“According to our observations over the past 24 hours, the vast majority of species on earth have pretty much just been holding steady and staying the course, gene-wise,” said biologist Clarice Abernathy

Biologists Confirm Not Much Evolution Happened Today

STANFORD, CA—Calling it a “pretty slow one” as far as natural selection and genetic drift were concerned, biologists from Stanford University confirmed Tuesday that not much evolution happened today. ...

theonion.com

In an article for @jmirpub.bsky.social, @rjmilne.bsky.social, Alessia Costa, and I argue that trust should be understood contextually, not as a static concept. Instead, trust is about the relationship between the trustor and trustee – in healthcare and beyond. www.jmir.org/2025/1/e83533

Trust and Perceived Trustworthiness in Health-Related Data Sharing Among UK Adults: Cross-Sectional Survey

Background: Trust is an essential element in engagement with data sharing and underpins efforts to use data to combat health inequalities. Research into public trust in data sharing and healthcare set...

jmir.org

In a GA4GH Public Attitudes blog post, Gabriela Chavaría Soley, Ronald Alfaro Redondo, and Henriette Raventós (Universidad de Costa Rica) explore individual attitudes toward medical and genetic data sharing in Latin America and the development of two new indexes. Read: www.ga4gh.org/news_item/in...

Our chapter on ‘Fabricating mice and dementia: opening up relations in multi-species research’ is now OA. @richgorman.bsky.social, Richard Milne and I explore the ways patient data, animal models and plaque concepts are woven together in making dementia www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK615...

Fabricating mice and dementia: opening up relations in multi-species research

This chapter was written during a moment of flux in the unravelling of the plaques, tangles, and tales that characterise over thirty years of research for treatments of dementia involving humans and a...

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Calling all researchers and public engagement professionals: we want to find out the factors affecting public engagement in 2025, including opportunities, risks and barriers. Help shape the future of public engagement with STEM by taking our survey: www.research.net/r/RS_public_...

Factors Affecting Public Engagement by UK Researchers 2025

Take this survey powered by surveymonkey.com. Create your own surveys for free.

eur01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com

The piece is more thoughtful about listening to (rather than just convincing) the public than the title suggests, and the Brexit effect on scientists' views of public engagement that it describes is definitely something I've seen in other areas www.science.org/content/arti...

Geoengineering could fight climate change—if the public can be convinced

Researchers’ failures to communicate are jeopardizing even basic tests, but new projects may point the way forward

science.org

💡 Spark new thinking to shape the future of #SciencePolicy! Applications are open for our #SciPol25 workshop. 📅18-20 August We invite researchers and policymakers to share perspectives on best practices for improving the uptake of #research into UK science policy 📩Apply by 3 June ➡️ bit.ly/41GxNmG

Introducing ‘trust cues’ – new #scicomm research paper by Justin Schröder, Janise Brück & Lars Guenther to identify trust cues in media content – see doi.org/10.22323/2.2...

Identifying trust cues: how trust in science is mediated in content about science

Most public audiences in Germany receive scientific information via a variety of (digital) media; in these contexts, media act as intermediaries of trust in science by providing information that prese...

doi.org

23andMe’s bankruptcy is the worst thing that could happen to just about everyone involved

23andMe’s bankruptcy is the worst thing that could happen to just about everyone involved

The genetics company's bankruptcy is bad for co-founder Anne Wojcicki and shareholders. But customers whose data may not be protected are worst off.

buff.ly

Digital Sequence Information (DSI) has transformed biological research, allowing scientists to find genetic tools online without physically collecting specimens. But this creates a legal gray area around benefit-sharing and ownership.

In Digital Genetic Data, An Uncertainty Over Ownership

Digital sequence information has radically changed the way researchers look at the world’s genetic resources.

undark.org

#OnThisDay in 1953, the structure of DNA was discovered – the double helix 🧬 Our understanding has grown exponentially since then, here are a few interesting things we’ve learnt along the way ⤵️ sangerinstitute.blog/2022/05/17/s...

Six unbelievable things you probably didn’t know about DNA - Wellcome Sanger Institute Blog

Explore the surprising secrets of DNA, genes and genomes.

sangerinstitute.blog

A question posed in every media since cave painting

Trust and public engagement in engineering biology www.engbio.cam.ac.uk/news/enginee...

Nice piece from @mikeinouye.bsky.social and @katholt.bsky.social on how decisions about data sharing "answer fundamental questions, such as: what do we want science to look like" www.nature.com/articles/s41...

It's all gone pear-shaped at 23andMe. Which is not a bad thing, given the misleading view of genetics that it encouraged. As Diana's article mentions, just telling people they carry a risk variant can be very problematic. www.nature.com/articles/d41...

