Jonathan Ostrem

China’s Biotech Advances Threaten U.S. Dominance, Warns Congressional Report Congress should invest at least $15 billion to support biotech research over the next five years and take other steps to bolster manufacturing in the U.S., the report said.

This!!! I hope someone in Washington is listening

www.wsj.com/tech/biotech...

Structures of the PI3Kα/KRas complex on lipid bilayers reveal the molecular mechanism of PI3Kα activation PI3Kα is a potent oncogene that converts PIP2 to PIP3 at the plasma membrane upon activation by receptor tyrosine kinases and Ras GTPases. In the absence of any structures of activated PI3Kα, the mole...

Beautiful work from our colleagues in the Jura & Verba labs here @ UCSF! Cryo-EM structures of PI3Ka / KRas complex in context of lipid nanodiscs. Read on for unexpected dimers & to see how high-rez structural biology w/ the right reconstitutions can inform mechanism! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Impressive J. Med. Chem. paper by a team of Revolution Medicines around Adrian Gill and James Cregg. Development of the RAS(On) G12C inhibitor Elironrasib. Exciting to see the evolution of the warhead from disulfide via chloroacetamide and acrylamide to substituted butynamide pubs.acs.org/doi/10....

Looking forward to celebrating 80 years of federally funded science, technology and innovation @standupforscience.bsky.social SF, March 7, Civic Center, 1-3 pm 🧪 🧫 🧬

NIH ban on renewing senior scientists adds to assaults on its in-house research Policy follows firings of tenure-track scientists and suspension of training programs

Of the 4000 researchers at NIH, only 20% are tenured. They’re going to fire all the rest as their contracts come up for renewal, absolutely decimating research at the NIH. This is catastrophic, not just for Americans, but for the whole world.

www.science.org/content/arti...

Federal workers are the people doing the hard work to process veterans’ benefits, make sure our airplanes can fly safely, and protect families from the bird flu.

To all of our federal workers: I see you and I’m fighting for you.

NIH ban on renewing senior scientists adds to assaults on its in-house research Policy follows firings of tenure-track scientists and suspension of training programs

More tragic news about NIH and NIH science. Grant system is frozen and intramural program is being slashed. All will claw back on treatments and cures for cancer and other human diseases. This can’t be what the public wants. 🧪 www.science.org/content/arti...

NIH ban on renewing senior scientists adds to assaults on its in-house research Policy follows firings of tenure-track scientists and suspension of training programs

www.science.org/content/arti...

NIH is again throttling research funding in defiance of a federal court order A freeze on "new and continuation awards" will "remain in place" pending DEI review, states a new internal memo.

Despite court order, NIH grants remain frozen. Newly awarded grants, grants with fundable scores, & funds for a new budget cycle of a current project are all *FROZEN*🥶 and not being released. US research is being choked to death & is on life support right now www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

'Devastating': DOGE cuts reportedly put cancer-stricken kindergartner's life at risk A Michigan kindergartner's family is relying on experimental treatments and research courtesy of the National Institutes of Health to fight his extremely rare form of cancer — and that treatment could...

"There’s no real answers."

A thread. Things are bad. But we’ve already lost if they smother the passion & joy we have for science. So here’s a proposal: if you’re a biologist in any way impacted by *exasperated wave* & want to chat, drop me an e-mail at myfirst.mylast[at]ucsf.edu. Let’s schedule a 30min chat about [...] (1/n)

NIH funding at @UMich supports important medical research, such as extending the life of organs waiting for transplant, advancing treatments for cerebral palsy, and sustaining experimental genetic trials for children with brain cancer.

Stand Up for Science rallies will be held in DC and state capitals on March 7th. Share with friends. Sign-up here to get email updates with details: www.eventbrite.com/e/stand-up-f...

Stand Up And Be Counted

Biopharma companies and CEOs are keeping their heads down at their own peril. They should speak up about what’s happening to the NIH and other science agencies before it’s too late.

Silence gives consent. And no one should consent to this.

Trump maintains funding freeze at NIH, defying court order The Trump administration is still prohibiting National Institutes of Health (NIH) staff from issuing virtually all grant funding, an NIH official tells Popular Information.

popular.info/p/trump-main...

Molecular basis of proton sensing by G protein-coupled receptors Howard et al. combine mechanistic deep mutational scanning, cryo-EM, and constant-pH molecular dynamics simulations to provide a holistic view of proton activation in human pH-sensitive GPCRs.

Congrats @willowcoyote.bsky.social @amanglik.bsky.social and all authors on a tour de force dissection of proton-sensing by GPCRs! DMS, cryo-EM, MD -- it has it all! www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...

Small molecule activation of the tumor suppressor kinase LKB1 The ability to identify and target oncogenic signals has transformed clinical oncology. Drug development for targeted therapies has historically focused on the inhibition of oncogenic kinases and GTPa...

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... Activating the tumor suppressor LKB1 through STRAD binding small molecules. Glad we got to help out on this exciting approach from John Gordan’s lab.