iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Rafea Naffa @rafeanaffa.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

Does science now need its own #SciencePolice? Yesterday, I watched #Project #Hail #Mary, and as a molecular biochemist, I was disappointed to see several scientific inaccuracies. #Note: The newspaper-style headline in my infographic is imaginary and was created only for visual presentation.

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Rafea Naffa @rafeanaffa.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

The most heartbreaking message you can get these days is: “Approaching weekly usage limit.” …and it’s still only July 15. #Claude ##needmoretokens

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Rafea Naffa @rafeanaffa.bsky.social · 14/07/2026

The Open Biochemistry Notebook #015 𝑊ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝐶ℎ𝑒𝑚𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑦 𝐵𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑠 𝐿𝑖𝑓𝑒 𝐋𝐢𝐟𝐞’𝐬 𝐒𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐑𝐨𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐌𝐨𝐭𝐨𝐫 Inside the inner mitochondrial membrane is one of the most extraordinary machines in biology: ATP synthase. ATP is the molecule it produces.

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Rafea Naffa @rafeanaffa.bsky.social · 14/06/2026

🧪 Acetyl-CoA may be one of the most important molecules you've never heard of. Almost every calorie we eat passes through Acetyl-CoA. It fuels ATP production, helps build fats, and during fasting gives rise to ketone bodies that can help fuel the brain.

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Rafea Naffa @rafeanaffa.bsky.social · 10/06/2026

📖 The Open Biochemistry Notebook #006 🧪 Where chemistry becomes life. Glycolysis: glucose → pyruvate in 10 steps. 2 ATP net. 2 NADH. No oxygen required. #Biochemistry #Metabolism #Glycolysis

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Rafea Naffa @rafeanaffa.bsky.social · 10/06/2026

The U.S. FDA has approved bemotrizinol (Tinosorb S), the first new sunscreen UV filter approved in decades. Bemotrizinol provides broad-spectrum UVA and UVB protection and is highly photostable. #Biochemistry #Sunscreen #Dermatology #ScienceNews

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Rafea Naffa @rafeanaffa.bsky.social · 10/06/2026

📖 The Open Biochemistry Notebook #005 Why do we need oxygen? Because oxygen allows cells to extract almost 15 times more energy from glucose than glycolysis alone. Without oxygen: ~2 ATP. With oxygen: ~30–32 ATP. Oxygen changes everything. #Biochemistry #Metabolism #ATP

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Rafea Naffa @rafeanaffa.bsky.social · 10/06/2026

📖 The Open Biochemistry Notebook #004 Before food reaches the stomach, saliva has already started digestion. It lubricates, protects, signals, buffers, and helps break down starch within seconds. Saliva is the body's first digestive fluid. #Biochemistry #Digestion #ScienceCommunication

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Rafea Naffa @rafeanaffa.bsky.social · 10/06/2026

📖 The Open Biochemistry Notebook #004 The body responds to sugar before digestion is complete. First comes the brain. Then comes the glucose. Food is information before it becomes fuel. #Biochemistry #Metabolism #ScienceCommunication

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Rafea Naffa @rafeanaffa.bsky.social · 10/06/2026

📖 The Open Biochemistry Notebook #003 Food is not absorbed as food. It must first be moved, mixed, acidified, digested, absorbed, fermented, and finally removed as waste. Digestion is controlled chemistry in motion. #Biochemistry #Digestion #NutritionScience

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Rafea Naffa @rafeanaffa.bsky.social · 10/06/2026

📖 The Open Biochemistry Notebook #002 Chemistry is molecules and reactions. Biochemistry is what happens when chemistry enters life. Every bite and sip becomes energy, structure, information, storage, microbiome fuel, or waste. Where chemistry becomes life. #Biochemistry

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Rafea Naffa @rafeanaffa.bsky.social · 10/06/2026

Welcome to *The Open Biochemistry Notebook*. I’m Dr. Rafea Naffa, a biochemist exploring how molecules, cells, metabolism, nutrition and human health connect. Clear visual stories—one notebook page at a time. *Where chemistry becomes life.* #Biochemistry #ScienceCommunication #NutritionScience

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Rafea Naffa @rafeanaffa.bsky.social · 05/06/2026

Let’s make it simple like an open book!!! Magtein® in one page! 🧠 Better Magnesium. Better Brain. #Magtein #Magnesium #BrainHealth #Cognition #Sleep

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Rafea Naffa @rafeanaffa.bsky.social · 17/03/2026

The stages of "Sleeping Brain" show the brain cycles through distinct stages, each with its own EEG wave patterns and biological functions. A typical night moves through these stages every ~90 minutes, repeating 4–6 cycles.

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Rafea Naffa @rafeanaffa.bsky.social · 20/02/2026

When Magensium Levels Go Wrong!!!

