Yes, confirming reports that OMB has processed its full-year apportionment to NIH, giving the agency the ability to obligate funds from the spending bill signed into law on Feb 3! From what I can tell, there are no footnotes that would indicate OMB is further delaying the process.

National Library of Medicine and 24 other accounts | 11511545

Apportionment file 11511545 (National Library of Medicine and 24 other accounts) retrieved from OMB public records

openomb.org

Congress rejected massive cuts to US science budgets for 2026, but much of the money still isn’t flowing to researchers. The culprit? The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is quietly slow-walking the release of funds. 🧵👇

White House stalls release of approved US science budgets

The US Congress rejected sweeping cuts to science agencies. But the NIH, the NSF and NASA have had their spending slowed.

nature.com

Jack Smith: "My fear is that we have seen the rule of law function in our country for so long that many of us have come to take it for granted. The rule of law is not self-executing. It depends on our collective commitment to apply it."

Reminder for those applying for #NIH grants using the #ScienCV templates. You can format the text sections using html codes: <p> paragraph <br> break line <b>bold</b> <i>italics</i>

How does PRMT5 link splicing to mRNA export? Out in Mol Cell: by methylating Sm proteins, PRMT5 releases mRNAs that would otherwise remain trapped on chromatin. Meet GRIPPs: Genomically Retained Incompletely Processed Polyadenylated Transcripts. 🔗 authors.elsevier.com/a/1lwyj3vVUP...

How does PRMT5 link splicing to mRNA export? Out in Mol Cell: by methylating Sm proteins, PRMT5 releases mRNAs that would otherwise remain trapped on chromatin. Meet GRIPPs: Genomically Retained Incompletely Processed Polyadenylated Transcripts. 🔗 authors.elsevier.com/a/1lwyj3vVUP...

"We added the requested experiments and thank the reviewers for their helpful suggestions"

EPIGENETIC HULK READY TO SMASH AGAIN! GET IN LOSERS!

#NIH is hanging by a thread. The #CDC has been decimated. #RFK Jr. and Russell #Vought are psychopaths--I don't say this frivolously--they are cold, calculating, inflicting violence on millions through public policy. It is where we are right now. These men are not normal. 1/

We’re 7 months in, and “Pentagon plans military deployment in Chicago” is a headline in the Washington Post. And because it’s city number three, we’re already numbing to it. If you read this about any other democracy in the world, you’d conclude that it was well on the road to a dictatorship.

Pentagon plans military deployment in Chicago as Trump eyes crackdown

President Donald Trump said Chicago is his next likely target to crack down on urban crime. Military planning has been ongoing for weeks, officials say.

washingtonpost.com

David Shechter@dshechter.bsky.social · last yr.

Why can’t cells live without PRMT5? Our new transformative work inspired and led by @jacobroth13.bsky.social (who defends his thesis tomorrow!) shows that this arginine methyltransferase is critical for histone production and genome stability. Full story: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... 1/5

Situation on 14th St and W St. NW, with federal agents -- no specific agency identified -- pulling cars over for checks. They arrested a Black woman in this car. BIG crowd of people shouting at police. "Fuck you!" "What is wrong with you!" "You don't need to terrorize people like this!"

Release from HHS: HHS will wind down its development of the mRNA vaccine development activities under the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA).

Shout out to the WSJ journalists who reported on Vought’s impoundment by footnote, causing the White House to walk it back. Impact journalism!!

Liz Essley Whyte@lizessleywhyte.bsky.social · last yr.

UPDATE: The pause was scrapped Tuesday evening after intervention by top White House officials. www.wsj.com/politics/pol...

Why can’t cells live without PRMT5? Our new transformative work inspired and led by @jacobroth13.bsky.social (who defends his thesis tomorrow!) shows that this arginine methyltransferase is critical for histone production and genome stability. Full story: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... 1/5

PRMT5 activity sustains histone production to maintain genome integrity

Histone proteins package DNA into nucleosomes, forming chromatin and thereby safeguarding genome integrity. Proper histone expression is essential for cell proliferation and chromatin organization, ye...

biorxiv.org

Why can’t cells live without PRMT5? Our new transformative work inspired and led by @jacobroth13.bsky.social (who defends his thesis tomorrow!) shows that this arginine methyltransferase is critical for histone production and genome stability. Full story: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... 1/5

PRMT5 activity sustains histone production to maintain genome integrity

Histone proteins package DNA into nucleosomes, forming chromatin and thereby safeguarding genome integrity. Proper histone expression is essential for cell proliferation and chromatin organization, ye...

biorxiv.org

New hair-raising piece from CNN about the National Cancer Institute... www.cnn.com/2025/07/08/h...

