iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Gigi Gronvall @ggronvall.bsky.social · 14/10/2026

Mink farms are problematic full stop. They are prob more likely vectors than dairy and need oversight.

Gigi Gronvall @ggronvall.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

My latest op-ed in The Moscow Times: Labs that study plague deserve scrutiny, but their existence alone is not cause for suspicion. We should expect transparency, safety, and protection for the people doing the work. Also-- the US could-- and should-- lead on biosafety.

041 0

Gigi Gronvall @ggronvall.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

With this reporting showing that antivax views shelved plans for H5N1 preparedness, it is worth recirculating our article that a "let it rip" strategy in chickens would be a very, very, very bad idea. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

science.org

The consequences of letting avian influenza run rampant in US poultry

The approach proposed by a high-ranking US government official would be dangerous and unethical

1134 0

Reposted by Gigi Gronvall

New York Times Opinion @nytopinion.nytimes.com · 08/10/2026

The available evidence around the death of an anti-plague laboratory worker in Siberia “does not point to a global plague emergency,” Gigi Kwik Gronvall writes. “But this tragic death should prompt Americans to question whether we have the capacity to recognize and contain the next disease threat.”

nyti.ms

Opinion | Here’s What Worries Me About the Russian Plague Scare

America is not prepared for a major disease outbreak.

1126 0

Gigi Gronvall @ggronvall.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

I know the picture gets me every time.

160 0

Gigi Gronvall @ggronvall.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

I’ve read it. It’s abiological. It’s anti science. It’s not how anything works. And, it is lab leak fanfic. In the book the Russians try to claim the plague started naturally at a wet market in Siberia (picture attached) but we all know it came from a lab. 🙄

3216 0

Gigi Gronvall @ggronvall.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

In his Vax/unVax book he says it is NBD because women can get screening, and if there are any abnormal cells they can just be scraped off in an outpatient procedure. Like everyone gets screening. Like the cancers that affect men get screened. Like a LEEP is nbd and doesn’t affect fertility…

1142 0

Gigi Gronvall @ggronvall.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Just remember— there are a lot of people who are trying to limit whatever damage occurred and to save lives, and we should be trying to offer expertise to help. It’s definitely and absolutely not game over.

021 0

Gigi Gronvall @ggronvall.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

I enjoyed joining Sam and Philipp for Science Counterpunch! We talked biosafety, biosecurity, and why real scientific progress is essential to preparedness. Protecting people requires investing in the science and capabilities that make us all safer. Thank you for having me on!

22111 0

Gigi Gronvall @ggronvall.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

For the record, I prefer games where it is a decisive win. Throughout. No suspense. 🫠

020 0

Gigi Gronvall @ggronvall.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

There is certainly a lot to be angry about. 🫠

010 0

Gigi Gronvall @ggronvall.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

It’s pretty stunning how stunted they are. Especially thiel.

130 0

Gigi Gronvall @ggronvall.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Like, "they may try to blame the market, but it was the lab all along."

pictures of mistreated animals at the market in Wuhan, China

120 0

Gigi Gronvall @ggronvall.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Finally reading Annie Jacobsen's biological war book. Besides the biological impossibilities, has anyone noted that it is lableak fanfic yet?

From the book, an AI-generated picture of a "wet" (frozen?) market in Novasibirsk. I prompted an LLM to see if there ARE any wet markets in Novasibirsk. Like, no, there aren't.

240 0

Reposted by Gigi Gronvall

Joshua Weitz @joshuasweitz.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

The White House budget proposal for FY27 slash NSF funding by more than 50% and would drastically reduce support for PhDs, postdocs & investigator-initiated research. Selling something is not the same as doing something. Science is hard. This 'new golden age' won't make it easier.

US NSF announces

"Science: A New Golden Age Summit"

Washington
Discover the frontier

39153 0

Gigi Gronvall @ggronvall.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

More: “We did not consider a situation like this today,” Kadlec told a House committee on March 12. “We thought about vaccines. We thought about therapeutics. We never thought about respirators being our first and only line of defense for health-care workers.” www.washingtonpost.com/investigatio...

washingtonpost.com

Before pandemic, Trump’s stockpile chief put focus on biodefense. An old client benefited.

Robert Kadlec’s office at HHS made a deal to buy up to $2.8 billion of smallpox vaccine from a company that once paid him as a consultant, a connection he did not disclose on a Senate questionnaire wh...

2145 0

Gigi Gronvall @ggronvall.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

I’ve been wondering about the delayed effects of leaded gasoline in their youth but this seems like a reasonable hypothesis as well.

170 0

Reposted by Gigi Gronvall

Max Kozlov @maxkozlov.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

🚨 The NIH is moving to transfer hundreds of millions of dollars in infectious-disease research projects to the DOD under a secret 10-year pact. Here’s what’s happening inside “Operation Prevailing Edge” 🧵👇 www.nature.com/articles/d41...

nature.com

Revealed: inside the US military's plan to tap huge sums from the NIH

An agreement paves the way for hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of projects to be transferred from the NIH’s institute for infectious diseases to the Department of Defense.

