Derek Lowe
@dereklowe.bsky.social
Medicinal chemist / chemical biologist, author of “In the Pipeline” at http://science.org/blogs/pipeline. [email protected] and on Signal at Dblowe.18
All opinions are mine; I don’t speak for my employer in any way.
All opinions are mine; I don’t speak for my employer in any way.
Reposted by Derek Lowe
UPDATE 2: A senior official in Guinea-Bissau said in a letter that the trial has been cancelled. Guinea-Bissau will continue its current vaccination schedule until the birth dose is implemented for all newborns, the letter said. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
Controversial US study on hepatitis B vaccines in Africa is cancelled
$1.6m project drew outrage over ethical questions about withholding vaccines proven to prevent disease
www.theguardian.com
January 16, 2026 at 3:11 PM
UPDATE 2: A senior official in Guinea-Bissau said in a letter that the trial has been cancelled. Guinea-Bissau will continue its current vaccination schedule until the birth dose is implemented for all newborns, the letter said. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
ICE are horrible assholes, but green smoke grenades are not nerve gas.
January 16, 2026 at 2:55 PM
ICE are horrible assholes, but green smoke grenades are not nerve gas.
No. Nerve agents are cholinesterase inhibitors that block nerve transmission. Full stop.
Tear gas irritates your mucosal linings.
Tear gas irritates your mucosal linings.
January 16, 2026 at 2:53 PM
No. Nerve agents are cholinesterase inhibitors that block nerve transmission. Full stop.
Tear gas irritates your mucosal linings.
Tear gas irritates your mucosal linings.
No. Nerve agents are a horrible thing all by themselves, and this is widely understood. Tear gas is not one.
January 16, 2026 at 2:51 PM
No. Nerve agents are a horrible thing all by themselves, and this is widely understood. Tear gas is not one.
Reposted by Derek Lowe
Keep the pressure on until is is cancelled or the protocol is revised to be truly ethical.
It might not be cancelled, just delayed and protocol revised. www.scientificamerican.com/article/a-co...
A Controversial U.S. Study of Hepatitis B Vaccines Will Continue in Africa, HHS says
This clinical trial in Guinea-Bissau would withhold vaccination from some babies, sparking ethical concerns
www.scientificamerican.com
January 16, 2026 at 2:24 PM
Keep the pressure on until is is cancelled or the protocol is revised to be truly ethical.
Reposted by Derek Lowe
This is one of the saddest things to me about GenAI, LLMs, etc.
It's finding out just how many people simply don't care if something is really, truly the truth.
How often they're satisfied with something that sounds fine or looks like they want.
It's finding out just how many people simply don't care if something is really, truly the truth.
How often they're satisfied with something that sounds fine or looks like they want.
January 16, 2026 at 2:26 PM
This is one of the saddest things to me about GenAI, LLMs, etc.
It's finding out just how many people simply don't care if something is really, truly the truth.
How often they're satisfied with something that sounds fine or looks like they want.
It's finding out just how many people simply don't care if something is really, truly the truth.
How often they're satisfied with something that sounds fine or looks like they want.
Reposted by Derek Lowe
“Nerve gas” and “nerve agent” are not broad generic terms and they’re simply not applicable at all to smoke grenades, tear gas, or pepper spray
January 16, 2026 at 1:11 PM
“Nerve gas” and “nerve agent” are not broad generic terms and they’re simply not applicable at all to smoke grenades, tear gas, or pepper spray
Reposted by Derek Lowe
None of the smokes and tear gases are anything close to nerve agents and this is dangerously bad disinformation
January 16, 2026 at 12:57 PM
None of the smokes and tear gases are anything close to nerve agents and this is dangerously bad disinformation
Reposted by Derek Lowe
It's got to be unhelpful to spread misinformation about chemicals amongst a terrified population. The more clarity the people can have, the better
January 15, 2026 at 7:47 PM
It's got to be unhelpful to spread misinformation about chemicals amongst a terrified population. The more clarity the people can have, the better
For decades organic chemists have used 1,2-dibromoethane to activate zinc metal. What if it’s not actually doing anything?
Farewell to Dibromoethane
www.science.org
January 15, 2026 at 7:11 PM
For decades organic chemists have used 1,2-dibromoethane to activate zinc metal. What if it’s not actually doing anything?