World’s premier cancer institute faces crippling cuts and chaos | CNN

The Trump administration’s broadsides against scientific research have caused unprecedented upheaval at the National Cancer Institute, the storied federal government research hub that has spearheaded ...

cnn.com

Powerful statement by Sen. Alex Padilla. Please notice that anytime senators or representatives try to conduct oversight, they’re blocked. In this case, a sitting US senator was tackled to the ground and handcuffed—for asking a question. Where the hell has Chuck Schumer been on this?

For all my NYC Chromatin / Epigenetics / Gene Expression colleagues - the registration and abstract deadline for our Summer '25 symposium is this Friday. Attendance is free (lunch and coffee breaks provided), but we need you to sign up! See here: mailchi.mp/cbee4a4e6267...

Excited for this summer’s NYC Chromatin Club! Grad students & postdocs: submit your abstracts for a chance to present a poster or talk. Come connect w/ fellow epigenetic New Yorkers! #NYCChromatinClub @dshechter.bsky.social @vivrisca.bsky.social @epicypher.bsky.social @kjarmache.bsky.social

TTLL4 glutamyltransferase is a therapeutic target for NPM1-mutated acute myeloid leukemia https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.04.07.647605v1

TTLL4 glutamyltransferase is a therapeutic target for NPM1-mutated acute myeloid leukemia https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.04.07.647605v1

We discovered a new AML vulnerability: TTLL4 glutamylates NPM1c and helps leukemia cells thrive. Knock it down and cells differentiate and survival improves. Collab between our lab and @Gritsman_lab—funded by NIH and DoD/CDMRP. Preprint: bit.ly/42oZl09 /1

TTLL4 glutamyltransferase is a therapeutic target for NPM1-mutated acute myeloid leukemia

NPM1-mutated acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is defined by aberrant cytoplasmic localization of the mutant NPM1c protein, and therapeutic strategies targeting this specific disease remain limited. Here, ...

bit.ly

Every post Trump makes about tariffs sounds like a late night used car commercial. Waiting for the post that starts with “I just spoke to my manager and I think we can get you down to ten percent…”

Nathan Bernard@nathantbernard.bsky.social · last yr.

we are living in the stupidest time ever in US history with each day getting increasingly dumber

Director of the Nat'l Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) was summarily dismissed yesterday. So here's your reminder that birth defects kill twice as many American kids as cancer. But there is no St. Jude's for birth defects. Only the NICHD. www.nature.com/articles/d41...

‘One of the darkest days’: NIH purges agency leadership amid mass layoffs

In shock move, four institute directors at the US biomedical agency are removed from their posts.

nature.com

Analysis of Terminated NIH Grants with Word Clouds First, using the titles of grants not to Columbia... Gender and DEI predominate

14 pages of terminated NIH grants--everyone should read through the list. The sweep is VERY broad, including "The Impact of the Herpes Zoster Vaccine on Herpes Zoster Ophthalmicus" & "Mitochondrial-based Determinants of Sex Differences in Acute Kidney Injury"🧪 1/n taggs.hhs.gov/Content/Data...

Jeffrey Goldberg thinking he was being pranked and then realizing he was actually just in the war plans group chat is such a good microcosm of how it feels to be alive right now, everything seems fake until you realize it’s actually real and incredibly stupid

Trump and Musk are basically trying to deskill America: 1) kill all white-collar jobs and replace them with AI 2) kill universities 3) use tariffs to turn the U.S. into an economic island manufacturing, oil and ag hub 4) empty the cities 5) push men into manual labor & women back into the kitchen

Another “Continuing Crisis” post, this one covering some larger principles and explaining why I’m doing these in general:

The Continuing Crisis, Part VII: An Overview

science.org