And just like that, flu becomes an effective bioweapon against US troops.

a cartoon of a man in a blue hat driving a vehicle ALT: a cartoon of a man in a blue hat driving a vehicle

#EvergreenTweet to journals: If you require me to make an account to decline a manuscript review, i'm not going to decline. I'm just going to delete your email. Following up with increasingly harassing emails for me to respond is going to put you on my journal blacklist

We Need to Prepare for the Mammoth Task of De-Trumpification The damage he and his cronies have wrought could take decades to repair, particularly when it comes to science and public health.

The task of de-Trumpification of science and public health will take a generation and a "Marshall Plan" to rebuild. Without a bold, expansive vision to guide us, there is no coming back. Small-bore, poll-tested versions of the future will not help us. www.thenation.com/article/soci...

two images of the human body's circulatory system. One of them with good cable management

The human circulatory system, before and after proper cable management.

Spanish PM Pedro Sánchez: “Here in Spain, we are approving and advancing a process to regularise half a million immigrants.

“And I want to say to the Right and the Far Right who oppose this: Spain is the daughter of migration and will not become the mother of xenophobia.”

To any that knew Ellen in the #DevBio community- you know she was so thoughtful and always willing to help. She cared about all of us and dedicated herself to improving the future of science and our community. She will be sorely missed. Sending my condolences to all that loved her.💔

the basic theory of DOGE was that if powerful people said it was fine it didn’t matter what the law said.

I think proving that theory wrong is worth significant effort

stupid good porkchop

just had the best pork chop I’ve ever had (and there is VERY serious competition) at Darkroom in Santa Ana, CA - fennel Calabrian chili butter pork tomahawk in a porcini white wine reduction.

One of my cc students apologized for missing class yesterday because his father had been shot, so forgive me if “viewpoint diversity” isn’t the most pressing of concerns in my classroom.

"You're spending taxpayer dollars to drink milk shirtless in a hot tub with Kid Rock. Somehow you think that's a better public health message than informing the public about the benefits of vaccines. Really? -- Rep. Linda Sanchez to RFK Jr

This black-and-white studio portrait photograph captures Rosalind Elsie Franklin, the brilliant British chemist and X-ray crystallographer whose meticulous research produced Photograph 51—the iconic X-ray diffraction image that revealed DNA’s double-helix structure and proved pivotal to the 1953 Watson-Crick model of the molecule. Shown in a close-up, three-quarter view from the shoulders up, Franklin appears in her late twenties or early thirties, her dark, wavy hair neatly styled and swept back from her face. She wears a simple, dark collared blouse or shirt with a crisp, professional appearance that reflects the understated elegance typical of mid-20th-century scientific women. Her expression is calm and intensely focused: direct gaze slightly off-camera to the viewer’s left, lips gently closed in a subtle, knowing half-smile, conveying quiet confidence, intellectual depth, and quiet determination. The plain, softly lit studio background with its neutral gradient emphasizes her face and upper torso, creating an intimate, timeless composition that places her poised presence at the absolute center.

Chemist & X-ray crystallographer Rosalind Franklin's meticulous research was instrumental in uncovering DNA's molecular structure.

Most famous for her role in the DNA double helix discovery, her work also revolutionized our understanding of viruses & coal. Died #OTD in 1958, age 37. #WomenInSTEM

Pope in Bamenda: ‘Woe to those who manipulate religion for military or political gain’ - Vatican News Speaking at a meeting dedicated to peace in Bamenda, Cameroon, Pope Leo XIV warns against the

Leo: “Woe to those who manipulate religion and the very name of God for their own military, economic and political gain, dragging that which is sacred into darkness and filth.”

🔥 This pope rocks.

www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news...

Today, Russel Vought appeared in front of the House Budget Committee to defend the proposed cuts to the #NIH & others. He justifies cuts to cancer, Alzheimer’s research etc. & spreads lies about the origins of Covid.

FYI: The NIH budget is less than 1% of federal budget.

🧪via @pbsnews.org

This is the height of toxic positivity (complimentary)!

I see nothing wrong with this.

Project 2025 is gutting medical funding that helped Russell Vought's own kid Its architect's daughter has cystic fibrosis—and benefits from a "miracle drug" backed by an agency he's attacking.

