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Michael Pollard

@kmichaelpollard.bsky.social
490 followers 197 following 293 posts

Assoc. Prof Scripps Research working on how non-biological exposures lead to autoimmunity.

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Reposted by Michael Pollard
Scripps Research @scripps.edu · 6h
In our last Front Row lecture, Associate Professor Giordano Lippi explored how tiny molecules called microRNAs help control production of the right proteins at the right place and time to build complex networks that drive thought, learning and behavior. Watch now: ow.ly/OJPY50ZV9nv
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Michael Pollard @kmichaelpollard.bsky.social · 9h
The La Jolla Immunology Conference is at Salk this week. Guess I know where I'll be for the next few days. Bit toasty walking from Scripps to Salk and back again.
Salk Institute La Jolla, California.
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Reposted by Michael Pollard
Nobel Prize @nobelprize.org · 18h
BREAKING NEWS The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award the 2026 #NobelPrize in Physics to Francis Halzen “for decisive contributions to the IceCube Neutrino Observatory and the discovery of high-energy neutrinos of astrophysical origin.”
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Nathaniel Comfort @nccomfort.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Exciting new historical work on Rosalind Franklin continues to appear. This is a neat bit of sleuthing by historian @alistairsponsel.bsky.social and crystallographer Brian Sutton. Here's the DOI to the actual article (it's OA): 10.1007/s10739-026-09866-7 The main finding is an x-ray image of exactly
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Matthew Cobb @matthewcobb.bsky.social · 14h
A lot of excitement on here about the article in Science summarising the discoveries of @alistairsponsel.bsky.social and Brian Sutton, just published in the Journal of the History of Biology. Some people have asked, so here is what I think they show, and what are the implications:
link.springer.com
Photograph 49 is the Key to Understanding the History of Rosalind Franklin’s DNA Photograph 51 - Journal of the History of Biology
This essay, co-authored by a historian of science and an X-ray crystallographer, sheds new light on Rosalind Franklin’s Photograph 51. We refute the infamous claim that, unlike James Watson, Franklin ...
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Michael Pollard @kmichaelpollard.bsky.social · 13h
As always, an excellent description of the complexity of the discovery of the double helix.
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Michael Pollard @kmichaelpollard.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
She has a magical voice. I was captivated the first time I heard it.
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Karl Deisseroth @deisseroth.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Thank you to everyone sharing in this moment! I’m so grateful to all my trainees & collaborators… dlab.stanford.edu/group-members (pic: Peter and I together in 2017) Reading for all those asking: for technical details: dlab.stanford.edu for everyone: deisseroth.org/projections
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Nobel Prize @nobelprize.org · 05/10/2026
BREAKING NEWS The 2026 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded to Karl Deisseroth, Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel “for their discoveries concerning light-gated ion channels and optogenetics.”
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Nobel Prize @nobelprize.org · 05/10/2026
He is currently professor of molecular plant physiology at the Department for Molecular Plant Physiology and Biophysics - Botany I, University of Würzburg, Germany. www.biozentrum.uni-wuerzburg.de/en/bot1/rese...
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Nobel Prize @nobelprize.org · 05/10/2026
He is currently Hertie Senior Professor of Neuroscience at @humboldtuni.bsky.social. www.hu-berlin.de/en/people-de...
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Nobel Prize @nobelprize.org · 05/10/2026
Congratulations to our first Nobel Prize laureate of 2026 🎉 Early this morning Karl Deisseroth found out he was awarded this year's Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. He seems very happy with the news!
Karl Deisseroth on the phone looking happy
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Reposted by Michael Pollard
Scripps Research @scripps.edu · 03/10/2026
Lights, camera, science! 🎬🔬 Scripps Research Prof. Luke Wiseman and our graduate students joined KUSI News for a sneak peek of tomorrow’s #DiscoveryDay, featuring liquid-nitrogen ice cream and silver mirrors! 🍦🪩
youtu.be
KUSI Previews Scripps Research Discovery Day
YouTube video by Beck Ellman Heald Media Center
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Michael Pollard @kmichaelpollard.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
First experienced this as an undergrad doing a project at the JCSMR. Afternoon tea was an event where you could be talking with students to dept heads. I only wish I'd taken more advantage of that opportunity.
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Reposted by Michael Pollard
Dr Lindsey Fitzharris @drlindseyfitz.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Upon graduating medical school in 1881, Arthur Conan Doyle did a doodle of himself waving his diploma over his head. The caption reads: "Licensed to Kill." My new book SLEUTH-HOUND is about Conan Doyle's professor, Joseph Bell - the real-life Sherlock Holmes. Out Oct 20! linktr.ee/drlindseyfit...
A simple doodle showing a man, Conan Doyle, waving his diploma over his head. Underneath the doodle it says: Licensed to kill
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Michael Pollard @kmichaelpollard.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
If you are an old guy like me and you can't remember having measles or being vaccinated, get your doc to request a test for IgG Rubeola Antibody. If positive, like me, then you are immune from measles.
cnn.com
How common are measles deaths in the United States as vaccination rates fall? | CNN
A fourth person with measles has died in Pennsylvania, the state announced Tuesday — marking the first time in decades the United States has recorded so many deaths in a single year.
