iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Julia Brown, PhD @juliaehbrown.bsky.social · 24/04/2026

'The goal, he says, is to create thousands of sperm from a standard tissue biopsy. The company has had a high success rate in generating sperm from dozens of tissue samples.' www.wired.com/story/startu...

wired.com

A Startup Says It Grew Human Sperm in a Lab—and Used It to Make Embryos

Paterna Biosciences says it has determined the set of instructions needed to turn sperm-making stem cells into "normal, mature" sperm.

000

Julia Brown, PhD @juliaehbrown.bsky.social · 24/04/2026

Cathy Tie described a future of germline and somatic "correction" options as "like Tylenol and Advil"; "it's about choice", where germline is more effective and cheaper, using otherwise discarded embryos. Sees IVG as just "hypothetical" competition... Thanks for hosting @hastingscenter.bsky.social 👏

000

Julia Brown, PhD @juliaehbrown.bsky.social · 20/04/2026

'No. 1 Fertility's Dr. Lynn Burmeister on why women should freeze their eggs: "we're actually becoming extinct. I say that I'm helping the future of Australia." 🤔https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SF_21aMkTGg

youtube.com

Dismal dating climate pushing more and more women to freeze their eggs | 60 Minutes Australia

YouTube video by 60 Minutes Australia

000

Julia Brown, PhD @juliaehbrown.bsky.social · 23/02/2026

Thank you for writing this, Andrew Solomon 🙌 www.nytimes.com/2026/02/23/o...

Opinion | My Hope for Nick Reiner

031

Julia Brown, PhD @juliaehbrown.bsky.social · 11/02/2026

Trained in science, a leader in moral public engagement: "informed media types hobnobbing on a fossil fuel company’s dime makes people think well they must think this isn’t so bad so maybe it isn’t". Jon @kudelka.bsky.social was a treasured member of my family. theconversation.com/as-beautiful...

theconversation.com

As beautiful as they were powerful: Jon Kudelka’s political cartoons were made with true conviction

The award-winning cartoonist Jon Kudelka died in Hobart on Sunday, aged 53. Over 30 years, his work resisted the polarisation of the contemporary Australian media.

021

Reposted by Julia Brown, PhD

The Hastings Center for Bioethics @hastingscenter.bsky.social · 16/01/2026

🆕 New Hastings Bioethics Forum essay by @daphmarts.bsky.social & @juliaehbrown.bsky.social : As #fertility fears rise, #pronatalism pushes for more children—and increasingly, “better” ones...Genetic tools like polygenic embryo selection, raise serious ethical concerns. 👉 bit.ly/3YF5UdM

153

Reposted by Julia Brown, PhD

Susan Gilbert @susangilb.bsky.social · 15/01/2026

The reproductive technologies that are being promoted by the tech-elite #pronatalists are new. The push to have as many babies as possible—and the best babies—is not. @daphmarts.bsky.social and @juliaehbrown.bsky.social explain in Hastings Bioethics Forum. www.thehastingscenter.org/more-and-bet...

thehastingscenter.org

More and “Better” Babies: The Dark Side of the Pronatalist Movement : The Hastings Center for Bioethics

There is growing concern that falling fertility rates will lead to economic and demographic catastrophe. The social and political movement known as

042

Reposted by Julia Brown, PhD

Eric Topol @erictopol.bsky.social · 30/09/2025

A person's genetics has a role in susceptibility to many diseases (Figure), but has little correlation with how the disease may progress or lead to a fatal outcome. nature.com/articles/s4158

113628

Reposted by Julia Brown, PhD

Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics @bermaninstitute.bsky.social · 22/09/2025

What to Know About Painkillers, Vaccines, Genes and Autism: For decades, researchers have looked for links. Most believe the disorder springs from a complex interplay of genetics and environmental factors. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/22/h...

