Lauren J. Young

This Year’s Medicine Nobel Goes to Discovery of Why the Body Doesn’t Attack Itself Mary E. Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell and Shimon Sakaguchi shared the Nobel prize for their work on peripheral immune tolerance, a process that is key to organ transplants and treatment of autoimmune disease...

It's Nobel week! Here's @laurenjyoung.bsky.social with a great explainer on the science of today's winners, who developed our understanding of how the immune system avoids attacking the body: 🧪 www.scientificamerican.com/article/2025...

Thank you! We will fix that.

This Year’s Medicine Nobel Goes to Discovery of Why the Body Doesn’t Attack Itself Mary E. Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell and Shimon Sakaguchi shared the Nobel prize for their work on peripheral immune tolerance, a process that is key to organ transplants and treatment of autoimmune disease...

This year's #medicineNobel was awarded to Mary E. Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell & Shimon Sakaguchi for discovering why the body doesn't attack itself—key for organ transplants and autoimmune disease therapies. By @laurenjyoung.bsky.social for @sciam.bsky.social: www.scientificamerican.com/article/2025...

This Year’s Medicine Nobel Goes to Discovery of Why the Body Doesn’t Attack Itself Mary E. Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell and Shimon Sakaguchi shared the Nobel prize for their work on peripheral immune tolerance, a process that is key to organ transplants and treatment of autoimmune disease...

The 2025 Nobel Prize in Medicine goes to some neat fundamental research on the immune system: peripheral immune tolerance. It's what keeps the body's defense mechanism in check—and could be key to new therapies for autoimmune disorders. @sciam.bsky.social www.scientificamerican.com/article/2025...

Jane Goodall, Trailblazing Primatologist and Chimpanzee Conservationist, Has Died The anthropologist was famous for her pioneering research with chimpanzees and her influence on conservation

“I think chimpanzees have helped people understand that we are part of and not separated from the animal kingdom, and that has opened the way to having respect for the other amazing beings with whom we share the planet.” —Jane Goodall, @sciam.bsky.social www.scientificamerican.com/article/jane...

Reflecting On The Wild With Jane Goodall, Winner Of The 2021 Templeton Prize A look back on the groundbreaking chimpanzee research and humanitarian career of Jane Goodall.

Jane Goodall is an inspiration to so many in science, myself included. I once combed through @scifri.bsky.social's archives listening to her interviews. I'll never forget her on-air imitation of a chimp pant-hoot. A true legend 💙🐒 www.youtube.com/watch?v=0t8_... www.sciencefriday.com/articles/arc...

Demetre Daskalakis Saw the CDC Change from the Inside—And He’s Sounding the Alarm The former director of a CDC center reveals how political ideology is undermining science, threatening vaccine policy and endangering public health across the U.S.

"You see CDC being torn apart, 2,000 people who are no longer there, years of experience, centers that are being demolished." @drdemetre.bsky.social discusses the dire state of US public health w/ @feltman.bsky.social on @sciam.bsky.social Science Quickly: www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/epis...

A Hurricane Is Saving the U.S. from a Tropical Storm In a version of the Fujiwhara effect, Hurricane Humberto is pulling Tropical Storm Imelda eastward and away from the U.S.

Well not only is TS Imelda going to move away from the U.S. (phew), it's doing so because of what is essentially a "flavor" of the Fujiwhara effect that has Imelda making a sharp right turn to follow in Hurricane Humberto's wake. 🧪

(I love hurricanes.)

www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-...

Abortion Pill Access Is Still Under Threat After SCOTUS Ruling, Legal Experts Warn “It would be foolish to declare victory” for abortion rights, one expert says of the recent Supreme Court challenge to medication abortion access

The FDA is conducting "its own review of the evidence" on the safety & effectiveness of abortion drug mifepristone, according to news reports. Yet a wealth of evidence has shown the drug is safe and effective. SCOTUS rejected a case on this last year: www.scientificamerican.com/article/abor...

10000% agree!