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Michael Pollard @kmichaelpollard.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Can you DM a reference for that please?
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Michael Pollard @kmichaelpollard.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Hmmm, interesting. Might help us understand why mercury suppresses type I IFN expression induced by TLR agonists.
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Michael Pollard @kmichaelpollard.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Yep, its true. Reading is really important and writing (grants, papers) comes next because you can't do either well without knowledge. But networking is also essential. Not only do people need to know who you are but you need to know people. Rub elbows with the best and brightest. 🧪
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Reposted by Michael Pollard
Peter Gleick @petergleick.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Given the outrageous, dangerous, and outright false statements made about how the polio (and other) vaccine was a "fraud" (at the Children's Health Defense conference), here's a reminder of what a massive success it was. RFK Jr. & his minions must be stopped from destroying the US healthcare system.
Graph of the number of cases and deaths from polio from 1910 to 2022, showing how polio completely disappeared after the introduction of the vaccine -- one of the most important health advances of the 20th century. Data from the US Public Health Services; the Center for Disease Control.
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Michael Pollard @kmichaelpollard.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Before it became legal in Australia, adding water to reduce potential alcohol was called black snake fining. Black snake referring to a black winery water hose.
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Michael Pollard @kmichaelpollard.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
When you can, devote a little of your time to this. It will be worth it. 🧪
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Michael Pollard @kmichaelpollard.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Excellent. Your 2nd paragraph sums up what many should have done but didn't, especially one particular group.
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Michael Pollard @kmichaelpollard.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Rosie Toes has realized that it's Monday and the weekend is days away.
Face of Rosie Toes , a female poodle.
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Prof Gavin Yamey MD MPH @gavinyamey.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
This is such a wonderful summary of vaccination
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Admirable Women @admirablewomen.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Biochemist Dr. Ida Stephens Owens mapped how human genes control drug metabolism. The first Black woman to earn a PhD from Duke (1967), she spent ~50 years at NIH. She identified the UGT1A gene complex, decoding how enzymes detoxify drugs & harmful toxins. She was born #OTD in 1939.🧵 #WomenInSTEM
A charming photograph of American biochemist Dr. Ida Stephens Owens (1939–2020), renowned for her groundbreaking research on drug-detoxifying enzymes and human genetics, posing in a laboratory setting. Standing from the waist up, she is turned slightly to the right, looking forward with a warm, confident smile that lights up her face. She has short, curly black hair and wears a delicate gold chain necklace with a small round pendant, and a ring on her finger. She is dressed in a casual, short-sleeved beige knit top. Her forearms rest on a surface in the foreground, with one hand loosely holding a pink folder or pamphlet. Behind her, a brightly illuminated laboratory reveals her research environment, featuring a tall shelf tightly packed with colorful textbooks, alongside structured racks holding assorted glass beakers and scientific equipment. The overall composition balances her approachable, dignified expression with the busy backdrop of her historic, decades-long career at the National Institutes of Health.
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Michael Pollard @kmichaelpollard.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Hanson's ignorance is mind blowing.
abc.net.au
Hanson swiftly condemned for labelling Indigenous Australians 'primitive race'
Politicians from across the divide have condemned Pauline Hanson's remarks about Indigenous Australians, labelling them "vile", "divisive" and "derogatory".
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Reposted by Michael Pollard
The Royal Society @royalsociety.org · 10/09/2026
Born #OnThisDay in 1907 was geologist and palaeontologist Professor Dorothy Hill FRS. She was the first female professor at an Australian university, first female president of the Australian Academy of Science, and the first Australian woman to become Fellow of the Royal Society. #WomenInSTEM
A person in outdoor attire stands on a forest path, holding a horse by the reins. The person wears a wide-brimmed hat and has binoculars around their neck. Tall trees line the path in the background.
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Kristian G. Andersen @kgandersen.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Imagine that - a novel, highly divergent, betacoronavirus with a weird-looking* furin cleavage site popped right out of a bat butt 🦇. You gotta wonder 🤔. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
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Michael Pollard @kmichaelpollard.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Excellent article. I'm one who was enthralled by The Double Helix as an undergrad (1973) which led to an interest in DNA binding proteins. Fortuitously, leading to a PhD on anti-DNA antibodies and a career in autoimmunity. Seeing his fall from grace from a distance was unpleasant and unexpected.
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Michael Pollard @kmichaelpollard.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
I was making the point that smoking and occupational (silica dust) exposures are linked to, not only lupus, but also rheumatoid arthritis. Smoking is a significant risk factor for RA. Occupational exposures are most often associated with men, unlike idiopathic disease, which has a female bias.
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Michael Pollard @kmichaelpollard.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
Don't forget that smoking and other lung exposures (occupational) are linked to systemic autoimmune diseases like lupus and RA, etc.
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Michael Pollard @kmichaelpollard.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Yes, I've yet to see any lab leaker look at whether the earliest known cases were in and around the WIV...Oh wait, Worobey et al already did that.
