Category: Basic Science
Are NIH study sections a waste of time?
Since the nomination of Dr. Jay Bhattacharya for NIH Director, I've been seeing a suggestion from certain contrarian doctors for a "randomized trial" of study sections vs. a "modified lottery" to determine which grant applications are funded by the NIH. Just what the heck is Dr. Vinay Prasad talking about?
microRNA – 2024 Nobel in Physiology or Medicine
The 2024 Nobel prize in physiology or medicine goes to two researchers, Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun, for their work on microRNA. They began their research in the same lab in the late 1980s as postdoctoral fellow, and then continued to collaborate after they each started their own labs. Their research involves a key question about multicellular life. Every cell in the...
The New York Times promotes “lab leak” conspiracy theories
Last week, the New York Times ran an op-ed by Alina Chan, Queen of lab leak conspiracy theories and then gave it a prominent place in its Sunday Magazine this weekend. How is it wrong? Let me count the ways.
COVID-19 vaccine-caused “turbo cancer” nonsense just keeps getting more turbocharged
No matter how implausible it is or how weak the evidence for it is, the myth that COVID vaccines cause "turbo cancer" just won't die. Quite the contrary, alas. Antivaxxers are—dare I say?—turbocharging it with bad science.
Antivax quacks are continuing to make up fantastical biological mechanisms for COVID-19 vaccine “shedding”
A couple of weeks ago, I discussed why antivax quacks' claimed biological mechanisms for COVID-19 vaccine "shedding" reminded me of homeopaths. Confabulation about fantastical scientific mechanisms continues, courtesy of "A Midwestern Doctor."
“New school” antivax goes old school as Byram Bridle asks if COVID-19 vaccines will drive an “epidemic” of autism
Wakefield redux? Antivax scientist Byram Bridle just took the "new school" antivax movement old school by implying that COVID-19 vaccines might cause an "epidemic of autism." Everything old is new again, sort of.
Why antivax arguments for COVID-19 vaccine “shedding” remind me of homeopathy
An antivaxxer by the 'nym "A Midwestern Doctor" makes an argument that COVID-19 vaccine "shedding" is not impossible despite the basic science that concludes it is. Sound familiar?
Do mRNA vaccines produce harmful “junk proteins” that “gunk up” the cell and cause unintended “off-target” immune responses?
A new study is making the rounds in the antivax crankosphere. The study found that the modified mRNA used in the Pfizer vaccine can cause a frame shift (to be explained) that results in the production of proteins besides the intended spike protein. The findings are, as you probably guessed, a big nothingburger compared to how they are being spun.
Complete Human Embryo Model Made From Stem Cells
Researchers create an embryo model from human embryonic stem cells.
Madonna !?!
Remembering the old days of Madonna, courting, and naloxone use.