Today, I assume my new role as Editor-in-Chief of #mSphere published by @asm.org. In this editorial , I discuss where the journal is today and where it is going. mSphere’s journey and future: a message from the new editor in chief | mSphere journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...

mSphere’s journey and future: a message from the new editor in chief | mSphere

Readers know that mSphere was launched in 2015 as a pan-microbial, multidisciplinary open-access journal that publishes high-quality, high-impact work across the microbial sciences. However, some may ...

journals.asm.org

This is a catastrophe in the making gizmodo.com/rfk-jr-says-...

RFK Jr. Says AI Will Approve New Drugs at FDA 'Very, Very Quickly'

gizmodo.com

news.ucr.edu/articles/202...

Pair of malaria parasite proteins could lead to therapies

A University of California, Riverside-led team has made an advance in the basic understanding of Plasmodium falciparum, the parasite responsible for the deadliest form of human malaria, that could mak...

news.ucr.edu

"Thirty-eight of 43 experts cut last month from the boards that review the science and research that happens in laboratories at the National Institutes of Health are female, Black or Hispanic, according to an analysis by the chairs of a dozen of the boards."

The Washington Post@washingtonpost.com · last yr.

Thirty-eight of 43 experts cut last month from the boards that review the science and research that happens in laboratories at the National Institutes of Health are female, Black or Hispanic, according to an analysis by the chairs of a dozen of the boards.

This is so sad! www.who.int/news/item/11...

Malaria progress in jeopardy amid foreign aid cuts

The 2025 funding cuts to malaria programmes put millions of additional lives at risk and could reverse decades of progress earned

who.int

NEW: Thousands of CDC employees who worked on things like preventing HIV and lead poisoning have been told they were subject to a reduction in force. Experts say people will die.

The CDC Has Been Gutted

Thousands of CDC employees who worked on things like preventing HIV and lead poisoning have been told they were subject to a reduction in force. Experts say people will die.

wired.com

For the first time, researchers have used the #CRISPR gene editor to repair a flawed gene in the human body. scim.ag/3RdMzMT

Gene editing fixes DNA—and treats incurable lung and liver disease

A promising clinical trial marks another milestone for the CRISPR gene editor

scim.ag

For the US to side with Russia and North Korea to oppose a UN resolution condemning the illegal invasion of Ukraine defies all common sense and adds insult to the countless injuries suffered by the brave Ukrainian people. edition.cnn.com/2025/02/24/p...

US joins Russia to vote against UN resolution condemning Russia’s war against Ukraine | CNN Politics

The United States joined Russia to vote against a UN General Assembly resolution condemning Russia’s war against Ukraine Monday in a stunning shift from years of US policy.

edition.cnn.com

Good summary on microplastics and our health risks nymag.com/intelligence...

Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Microplastics

They’re in our blood and our brains. They’re in newborns and the elderly, urban and rural, rich and poor. What are they doing to our bodies?

nymag.com

Just got this passed on to us, about the damage at NIH's home campus -- the largest biomedical research institute in the world. "The articles on cuts and damage assessments are largely grants focused. The grants program is a bit easier to characterize because it’s visible outside the NIH..." 🧪 1/

PASS IT ON “The 24 hour Economic Blackout" - Posted by Jon Stewart WHEN: Friday February 28th from 12:00 A.M. to 11:59 P.M. Do not make any purchases Do not shop online, or in-store: No Amazon, No Walmart, No Best Buy…Nowhere! Do not spend money on Food & Gas; Do not use cards

Mosquito Cell Atlas: A single-nucleus transcriptomic atlas of the adult Aedes aegypti mosquito https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.02.25.639765v1

OpEd by @scripps.edu Pres. Pete Shultz: "the consequences would extend beyond Scripps Research, threatening the broader San Diego life sciences ecosystem, which contributes over $27 billion to the regional economy and supports tens of thousands of jobs." www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2025/02/25/o...

Opinion: Science funding cuts are based on flawed logic. Here’s the truth.

Earlier this month, the National Institutes of Health issued supplemental guidance indicating it would immediately impose a 15% cap on indirect costs for research grants, an unprecedented and abrup…

sandiegouniontribune.com

Our research community has been under attack. We know how important the research we do is – without it, jobs will be lost, clinical trials will be canceled, and life-saving discoveries will never be made.  Please spread the word and sign the letter docs.google.com/forms/d/1Agz...

