Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Mike Pazin @mikepazin.bsky.social · May 20

Possible new treatment for Lyme disease:
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40267215/

A high-resolution screen identifies a preexisting beta-lactam that specifically treats Lyme disease in mice - PubMed

Lyme disease, caused by <i>Borrelia burgdorferi</i> in the United States, is an escalating human health problem that can cause severe disease if not properly treated. Doxycycline is the primary treatm...

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Mike Pazin @mikepazin.bsky.social · May 20

Possible mechanism for chronic illness following Lyme disease
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40267217/

The peptidoglycan of Borrelia burgdorferi can persist in discrete tissues and cause systemic responses consistent with chronic illness - PubMed

Persistent symptoms after an acute infection is an emerging public health concern, but the pathobiology of such conditions is not well understood. One possible scenario involves the persistence of lin...

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Reposted by Mike Pazin

Neil deGrasse Tyson @neildegrassetyson.com · May 17

The 80-year recipe stoking America’s Prosperity:

1) Free-market capital investments in brilliant ideas…
2) enabled by Engineering Innovations…
3) based on Science Research in Universities…
4) funded by Grants from the US Government.

It’s time more people understood this.

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Mike Pazin @mikepazin.bsky.social · May 7

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40229440/ How the United States became a science superpower- and how quickly it could crumble

How the United States became a science superpower - and how quickly it could crumble - PubMed

How the United States became a science superpower - and how quickly it could crumble

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Mike Pazin @mikepazin.bsky.social · May 5

I ran the Pittsburgh marathon Sunday. I was thrilled with how the race and training went. Personal record for me for marathon, and better than my target for today. Thanks to my partner Andrea and my sons and Tiny Dog for their support from training to race day (coach Jack!).

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Mike Pazin @mikepazin.bsky.social · Apr 29

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40147441/

Widespread variation in molecular interactions and regulatory properties among transcription factor isoforms - PubMed

Most human transcription factor (TF) genes encode multiple protein isoforms differing in DNA-binding domains, effector domains, or other protein regions. The global extent to which this results in fun...

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Mike Pazin @mikepazin.bsky.social · Apr 29

I ran the Nashville Rock ‘n’ Roll half marathon Saturday, benefitting cancer research at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. I loved running “with” my son. Personal record for me. Last tune up before next week’s marathon. I love that money is being raised to improve people’s health.

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Mike Pazin @mikepazin.bsky.social · Apr 20

Mike Pazin @mikepazin.bsky.social · Apr 1

Economists consider impact of changes to funding science and universities www.nytimes.com/2025/03/31/b...

Trump Science Funding Cuts May Hurt Economy, Experts Say

Since World War II, U.S. research funding has led to discoveries that fueled economic gains. Now cutbacks are seen as putting that legacy in jeopardy.

www.nytimes.com

Mike Pazin @mikepazin.bsky.social · Mar 28

www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...

You Can Do Leisure Better, Seriously

If you think of personal time only as “not work,” you could be missing out on truly enriching experiences.

www.theatlantic.com

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Reposted by Mike Pazin

Carl de Boer @carldeboer.bsky.social · Mar 20

Last call for a postdoc position in single cell analysis/perturb-seq with @nikashakiba.bsky.social at UBC in beautiful Vancouver Canada!
ubc.wd10.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/ubcfac...

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Reposted by Mike Pazin

Our World in Data @ourworldindata.org · Mar 20

Women live longer than men, but how much longer varies widely around the world

A world map illustrates the differences in life expectancy between females and males at birth in 2023. Areas shaded in darker purple indicate a greater male life expectancy compared to females, while lighter shades represent regions with higher female life expectancy. Notable data points include Ukraine with a difference of 13.3 years, Russia at 11.8 years, Togo at 0.4 years, and Nigeria at 0.6 years. The data source is the Human Mortality Database (2024) and UN World Population Prospects (2024). The map is attributed with a CC BY license and published by Our World in Data.

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Reposted by Mike Pazin

Arjun Raj @arjunraj.bsky.social · Mar 18

Sitting in a journal club-style class right now and after the main presenters present, there are "roles" from others in the group, like the "archeologist" who looks into the citation trail, the "private investigator" who tries to dig into the history, and the "industry practitioner", etc. Cool idea!

