Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Dr Sarah Mitchell @sarahmitchellphd.bsky.social · Aug 3

“One man’s trash is another man’s treasure” 😬

RyanLab_TCD @ryanlab.bsky.social · Jul 25

The source of dietary fat influences anti-tumour immunity in obese mice #immunometabolism
Great work from @lydialynch.bsky.social lab and colleagues
www.nature.com/articles/s42...

The source of dietary fat influences anti-tumour immunity in obese mice - Nature Metabolism

This study shows that animal-based high-fat diets accelerate tumour growth and impair anti-tumour response to melanoma in obese mice, whereas plant-based high-fat diets do not.

www.nature.com

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Martin Borch Jensen @martinbjensen.bsky.social · Feb 13

US Biotech is #1.
And depends critically on academic research both for trained PhDs to wrestle cures from Nature and for curiosity-driven eurekas (eg CRISPR or statins).

Private industry will not be able to substitute for an enfeebled NIH.

We will have fewer cures and we will lose our primacy.

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Meredith Wadman @meredithwadman.bsky.social · Feb 27

Important and under-covered attack on the guts of NIH's intramural program from @science.org NIH ban on renewing senior scientists adds to assaults on its in-house research | Science | AAAS www.science.org/content/arti...

NIH ban on renewing senior scientists adds to assaults on its in-house research

Policy follows firings of tenure-track scientists and suspension of training programs

www.science.org

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Animal Models for Social Dimensions of Health and Aging Network @animalsocaging.bsky.social · May 23

New Research Network publication alert!

@sheehanmj.bsky.social and @matthewzipple.bsky.social, both recipients of Network Pilot & Feasibility awards, have published a paper in Aging Cell on ecological realism and epigenetic aging in mice. Congratulations, Mike and Matthew! doi.org/10.1111/acel...

Ecological Realism Accelerates Epigenetic Aging in Mice

Living environment shapes mammalian aging, but laboratory conditions lack the ecological realism of natural social, physical, and microbial environments. Comparing traditionally laboratory-reared and...

doi.org

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Seth Judson @sethjudson.bsky.social · Feb 22

A whole generation of early career scientists and physician-scientists, including colleagues and myself, are particularly vulnerable to these funding freezes and cuts, with jobs and careers depending on federal grants.

#IDsky
#Medsky
#Episky

www.science.org/content/arti...

U.S. early-career researchers struggling amid chaos

Uncertain funding, government firings, and distressed universities hit vulnerable groups especially hard

www.science.org

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Matt Yousefzadeh @mattyousefzadeh.bsky.social · Jul 6

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

AAV gene therapy for Cockayne syndrome

Cockayne Syndrome (CS) is an autosomal recessive, progressive developmental and neurodegenerative disease. Approximately 30% of cases are caused by mutations in the ERCC8/CSA gene. Patients with CS present with cutaneous photosensitivity, growth failure, shorter life span and a progressive degeneration of the central nervous system. Loss of function mutations in CSA result in deficiencies in transcription-coupled nucleotide excision repair, regulation of RNA Pol II mediated transcription repair of oxidative DNA damage, and mitochondrial metabolism. Currently there are no available therapies for these patients. AAV gene therapy offers an opportunity to address this unmet need. We designed a new AAV vector encoding human CSA under a CBA promoter. We tested the therapeutic efficacy of this AAV9-CSA vector by neonatal ICV injection in the Csa-/-;Xpa-/- mouse model. Treatment with AAV9-CSA resulted in a significant increase in lifespan, and broad distribution of human CSA in the brain and heart. Despite clear therapeutic benefit, we also observed neuroradiological abnormalities, neuropathologic alterations including hypo-myelination, astrocytosis, microgliosis, and likely life limiting transcriptomic alterations in liver at endpoint. Nonetheless, the success of these experiments paves the way for the first in human clinical translation of a gene therapy for CS patients. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest.

www.biorxiv.org

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Dr Sarah Mitchell @sarahmitchellphd.bsky.social · May 24

Super cool!

Animal Models for Social Dimensions of Health and Aging Network @animalsocaging.bsky.social · May 23

New Research Network publication alert!