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Reposted by Michael Pollard
Scripps Research @scripps.edu · 12/08/2026
What brings you to Scripps Research? 👀 Maybe you’re here to explore the latest science, meet our researchers, take your next step, attend an event, partner with us or support discovery. Whatever brings you here, the new scripps.edu makes it easier to find your way. 🧵⬇️
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Michael Pollard @kmichaelpollard.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
A guy who did a reality TV show and his buddy who is a lawyer are not experts on vaccines. Best to look elsewhere for info on the MMR vaccine....like below.
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Prof Gavin Yamey MD MPH @gavinyamey.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
Brilliant piece by @amymaxmen.bsky.social & Jeff Tollefson from 4th August 2020 in @nature.com Decades of pandemic planning scenarios had foreseen "leaky travel bans, a scramble for vaccines & disputes between state & federal leaders," but none anticipated the dysfunction in the US under Trump
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Scripps Research @scripps.edu · 11/08/2026
Congrats to Scripps Research EVP Eric Topol for surpassing the milestone of 400,000 citations and an h-index of 259. Topol ranks among the world’s most highly cited researchers, with broad influence in cardiology, genomics, AI, digital health and individualized medicine. 🔗 ow.ly/eRra50ZxM4u
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Michael Pollard @kmichaelpollard.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
Love how he reminds us he's a "Doctor". And then protects his butt by claiming that its the President who doesn't have the expertise for this EO when anti-vax RFK Jr is standing behind Trump. Pathetic.
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Michael Pollard @kmichaelpollard.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
An article absolutely worth reading. Many forget (or conveniently dismiss) Fauci's history of service to not just the NIH but to human health especially fighting severe viral infections.
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Michael Pollard @kmichaelpollard.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
I was shocked and embarrassed to learn recently that one of the authors of "Origin of new emergent Coronavirus and Candida fungal diseases—Terrestrial or cosmic?" was in my graduating class at high school.
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Dr Rasu Shrestha @rasushrestha.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
I stand with Dr. Anthony Fauci …because I value EVIDENCE over conspiracy, DATA over rumors, and SCIENCE over politics. No public official is beyond criticism, but there’s a difference between honest scientific guidance and misinformation. I’ll choose evidence EVERY time. #medsky #publichealth
I stand with Dr. Anthony Fauci because I value evidence over conspiracy, data over rumors, and science over politics. No public official is beyond criticism, but there’s a difference between honest scientific guidance and misinformation. I’ll choose evidence every time.
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Michael Pollard @kmichaelpollard.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
The first author, Michael Worobey, was skeptical of a market origin. So he did what scientists do, he tried to prove the hypothesis wrong....rigorous studies in landmark paper after landmark paper kept showing the market as the origin of COVID-19.
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Peace @dogsmile.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
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Flo Débarre @flodebarre.eurosky.social · 04/08/2026
Today is the first Tuesday of the month, my (self-imposed) blog posting day -- I wrote about accusations of coverup and conspiracies, thrown without any evidence, in the context of the recent release of private documents by Rand Paul #covidorigin
pandemonium.hypotheses.org
Conspiracies and coverups
There is no evidence for a lab origin of SARS-CoV-2, so commenters default to meta-discourse and accuse scientists of coverups, for which there is no evidence either. So far, available data and scient...
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Michael Pollard @kmichaelpollard.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
In a somewhat concerning twist of fate, before seeing the Odyssey, we booked passage on a small ship visiting Southern Italy, Malta & Sicily. Some of the places we will visit are supposedly linked to Homer's Odyssey! Hopefully a modern day Odysseus won't be captain!
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Marc Veldhoen @marcveld.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
I'm a full Professor of Immunology and fully vaccinated. I didn't get vaccinated out of obedience, but after decades of studying the immune system and evaluating all evidence. Calling that "lack of critical thinking" is not an argument. It's ideology masked as pretend intellect.
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Philipp Markolin @philippmarkolin.eurosky.social · 31/07/2026
"Scientists discovered and developed the COVID vaccines that brought the pandemic to an end. It’s the anti-vaxxers, not the scientific community, who should stand indicted in the light of 2026." This should be the conservative stance btw, from former Bush speech writer @davidfrum.bsky.social
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George Conway ⚖️🇺🇸 @gtconway.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
The same is true about the “stolen” election
Ben Rhodes: The strangest thing about the MAGA freakout over Fauci is that Trump was his boss - and ran the government - during the entire period they are so mad about.
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Nicholas Grossman @nicholasgrossman.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
One of the worst things about the Senate’s attempted Fauci show trial is how the supposed evidence against him is early in COVID he considered multiple hypotheses, then increasingly ruled some unlikely as evidence came in. The objection is he did science. Fundamentally that is what’s under attack.
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Michael Pollard @kmichaelpollard.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
It was fun, and the fastest was to get access to a vaccine. I was able to get our serum tested which suggested I'd received the placebo and had to wait untill the EUA was issued to get the real deal. Worked like a charm.
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