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Michael Le Page

@mjflepage.bsky.social

2.3K followers 1.2K following 2.8K posts

Award-winning reporter at New Scientist who clings to the belief that good journalism mattters. I write about life on Earth, inc climate ☀️, food 🍱, CRISPR 🧬 and biomed 💊 My bio & stories: https://www.newscientist.com/author/michael-le-page

www.newscientist.com

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Michael Le Page @mjflepage.bsky.social · Aug 14

This is incredible - early stage research suggests drugs based on mRNA vaccine technology could protect against just about any virus 🦠 🧪

Essentially, the mRNAs turn on innate defences ahead of infection, which can give the body a crucial edge

www.newscientist.com/article/2492...

mRNA drugs could protect against almost any kind of viral infection

mRNA drugs might be able to protect against a huge range of viruses by turning on key parts of our innate defences against infection

www.newscientist.com

Reposted by Michael Le Page

Matthew Neville @mattneville.bsky.social · 10h

If you saw preprint, biggest two updates are: Much improved discussion + variant calls now accessible

If you'd like an accessible summary check out this great article from @mjflepage.bsky.social in New Scientist:

For science thread read on! [2/n]
institutions.newscientist.com/article/2499...

institutions.newscientist.com

Michael Le Page @mjflepage.bsky.social · 10h

Now @r-rahbari.bsky.social @mattneville.bsky.social & co have used a new technique to sequence more 100,000 sperm from 81 men, and have found this phenomenon is more widespread than expected

“The size of the effect across the genome was much higher than any of us thought,” says Neville

Michael Le Page @mjflepage.bsky.social · 10h

This phenomenon was first discovered in 2003 by researchers studying conditions such as achondroplasia, or dwarfism, which are much more common than would be expected due to random mutations 🧬

I wrote a feature about it back in 2014 /3

www.newscientist.com/article/mg22...

Testicular time bomb: Older dads' mutant sperm

The clock is always ticking for testicles (Image&colon; Emiliano Ponzi) Every man's sperm is fighting an evolutionary civil war – and over the years, it ups the risk of fathering a child with a geneti...

www.newscientist.com

Michael Le Page @mjflepage.bsky.social · 10h

Because these mutant sperm stem cells produce more of themselves than usual, the number of mutant sperm they produce increases exponentially 📈 over time, rather than linearly as with other mutations than don't affect growth /2

Michael Le Page @mjflepage.bsky.social · 10h

The risk of older fathers fathers passing on disease-causing mutations 🧬 to their children is higher than we thought 🧪

The reason - mutant sperm stem cells that turn selfish and divide faster than normal 1/

www.newscientist.com/article/2499...

Selfish sperm see older fathers pass on more disease-causing mutations

Older men are more likely to pass on disease-causing mutations to their children because of the faster growth of mutant cells in the testes with age

www.newscientist.com

Michael Le Page @mjflepage.bsky.social · 11h

They are "almost like Hermione’s handbag in Harry Potter” 🧙‍♀️

Heiner Linke of the Nobel committee for chemistry describes the designer materials known as metal-organic frameworks that won the Nobel for Richard Robson, Susumu Kitagawa and Omar Yaghi 🧪

www.newscientist.com/article/2499...

Nobel prize in chemistry awarded for work on molecular architecture

Susumu Kitagawa, Richard Robson and Omar Yaghi have been honoured for the development of metal-organic frameworks, porous materials that can capture water or pollutants

www.newscientist.com

Michael Le Page @mjflepage.bsky.social · 2d

Regulatory cells in our blood play a key role in preventing our immune systems attacking us - and the discovery of these cells by Mary Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell and Shimon Sakaguchi was today rewarded with a Nobel prize 🧪

www.newscientist.com/article/2498...

Nobel prize for medicine goes to trio for work on immune tolerance

The 2025 Nobel prize in physiology or medicine has gone to Mary Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell and Shimon Sakaguchi for their discoveries around how we keep our immune system under control

www.newscientist.com

Michael Le Page @mjflepage.bsky.social · 2d

There should be no genetic engineering of wildlife, says a motion to be voted on at an IUCN meeting this month 🧪

But many scientists think synthetic biology is crucial to saving biodiversity - for instance, to make corals 🪸 heat tolerant #wildlifeconservation

www.newscientist.com/article/2498...

Would a ban on genetic engineering of wildlife hamper conservation?

Some conservation groups are calling for an effective ban on genetic modification, but others say these technologies are crucial for preserving biodiversity

www.newscientist.com

Michael Le Page @mjflepage.bsky.social · 5d

Great, thanks so much

Michael Le Page @mjflepage.bsky.social · 5d

A study suggests AI could help evade controls on synthesising bioweapons. Here's why this is like doing a fancy Mission Impossible-style bank raid when the vault door has been left open, the alarm is off and the guards are asleep 🧪

www.newscientist.com/article/2498...

Should we worry AI will create deadly bioweapons? Not yet, but one day

AI tools are being used to design proteins and even viruses, leading to fears these could eventually be used to evade bioweapon controls

www.newscientist.com

Reposted by Michael Le Page

Rebecca R Helm @rebeccarhelm.bsky.social · Apr 9

I want to tell you a story, and it begins with this VERY WEIRD animal: Meet Thetys vagina...
[a thread 🧵]
📸 m_patton bit.ly/2Mgw8Sf
🌿🧪🦑🐙🌊

tubular clear animal being held near a beach

Reposted by Michael Le Page

Rowan Hooper @rowhoop.bsky.social · 6d

My piece on the exceptional legacy of Jane Goodall www.newscientist.com/article/2498...

