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Darren Incorvaia

@megadarren.bsky.social
2.6K followers 599 following 251 posts

Science journalist and silly billy Senior reporter at Fierce Biotech Other words in NYT, Science, Science News, etc. Inveterate invertebrate evangelist Opinions mine! Signal: dinc.49

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Darren Incorvaia @megadarren.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
It's not every day you get a tour of the pioneering biotech outfit from the CEO herself. I had a fascinating chat with Genentech leader Ashley Magargee recently as she looks toward the next 50 years of the company and tries to maintain its famous scientific culture in the age of AI. Check it out!
fiercebiotech.com
‘We’re so close to the tech companies’: Genentech CEO talks Fierce through vision for the future
When recombinant DNA expert Herbert Boyer, Ph.D., first got a call from venture capitalist Robert Swanson about starting a company, the savvy scientist wasn’t sure a meeting would be worth his time | ...
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anil oza @aniloza.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Confirming the White House’s planned EO to exert more political control on NIH seems to be “dead” 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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Darren Incorvaia @megadarren.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Forgot to share this at the time but I recently made my Nat Geo debut! I wrote about how to help keep bees cool on hot summer days 🐝🥵 check it out! www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/arti...
nationalgeographic.com
Hot Days Are Hard on Bees. Here’s How You Can Help Them Cool Off.
Bees play a crucial role in pollinating plants, but soaring temperatures can put them under stress. Here’s how to make your backyard a cooling bee-friendly oasis.
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A.R. Moxon @juliusgoat.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Same people who seem to think it’s bad for China to beat us at AI are perfectly fine with China beating us at high speed rail, solar energy, wind energy, shall we go on
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FactPost @factpostnews.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
The Trump administration has moved to gut a core protection of the Endangered Species Act, permitting the accidental killing or injury of endangered animals.
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Melody Schreiber @melodyschreiber.com · 15/09/2026
Pennsylvania just announced the fourth death from measles this year. All patients were unvaccinated. This is so sad.
Pennsylvania Department of Health Confirms Two Additional Measles-Associated Deaths

 

Pennsylvania Department of Health has recorded four measles-associated deaths in 2026.

 

Getting vaccinated remains the best protection against measles, providing 97% lifetime protection after two doses.

 

Harrisburg, PA – The Pennsylvania Department of Health (DOH) today confirmed two additional measles-associated deaths in Pennsylvania. Both individuals were unvaccinated. One individual lived in Jefferson County and the other lived in Mifflin County.

 

To protect the privacy of both individuals and their families, DOH will not be releasing any additional details that could personally identify them. While local officials in the respective counties where the deaths occurred may release more details about the deceased, DOH is bound by different laws that strictly limit what it can share publicly. The two additional deaths will be added to DOH’s measles dashboard Wednesday, as part of the regular update. 

 

