Patrick McCarren

Great news!
JSTOR now have a free account with an Independent Researcher category. You can access 100 documents per month

www.jstor.org/action/showL...

Huntington's progression slowed by experimental gene therapy An experimental gene therapy slowed Huntington’s by up to 75 percent in a small clinical trial. While not a cure, it may give patients longer lives.

In reporting this piece on the new trial for a Huntington's treatment, I was struck by one thing in particular:

The joy.

One of my sources wept for joy. He has spent his entire career studying this disease, he said it was the happiest day. www.sciencenews.org/article/hunt...

Trump Is Shutting Down the War On Cancer

Powerful new article in NYT Magazine on cancer research

[Gift Link]

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/14/m...

Establishing a Fixed Time Period of Admission and an Extension of Stay Procedure for Nonimmigrant Academic Students, Exchange Visitors, and Representatives of Foreign Information Media Unlike most nonimmigrant classifications, which are admitted for a fixed time period, aliens in the F (academic student), J (exchange visitor), and most I (representatives of foreign information media...

A proposed new rule would limit international students on F1 or J1 visas to stays in the US of no longer than 4 years. This effectively means that intl. students will no longer come to graduate school here (time to PhD is 5-6 years). You can comment here:

www.federalregister.gov/documents/20...

It’s outrageous that Sec. Kennedy is trying to fire the CDC Director — after only a few weeks on the job — for her commitment to public health & vaccines.

The Sen. HELP Committee must hold a hearing with Kennedy & the CDC Director as soon as possible.

Vaccines save lives. Period.

I’m an award-winning mathematician. Trump just cut my funding. The “Mozart of Math” tried to stay out of politics. Then it came for his research.

UCLA Fields Medalist Terence Tao: "This is not a routine policy shift—it is a deliberate dismantling of the institutions, funding, and freedoms that have sustained American science for generations." newsletter.ofthebrave.org/p/im-an-awar... 🧪

Watching this video 10 times has significantly improved my mood.

YouTube video by Amanpour and Company Breakthrough Prize-Winning Biochemist on the Deadly Cost of Funding Cuts | Amanpour and Company

David Liu @harvard.edu beautifully articulates the criticality of basic science funding for developing revolutionary therapeutics like life-saving base editors 👏

youtu.be/8YhJM6zxYDw?...

Nothing says "we're the party of small government that's trying to stamp out government waste" like having US Attorneys investigate the editorial practices of academic journals read by a few thousand people.

Before you meet @francesarnold.bsky.social at #ACSSpring2025, read my profile of her in @cenmag.bsky.social

cen.acs.org/people/award...

Meet Gracie Himes, age 20.

Her goal: Fight cancer by developing new medicines.

On March 3, her dreams were shattered when Trump admin cuts hit West Virginia University, which rescinded her PhD program offer.

www.wsj.com/us-news/educ...

Pfizer readies its next-generation COVID-19 antiviral A few key molecular tweaks help ibuzatrelvir overcome Paxlovid’s drawbacks

I got to write about ibuzatrelvir (aka Paxlovid 2.0) for this week's issue of @cenmag.bsky.social, in which my colleagues and I contemplate chemistry and the next 5 years of COVID-19. My story is linked here, but I recommend you read the whole package.
cen.acs.org/pharmaceutic...

🧪

USDA eliminates two food safety advisory committees The U.S. Department of Agriculture has eliminated two committees that advise it on food safety, the agency said on Friday, raising concerns about government oversight of the food supply as the Trump administration seeks to downsize the federal bureaucracy and slash costs.

USDA has eliminated two food safety advisory committees for microbiological contamination and meat inspection. Most recently, they had been reviewing regulatory approaches in response to the fatal Listeria outbreak from Boar’s Head meats and fatal Cronobacter contamination in powdered infant formula

Trump Announces ‘Crypto Strategic Reserve’—Here’s What To Know Cryptocurrency prices soared Sunday in the wake of Trump’s announcement.

There’s not enough money to fund cancer research, but there is enough money to stockpile crypto…

www.forbes.com/sites/alison...

This is terrifying.

So - I've actually led Ebola outbreak response at USAID.

This is bunk from Elon. They have laid off most of the experts, they're bankrupting most of the partner orgs, have withdrawn from WHO, and muzzled CDC.

What's left is a fig-leaf effort to cover their asses politically.

The most shameful betrayal of an ally by a U.S. President in modern history.

Three years ago today, Putin's tanks rolled into Ukraine, and Russian aircraft began bombing the country.

Trump is lying. Russia started the war, not Ukraine.

Putin is a dictator, not Zelensky.

Looks like tomorrow will bring votes on a Republican plan to fund tax cuts for the rich by slashing Medicaid.

So this is a great time to contact your Member of Congress.

Judge Blocks Elon Musk’s DOGE Team From Education Department’s Student Loan Databases The American Federation of Teachers, a union representing more than 1.8 million educators, had sued to keep members of Mr. Musk’s government efficiency team out of the Education Department’s systems.

A federal judge granted a temporary restraining order on Monday blocking the Education Department and the Office of Personnel Management from disclosing sensitive data to members of Elon Musk’s team and anyone assisting them.

🚨 Many NSF-funded Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REUs) are being cancelled for Summer 2025.

www.reddit.com/r/REU/commen...

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Thank you @nplb.bsky.social for speaking out in defense of patients, the US economy and our citizenship. Encouraged to see biopharma and investors among patients, health care providers, scientists and policy makers.

www.nopatientleftbehind.org/defending-th...

Trump expected to take control of USPS, fire postal board, officials say The move threatens to upend trillions of dollars in ecommerce business and the 250 year-old Postal Service.

📬🚨 HUGE NEWS 📬🚨

Trump plans to fire the USPS governing board, merge the Postal Service into the Commerce Department.

It would disrupt 55 years of non-political mail service, and threatens to upend trillions of dollars of ecommerce and the 250 year-old US mail system.

Were you fired by President Trump? | House Committee on Science, Space and Technology The House Committee on Science, Space and Technology

The Democrats on the House Science Committee have set up a website to collect stories from fired federal employees, anonymously if desired democrats-science.house.gov/sciencefirings

I expect that most academic biomedical researchers have considered leaving the US—if only in theory for now. What a colossal mess! Our representatives need to hear this. Please amplify so they know this matters. @levin.house.gov @repscottpeters.bsky.social @schiff.senate.gov @padilla.senate.gov

The new signs bringing greater understanding to organic chemistry Rebecca Trager speaks to a US team developing a sign language lexicon for chemistry concepts that combines form with meaning to make the field more accessible for everyone

How interesting- I never thought about this