Kristian G. Andersen
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kgandersen.bsky.social
Kristian G. Andersen
@kgandersen.bsky.social
Infectious diseases & genomics. Immunologist in (voluntary) exile. Minimal sarcasm. Fierce HOA (Hater of Acronyms). Personal account - opinions expressed are my own and not those of my employer.
Reposted by Kristian G. Andersen
NEW: The F.D.A. refused to accept an application from Moderna for its mRNA flu vaccine.

Its reason: The agency did not think Moderna compared the new vaccine to one of the best flu shots available. The company spent $750M+ on a 41,000 person study.

www.nytimes.com/2026/02/10/h...
F.D.A. Refuses to Review Moderna Flu Vaccine
www.nytimes.com
February 10, 2026 at 11:12 PM
I know I'm late to the game, but I know absolutely nothing about bunnies or funny-shaped balls...

But that was awesome - even if I understood less than 5% of what was said, I 100% got the meaning.

This was everything that made me feel blessed for becoming part of this experiment back in 2009 ๐Ÿฐ๐Ÿˆ๐Ÿ™๐ŸŒŸ.
February 10, 2026 at 1:25 AM
Very nice!
February 9, 2026 at 9:12 PM
Reposted by Kristian G. Andersen
A long time ago in a galaxy far away, there was a SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Our paper, led by @martibartfast.bsky.social
a) correcting errors in 4.5 million genomes & their phylogeny
b) improving representation of the Global South in public data
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
(thread 1/n)
Addressing pandemic-wide systematic errors in the SARS-CoV-2 phylogeny - Nature Methods
This Resource paper presents a global SARS-CoV-2 phylogenetic tree of 4,471,579 high-quality genomes consistently constructed by Viridian, an efficient amplicon-aware assembler.
www.nature.com
February 9, 2026 at 3:16 PM
Reposted by Kristian G. Andersen
Good thread. Another issue with the editorial is overall NIH funding is not a good measure of success. That doesn't bring back global public health cuts, the lives lost, cancer trials disrupted, vaccine research ended, diversity grants eliminated, foreign subcontracts killed, or grants disrupted.
February 8, 2026 at 6:54 PM
Reposted by Kristian G. Andersen
In a long-form piece, I address recent claims by the Editor-in-Chief of @science.org that "quiet" insiders rather than "heated" activists should be credited for passage of top-line budget numbers for science and medical research.

joshuasweitz.substack.com/p/science-ad...
Science Advocacy: The Risks of Playing the Long Game vs. Playing the Game For Too Long
Reflecting on the establishment view of recent โ€˜winsโ€™ for research and what real winning looks like when public-facing advocacy is credited and included in broader coalitions.
joshuasweitz.substack.com
February 8, 2026 at 4:46 PM
Reposted by Kristian G. Andersen
I think we have to be very careful here. The appropriations bills are one thing, but as you all know, this administration has a bag of dirty tricks they have and will continue to use to undermine research and frankly, methodically chip away at it until it is a shell of its former self. 1/
February 8, 2026 at 1:23 PM
Yeah, international economics 101 - except, that one doesnโ€™t work when the currency is also the world currencyโ€ฆ Iโ€™m sure someone told him ๐Ÿ˜›
February 7, 2026 at 8:17 PM
It's baffling this isn't discussed more.
February 7, 2026 at 5:52 PM
Evolutionary biology entered the room... ๐Ÿ˜†
February 7, 2026 at 5:39 PM
This is great to see - about time this made it to the US! The movie isn't really about the origin of the pandemic, but it *is* about those wrongfully being blamed for it - it's important to hear their story, and this movie does it well.

Peter mentions April, but I believe it's February!
February 7, 2026 at 5:38 PM
Agreed!
February 7, 2026 at 2:56 AM
Always hoping for comments and insights - whether the questions are rhetorical or not ๐Ÿ˜‰
February 6, 2026 at 11:31 PM
Nerd.
February 6, 2026 at 11:29 PM
That's a pretty interesting graph - pretty insane!
February 6, 2026 at 10:36 PM
And, importantly, make sure fears of theoretical risks don't impede our ability to counter existing risks. In terms of importance H5N1 2.3.4.4b in cattle >>>>> AI MooFluโ„ข.

A framework like that described in the article, would completely stop research on those existing pandemic threats.
February 6, 2026 at 10:35 PM
This has "OMG MIRROR LIFE ๐Ÿ˜ฑ" and 'OMG CHATBOXES WILL LEARN ALL OF VIROLOGY AND AI BIOWEAPONS WILL KILL US ALL ๐Ÿ˜ฑ๐Ÿ˜ฑ๐Ÿ˜ฑ" written all over it.

Interesting topic - that we're trying to do some work in too - however, why is it that theoretical risks always take all focus away from real ones?
February 6, 2026 at 10:35 PM
Had the authors pressure-tested their own "BDL" system they would realize:

1๏ธโƒฃ All key pathogen data, including genomic, would fall under BDL-4
2๏ธโƒฃ Hence, we should no longer share data on key pathogens

Good example of theoretical risks impeding research on real ones.

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Biological data governance in an age of AI
Tailored access controls on new viral data would reduce misuse risks
www.science.org
February 6, 2026 at 10:26 PM
"in July 2023, 80% of Danes said they saw the US as a friend or ally. Now, fewer than 26% do".

www.theguardian.com/world/2026/f...
February 6, 2026 at 10:07 PM
It's a bit of a shock (the good kind) when you visit Norway - I guess that's what a $2 trillion sovereign wealth fund gets you. Built on oil, no less ๐Ÿ˜†.

What's also a shock, is the fact that many of the new cars are Chinese and not from legacy brands.
February 6, 2026 at 10:05 PM
๐Ÿ‘Ž
February 6, 2026 at 7:03 PM
Reposted by Kristian G. Andersen
Science EIC Thorp would like to have it both ways:

1) Credited for being reasonable in acknowledging the importance of (i) quiet insiders & (ii) activists in confronting cuts to science.

2) Clear on who he thinks really deserves the credit for the wins: insiders.

๐Ÿงต
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
A tale of many twos
For the American scientific enterprise, the past year has seemed awash in contradiction. On the one hand, it has produced great upheavals and losses for US science. Many universities experienced some ...
www.science.org
February 6, 2026 at 3:42 PM
Reposted by Kristian G. Andersen
KFF: Poll: Trust and Confidence in the CDC Remain at Low Point After Changes to Recommended Childhood Vaccines

bit.ly/4qmcZLB @kff.org
Poll: Trust and Confidence in the CDC Remain at Low Point After Changes to Recommended Childhood Vaccines; More Say the Changes Will Hurt than Help Childrenโ€™s Health | KFF
In the weeks after the Trump administration reduced the number of recommended childhood vaccines for routine use, the publicโ€™s trust in the CDC remains at its lowest point. Among those who have heard ...
bit.ly
February 6, 2026 at 1:29 PM
Reposted by Kristian G. Andersen
Not really a surprise, but it's still surprising to me that some chose to believe his lie
Newly revealed emails undermine RFK Jr testimony about 2019 Samoa trip ahead of measles outbreak
Kennedy later said the purpose of his trip had nothing to do with vaccines. US embassy and UN staff at the time said otherwise, emails show
www.theguardian.com
February 6, 2026 at 1:53 PM