Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted

Angie Rasmussen @angierasmussen.bsky.social · 10h

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.

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Dan Froomkin/Press Watch/Heads Up News @froomkin.bsky.social · 1d

“With your patient and rigorous work, you can act as a barrier against those who, through the ancient art of lying, seek to create divisions in order to rule by dividing,” he said. “You can also be a bulwark of civility against the quicksand of approximation and post-truth.”

The Associated Press @apnews.com · 2d

Pope Leo XIV has encouraged international news agencies to stand firm as a bulwark against the "ancient art of lying" and manipulation.

Pope urges news agencies to stand as bulwark against lies, manipulation and post-truths

Pope Leo XIV has encouraged international news agencies to stand firm as a bulwark against the “ancient art of lying” and manipulation.

bit.ly

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Zeynep Baharoglu @zeynepbaharoglu.bsky.social · 2d

Happy to share our new review in Royal Society Open Biology 🎉
tRNA-modifying enzymes in bacterial stress adaptation:
How tRNA mods rewire translation under oxidative + antibiotic stress (MoTTs, moonlighting, therapy angles).
Read: doi.org/10.1098/rsob...
#RNAsky #microsky #AMR #RNAmodifications

tRNA-modifying enzymes in bacterial stress adaptation | Open Biology

Transfer RNAs (tRNAs) and their modifications are central to bacterial translation and physiology, yet their roles in stress adaptation remain underexplored. While extensively studied in eukaryotes, a...

doi.org

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Princess Vimentin PhD | Cancer Biologist @princess-vimentin.bsky.social · 19d

A must read.
It takes years to see a spark transformed to a groundbreaking treatment. It all begins with basic research. Due to sustained #NIH funding, we have better therapeutics, cancer detection, vaccines. We are like 1930s Germany.

🧪 www.infotimes.us/basic-scienc...
via @markhisted.org

Basic Science Is The Foundation Of Future Cures

Injecting partisan politics into American basic science would be terrible for the US: for the economy, and for development of future treatments for diseases like schizophrenia and Alzheimer's.

www.infotimes.us

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Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal @jayapal.house.gov · 21d

These are visas for skilled workers — doctors, scientists, and engineers.

This move will hurt US innovation and exacerbate an already serious shortage of medical professionals. In what world does this make sense?? www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Trump to Add New $100,000 Fee For H-1B Visas In Latest Crackdown

President Donald Trump is expected to sign a proclamation as soon as Friday that would move to extensively overhaul the H-1B visa program, requiring a $100,000 fee for applications in a bid to curb ov...

www.bloomberg.com

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Ferric Fang, MD @fangferric.bsky.social · Sep 8

Yesterday RFK Jr said that he could name no "successes" for US health agencies. He should read this article.

• improved survival or cure for many cancers
• elimination of smallpox, polio, Hib
• reduced child mortality
• effective treatments for HIV, hepatitis C
• increased life expectancy

Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics @bermaninstitute.bsky.social · Sep 5

American Health Care Gets a Lot Wrong. Here’s What It Gets Right. By Aaron E Carroll | New York Times www.nytimes.com/2025/09/05/o...

Opinion | American Health Care Gets a Lot Wrong. Here’s What It Gets Right.

www.nytimes.com

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Mark Copelovitch @mcopelov.bsky.social · Sep 8

Again let's repeat: "it would take only 4 GOP Senators, or 6 to 7 Representatives, to save the country"

Fine, with filibuster/impeachment hurdles, say 30

Why is everyone in the media laser-focused on What Democrats Must Do? Stop giving those 10-30 Republicans free passes:

bsky.app/profile/mcop...

James Fallows @jfallows.bsky.social · Sep 8

Some numbers:

-Most Americans are women.

-Via the Census, about 60 million Americans are in a household that includes a daughter.

-Every American, or human being, should be appalled and disgusted by this.

It would take only 4 GOP Senators, or 6 to 7 Representatives, to save the country.

