RJ Mackenzie

Diet change could make brain cancer easier to treat, early study hints A new lab study exploited a unique aspect of metabolism in glioblastoma to boost the effectiveness of chemoradiation, turning the cancer's properties against itself.

Modern cancer therapies assail tumors from as many different angles as possible. New research exploits these cells' warped metabolism. A relatively simple dietary change could help out. My latest in @livescience.com www.livescience.com/health/cance...

In 1987, the editor of @science.org, Dan Koshland, wrote: "99.9999 percent of reports are accurate and truthful."

www.science.org/doi/pdf/10.1...

In 2025, editor Holden Thorp writes: "Sluggishness and defensiveness enabled an executive order on research integrity." www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

‘Fear extinction’ signal in mouse brain offers clues about how to treat PTSD Mechanism involving neurons that stimulate fear, and ones that suppress it, could help to explain conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder.

Researchers have discovered a signal that tells the brain it's time to forget being afraid - and I wrote about it for @nature.com here: www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Genuinely astonished at this decision. It makes no sense at all. My love and unwavering support go out to every trans person in the UK facing uncertainty, fear and exclusion as a result of this. As far as I can tell we just deliberately created an anomaly in law to satisfy transphobes. But it won't.

Harvard’s Decision to Resist Trump Is ‘of Momentous Significance’ (Gift Article) But a fight with the nation’s oldest, richest and most elite university is a battle that President Trump and his powerful aide, Stephen Miller, want to have.

Harvard’s Decision to Resist Trump Is ‘of Momentous Significance’

“This should be the turning point in the president’s rampage against American institutions.”

#GiftLink

www.nytimes.com/2025/04/14/u...

More microglia writing from me over at @thetransmitter.bsky.social. This time with videos! www.thetransmitter.org/microglia/vi...

To Fuel Their Growth, Cancer Cells Hijack Neurons The Brain Prize 2025 went to neuro-oncologists Michelle Monje and Frank Winkler for pioneering the field of cancer neuroscience.

I wrote about the glioblastoma research that won Frank Winkler and @michellemonje.bsky.social the #BrainPrize2025. I hadn't realised before writing this what huge barriers we face towards curing brain cancer. Here's hoping this kind of ambitious work can help: www.the-scientist.com/to-fuel-thei...

Public service announcement. They are not Dire Wolves. They have 20 single letter changes in their entire genomes. I’ve done shits with more mutations.

Every time journalists write up a Colossus press release, They are making people stupider. Client journalism by a ridiculous company.

Resurrected ancient enzyme could transform gene editing An enzyme reconstructed from a three-billion-year-old bacterium widens gene editing capabilities to even more regions of the genome.

#bioGUNE_News | @rjmsci.bsky.social's first article during his stay via @frontiersmedia.bsky.social @erc.europa.eu program is out!

Published in #DrugDiscovNews, it explores how resurrected ancient enzyme could transform gene editing - work from #SynBioLab!

www.drugdiscoverynews.com/resurrected-...

Resurrected ancient enzyme could transform gene editing An enzyme reconstructed from a three-billion-year-old bacterium widens gene editing capabilities to even more regions of the genome.

Here's the first story from my recent ERC FRONTIERS fellowship. It's expanding the scope of gene-editing tools like CRISPR to help treat genetic diseases currently beyond these tools' scope. As one researcher put it, the goal is "reaching the unreachable": www.drugdiscoverynews.com/resurrected-...

Your reminder that legislation to curb the rights of trans people to use restrooms or do anything else means everyone's behaviour, clothing etc will be opened up to intrusive and unwanted scrutiny and potential challenge in our daily lives. This is not a 'them' issue. Trans rights are human rights.

“A Second Chance at Life”: Can Gene Therapies Beat Rare Disease? A revolutionary gene therapy has become a transformative treatment for children with metachromatic leukodystrophy (MLD). But substantial barriers to access for this groundbreaking therapy remain.

I'm writing up the stories from my fellowship and will be able to share them with you soon, but for now, please take a look at this feature I wrote about rare disease a couple of years back: www.technologynetworks.com/biopharma/ar...

