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Derek Lowe

@dereklowe.bsky.social
17K followers 767 following 2.7K posts

Medicinal chemist / chemical biologist, author of “In the Pipeline” at science.org/blogs/pipeline. derekb.lowe@gmail.com and on Signal at Dblowe.18 All opinions are mine; I don’t speak for my employer in any way.

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Reposted by Derek Lowe
Michael Gilman @gilman.bsky.social · 14h
Cool story, which emphasizes the science NEVER lies. (Which, sadly, now feels like a political statement.)
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Well-tarred Flask 🇮🇹🇺🇦🇨🇦 @chemprofcramer.bsky.social · 15h
here's a nice, old example of a steric isotope effect showing faster hindered rotation in the heavy isotopologue: actachemscand.ki.ku.dk/pdf/acta_vol...
actachemscand.ki.ku.dk
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Well-tarred Flask 🇮🇹🇺🇦🇨🇦 @chemprofcramer.bsky.social · 16h
super-interesting, but deuterium is not "larger" (per authors). because of the difference in zero-point vibrational energies (QM #ftw) a C-D bond is SHORTER than a C-H bond. so, one might expect MORE flexibility (although I hesitate to guess how that affects mobile/stationary phase interactions).
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Derek Lowe @dereklowe.bsky.social · 16h
The craziest compound-impurity story I’ve ever heard:
science.org
Now That's An Impurity Story
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Richard Sever @richardsever.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Noise/useless science rather than AI slop is a current challenge: "If medical schools and universities don't want the literature to be overwhelmed with garbage, they should stop giving every applicant ... an incentive to publish a lot of crap." www.medpagetoday.com/special-repo...
medpagetoday.com
Is AI Flooding Medical Journals With 'Meaningless' Research?
'It's not fraudulent, and it's not really slop,' one expert says
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Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · 27/09/2026
Four days ago, a scientist was surprised by the news that Anthropic discovered new virus genes for making DNA. He says he’s been studying them for years—and feeding his data to Anthropic’s AI as part of his own research. Coincidence? Here’s my story. nyti.ms/3VSWayc
nyti.ms
Did Anthropic’s A.I. Really Make a Scientific Discovery on Its Own? (Gift Article)
An expert at the University of Copenhagen said his team had been sharing its research with the company’s A.I. model, Claude, and that its new finding matched their work.
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Liz Neeley @lizneeley.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
2. We spent the week dreading a new EO that would have created a new commission set above institute directors, but the plan to give Vought (and others) personal veto over every NIH grant has been walked back …at least in latest incarnation. www.statnews.com/2026/09/23/n...
statnews.com
White House plan to increase control of NIH grants appears 'dead'
A planned EO that would have greatly enhanced White House influence over grants at the NIH is “looking dead,” a source said.
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Laura Helmuth @laurahelmuth.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Not everybody knows this, and everybody should. On Sept. 26, 1983, a Soviet nuclear warning system alerted Stanislav Yevgrafovich Petrov that the U.S. had launched a missile attack. He did not retaliate, preventing WWIII. This is a post about AI. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanisl...
en.wikipedia.org
Stanislav Petrov - Wikipedia
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Derek Lowe @dereklowe.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Another dahlia bloom, this one from an unknown variety (purchased as a mystery tuber, which is always a category at any dahlia sale)
A large light orange dahlia flower with red streaks in its petals. The petals are rolled in a “semi-cactus” form.
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Derek Lowe @dereklowe.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
I note that the picture of the "European Academy of Engineering" that comes up in Google Maps is an altered version a 2022 picture of a main building of the University of Gothenburg in Sweden. The facade has been digitally reworked to make it look like the engineering academy!
A side by side comparison of an altered version (top) of a Gothenburg University building versus the actual 2022 photo (bottom), which was a show of solidarity with Ukraine
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Richard Sever @richardsever.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
AI discovery of new enzymes "not a breakthrough...a wrinkle on what we know" www.nytimes.com/2026/09/24/s...
nytimes.com
Anthropic’s A.I. Is Teaching Itself Biology. Now It’s Made Its First Discovery.
Scientists at the company announced their first finding: a group of enzymes whose function is unknown.
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Tobias Wilson-Bates @phdhurtbrain.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
There was a bloom of stories maybe ten years ago about older professors creating problems for the job market by not retiring, and just checking in now to point out that they’ve since retired and almost none of their jobs continue to exist.
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Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Incredible. First Secretary Mullin claimed that DHS had identified 15,903 noncitizens on Nevada’s voter roll. Then DHS officials told a skeptical Nevada, no no no, that’s just people we flagged. Here are the names of 185 people we KNOW aren’t citizens. All 185 were citizens. DHS got 100% wrong.
When the Department of Homeland Security sent Nevada a list of 185 names last month that it claimed identified noncitizens who had been improperly allowed to register to vote, state election officials got to work.
On Tuesday, the state sent a strongly worded rebuke to the federal government: Every single person on the list was a lawful citizen.