What to Know About Painkillers, Vaccines, Genes and Autism

002

Reposted by Julia Brown, PhD

geneticsandsociety.bsky.social @geneticsandsociety.bsky.social · 22/09/2025

In a proposed update to its guidelines, the UK’s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence retains its recommendation of three NHS-funded IVF cycles for those eligible under 40 and critiques unproven IVF add-ons. The draft is open for consultation until October 21.

progress.org.uk

NICE publishes draft update to Fertility Guideline | PET

Updated NICE draft guidance recommends three NHS-funded IVF cycles for eligible under 40s and recommends against IVF add-ons.

001

Julia Brown, PhD @juliaehbrown.bsky.social · 11/09/2025

Excellent piece by @alanlevinovitz.bsky.social @awaisaftab.bsky.social on the therapeutic effect of diagnosis + the need for qual research. Reading Parson’s “sick role” theory in undergrad sociology was the moment I realized how much is missed by psych models. www.cambridge.org/core/service...

cambridge.org

0112

Julia Brown, PhD @juliaehbrown.bsky.social · 05/09/2025

“Metrics can be measured only by taking into account the starting point and ending point, as well as relevant features of the journey — the whole story.” www.nytimes.com/2025/09/05/o...

Opinion | What I Got Wrong About D.E.I.

Maggie Harrison Dupré @mharrisondupre.bsky.social · 28/06/2025

Reposted by Julia Brown, PhD

NEW: People are being involuntarily committed to psychiatric care facilities — and even ending up arrested or jailed — after becoming fixated on ChatGPT and other chatbots and spiraling into psychosis. futurism.com/commitment-j...

Futurism

MIND GAMES
/ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

People Are Being Involuntarily Committed, Jailed After Spiraling Into "ChatGPT Psychosis"

“I don't know what's wrong with me, but something is very bad — I'm very scared, and I need to go to the hospital.”
JUN 28, 9:00 AM EDT

by

MAGGIE HARRISON DUPRÉ

1002340890

Julia Brown, PhD @juliaehbrown.bsky.social · 24/07/2025

“I feel like the balance that is being discussed right now, is actually very much out of kilter with what are acceptable risks for me as a parent, acceptable risks to me as physician and what I think should be acceptable risks to FDA and Sarepta” www.statnews.com/2025/07/24/d...

statnews.com

For many Duchenne families, halt to gene therapy is heartbreak upon heartbreak

As gene therapy maker Sarepta Therapeutics tangles with FDA over its Duchenne treatment, patients and their families are caught in the middle.

010

Reposted by Julia Brown, PhD

Eric Topol @erictopol.bsky.social · 17/07/2025

Not a good idea, uninformed Front page @washingtonpost.com today www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...

1812326

Julia Brown, PhD @juliaehbrown.bsky.social · 01/06/2025

Another tragic case of the risks of coming off clozapine altogether (and why psych meds are complicated). In Australia, clozapine takers also need blood monitoring each month, a crucial community-oriented check in that I believe helps as much as the medication itself.

Julia Brown, PhD @juliaehbrown.bsky.social · 31/05/2025

“I had been the pregnant woman fetishizing the normal test result. Now that I was the mother of a child with a rare condition, I found an enemy in my past self”. Just finished Second Life by @amandahess.bsky.social. It is brilliant.

151

Julia Brown, PhD @juliaehbrown.bsky.social · 31/05/2025

It’s also true that therapy teaches how those that upset us reflect unresolved parts of ourselves. It allows for more intentional parenting, ideally with more compassion for grandparents, & the littlest versions of ourselves. Too many boomers & their kids missed out. www.nytimes.com/2025/05/30/o...

Opinion | There’s a Link Between Therapy Culture and Childlessness

Julia Brown, PhD @juliaehbrown.bsky.social · 29/05/2025

"when deciding complex policy questions ... resisting empathy impairs our decision-making. It keeps us from understanding what’s at stake ... it is vital to ask ourselves what policies we would favor if we were ... fully informed of the plight of others." theconversation.com/empathy-can-...

theconversation.com

Empathy can take a toll – but 2 philosophers explain why we should see it as a strength

Empathy affords us a more accurate understanding of others’ experiences and emotions. Just like pain, it can be hard to bear – but that’s also the source of its strength.

