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David Shaywitz @dshaywitz.bsky.social · 28/06/2026
Thx for heads-up, @adrianwoolfson.bsky.social! I started going through this and was thinking wow - this reads remarkably well, and then I glanced at author - @roxannekhamsi.bsky.social and then I wasn't surprised; fantastic overview of captivating topic.
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Roxanne Khamsi @roxannekhamsi.bsky.social · 02/07/2026
Finally, after more than 20 years, I had the chance to share my special "140" formula for writing. As a guest on Emerging Form, I talk about how this writing method influenced my new book Beyond Inheritance (www.amazon.com/gp/product/0...) Listen here: emergingform.substack.com/p/episode-16...
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Roxanne Khamsi @roxannekhamsi.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
If you are interested in #epigenetics and #CRISPR you might want to know that they have changed their Facebook status to "in a relationship" roxanne.substack.com/p/crispr-and...
roxanne.substack.com
CRISPR and Epigenetics finally tie the knot
You're about to hear a lot more about 'epigenetic editing'
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Roxanne Khamsi @roxannekhamsi.bsky.social · 15/06/2026
Can we fight tumors by pitting cancer cells against one another? This past weekend, I spoke with Bob McDonald on CBC's Quirks & Quarks about how doctors are already doing this. You can listen here, and check out my book Beyond Inheritance if you'd like to learn more. www.cbc.ca/player/play/...
cbc.ca
We’re a hotbed of mutations, and scientists are leveraging that for our health
The genetic instructions you get from your parents are not the same instructions you have when you die. Our cells are mutating all the time, from the early embryo until our final breath. Some of these...
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Roxanne Khamsi @roxannekhamsi.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
In a study of men, 3% had some Y chromosome loss at age 40, but that number rose to 44% at age 70. Hear more on the @nextbigidea.bsky.social podcast. iTunes 🎧 : podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/d... Spotify 🎧 : open.spotify.com/episode/7iIa... And the Book Bite: nextbigideaclub.com/magazine/bod...
amazon.com
Beyond Inheritance: Our Ever-Mutating Cells and a New Understanding of Health: Khamsi, Roxanne: 9780593541913: Amazon.com: Books
Buy Beyond Inheritance: Our Ever-Mutating Cells and a New Understanding of Health on Amazon.com ✓ FREE SHIPPING on qualified orders
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Roxanne Khamsi @roxannekhamsi.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
Does your dad love science? 🔬 Are you still looking for a Father's Day gift for him? Give him a book about DNA that The New Yorker called "striking" and "far-reaching": www.amazon.com/gp/product/0...
amazon.com
Beyond Inheritance: Our Ever-Mutating Cells and a New Understanding of Health: Khamsi, Roxanne: 9780593541913: Amazon.com: Books
Buy Beyond Inheritance: Our Ever-Mutating Cells and a New Understanding of Health on Amazon.com ✓ FREE SHIPPING on qualified orders
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Michael Le Page @mjflepage.bsky.social · 05/06/2026
🧪
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Roxanne Khamsi @roxannekhamsi.bsky.social · 05/06/2026
If you missed the event at De Stiil, you can still read all about the people uncovering genetic changes happening inside you as you live and breathe: roxannekhamsi.com
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Microbetv @microbetv.bsky.social · 27/05/2026
ICYMI Special guest @roxannekhamsi.bsky.social , science writer and author of Beyond Inheritance, joined Nels and Vincent for a livestream episode of This Week in Evolution (TWIEVO) on Tuesday 26 May 2026
youtube.com
TWiEVO #126 Livestream 5/25/26 12:00 PM Eastern
YouTube video by MicrobeTV
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Roxanne Khamsi @roxannekhamsi.bsky.social · 02/06/2026
The conversation got philosophical quickly on this episode of #TWiEVO. I joined Vincent Racaniello and @elearlybird.bsky.social to talk about how Darwin's principals of evolution play out in the human body. 🎧 iTunes: podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/t... 🎧 Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/5ior8qV...
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Roxanne Khamsi @roxannekhamsi.bsky.social · 20/05/2026
Happening today in #Montreal:
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Roxanne Khamsi @roxannekhamsi.bsky.social · 19/05/2026
Join me tomorrow (May 20th) for a live event in #Montreal hosted by @mcgill-hg.bsky.social to mark the release of my brand-new book. My book, Beyond Inheritance, reveals how our DNA changes throughout our lives — and what that means for our health. Details here: www.linkedin.com/feed/update/...
linkedin.com
Happening tomorrow 🗓️ (May 20th) at McGill University, in collaboration with Paragraphe Bookstore: I will be giving a talk about the past, present and future of somatic mutation research. The live… |...
Happening tomorrow 🗓️ (May 20th) at McGill University, in collaboration with Paragraphe Bookstore: I will be giving a talk about the past, present and future of somatic mutation research. The live ev...