What went wrong at 23andMe? Why the genetic-data giant risks collapse

At-home DNA testing is no longer in high demand — and critics have raised concerns about unreliable tests and privacy.

nature.com

I guess we can't even look up genes at NCBI any more

🔎 #𝗔𝗜 𝗮𝗻𝗱 #𝗛𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗵𝗗𝗮𝘁𝗮: 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗴𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁? @rjmilne.bsky.social and @jonathanrgoodman.bsky.social explore the challenges in demonstrating trustworthiness in this @uk.theconversation.com article. 🔗 cstu.io/a01e19 @sangerinstitute.bsky.social @connectingscience.bsky.social 🧬🧪🔬

Government needs to show that its AI plan can be trusted to deal with serious risks when it comes to health data

The use of patient data has been controversial in the past.

theconversation.com

In an article for @uk.theconversation.com, @rjmilne.bsky.social and I argue that while the UK's plan to foster innovation through AI is ambitious, it will rely on public trust for success. Yet anyone can claim to be trustworthy: how do we tell who actually is? theconversation.com/government-n...

Government needs to show that its AI plan can be trusted to deal with serious risks when it comes to health data

The use of patient data has been controversial in the past.

theconversation.com

"The Devastating Legacy of Lies in Alzheimer’s Science" from @charlespiller.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/2025/01/24/o...

Opinion | The Long Shadow of Fraud in Alzheimer’s Research (Gift Article)

Fraud in research needs to end.

nytimes.com

This book on multi species dementia is out at the end of this month, featuring me, @rjmilne.bsky.social and @richgorman.bsky.social reflecting on what is modelled in mouse models of #dementia and how this is made sense of by patients in #PPI policy.bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/multi-specie...

Multi-Species Dementia Studies

Multi-Species Dementia Studies - Towards an Interdisciplinary Approach; This edited book explores multi-species approaches to dementia care. Drawing on work linking social and veterinary sciences, it ...

policy.bristoluniversitypress.co.uk

Out now in Nature Human Behaviour: Our 68-country #survey on public attitudes to #science 📣 It shows: People still #trust scientists and support an active role of scientists in society and policy-making. #OpenAccess available here: www.nature.com/articles/s41... @natureportfolio.bsky.social (1/13)

I have a post-doc position to study the effect of AI on education. How can we ensure that AI tools enhance natural intelligence? The position is a part of the Estonian Centre of Excellence in Artificial Intelligence. Please repost - not easy to get people to work in Estonia 🥶 #edusky #neuroAI

In the REWS group of the Global Alliance for Genomics and Health we have coordinated a series of briefs on public attitudes to genomic data sharing. The latest looks at public perceptions of international genetic information sharing for biomedical research in China www.ga4gh.org/news_item/pu...

www.nature.com/articles/d41... new frontiers in discussions about hhge - editing for polygenic risk

We need to talk about human genome editing

In a few decades, gene-editing technologies could reduce the likelihood of common human diseases. Societies must use this time to prepare for their arrival.

nature.com

Great to see this out!

Wellcome Connecting Science Engagement and Society@engagewcs.bsky.social · 2y ago

𝗝𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗽𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗵𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻 @bmj.com: Challenges associated with the development of “trial ready cohorts” for dementia prevention trials. 🔗Read the article by our Head of Research and Dialogue @rjmilne.bsky.social and collaborators: cstu.io/ee88a7 #Ethics #Genomics #Dementia #ClinicalTrials

🚨 My team is hiring an undergraduate intern (UK universities only) - a great opportunity, if I can say so myself! Please share widely. Want more info? See here: www.linkedin.com/feed/update/...

In my latest column for @theneweuropean.bsky.social I write about the perils of polygenic embryo screening and what it might have meant for Beethoven (seriously). www.theneweuropean.co.uk/critical-mas...

Critical mass: What can Beethoven teach us about genetics?

The great German composer’s genetic makeup illustrates the dangers of polygenic screening

theneweuropean.co.uk

In a new paper following a presentation at this year's Data for Policy conference, @rjmilne.bsky.social and I draw on interdisciplinary studies of social trust and behavioural ecology to propose a solution to what we call the trustworthiness recognition problem: www.cambridge.org/core/journal... 🧪

Wonderful to see this important & ambitious work from @who.int come to fruition - guidance for human #genomics #data use founded on strong #ethics principles shared across cultures & countries 🧬 No easy feat! www.who.int/publications...

Guidance for human genome data collection, access, use and sharing

The WHO’s new document outlines a comprehensive set of globally applicable principles designed to guide stakeholders in the responsible collection, use, and sharing of human genome data. This document...

who.int