iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Pete Williams

Peter AF @doctorpaf.bsky.social · 21/10/2025

In this review @Andrea-Loreto.bsky.social and I discuss the breadth of therapeutic potential for the neurodegenerative enzyme SARM1 - Challenges for SARM1 therapeutic inhibition - SARM1 in non-neuronal cells - SARM1 activation for selective peripheral neuroablation. www.cell.com/trends/pharm...

cell.com

Targeting SARM1: from inhibition for neuroprotection to activation for neuroablation

Sterile alpha and TIR motif-containing protein 1 (SARM1),is a central enzyme that drives programmed axon degeneration and has gathered significant interest as a therapeutic target. Despite preclinical...

395 9

Reposted by Pete Williams

Flora Hui @florahui.bsky.social · 13/08/2025

💉👀 Ozempic. What does the eye have to do with it? Let’s take a look at the latest evidence published in @jamanetworkopen.com Thank you to @aunz.theconversation.com for inviting me to write this piece. Was a pleasure to write with @petetheteapot.bsky.social from @ki.se

2116 11

Reposted by Pete Williams

International Society for Molecular Neurodegeneration @ismnd.bsky.social · 25/07/2025

Dr Pete Williams @petetheteapot.bsky.social @ki.se will be our next webinar speaker! 'From bench to bedside and back again: Targeting NAD for neuroprotection in #glaucoma' Aug 11, 2025 10-11am ET Host: Dr Diane Bovenkamp @dianebovenkamp.bsky.social @brightfocus.bsky.social Register: bit.ly/4o6WrqY

042 4

Reposted by Pete Williams

Sketching Science @sketchingscience.bsky.social · 14/05/2025

Doing science today feels like playing a video game on legendary difficulty. With shrinking budgets, extreme publication fees, subjective rejections, and daily lab chaos, the path of a scientist is tougher than ever. At least we have Parafilm to hold it all together. Stay strong, scientists.

1275 27

Reposted by Pete Williams

The New York Times @nytimes.com · 15/05/2025

Breaking News: A baby with a rare disorder made medical history by receiving the first custom gene-editing treatment. The technique used has the potential to help people with thousands of other uncommon genetic diseases. nyti.ms/4j49xBy

A baby surrounded by medical devices is being held up by someone with gloved hands. A headline reads: "Baby Is Healed With World's First Personalized Gene-Editing Treatment." Photo courtesy of Children's Hospital of Pennsylvania.

831615285 1.6K

Reposted by Pete Williams

Thiago Carvalho @cyrilpedia.bsky.social · 13/05/2025

'we define how mitochondrial gene expression is spatially organized at sub-organellar scales into regulatory hubs that are subject to stress-induced remodeling. We propose that this remodeling into mitochondrial stress bodies may serve to aid in recovery of mitochondrial proteome quality control'

science.org

Spatial analysis of mitochondrial gene expression reveals dynamic translation hubs and remodeling in stress

Quantitative imaging of the mitochondrial central dogma identifies translation hubs that are suppressed during stress.

092 9

Reposted by Pete Williams

Thiago Carvalho @cyrilpedia.bsky.social · 12/05/2025

“The visa fees are so exceedingly high that it makes coming here very difficult for some people. We are fishing for the best scientists in the world. They want to come and work here because we are such an effective country at science, but if we have these high costs, they can and will go elsewhere.”

observer.co.uk

Is the UK paying the price for world’s most expensive visas? | The Observer

Competing political and economic goals on immigration are resulting in the loss of valuable skills and talent in the UK

01812 18

Reposted by Pete Williams

@arvoinfo.bsky.social‬ @arvoinfo.bsky.social · 04/05/2025

Remember to pick up your EyeVenture pins today. Collect 7 different ones during #ARVO2025, bring them to @arvoinfo.bsky.social Central by May 8 and you could win free registration to #ARVO2026 in Denver, Colo.! Check our website for today's collection locations. bit.ly/2GErnw4

Image features three circular badges. The first badge shows a gecko wearing glasses with text 'EYE NERD'. The second badge reads 'ARVO 2026 May 3-7 Denver' with a mountain range graphic. The third badge is black with the text 'CELEBRATE DIVERSITY IN RESEARCH' and 'ARVO'.

061 6

Reposted by Pete Williams

Nature Portfolio @natureportfolio.nature.com · 08/04/2025

The authors of a Comment article in Nature write that hopes are high that AI can accelerate scientific discovery but warn that the rush to adopt AI has consequences. “Establishing clear scientific guidelines on how to use these tools and techniques is urgent.” 🧪

go.nature.com

Why an overreliance on AI-driven modelling is bad for science

Without clear protocols to catch errors, artificial intelligence’s growing role in science could do more harm than good.