Alondra Nelson @alondra.bsky.social · 28/05/2025

Reposted by Julia Brown, PhD

🧵 Speaking at the Global Observatory for Genome Editing summit at the American Academy of Arts & Sciences in Cambridge this week, I highlighted a critical challenge: the deliberate fracturing of our knowledge ecosystems along ideological lines. www.statnews.com/2025/05/27/g...

statnews.com

At a major genome-editing summit, spotlight turns to the value of human life

Earlier gatherings focused on gaining public acceptance for what scientists want to do with CRISPR. This meeting flipped that on its head.

35818

Julia Brown, PhD @juliaehbrown.bsky.social · 28/05/2025

Great discussion highlighting limitations to genetic determinism. More discussion still needed on parental pressures and variations of "autism", including insights from people with lived experience www.npr.org/2025/05/28/1...

npr.org

Can doctors test embryos for autism? And should they? : It's Been a Minute

A newly available kind of genetic testing, called polygenic embryo screening, promises to screen for conditions that can include cancer, obesity, autism, bipolar disorder, even celiac disease. These c...

Julia Brown, PhD @juliaehbrown.bsky.social · 07/05/2025

A great piece about why social acceptance and feelings of competence is everything for those struggling with psychosis. (Many anthropological studies show as much). www.nytimes.com/2025/05/07/n...

He Hears Voices in His Head. He Also Helped Win an Election.

Julia Brown, PhD @juliaehbrown.bsky.social · 06/05/2025

Great commentary by Dr. Ravitksy. "I would like young women to really have options," for society (and markets) to make it possible to start a family when pregnancy in less risky, where workplaces are more accommodating of mothers who work, where women don't have to gamble under economic coercion...

Awais Aftab @awaisaftab.bsky.social · 03/05/2025

Reposted by Julia Brown, PhD

My opinion piece in today’s @nytimes.com . I discuss how clinical neglect of medication-related harms has made RFK Jr’s stance on antidepressants appealing to so many and moving the public conversation in a productive direction requires us to remedy this neglect. www.nytimes.com/2025/05/03/o...

Opinion | What Kennedy Gets Right, And Wrong, About Antidepressants (Gift Article)

Harm from these drugs is real. Let’s not cede the conversation to Kennedy.

97530

Julia Brown, PhD @juliaehbrown.bsky.social · 03/05/2025

“ChatGPT will reify the problems that it purports to solve, and thus make itself essential: encouraging users to rely less and less on inner resources and personal capacity … with which we handle the task of being alive.” — 🙏🏼Jia Tolentino www.newyorker.com/culture/the-...

newyorker.com

My Brain Finally Broke

Much of what we see now is fake, and the reality we face is full of horrors. More and more of the world is slipping beyond my comprehension.

021

Julia Brown, PhD @juliaehbrown.bsky.social · 23/04/2025

"On the internet it could seem that our children were defined by the medical system, or else the tabloids. But inside the photo app on my phone, I could create a proud corrective archive." Beautiful piece on Beckwith-Wiedemann Syndrome by a mother, Amanda Hess www.nytimes.com/2025/04/22/m...

My Son Has a Rare Syndrome. So I Turned to the Internet. (Gift Article)

Social media became a place of both solace and torment. How much was mine to share?

Julia Brown, PhD @juliaehbrown.bsky.social · 22/04/2025

Great conversation about the importance of human intimacy in neurodevelopmental trajectories — tech can only get us so far! podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...

podcasts.apple.com

The future of pediatric development and disability

Podcast Episode · The Future of Everything · 04/18/2025 · 32m

010

Julia Brown, PhD @juliaehbrown.bsky.social · 19/04/2025

Moderating this book event was the highlight of my week! Thank you @dianetober.bsky.social for doing such important work to uncover the economic coercion and devastating consequences that egg donors face. More registries, informed consent, long-term follow up and public conversation is needed!

