Matt Watson

Evaluating AI-Assisted Customer Verification for Synthetic Nucleic Acid Screening.

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

A titan of vaccine development sees his field’s achievements slip away Stanley Plotkin, the 93-year-old "godfather of vaccines," is watching his field’s achievements slip away.

"All I can say is that I’m beginning to regret having lived so long — because we’re going downhill"

www.statnews.com/2026/03/02/s...

Measles outbreaks are costing the U.S. millions of dollars. The true losses can't be counted. As vaccination rates decline, the economic consequences will increase, research suggests.

If measles vaccination rates continue to drop just 1% annually for the next five years, the cost to the U.S. could reach $1.5 billion a year, according to a new report from the Yale School of Public Health.

Defense Industrial Base:
DOD Efforts to Develop Domestic Biomanufacturing.

www.gao.gov/products/gao...

I… I need a minute.

Johns Hopkins H5N1 Influenza Preparedness & Response Forum Join us at Johns Hopkins for a hands-on forum on tackling H5N1 flu outbreaks and response strategies!

On March 3 in DC, join us for the Johns Hopkins H5N1 Influenza Preparedness & Response Forum! H5N1 is already threatening livestock and poultry, but if it gains sustained human-to-human transmission, challenges will escalate quickly. We have to plan, now.

www.eventbrite.com/e/johns-hopk...

What is… AMAZING!

COVID’s origins: what we do and don’t know Researchers summarize key insights from the world’s first comprehensive investigation into how a pandemic started.

After nearly 3.5 years of deliberations, researchers concluded their independent assessment of the origin of the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2

go.nature.com/4qUxijx

WTF?

Useful, as always.

“These latest findings once again underline the need to hold Russia accountable for its repeated violations of the Chemical Weapons Convention and, in this instance, the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention.”

This was my question as well.

Joint Statement by the UK, Sweden, France, Germany and The Netherlands on Alexei Navalny's death Joint Statement by the UK, Sweden, France, Germany and The Netherlands on Alexei Navalny's death.

Joint Statement by the UK, Sweden, France, Germany and The Netherlands on Alexei Navalny's death

www.gov.uk/government/n...

Russia killed Alexei Navalny with frog toxin, UK and allies say Former opposition leader’s death while in Arctic jail at age of 47 result of mixture of diseases, according to Moscow The Foreign Office has blamed the Russian state for the death of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, which it said was the result of poisoning from a dart containing frog toxin. The frog poison – called epibatidine – is said to have been used when Navalny, 47, died suddenly on 16 February 2024. Continue reading...

Russia killed Alexei Navalny with frog toxin, UK and allies say

Exclusive: Key US infectious-diseases centre to drop pandemic preparation Staff members have been instructed to scrub this topic and ‘biodefense’ from the agency’s website.

Exclusive: Key US infectious-diseases centre to drop pandemic preparation
Staff members have been instructed to scrub this topic and ‘biodefense’ from the agency’s website.
www.nature.com/articles/d41...

The TAK-003 story: key decisions that shaped development of a tetravalent dengue vaccine - npj Vaccines npj Vaccines - The TAK-003 story: key decisions that shaped development of a tetravalent dengue vaccine

The TAK-003 story: key decisions that shaped development of a tetravalent dengue vaccine

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Moderna are being very careful in their responses about next steps here but given the likely arbitrariness and unreasonableness of an outright refusal to file (let alone the economic impacts), I expect they will appeal, with a range of options available: trendspotting.sidley.com/trends/fda

FDA declines to review Moderna application for new flu vaccine Moderna requests meeting to discuss refusal as decision could have implications for all new and updated vaccines

NEW: The FDA just shot down Moderna's new flu shot. From me:
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

A chance to learn from the best in the business.

Macbeth: SHIT

An oral history of the Fed’s Covid-19 crisis We read a bajillion pages of transcripts so you don’t have to (unless you really want to, of course)

FT: An oral history of the Fed’s Covid-19 crisis

www.ft.com/content/cb9a...

We commend Senators Tom Cotton & Amy Klobuchar for intro legislation to est. a fed biosecurity framework. "This bill sets the U.S. on a path to continue its global leadership in biotech innovation, while enhancing our national resilience to emerging biological risks" said @t-inglesby.bsky.social.

Once had privilege of listening to Ian McKellen perform at Oxford. Seemed timely then - even more so now.

Kennedy Scales Back the Number of Vaccines Recommended for Children

BREAKING: Federal health officials on Monday announced dramatic revisions to the slate of vaccines recommended for American children, reducing the number of diseases prevented by routine shots to 11 from 17.

www.nytimes.com/2026/01/05/h...

JID: A BEACON for novel disease threats: Leveraging AI for informal event-based outbreak surveillance

Nahid Bhadelia et al bit.ly/4joYsNd @bhadeliamd.bsky.social

The U.S. will very likely lose its measles-elimination status, and Americans will have to confront how difficult this virus can be to control, Katherine J. Wu reports: theatln.tc/bZcb1Wmr

What a haul.

Private Equity Finds a New Source of Profit: Volunteer Fire Departments Rural departments have long relied on cheap software solutions to keep their operations running. But fire chiefs report sharp price increases as investors have entered the market.

Private equity must be stopped.

www.nytimes.com/2025/12/14/u...

Jailed for gene-editing, a notorious scientist is not done yet He Jiankui’s experiment with human embryos caused global outrage. Can he make an unlikely comeback?

Jailed for gene-editing, a notorious scientist is not done yet

www.ft.com/content/1399...

He told them to put the whiskey in the jar