How Jane Goodall changed the way we see animals - and the world

Jane Goodall, who chronicled the social lives of chimps, has died, but has left a lasting legacy on how we view the natural world

www.newscientist.com

Michael Le Page @mjflepage.bsky.social · 6d

This is worth a read 🧪

Rowan Hooper @rowhoop.bsky.social · 6d

My piece on the exceptional legacy of Jane Goodall www.newscientist.com/article/2498...

How Jane Goodall changed the way we see animals - and the world

Jane Goodall, who chronicled the social lives of chimps, has died, but has left a lasting legacy on how we view the natural world

www.newscientist.com

Michael Le Page @mjflepage.bsky.social · 8d

So it's not going to used for fertility treatments any time soon if ever, and it doesn't help with the shortage of donor eggs, because it consumes eggs rather than generating them. Yes, it's a technical feat but it's unlikely to be much more than that 3/

Michael Le Page @mjflepage.bsky.social · 8d

Because of the serious health problems that many if not most cloned animals have, there's no way this would be safe. What's more, I don't see an obvious route to making it safe 2/

Michael Le Page @mjflepage.bsky.social · 8d

I do think this human egg story is being massively overhyped. To be clear, no eggs have been "generated", "created" or "made" from human skin cells - rather, existing human eggs have been given the DNA from skin cells using a kind of cloning 1/

Michael Le Page @mjflepage.bsky.social · 9d

NS did a feature on this earlier this year. TLDR - the tech is there but the money to bring it to market isn't

www.newscientist.com/article/2487...

How regrowing your own teeth could replace dentures and implants

Losing a tooth as an adult is par for the course for many of us. The only option to replace them? Artificial substitutes. But an era of regrowing living teeth may now be almost upon us

www.newscientist.com

Michael Le Page @mjflepage.bsky.social · 9d

We've found a master regulator that controls the level of DNA repair 🧬 and thus how fast we accumulate mutations 🧪

The team that discovered it thinks this also determines the rate of ageing 👵, but they haven't quite proved it yet

www.newscientist.com/article/2497...

How fast you age may be controlled by a DNA repair boss in your cells

When a key protein regulator dials down DNA repair mechanisms, our cells accumulate more mutations, which may cause us to age faster

www.newscientist.com

Michael Le Page @mjflepage.bsky.social · 9d

If you or your child have mild asthma 🫁 and are still using a salbutamol/albuterol (blue) reliever inhaler, you should talk to your GP/doctor about switching to the combination inhaler 🧪

www.newscientist.com/article/2497...

Two-in-one inhalers slash asthma attacks among young children

Inhalers that combine relieving breathlessness with preventing it seem to be the most effective option for reducing asthma attacks in young children

www.newscientist.com

Reposted by Michael Le Page

Parody Keir Starmer @parodypm.bsky.social · 12d

As Reform's Nathan Gill admits taking bribes from Russian 'secret service pawn' Oleg Voloshyn, here’s a nice photo of Nigel Farage with Voloshyn’s wife.

Michael Le Page @mjflepage.bsky.social · 14d

The emperor has no clothes

Susan Kaye Quinn is Writing Solarpunk 🌞🌱 @susankayequinn.bsky.social · 14d

They've lost the 9yos

JA Westenberg
@Daojoan@mastodon.social

My 9 year old and his classmates have started using “that’s AI” to mean “I don’t believe you.”

Me: we’re having dinosaur meat for dinner

Kiddo: that’s AI
Sep 24, 2025, 07:36 AM

Reposted by Michael Le Page

Jacob Aron @jjaron.bsky.social · 14d

I love this

Susan Kaye Quinn is Writing Solarpunk 🌞🌱 @susankayequinn.bsky.social · 14d

They've lost the 9yos

JA Westenberg
@Daojoan@mastodon.social

My 9 year old and his classmates have started using “that’s AI” to mean “I don’t believe you.”

Me: we’re having dinosaur meat for dinner

Kiddo: that’s AI
Sep 24, 2025, 07:36 AM

Reposted by Michael Le Page

Jan Rosenow @janrosenow.bsky.social · 15d

Critics of renewables often point to land use as a reason not to invest in wind & solar. Land use IS a real issue for all energy assets incl renewables (unless on-site).

But what critics conveniently forget is the huge land impact of fossil fuels. Aerial view of fracking sites in Wickett, Texas. 👇

Michael Le Page @mjflepage.bsky.social · 16d

In as much as a third of flu infections, parasitic "cheating" viruses 🦠 come to outnumber normal viruses - which helps limit the severity of infections 🧪

That's what @asherleeks.bsky.social and co have found by analysing sequencing data

www.newscientist.com/article/2496...

Some viruses like to cheat – and that may be good for our health

Mutations can result in viruses that infect cells, but can't copy themselves without help from other viruses - now it seems these cheats may outnumber normal viruses in a third of influenza cases, red...

www.newscientist.com

Michael Le Page @mjflepage.bsky.social · 20d

Changing the choices on offer at any one time can make people eat climate-friendlier, healthier foods 🍱 without them even realising 🧪

In a trial at a university canteen, the carbon footprint of meals was reduced by a third with no recipe changes

www.newscientist.com/article/2496...

Simple menu tweak can nudge people into choosing climate-friendly food

Rejigging the meal choices on offer in a canteen can prompt people to make healthier, climate-friendlier decisions

www.newscientist.com