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Rafea Naffa @rafeanaffa.bsky.social · 07/02/2026

Are you happy with your job? When you wake up every day and look forward to working on an ingredient, the smile comes naturally. For me, it’s working on cutting-edge, high-impact science that moves from the lab to clinical studies to daily life and makes a difference.

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Rafea Naffa @rafeanaffa.bsky.social · 05/02/2026

#World #Cancer #Day 4 Feb 2026 reminds us that cancer affects millions of lives including our own families. I lost my #mother to cancer, which makes the importance of accurate education, prevention, and science-led care deeply personal to me. Together, we can fight cancer.

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Rafea Naffa @rafeanaffa.bsky.social · 02/02/2026

#Magnesium helps the brain learn. At rest, it blocks NMDA receptors to reduce noise. During learning, it moves aside so calcium can strengthen connections (LTP). That’s why brain magnesium matters for memory. #Magtein delivers #magnesium to the brain to support this process.

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Rafea Naffa @rafeanaffa.bsky.social · 25/01/2026

#GLP-1 started as a diabetes drug and NOW redefining how we think about chronic disease! GLP-1 (glucagon-like peptide-1) is a gut-derived hormone released after eating that helps regulate metabolism. See GLP-1 history! Source: lnkd.in/eGUzVFb4

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Rafea Naffa @rafeanaffa.bsky.social · 10/01/2026

Magnesium is a tightly regulated ion essential for nerve signaling, energy metabolism, and cardiac function. Only ~1–2% is in blood; most is stored in bone and muscle and regulated by gut absorption and the kidneys. Magtein is a bioavailable #Magnesium shown to elevate magnesium levels in the brain.

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Rafea Naffa @rafeanaffa.bsky.social · 07/01/2026

Understand your nervous system to make smarter dietary choices. Magnesium is essential for neuronal health, but bioavailability and tissue delivery matter. Magensium supports cognition, energy, sleep quality, and general wellness.

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Rafea Naffa @rafeanaffa.bsky.social · 06/01/2026

Sleep quality is regulated by circadian biology, light exposure, thermoregulation, and sleep pressure accumulated across the day. Magtein at 1g or 2g is clinically tested depending on your weight and need. *Magtein Dose of 145mg shown in the infographic is for elemental magnesium in the 2g Magtein

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Rafea Naffa @rafeanaffa.bsky.social · 06/01/2026

I would like to call it! "The Tug-of-War in You: Enzymatic vs. Non-Enzymatic Collagen Crosslinks" I did my PhD on collagen crosslinks more than a decade ago. It is clear that collagen biology is far more complex and still evolving.

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Rafea Naffa @rafeanaffa.bsky.social · 19/07/2025

Aspartame in diet drinks may worsen artery disease by triggering insulin spikes and vessel inflammation that speed up plaque buildup. In animals, blocking this stopped the damage. Aspartame may raise heart disease risks. doi.org/10.1016/j.cm... #Aspartame #dietcoke #insulin

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Rafea Naffa @rafeanaffa.bsky.social · 13/07/2025

One of the most interesting projects I have ever worked on was the analysis of ostrich and deer antler collagen analysing their amino acid profiles, protein content, and natural crosslinks (unpublished work). #scienceisawesome #collagen #ostrich

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Rafea Naffa @rafeanaffa.bsky.social · 18/02/2025

This one of my work remains close to my heart. We labeled then measured crosslinks in collagen, using LC-HRMS and SANS. We were the first to isotopically label with sodium borodeuteride and detected HHMD, confirming its single-bond structure. jlse.springeropen.com/articles/10....

jlse.springeropen.com

Quantitative and structural analysis of isotopically labelled natural crosslinks in type I skin collagen using LC-HRMS and SANS - Collagen and Leather

Abstract Collagen structure in biological tissues imparts its intrinsic physical properties by the formation of several covalent crosslinks. For the first time, two major crosslinks in the skin dihydr...

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Rafea Naffa @rafeanaffa.bsky.social · 28/01/2025

Bluesky is an excellent platform for connecting scientists, and I hope it continues to grow and stay on this positive trajectory. It’s a social media platform that focuses on showing you what you want to see, filtering out all the unnecessary clutter. go.nature.com/40N3oEf

go.nature.com

Bluesky’s science takeover: 70% of Nature poll respondents use platform

Roughly 6,000 readers answered our poll, with many declaring that Bluesky was nicer, kinder and less antagonistic to science than X.

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Rafea Naffa @rafeanaffa.bsky.social · 20/12/2024

I wanted to end 2024 with these cool Transmission electron microscopy images from my PhD research on raw skin tissue! Can anyone guess what this structure might be? #collagen #skinscience

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