Based in Brazil, Fernanda Ferreira is a science writer who covers a range of STEM (and occasionally non-STEM) topics, from textile conservation to vaccine stockpiles.
“This is my first time doing this without supervision,” Juliana Drozd said as she squirted ethanol on the lab bench and wiped it clean. “We’ll be fine,” she added.
This is the extraction of scytonemin, a pigment produced by colonies of certain cyanobacteria — previously known as photosynthetic blue green-algae.
With incredible editing and additional reporting from Lauren Hinkel and Fatima Husein
