ChemKritzer

just got my summary statement 😭😭

and as I gear up to write a MIRA (re)submission, I'm trying to INTERNALIZE this thread:
more declarative statements, less hedging
more leading w/ conclusions, less leading w/ data
more broad and expansive language, less narrow language

maybe it'll work? 🤷🏽‍♀️

a headshot of David Botstein

We are deeply saddened to share the news of the passing of David Botstein, a towering figure in modern #genetics and a foundational force behind SGD.
www.yeastgenome.org/blog/in-memo... #yeast #modelOrganism

blue and black ink painting of a black hole

I was gonna show you anyway. This is most of my new body of work, called Forces of Nature, going on exhibit soon at @hhmijanelia.bsky.social #sciart

Black Hole, Ink on Yupo, 2026

A cellular basis for the mammalian nocturnal-diurnal switch Early mammals were nocturnal while dinosaurs dominated the daytime. Mammalian transition to daytime activity accelerated after the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction, but the underlying mechanisms remain...

Since I moved to @mrclmb.bsky.social I’ve been trying to answer this: Why are some mammals active at night and others in the day? Today our answer is out @science.org www.science.org/doi/10.1126/....
If you’re interested in circadian biology, evolution or how timing shapes physiology, take a look

The impact is already hitting science agencies hard. The NIH—the world's largest public biomedical research funder—has had to rely on leftover stopgap funds.

New grant awards have slowed to a trickle — exacerbating the effects of a record-long shutdown in October.

(h/t @jeremymberg.bsky.social)

Made a short video as a response. 3 questions remain for me.

1) What is the definition of a "DEl activity," and how is it being communicated to NIH staff so they can determine whether a grant qualifies?

(Continued below)

Biological Laboratory | LEGO® Ideas This is a two-floor realistic Biological Laboratory building. In this design, I try to tell stories about biologists, introduce biology concepts to general publ…

I just made an account and voted for this biology laboratory made of LEGO to "promote biological research and inspire more people into the world of biology". They need 10K votes. Reposting and/or voting below would be helpful. 🤗
beta.ideas.lego.com/product-idea...

A line graph showing NSF grant awards made through 2/27/26 for fiscal year 2026 compared with grant awards for fiscal years 2021-2025.

NSF Update (Awards through 2/27/26)

Directorates to follow

1/10

A children's hospital is renamed for Dolly Parton and hopes to transform pediatric care in Tennessee Dolly Parton’s name might inspire full-throated sing-a-longs to her working woman’s anthem “9 to 5,” or evoke memories of thrilling days spent at her Dollywood theme park.

“Dolly Parton Children’s Hospital did not share how much Parton donated as part of the naming announcement. But Matt Schaefer, its president and CEO, said her support would ensure ‘every child who walks through our doors receives the treatment they deserve.’”

GOD BLESS DOLLY PARTON

I know this feels pointless but everyone has to call their congressional reps and say they oppose war with Iran and they oppose Trump illegally starting one without congressional approval — both

5 Calls can help you make the call:

5calls.org/issue/iran-i...

Respectfully, senior scientists need to stop saying what worked for me will work for you. It is a bad take.

This week's cover @thelancet.com

White House stalls release of approved US science budgets The US Congress rejected sweeping cuts to science agencies. But the NIH, the NSF and NASA have had their spending slowed.

Congress rejected massive cuts to US science budgets for 2026, but much of the money still isn’t flowing to researchers.

The culprit? The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is quietly slow-walking the release of funds. 🧵👇

NSF officials break silence on how AI and quantum now drive agency grantmaking Leaders acknowledge White House role in controversial moves

The National Science Foundation is systematically being converted to the National AI and Quantum Research Foundation.

“I see it as the administration exerting political control over what has traditionally been NSF’s ability to fund the best science.”

Next-generation multicolor indicators for in vivo imaging of norepinephrine - Nature Methods Improved red and green indicators for norepinephrine and their characterization are reported. These indicators allow detection of norepinephrine release in awake behaving mice in dual-color fiber phot...

