Jessica Wapner

Jessica Wapner is a journalist and former science editor at Newsweek whose work has appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times, Wired, Medium, Discover, Popular Science, Self, Scientific American, New York magazine, The Atlantic, and elsewhere. Her first book, The Philadelphia Chromosome, was named a top ten nonfiction book by The Wall Street Journal. She lives in Brooklyn.

The Philadelphia Chromosome
A Mutant Gene and the Quest to Cure Cancer at the Genetic Level
by Jessica Wapner
Hardcover | $25.95 US

Philadelphia, 1959: A scientist scrutinizing a single human cell under a microscope detects a missing piece of DNA. That scientist, David Hungerford, had no way of knowing that he had stumbled upon the starting point of modern cancer research—the Philadelphia … Continue reading →

The Philadelphia Chromosome
A Genetic Mystery, a Lethal Cancer, and the Improbable Invention of a Lifesaving Treatment
by Jessica Wapner
Paperback | $15.95 US / $21.00 CAN

Philadelphia, 1959: A scientist scrutinizing a single human cell under a microscope detects a missing piece of DNA. That scientist, David Hungerford, had no way of knowing that he had stumbled upon the starting point of modern cancer research— the … Continue reading →

Wall Disease
The Psychological Toll of Living Up Against a Border
by Jessica Wapner
Paperback with flaps | $12.95 US / $16.95 CAN

East Germans were the first to give the crisis a name: Mauerkrankheit, or “wall disease.” The afflicted—everyday citizens living on both sides of the Berlin wall—displayed some combination of depression, anxiety, excitability, suicidal ideation, and paranoia. The Berlin Wall is … Continue reading →