Asimov Press is Back

We are returning with a renewed focus on original reporting, investigations, and thesis-driven philanthropy.

Flower timelapse by Nick Desnoyer.

When we paused Asimov Press six months ago, our goal was to assess both what we had built and the role that writers can play in shaping scientific progress. After doing so, we came to believe more than ever that words are the best starting point to manifest ideas in the world. A well-constructed story acts as a “force multiplier”: it raises awareness for an idea while orienting the field around bottlenecks.

Writing can be uniquely catalytic. Brian Wang wrote a piece for the press about broad-spectrum prophylactics and then became a program director at ARIA, an R&D agency in the UK, where he launched a $50 million program to build them; Wendi Yan wrote about the discovery of artemisinin, the first antimalarial drug, which became the impetus for launching the Research Revival Fund; and Liyam Chitayat argued that mitochondria are alive in an essay that reached millions of readers, growing interest in developing new tools to engineer them. Making these ideas intelligible in print was, for each of them, one of the first steps toward advancing it elsewhere.

This is why we’re excited to share that Asimov Press is returning with a renewed focus. Our goal is to use the journal to grow ideas in the real world. Rather than solely publish pieces in the hope they are seen and spur change, we are moving to a thesis-driven model for scientists and funders by working directly with Renaissance Philanthropy. We’ll still work with authors to sharpen their ideas, but will also follow up with microgrants, workshops, dinners, or assistance with fundraising as needed.

Starting soon, original articles will appear in your email inbox. (If you received this message, you’re already subscribed. We recommend updating your Substack preferences to get only the types of emails you want.) We’ll be hosting a launch party in San Francisco on September 17. A limited number of seats are available, and you can RSVP here.

Our forthcoming articles will emphasize deep reporting. Every reported piece we publish will be an original investigation or detail how a specific problem in biotechnology should be tackled. Essays might explain how a breakthrough was made and what bottlenecks are stymying progress. Each will be fact-checked and copy-edited, as always, and we will issue corrections when, inevitably, we get something wrong.

We’re also launching two podcasts and will host regular events such as live lectures and intimate dinners on narrow issues, from clinical trial reform to technologies for saving coral reefs. We will continue to print beautiful books, including anthologies and originals. (Our first original book, a coffee-table-sized hardcover on the history of the research laboratory, is currently being printed in Italy.)

The team is expanding to meet this ambition. Brady Huggett, who spent fifteen years as an editor at Nature Biotechnology and most recently was features editor at The Transmitter, a neuroscience magazine, is joining as editor-in-chief. Brady previously created the award-winning “First Rounders” podcast for Nature Biotechnology and also created “Hope Lies in Dreams,” a multi-part series about the history of antisense technology and the making of the first drug for spinal muscular atrophy.

Niko McCarty will continue his role as founding editor, while also joining Renaissance Philanthropy as a fellow. There, he will help biotechnologists develop and launch time-bound, thesis-driven philanthropic funds based on articles published in Asimov Press.

We’re at a strange and interesting moment in history. Interest in biotechnology is surging, but people can’t agree whether we’ll soon cure all diseases or build uniquely dangerous pathogens. With serious reporting that goes beyond the daily discourse, we think we can shape how science improves our future.

We hope you’ll join us! We’re actively seeking writers and artists and would welcome pitches on efforts to cure or prevent a disease, make life multiplanetary, improve animal welfare, augment biosecurity safeguards, make plant engineering more efficient, and just about anything else. Please send pitches to editors@asimov.com.

Asimov Press is the most important thing we've ever worked on, and something we'd like to keep building for decades. If you’d like to support our work as a donor or advertiser, please get in touch. Thank you to Asimov, Renaissance Philanthropy, Edison Scientific, Fulcrum, and Likith Govindaiah for making this relaunch possible.