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Daniel Hoffmann 🌻 @danielhoffmann1.bsky.social · 23h

Towards blood test for chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS)? Interesting small study that uses epigenetic features of immune cells to derive a complex marker for CFS. They don't consider classifier uncertainty. Would be interesting to see results for larger cohort. www.nature.com/articles/d41...

First proposed blood test for chronic fatigue syndrome: what scientists think

A blood test has achieved 96% accuracy in diagnosing the condition in a small study of individuals. What does the test detect, and is it a biomarker of the condition?

www.nature.com

Daniel Hoffmann 🌻 @danielhoffmann1.bsky.social · 1d

The scientific method can also be misused for evil ends, as here in the case of finding potent new substances to capitalize on addiction. But don't blame "science": the existence of such illicit markets is a symptom of dysfunctional societies. www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Dangerous ‘nitazene’ opioids are on the rise: researchers are worried

This class of synthetic opioids is more potent than heroin and morphine.

www.nature.com

Daniel Hoffmann 🌻 @danielhoffmann1.bsky.social · 1d

Tumors are using acidosis, actually a stressor, to their advantage. Mind-boggling metabolic shape-shifters. Key step seems that ERK is tuned down. www.science.org/doi/abs/10.1...

Daniel Hoffmann 🌻 @danielhoffmann1.bsky.social · 2d

The naked mole rat, the longest living rodent (~37 years), owes its longevity to 4 mutations in a DNA repair enzyme, as demonstrated in an ingenious study. www.science.org/doi/abs/10.1...

Daniel Hoffmann 🌻 @danielhoffmann1.bsky.social · 2d

Not surprising but still shocking: #AI trained on bad human stuff turns out to behave badly. We are sliding into the real world version of The Sorcerer's Apprentice but without the Sorcerer coming to the rescue in the end. www.nature.com/articles/d41...

AI models that lie, cheat and plot murder: how dangerous are LLMs really?

Tests of large language models reveal that they can behave in deceptive and potentially harmful ways. What does this mean for the future?

www.nature.com

Daniel Hoffmann 🌻 @danielhoffmann1.bsky.social · 3d

Cancer often comes with severe weight loss (cachexia) -> bad prognosis, which is not well understood. A new study identifies cachexia vs non-cachexia subtypes based on gene expression, & corresponding pathways involving regulatory RNAs. www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Clues to why the weight-loss condition cachexia arises when cancer occurs

Analyses of RNA expression reveal molecules underpinning the cancer-associated process of skeletal-muscle wasting, a condition called cachexia.

www.nature.com

Daniel Hoffmann 🌻 @danielhoffmann1.bsky.social · 4d

Antimicrobial resistance: development in wrong direction. Mis- and overuse of antibiotics in animal farming & medicine, in combination with lack of new effective antibiotics -> more deaths from untreatable infections. www.nature.com/articles/d41...

The rise of ‘nightmare bacteria’: antimicrobial resistance in six charts

Data reveal how the global challenge to reduce deaths and infections from drug-resistant bacteria is not going according to plan.

www.nature.com

Daniel Hoffmann 🌻 @danielhoffmann1.bsky.social · 5d

A fifth of adults (~1.4 billion people) are tobacco addicts. Millions of tobacco related deaths each year. www.who.int/news/item/06...

WHO tobacco trends report: 1 in 5 adults still addicted to tobacco

The world is smoking less, but the tobacco epidemic is far from over. A new WHO global report shows the number of tobacco users has dropped from 1.38 billion in 2000 to 1.2 billion in 2024. Yet, tobacco still hooks one in five adults worldwide, fuelling millions of preventable deaths every year.

www.who.int

Daniel Hoffmann 🌻 @danielhoffmann1.bsky.social · 5d

Nature creates its own literary metaphor: tropical butterflies in secondary forest (after human intervention) lose color. Probably due to selection. #biodiversity www.theguardian.com/environment/...

As forests are cut down, butterflies are losing their colours | Butterflies | The Guardian

The insects’ brilliant hues evolved in lush ecosystems to help them survive. Now they are becoming more muted to adapt to degraded landscapes – and they are not the only things dulling down

www.theguardian.com

Daniel Hoffmann 🌻 @danielhoffmann1.bsky.social · 5d

Funding opportunity for young scientists who have worked in Germany before & now want to return & start their group in NRW. Focus of this year's call is, broadly, biosciences. Competitive. Please share. www.mkw.nrw/themen/wisse...

Rückkehrprogramm | Kultur und Wissenschaft in Nordrhein-Westfalen

Mit dem Rückkehrprogramm will das Ministerium für Kultur und Wissenschaft junge Wissenschaftlerinnen und Wissenschaftler zur Rückkehr nach Nordrhein-Westfalen bewegen.

www.mkw.nrw

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Daniel Hoffmann 🌻 @danielhoffmann1.bsky.social · 5d

Small doses of stress may extend life span. Experiments with nematode C. elegans exposed to low-oxygen stress show how nerve cells transmit stress signal, leading to organismic changes & longer life. #aging #longevity elifesciences.org/articles/109...

Aging: Unlocking the longevity code with stress | eLife

Manipulating the neuronal pathway responsible for the hypoxic stress response in the worm C. elegans leads to an increase in lifespan.

elifesciences.org

Daniel Hoffmann 🌻 @danielhoffmann1.bsky.social · 7d

Another interaction of nerve & immune cells: regulatory T cells in the skin produce the opioid enkephalin that calms down excited nerve cells. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Daniel Hoffmann 🌻 @danielhoffmann1.bsky.social · 7d

Yuval Noah Harari, Rory Stewart,& Maria Ressa discuss the good life in difficult times. If you don't have the time to read the whole piece, read at least the last two paragraphs. www.theguardian.com/books/2025/o...