It's rare disease day! Rare diseases were the focus of my recent fellowship. It's an area I feel so excited about; we are taking huge steps in our understanding of these diseases, and this is bringing therapies to patients who, until recently, had to fight just to have their conditions recognized.

Final Source: Google AI
Answer: 500 million a day, or 30,000 an hour 🫠

I gave up at this point. Off to the library to find a heavy textbook.

Source 4: La Roche Posay (running low on scientific authority at this point)
Answer: Almost a million a day

Source 3: Texas A&M
Answer: 600,000 a day (this does seem pretty bloody low guys)

Source 2: American Chemical Society press release.
Answer: 500 million a day

How many skin cells do we shed every day? A short thread reflecting on what an arse it can be to find out basic facts about the human body.

Source 1: Imperial College London press release.
Answer: 5 billion a day

RFK Jr. thinks that a clinical trial should be done for the entire childhood vaccine schedule. Here’s why that will never happen.

1. You can’t do a randomized trial of something that we already know is safe and effective. There would have to be a placebo group that didn’t get vaxxed. Unethical.

Trump policies spark fears of brain drain, threatening to undermine U.S. dominance in biomedicine A torrent of Trump administration policies is alarming scientists who fear the current climate is weakening researchers’ resolve to stick with careers in academic science.

The Trump administration's cuts in science funding will likely lead to an exodus of scientific expertise, the research community warns. "That beacon of research that the US was for several decades — it’s just not going to be there.” www.statnews.com/2025/02/12/t...

FRONTIERS launches dedicated call for early-career science journalists - FRONTIERS FRONTIERS announces a new call for applications for its Science Journalism in Residency Programme, funded by the European Research Council (ERC). This third call is exclusively aimed at early-career j...

A third round of the #FRONTIERS fellowship is focusing on early-career science journalists. If you are starting out, there is no better way to understand science than by rolling up your sleeves and going into the lab - this lets you do just that. Apply apply! frontiers.media/frontiers-la...

Very proud of these journalism orgs (several of which I'm in!) noting that taking down public data sets impacts everyone. Not just us journalists, but people who NEED the data on weather, diseases, water quality. We all NEED to know this stuff! casw.org/news/journal...

"Science journalism can decode complex research, but journalists need scientists' help understanding technical topics. Working together is key to accurate reporting"
🎙️ @rjmsci.bsky.social

Ruairi Mackenzie wraps up his #FRONTIERSResidency at @cicbiogune.bsky.social

🔗 bit.ly/ruairiinterv...

Mind-boggling wreckage. Among the lifesaving programs now disrupted by Elon’s attack on @USAID: phase 1 trials for a possible HIV vaccine.

#RuairiTakeover
In my last day taking over this account, I wanted to share some snapshots from the last three months. I'll start with group leader Rosa Barrio holding up some food for the flies she studies. It's got yeast and polenta and sugar. I think you could sell it as a health shot.

World-first gene-editing treatment for blood disorders including sickle cell disease approved for use in the NHS NICE has today approved a gene-editing treatment for use with NHS patients over the age of 12 with a severe form of sickle cell disease.

Great to see another gene therapy for a #raredisease approved through the NHS. It really is the best example of how this healthcare system, with all its faults, can be incredible: www.imperial.nhs.uk/about-us/new...

#RuairiTakeover
NMR requires powerful fields generated by superconducting magnets. These magnets are kept at ultralow temperatures by liquid nitrogen and helium. Platform manager Tammo showed me how he fills huge canisters full of liquid nitrogen - see below 👀

#bioGUNE_News | 🗞️ #CICbioGUNE @brtaeus.bsky.social hosted a two-day training to strengthen science communication!

👏 A huge thanks to @rjmsci.bsky.social @frontiersmedia.bsky.social for leading the sessions!

🔗 ow.ly/7pFy50UPPAX

Looking forward to this!

My takeover of the @frontiersmedia.bsky.social account continues this week. Give it a follow to see pictures of me standing and talking and, I hope, not publicly embarrassing myself.