More details emerge on how mRNA vaccines work:
mRNA Vaccines: What's the Adjuvant?
www.science.org
January 15, 2026 at 7:09 PM
More details emerge on how mRNA vaccines work:
Reposted by Derek Lowe
Worth consulting the work of expert @dankaszeta.bsky.social on this. Green smoke grenades are almost certainly just that (albeit not without harm) not HC
January 15, 2026 at 4:30 PM
Worth consulting the work of expert @dankaszeta.bsky.social on this. Green smoke grenades are almost certainly just that (albeit not without harm) not HC
Reposted by Derek Lowe
Anyone want to comment for an article I'm writing for The Guardian? Have you dealt with AI-generated workslop or know someone who has? If so, let’s talk! hbr.org/2025/09/ai-g...
AI-Generated “Workslop” Is Destroying Productivity
Despite a surge in generative AI use across workplaces, most companies are seeing little measurable ROI. One possible reason is because AI tools are being used to produce “workslop”—content that appea...
hbr.org
January 15, 2026 at 5:12 PM
Anyone want to comment for an article I'm writing for The Guardian? Have you dealt with AI-generated workslop or know someone who has? If so, let’s talk! hbr.org/2025/09/ai-g...
Reposted by Derek Lowe
One of my concerns with AI-assisted research in biology is that we're already looking only in the lamplight and AI incentivizes us to narrow the beam. Seems like it's happening...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Artificial intelligence tools expand scientists’ impact but contract science’s focus - Nature
Artificial intelligence boosts individual scientists’ output, citations and career progression, but collectively narrows research diversity and reduces collaboration, concentrating work in data-rich a...
www.nature.com
January 15, 2026 at 4:08 PM
One of my concerns with AI-assisted research in biology is that we're already looking only in the lamplight and AI incentivizes us to narrow the beam. Seems like it's happening...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Oh God, this is good news. I had been trying to bring myself to blog about this trial, but every time I was too enraged to get something together.
This was a hideously stupid and unethical idea, and no one promoting it should have anything to do with medicine or public health.
This was a hideously stupid and unethical idea, and no one promoting it should have anything to do with medicine or public health.
BREAKING: The controversial hepatitis B vaccine trial in Guinea-Bissau has been *cancelled,* I can now report. A senior official with Africa CDC confirmed the cancellation and said GB officials are working to make sure any research is conducted ethically:
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
Controversial US study on hepatitis B vaccines in Africa is cancelled
$1.6m project drew outrage over ethical questions about withholding vaccines proven to prevent disease
www.theguardian.com
January 15, 2026 at 3:46 PM
Oh God, this is good news. I had been trying to bring myself to blog about this trial, but every time I was too enraged to get something together.
This was a hideously stupid and unethical idea, and no one promoting it should have anything to do with medicine or public health.
This was a hideously stupid and unethical idea, and no one promoting it should have anything to do with medicine or public health.
Reposted by Derek Lowe
We have the CDC-funded Hepatitis Vaccine trial in Guinea-Bissau protocol.
It’s worse than you thought.
Check it out, first in Inside Medicine…
with @pauloffit.bsky.social David Boulware and others.
insidemedicine.substack.com/p/scoop-the-...
It’s worse than you thought.
Check it out, first in Inside Medicine…
with @pauloffit.bsky.social David Boulware and others.
insidemedicine.substack.com/p/scoop-the-...
Scoop: The leaked protocol of the CDC-funded Hepatitis B vaccine trial in Guinea-Bissau. “This is another Tuskegee.”
The protocol reveals that the trial will withhold the Hepatitis B birth dose from thousands—without placebos, without universal maternal screening, and with endpoints critics call indefensible.
insidemedicine.substack.com
January 15, 2026 at 10:57 AM
We have the CDC-funded Hepatitis Vaccine trial in Guinea-Bissau protocol.
It’s worse than you thought.
Check it out, first in Inside Medicine…
with @pauloffit.bsky.social David Boulware and others.
insidemedicine.substack.com/p/scoop-the-...
It’s worse than you thought.
Check it out, first in Inside Medicine…
with @pauloffit.bsky.social David Boulware and others.
insidemedicine.substack.com/p/scoop-the-...
Reposted by Derek Lowe
wikipedia turns 25 today! the last unenshittified major website! backbone of online info! triumph of humanity! powered by urge of unpaid randos to correct each other! somehow mostly reliable! "good thing wikipedia works in practice, because it sure doesn't work in theory" - old wiki adage
January 15, 2026 at 1:47 PM
wikipedia turns 25 today! the last unenshittified major website! backbone of online info! triumph of humanity! powered by urge of unpaid randos to correct each other! somehow mostly reliable! "good thing wikipedia works in practice, because it sure doesn't work in theory" - old wiki adage
Reposted by Derek Lowe
US higher education was a crown jewel, generating knowledge, wealth, prestige, and power unrivaled by anyone.
And the US is throwing it away, because Americans elected a govt ideologically opposed to truth, science, merit, and racial/gender equality, preferring to weaken the country to reduce that.
