The majority of axonal mitochondria in mammalian neurons lack mitochondrial DNA and do not produce ATP biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/…

A validated antibody toolbox for ALS research elifesciences.org/reviewed-p…

I am sending an open letter to Thermo Fisher. Their response to my response to their manipulated western blot is bullying and petty. Yes, this western blot really is manipulated, it is unfair on me to say otherwise. I don't make those accusations lightly. #ThermoFishy

Today I'm posting a new blog about an astonishing scientific own goal. Hundreds of papers have reported using a completely wrong antibody to investigate the tumor suppressor p16. This mistake has happened because scientists have muddled the names of two proteins 🧵

Agree 100%. I'd add that in 1989, a Lancet study found hope-focused group therapy was associated with 18 months longer survival in metastatic breast cancer. It's largely viewed as discredited or an aberration today. But it spawned all that toxic "hope culture" in cancer.

There is a new paper in Science proposing a mechanism for how homing pigeons navigate on cloudy days. (Hint: It's magnetic fields.) As with many magnetobiology papers, though, I'm skeptical of their proposed mechanism. These researchers, from Germany, found that pigeons have macrophages in their liver that accumulate lots of iron. They confirmed this with staining and other analyses. These macrophages also tend to cluster near nerve fibers in the liver (this is important for later). Then they did a really interesting experiment: - Train 34 pigeons to fly a particular 19-kilometer route. Ensure they all do this well. - Split the pigeons into two groups: treatment and control. - Inject the treatment group pigeons with liposomes loaded with clodronate. The macrophages eat these liposomes, and then clodronate kills the cells and scatters the iron. - Release the pigeons, from both groups, on an overcast day (it's thought that pigeons use magnetic fields to navigate when there is no sun). - All of the control pigeons reached their destination within 70 minutes, but the treated pigeons scattered in random directions. - (Important control experiment: The treated pigeons, released on a sunny day, flew like normal and reached their destination.) - This is taken as evidence that ??? macrophages --> iron --> navigation ??? via magnetic fields. But the mechanism is fuzzy. This experiment is super interesting, and it's clear that the treated pigeons really are unable to home to their destination using a magnetic field. But I'm not entirely convinced by the mechanism these authors propose. The main claim is that these iron-loaded macrophages "align" in a magnetic field, and that they shift according to the bird's orientation so that it can fix its direction. These macrophages (somehow) send signals to the nerve fibers in the liver, which then pass the messages to the brain, which allows the bird to navigate. The news coverage for this story suggests how this might happen: "One idea is that as the bird shifts its position relative to Earth’s magnetic field lines, the ferritin changes orientation and tugs on the web of fibers within a macrophage, possibly triggering the release of signaling molecules." (All you need to do is read the 2016 Meister paper, from the images below, to understand why such a mechanism is physically dubious.) The problem, though, is that the authors show (in their own study) that the iron in these pigeons' livers only act as a stable magnet at super low temperatures, below about 12 degrees Kelvin (or -260 degrees Celsius). At normal, physiological temperatures, the iron would be scrambled by the thermal motions of the tissue. Every measurement in the paper is taken at cryogenic temperatures, but a bird's body temperature is much higher, which means heat would likely destroy any magnetic alignment. The authors claim that MILLIONS of iron particles in the liver are all acting together to escape this effect, but they don't demonstrate the mechanism convincingly at all. If this claim is true, why not take homing pigeons (control vs. macrophage-depleted) and then rotate a magnetic field around them? You could record their neurons to see if there is some kind of signal coming from the liver.

Here are the results. By far the most prevalent was cocaine, followed by the cocaine metabolite (Benzoylecgonine). I assume the high amount has much to do with how cocaine is consumed. Snort -> touch nose -> touch money. 1/

First plate is done. No Hanta, no Ebola. Flu season is over, and COVID is 100-times lower than it has been. The only respiratory viruses on the rise are Rhinoviruses and Parainfluenzavirus 3, but they always surge in late Spring and I have no idea why.

Ensitrelvir succeeded where Paxlovid had failed to show efficacy, in post exposure prophylaxis. It’s also been known for years that it prevents severe late disease in those already symptomatic as well as Paxlovid. Ensitrelvir should have been approved long ago. If it were from an American rather than Japanese pharma, it would have been.