The Wall Street Journal @wsj.com · Sep 8

Exclusive: Jeffrey Epstein’s estate has given Congress a copy of the 2003 birthday book, including the letter with Trump’s signature that he has said doesn’t exist.

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Richard M. Carpiano, PhD, MPH @rmcarpiano.medsky.social · Aug 22

"We’re all in favor of a gold standard for science. But it’s misleading, & even a little insulting, to say that somehow NIH didn’t already support that. Everything that NIH stands for is rigor in sci...There’s some implication here that NIH has been systematically sloppy. I reject that conclusion."🛟

Former NIH chief calls research cuts “careless” and “heartless”

Francis Collins, MD, PhD, lauds lifesaving research supported by the National Institutes of Health, explains why he left, and warns of scientific brain drain.

www.aamc.org

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Rachael Sirianni, PhD @docsirianni.bsky.social · Aug 24

What they are doing to NIH defies all logic and reason. This admin is needlessly, irreversibly destroying one of the greatest resources our country has ever built. A few quotes from yours' truly are in the video below. Thanks to @nytopinion.nytimes.com for covering
www.nytimes.com/2025/08/24/o...

Opinion | America First? Not When It Comes to Your Health.

www.nytimes.com

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Pablo Ivan Nikel @pabnik.bsky.social · Aug 21

Saying goodbye to Elio Schaechter, a titan of the #Microbiology field. Farewell Elio!

STCmicrobeblog @stcmicrobeblog.bsky.social · Aug 21

schaechter.asmblog.org/schaechter/2...
#MicroSky

Elio (1928-2025)

by The STC Team — Losing a close friend always saddens one deeply, regardless of age. Losing a person who has so immensely influenced our worldview through his guidance and example makes the sadness e...

schaechter.asmblog.org

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AAUP @aaup.org · Aug 8

“This and other executive orders eliminating federal funding and forcing faculty to end legally permissible work will deprive students of opportunities for educational advancement and economic flourishing.”

—Todd Wolfson, AAUP President

Read full press release and response to Trump’s directive👇

AAUP, AFT Leaders Respond to Trump’s Higher Education Admissions Directive

WASHINGTON—American Association of University Professors President Todd Wolfson, AFT President Randi Weingarten, and AFT Secretary-Treasurer Fedrick Ingram and issued the following statements in respo...

www.aaup.org

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ASM @asm.org · Aug 4

On Aug. 1, ASM & partner societies filed an expanded amicus brief with SCOTUS to defend scientific integrity & protect early-career researchers. The brief highlights the harm caused by NIH grant terminations, including canceling the MOSAIC program. asm.org/press-releas...

Scientific Societies File Supreme Court Amicus Brief in Support of NIH Grantees

ASM and fellow societies filed an amicus brief with the Supreme Court, calling for the swift restoration of NIH grant funding supporting early-career scientists, such as the MOSAIC program.

asm.org

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ASM @asm.org · Aug 8

Requiring grant review by political appointees will continue to delay and disrupt critical research and interferes with scientists’ ability to help protect the nation’s health and security. Read our statement: asm.org/press-releas...

ASM Responds to Improving Oversight of Federal Grantmaking

ASM calls on the Trump Administration to put science ahead of politics and immediately end its plan to force scientific grants to be reviewed by political appointees.

asm.org

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Jeremy Berg @jeremymberg.bsky.social · Aug 8

For a very "direct" response to the new Executive Order, see

open.substack.com/pub/rasmusse...

1/3

Federal Grantmaking Gets a Christofascist Glow-Up

Read my zero star review of the new Executive Order

open.substack.com

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vdecrecy.bsky.social @vdecrecy.bsky.social · Jun 18

The discovery of the missing Queuosine transporter is finally out. 15 years in the making with a combination of data mining and experimental validation performed by an international consortium funded by NIH and Irish agencies.
news.ufl.edu/2025/06/micr...