Innovations In: RSV The prevention of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) has seen incredible advancement in the past few years. In this editorially independent package, Scientific American explores breakthroughs in immuni...

Check out the incredible #RSV package from @sciam.bsky.social. Articles from me, @lizszabo.bsky.social @markkreidler.bsky.social, Suzette Brewer & editing frm @emilybazar.bsky.social. All editorially independent reporting. www.scientificamerican.com/report/innov... (we didn't know who sponsors were)

WHAT?! This is actually amazing and a VERY BIG deal for the cephalopod world! (lookin' at you my old @scifri.bsky.social colleagues and 🦑 nerds) www.sciencefriday.com/videos/giant...

Tylenol Is Popular and Safe, Yet Nobody Knows How It Works The common pain reliever is safe when used as directed, research shows. But scientists remain puzzled by one aspect: how it reduces pain and fever

www.scientificamerican.com/article/tyle... and--to understand WHY the autism-Tylenol connection is so flimsy: www.scientificamerican.com/article/does... 🧪 #MedSky

Does Tylenol Use during Pregnancy Cause Autism? What the Research Shows Trump and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. plan to tie Tylenol use during pregnancy and folate deficiencies to rising autism rates—but the evidence is thin

Does taking Tylenol during pregnancy increase risk of autism? The evidence is thin—and entirely correlational. Here's what to know. @sciam.bsky.social 🧪 www.scientificamerican.com/article/does...

“The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practice’s (ACIP) new process and recommendations leave parents confused about how best to protect their kids and unable to choose the combined MMRV vaccine for children under 4 years old. The AMA is concerned that this change not only reduces parental choice, but also reflects ACIP’s reliance on selective data in forming its guidance. “We call on the Administration to ensure ACIP functions as a trusted, evidence-based body so that families can have confidence in its recommendations when making important vaccination decisions.”

AMA statement on ACIP meeting

“The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practice’s (ACIP) new process and recommendations leave parents confused about how best to protect their kids and unable to choose the combined MMRV vaccine for children under 4 years old."

The TikTok Trend of Writing in Margins Is Based on Real Neuroscience Annotating the margins of books is an important part of deep reading and has a long legacy of merit in both science and literature

TikTok and Instagram readers FTW! Annotating your books is cool and Science™️ agrees! Also, shout out to Copy Dept. for letting me sneak a #GirlmoreGirls reference in here 😉📚

www.scientificamerican.com/article/go-a...

CDC's vaccine advisors recommend that people decide with their doctor on whether or not they should get the COVID vaccine.

If your mind is melted from what that and all the vaccine news means, we've got the votes explained @sciam.bsky.social.

How a Contentious CDC Vaccine Meeting Will Affect Public Health Three vaccines are on the agenda for this week’s meeting of ACIP, the CDC’s key advisory panel on immunization: the combined measles, mumps, rubella and varicella vaccine, the hepatitis B vaccine and ...

A lot is riding on this week's tense CDC ACIP vaccine recommendation meetings.

Day 1: MMRV and hep B vax
Day 2: COVID vax

@meghanbartels.bsky.social and @andreatamayo.bsky.social breakdown what to look out for @sciam.bsky.social. 🧪 Follow updates here: www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-...

What State-by-State Rules Mean for Your COVID Shot With federal vaccine guidance under fire, states are forging their own immunization paths

Confused by patchwork COVID vaccine guidelines across states? @sciam.bsky.social has a map with the latest info from the National Alliance of State Pharmacy Associations. We'll keep tracking updates. 📊 @unamandita.bsky.social ✏️ @jaimieseaton.bsky.social. www.scientificamerican.com/article/covi...

U.S. Vaccine Guidance Is in Chaos, Fired CDC Director Tells Senators Former CDC chief Susan Monarez testified that Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., had demanded she rubber-stamp recommendations from his remade vaccine panel

U.S. Vaccine Guidance Is in Chaos, Fired CDC Director Tells Senators

“The administration has totally lost its credibility,” one public health expert says, of the hearing. “People will die. People will suffer.”

www.scientificamerican.com/article/vacc...

