Julia Southern
@julialak.bsky.social
Philly. Huntington’s disease research
An exciting time to be alive! I’m so grateful to be a (small) part of the HD research community. I’ll never forget receiving the news about the premature end of the tominersen trial back in 2021. I’m so elated for the HD families!
Breakthroughs come from past failures.
Huntington disease affects 30,000 Americans. This treatment targets the HTT gene, responsible for neuronal health. It is also based on a similar drug that failed clinical trials. And guess what- this harnesses microRNAs.
🧪 www.science.org/content/arti...
Huntington disease affects 30,000 Americans. This treatment targets the HTT gene, responsible for neuronal health. It is also based on a similar drug that failed clinical trials. And guess what- this harnesses microRNAs.
🧪 www.science.org/content/arti...
In a first, a gene therapy seems to slow Huntington disease
Small study suggests uniQure drug could be first successful treatment for devastating brain disorder
www.science.org
September 27, 2025 at 1:54 PM
An exciting time to be alive! I’m so grateful to be a (small) part of the HD research community. I’ll never forget receiving the news about the premature end of the tominersen trial back in 2021. I’m so elated for the HD families!
Agree completely on this take. Hopefully improvements are really on the horizon.
I think progressives have had a problem with "purity tests" (the need for all leaders to have tightly aligned perspectives or else stay quiet about it)
And I think the Democratic Party has had a problem with being...undemocratic - with too much power in the institution and not in the people.
And I think the Democratic Party has had a problem with being...undemocratic - with too much power in the institution and not in the people.
April 9, 2025 at 2:38 PM
Agree completely on this take. Hopefully improvements are really on the horizon.
Real life consequences of erroneously and malevolently made decisions
Eight people in South Sudan, including five children, died on a three-hour walk to seek medical treatment for cholera after US aid cuts forced local health services to close, the UK-based charity Save the Children said reut.rs/3E9kB27
South Sudan cholera patients died walking to clinic after US cut aid, charity says
Eight people in South Sudan, including five children, died on a three-hour walk to seek medical treatment for cholera after U.S. aid cuts forced local health services to close, the UK-based charity Save the Children said on Wednesday.
reut.rs
April 9, 2025 at 2:30 PM
Real life consequences of erroneously and malevolently made decisions
Reposted by Julia Southern
Setting aside the incredibly dangerous and fascist aspect of this, is there actual evidence that Khalil was a “Hamas supporter”? Or is the standard for a green-card holder being sent to a secret location and possibly deported just “critical of Israel”?
March 9, 2025 at 11:09 PM
Setting aside the incredibly dangerous and fascist aspect of this, is there actual evidence that Khalil was a “Hamas supporter”? Or is the standard for a green-card holder being sent to a secret location and possibly deported just “critical of Israel”?
I love this idea!! I used to do a version of this with my bio students.
I want to do a project where I go a little deeper on scientific papers that get picked up in the news. If you see anything that might be a good candidate, hit me up!
March 6, 2025 at 1:23 PM
I love this idea!! I used to do a version of this with my bio students.
Reposted by Julia Southern
I’m going on record: Life first happened when an RNA fucked a metabolism.
February 26, 2025 at 3:06 PM
I’m going on record: Life first happened when an RNA fucked a metabolism.
Reposted by Julia Southern
As a political scientist who studies countries that managed to stop the slide into authoritarianism, I can assure you that ***refraining from provoking the authoritarian*** is not how it works.
Without further ado, I will now go tear out another chunk of hair.
Without further ado, I will now go tear out another chunk of hair.
"activist leaders have told him and colleagues that they fear protests against Trump might eventually be used as a predicate for declaring martial law. Other House Democrats echoed this privately"
Something something in advance
www.cnn.com/2025/02/16/p...
Something something in advance
www.cnn.com/2025/02/16/p...
Democrats confront their powerlessness as Trump flexes authority | CNN Politics
Amid Democrats’ shock and bickering over how much to respond to President Donald Trump is a deeper question rippling through leaders across the Capitol and across the country: How much should they rel...
www.cnn.com
February 16, 2025 at 3:29 PM
As a political scientist who studies countries that managed to stop the slide into authoritarianism, I can assure you that ***refraining from provoking the authoritarian*** is not how it works.
Without further ado, I will now go tear out another chunk of hair.
Without further ado, I will now go tear out another chunk of hair.
Summaries and overviews are infinitely helpful in this political climate. We cannot afford to let any issue slip through the cracks.
February 18, 2025 at 8:28 PM
Summaries and overviews are infinitely helpful in this political climate. We cannot afford to let any issue slip through the cracks.
Reposted by Julia Southern
The Heart Nebula, through an H-alpha filter. The emission nebula is mainly powered by ionizing UV radiation from young stars. After free electrons recombine with hydrogen ions, the most commonly emitted visible photons after electron transitions are at 656 nm (H-alpha).
Image Credits: Rick Wiggins
Image Credits: Rick Wiggins
November 30, 2024 at 3:55 AM
The Heart Nebula, through an H-alpha filter. The emission nebula is mainly powered by ionizing UV radiation from young stars. After free electrons recombine with hydrogen ions, the most commonly emitted visible photons after electron transitions are at 656 nm (H-alpha).
Image Credits: Rick Wiggins
Image Credits: Rick Wiggins
Such a scar on this country. Patients in clinics supported by NIH clinical trials will go without care now. Sick patients. Why allow the loss of such great minds from the research field? Even for a moment in time? This will have awful ripple effects on the ocean that is collective human knowledge.