0205 20

Reposted by Pete Williams

Michael Livingston @michaellivingston.com · 20/03/2025

Meta used at least 16 of my books, and numerous articles, to help train the AI it will use to make billions. Authors, search your name here: www.theatlantic.com/technology/a...

theatlantic.com

Search LibGen, the Pirated-Books Database That Meta Used to Train AI

Millions of books and scientific papers are captured in the collection’s current iteration.

28033822045 3.4K

Reposted by Pete Williams

BWJones @bwjones.bsky.social · 12/03/2025

New publication out with Katharina C Bell, Vicki Chrysostomou, Markus Karlsson, myself, Pete A Williams @petetheteapot.bsky.social , and Jonathan G Crowston Excitatory and Inhibitory Neurotransmitter Alterations With Advancing Age and Injury in the Mouse Retina bryanwjones.com/2025/03/exci...

Comparison of injury response in both young and middle-aged mice. A: 36 metabolites were significantly differently regulated in the retina of 3 months of age (young) mice after injury in comparison to the non-injured 3 months of age retina, whereas 19 metabolites were significantly differently regulated in the 12 months of age (old) injured retina in comparison to the 12 months of age non-injured control. Of these metabolites, 13 metabolites were found to be differently regulated in both the old and the young retina after injury. All these metabolites showed the same mode of change (increased or decreased levels) in the 12 months of age (black) and the 3 months of age (orange) retina after a single short term IOP elevation injury. N = 8 mice/group. B shows the signal intensity of GABA and Taurine, which are both found in significantly lower levels after IOP injury in the retina of 3 months of age and 12 months of age mice Violin plots show the non-normalized signal intensities. The black bar shows the median, the dotted lines show the 1st and the 3rd quartile. C shows localization of GABA immunoreactivity within the retina. CRALBP staining (green) highlights especially Mueller cells and the retinal pigment epithelium and allows to identify the different retinal layers. GABA immunoreactivity (purple) is seen in the IPL, INL and RGC layer. Exemplary grey scale images of GABA immunoreactivity in the CTRL and at Day 3 after IOP elevation are shown on the right. Arrows with small arrowheads point towards GABA-hi cells and arrows with large arrowheads point towards GABA-lo cells. Scale bar represents182µm D shows the GABA-hi and the GABA-lo cell numbers/182µm in the CTRL and Day-3 post-IOP elevation retina (D3) (* p < 0.05). N = 3 mice/group.

0135 13

Reposted by Pete Williams

Masud Husain @masudhusain.bsky.social · 06/03/2025

Why academia is sleepwalking into self-destruction. My editorial @brain1878.bsky.social If you agree with the sentiments please repost. It's important for all our sakes to stop the madness academic.oup.com/brain/articl...

51538308 538

Pete Williams @petetheteapot.bsky.social · 07/03/2025

My favorite thing about journal editors in the upper echelons of impact is that they deem my manuscripts of not being of sufficient quality or impact for their journal, but within the same week they are very happy to have me as a reviewer to judge said quality...

1130 13

Reposted by Pete Williams

Flora Hui @florahui.bsky.social · 03/03/2025

What a fun review to write with @petetheteapot.bsky.social on metabolic dysfunction in glaucoma! It’s out today in Glaucoma Today 😆 enjoy the read at the link below🧪 #glaucoma glaucomatoday.com/articles/202...

glaucomatoday.com

Metabolic Dysfunction in Glaucoma: From Bench to Bedside (and Back Again) - Glaucoma Today

A review of nicotinamide treatment for neuroprotection.

062 6

Pete Williams @petetheteapot.bsky.social · 21/02/2025

"[The] findings indicate that young children with AIPL1-related retinal dystrophy benefited substantially from subretinal administration of rAAV8.hRKp.AIPL1, with improved visual acuity and functional vision and evidence of some protection against progressive retinal degeneration [...]."

020 2

Reposted by Pete Williams

Hilda Bastian @hildabast.bsky.social · 14/02/2025

Hate that it has come to this, but it's time to consider PubMed vulnerable to enshittification. My latest post @plos.org discusses the lines we need to fight to hold – and alternatives we can rely on internationally: absolutelymaybe.plos.org/2025/02/14/w... #medlibs

absolutelymaybe.plos.org

What if We Can't Rely on PubMed? - Absolutely Maybe

PubMed is incredibly reliable. And a lot depends on it. It’s an ecosystem built around MEDLINE, the steady feed of new publications…

29473270 473

Pete Williams @petetheteapot.bsky.social · 08/02/2025

Bingo. F&A (equivalent of our SA + INDI + rent) is additive to the direct (research costs). Which is a pretty good gig when an R01 maxes out at 500k (5 MSEK) a year (not that everyone gets funded at the top level).

