Cahir O'Kane
@cahirokane.bsky.social
1.6K followers 560 following 1.7K posts
Genetics professor: axon ER & degeneration in Drosophila, spastic paraplegia. Rejoin EU. Not the GAA commentator. Speak only for myself. Gaeilge, Deutsch. Maghera (Co Derry), Cambridge (UK). https://www.gen.cam.ac.uk/research-groups/research-groups/okane
Posts Media Videos Starter Packs
cahirokane.bsky.social
Like slashing ambulance tyres or stealing their wheels
angierasmussen.bsky.social
I don’t know who needs to hear this but the CDC is being eviscerated right now. America is not going to have any kind of outbreak response capacity after tonight. Americans’ health data is no longer secure. Say goodbye to federal public health in any capacity. It’s a disaster. We won’t recover.
Reposted by Cahir O'Kane
biology.ox.ac.uk
📢Closing on Monday: Associate Professor of Molecular Cell Biology

But if you thought you had missed out...

🎉Extended till 22nd October: Associate Professor of Animal Behaviour

Join us in the new state-of-the-art Life and Mind Building 👇

bit.ly/488CNW3
Reposted by Cahir O'Kane
genetics-gsa.bsky.social
Science is intertwined with eugenics, and eugenic ideologies continue to negatively impact #Indigenous communities and science today.

Read a timely and important perspective piece in #GENETICS from @jazlynmooney.bsky.social and colleagues: buff.ly/T7rbV3k
Reposted by Cahir O'Kane
judithflanders.co.uk
Fascism in Europe destroyed the then greatest university system in the world. Fascism in the US well on the way to replicating the original.

*list above (apart from Fermi) from pubs.aip.org/physicstoday...
The scientific exodus from Nazi Germany
Beginning in 1933, hundreds of physicists and other academics fled the country, transforming their lives and the global scientific landscape.
pubs.aip.org
cahirokane.bsky.social
Baby steps.....
rolandmcs.bsky.social
This strikes me as a pretty major Brexit shift from Starmer.

Perhaps the beginning of 'Brexit is sh1t and has caused real economic damage'.
Reposted by Cahir O'Kane
drannecarpenter.bsky.social
15 years in the making, we confirmed that mitochondria - the powerhouse of the cell - have an unusual localization in patients who experience psychosis (including schizophrenia and bipolar disorders). You’ll never guess what kind of patient cells we used to make this discovery… 🧵
mitochondria from bipolar patients are closer to the nucleus in these images; control patients' are spread out further
Reposted by Cahir O'Kane
chrischirp.bsky.social
Also, if you're "in bed with flu", it's almost certainly Covid.
chrischirp.bsky.social
After a long pause, I've just done another England Covid & NHS update as we head into the autumn/winter season.

TLDR: we're in a significant Covid wave now, the NHS is stretched, get boosted if you're eligible.

christinapagel.substack.com/p/england-is...
England is now experiencing a significant Covid wave, after 10 months of relative quiet
The latest Covid situation in England and a look at where NHS services are as we head into winter
christinapagel.substack.com
Reposted by Cahir O'Kane
erictopol.bsky.social
Waning immunity. A significant Covid wave in England. No new variant.
Thanks Prof Pagel for highlighting and contextualizing
cahirokane.bsky.social
#ER_Literature
science.org
New #ScienceSignaling experiments in mice show how the enzyme SPEG prevents the leakage of calcium ions in skeletal muscle cells—a finding that could inform research into diseases associated with mutations in the calcium-releasing channel RYR1. https://scim.ag/3KKfpEG
Phosphorylation of RYR1 at Ser2902 decreases Ca2+ leak in skeletal muscle and susceptibility to malignant hyperthermia and heat stroke
Reducing Ca2+ leak through mutant RYR1 prevents pathological heat production in skeletal muscle.
scim.ag
Reposted by Cahir O'Kane
annettedittert.bsky.social
Die deutsche Blick auf Grossbritannien ist von jeher durch Mythen, Kitsch und Sentimentalitäten verstellt. Auch deshalb weil die Engländer sich gerne selbst so sehen.
Die Realität sieht ein wenig anders aus.
Ein sehr kluges Stück von Eva Ladipo. @faznet.bsky.social
Großbritanniens Demokratie: Auch in England gewinnen die Extremen an Zulauf
Die britische Demokratie ist uralt. Sie gilt als sagenhaft stabil und immun gegen irrationale Emotionen. Damit ist es nun vorbei.
www.faz.net
Reposted by Cahir O'Kane
frisophagy.bsky.social
Bluesky, I am pleased to present to you the main product of postdoc work, published in @science.org ☝️