26444377 0

Reposted by Gigi Gronvall

Richard Sever @richardsever.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

"When you find yourself writing such a statement about a topic you’re not an expert in, there are only two possibilities: 1. You are not talking to the right people. 2. You are talking to the right people but you’re not listening" blog.genesmindsmachines.com/p/im-sorry-y...

blog.genesmindsmachines.com

I'm sorry, you're not going to die from an AI-engineered supervirus

God save us from economists who think they can competently talk about biology

14518 0

Gigi Gronvall @ggronvall.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

but instead Douthat described his pseudoscience journey taking 13 different antibiotics he acquired from pet stores and intl pharmacies, and his purchase of a $1000 Rife machine (100 yr old idea that bacteria can be burst by sound waves lol). It was pretty irresponsible

020 0

Gigi Gronvall @ggronvall.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

I listened to this yesterday and it was great. But maybe a part 2 is in order to get into his weird book/columns about chronic Lyme? The guy could have used his platform to advocate for more research into chronic diseases and highlight how patients are often mistreated

110 0

Gigi Gronvall @ggronvall.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

It will be a case study at some think tank in China. 🫠

010 0

Gigi Gronvall @ggronvall.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

The insufficient systems we had to prevent and respond to outbreaks, to understand what nature may throw at us, to combat the illegal wildlife trade, and work w other nations are actively being dismantled. It’s easier to watch if you believe it’s deserved. Also, so much $$$ on fantasy over reality

140 0

Gigi Gronvall @ggronvall.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

There are many problems w lab leak beliefs. Many. But as an article of faith Jha and others can just talk about how many pieces of evidence they need, like they could talk about how many angels can dance on the head of a pin. It doesn’t have anything to do with objective reality.

142 0

Gigi Gronvall @ggronvall.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

I’m not sure how the field can just deny the value of that evidence if it hopes to actually and accurately detect the origin of whatever comes next.

2282 0

Gigi Gronvall @ggronvall.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

Problems w Jha’s arguments— eg the US would never open our labs to China so it is ridiculous to claim that it is suspicious that China would not open theirs. But the biggest problem is that lab leak is an article of faith. And biosecurity as an endeavor requires people who value… evidence.

4332 0

Gigi Gronvall @ggronvall.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

It’s a sad spot to be in—you can’t brag that our tools pinpointed a spillover on the other side of the world in a shorter time than any other serious disease in history, down to a couple of animal stalls. No, you have to deny the value of scientific evidence, as Ashish Jha does here. There are

1270 0

Gigi Gronvall @ggronvall.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

If someday it is def confirmed to be a lab origin, there needs to be an explanation for how this evidence that so strongly implicates the market can fit another origin story. To deny this evidence is to deny advances in attribution, and the tools that will be needed next time for another disease.

1230 0

Gigi Gronvall @ggronvall.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

And the tools really delivered. News that the virus was not likely engineered came first. Everything else took longer. But over time, an overwhelming scientific case was developed that pointed squarely at the market, and zoonotic spillover. Even if someday— it’s so unlikely but who knows—

1181 0

Gigi Gronvall @ggronvall.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

Finally listened to this very polite and informative discussion about the origin of COVID-19, and I am struck how deeply in trouble biosecurity is, as a field. For years, there has been a concerted effort to boost US attribution technologies, IARPA projects, contests, etc. because it was important

24513 0

Reposted by Gigi Gronvall

Bénédicte C @benecal.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

For the 99th time, someone please find out who is bankrolling the WSITY operation because it would be clarifying. -- The Dems -- The Republicans -- The Wellness Industry -- some "disruptor" with $$$ Look, a lot is at stake, and trust is built on truthful exchange. Being this opaque is BS.

1123 0

Gigi Gronvall @ggronvall.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

Can I interest you in a discussion about vaccines and autism

41310 0

Gigi Gronvall @ggronvall.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

I’d love to know more about what they are hoping to actually do, if anything.

100 0

Gigi Gronvall @ggronvall.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

… when the virus was found in the drains and also in the hair/feather removal machine?

110 0

Reposted by Gigi Gronvall

Michael Hobbes @michaelhobbes.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

Alina Chan is a discredited crank and it is embarrassing for the Times to publish this

How to Stop a Lab Leak From Starting the Next Pandemic
More than six years after the emergence of Covid-19, no one is keeping track of the risky virus experiments that are capable of starting a pandemic.

By Alina Chan

23956123 0

Gigi Gronvall @ggronvall.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

This is the most important thing Alina Chan has said or written.

918036 0

Gigi Gronvall @ggronvall.bsky.social · 16/08/2026

He didn’t always have twitter but I don’t think his personality has changed much in the 25 ish years I have known him.

180 0

Gigi Gronvall @ggronvall.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

It’s not like Bob Kadlec’s explanation has any coherence at all. I just don’t get it. I guess we know where people would have stood when the topic du jour was HIV/AIDS origins. 🙄🫠

010 0

Gigi Gronvall @ggronvall.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

I’m just disgusted that his argument is a more polite but nonetheless exact clone of Ebright’s. Why not say why and how you disagree w the published literature? And, publish that if it holds water?

220 0

Gigi Gronvall @ggronvall.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

Relman: we need to be able to trust science! Also Relman: here is my unsubstantiated opinion that does not engage with peer-reviewed science!

54511 0

Gigi Gronvall @ggronvall.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

3 US presidents lost children to diphtheria.

0100 0

Gigi Gronvall @ggronvall.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

I was unclear sorry. I meant— people like Rand Paul or people I know on Facebook or what have you talk about these things as if they had any idea of what they were talking about. And they do not. :-)

0150 0

Gigi Gronvall @ggronvall.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

Not to mention scientific realities. It seems like people are taking unrealistic scenarios like Annie Jacobsen’s recent book at face value. It’s all nuts.

000 0

Gigi Gronvall @ggronvall.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

lol I have written about dual use research and so called gain of function research since the term was created 15 years ago.

1100 0