@sheehanmj.bsky.social and @matthewzipple.bsky.social, both recipients of Network Pilot & Feasibility awards, have published a paper in Aging Cell on ecological realism and epigenetic aging in mice. Congratulations, Mike and Matthew! doi.org/10.1111/acel...

Ecological Realism Accelerates Epigenetic Aging in Mice

Living environment shapes mammalian aging, but laboratory conditions lack the ecological realism of natural social, physical, and microbial environments. Comparing traditionally laboratory-reared and...

doi.org

2

Cell - a Cell Press journal @cp-cell.bsky.social · May 19

Now online! Microbiome metabolism of dietary phytochemicals controls the anticancer activity of PI3K inhibitors

Microbiome metabolism of dietary phytochemicals controls the anticancer activity of PI3K inhibitors

Diet can impact anticancer drug activity. A classic example in rodents is a ketogenic diet enhancing PI3K inhibitor activity. Here, we show that phytochemicals and their microbiome derivatives, rather than macronutrient composition, underlie this phenomenon.

dlvr.it

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Dr Sarah Mitchell @sarahmitchellphd.bsky.social · May 10

Camilla is a horse face.

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Dr Sarah Mitchell @sarahmitchellphd.bsky.social · Mar 20

Wrong Sarah Mitchell!

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Atul Gawande @agawande.bsky.social · Mar 13

Nothing will kill more children than the ongoing decimation of CDC, NIH, and USAID work to lift vaccine uptake in the US and world.

Child survival rose 75% in the last 50 years. Vaccines account for 40% of that. Measles vax alone was 60% of the benefit. www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

Contribution of vaccination to improved survival and health: modelling 50 years of the Expanded Programme on Immunization

Since 1974 substantial gains in childhood survival have occurred in every global region. We estimate that EPI has provided the single greatest contribution to improved infant survival over the past 50...

www.thelancet.com

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Dr Sarah Mitchell @sarahmitchellphd.bsky.social · Mar 6

Oooh that Elon felon one is good!

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Christoph Handschin @c-handschin.bsky.social · Mar 3

... gait speed. Still better than anything molecular biomarkers can provide. Our commentary (with @regula-furrer.bsky.social @biozentrum.unibas.ch @unibas.ch) out now in NPJ Aging:

doi.org/10.1038/s415...

3/3

Biomarkers of aging: functional aspects still trump molecular parameters - npj Aging

Biomarkers of aging are indispensable for testing interventions. While promising, the recent focus on molecular aspects should not detract from the functional parameters for which excellent correlatio...

doi.org

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Stand Up for Science! @standupforscience.bsky.social · Mar 1

"When you hear about patients surviving stage 4 cancer because of immunotherapy, that was based on NIH research over many decades. When you hear about sickle cell disease being cured because of CRISPR gene editing, that was built on years of research supported by NIH"

apnews.com/article/nih-...

Renowned geneticist Francis Collins retires from NIH, urging 'respect' for embattled workers

Dr. Francis Collins, a renowned geneticist, and former longtime director of the National Institutes of Health, is retiring from the government agency and urging “respect” for its embattled workers.

apnews.com

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Eric Topol @erictopol.bsky.social · Mar 1

Francis Collins, the NIH Director for 12 years, led the Human Genome Project and other NIH efforts for 32 years, resigned today. Key words from his resignation letter
www.nytimes.com/2025/03/01/u...

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Dr Sarah Mitchell @sarahmitchellphd.bsky.social · Feb 27

Shocking.

Meredith Wadman @meredithwadman.bsky.social · Feb 27

Important and under-covered attack on the guts of NIH's intramural program from @science.org NIH ban on renewing senior scientists adds to assaults on its in-house research | Science | AAAS www.science.org/content/arti...

NIH ban on renewing senior scientists adds to assaults on its in-house research

Policy follows firings of tenure-track scientists and suspension of training programs

www.science.org

Carolyn Bertozzi @carolynbertozzi.bskyverified.social · Feb 26

Happy to share this new #glycotime work with collaborator Tony Wyss-Coray, led by grad student Sophia Shi, mucin loss at the BBB is associated with aging and cognitive decline, can be reversed by restoration with with gene therapy. Aging is a mucinopathy!