Multiple choice question reading "What is the hallucinogenic compound found in 'magic mushrooms'?" Answer options are psilocybin, mescaline, dimethyltryptamine, and omeprazole.

Take my weekly science quiz for @sciam.bsky.social ! This week: psychedelics and sexual parasites www.scientificamerican.com/game/science... 🧪

Measles in the Brain Can Kill Years after Infection, Child’s Death Shows A child in Los Angeles County has died from a rare but always fatal brain disorder that develops years after a measles infection. Experts underscore the need for vaccination to protect the most vulner...

Measles can lay dormant for years and come back as a rare but deadly brain disorder. The recent death in a child is a reminder that widespread MMR vaccination is important in protecting people who cannot be vaccinated. @andreatweather.bsky.social explains: www.scientificamerican.com/article/meas...

Measles in the Brain Can Kill Years after Infection, Child’s Death Shows A child in Los Angeles County has died from a rare but always fatal brain disorder that develops years after a measles infection. Experts underscore the need for vaccination to protect the most vulner...

Did a rare stint on the health desk and wrote about a complication of measles that can lead to a fatal brain disorder years after the infection, underscoring why widespread vaccination is so important. The child that died was too young to be vaccinated when the contracted measles. 🧪

At the Peak of Hurricane Season, the Atlantic Is Quiet. Here’s Why Hurricane activity in the Atlantic basin is historically at its peak on September 10—but not this year

Today is the peak of Atlantic hurricane season. And yet, there's not even a hint of a hurricane anywhere in sight. What gives? Some cool weather stuff here: 🧪 www.scientificamerican.com/article/atla...

A ‘Make America Healthy Again’ Report Goes Easy on the Food Industry A childhood health report led by RFK, Jr., links poor diet, chemicals, inactivity and “overmedicalization” to worsening U.S. pediatric health

New MAHA report is here, but some experts say "it does not say nearly enough about what needs to be done to improve the diets of America’s children." @danvergano.bsky.social reports for @sciam.bsky.social: www.scientificamerican.com/article/a-ma...

CDC in Turmoil: Leadership Shake-up, RFK, Jr., Backlash and Repercussions for Public Health With the CDC in disarray and its future uncertain, this episode explores what’s driving the exodus of agency staff and what this means for national health security.

This week on Science Quickly (@sciam.bsky.social), @laurenjyoung.bsky.social & @feltman.bsky.social discuss fallout from #CDC resignations.

They share from @jennifernuzzo.bsky.social: “No one is home to watch out for health threats to the nation—and no one will be there to respond.”

🎧 Listen here

CDC in Turmoil: Leadership Shake-up, RFK, Jr., Backlash and Repercussions for Public Health With the CDC in disarray and its future uncertain, this episode explores what’s driving the exodus of agency staff and what this means for national health security.

With the CDC in disarray and its future uncertain, today's episode of Science Quickly explores what’s driving the exodus of agency staff—and what this means for national health security. With @laurenjyoung.bsky.social! @sciam.bsky.social www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/epis...

CDC employees standing up and walking out in light of the mass shootings, firings, and *waves hands in the air* everything else.

#USAnotRFK

Lets gooooo

CDC’s Leadership Is in Chaos. Experts React to Crumbling U.S. Public Health Systems Public health experts warn that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s leadership crisis—sparked by the White House’s efforts to oust CDC director Susan Monarez—could jeopardize national bio...

“It’s not just about the firing of the CDC director. It’s the fact that CDC has been hemorrhaging some of the world’s top experts."

I spoke to @jennifernuzzo.bsky.social and Georges Benjamin @apha.org about the CDC leadership exodus @sciam.bsky.social: www.scientificamerican.com/article/cdc-...

Today, Scientific American turns 180—the oldest continuously published magazine in the U.S. 🎉

Since 1845, we’ve shared the wonders of science with the world.

💫 Dive into 180 years of discovery: sciam.com/180
🧬 Explore pivotal moments in science: bit.ly/4mNTpGY
🎁 Win prizes: sciam.com/180contest