Bob Darnell

Congratulations to Princeton's Tom Muir, one of the most creative and thoughtful scientists I know, for being awarded the BMS Enzyme Chemistry & Chemical Biology Award chemistry.princeton.edu/news/tom-mui...

An entirely unnecessary fold. Adding “this celebration is open to everyone” - as we have done for all affinity events and celebrations at Princeton - makes these events legal.

Congratulations Tanino! ... but you are not a geriatric :)

Thanks for posting a path to directly "chat" with Jay Bhattacharya-encouraging everyone to submit comments/questions!

Here is mine: "A Physician's credo is to do no harm. Either step up and be a Physician, stop ripping apart the efforts of so many to do good, or look in the mirror and step down."

Went for a walk to Central Park, New York and ran into a massive protest. Decided to join and document. Thousands of marchers were protesting everything the Trump administration and his supporters represent, walking around Trump Tower and then onto the park. I post the messages that resonated most.

Massive protest in New York against the current administration.

Shout out to @asiepel.bsky.social and his team for their extremely thoughtful collaboration, helping us solidify findings of human-specific NOVA1 variants-RNA regulation's contribution to the origin and contribution to human vocalization -- either I missed your original handle or welcome to Bluesky!

Thank you Mai

You also shone with your insightful work & beautiful presentation 😊

Nice to be able to some of my Social sensibility @ an #RNA symposium!

The PG version of my socks underscore my deep belief that Hate will Lose (& heartfelt thanks to @jenjennings.bsky.social for the Social Socks)!

Trump administration at ‘war’ with mRNA technology: scientists alarmed vaccine skeptics could kill research Public health experts are sounding the alarm over recent move by the NIH to collect information about funding for research into mRNA technology

Attending a March for mRNA wasn’t on my lifetime bingo card, but at this point… it feels like it needs to happen.

@darnelr.bsky.social @adarnell.bsky.social

Nobel laureate: I owe America my success. Today, its scientific future is in danger | CNN Dr. Ardem Patapoutian says he watches “with deep sadness as the United States’ remarkable scientific enterprise, which took generations of hard work and national investment to build, faces a concerted...

Can't help but be proud of the outspoken wisdom and bravery of the amazing Nobel Laureate @ardemp.bskyverified.social

... a role model for scientists everywhere

www.cnn.com/2025/04/09/h...

Orange muppet shouting out for inseparability of science and truth

Study implicates 60 genes in congenital heart disease, including some that also contribute to related disorders such as autism - News Congenital heart disease (CHD) is one of the most common birth defects, but the full extent of its genetic underpinnings has been a mystery. Now, a new study of more than 11,000 children with CHD iden...

A study from Richard Lifton and @yale.edu colleagues in @pnas.org finds that a mix of inherited and de novo mutations in 60 genes contribute to 10% of congenital heart disease cases. Many of the same mutations also contribute to neurodevelopmental disorders.

Scientists Say NIH Officials Told Them To Scrub mRNA References on Grants - KFF Health News Two senior scientists say National Institutes of Health officials advised them to remove references to mRNA vaccines in grant applications, and they fear the Trump administration will abandon a promis...

Scrubbing #mRNA from grant proposals is a five-alarm fire. Thanks to pioneers including @drewweissmanlab.bsky.social & Kariko, millions of lives have already been saved.

Silencing mRNA research now would be a catastrophic step backward.

@erictopol.bsky.social @carlbergstrom.com @carlzimmer.com

Scientists Say NIH Officials Told Them To Scrub mRNA References on Grants - KFF Health News Two senior scientists say National Institutes of Health officials advised them to remove references to mRNA vaccines in grant applications, and they fear the Trump administration will abandon a promis...

My husband studies mRNA, so it’s time for a rebrand: Republican Nucleic Acid. It's going to be tremendous. Just incredible, believe me. Everybody's talking about it. The best nucleic acid, maybe ever.

From 2010 to 2016 (latest data I have ), NIH research contributed to EVERY drug approved by the FDA

Great cartoon & description of current feelings*

*feelings are my own :)

Trump Administration Ends Tracking of Kidnapped Ukrainian Children in Russia Democratic and Republican lawmakers sent a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio asking whether a database on thousands of children had been deleted.

It just gets too painful sometimes…

Trump Administration Ends Tracking of Kidnapped Ukrainian Children in Russia www.nytimes.com/2025/03/18/u...

The Cost of the Government’s Attack on Columbia American universities have given the country prosperity and security. The Trump administration’s attack on academic freedom endangers all of that.

Profound respect to Princeton’s Chris Eisgruber’s articulation of the admin’s threat to academic freedom

A call to “demand a stop to the government’s unwarranted intrusion on academic freedom-scholars, those whom the world most needs, are rarely bland.”

Be Spicy www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...

Yes, your local public school is at risk. What happens next:
1) No personnel left to administer categorical K-12 funding
2) Those funds get block granted
3) Red states funnel the money into vouchers instead of supporting America’s most disadvantaged kids

a red heart with the number 994 on it ALT: a red heart with the number 994 on it

I heard some folks try Bluesky, don’t get enough engagement, and go back to Twitter! Be generous with posts you like—it doesn’t cost a dime!

Leaving lab for NYC @standupforscience.bsky.social Message to current policy drivers: science identifies relative certainties in a world of uncertainty. Purified Penicillium mold extract saved millions, purified castor bean extract (ricin) is lethal. Who knew? Oh, scientists. FAFO, budget cuts kill

Congratulations @michellemonje.bsky.social -- on well so well deserved recognition of your brilliant, innovative science. Best of the best. Enjoy your Brain Prize, made with all 100% natural homemade ingredients 😀 congratulations again!

Agree they are cute, and can bring in some much needed (not) revenue for Colossal's efforts to bring back the woolly mammoth. But I have this sinking feeling in the pit of my human stomach that the $435 million they have raised might be put to better use in 2025- ...

Good morning 🌞

Do you know about the #standupforscience2025 rallies on March 7?

Find one near you here👇🏽

Researchers link a gene to the emergence of spoken language Why did humans start speaking? Scientists suggest genetics played a big role. They say the evolution of this singular ability has been key to our survival.

Fun audio here of NOVA1-humanized mice vocalizing ... melodic to my ear :)

Thanks again to @lauraungar.bsky.social for this nice piece

apnews.com/article/spee...

Single Amino Acid Mutation May Have Helped Shape Human Language Ability A tiny genetic change that emerged in early humans may have played a role in our unique vocal communication abilities, according to a new study published

Single Amino Acid Mutation May Have Helped Shape Human Language Ability scienceblog.com/single-amino...

The breadth and scope of cowardice amongst our scientific leadership is staggering.

Semicircular canals shed light on bottleneck events in the evolution of the Neanderthal clade - Nature Communications In some structures, morphological phenotypic disparity can reflect underlying genetic variation. Here, the authors apply deformation-based geometric morphometrics to the Neanderthal clade bony labyrin...

Very interesting study by @a-urciuoli.bsky.social
& colleagues, offering insight into the derived morphology characterizing the Neanderthal clade. Reduction in bony labyrinth disparity linked to underlying genetic variation resulting from bottleneck events
H/t @chrisbstringer.bsky.social

Ten reasons for modest optimism Friends,

Optimism in the face of [fill in feelings of the day-for me, I’ll run with agitated frustration], a nice summary of hope here:
open.substack.com/pub/robertre...

My own means to humbly helping humanity: medical science.

Not to say that I don’t believe in being politically active-I do & I will