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Madhu Pai, MD, PhD @madhupai.bsky.social · 13/05/2026
A wonderful chance for folks @mcgill.ca @healthsciences.mcgill.ca to hear @roxannekhamsi.bsky.social speak! Title: "Overturning the dogma of genetic disease: The surprising reach of somatic mutations" Date: Wed, May 20 3:00 P.M. McIntyre Medical Bldg., McGill campus Format: In-person and Hybrid
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Roxanne Khamsi @roxannekhamsi.bsky.social · 13/05/2026
#MONTREAL - come join me tomorrow night (Thursday, May 14th) at De Stiil booksellers in the Plateau to celebrate the publication of my new book, Beyond Inheritance. Repost and tell a friend. We're all mutants (even you) and it'll be lively! Full details here: www.instagram.com/p/DX7vifUO68a/
instagram.com
DE STIIL Booksellers on Instagram: "Please join us on May 14th to celebrate the launch of @roxannekhamsi book, Beyond Inheritance: Our Ever-Mutating Cells and a New Understanding of Health! Interview...
destiil_books on May 4, 2026: "Please join us on May 14th to celebrate the launch of @roxannekhamsi book, Beyond Inheritance: Our Ever-Mutating Cells and a New Understanding of Health! Interviewed by...
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Children's Research Institute at UT Southwestern @cri-utsw.bsky.social · 05/05/2026
We already thought @haozhulab.bsky.social hung the (liver-shaped) moon🌙 & now his #relentlessdiscovery is promulgated. Check out Chp 6, "When Our Bodies Autocorrect," p140 to read how somatic mutations could give us "hope." Great topic, @roxannekhamsi.bsky.social! 🧪 Watch out #booktok 🤓
Hao Zhu stands in front of a window holding the book "Beyond Inheritance: Our Ever-Mutating Cells and a New Understanding of Health."
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Roxanne Khamsi @roxannekhamsi.bsky.social · 29/04/2026
One of the biggest highlights of the past week has been speaking with Eric Topol (@erictopol.bsky.social) on his show Ground Truths. The conversation was wide-ranging and exciting! Have a listen (or watch) here:
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Madhu Pai, MD, PhD @madhupai.bsky.social · 23/04/2026
A book that will challenge our usual ways of thinking about mutations and health "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" Congrats @roxannekhamsi.bsky.social 👏 www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/711682...
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Olivia Weisser @oliviaweisser.bsky.social · 24/04/2026
Cannot wait to read this new new book by @roxannekhamsi.bsky.social on our ever mutating cells - BEYOND INHERITANCE - it already came up in my history of medicine class this week!
penguinrandomhouse.com
Beyond Inheritance by Roxanne Khamsi: 9780593541913 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books
“Constantly fascinating and impeccably reported...You won’t look at yourself in the same way again.” —Ed Yong, bestselling author of An Immense World and I Contain Multitudes A...
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Roxanne Khamsi @roxannekhamsi.bsky.social · 28/04/2026
Happy publication day to Helen Pearson! Her book is so good that I almost missed my subway stop I was so engrossed in reading it. Check out the details below:
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Roxanne Khamsi @roxannekhamsi.bsky.social · 22/04/2026
This week marks the release of my book Beyond Inheritance 🎉 📖 . It tells the stories of patients with mysterious ailments who have been saved by doctors' new understanding of genetics. And how whales can teach us about preserving our DNA as we age. Available as book & audiobook: tinyurl.com/5yjsr97n
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Helen Pearson @helenpearson.bsky.social · 22/04/2026
A great book just out by talented writer @roxannekhamsi.bsky.social
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Michael Pollan @michaelpollan.bsky.social · 21/04/2026
Out today, a paradigm-shifting book on our biology by Roxanne Khamsi
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Roxanne Khamsi @roxannekhamsi.bsky.social · 21/04/2026
I'll be in conversation with @erictopol.bsky.social on his Ground Truths Substack live today at 12:30pm ET. Tune in for a conversation about my new book, Beyond Inheritance. Out today! tinyurl.com/5yjsr97n
tinyurl.com
Beyond Inheritance by Roxanne Khamsi: 9780593541913 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books
“Constantly fascinating and impeccably reported...You won’t look at yourself in the same way again.” —Ed Yong, bestselling author of An Immense World and I Contain Multitudes A...
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Roxanne Khamsi @roxannekhamsi.bsky.social · 21/04/2026
📖 My book BEYOND INHERITANCE is out today. tinyurl.com/5yjsr97n This journey started with a fact I couldn’t ignore: Even in otherwise healthy adults, mutant cells can appear in the blood—quietly doubling the risk of heart disease and stroke.
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Roxanne Khamsi @roxannekhamsi.bsky.social · 17/04/2026
Are we overlooking one of the most important causes of #aging? The first excerpt of my new book BEYOND INHERITANCE appears today in @theatlantic.com and explains how a once-fringe idea from is gaining traction — and could point to future anti-aging treatments: www.theatlantic.com/health/2026/...
theatlantic.com
The DNA Fix for Aging
Everyone’s DNA keeps mutating. Could correcting those errors lead to longevity?