Protect NIH Research: Advocate for Full Funding

As researchers representing universities across the country, the last few weeks have been filled with uncertainty. As you are aware, the Trump administration’s National Institutes of Health (NIH) prop...

docs.google.com

Thanks to all of the NIHers and their friends who reached out to me. I am still here (DM me or Signal jeremymberg.78) I still have a very incomplete picture but based on what I have been told, the damage to NIH and to many wonderful people who work(ed) there is/was impossible for me to imagine 1/n

Europe can’t rely on the strength of the transatlantic relationship to help contain Russia’s threat – it must lead from the front and be the true force of support that Ukraine needs. Not just for Ukraine’s sake, but for a free and sovereign Europe.

On Ukraine, Europe must step into the void | Virgin

virgin.com

Congrats to all elected as Fellows of the American Academy of Microbiology asm.org/Press-Releas...

Today, along with 2,000 other NIH employees, I had to clear out my office 😭 It was truly the honor of my life to work with such incredibly passionate people focused on improving human health. I’ve never experienced a more positive culture where *everyone* cared about their job and serving others.

Doing the unthinkable: The deep cuts to the #CDC's workforce today are expected to decimate the Epidemic Intelligence Service, a program that has trained public health rapid responders for decades. Envy of the world. Poof! www.statnews.com/2025/02/14/t...

CDC cuts expected to devastate Epidemic Intelligence Service, a ‘crown jewel’ of public health

Members of the CDC's Epidemic Intelligence Service were warned Friday that many of them were about to be fired

statnews.com

Academic Skyers: I am compiling a list of policies and statements from various universities about how they are handling the "pause" in terms of stopping expenditures (or not). Please respond to this post with your institution and materials. THANK YOU!

This is what amounts to an ILLEGAL & indiscriminate funding cut for research centers everywhere. It will mean shuttering labs across the country, layoffs in red & blue states, and derailing lifesaving research on everything from cancer to opioid addiction. We all need to speak out to save lives.

“Two-thirds of the staff of the President’s Malaria Initiative…the largest donor to anti-malaria programs…worldwide, have been fired…incl some of the most senior and respected scientists working on malaria control in the world.”

15%. In 2018, 10% was tried, but it was blocked by Congress. www.nytimes.com/2017/09/11/u... www.science.org/content/arti...

NIH plan to reduce overhead payments draws fire

White House wants to reduce indirect payments from 28% to 10%

science.org

The National Institutes of Health plans to severely cut the percentage of its grant money that can be used for overhead costs rather than research.

NIH slashes overhead payments for research, sparking outrage

Move to cut indirect cost rate to 15% could cost universities billions of dollars

scim.ag

The dismantling of USAID could disrupt many clinical trials and wipe away U.S. “soft power” in developing countries, scientists warn.

'It’s tectonic:’ U.S. foreign aid freeze deals a blow to research around the globe

Dismantling of USAID could disrupt many clinical trials and wipe away U.S. “soft power” in developing countries, scientists warn

scim.ag

A round of applause 👏 for the Keystone Symposia award recipients at our joint conference on RNA Mediated Regulation of Immunity / Non-Coding RNA Biology! Thanks to National Human Genome Research Institute,@bwfund.bsky.social, & the @niaidnews.bsky.social. #KeystoneSymposia #keystoneconferences

The chaos triggered by President Donald Trump’s executive orders banning federal funding for diversity and other topics continues to shake the National Institutes of Health and other health agencies. scim.ag/3EjJGag

NIH is purging Trump-targeted programs—but is sparing existing grants, so far

Chaos extends to CDC, which is shuttering websites in “data apocalypse”

scim.ag

🧵 🎉 Congratulations #Niger for eliminating Onchocerciasis, commonly known as river blindness, the first country in the African Region to do so bit.ly/40Ur7lV 1/4

I’m sad to learn that my law school classmate, Kiah Duggins, died in the DC plane crash last night. Kiah was an exceptionally talented civil rights lawyer and aspiring legal scholar. I hope you’ll read about her work and the causes she cared about, some of which I’ll 🧵 below. What an immense loss

#Communiqué 🗞️ La Guinée célèbre aujourd’hui l’élimination de la maladie du sommeil (aussi appelée trypanosomiase humaine africaine – #THA) comme problème de #santé publique. #WorldNTDDay ℹ️ www.ird.fr/loms-valide-... @dndi.org @who.int @pasteur.fr