Patrick Heizer

A cGAS-mediated mechanism in naked mole-rats potentiates DNA repair and delays aging Efficient DNA repair might make possible the longevity of naked mole-rats. However, whether they have distinctive mechanisms to optimize functions of DNA repair suppressors is unclear. We find that na...

"Unlike human cGAS, which inhibits DNA repair by homologous recombination in the nucleus, the naked mole rat enzyme has four amino acid changes that allow it to enhance DNA repair, thus delaying aging and enhancing life span."
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

We Need Punishment; We Need Forgiveness A diagnosis of modern society

One aspect of the crisis of modernity is the decay of our capacities for both punishment and forgiveness.

My latest: thecounterpoint.substack.com/p/we-need-pu...

Infinite Jest deserves every bit of acclaim it receives, but I wish more people also read The Pale King.

While unfinished, it contains as much genius, heart, and wisdom as Infinite Jest.

My farm's very first pawpaw!!

I'm in a quiet and humble state of shock. I knew that this tree had flowered, but it was the only one, so I'd said, "oh, maybe next year!"

But I was mowing the orchard for the last time this year, and I noticed this single fruit in the mulch.

Permethrin-Treated Baby Wraps for the Prevention of Malaria | NEJM Malaria remains a major cause of childhood death in sub-Saharan Africa. We leveraged the traditional practice of mothers carrying children on their backs in cloth wraps to assess whether treating t...

Permethrin-treated baby wraps reduce the incidence of malaria by ~50%.

Extraordinary results from a "low-tech" intervention. www.nejm.org/doi/full/10....

Please do NOT take either aspirin or ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin, etc.) instead of acetaminophen (Tylenol) during pregnancy without consulting your OBGYN first.

Both inhibit prostaglandin synthesis, an extremely important class of lipid compounds, which could put you or your baby at risk.

Frederick, MD has one of the nicest downtowns in the US. It's a walkable core overflowing w/ local small businesses, historic buildings, & mature tree canopy.

But it didn't just happen. It took decades of active leadership & community involvement.

This book tells that story.

The lawyers will be the ones who win out of all this.

People suing actimenophen manufacturers, actimenophen manufacturers suing the government, etc.

First, Tylenol is a brand name, not a pharmaceutical. Actimenophen is the more correct word.

Second, women don't take an actimenophen for no reason; they take it because of fever, pain, etc. Without very well-controlled trials, it's impossible to sort out intertwined variables.

Erika Kirk forgiving her husband's murderer is extremely graceful and impressive. It reminded me of Pope John Paul II meeting with his shooter.

But words are only the beginning; true forgiveness requires action.

Actions are more powerful than words.

This book does an excellent job of teaching the basics to personal finance, no matter what stage in life you're at.

The most underrated multi-generational personal finance hack:

Have your kids participate in 4H. Use the proceeds to fund a Roth IRA.

Even without a single additional dollar afterward, a fully funded Roth from ages 8 to 18 will be ~$2M at retirement.

Frontiers | Differential regulation of Treg stability in human naïve and effector Treg subsets by TGFβ-signaling via ARKADIA-SKI axis IntroductionThe human FOXP3+ regulatory T (Treg) cells, a subset of CD4+ T cells with immunosuppressive function, are essential for the maintenance of immune...

The latest scientific paper I co-authored has been published.

Our team investigated the effect of TGF-B on the ARKADIA-SKI axis for the stability of Treg cells, an anti-inflammatory T cell, which have shown promise as a cell therapy.
share.google/k6xMSDuRSntk...

My first official task as a member of the Frederick County Soil Conservation District: spending the day at the county fair teaching kids about the importance of soil!

**To be clear, this is NOT medical advice**

We will see how quickly the cyst returns, but as of now, it was "worth it."

The sting and reaction definitely sucked, but ~48 hours of pain and swelling to get rid of a daily annoyance that I've had for years... I'll take it.

I'm not sure if the inflammatory response cleaned up the cyst immunologically or if the pressure from the swelling mechanically "popped" it.

Regardless, it feels much better. Turned a daily low-grade annoyance into basically non-existent.

A yellow jacket sting reduced my ganglion cyst by ~80%.

After a single sting in my hand, I had a "large local reaction" for ~48 hours: massive swelling w/o pulmonary, neuro, or GI symptoms.

Now that the swelling has resided, my ganglion cyst is basically gone.

Life goals!

With paternity time over, I'm back in the saddle developing next-generation cell and gene therapies.

I am finding out the hard way that yellow jacket stings are more severe than honeybee stings.

Chestnuts and coonhound at dawn.

Quite the melancholy came over me when I realized that it's been over ten years since this tweet.

It's from his Nobel Prize acceptance speech.

Similar ideas are present in his "The Almond Trees" essay, which you might also enjoy.

You should be reading Albert Camus.

It's a really useful technology that I love working on.

Just shouldn't be used as the foundation of our food system!

"People are now planting bombs in the tramways of Algiers. My mother might be on one of those trams. If that is justice, then I prefer my mother." - Albert Camus

Maryland hired Mississippi's Education Superintendent and is now seeing improvements.

I have finally read, consolidated, and culled my to-read stack down to a single bookcase.

Which book should I read next?

Spent the sunrise cleaning up a fencerow along the road that I had a crew clean up. Filled two large trash bags with litter. At least I got a half barrow of cans out of it.

Lab-grown meat is often pushed as a solution to many problems with the modern agricultural system.

Aside from many technological & economic hurdles, there are even deeper foundational reasons that it shouldn't be pursued.

My latest: thecounterpoint.substack.com/p/the-many-f...