As it turns out, the very quality control mechanism that can remove mutant mtDNA copies is the one that maintains high mutant burden, or heteroplasmy levels
High heteroplasmy decreases mitochondrial ubiquitination
Reposted by Cahir O'Kane
frisophagy.bsky.social
How can mitophagy be an effective quality control mechanism if mtDNA mutations reach high enough levels to cause disease?

This question led us into a dark path, full of concepts of evolutionary genetics, germline stem cell biology and mito-nuclear compatibility.

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Ubiquitin-mediated mitophagy regulates the inheritance of mitochondrial DNA mutations
Mitochondrial synthesis of adenosine triphosphate is essential for eukaryotic life but is dependent on the cooperation of two genomes: nuclear and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA). mtDNA mutates ~15 times as...
www.science.org
Reposted by Cahir O'Kane
dermotlynott.bsky.social
We got solar panels installed about a month ago, and we’re running at about 75% energy independence. In autumn. In Ireland. This is not some unsolvable quantum physics problem for god’s sake 🤦
Reposted by Cahir O'Kane
Reposted by Cahir O'Kane
chrischirp.bsky.social
After a long pause, I've just done another England Covid & NHS update as we head into the autumn/winter season.

TLDR: we're in a significant Covid wave now, the NHS is stretched, get boosted if you're eligible.

christinapagel.substack.com/p/england-is...
England is now experiencing a significant Covid wave, after 10 months of relative quiet
The latest Covid situation in England and a look at where NHS services are as we head into winter
christinapagel.substack.com
Reposted by Cahir O'Kane
profitgreenly.bsky.social
~40% of the ENTIRE corn crop of the US is used to make ethanol. This gets blended with gasoline to power well under 10% of our vehicle miles. If we converted 100% of our vehicles to EVs installing solar on a small fraction of the land this corn is grown on would power them all.
US domestic corn use graph from 1980 to 2020. The orange bar representing "Alcohol for fuel use" (aka ethanol) starts growing in early 2000s, explodes before 2010 and stays huge through the graphs 2022 end. This explains most of the increased corn production in the US.
Reposted by Cahir O'Kane
cahirokane.bsky.social
As an STV voter in both N & S Ireland I always felt my vote had more influence over the outcome, than in 30 years in (until 2024) a safe Tory seat in GB. (It also keeps out fringe parties that don’t reach a quota in any constituency, and keeps a constituency link to MPs unlike a list system)
Reposted by Cahir O'Kane
lewisherbert.bsky.social
Adoption of PR for all elections has to become Labour Govt's top "system change priority" and critical by 2027 OR TOO LATE.
Sadly too many want to put all their chips on red, blinded by once in a lifetime 2024 result.
Otherwise 33% will beat 55% under current FPTP in 2029.
Keep up great feed Sandy!
Reposted by Cahir O'Kane
avezovlab.bsky.social
New preprint from our lab! ER geometry sets the tempo of neuronal bursting via Ca²⁺ store-refill—revealing selective neuronal vulnerability to ER-structure problems. Thread to follow.🧠⚡️

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

#Neurodegeneration #NeuroCellBiology #Calcium #bioRxiv