The most sensitive green and red #norepinephrine #sensors engineered to date are out in #naturemethods! Deeply grateful to all our funders and contributors who made this work possible. A true team effort. @erc.europa.eu @snsf.ch doi.org/10.1038/s415...

Nobel chemistry laureate Frances Arnold: ‘Whole swaths of science are just going to die on the vine’ The Caltech professor on using AI to harness the power of enzymes — and what US funding cuts could mean for research

Frances Arnold, a Nobel laureate (2018) in Chemistry says that the current administration is interested only in a limited range of topics such as AI & biotechnology.

“There’s whole swaths of science that are just going to die on the vine.”

Science is multidisciplinary.
🧪 archive.today/4qgez

Oppose Nomination of Casey Means for Surgeon General The Senate HELP Committee is scheduled to hold a hearing on the nomination of Casey Means to serve as U.S. Surgeon General on Wednesday, February 25th. While we were hoping this nomination was dead, i...

Still time to write to your Senators (and get your friends to do the same). Casey Means is a charlatan with dangerous views on contraception, raw milk, vaccines and has a whole lot of conflict of interest--she's making money off it all. Just say no to the quack. actionnetwork.org/letters/oppo...

Scientists: for a new story, I have one big question—>

What is a “good day” in the lab?

I’m looking for epic examples of the best day ever to general criteria for what constitutes a “good day” compared to a nothing-burger day.

Ping me if you have examples to share!

Re-posts appreciated!

1/New preprint just dropped! 🔥🔥 We investigate how the genome is destroyed in apoptotic cells in a way that prevents DNA fragments from spreading beyond the dying cell 🧬⚰

Done here at @imbavienna.bsky.social & in the super @rcollepardo.bsky.social & Rosen labs:

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

no worries, this is fun :)

Pauling

JOC 1
Inorg Chem 0
Anal Chem 2
J Phys Chem 3
Biochem 0

Lipscomb (great suggestion!!)
JOC 3
Inorg Chem 1
Anal Chem 1
J Phys Chem 5 (was that before A/B/C?)
Biochem 25

Lipscomb has an ACS Slam!!!

Jacobsen
JOC 20
Inorg Chem 0
Anal Chem 0
J Phys Chem 0
Biochem 0

Sharpless
JOC 73
Inorg Chem 3
Anal Chem 0
J Phys Chem 0
Biochem 1

Grubbs

JOC 23
Inorg Chem 5
Anal Chem 4
J Phys Chem B 1
Biochem 0

Hartwig

JOC 15
Inorg Chem 1
Anal Chem 0
J Phys Chem 0
Biochem 1

Buchwald
JOC 63
Inorg Chem 0 (!! they must all be in JACS)
Anal Chem 0
J Phys Chem B 0
Biochem 0

A stupid meme

Holden Thorp’s slides from a recent talk.

The fundamental flaw with @holdenthorp.bsky.social’s argument is thinking that organizations and people can only do one thing at a time (even though he is really close to acknowledging it!)

Let’s break it down, bc I’m tired of this. 🧵

(cred: @ianlmorgan.bsky.social)

Now that data is out (which still doesn’t capture the whole picture), can you please stop telling ESI’s, etc. not to worry about grants because there haven’t really been any major changes? Please and thank you.

See above, Whitesides yes (twice over!) but Anslyn no. Other suggestions?

Snow day! Good time for a question for #chemsky #chemchat

Entertainment has the EGOT.
Tennis has the Grand Slam.

Are there any chemists who have published in each of these ACS journals?
- J Org Chem
- Inorg Chem
- Anal Chem
- J Phys Chem A/B/C
- Biochemistry

Houk:

JOC 231
Inorg Chem 6
Anal Chem 0
J Phys Chem A 25 B 6 C 3
Biochem 5

Bertozzi:

JOC 9
Inorg Chem 0
Anal Chem 2
J Phys Chem B 1
Biochem 20