UF, Trinity College team cracks micronutrient mystery that could be key to brain health, cancer defense

Unlocking how our bodies absorb a micronutrient that we rely on for everything from healthy brain function to cancer defense.

news.ufl.edu

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Alt NIH Bluesky 🧪 @altnih4science.bsky.social · Jun 9

For more details on the Trump/Republican ideological War on Cancer Research, @pkrugman.bsky.social has a great summary today.

paulkrugman.substack.com/p/nobody-exp...

Nobody Expected the MAGA Inquisition

But it’s here, and will destroy American science

paulkrugman.substack.com

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Richard Sever @richardsever.bsky.social · Jun 4

"a fascinating case study on the limits of AI in biology and the harms of current publishing incentives" rachel.fast.ai/posts/2025-0...

Rachel Thomas, PhD - Deep learning gets the glory, deep fact checking gets ignored

an AI researcher going back to school for immunology

rachel.fast.ai

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vdecrecy.bsky.social @vdecrecy.bsky.social · Jun 6

www.linkedin.com/posts/chrism...

This is a great piece, summarizing amazing deep fact checking by Valerie… | Chris Mungall

This is a great piece, summarizing amazing deep fact checking by Valerie De Crecy, a must read for anyone in AI or genomics. Especially pertinent against the backdrop of the administration terminating...

www.linkedin.com

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Dr. Lucky Tran @luckytran.com · Jun 4

South Florida meteorologist @johnmoralestv.bsky.social told his viewers live on air that he can no longer accurately predict hurricane season, due to federal government cuts.

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Eric Topol @erictopol.bsky.social · May 30

"Our calculations suggest that the proposed budgetary cuts to the NIH will create a social cost that is 16 times greater than the savings that the administration is attempting to achieve."
jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

Cutting the NIH—The $8 Trillion Health Care Catastrophe

This JAMA Forum discusses the recent budget cuts to National Institutes of Health (NIH), the effects of these cuts on scientific research and health of individuals in the US, and the prospects for cha...

jamanetwork.com

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Peter Gleick @petergleick.bsky.social · May 31

There are 2 previous historical cases of countries destroying their science and universities, crippling them for decades: Lysenkoism in the USSR and Nazi Germany. The Trump administration will be the 3rd.
It's not just budgets but research, institutions, expertise, and training the next generation.

Graphs showing 25 years of budgets for the National Institute of Health, NASA, and the NSF. In all cases, the proposed budget for next year is far, far below any year of the previous quarter century.

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Sean Eddy @cryptogenomicon.bsky.social · May 22

NIH funding supporting the HMMER and Infernal software projects has been terminated. NIH states that our work, as well as all other federally funded research at Harvard, is of no benefit to the US.

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Carolyn Bertozzi @carolynbertozzi.bskyverified.social · May 15

This is what can be achieved today due to longstanding federal support of academic basic science alongside close partnership of universities, private industry and NIH intramural initiatives. An ecosystem worth not just saving but doubling down on!

innovativegenomics.org/news/first-p...

First Patient Treated with Personalized CRISPR Therapy, Developed in Just Six Months

The first on-demand CRISPR therapy for an infant with a rare metabolic disease developed by the IGI and collaborators around the world.

innovativegenomics.org

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Saganism @sagan.bsky.social · May 2

Dr. Anthony Fauci urges Americans not to accept "Normalization of Untruths".

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Prof Christina Pagel @chrischirp.bsky.social · Apr 28

In early March, I wrote about the proto-authoritarian attacks on science and universities by the Trump administration and listed some warning signs to look out for in the coming weeks.

Now six weeks later and those warning signs are being realised.

christinapagel.substack.com/p/warning-si...

Warning signs realised: Trump’s war on science and the fight to save American academia

In early March, I warned of authoritarian like attacks on science and universities. Six weeks later and the Trump administration has gone even further than feared.

christinapagel.substack.com

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