010 1

Pete Williams @petetheteapot.bsky.social · 08/02/2025

I've been itching to post this with fear of being canceled haha! 100% agree. The powerful thing with the NIH is overheads AFTER research budget, not as part of. Imagine how far our KI money would go if we didn't lose 20-25% in admin + rent + 55% on social security ...

210 2

Reposted by Pete Williams

ISER @iser.bsky.social · 06/02/2025

Hello Vision Science Peeps! Be sure to put the @iser.bsky.social / @brightfocus.bsky.social Concepts and Breakthroughs In Glaucoma Meeting on your schedule. It will be in Atlanta, Georgia, USA from October 8-11, 2025 iserbrightfocusglaucoma.org

ISER / BRIGHTFOCUS GLAUCOMA SYMPOSIUM:
CONCEPTS AND BREAKTHROUGHS IN GLAUCOMA
ATLANTA, GEORGIA, USA
OCTOBER 8-11, 2025

0149 14

Reposted by Pete Williams

Science Magazine @science.org · 06/02/2025

The Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the nation’s largest private funder of biomedical research, yesterday killed a $60 million program aimed at making universities’ STEM education more inclusive. scim.ag/3EtS0US

scim.ag

HHMI kills program aimed at boosting inclusivity in STEM education

“Inclusive excellence” program had committed $60 million to 104 institutions

821023557 1K

Pete Williams @petetheteapot.bsky.social · 07/02/2025

IMAX only right now. I need it on streaming ASAP !

010 1

Pete Williams @petetheteapot.bsky.social · 05/02/2025

Are you sure Maine wants you back haha!

100 1

Pete Williams @petetheteapot.bsky.social · 02/02/2025

** Phillips then said: “So no youth mobility scheme?” The home secretary said: “That’s not the right starting point for us at all because what we need to do is to bring net migration down.” ** Good times ahead for British science and academia /s www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/yvette...

huffingtonpost.co.uk

Yvette Cooper Rules Out The UK Signing Up To Giving Young People Free Movement To The EU

"That's not the right starting point for us at all," she told Sky News.

041 4

Reposted by Pete Williams

Richard Eva Lab @richardevalab.bsky.social · 26/01/2025

Celebrating this fantastic work lead by Kristýna Kárová (with some EvaLab contribution!), its new home in Molecular Therapy. Spinal cord axon regeneration with improvements in paw reaching, grip strength, and ladder walking using a gene therapy approach. Delta is the way! tinyurl.com/55en9z6d

1106 10

Reposted by Pete Williams

Nautilus Magazine @nautil.us · 30/01/2025

For many of the early modern thinkers who laid the foundations of modern science, the world teemed with the uncanny: witches, unicorns, mermaids, metals that could be distilled into elixirs of eternal life. 🧪

nautil.us

How the Occult Gave Birth to Science

For scientists of yore anything—from mermaids to alchemy—was on the table.

1304 30

Reposted by Pete Williams

Alejandro Montenegro @aemonten.bsky.social · 29/01/2025

For new followers! A pack on professional journal editors in the life sciences. go.bsky.app/Lj5TDXn

13114 31

Reposted by Pete Williams

Viktoria Cologna @colognaviktoria.bsky.social · 20/01/2025

Our global study on the state of trust in scientists is now out in Nature Human Behaviour! 🥳 With a team of 241 researchers, we surveyed 71,922 people in 68 countries, providing the largest dataset on trust in scientists post-pandemic 👇🧵https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-024-02090-5

24903384 903

Reposted by Pete Williams

Thiago Carvalho @cyrilpedia.bsky.social · 08/01/2025

“One thing that struck me is the visibility of people with smaller followings and early-career researchers,” say @jbakcoleman.bsky.social. That is particularly true in the feeds Bluesky lets users build themselves and that can include all posts related to a certain research field'

science.org

As academic Bluesky grows, researchers find strengths—and shortcomings

Platform fosters collegial interactions among scientists, but potentially limits interactions beyond the academic community

0157 15

Reposted by Pete Williams

Randall Munroe @xkcd.com · 06/01/2025

Features of Adulthood xkcd.com/3034

11566631018 6.7K

Pete Williams @petetheteapot.bsky.social · 31/12/2024

Boosting neuronal activity-driven mitochondrial DNA transcription improves cognition in aged mice www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... Cool #mitochondria and #aging paper in @science.org