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

Glycocalyx dysregulation impairs blood–brain barrier in ageing and disease - Nature

Disruption of mucin-domain glycoprotein expression and function in the endothelial glycocalyx are associated with ageing and Alzheimer’s disease, leading to dysregulated blood–brain barrier function.

www.nature.com

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Dr Sarah Mitchell @sarahmitchellphd.bsky.social · Feb 21

Great to see AFAR! We need more of this! @afar.org

Kyle Cheney @kyledcheney.bsky.social · Feb 18

NEWSY: The White House confirms tonight that Elon Musk is NOT the administrator of DOGE and is not even technically part of it.

He's a "senior adviser to the president" like Anita Dunn, they say. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

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Elizabeth Warren @warren.senate.gov · Feb 14

Donald Trump and Elon Musk are trying to cut funding for cancer and rare disease research.

A federal judge temporarily blocked the cuts in some states, but this fight is not over.

We can’t let them play politics with our health.

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Dr Sarah Mitchell @sarahmitchellphd.bsky.social · Feb 13

This!!!!

Martin Borch Jensen @martinbjensen.bsky.social · Feb 13

US Biotech is #1.
And depends critically on academic research both for trained PhDs to wrestle cures from Nature and for curiosity-driven eurekas (eg CRISPR or statins).

Private industry will not be able to substitute for an enfeebled NIH.

We will have fewer cures and we will lose our primacy.

1

Congressman Greg Casar @repcasar.bsky.social · Feb 12

How much Elon Musk makes from the government a day: $8 million.

How much a senior on Social Security gets a day: $65

Guess which budget Musk and Trump want to cut?

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Stand Up for Science! @standupforscience.bsky.social · Feb 12

Welcome to the Bluesky account for Stand Up for Science 2025!

Keep an eye on this space for updates, event information, and ways to get involved. We can't wait to see everyone #standupforscience2025 on March 7th, both in DC and locations nationwide!

#scienceforall #sciencenotsilence

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Ran Blekhman @blekhman.bsky.social · Feb 8

Government isn't a business. The goal isn't to save money. Success isn't measured by budget surplus.

The goal is to spend money, investing in society. Every dollar spent on education, healthcare, and science is an investment in our collective wellbeing.

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Dr Sarah Mitchell @sarahmitchellphd.bsky.social · Feb 6

Ugh. I hope they don’t pull funding from funded K99 MOSIAC peeps. It would be terrible if they suddenly couldn’t get their R00 phase money.

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Marine Biological Laboratory @mblscience.bsky.social · Feb 5

Exciting news! MBL has received a $2.6M gift from an anonymous donor! This generous support fuels our mission of discovery, education, and innovation. Private philanthropy drives groundbreaking research and shapes the future of science. 🌎🔬 #ScienceStartsHere #Philanthropy

A drone picture of the Lillie Building at the Marine Biological Laboratory

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Joseph Yaroch @jcyaroch.bsky.social · Feb 2

Today is Retraction Day, when we observe the anniversary of the retraction (Feb. 2, 2010) of the fraudulent paper that purported to show a link between vaccines and autism. 🧪#medsky

This is the front page of a fraudulent research article that purported to show a link between vaccines and autism. The word "RETRACTED" is written across it in large red letters.

Wikipedia: On 28th February 1998, a fraudulent research paper by physician Andrew Wakefield and twelve coauthors, titled "Ileal-Lymphoid-Nodular Hyperplasia, Non-Specific Colitis, and Pervasive Developmental Disorder in Children", was published in the British medical journal The Lancet.[1] The paper falsely claimed causative links between the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine and colitis and between colitis and autism. The fraud involved data selection, data manipulation, and two undisclosed conflicts of interest.

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TAGHIVscience @taghivscience.bsky.social · Jan 31

Home page now: orwh.od.nih.gov

Archive: web.archive.org/web/20241216...

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