The best protection against measles remains getting fully vaccinated. The MMR vaccine, administered over two doses, boosts a person’s immune system and provides 97% lifetime protection.
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WIRED @wired.com · 11/09/2026
Timnit Gebru argues that AI companies are stoking fears of extinction to avoid discussing actual harms, like autonomous weapons. www.wired.com/story/one-of...
wired.com
One of AI’s Fiercest Critics Says All the Doom Talk Is ‘Meant to Distract Us’
Timnit Gebru argues that AI companies are stoking fears of extinction to avoid discussing actual harms, like autonomous weapons.
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Darren Incorvaia @megadarren.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
NEW: Scientists are boycotting the American Diabetes Association after five members were forcibly removed from their annual conference in June 🚨 boycotters want an independent review of the events and major changes to ADA's leadership and structure www.fiercebiotech.com/research/sci...
fiercebiotech.com
Scientists boycott American Diabetes Association as fallout of June conference fracas escalates
Following the removal of five scientists from its annual conference in June, members of the American Diabetes Association have launched a boycott of the organization that includes halting the revie | ...
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The Guardian @theguardian.com · 28/08/2026
Senator calls for criminal investigation of RFK Jr after Guardian report
theguardian.com
Senator calls for criminal investigation of RFK Jr after Guardian report
Newly obtained records indicate health secretary lied about Samoa trip during Senate confirmation hearings last year A senior Democratic senator is calling for a criminal investigation into the US health secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr, following reporting by the Guardian that indicated he lied during Senate confirmation hearings last year. Ron Wyden of Oregon said: “RFK’s platform is built on lies and grifts that leave a trail of dead children in their wake. There are consequences for lying to Congress.” Continue reading...
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Senator Ron Wyden @wyden.senate.gov · 19/08/2026
Wildfires are 4 times more likely to start near roads than in roadless areas. More roads = more fire. Trump is selling out your public lands for development while over 2.6 million acres of Oregon burn in a record wildfire season.
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Kai Kupferschmidt @kakape.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
“The investigation suggests the group embraced a dubious approach to identifying protective mutations, improperly changed patient data to tease provocative findings from Christchurch carriers, and published multiple papers containing suspect or copied images.” More trouble in Alzheimer research…🧪
science.org
Science investigation casts doubt on genes hailed for warding off Alzheimer’s disease
Mutations found in Colombian families raised hopes for treatments. Altered patient data and suspect images call their benefits into question
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Michael Hobbes @michaelhobbes.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
There's been a steadily building narrative among conservatives and centrists that the lab leak theory was suppressed, but when you look at both public and private statements of scientists they all said it was plausible and should be investigated. Absolutely infuriating how this gets memory-holed
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Darren Incorvaia @megadarren.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
For those who believe facts still matter, El-Sayed's participation in the uncommitted movement was during the primary and about Biden, not Harris. El-Sayed endorsed Kamala the day after Biden dropped out: bridgemi.com/michigan-gov...
bridgemi.com
Fact check: El-Sayed, Stevens trade jabs on party loyalty, Kamala Harris - Bridge Michigan
While Abdul El-Sayed released a video overstating his speed to endorse Kamala Harris, Haley Stevens falsely suggested he led a 2024 movement to withhold primary votes from former President Joe Biden.
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Abdul El-Sayed @abdulelsayed.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
Money out of politics. Money in your pocket. Medicare for All. Michigan... We won. I am so proud to be your Democratic nominee for US Senate. Let's win in November.
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Better Things Are Possible @internethippo.bsky.social · 25/07/2026
Yes, the Problems are bad, but this is no time for radical things like Solutions
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Retraction Watch @retractionwatch.com · 23/07/2026
A couple paid more than $800,000 for a gene-editing therapy for their daughter. She died, and it wasn’t made public. An exclusive from us and @science.org.
science.org
Exclusive: Death of girl in Chinese gene-editing trial was never made public
Parents want accountability after study went disastrously wrong, Science and Retraction Watch investigation reveals
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Darren Incorvaia @megadarren.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
A suite of biotech industry leaders are backing the FDA against a "malicious" lawsuit that could make developing new drugs “chaotically impossible” 😮 my story!
fiercebiotech.com
Biotech industry leaders file brief backing FDA against ‘malicious’ mifepristone challenge
A group of 61 biopharma companies, executives and investors has filed an amicus brief in support of the FDA in an ongoing case brought by Louisiana meant to remove access to the abortion pill mifep | ...
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April Ehrlich @aprilehrlich.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
As of this morning, Oregon wildfires covered 415,000 acres, already surpassing last year’s total acres burned. More than 1,000 people have had to evacuate. With thunderstorms & heatwaves on the horizon, wildfires could get worse this week. www.opb.org/article/2026...