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Reposted by Mike Pazin

Benoit Bruneau @benoitbruneau.bsky.social · Mar 17

oh this is so good

Randall Munroe @xkcd.com · Mar 17

Lungfish xkcd.com/3064

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Mike Pazin @mikepazin.bsky.social · Mar 16

Analysis of NIH found that for every $1.00 of funded research there was $2.56 in economic activity. See the jobs created and economic activity in your state. Read recent research highlights. The “business” of the NIH is improving our health.

www.unitedformedicalresearch.org/wp-content/u...

www.unitedformedicalresearch.org

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Reposted by Mike Pazin

Science Friday @scifri.bsky.social · Mar 16

90% of people diagnosed with pancreatic cancer die from the disease. That's why the medical community is excited about the results of a small trial in which nearly half of the pancreatic cancer patients who received an mRNA vaccine for the disease remained relapse-free three years later.

A Vaccine For Pancreatic Cancer Continues To Show Promise

In a small trial, nearly half of pancreatic cancer patients who received an mRNA vaccine for the disease had no relapse three years later.

www.sciencefriday.com

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Mike Pazin @mikepazin.bsky.social · Mar 15

Some of the course overlapped the DC Marine Corps Marathon and some people had shirts from last year which were added bonuses for me. I love that money is being raised to improve people’s health. I am even more passionate about health research than running.

Mike Pazin @mikepazin.bsky.social · Mar 15

I ran the DC Rock ‘n’ Roll half marathon today, benefitting cancer research at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. I was thrilled with how the race and training went. Personal record for me, much better than my previous best half marathon, and better than my target for today.

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Mike Pazin @mikepazin.bsky.social · Mar 12

Nice work assessing the effects of genetic variants in primary human T cells leading to enhanced T cell immunotherapy

youtu.be/jO6ybztQnzs?...

"Massively scalable assessment of variant effects in primary human T cells" - Zachary Walsh

YouTube video by Variant Effects

youtu.be

Reposted by Mike Pazin

Eric Topol @erictopol.bsky.social · Mar 10

Who funds biomedical research? @nature.com
www.nature.com/articles/d41...

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Reposted by Mike Pazin

danapeer.bsky.social @danapeer.bsky.social · Mar 11

Congratulations to the new fellows.

American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) @theaacr.bsky.social · Mar 10

The AACR is proud to announce our newly elected class of Fellows of the AACR Academy. The AACR Academy honors distinguished scientists whose contributions have propelled significant innovation and progress against cancer. Learn more: buff.ly/8a8WUn9 #AACRFellows

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Mike Pazin @mikepazin.bsky.social · Mar 7

I think this short video does a great job explaining why we should all be happy that a small portion of our tax dollars funds basic research youtu.be/GmhD-RWNL6c?...

*Winner* Funding Basic Science to Revolutionize Medicine, 2013 FASEB Stand Up for Science

YouTube video by Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology

youtu.be

Mike Pazin @mikepazin.bsky.social · Mar 5

Exciting seminar on calibrating results from high-throughput functional genomics assays and predictive models for clinical interpretation.

youtu.be/TY-C7Dz-Wi4?...
@shawnfayer.bsky.social
@dougfowler.bsky.social @leastarita.bsky.social #VESS

"Reassessing the Calibration of Variant Effect Predictors for Clinical Interpretation"

YouTube video by Variant Effects

youtu.be

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Mike Pazin @mikepazin.bsky.social · Mar 5

Overcoming challenges associated with broad sharing of human genomic data

Thoughtful perspective on challenges of data sharing followed with recommendations

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39843657/

Overcoming challenges associated with broad sharing of human genomic data - PubMed

Since the Human Genome Project, the consensus position in genomics has been that data should be shared widely to achieve the greatest societal benefit. This position relies on imprecise definitions of...

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

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Mike Pazin @mikepazin.bsky.social · Mar 4

Exciting seminar on understanding receptor-ligand signaling using mutational scanning. How does a receptor decode ligands to decide whether to signal, or how strongly?

youtu.be/hDlJU6HI9Os?...

"Mutational scanning to understand ligand efficacy and potency in GPCRs"- Matthew Howard

YouTube video by Variant Effects

youtu.be

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