"As for the 185 individuals, our records indicate that they were citizens," Greg D. Ott, a deputy attorney general in Nevada, wrote, according to a copy of a letter sent to Department of Homeland Security officials obtained through open records requests.
"You have provided nothing of substance to suggest otherwise."Following the meeting, Ms. Vogt sent a clarifying email to Nevada officials. "I also wanted to be sure I clarified that we did not reduce the 15,903 to 185," she wrote. "We've manually reviewed some of the 15,903 and confirmed 185 are not U.S. Citizens."
Now, Nevada officials are saying even that 185 number is wrong. They also took issue with a letter D.H.S. sent them in early September, in which the agency reiterated its initial claims about nearly 16,000 noncitizens on the rolls and pressured state officials to review each case in a letter to Nevada officials in early September.
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John Scalzi @scalzi.com · 24/09/2026
ONE OF US ONE OF US ONE OF US Congrats on your space potato @alyankovic.bsky.social!
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Chemjobber @chemjobber.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
As a fellow (Anglo first name) (Asian last name), I'm kicking this dude out of the club. Multiplication tables??!? I was disappointed when my (then)-second grader didn't have them fully nailed down
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Derek Lowe @dereklowe.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Thoughts on Anthropic’s worries about people accessing Claude for possible bioweapons design:
science.org
AI Help for Biological or Chemical Weapons
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Chemistry World @chemistryworld.com · 24/09/2026
As we all wonder what the next Nobel chemistry win will be, the Chemistry World team want to know... Who was most overlooked for a Nobel prize in chemistry? Tell us in the comments below & don’t forget we’ll be hosting a panel to unpack this year’s prize: www.chemistryworld.com/webinars/nob...
chemistryworld.com
Nobel prize in chemistry 2026: Reaction
Join us for an exclusive look at the science behind the Nobel prize in chemistry 2026
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Derek Lowe @dereklowe.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Thread - it's awful that it's come to this point, but this is the way it has to be done these days.
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Andrew S. Rosen @andrewrosen.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
The number of LLM-written computational MOF papers on @chemrxiv.org is making me quite frustrated. There is a new one every few days, and it's a mess...
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Derek Lowe @dereklowe.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Six weeks to go. Let’s make these numbers even more catastrophic for Trump and the Republicans than they are already. No letup!
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Derek Lowe @dereklowe.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Keeps finding new ways of making me ashamed of my country and of the people who thought he was fit for office.
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Derek Lowe @dereklowe.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Well, it took me about 45 years in the lab to get around to it, but I finally ran one of those selenium dioxide oxidations that I learned about in sophomore organic chemistry. Now to see if it worked!
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Scott Bagley @bagphos.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Finally! @acs.org put the TOC graphics back up on the ASAP pages! #ChemSky
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Mark Histed @markhisted.org · 22/09/2026
The idea of AI curing all diseases is, IMO, silly. Biomedical research is mostly limited by data, not ideas. Imagine saying AI will build a world-champion basketball team by replacing basketball coaches with hyperintelligent AI. You see the problem. Someone still needs to dribble and make shots.
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Andre the Chemist @andrechemist.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
It's a shame no chemist ever came up with the idea to say "I'm working on something that might kill all of humanity, so please give me several billion dollars so I can stop myself" That feels like something that should've been right up our alley
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Derek Lowe @dereklowe.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
The Trump administration tries - yet again - to get federal research research funding under its ideological control. Let’s defeat it like we did the last one!
science.org
Yet Another Attempt to Strangle Scientific Funding
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Chemjobber @chemjobber.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
RUSSELL VOUGHT'S ILLEGAL ACTIONS MUST BE STOPPED
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Dan Diamond @ddiamond.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
New: Officials battled over NIH in the Oval Office today, per people familiar. RUSS VOUGHT criticized NIH "woke" spending and floated executive order to review its grants. JAY BHATTACHARYA defended NIH's alignment with Trump. TRUMP appeared to side with Vought. with @rbeggin.bsky.social
washingtonpost.com
Vought pushes for scrutiny of NIH grants in Oval Office clash
A heated debate took place in the Oval Office on Friday, with some Trump officials accusing the National Institutes of Health of funding grants that conflict with the president’s agenda.
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Derek Lowe @dereklowe.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
A new intracellular system that binds to and recognizes glutathione adducts is uncovered during a screen for glutathione degraders. What’s its function and what other proteins participate?
science.org
Not The Glue They Thought It Was
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MIT Technology Review @technologyreview.com · 18/09/2026
One of the ways AI experts fear AI might end us all is by somehow aiding the design, creation, and release of some kind of bioweapon. Let’s take a closer look at why.
trib.al
The specter of AI-enabled bioweapons is a wake-up call for biotech
It’s easier than ever to design killer pathogens.
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jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 18/09/2026
RFK Jr. wants people to get sick. He wants them to get sick and he thinks it is a good thing if they die, since those who live will have "natural immunity" and emerge stronger and fitter.
