Jonathan Shaw is Managing Editor of Harvard Magazine. A graduate of Harvard College, he has worked at the magazine since 1990, following an earlier role at MIT. Over the decades, he has written widely on science, technology, health, and the humanities.
After covering the 2002 SARS epidemic in depth, Jon became the first journalist writing for a general audience to report that both SARS-CoV and the closely related SARS-CoV-2—the virus behind COVID-19—use the same receptor to enter human cells. He later shared the behind-the-scenes story of how that article came together. His 2004 feature on the benefits of exercise, “The True Magic Pill,” remains one of the most-read pieces on harvardmagazine.com, although his playful answer to “Who Built the Pyramids” is also a perennial favorite.
For more than twenty years, Jon has explored a wide range of topics—from stem cell science and climate change to big data and legal issues such as the role of habeas corpus in the war on terror. His early feature on digital privacy helped introduce the concept of “surveillance capitalism” to general readers. Most recently, he audited a course on understanding and using generative AI to inform his reporting on that rapidly evolving field.
His work has been anthologized in collections of the best science writing and is frequently used in college and university classrooms.
Jon is known for his meticulous approach to journalism. He clearly identifies Harvard Magazine as an editorially independent publication during interviews and carefully fact-checks his work before publication. He refrains from political speech in public forums and strives to present opposing viewpoints fairly and accurately when covering controversial subjects.
A technique for pushing genetic alterations through entire species of plants and animals may herald a future in which humans manage ecosystems through molecular biology.
