Cassandra Hayne

Job alert ‼️ UChicago Micro is hiring! Open to tenured/tenure track faculty at all levels in any area of microbiology. Come join our amazing and growing department. apply.interfolio.com/174404

What are people using for calling m6A from pacbio revio data? This is for analysis of fiberseq library. Any suggestions appreciated, we are newbies with m6A analysis!

This tracks.

I feel this way about cloning too. If you take the time to do the experiment correctly, you will usually succeed.

Listed are some of the many NIH research training programs that were terminated! Together, these programs supported thousands of trainees, whose careers are now in limbo. Such a great loss for discovery and innovation. We must protect our next generation of scientists!
#HandsOffNIH #ProtectScience

It bears repeating that nearly the entire US enterprise in science and technology has been irreversibly gutted. This is shocking.

All this loss has occurred without any real benefit to the average US citizen. Except we now have the biggest, best funded secret police force perhaps ever.

Yay for us!

Yes. There are a few gems that seem fairly consistent, like conicals, but most is much more.
I calculated that about 14% of our purchases are “luxury” consumables that we could acquire cheaper. Precast gels, commercial cloning (probably cheaper than in-house), premade buffers.

I’ve had a lab for less than 3yrs. In that time the costs of many science reagents have grown faster than inflation. I ordered an antibody today that I paid $383 for in 2023- today with a good promotion, I paid $467. Tariffs on top of that.
Other easy examples:
Grids are up about 30%
Gloves up 25%

Congrats!

Jay Bhattacharya in a hot dog suit. We are all looking for the people who did this

Hearing that all 27 NIH institutes have been instructed to stop using "paylines" in funding decisions starting Oct 1. Order issued in the last 48 hours.

Using paylines means scientific peer reviewers control funding decisions.
Removing them allows more political interference. 🧪
1/

A joint statement with @savehealthresearch.bsky.social on the supreme courts decision today that will pave the way for hundreds of millions of dollars in NIH grant terminations. We are heartbroken and stand with the extramural community during this devastating time.

US Supreme Court lets Trump cut diversity-related NIH grants The U.S. Supreme Court let President Donald Trump's administration on Thursday proceed with sweeping cuts to National Institutes of Health grants for research related to racial minorities or LGBT people, part of his crackdown on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives and transgender identity.

There is no solace for NIH funded researchers in this Supreme Court decision. Grants that were ripped away on dubious grounds, restored by a reasonable judge are now again terminated by an out-of-control Supreme Court. Labs will shutter, people will lose jobs. www.reuters.com/world/us/us-...

Screenshot of Essay from Martin Schwartz on 'Why would anyone want to be a scientist'. An anniversary article from The Company of Biologists published in Journal of Cell Science. The first few lines are: It is difficult to fathom why anyone intelligent enough to be a scientist would actually choose to be one. Doing good science requires the utmost exertion of body, mind and spirit, yet is consistently filled with failure and rejection. But, strange even to myself, I not only don't question the unfavorable risk-to-reward ratio but consider myself astonishingly lucky to be a scientist. There are three fundamental pleasures that have sustained me through 50 years of this madness.

Why would anyone want to be a scientist?

Check out our new Essay from Martin Schwartz: journals.biologists.com/jcs/article/...

Annnnd… hoping people actually read them.

I think a good rule of thumb is to spend at least as much time thinking about your data as you did obtaining it. It's common for people to spend a lot less time thinking than doing which gives rise to all kinds of problems.

New Notice about No-Cost Extensions...

grants.nih.gov/grants/guide...

There’s a nonzero chance you will die from a cancer that could have been curable because people who couldn’t pass 7th grade biology and are scared of things like “mRNA” and “riboflavin” and “walkable cities” decided to make their ignorance everybody else’s problem

Grant terminations have grabbed the headlines and have seen legal action, but even more damaging to the US research enterprise has been the massive decrease in number of research grants issued by federal agencies

NIH has seen a decrease of 57% in the number of awards & 63% in value compared to FY24

text in the link

A big thanks to NC Sen. Thom Tillis for being the first signature on this bipartisan letter urging the Senate to maintain a strong commitment to funding for NIH in the Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education FY 2026 Appropriations bill. Is your Senator here?
www.aamc.org/research/adh...

U.S. Scientists Warn That Trump’s Cuts Will Set Off a Brain Drain

Please share widely with friends, family, and foes. You can read it for free without a subscription. www.nytimes.com/2025/06/03/u...

*International students represent about 15% of all higher ed students.
*They subsidize US students, so expect domestic student costs to increase
*Trump complains about tariffs but he is destroying an industry where the US is a huge net exporter
www.nytimes.com/2025/05/23/u...

Excited to be headed to San Diego for my first *in person* RNA Society meeting. ☀️
Looking forward to great science and time with great scientists.
See you there #RNASociety #RNASky

NIH killed grants on orders from Elon Musk’s DOGE Court documents and internal correspondence show the cost-cutting force has broad control over the world’s largest public biomedical funder.

Who's calling the shots at NIH?

Sworn testimonies and internal e-mails reveal for the first time the breadth of DOGE's control over the world's largest public biomedical funder.

DOGE has provided lists of hundreds of grants to cut, and DOGE is now reviewing ALL NIH awards before they're released

Trump’s NIH And NSF Cuts Estimated To Cost The U.S. Economy $10 Billion Annually Economists find public R&D drives U.S. productivity growth — and pays for itself

New Forbes story about the economic consequences of science cuts.

www.forbes.com/sites/johndr...

Thoughtful and thorough analysis.

1/n

Congrats Max, Stephanie et al!

F.D.A. Poised to Restrict Access to Covid Vaccines

ICYMI: The FDA wants to restrict access to Covid vaccines, even though they are safe, effective, and have saved millions of lives. Even ppl in high-risk jobs wouldn't get access. We can push back by submitting public comments here: www.regulations.gov/commenton/FD...

www.nytimes.com/2025/05/20/h...

Thinking of this post today

A chocolate cake with red and white decorations and lit candles shaped as the number 75. Bold text reads: ‘The NSF Turns 75 Today. What has it done over the past 7 decades?’ The background is a celebratory red with a spray-paint texture.

HAPPY 75th, NSF!

We’re celebrating this milestone by highlighting some of NSF’s most transformative accomplishments—innovations that have shaped our world and continue to drive progress in health, technology, the environment, and beyond.

Read on 🧵(1/11):

I’ll bet you can enjoy it too! Fewer mosquitoes and not as hot

Resources Skip to: Some key links • Key blog pages & uploads • Posts & videos by date & topic • Key database and software links • Techniques I use a lot • Downloadable guides • Laboratory cheat sheets • Other l...

I updated the Resources page of my blog, and made it easier to find, so that you can more easily find go-to content....