Editor’s summary
Aging is associated with impairments in mitochondrial functions. However, how aging affects mitochondria in neurons remains to be fully elucidated. Li et al. examined the role of mitochondrial transcription in learning and memory in the hippocampus of young and aged mice and identified a strong coupling between excitation and mitochondrial transcription (see the Perspective by Bingul and Owen). This process appears to be compromised in aging brains, and increasing its effectiveness counteracted age-dependent cognitive decline in rodents, suggesting a potential target for fighting the cognitive decline associated with aging. —Mattia Maroso

194 9

Reposted by Pete Williams

Prof Sam Illingworth @samillingworth.com · 26/12/2024

🍵🧪 Teabags Release Nanoplastics Researchers found teabags release billions of micro- & nanoplastics during preparation. These particles were absorbed by human intestinal cells in lab tests, raising concerns about health effects 🔗 www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... #Plastics #Health #SciComm 🧪

sciencedirect.com

Teabag-derived micro/nanoplastics (true-to-life MNPLs) as a surrogate for real-life exposure scenarios

The potential health implications of environmental micro/nanoplastics (MNPLs) are increasingly concerning. Beyond environmental exposure, other source…

65116 51

Reposted by Pete Williams

Journal of Clinical Investigation @jci.org · 20/12/2024

The muscle stem cell case of Benjamin Button: rejuvenating muscle regenerative capacity through nutraceuticals: www.jci.org/articles/view/185054 Taylor Peach and Mattia Quattrocelli comment on Ancel et al. (www.jci.org/articles/view/163648)

071 7

Reposted by Pete Williams

Flora Hui @florahui.bsky.social · 20/12/2024

It’s out! Third (and last) article for the Conversation this year! This time about sunglasses 😎 eye protection is important year round, but definitely more so during summer 🌺 Thanks for reaching out @aunz.theconversation.com 😎🌞🧪

2183 18

Reposted by Pete Williams

Journal of Cell Science @jcellsci.bsky.social · 16/12/2024

Aanandita Kothurkar, @colinchulab.bsky.social, Ryan MacDonald and colleagues @ucleye.bsky.social apply IBEX to simultaneously identify all the major retinal cell types. Highlight: journals.biologists.com/jcs/article/... Article: journals.biologists.com/jcs/article/...

Figure showing that IBEX can be used to simultaneously label all major retinal types in zebrafish embryos, including confocal images and schematics indicating the labelled cell types. The confocal images show zebrafish retinas labelled with DAPI and 11 different markers: Ribeye-A (dark blue), carbonic anhydrase (CA1, purple), glutamine synthetase (GS, red), PKC-β (green), Zrf-1 (cyan), HuC/D (orange), GFP transgene (yellow), calbindin (CalB, magenta), peripherin-2 (PRPH2, light blue), GNAT2 (orange) and RLBP1 (pink).

15618 56

Reposted by Pete Williams

anil oza @aniloza.bsky.social · 13/12/2024

HHMI says the round hopes to “broaden institutional representation by encouraging applications from scientists in geographic regions where HHMI is not currently supporting scientists” we talked to economists, researchers & ppl who have researched funding inequities👇 www.statnews.com/2024/12/13/h...

statnews.com

HHMI's move to diversify funding sparks debate about 'biomedical elite'

HHMI will bar institutions that already have two or more beneficiaries of its Investigator Program from applying for funds to be awarded in 2027.

272 7

Reposted by Pete Williams

Altmetric @altmetric.com · 10/12/2024

🌟 ICYMI: Altmetric now tracks Bluesky mentions! ✔️ Comprehensive social media coverage 📊 Mentions reflected in your Altmetric score 🌐 Stay ahead in tracking research discussions Your research is moving to new spaces—don’t miss a thing! Read more here: www.altmetric.com/bl... #AcademicSky

altmetric.com

Tapping into data from Bluesky

Altmetric has expanded its tracking capabilities by integrating data from Bluesky, the rapidly growing social media platform with over 24 million users.

29646 96

Reposted by Pete Williams

Myra McGuinness @myramcguinness.bsky.social · 04/12/2024

Are you living with an eye disease or vision loss- or supporting someone who is? Your experiences and insights can shape the future of eye research. CERA is looking for consumer advisors. Click the link below to learn more and apply. www.cera.org.au/consumer-pro...

cera.org.au

Become a partner in research at CERA

Are you living with an eye disease or vision loss, or supporting someone who is? Your experiences and insights can shape the future of eye research.

124 4