Mun Keat Looi

International Features Editor at BMJ. Journalism lecturer. Recovering social media editor. Japanophile.

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Last 30 daysAug 29, 2020 – Sep 27, 2020
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Jul. 14, 2020

The human microbiome: Everything you need to know about the 39 trillion microbes that call our bodies home

Your body is crawling with bacteria and fungi. But don’t worry: most of them are there to keep you alive – welcome to the wonderful world of the human microbiome. What is the microbiome? In any human body there are around 30 trillion human cells, but…

Jun. 16, 2020

The BMJ

World leaders in covid-19 control

Download figure Open in new tab Download powerpoint As the pandemic has spread around the world much has been made of the rising numbers—more than 7.2 million cases and at least 400 000 deaths. But at least 3.6 million people have recovered from…

Jun. 5, 2020

The BMJ

Risky Business: lessons from covid-19

Clinical professionals are at the forefront of learning and innovation about, and sparked by, the pandemic. Mun-Keat Looi and Rebecca Coombes report from the first virtual Risky Business conference, held on 2 June Video 1 The science clinical trials:…

May. 26, 2020

The BMJ

Covid-19: Japan ends state of emergency but warns of “new normal”

Japan has ended its state of emergency a week early after its new infections fell below 50 a day. “What was once nearly 10 000 hospitalised cases, that has now fallen below 2000,” the prime minister, Shinzo Abe, declared in a news conference on 25…

Apr. 16, 2020

The BMJ

Covid-19: Japan prepares to extend state of emergency nationwide as “untraceable” cases soar

The Japanese government has announced that it will extend the state of emergency to the whole country amid reports of untraceable transmission. On 7 April the prime minister, Shinzo Abe, announced a state of emergency in seven major prefectures,…

Apr. 9, 2020

The BMJ

Covid-19: Japan declares state of emergency as Tokyo cases soar

Japan has declared a month long state of emergency in seven major prefectures after a spike in the number of covid-19 cases. The largest rises are in the Tokyo metropolitan area, which saw the number of cases double in five days to over 1000 (now…

Dec. 10, 2019

Mosaic

How to save a country from snakebite

The evening that a snake bit Mahfudin was one like any other. The sun had set behind Mount Lawu, to the west of Mahfudin’s village in the central part of Java, Indonesia. Crickets chirped in the hedges. Goats bleated in a shed. An uneven path lit by…

Dec. 10, 2019

Medium

9 lessons and reflections from Mosaic’s long form

Mosaic science, the beloved longform digital magazine I worked on as Commissioning and Growth Editor for the best part of a decade, shutters today. (You can read the whole archive here) It had a unique model and mission born in the optimism of the…

Dec. 3, 2019

Mosaic

This is why children’s TV is so weird – and so mesmerising

What makes the world’s most successful children’s TV programmes so addictive – and so strange? Linda Geddes explores the research on kids’ TV, what it’s teaching us about childhood development, and how that can help make programmes for the…

Dec. 3, 2019

Wellcome Trust

Mosaic to close after five years of award-winning long-form journalism

Mosaic, Wellcome’s digital platform dedicated to long-form journalism about science and health, will be closing next week. It will publish its final stories on 10 December. Mark Henderson, Director of Communications, explains why Wellcome has taken…

Sep. 30, 2019

Wellcome Trust

e Trust A nnual R

Annual Review 2010 W ellcom eview 1 O Wellcome Trust We are a global charitable foundation dedicated to achieving extraordinary improvements in human and animal health. We support the brightest minds in biomedical research and the medical humanities.…

Aug. 5, 2019

Medium

Hiroshima: after the bomb was dropped

“Looking up, the orange color of the sun, along with the sound of the plane overhead. As I covered my head a huge BANG came and the entire barracks was blown away, many people losing consciousness as a result. From behind a windowsill, the hell that…

May. 21, 2019

Mosaic

The man who is ageing too fast

Nobuaki Nagashima was in his mid-20s when he began to feel like his body was breaking down. He was based in Hokkaido, the northernmost prefecture of Japan, where for 12 years he had been a member of the military, vigorously practising training drills…

Jan. 24, 2019

Chemistry World

How to reinvent the lab coat

Is it time to ditch the white coats for a more modern look? Protective clothing is, in its purest sense, as old as humans doing dangerous things. Toward the end of the 19th century, the lab coat as we know it gained prominence – and not because of…

Sep. 11, 2018

Chemistry World

The heart of Japan

Beyond Kyoto, the Kansai region boasts iconic cities, characterful culture, and powerhouses of innovation Where is it? Some 390km west of Tokyo, the region of Kansai is an economic and cultural hub at the centre of Japan’s largest island, Honshu.…

Aug. 6, 2018

Medium

Genshibakudan to Genshiryoku: Japan and nuclear science

Genshibakudan to Genshiryoku: Japan and nuclear science Author’s note: This is my 2006 dissertation submitted as part of my Masters degree in Science Communication at Imperial College London. Much of it is still so relevant…

Jul. 10, 2018

Mosaic

When you have a serious hereditary disease, who has a right to know?

Genetic diagnosis is getting ever more sophisticated. But as doctors uncover diseases that are hereditary, who needs to know? Shaun Raviv explores the rights – and duties – of doctors, patients and families. In 2007, a middle-aged British man shot…

Jul. 5, 2018

Chemistry World

The father of lithium-ion batteries

Akira Yoshino’s journey to winning Japan’s highest scientific honour Akira Yoshino was about nine years old when his teacher gave him a book: Michael Faraday’s A chemical history of a candle. He’s never looked at a candle the same since. ‘There was a…

Jun. 1, 2018

Asian Scientist

Akira Yoshino: Inventing The Lithium Ion Battery

SHARE AsianScientist (Jun. 1, 2018) – Not many people can boast of having sat down with Japan’s emperor for a meal, but Dr. Akira Yoshino has had that distinct honor. “I had a frank chat with the Emperor,” Yoshino said in an interview with Asian…

Nov. 21, 2017

Mosaic

How to save the rainforest: build a health centre

Save the people, save the forest. In rural Indonesia, a pioneering clinic is showing how the health of people and forests could and should be intertwined. By Yao-Hua Law. The roosters were still asleep when Sri Wayunisih woke her daughter, Puteri.…