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Kate Kelland
For Kate Kelland's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
Japan Times
WORLD / ANALYSIS
Apr 1, 2021
In mutant variants, has the coronavirus already revealed its hand?
Emergence of the same few mutations simultaneously in different parts of the world gives scientists cautious optimism that there may be limits on the pandemic's endurance.
Japan Times
WORLD / FOCUS
Mar 4, 2021
'When will it end?': How a changing virus is reshaping scientists’ views on COVID-19
Vaccine breakthroughs had initially sparked hope that the virus could be largely contained, but data on new variants has undercut that optimism.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health / FOCUS
Dec 27, 2020
How a British COVID-19 vaccine went from pole position to troubled start
A review of records and interviews with scientists and industry figures gives a detailed account of what went wrong with the Oxford-AstraZeneca study.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Dec 9, 2020
Testing times: More work needed on AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine trials
A Lancet study gave few extra clues about why efficacy was 62% for trial participants given two full doses, but 90% for a smaller subgroup given a half, then a full dose.
Japan Times
WORLD
Dec 6, 2020
Russian state employees describe pressure to join vaccine trials
Some employees are coming under heavy pressure to sign up for the trials, an effort that medical ethicists say may run afoul of ethical norms.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Dec 4, 2020
Fortune or foresight? AstraZeneca and Oxford's stories clash on COVID-19 vaccine
The two partners have given conflicting accounts of how they came upon the most effective dosing pattern for their COVID-19 vaccine.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health / FOCUS
Nov 24, 2020
Decades of work, and half a dose of fortune, drove Oxford vaccine success
The Oxford vaccinologists were exhilarated on Monday when drugmaker AstraZeneca, with whom they developed the shot, announced that it could be around 90% effective.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Nov 19, 2020
Can first vaccines bring herd immunity? Experts have doubts.
Figuring out what's needed to achieve herd immunity with COVID-19 vaccines involves a range of factors, several of which are unknown.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / FOCUS
May 16, 2020
Caught in Trump-China feud, WHO leader under siege
The internal debate over the WHO's messaging around China provides a window into the challenges facing the 72-year-old U.N. organization and its leader.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Oct 1, 2019
Food fight: New review of red meat's risks carves path of contention
Cutting back on red and processed meat brings few if any health benefits, according to a review of studies involving millions of people, a finding that contradicts dietary advice of leading international agencies and raised immediate objections from many health experts.
WORLD / Science & Health
Nov 12, 2016
Research quantifies genetic damage caused by smoking
Scientists have found that smoking a pack a day of cigarettes can cause 150 damaging changes to a smoker's lung cells each year.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Apr 24, 2016
How the World Health Organization's cancer agency confuses consumers
Thanks to scientists working under the auspices of the World Health Organization, you can be fairly sure your toothbrush won't give you cancer. Over four decades, a WHO research agency has assessed 989 substances and activities, ranging from arsenic to hair dressing. It found only one that was "probably not" likely to cause cancer: an ingredient in nylon that is used in yoga pants and toothbrush bristles.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Feb 11, 2016
Heal thyself: U.N.'s WHO at crossroads; experts call for fresh focus, structure
When executive board members of the World Health Organization sat down for their annual meeting in Geneva in January, many powerful figures spoke forcefully of the need to reform the leading global authority on health and disease.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
May 30, 2015
Is nicotine addiction bad for your health?
Since he ditched Marlboro Lights five years ago, Daniel's fix is fruit-flavored nicotine gum that comes in neat, pop-out strips. He gets through 12 to 15 pieces a day and says he has "packets of the stuff" stashed all over. But he doesn't see himself as a nicotine addict.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Oct 4, 2014
Benefits of parkrun go well beyond physical
The thousands of Britons who take to their local green space each week for a mass 5 km parkrun can expect to reap health benefits well beyond losing 1 kg and lowering their blood pressure.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health / FOCUS
Aug 21, 2014
The search for new antibiotics turns to insect guts and genome mining
Pampering leafcutter ants with fragrant rose petals and fresh oranges may seem an unlikely way to rescue modern medicine, but scientists at a lab in eastern England think it is well worth trying.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Aug 3, 2014
Africa's Ebola fight weakens by spread among health workers
Jenneh became a nurse in Sierra Leone 15 years ago with the hope of saving lives in one of the world's poorest countries. Now she fears for her own after three of her colleagues died of Ebola.
WORLD / Science & Health
Aug 3, 2014
Trains, planes and viruses: How Ebola can spread
For scientists tracking the deadly Ebola virus in West Africa, it is not about complex virology and genotyping, but about how contagious microbes — like humans — use planes, bikes and taxis to spread.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health / FOCUS
May 23, 2014
Is Mideast xenophobia stalling cure for MERS virus?
In a north London laboratory one Saturday in September 2012, an email arrived from a team of virologists in the Netherlands that spooked even some of the world's most seasoned virus handlers.

Longform

Later this month, author Shogo Imamura will open Honmaru, a bookstore that allows other businesses to rent its shelves. It's part of a wave of ideas Japanese booksellers are trying to compete with online spaces.
The story isn't over for Japan's bookstores