Transient tertiary structure in intrinsically disordered proteins revealed by multithermal enhanced sampling: nature.com/articles/s41467-0…

SPEx: Compartment-Resolved Proteomics via Expansion Microscopy–Guided Microdissection biorxiv.org/content/10.64898…

UBQLN2 links proteotoxicity with lipid metabolism in neurodegeneration: nature.com/articles/s41593-0…

Here is our updated database of grants for early careers researchers in all fields. It goes way beyond traditional NIH and NSF funding opportunities. We list 428 types of grants. Download it here: research.jhu.edu/rdt/funding…

That’s not how science works

Sent from Tehran. #IranMassacre

I don’t know how long it took me to read this in full this morning. An hour and a half? Maybe more? Hard to tell because of the engrossing nature, intermittent grappling, drawing parallels to real people and experiences, questioning starting premises and their logical conclusions, recognizing evidence of rationalism divorced from emotional weight. Whatever time I spent lost in this was worth it. Highly recommend if … I guess if you’re anyone trying to make sense of what is happening at the frontier of technological transformation, the human archetypes that reside there, and how the framing of these might influence our perspective of the outcomes. Kind of just want everyone I know to read it so we can talk about it. possessedmachines.com/

📢💉Novavax (Nuvaxovid) availability update for: Friday, September 26th, 2025 What’s new today: • There is now widespread availability at most chains nationwide. • We have confirmation that Sanofi will be releasing a product locator, which will reportedly be going live late next week. Link: Nuvaxovid.com/product-locato… • To keep information in 1 post, I’m moving to state reports rather than cities. If you have questions about a specific area, please feel free to ask and I’ll let you know if I’ve heard anything. A few things to remember: 1. It’s always best practice to both verbally and visually confirm that you’re actually receiving Novavax. 2. The product is now more commonly being referred to as “Nuvaxovid”, following Novavax’s BLA approval in May. Most will continue to use the names interchangeably, but make sure that your pharmacy is not confused by the two (or by the similarity to Moderna’s “Spikevax”). 3. If you’re checking for availability, especially in an area where Nuvaxovid has been reported, politely ask if they’re willing to check the fridge for stock, as it can sometimes go “unnoticed” by pharmacy techs. 4. If it’s not available yet, try again in a few days, even if they say they’re not expecting to receive any. Purchasing decisions at chains are made by corporate executives, and store employees are routinely left out of the loop until shipments actually arrive. 5. Continue asking pharmacies to place Nuvaxovid orders. Especially independent ones, but chains as well, where stores can hopefully send your request up the chain even if they cannot directly place orders. Publix: Available at most/all locations in VA, TN, AL, KY, NC, SC, and FL. GA locations are still requiring a prescription for now. Nuvaxovid is available to select on the online scheduler. CVS: Broadly rolling out. Nuvaxovid is not yet available to select on the online scheduler. Reported availability in these states: NJ, TX, IN, CA, WA, AZ, KS, OH, NY, MI, MA, CT, RI, PA, MN, MD, NC, MO. Costco: Broadly rolling out. Officially, Nuvaxovid is listed as “coming soon” on the main vaccines page, but some have reported success booking a specific appointment further along in the online process. If you don’t have that option yet, you can still call your local store to check. Reported availability in these states: CT, MA, PA, MI, MN, MS, VT, IA, NE, NJ, NY, IL, CA, TX, KS, OH, CO, IN, VA, ME Cub Foods (Minnesota): Available at most/all of their 106 locations. Walmart: Broadly rolling out. Nuvaxovid is not yet available to select on the online scheduler. Reported availability in these states: CA, WA, OR, NM, CO, AZ, ID, PA, WI, OH Kroger and Subsidiaries: Broadly rolling out. Reported availability in these states: MI, OH, AL, TX • King Soopers in CO • Most Mariano’s locations in IL • Ralphs in CA • QFC in WA • Most Harris Teeter locations in DC, MD, CA • Fred Meyer in OR, WA, and ID • Smith’s Food and Drug in AZ • Bakers Supermarkets in NE Meijer: Starting to roll out. Reported availability in these states: MI Albertsons and subsidiaries Starting to roll out. Reported availability in these states: ID • Acme locations in NJ. • Jewel-Osco locations in IL. Walgreens: Finally starting to roll out, albeit very limited. It’s probably a safe bet to say that Walgreens doesn’t plan on caring Nuvaxovid quite as widely as chains. But, there has been reported availability in Goleta and Ventura County, CA. Local pharmacies with confirmed availability: • Danny’s Pharmacy II - NYC, NY • Neergaard Pharmacy - NYC, NY • White Flint Pharmacy - Rockville, MD • Caplet - Columbia & Ellicott City, MD • Ray Pharmacy - Dunellen, NJ • Heritage Pharmacy - Washington Crossing, PA • Conley’s Drug Store - Ipswich, MA • Nimvax - Beverly, MA • Amy’s Pharmacy - Los Angeles, CA • My Dr’s Pharmacy - Herndon, VA • Shaw’s Pharmacy - Portland, ME • Woodstock Apothecary - Woodstock, NY

Congratulations to Katie Barnes for being Top 300 in the ThermoFisher Junior Innovators Challenge (the top middle school science competition)! She is one of only two middle schoolers from Kansas City to receive this honor. @UnionStationKC @ksdehq @Society4Science @MayorLucasKC

Quacks gon' quack... kansascity.com/opinion/edito…