His daughter has benefited from cutting edge cystic fibrosis research at the NIH that has led to an effective treatment - he's an ideologue who is too dumb to close the loop here.

www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

the endless "oooh damn this looks awesome">"darn it there's a fundamental error; kill me now">"fixing that error will ruin the whole paper; woe is me">"fixing the error made the paper even better; yay me">"oooh damn this looks awesome" pipeline

😎😱😫🤩😎

What I think is important in this discourse is that (coming myself from a country with free healthcare) when something is a public good and it works really well, people take it from granted. That's what neoliberals and conservatives use to dismantle it. It's been happening everywhere, even Spain

A vibrant color studio portrait of Carolyn Widney Greider, the American molecular biologist and Nobel laureate who discovered the enzyme telomerase and shared the 2009 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for revealing how chromosomes are protected from shortening during cell division. In this warm, professional head-and-shoulders photograph, she faces the camera directly with a bright, genuine smile that reveals her teeth and lights up her eyes, conveying warmth, intelligence, and quiet confidence. Her shoulder-length, wavy blonde hair frames her face softly. She wears a bright turquoise ribbed knit cardigan with a draped collar over a black top, accented by small blue stud earrings. The background is a soft, out-of-focus gradient of blues and greens that keeps the focus entirely on her approachable presence. The overall composition is clean and intimate. The mood is one of joyful accomplishment and scientific dedication, powerfully symbolizing Greider’s groundbreaking contributions to molecular biology, our understanding of aging, cancer, and cellular immortality, and her role as a trailblazing woman in STEM.

Molecular biologist Carolyn Greider was born #OTD in 1961.

She shared the 2009 #Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for the discovery of the enzyme telomerase & how chromosomes are protected by telomeres. This has 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘶𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘭 implications for the fields of #aging and #cancer research. #WomenInSTEM

It is a profound irony when the nation under attack feels more empathy for the attacker's citizens than the attacking government itself.

KERNEN: We'd never be able to send anyone back if you needed a judicial warrant every single time

RAND PAUL: Well, I don't think that's true. Obeying the 4th Amendment of the Constitution shouldn't be too difficult. It's something we fought the revolution over.

Brief fun survey from Jessica, Andrew & myself:

If you are a faculty member, research scientist, postdoc, or senior Ph.D. student in any area of science, please take five minutes and fill it out. We’ll share the results widely along with some reflections.

docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

A working model of CK2-mediated SF3B3 phosphorylation in promoting ESCC progression. In ESCC, aberrantly activated CK2 phosphorylates SF3B3 at Thr1200, enhancing its interaction with the deubiquitinase USP7. This interaction leads to deubiquitination and stabilization of SF3B3, ultimately promoting a large cohort of alternative splicing events, including the inclusion of exon 4 in EXOSC2, and thereby driving ESCC progression. Targeting both CK2 and USP7, either individually or in combination, using CX-4945 and P5091, respectively, effectively suppresses ESCC progression.

Protein #kinase dysregulation is often implicated in #cancer. This study shows that casein kinase 2-mediated phosphorylation of splicing factor SF3B2 enhances its #deubiquitination & stability, driving aberrant #AlternativeSplicing & promoting ESCC progression @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/4tjuKgI

This same claim was made 30 years ago pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8910609/ (not cited in the new version). It has not got more likely since.

I personally think not safe to remain in any personal relationship with anyone who is using LLMs to analyze your relationship, make conclusions about your motives, or determine how to treat you. I think this is beyond red flag—it should be an immediate dealbreaker.

Russell Vought, Trump’s Shadow President From the wholesale gutting of federal agencies to the ongoing government shutdown, Russell Vought has drawn the road map for Trump’s second term. Vought has consolidated power to an extent that…

Russ Vought direct quote: "I don’t want President Trump having to lose a moment of time having fights in the Oval Office about whether something is legal or doable or moral."

www.propublica.org/article/russ...

The United States is destroying itself | Rebecca Solnit The daily news can’t adequately convey the administration’s sabotaging of our government, economy, alliances and environment

Rebecca Solnit: “The United States is being murdered, and it’s an inside job. Every department, every branch, every bureau and function of the federal government is being fatally corrupted or altogether dismantled or disabled.” [theguardian.com]