141

Reposted by Julia Brown, PhD

UCSF Broad Stem Cell Center @ucsfstemcell.bsky.social · 13/03/2025

Join us for Getting to Patients on Thurs, 3/20, in HSW-300! Drs. Peter Stock & Julie Sneddon share “Beta Cell Replacement Therapies for the Treatment of Diabetes Mellitus” with patient perspective and discussion with @juliaehbrown.bsky.social tiny.ucsf.edu/Diabetes

021

Reposted by Julia Brown, PhD

Sherry Pagoto, PhD @drsherrypagoto.bsky.social · 12/03/2025

New report shows that NIH grants fueled $95 billion in economic activity and 407,782 jobs in 2024. That's not to mention the countless lives that biomedical research has saved. Show me a better investment than that. www.forbes.com/sites/michae...

forbes.com

NIH Grants Fueled $95 Billion In FY 2024 Economic Activity, Finds New Report

National Institutes of Health grants generated almost $95 billion in economic activity nationwide in FY 2024 according to a new report by United for Medical Research.

2320231138

Julia Brown, PhD @juliaehbrown.bsky.social · 13/03/2025

‘we may soon see efforts to control the teaching of climate science, or biology, and maybe even evolution once again. The playbook to take “back” universities includes much more than what we have so far seen.’ Former Berkeley Chancellor speaking up 🙌 www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...

theatlantic.com

Academia Needs to Stick Up for Itself

American higher education would be in a much stronger position today if it had made a proactive case to the public for its own importance—and taken steps to address its very real shortcomings.

Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics @bermaninstitute.bsky.social · 05/03/2025

Reposted by Julia Brown, PhD

Fifty years after ‘Asilomar,’ scientists meet again to debate biotech’s modern-day threats: Risks and benefits of mirror life, AI, synthetic cells debated at anniversary of the landmark 1975 meeting | Science | AAAS www.science.org/content/arti...

science.org

Fifty years after ‘Asilomar,’ scientists meet again to debate biotech’s modern-day threats

Risks and benefits of mirror life, AI, synthetic cells debated at anniversary of the landmark 1975 meeting

012

Julia Brown, PhD @juliaehbrown.bsky.social · 12/02/2025

"Once Zolgensma’s potential was clear [the families needing it] were left behind as the private sector rushed in," with more costs to be "absorbed by all Americans in the form of rising insurance premiums and taxes for public programs like Medicaid." www.propublica.org/article/zolg...

propublica.org

What a $2 Million Per Dose Gene Therapy Reveals About Drug Pricing

Taxpayers and charities helped develop Zolgensma. Then it debuted at a record price, ushering in a new class of wildly expensive drugs. Its story upends the widely held conception that high prices ref...

010

Reposted by Julia Brown, PhD

Conor Owens-Walton @cowenswal.bsky.social · 11/02/2025

A good summary from the leaders at Science. And a good reminder... "These cuts should be a rallying cry for higher education to come together to make the case for the American system of research and teaching. " www.science.org/doi/full/10....

science.org

A direct hit

Late last week, the Trump administration set off a frenzy in the US scientific community when the National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced that indirect cost reimbursement for federally funded re...

011

Julia Brown, PhD @juliaehbrown.bsky.social · 11/02/2025

Under-resourced healthcare systems cost lives and livelihoods, with patriarchal and media biases and dismissal of basic medical expertise... It's all there in what appears to have been a witch hunt against Lucy Letby, a compassionate, female NHS nurse 💔 www.theguardian.com/news/audio/2...

theguardian.com

Lucy Letby and the medical experts who believe she is innocent – podcast

She was called the worst child serial killer in Britain in modern times. So why are medical experts saying her conviction is unsafe? Josh Halliday and Felicity Lawrence report

140

Julia Brown, PhD @juliaehbrown.bsky.social · 08/02/2025

Great interview about Musk’s “desperately empty hole” @karaswisher.bsky.social @ezrakleinbot.bsky.social …and 2 more events surely made him this nihilistic and vengeful: the loss of his first born to SIDS 💔and being booed off the SF stage at Dave Chapelle in 2022 podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...

from.bsky.social

Otto (@from.bsky.social)

Less than meets the eye