And the US is throwing it away, because Americans elected a govt ideologically opposed to truth, science, merit, and racial/gender equality, preferring to weaken the country to reduce that.
Chinese Universities Surge in Global Rankings as U.S. Schools Slip
www.nytimes.com
January 15, 2026 at 1:01 PM
US higher education was a crown jewel, generating knowledge, wealth, prestige, and power unrivaled by anyone.
And the US is throwing it away, because Americans elected a govt ideologically opposed to truth, science, merit, and racial/gender equality, preferring to weaken the country to reduce that.
And the US is throwing it away, because Americans elected a govt ideologically opposed to truth, science, merit, and racial/gender equality, preferring to weaken the country to reduce that.
Reposted by Derek Lowe
The damned shame of all of this is that America needs immigration, profits immensely from immigration, and is a nation whose culture and heritage is built from immigration. The country is not by any means full up. It needs immigrants. Immigration should be encouraged.
January 14, 2026 at 1:45 PM
The damned shame of all of this is that America needs immigration, profits immensely from immigration, and is a nation whose culture and heritage is built from immigration. The country is not by any means full up. It needs immigrants. Immigration should be encouraged.
January 13, 2026 at 8:46 PM
Reposted by Derek Lowe
None of the DoJ people who have been resigning over the last year are squishy liberals. Many likely would have served willingly in a DoJ run by legitimate, lawful conservatives. But this is an unhinged regime of crooks, sycophants, and morons.
Breaking News: Three Minnesota federal prosecutors resigned over the Justice Department’s push to investigate the wife of Renee Good, the woman killed by an ICE agent. The Justice Department sought to examine her supposed ties to activist groups.
3 Prosecutors Quit After Push to Investigate ICE Shooting Victim’s Widow
Joseph H. Thompson, a career federal prosecutor who was the acting U.S. attorney for Minnesota last year, quit after the Justice Department sought to examine the woman’s supposed ties to activist groups.
nyti.ms
January 13, 2026 at 6:00 PM
None of the DoJ people who have been resigning over the last year are squishy liberals. Many likely would have served willingly in a DoJ run by legitimate, lawful conservatives. But this is an unhinged regime of crooks, sycophants, and morons.
Reposted by Derek Lowe
Read @elaineywchen.bsky.social's write-up of former top FDA drug regulator Rick Pazdur's explosive panel at STAT's event at #JPM2026 last night, moderated by @matthewherper.bsky.social. Drug makers should be more concerned by what's happening at FDA, Pazdur said. www.statnews.com/2026/01/13/r...
Pazdur warns that politics, ‘chaos’ are damaging FDA
At a STAT event, veteran drug regulator Richard Pazdur, who left the FDA last month after 26 years, said that politics and 'chaos' were damaging the agency.
www.statnews.com
January 13, 2026 at 3:13 PM
Read @elaineywchen.bsky.social's write-up of former top FDA drug regulator Rick Pazdur's explosive panel at STAT's event at #JPM2026 last night, moderated by @matthewherper.bsky.social. Drug makers should be more concerned by what's happening at FDA, Pazdur said. www.statnews.com/2026/01/13/r...
Reposted by Derek Lowe
Noubar Afeyan, one of biotech's top investors and co-founder of Moderna, says U.S. policy is ‘taking a sledgehammer to our miracle machine.’ Story via @matthewherper.bsky.social for @statnews.com
www.statnews.com/2026/01/12/n...
www.statnews.com/2026/01/12/n...
Investor behind Moderna says U.S. policy is ‘taking a sledgehammer to our miracle machine’
Noubar Afeyan, one of biotech’s top investors, says U.S. policy is "taking a sledgehammer to our miracle machine."
www.statnews.com
January 12, 2026 at 5:34 PM
Noubar Afeyan, one of biotech's top investors and co-founder of Moderna, says U.S. policy is ‘taking a sledgehammer to our miracle machine.’ Story via @matthewherper.bsky.social for @statnews.com
www.statnews.com/2026/01/12/n...
www.statnews.com/2026/01/12/n...
Amatoxins are really something - heat-stable, acid-stable, hydrolytic enzyme stable. I believe it’s that weird bicyclic tryptophan-sulfoxide linkage that accounts for some of it. There’s a whole family of these things, and evolution obviously hit on something!
January 13, 2026 at 3:23 PM
Amatoxins are really something - heat-stable, acid-stable, hydrolytic enzyme stable. I believe it’s that weird bicyclic tryptophan-sulfoxide linkage that accounts for some of it. There’s a whole family of these things, and evolution obviously hit on something!