Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

C. Andrew Frank @candrewfrank.bsky.social · 6d

Two Graeme Davis UCSF alums publishing in @plosbiology.org in consecutive weeks. Congratulations on this fantastic work, Kira!! 🎉

Kira Poskanzer @kiraposkanzer.bsky.social · 6d

Congrats to Charlotte Taylor and team for dissecting how astrocyte networks integrate histamine to modulate adenosine over sleep and wake in unexpected ways:

dx.plos.org/10.1371/jour...

@vincenttse.bsky.social @maxine.science @trishavv.bsky.social

Cortical astrocyte histamine-1-receptors regulate intracellular calcium and extracellular adenosine dynamics across sleep and wake

While histamine-1-receptor (H1R) signaling in neurons regulates arousal, these receptors are also abundant on cortical astrocytes. This study shows that astrocytic H1R signaling modulates calcium acti...

dx.plos.org

1 1 6

C. Andrew Frank @candrewfrank.bsky.social · 8d

Which it is all true! BUT...I think as these AI tools improve they might be able to compare and contrast different studies and offer workable suggestions for improvement or advancement of the work.

Still, I am totally blown away by what it can do right now.

3

C. Andrew Frank @candrewfrank.bsky.social · 8d

It misses what you might get out of journal club where a group of people studies a paper first and then convenes to discuss it. This AI-derived "discussion" gets the facts right (with a few mispronunciations). But it is also credulous. Everything we wrote in the paper is taken as perfect and true.

1 3

C. Andrew Frank @candrewfrank.bsky.social · 8d

I am not sure it is available as a tool for scientists or science journalists yet. But whatever advanced AI tools they are using for their algorithm do an excellent job. This is years of work distilled to an understandable 11-minute package. And the product focuses on the core results.

2 2

C. Andrew Frank @candrewfrank.bsky.social · 9d

This is wild – an AI-generated, podcast-style bit about our recent @plosbiology.org paper produced by The Sanz Science Experience.

I listened. The clip was conversational, down-to-earth, and accurate. It was easy for me to understand, but the paper is from my lab.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=f--T...

Mitochondrial Complex I, ROS and Homeostasis at the Synapse

YouTube video by The Sanz Science Experience

www.youtube.com

1 3 10

C. Andrew Frank @candrewfrank.bsky.social · 15d

Overall, I was very pleased with the peer review and academic editing. Very good experience @plosbiology.org and obviously, we are thrilled with the result.

2

C. Andrew Frank @candrewfrank.bsky.social · 15d

😆 It was, but I think most of it was unintentional.

I did end up submitting corrected proofs with 700+ edits — mostly re-italicizing genotypes that had become unitalicized in the copyediting. We should schedule a chat so I can share thoughts on the copyediting process. Friendly chat, I promise.

2 1

C. Andrew Frank @candrewfrank.bsky.social · 15d

I gave them 700+ edits back in the proofs. Mostly redoing italicized words that they had unitalicized (presumably accidentally).

1 1

C. Andrew Frank @candrewfrank.bsky.social · 16d

We have an uncorrected proof published for Bhagaban Mallik's study on Mitochondrial Complex I and how it regulates synapse function. You can find it in @plosbiology.org. I am so proud!

H/T collaborators: Drs. Sajad Bhat and Xinnan Wang @xinnanwanglab.bsky.social

journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...

Mitochondrial Complex I and ROS control neuromuscular function through opposing pre- and postsynaptic mechanisms

How do neurons adapt to mitochondrial dysfunction in different tissues? This study shows that Mitochondrial Complex I depletion triggers ROS-driven compensatory signaling in motor neurons that preserv...

journals.plos.org

1 9 31

C. Andrew Frank @candrewfrank.bsky.social · 19d

We have proofs! And you know what that means. Assertive editing.

A copy editor has flagged my name on an author line and wants me to spell out Carl Andrew Frank as my name instead of C. Andrew Frank.

I am irrationally irritated by this 😆

4 8

C. Andrew Frank @candrewfrank.bsky.social · 25d

🥺 Maybe I am just optimistic and naive.

C. Andrew Frank @candrewfrank.bsky.social · 26d

I think that societal advancement requires nonviolence.

1 6

C. Andrew Frank @candrewfrank.bsky.social · 27d

One thing I learned (from a job rejection email I got in 2009) is that “Thank you for your email” or “Thank you for your message” can be a good way to start. Friendly, low pressure, content free.

And now that we have established that I am friendly, here’s the business part.

1 2

C. Andrew Frank @candrewfrank.bsky.social · Jul 1

Done! But the "the" typo in my post will just have to persist. It goes with the territory.

1

C. Andrew Frank @candrewfrank.bsky.social · Jul 1

New email signature. I dropped the Associate. Now maybe I can drop the some of the pounds I gained as an Associate Professor😆

25 76

C. Andrew Frank @candrewfrank.bsky.social · Jun 9

Today I learned that you should not wash chicken.

C. Andrew Frank @candrewfrank.bsky.social · May 11

Geriatric Millennials! Now I feel really old.

C. Andrew Frank @candrewfrank.bsky.social · May 11

I agree. But don’t feel too sorry for those parents. They will learn something new!

1

C. Andrew Frank @candrewfrank.bsky.social · May 11

I don’t know — children who are different can open up new vistas. All three of my kids have some qualities in common but they are all different in great and unexpected ways.

What I have come to appreciate is that the best you can do as a parent is to help your child discover who they are.

1

C. Andrew Frank @candrewfrank.bsky.social · May 4

Grant reviewers are triaging Pope Francis’s tomb over font and kerning choices.

www.nytimes.com/2025/05/04/w...

Designers Do a Double Take at the Lettering on Pope Francis’ Tombstone

Irregularly spaced letters spelling “F R A NCISC VS” have caused a stir among typography nerds who specialize in spacing and fonts. One called them “an abomination unto design.”

www.nytimes.com

3

C. Andrew Frank @candrewfrank.bsky.social · Apr 30

Drosophila neuroscience friends! Please help us to identify deserving Ph.D. students or recent Ph.D. graduates for the Elkins Memorial Lecture competition (CSHL, October 2025).

Details below – send nominations by email to Troy Littleton ([email protected]).

7 5

C. Andrew Frank @candrewfrank.bsky.social · Apr 24

Michelle Obama says she did not attend Donald Trump's second inauguration because she did not have anything to wear. Mad respect.

www.cbsnews.com/news/michell...

Michelle Obama addresses not attending Trump's inauguration, the importance of saying "no"

Former first lady Michelle Obama told actor Taraji P. Henson on her podcast, "IMO," about her choice to skip President Trump's inauguration.

www.cbsnews.com

C. Andrew Frank @candrewfrank.bsky.social · Apr 2

One of a kind: poodle, pug, beagle mix. We will miss him.

1 1

C. Andrew Frank @candrewfrank.bsky.social · Apr 1

Please accept my condolences, Bryan. I am so sorry.

2

C. Andrew Frank @candrewfrank.bsky.social · Apr 1

Fenton 2011-2025
Frank family member 2015-2025

Who rescued whom? 💕 🐾

1 26