opb.org
Thunderstorms could bring more wildfires to Central Oregon
More than 1,000 people in Oregon have been ordered to evacuate their homes this week
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Darren Incorvaia @megadarren.bsky.social · 20/07/2026
Ah yes, taxes, the thing that all of us famously already pay
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Craig Spencer MD MPH @craigspencer.bsky.social · 18/07/2026
3 years ago I wrote this piece for @theatlantic.com about why we mustn’t take public health for granted. This is long before this admin’s deep cuts to public health. With the massive Cyclospora outbreak, I couldn’t help thinking about my own warning from the past.
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Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
When journalists asked me "where we will see the effects of DOGE on outcomes?" one of my responses was "during crises...as long as media connect the dots." Well, dots connected: www.wired.com/story/cdc-cy...
wired.com
The CDC Has a Cyclospora Lab. DOGE Downsized It Last Year
“Based on simple math, these outbreak responses—which require rapid, timely responses—are going to be greatly diminished,” the former CDC lab director tells WIRED.
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Darren Incorvaia @megadarren.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
Jennifer Doudna's lab has released its first AI-designed protein, a new field for her. If she starts doing journalism next I'll quit 🚨my story:
fiercebiotech.com
Nobel Laureate Jennifer Doudna enters AI protein design arena
Jennifer Doudna, Ph.D., the Nobel Laureate best known for co-inventing the CRISPR system that has become the foundation for gene editing, is dipping her toes into a new, buzzy field:
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Earl K. Miller @earlkmiller.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
MIT Professor Susumu Tonegawa, renowned molecular biologist and Nobel laureate, dies at 86 news.mit.edu/2026/mit-pro... #neuroscience
news.mit.edu
MIT Professor Susumu Tonegawa, renowned molecular biologist and Nobel laureate, dies at 86
Susumu Tonegawa, a renowned MIT professor of biology and neuroscience and a Nobel laureate, has died at the age of 86. His discovery of how the immune system generates many different antibodies earned...
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Gillian Branstetter @gbbranstetter.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
RFK Jr. asked the National Institute of Health to dedicate $5 billion (!) to finding a link between vaccines and autism. "That would have dedicated more than a tenth of the NIH’s annual budget to investigating a hypothesis already refuted by scientists worldwide."
reuters.com
Inside RFK Jr.’s push to dismantle decades of U.S. vaccine policy
Insider accounts reveal the scale of the health secretary's ambitions to curb childhood immunizations and unearth a link between vaccines and autism.
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anil oza @aniloza.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
The (initial) results are in: most of the publicly available comments on OMB's proposal to overhaul federal grantmaking are negative 95% of the 50k available comments were opposed, just 1% were in support Political control, peer review, and terminations were most common topics mentioned
Chart titled "commenters overwhelmingly oppose the proposed rule, percent of aalyzed comments by sentiment and type of commenter."chart showing what commenters on OMB proposal mentioned in their comment
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molly taft @mollytaft.com · 14/07/2026
tell emily about your turbo diarrhea pls
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The New York Times @nytimes.com · 13/07/2026
Sam Neill, the versatile New Zealand screen actor who appeared in more than 150 productions over a five-decade career, and who was perhaps best known for his star turn as Dr. Alan Grant in the “Jurassic Park” series, died on Monday in Sydney, Australia. He was 78.
nyti.ms
Sam Neill, New Zealand Screen Actor and Leading Man, Dies at 78
He appeared in more than 150 productions over a five-decade career but was perhaps best known for his star turn in the “Jurassic Park” series.
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Amanda Litman @amandalitman.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
Always always always always read @rtraister.bsky.social -- and especially on Graham Platner, women, and what comes next. nymag.com/intelligence...
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sanjana! @sanjanacurtis.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
yall are FAST 😭
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Evan Urquhart @evanurquhart.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
Every outlet in our news tracker covered the recent trans sports ban decision at SCOTUS, but when I looked at the coverage I found one clear outlier - the New York Times had the most stories (5 in all) but not one included a quote from a trans person or representative of a trans rights organization.
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Eric Holthaus @ericholthaus.com · 24/06/2026
Tuesday was the hottest day in France's recorded history — it was 112°F/44.3°C in Pissos in southwestern France. That surpasses the peak of the August 2003 heat wave in which more than 14,000 people died. Only about 25% of homes in Paris have an air conditioner. We are in a climate emergency.
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Meghan Bartels @meghanbartels.bsky.social · 24/06/2026
I’m so sad to share that yesterday was my last day at Scientific American. It was an honor to work alongside my incredible colleagues and to speak with researchers across the sciences. If you’re looking to hire staff or freelance, please consider me and my other laid off coworkers (🧵)
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Kate Wong @katewong.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
