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Yasemin Saplakoglu

Yasemin is a staff writer covering biology for Quanta Magazine. Previously, she reported for three years on a wide range of fields for Live Science, with extensive coverage of neuroscience, health, and COVID-19. She has also written for Scientific American and the San Jose Mercury News. She holds an undergraduate degree in biomedical engineering from the University of Connecticut and a master’s degree in science communication from the University of California, Santa Cruz.

Mobile Genes From the Mother Shape the Baby’s Microbiome

Tiny genetic sequences in a mother’s bacteria seem to hop into the infant's bacteria, perhaps ensuring a healthy microbiome later in life.

January 20, 2023

Reshuffled Rivers Bolster the Amazon’s Hyper-Biodiversity

The lush biodiversity of the Amazon may be due in part to the dynamics of branching rivers, which serve as invisible fences that continuously barricade and merge bird populations.

June 8, 2022

Life’s First Peptides May Have Grown on RNA Strands

RNA and peptides coevolving in the primordial world might have jointly served as a precursor to the modern ribosome.

May 25, 2022