Charles LeDuc

I thought the Dunkin’ ad was so clearly going to be the worst ad only to have the coinbase ad immediately try to dethrone it.

The message that should be spread is: if you are a real Trump fan, you should write in Trump’s name. By directly voting for him you are sending a message to MTG that she stabbed him in the back and you are a true MAGA patriot.

The NYTimes framing is negligent. “Appear to contradict accounts”
Either the editor or writer is a fascist or at least ok with fascism. Put on your big boy pants and write “Video evidence directly contradicts the official lies issued by DHS”. Let them sue. Counter-sue.

The Minnesota shooting today is unconscionable. ICE needs to be disbanded and the criminals that compose it need to be prosecuted. Are you a Republican or a Nazi? Every elected quisling should be shunned from society for all time.

I really like Moskowitz but his sartorial choice today was odd. It reminded me of My Cousin Vinny. Did Chair Comer complain about his not wearing the appropriate clothes and he have to go to a second hand clothes store?

“Even if you're a U.S. citizen, always carry your identification papers with you.”

I adamantly disagree. If I get stopped, I will show them nothing. If they arrest me, it just clogs up the system and I have a nice lawsuit.
As a 58 yo white man, this is the least I can do.

Sign being changed to “The Donald J. Trump and the John f Kennedy memorial center for the performing arts.”

He knows what ‘memorial’ means, right?

Still not medical advice. (I am an obesity researcher, not a medical doctor). 15 mg Mounjaro is the high dose. While not equivalent (slightly different drugs so the doses don’t make a lot of sense) 2.4 mg Wegovy is the high dose. I would expect your dose to rise and that should stop the hunger.

Not medical advice. As you increase the dose the hunger should get better. (At higher doses some people experience more nausea with wegovy at the same glp1 dose).

When they screened BCL11A by saturating mutagenesis of the enhancer regions, they found one location that dictated fetal hemoglobin production. This led to a treatment. By taking a patients own stem cells, editing this region, and reintroducing it they have a cure. Vernon would be proud. End

Stuart Orkin took a mouse that had human scd and selectively knocked out BCL11A in specific cell lineages that make red blood cells. The mice were essentially cured. (BCL11A is a transcription factor and has many functions. People with half of the normal BCL11A have neural problems.) 4/?

So how do you turn on fetal hemoglobin (it and adult are on the same transcript, so turning up one turns down the other)? A GWAS study looking for genetic commonality among people who had high levels fetal hemoglobin as adults found a target, BCL11A. (3/?)

Scd babies are born healthy and the disease only manifests after 5 to 6 months. (Observed in 1948). That is because fetal hemoglobin dominates until birth and is replaced with adult hemoglobin. (Fetal doesn’t completely go away. Most adults have about 1%fetal vs adult hemoglobin). (2/?)

Genetic medicine is changing everything. Sickle cell disease is an example. Interesting (maybe only to me) scd is caused by a mutation in the 6th amino acid in the adult (beta globin) hemoglobin gene. This was determined IN 1956 by Vernon Ingram! (1/?)

Genetics prof here. It pretty much is. But there are many genetic medical advances in the last 20 years. Cystic fibrosis has basically been cured. Base and Prime editing are huge advances over Crispr. Sequencing is now trivial. We can even now sequence individual cells and find somatic mutations.

I will tell you again #Bernie was too old.
You can’t prospectively tell who will age like Bernie or like Biden. The stress a competent president is under is overwhelming. No guarantees Bernie would be the same if he had had that stress. I don’t think anyone over 65 should be president.

Off topic but “The Eighth Day of Creation” is a master work. Back on topic, Watson was an ass.

Upsetting. I was riding the elevator today at work (Harvard Medical school). There was a Swiss post doc explaining to a coworker that he had solved his funding worries (got a prestigious European grant) but that it didn’t solve his other problem. Being in a country that did not want him.

Not lying, but I know the difference. I have a first cousin. His son is my first cousin once removed. My son and my cousins son are second cousins.
(Granted, I am a geneticist, so not typical. Your overriding point is valid, few know this.)

I don’t understand why AOC, Crocket, and others he has insulted with the low IQ tag don’t challenge him to a live broadcast IQ test with proceeds going to charity of winners choice. Challenge him repeatedly and publicly. Either we find out his IQ or that he is all bluster.

Call me crazy. I would prefer to pay for universal healthcare that I do not use. I would rather not be one of the lucky people that has cancer, has a child with a genetic condition, needs a heart transplant, or has a stroke and gets back more than they pay in. I suppose it sucks to be healthy.

Macleod (and Banting) were physicians. Macleod thought that receiving any money for the discovery was unethical so he refused the $1 payment.

I hate to be that guy, but Best did not win the prize. It was Banting and Macleod. Banting hated Macleod so he said he would share his half of the prize with Best (a student that did the experiments with him). Macleod shared his with Collip (person who purified the slop that Banting was using).

Fantastic talk at #ashg25 by @laurenctesta.bsky.social on gene editing in PXE. True treatment for rare genetic disorders are coming.

At #ashg. I have heard Francis Collins several times in the past. He is always measured (also brilliant). He seems fired up. Suggests that everyone write their local congress people and tell them how important research is. Especially stories where research has directly helped them.

Wendy Chung was just announced as the winner of the 2026 Mary Ellen Avery Neonatal Research award.

www.societyforpediatricresearch.org/2026-mary-el...

Transmission from mother (many people with hep b are asymptomatic and don’t know they have it) is largely prevented if given at birth. Having hep b at birth leads to a 25% lifetime risk of liver cancer. Get your child vaccinated.

There is ongoing litigation trying to tie acetaminophen to autism. IMO this is a frivolous suit. Wisner Baum is one of the firms involved. Surprise surprise. Conor Kennedy (RFKjr’s son) works for Wisner Baum.

Bill Cassidy is a smart guy. I think he genuinely wants a healthy country. I just think he is scared of Trump. He needs to end the RFKjr experiment. Come out strongly against him. Force his fellow republicans to vote on removal. Make him resign. You can’t have hhs fire someone for talking to you.

For a science reporter. I would like someone to look up the American medical Nobel prize winners. Get grant scores for projects that eventually won the prize (not post work grants). My suspicion is that few would have been at the 4% cutline. True advances can come from anywhere. Fund science.