Today is my last day at Scientific American, which has been sold to LabX media group. For three decades I've led the magazine's coverage of human origins, archaeology, paleontology, animal behavior, ecology, BIRDS. End of an era. Anyway this feels weird to say, but I'm now available for assignments!
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Dan Vergano @danvergano.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
Scientific American is being sold to LabX Media, publisher of Discover: group.springernature.com/gp/group/med... They've fired me and other union staff, ahead of June 26 vote ratification. My rates are suddenly more reasonable, if you need editing or reporting - Argonaut2026@gmail.com
group.springernature.com
Springer Nature to divest its consumer media businesses | Springer Nature Group | Springer Nature
Strategic divestment of consumer media portfolio enables Springer Nature to focus on its core business Transaction supports the long-term development
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Lizzy Lawrence @lizzylawrence.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
EXCLUSIVE: Eli Lilly gave compassionate use access to retatrutide, their unapproved powerful obesity drug, to a 79-year-old man in April. The application was arranged by a top doctor at NIH, and cleared by the FDA. www.statnews.com/2026/06/23/e...
statnews.com
Eli Lilly gave extraordinary obesity drug access to a 79-year-old patient. Who was it?
Exclusive: STAT has learned that Eli Lilly and the FDA allowed a 79-year-old to gain extraordinary access to an experimental obesity drug through the agency’s “compassionate use” program.
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Darren Incorvaia @megadarren.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
And after you read this rundown make sure you go check out the full book! One of my favorite reads of the past few years
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Darren Incorvaia @megadarren.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
GLP-1s might help boost your mood not through your brain, but through a little microbe in your gut! 🧪🦠 my latest on a super cool new study www.fiercebiotech.com/research/glp...
fiercebiotech.com
GLP-1s may combat depression by multiplying a mood-boosting gut microbe
Since GLP-1 drugs like Novo Nordisk’s semaglutide and Eli Lilly’s tirzepatide took the world by storm for their potent treatment of diabetes and obesity, they have also been plagued by a clinical c | ...
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Alex Wild @alexwild.bsky.social · 30/05/2026
tl,dr; Scientists no longer allowed to use federal funding to publish, attend meetings, or talk to the public. They cannot collaborate internationally. Grants can be cancelled for any reason, at any time, political appointees have a final say over what gets funded, and who gets funded.
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Darren Incorvaia @megadarren.bsky.social · 28/05/2026
Impressive data and a significant step toward a cure for chronic hep B, which affects around 250 million people around the world 💊🧪 my story:
fiercebiotech.com
GSK’s hepatitis B drug cures one-fifth of patients in ‘major step’ for pervasive disease
GSK is pulling back the curtain on the phase 3 success of its chronic hepatitis B drug bepirovirsen, revealing that nearly one-fifth of all treated patients across two trials were functionally cure | ...
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beetle moses @beetlemoses.bsky.social · 27/05/2026
Three panel comic. Panel 1: a guy is running upstairs in a house, looking somewhat panicked. Panel 2: he opens the bedroom door. With a blank expression, he pauses. In his thought bubble, gears are turning. Panel 3: inquisitively, he thinks to himself, “why did I come upstairs again?” Behind him, crawling up the stairs in pursuit is a horrifying ghoulish monster with a long body and many legs.
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Retraction Watch @retractionwatch.com · 26/05/2026
Elsevier has retracted a 2021 study claiming sudden infant death syndrome is linked to vaccines over concerns the paper might influence patient care.
retractionwatch.com
Elsevier retracts study tying sudden infant death syndrome to vaccinations
Elsevier has retracted a 2021 study claiming sudden infant death syndrome is linked to vaccines over concerns the paper might influence patient care.   The single-author study, by longtim…
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Karen Hao @karenhao.bsky.social · 25/05/2026
The Pope has weighed in: AI isn't magic. It's currently produced by a deeply exploitative, extractive supply chain. It challenges human dignity; could fuel a new colonialism. And among the greatest challenges of our time will be to redirect its path of development. www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news...
Breaking the chains of new forms of slavery
173. This distorted view of the human person is reflected today in various forms of servitude directly linked to the digital economy. Nothing in the world of AI is immaterial or magical. Every seemingly immediate and flawless response is the result of a long chain of mediation, involving vast networks of natural resources, energy infrastructure and, above all, people. A significant part of the digital economy’s functioning relies on the silent work of millions of people engaged in essential yet largely unseen activities, such as data labeling, model training and content moderation, often involving disturbing material. In many cases, these workers are young people, predominantly women, working under demanding conditions for minimal wages. Added to this invisible labor is the even harsher work of extracting the resources required for the production of the devices and microprocessors on which AI depends. In some regions of the world, children and adolescents work in dangerous conditions, crushing the materials from which rare earth elements are extracted. The bodies of these people are scarred, injured and worn down so that computational flow may continue uninterruptedly. Furthermore, criminal networks use online platforms, messaging systems, anonymous payment methods and profiling techniques in order to recruit, control and transport victims of trafficking — very often minors — reducing men and women to “data” to be tracked and “packages” to be moved around within the same digital circuits that support much of the global economy. This reality deeply challenges the moral conscience of our time. It is not enough to invoke efficiency, nor to celebrate the benefits of innovation, if they are built on a chain of exploitation that remains deliberately hidden. If technology promises emancipation, yet produces new forms of global subordination, it stands in contradiction to the fundamental principle of human dignity.178. Even today, colonialism assumes new forms. It no longer dominates only bodies, but appropriates data, transforming personal lives into exploitable information. Entire regions, especially those marked by structural fragility and limited geopolitical relevance, are currently subjected to a new mindset of extraction: that of health data, epidemiological profiles, genetic maps and demographic information. These have become the new “rare earths” of power: vital data which, once aggregated and analyzed, can be used to train predictive models, guide investment strategies, anticipate crises and, above all, determine who and what is deemed to matter. Those who control the health data of entire peoples — often collected under the pretext of aid, research or innovation — possess a structural leverage over the future, for they can shape needs and markets. They can also decide, before others, to whom medicines, investments and protections will be allocated. Here lies one of the most urgent moral challenges of our time: to ensure that shared knowledge becomes a true common good rather than an instrument of dominance. This requires restoring to individuals not only the data that describes them, but also the ability to decide how it is used, by whom and for whose benefit. Otherwise, the digital age will not be post-colonial, but colonial in another form.
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Darren Incorvaia @megadarren.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
NEW: The U.S. has asked a little-known biotech to provide doses of an experimental Ebola treatment as the epidemic worsens. The antibody therapy was originally developed for a different ebolavirus, but has shown signs that it works against the Bundibugyo virus driving the current outbreak too
fiercebiotech.com
US taps small San Diego biotech for experimental Ebola treatment as epidemic worsens
As an outbreak of Ebola in central Africa continues to worsen, the federal government has tapped a little-known biotech in San Diego to provide doses of an experimental antibody that may be used to | ...
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Freda Kreier (she/her) @fredakreier.bsky.social · 17/05/2026
🧪 knowing the best way to help a whale in distress is so much harder than social media gives it credit for! I wrote a bit about this too in my story for Undark: undark.org/2026/04/27/w...
undark.org
How to Euthanize a Whale
Finding ways to ease the suffering of beached whales has been a challenge. Whale experts may have found an answer.
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Science Magazine @science.org · 09/05/2026
Breaking news: Indiana University plant microbiologist Roger Innes has been locked out of his laboratory by the school in response to a request by one of his federal funders. The move comes after Innes complained about the government’s prosecution of Chinese postdocs. scim.ag/4tsDqRr
scim.ag
After USDA request, Indiana plant biologist locked out of lab by school
Move comes after Roger Innes complained about the government’s prosecution of Chinese postdocs
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Darren Incorvaia @megadarren.bsky.social · 08/05/2026
Could a gene therapy for Alzheimer's disease be on the horizon? Scientists in China used a viral vector to deliver a protective gene to the liver, which reduced the buildup of misfolded protein that is the calling card of the devastating disease 🧪 my story:
fiercebiotech.com
A protective gene sent to the liver cleared amyloid from mouse brains, sparking hope for an Alzheimer’s gene therapy
The calling card of Alzheimer’s disease is a buildup of misfolded amyloid protein in the brain, but many medicines struggle to penetrate the barrier protecting the mind from outside interference. | Th...
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Liz Essley Whyte @lizessleywhyte.bsky.social · 05/05/2026
SCOOP- Trump upbraided FDA Commissioner Marty Makary over the weekend for not moving quickly enough to approve flavored vapes. Makary has been on thin ice with his superiors in the administration in recent days, according to people familiar with the situation. www.wsj.com/politics/pol...
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Kai Kupferschmidt @kakape.bsky.social · 05/05/2026
I've spent yesterday and today talking to researchers across the globe trying to understand the hantavirus outbreak aboard the cruise ship MV Hondius. My story in @science.org is here (and some threaded thoughts coming): www.science.org/content/arti... 🧪 #IDsky
science.org
Cruise ship’s hantavirus outbreak puts researchers in uncharted territory
Questions about the culprit virus and its route of spread remain as health officials make plans for stranded passengers
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Darren Incorvaia @megadarren.bsky.social · 04/05/2026
“That is not how this gold-standard regulatory agency is supposed to work.” My story on Trump's recent support for psychedelic medicines and whether it will be a boon or a bane for a field that has long yearned for legitimacy 🧪💊
fiercebiotech.com
‘Real momentum’ or ‘completely absurd’? How Trump’s support has shaken up psychedelics
Ever since psychedelic medicine in the U.S. was stymied by government action, the field has been steadily clawing its way back toward legitimacy. | The Trump administration's support could launch psyc...
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Will Wiles @willwiles.bsky.social · 02/05/2026
(I make a "mouth" with the side of my hand and draw little eyes above it) Richard Dawkins: hmmmm (I put lipstick around the "mouth") Richard Dawkins, suavely: well hello
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