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Roxanne Khamsi @roxannekhamsi.bsky.social · 16/04/2026
Thank you, Apoorva — excited to talk with you about it in person at our event in New York on April 29th: www.mcnallyjackson.com/event/roxann...
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ID Chief @ UMich @adamlauring.bsky.social · 16/04/2026
I just got my advance copy today. Can't wait to read it. Especially the parts of about viral mutabillity and the problem of the poliovirus endgame.
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Roxanne Khamsi @roxannekhamsi.bsky.social · 15/04/2026
A new article out by @juliabelluz.bsky.social today will change your mind about drugs like #Ozempic. The findings on inflammation came as a surprise to me: www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
nytimes.com
Opinion | GLP-1 Experimentation Is Everywhere, and Science Can’t Keep Up
Millions of Americans are experimenting with the drugs. Science can’t keep up.
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Roxanne Khamsi @roxannekhamsi.bsky.social · 08/04/2026
The @newyorker.com has a wonderful review of my new book, Beyond Inheritance: "Khamsi’s emphasis on the beneficial aspects of somatic mutations is one of the most striking elements of her book.” Intrigued? Order a copy of the book (or audiobook) here: www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/711682...
newyorker.com
We Are All Constantly Mutating—and That’s a Good Thing
Genetic research has been complicating the idea of the genome as a determinative blueprint.
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Jeffrey Perkel (he/him) @jperkel.bsky.social · 02/04/2026
🚨🚨🚨 New book alert! Writer-extraordinaire @roxannekhamsi.bsky.social's debut book on the ever-changing state of our DNA is coming soon. 📚 Preorder it now! @bookshop.org 🚨🚨🚨 bookshop.org/p/books/beyo...
bookshop.org
Beyond Inheritance: Our Ever-Mutating Cells and a New Understanding of Health
Our Ever-Mutating Cells and a New Understanding of Health
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Roxanne Khamsi @roxannekhamsi.bsky.social · 30/03/2026
Can I change your mind about DNA? My first book, BEYOND INHERITANCE, descries a sea change in how we talk about our genes. It comes out in a couple weeks—preorder your copy or audiobook version (narrated by me) today: www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/711682...
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Amy Maxmen, PhD @amymaxmen.bsky.social · 20/02/2026
The Trump admin is pushing to terminate rules that mandate basic rights & sanitary conditions for detained children. Already, CBP is detaining kids in tents, airports & prison-like settings, according to lawyers By @sandywestreporter.bsky.social @kffhealthnews.org kffhealthnews.org/news/article...
kffhealthnews.org
Immigrant Kids Detained in ‘Unsafe and Unsanitary’ Sites as Trump Team Seeks To End Protections - KFF Health News
President Donald Trump’s Justice Department seeks to terminate the Flores Settlement Agreement, which since 1997 has required U.S. immigration officials to hold migrant children in facilities that are...
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MdDoogie3 @mddoogie3.bsky.social · 11/02/2026
A transplant recipient whose body was rejecting his organ because DHS won’t give him his absolutely essential anti-rejection meds. www.thedailybeast.com/ice-arrests-... 24/
thedailybeast.com
ICE Arrests Transplant Patient and Cuts Off Life-Saving Meds
The 38-year-old hasn’t had his kidney transplant medication since he was detained on Thursday.
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ProPublica @propublica.org · 09/02/2026
1/ ProPublica collected handwritten letters in mid-January from children held at the Dilley Immigration Processing Center, the same facility where 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos was taken. Hundreds of kids are still detained. We’ll let the children’s words speak for themselves. 🧵
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Kathleen Bachynski @bachynski.bsky.social · 23/01/2026
“On Thursday, Quinhin Nantote, Guinea-Bissau’s minister of public health, said the study had not received proper ethical approval, and his office has suspended it… “We have no evidence of any meeting they held, we don’t even have minutes of a negotiated approval,” he said.”
nytimes.com
Kennedy Plan to Test a Vaccine in West African Babies Is Blocked
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Brandon Roberts @bxroberts.org · 18/12/2025
THREAD: The FDA has made it difficult to find where medications are made. Today we're changing that with our latest tool. With Rx Inspector, it’s possible to see your drug’s manufacturing facility and what the FDA found during its inspections. Here's how you can use it. 1/
Screenshot of Rx Inspector webpage, where users can look up where their generic prescription drugs were made. A blue button prompts people to "begin your search." The background illustration shows a man inspecting a giant red and white pill capsule.
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Adam Rogers @jetjocko.bsky.social · 15/12/2025
One of my high-level professional fears is the destruction of Google Scholar. And now, here we go.
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Roxanne Khamsi @roxannekhamsi.bsky.social · 21/11/2025
There's a big problem with the "two degrees" of warming message in the climate conversation. I wrote about it for @slate.com: slate.com/technology/2...
slate.com
Americans Don’t Take Climate Change Seriously. Might I Suggest One Simple Fix?
It's time to retire the old catchphrase.
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