

Michael Le Page
Environment reporter
Bio
Michael Le Page is a science journalist who writes about everything from the dawn of life and evolution to genetic engineering, CRISPR gene editing, biomedicine and the environment, especially global warming. He studied various sciences at the University of Cambridge, including molecular biology, and later did an NVQ Foundation Skills Certificate in journalism.
He has worked in various roles at 51¶¯Âþ, including as deputy news editor and as a feature editor. During this time, he won the 2006 MJA Health Editor of the Year award. His 2007 special, Climate change: A guide for the perplexed, racked up millions of views online. More recently, he has been working as a reporter and has won a number of awards: the ABSW Best News Item award in 2016 for Earth now halfway to warming limit, the MJA Science Explained award in 2019 for A new kind of superfood, the ABSW Feature of the Year award in 2020 for Infectious optimism and the for Should everyone start eating snakes to save the planet. He has also been shortlisted for several other awards, including in the 2019 National Press Awards, the 2021 MJA News Story of the Year (specialist audience) award for The threat from new variants and the 2024 MJA Feature of the Year (specialist audience) for Cut, paste, cure.
He has done radio and television interviews, given talks, taken part in debates and can often be heard on the 51¶¯Âþ podcast. The more unusual things he has done include testing shark repellents in the Bahamas and walking on water at the Edinburgh Science Festival. He has been in two for asking questions at the preprint stage that helped improve the final papers.
More from Michael Le Page
Explore the latest news, articles and features


Life
Brain switch lets us control a kind of suspended animation in mice
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Health
Crops sprayed with 'barcoded' spores could help trace food poisoning
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Health
124 coronavirus vaccines are in development – but will any work?
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Life
Genetically altered human cells can vary their transparency like squid
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Definition
Remdesivir

Life
Cannibal dinosaurs resorted to eating each other when food was scarce
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Health
Coronavirus drugs: how well is the hunt for covid-19 treatments going?
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Health
Coronavirus and covid-19: Your questions answered
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Environment
Tropical cyclones really are growing stronger as the world warms
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Health
Planes and offices must improve ventilation to reduce coronavirus risk
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Health
Mouse embryos that are 4 per cent human are step towards spare organs
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