Bohannon completed his Doctor of Philosophy degree in molecular biology at the University of Oxford in 2002, supervised by Paul Rainey.

[12][13][14] His doctoral thesis investigated the role of an operon in the adaptive evolution of populations of the bacterium Pseudomonas fluorescens and was supervised by Paul Rainey.

[12] Bohannon is Director of Science at Primer, a San Francisco, California, company that develops and sells artificial intelligence technology, started by his friend Sean Gourley.

[10] Bohannon's bogus study had a tiny sample size of 15 and measured 18 variables, almost guaranteeing an erroneously statistically significant result (false positive) due to random fluctuations in participant outcomes.

"[10] The few journalists who contacted Bohannon (acting as Johannes) asked puff piece questions, and no reporter published how many subjects were tested or quoted independent researchers.

[10] Most outlets sought to maximize page views by including "vaguely pornographic images of women eating chocolate.

[27] Many Gonzo Scientist columns[28][29] were devoted to advertising the Dance Your PhD[30] competition, which Bohannon created in early 2008.

[35] And, in April 2012, Bohannon presented on the Dance Your PhD contest at the Northeast Conference on Science and Skepticism (NECSS).