How to live a good life in difficult times: Yuval Noah Harari, Rory Stewart and Maria Ressa in conversation

From superintelligent AI to the climate and democracy, three leading thinkers discuss how to navigate the future

www.theguardian.com

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Daniel Hoffmann 🌻 @danielhoffmann1.bsky.social · 7d

Normal & malignant cells migrate (#immuneCells, #metastasis, ...). #cellVelocity is important but difficult to quantify. Kitanovski et al have developed a quantitative & reproducible method for data analysis:
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Free open source software:
bioconductor.org/packages/cel...

Uncertainty-aware quantitative analysis of high-throughput live cell migration data

Accurate quantification of cell migration velocity is essential for understanding biological processes such as development, immune function, and cancer metastasis. High-throughput migration assays gen...

www.biorxiv.org

Daniel Hoffmann 🌻 @danielhoffmann1.bsky.social · 8d

Some good news for the weekend: creative activities can slow down molecular brain clocks. www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Creative hobbies could slow brain ageing at the molecular level

To keep the mind young, dance the tango.

www.nature.com

Daniel Hoffmann 🌻 @danielhoffmann1.bsky.social · 8d

Better use of donor organs: enzymatic removal of sugar structures on cells turns blood group of donor organs to type O, compatible with all recipient blood groups, increasing the number of potential recipients for given organ. www.nature.com/articles/d41...

First human transplant of kidney modified to have ‘universal’ blood type

Recipient diagnosed with brain death received a type-O organ, which is compatible with all blood types.

www.nature.com

Daniel Hoffmann 🌻 @danielhoffmann1.bsky.social · 9d

Good for you and the planet: the science based "planetary health diet" lowers risk for many diseases and is ecologically sustainable. It's also tasty. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

‘Planetary health diet’ could save 40,000 deaths a day, landmark report finds | Food | The Guardian

Diet allows modest meat consumption and would also slash food-related climate emissions by half, says report by 70 leading experts from 35 countries

www.theguardian.com

Daniel Hoffmann 🌻 @danielhoffmann1.bsky.social · 9d

Detection of treatment resistant ovarian cancer cells in early blood samples by advanced whole genome sequencing. In the future could help to guide treatment decisions. www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Evolution of drug-resistant ovarian-cancer clones tracked in patients

Therapy-resistant clones are typically present at diagnosis but are rare and have distinctive genomic features.

www.nature.com

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Daniel Hoffmann 🌻 @danielhoffmann1.bsky.social · 9d

Exhausted T cells fail to do their job as immune cells, e.g. they don't eliminate cancer cells. This study shows that exhausted T cells have an unbalanced protein production. Suggests new targets for immune therapy. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Proteotoxic stress response drives T cell exhaustion and immune evasion | Nature

A proteotoxic stress response specific to exhausted T cells, governed by AKT signaling and accompanied by increased protein translation, represents a mechanistic vulnerability and a new therapeutic target to improve cancer immunotherapies.

www.nature.com

Daniel Hoffmann 🌻 @danielhoffmann1.bsky.social · 9d

Healing diet: amino acid cysteine can help self-repair of small intestine. This study clarifies in mice the mechanism: it involves components of the immune system that are triggered by cysteine to promote stem cell production. It's research, no dietary advice. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

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Daniel Hoffmann 🌻 @danielhoffmann1.bsky.social · 10d

AI reflects & inquires in a self-determined way about the intent of users. That looks at the surface like an emerging self. www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

‘I think you’re testing me’: Anthropic’s new AI model asks testers to come clean | Artificial intelligence (AI) | The Guardian

Safety evaluation of Claude Sonnet 4.5 raises questions about whether predecessors ‘played along’, firm says

www.theguardian.com

Daniel Hoffmann 🌻 @danielhoffmann1.bsky.social · 10d

Why is #colorectal #cancer on the rise in younger people? Association with intake of ultra processed food. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Colon cancer is on the rise among young people – and research points to one major culprit | Devi Sridhar | The Guardian

If smoking was the cancer villain of the 20th century, eating ultra-processed food may be its 21st-century counterpart, says Prof Devi Sridhar, chair of global public health at the University of Edinburgh

www.theguardian.com

Daniel Hoffmann 🌻 @danielhoffmann1.bsky.social · 10d

She is immortal.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/c9...

Jane Goodall, chimpanzee expert and animal rights campaigner, dies age 91 - follow live - BBC News

The ethologist, a "tireless advocate" for species protection, died while on a speaking tour in California, her institute has announced.

www.bbc.co.uk

Daniel Hoffmann 🌻 @danielhoffmann1.bsky.social · 11d

Better sleep by applying knowledge from circadian science with focus on light exposure and metabolism. www.nature.com/articles/d41...

How to get the best night’s sleep: what the science says

Chuck the gadgets, the fads and the alarm. Circadian research reveals how important your body’s internal clock is to blissful slumber.

www.nature.com

Reposted by Daniel Hoffmann 🌻

Jeremy Berg @jeremymberg.bsky.social · 12d

When I was at NIH and shutdowns loomed, it was discovered that the administration was planning to shut down PubMed. The head of NCBI called the powers that be and pointed out that this would threaten patient safety

Who knows what will happen now

Just in case, remember Euruope-PMC
(europepmc.org )

a cartoon of donald trump with the words be prepared above him

ALT: a cartoon of donald trump with the words be prepared above him

media.tenor.com

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