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Kathleen Bachynski @bachynski.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
“On Thursday, Mr. Gorton said that “the success of the polio vaccine was a massive medical fraud” and that widespread vaccination was a “public health disaster.” He received a standing ovation… Mr. Kennedy spoke next, linking arms with the group even as measles cases continue to rise”
nytimes.com
RFK Jr. Assures Vaccine Skeptics They Have a ‘Friend at the White House’
The health secretary spoke at a conference featuring misinformation about vaccines, including a claim that the success of the polio vaccines was a “fraud.”
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Derek Lowe @dereklowe.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
How far can AI get you in designing and optimizing new antibodies? Not as far as you might have thought:
science.org
The State of AI Antibody Design
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public health guy @publichealthguy1.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
good piece from @jakescottmd.bsky.social about it
cidrap.umn.edu
CIDRAP Op-Ed: ‘Died with, not from’ was a real COVID problem. It’s the wrong framework for measles.
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SirFox @sirfox.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Every upper level CDC employee helping RFK Jr do his thing should be charged with manslaughter or accomplice to same by the next administration.
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Elizabeth Jacobs, PhD @elizabethjacobs.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
I don’t know how many people will understand the courage it took to do this, and I think that should be acknowledged. Well done, Dr. Green, and good luck. You’re fighting for everyone in science.
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Derek Lowe @dereklowe.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Thread. The close personal details of how this government is pulling the plug on a generation of scientific progress.
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Reuters @reuters.com · 17/09/2026
EXCLUSIVE: Pennsylvania asks for CDC help on measles outbreak, demands agency recognize measles deaths reut.rs/4hamsmx
reut.rs
EXCLUSIVE: Pennsylvania asks for CDC help on measles outbreak, demands agency recognize measles deaths
The Pennsylvania health department said it was requesting emergency support from the US CDC as it grapples with one of the country's largest and most deadly measles outbreaks, according to a document reviewed by ​Reuters on Thursday.
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Derek Lowe @dereklowe.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Oh bring it on. Get Trump out there now ranting about arches and ballrooms and how he doesn’t care how expensive gas is and how ground beef is actually under $2/lb and how big his name should be on all the buildings. More. More. 45 days to go.
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Prof Gavin Yamey MD MPH @gavinyamey.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Two of the world’s most extreme & dangerous anti-vaxx activists & grifters—Andrew Wakefield and RFK Jr—headlining a conference held by the extraordinarily damaging anti-vaxx group Children’s Health Defense in the midst of the worst measles outbreak in 35 yrs tells you all you need to know about MAHA
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Ellen Kuwana, MS (#SciComm at #SciWri26) @ellenkuwana.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Love the "pffffftttttt" reply to this poll at #ACESVcon26 about #AI. #AmEditing
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Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · 16/09/2026
The lawsuit challenges the NIH's current policy of using keywords to flag grant applications associated with climate change, DEI, gender, misinformation research, and vaccine hesitancy, keywords that have been used to terminate my own funding as well. Below: just a few of the banned words.
Excerpt from NIH's banned words list. More banned words
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Richard Sever @richardsever.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
"eLife has been without an impact factor for just over a year...and [has] an overall 21% decrease in revenue" newsletter.journalology.com/p/journalolo... Perhaps the only more stark illustration of academia's addiction to Impact Factor is this:
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Chemjobber @chemjobber.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
From 2022 to spring 2025, American PhD-granting universities posted an average of 289 openings in departments of chemistry and biochemistry. Starting in the fall of 2025, that number fell to 185 openings.
a graph of the normal growth rate of the Chemistry Faculty Jobs List, showing two deviations, the year during COVID (fall 2020-spring 2021) and the first year of the second Trump Administration (fall 25-spring 26)
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Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · 16/09/2026
Today, with backing from the ACLU, Kelton and twelve other named researchers filed a class action suit against the NIH under director Jay Bhattacharya for censoring their research and violating their First Amendment rights.
aclu.org
Researchers Challenge NIH Screening of Grants for Disfavored Viewpoints | American Civil Liberties Union
Class action lawsuit seeks to stop censorship and termination of federally funded scientific research
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Laura Jedeed @laurajedeed.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Neural networks are trained on human knowledge: the books we wrote, the art we created, trillions of words on the Internet. They can rearrange that knowledge into interesting shapes, but cannot develop new knowledge or make leaps of logic There is no path to superintelligence here
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Derek Lowe @dereklowe.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
I take it back! Female hummingbird spotted today.
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public health guy @publichealthguy1.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
this makes prescription drugs MORE expensive by exempting them from government price negotiations. unprecedented corruption at a massive scale
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Jeffrey Mervis @policyhound.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
A deep dive into the memo that marks the end of how NSF has done business for 76 years www.science.org/content/arti...
science.org
NSF memo implementing Trump’s ‘golden age’ of science unsettles researchers
New document emphasizes support for White House priorities over curiosity-driven ideas
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Patrick Lutz @patricklutz.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
No graphical abstracts or author names – so as far as I'm concerned, it's still broken.
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