New preprint on conserved BCG in myxobacteria from Cole Steven's lab!

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

The Extraordinary Benefit of Nature’s Chemistry to Health, Society, and the Economy The connection between humans and Nature’s chemistry is astonishing and built into the very fabric of our genetic code. In this Perspective, we focus on bioactive molecules from microbes, plants, and ...

The Extraordinary Benefit of Nature’s Chemistry to Health, Society, and the Economy | Journal of Natural Products pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10....

Exclusive: NIH to suspend funds for research abroad as it overhauls policy Move by US biomedical agency threatens thousands of projects on infectious diseases, cancer and more.

NIH is freezing funds for research abroad, threatening thousands of projects. 9/10
www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Amid DOGE-induced turmoil, National Science Foundation in crisis The $9 billion agency, which exists solely to fund researchers, projects and facilities outside its Alexandria, Virginia, headquarters, is hitting reverse on its mission.

Important story of NSF cuts by @carolynyjohnson.bsky.social, & important perspective from @alondra.bsky.social: ‘These accounts of how we are decimating with a thousand cuts the science & research ecosystem are devastating… It’s sort of cutting off the future.’ www.washingtonpost.com/science/2025...

Affected by the foreign subawards policy? Help run clinical trials abroad on a project with a subaward? I want to hear how this policy impacts you.

Send me a message on Signal at mkozlov .01 or email me at maxkozlov [at] protonmail [dot] com. You can stay anonymous.

There's an open call for editors (5-year terms) at Applied and Environmental Microbiology, for those of you who might be interested:

journals.asm.org/journal/aem/...

If anyone has concerns, the biosecurity bureaucracy of Australia should allay them!

I know conservation biologists have ethical concerns about Colossal Biosciences, etc., but one thing is for sure: DAFT and the OGTR are never ever going to let a GMO thylacine-like animal that is actually a GMO numbat or whatever wander the bush in Tassie.

FDA Announces Plan to Phase Out Animal Testing Requirement for Monoclonal Antibodies and Other Drugs FDA Plans to Phase Out Animal Testing Requirement

This is chilling www.fda.gov/news-events/...

I injured my thumb tripping on a run this morning, and it is kinda annoying typing, but I am really glad that I am not a PhD student/postdoc anymore because pipetting would be literally impossible.

Great news: NIH postbac program is recruiting again! If your grad school plans were affected by program cutbacks or admissions freezes this year I highly encourage you to apply, this could be a perfect opportunity. Please repost.

www.training.nih.gov/research-tra...

NSF slashes prestigious PhD fellowship awards by half US National Science Foundation announces lowest number of Graduate Research Fellowship Programme recipients in 15 years.

NSF will award ~1,000 instead of their usual ~2,000 Graduate Research Fellowships this year.

NSF slashes prestigious PhD fellowship awards by half www.nature.com/articles/d41...

My biggest comment on paper I am reviewing today is going to be that their technical sales pitch jargon literally makes the paper hard to follow even though it's a pretty straightforward genetic circuit.

Not to throw rocks at glass houses (because I definitely am guilty of this) but sometimes synthetic biology is so vibey. Sometimes people are just doing a pretty basic genetic experiment and dressing it up in technical futuristic jargon.

General vibes right now

Openness guides discovery - Nature Biotechnology Nature Biotechnology - Openness guides discovery

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Did You Work on a Terminated NIH Grant? ProPublica Wants to Hear From You. The National Institutes of Health is canceling grants that are seen as conflicting with the Trump administration’s priorities. We want to hear from researchers who have been affected.

🧪 #ScienceSky and #AcademicSky: We’re trying to learn more about the real-life scope and impact of the Trump administration terminating NIH grants.

Here's how you can help our reporting 👇

I worry about all the focus on commercialision from the ARC here in Oz for the same reason

This came to mind after hearing recent discussions on podcasts etc. about the rise of Chinese innovation with companies like Byd and Xaomi, Byd's accession while Tesla flounders and Elon Musk is DODGE-ing, etc. China has won biotech: thehill.com/opinion/tech....

Big ups to ACS for providing complimentary childcare at #ACSFall2025. Attending conferences is enough logistical work as-is. Not having worry about week-long arrangements for kiddos makes a huge difference, especially to early-career folks who are more likely to have young kids.

Nobel Prizes by country and year.

The dominance of Germany is striking every time. Before 1933, that is. And the utter dominance of America (and the UK) after 1945.

See this chart for one stark example: NIH funding has dramatically slowed down.

Grant awards are down *$3 billion* so far, compared to same time period last year

I asked the White House to explain.

“This is not a researcher entitlement program,” said an official, defending their new approach.

Sounds like a grift

Countries that have issued a travel advisory this year warning their citizens about visiting the United States:

Canada
Denmark
Finland
France
Germany
Ireland
Netherlands
New Zealand
United Kingdom

75% of US scientists who answered Nature poll consider leaving More than 1,600 readers answered our poll; many said they were looking for jobs in Europe and Canada.

This doesn't look good, folks
www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Imagine if those funds went to paying students, technicians, or postdocs to do more research. 🧪

biorxiv.org/content/10.1... Here’s a paper that was many years in the making. The idea that the climate can affect the thermodynamic mechanism of binding due to the temperature dependence of the entropy term is interesting- we see gradual shift in binding mode along evo trajectory…

Studies terminated at NIH:
-On reducing asthma from mold
-On prenatal risks & screening
-On statins influence on dementia
-On the safety/risk of gender-affirming care
-On how Covid vax outcomes & disparities
-On improving HIV care
-Training programs for the next generation of scientists

Feels like the ultimate goal in molecular construction, but is only relevant if it's to make something that will be used by others