Today, along with 2,000 other NIH employees, I had to clear out my office 😭
It was truly the honor of my life to work with such incredibly passionate people focused on improving human health. I’ve never experienced a more positive culture where *everyone* cared about their job and serving others.
It was truly the honor of my life to work with such incredibly passionate people focused on improving human health. I’ve never experienced a more positive culture where *everyone* cared about their job and serving others.
February 15, 2025 at 3:26 AM
Such a scar on this country. Patients in clinics supported by NIH clinical trials will go without care now. Sick patients. Why allow the loss of such great minds from the research field? Even for a moment in time? This will have awful ripple effects on the ocean that is collective human knowledge.
Reposted by Julia Southern
“Trump is acting like a king because he is too weak to govern like a president” @hankgreen.bsky.social
February 14, 2025 at 1:36 AM
“Trump is acting like a king because he is too weak to govern like a president” @hankgreen.bsky.social
Reposted by Julia Southern
Across the government, probationary employees and Schedule A workers—including individuals with severe physical, psychiatric, or intellectual disabilities, as well as veterans—are being let go.
February 14, 2025 at 12:27 AM
Across the government, probationary employees and Schedule A workers—including individuals with severe physical, psychiatric, or intellectual disabilities, as well as veterans—are being let go.
Reposted by Julia Southern
My instinct is to make the case that USAID is extremely good, actually. But I feel like it’s more important to say, “What is happening is antagonistic to the foundational document of the nation.”
February 4, 2025 at 4:56 AM
My instinct is to make the case that USAID is extremely good, actually. But I feel like it’s more important to say, “What is happening is antagonistic to the foundational document of the nation.”
Conservatism is a resistance to change in a world that demands exactly that.
February 4, 2025 at 10:03 PM
Conservatism is a resistance to change in a world that demands exactly that.
Fuck fuck fuck fuck
Due to the freeze on credit card use, my laboratory (in the FDA) risks losing the contents of our liquid nitrogen tanks which store INVALUABLE samples-they cannot be replaced, so they are literally priceless, and reflect about 50 years worth of research.
February 4, 2025 at 10:00 PM
Fuck fuck fuck fuck
Reposted by Julia Southern
‼️DC UPDATE‼️
We will meet at the US Capitol Building at noon! We officially have a permit for our peaceful protest!
#50501 #BuildTheResistance
We will meet at the US Capitol Building at noon! We officially have a permit for our peaceful protest!
#50501 #BuildTheResistance
February 4, 2025 at 9:05 PM
‼️DC UPDATE‼️
We will meet at the US Capitol Building at noon! We officially have a permit for our peaceful protest!
#50501 #BuildTheResistance
We will meet at the US Capitol Building at noon! We officially have a permit for our peaceful protest!
#50501 #BuildTheResistance
Reposted by Julia Southern
"The first military flights to deport migrants [to] Guantanamo Bay were slated to take off Tuesday" as Trump is pushing to use the Alien Enemies Act, used to carry out Japanese Internment during WWII.
If we allow the State to expand its repressive apparatus, it will be used against all of us.
If we allow the State to expand its repressive apparatus, it will be used against all of us.
First military deportation flights from US take off for Guantanamo
The first military flights to deport migrants from the United States to Naval Base Guantanamo Bay were slated to take off Tuesday.
www.stripes.com
February 4, 2025 at 9:26 PM
"The first military flights to deport migrants [to] Guantanamo Bay were slated to take off Tuesday" as Trump is pushing to use the Alien Enemies Act, used to carry out Japanese Internment during WWII.
If we allow the State to expand its repressive apparatus, it will be used against all of us.
If we allow the State to expand its repressive apparatus, it will be used against all of us.
Unfortunate, but not at all shocking.
Tiktok boosted Republican messages 11.8% more than Democrat messages during the 2024 U.S. Presidential Race according to this new study that employed bots to view ~394,000 videos.
February 4, 2025 at 5:43 PM
Unfortunate, but not at all shocking.
The first casualty of war is truth
February 3, 2025 at 4:35 PM
The first casualty of war is truth
February 3, 2025 at 1:50 AM
Reposted by Julia Southern
50 States. 50 Protests. 1 Day.
We’ll see you out there 🤞🏻
#50501
We’ll see you out there 🤞🏻
#50501
February 1, 2025 at 9:49 PM
50 States. 50 Protests. 1 Day.
We’ll see you out there 🤞🏻
#50501
We’ll see you out there 🤞🏻
#50501
Our money in the hands of an immigrant…it’s nearly poetic.
As long as this Elon Musk person isn’t known for blowing things up, we’re probably fine.
February 2, 2025 at 12:48 AM
Our money in the hands of an immigrant…it’s nearly poetic.
Reposted by Julia Southern
I honestly believe our most powerful position in a toxic time that feeds on cynicism, apathy,& despair is to genuinely care and act for a better world.
Cynicism is our enemy. We should check it, incl. on the left. It’s not intellectually superior. It’s the virus they’re trying to infect us with. NO
Cynicism is our enemy. We should check it, incl. on the left. It’s not intellectually superior. It’s the virus they’re trying to infect us with. NO
January 31, 2025 at 7:04 PM
I honestly believe our most powerful position in a toxic time that feeds on cynicism, apathy,& despair is to genuinely care and act for a better world.
Cynicism is our enemy. We should check it, incl. on the left. It’s not intellectually superior. It’s the virus they’re trying to infect us with. NO
Cynicism is our enemy. We should check it, incl. on the left. It’s not intellectually superior. It’s the virus they’re trying to infect us with. NO