Cool episode on how AI can help us design new proteins (e.g., for vaccines).

I’d heard of AlphaFold before, but not of ProteinMPNN. You feed a protein structure into PMPNN & generate possible sequences of amino acids. And then you feed those into AlphaFold to check whether they’d fold up that way!

me too!

Hearing a lot about AI designing drugs, but not sure what specifically that means?

Ever wonder how AlphaFold works, or what practical problems it helps with?

How rattan daybeds can hold their own in a modern home?

This episode is for you!

every time i feel bad about writing long essays / blog posts i think, no. what would saloni and jacob do.

The reviews are in!

"I heard it just now! So good 😊" – my mom

"Just listened to the new insulin episode and loved it." – @rossaokod.bsky.social

"you should have added 5 more minutes on how early researchers checked for the sweetness of animal urine..." – @pseudoerasmus.bsky.social

1/3 As someone diagnosed as Type 1 in 1976, I can remember beginning on porcine insulin (bovine was another alternative). The first "human" insulin I had was actually enzymatically modified porcine. I started with glass syringes, with exchangeable all metal needles, stored in methylated spirit.

Very interesting. Thank you so much for sharing!

100 years of insulin in 15 minutes Podcast Episode · Hard Drugs · 09/16/2025 · 18m

podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/h...

Last episode: an introduction to what proteins are

This episode: proteins can be medicines!

Insulin is a protein. 104 years ago, no one with diabetes had been injected with it, then came insulin from animals, then came bioreactors...

Saloni and Jacob have a natural way to make everything sound like it’s the coolest thing in the world, so naturally I’m now all on board of the protein train 🚂

AI for protein design won a Nobel Prize last year. Are new protein drugs to cure diseases on their way?

This episode introduces what proteins are. You can listen to it on its own, or as the first plank of us answering that question. Subscribe in a podcast app for future planks!

life of the statistical paparazzi

Saloni ice cream day 2

I randomly sampled 1 day later and 1 block away from the original photo. Claim supported ✅

Saloni and pistachio

Reader, the gelato progressed

AI could help lead to an Alzheimer’s cure Lana Del Rey’s “Young and Beautiful” starts with piano keys, church bells, violins soaring through the first verse. Then a drum roll, and Lana belts out: Will you still love me when I’m no longer you...

For readers who are sceptical of the promises they've heard about AI, I wrote this piece.

I am more optimistic. I think AI will be a big deal in helping develop new lifesaving drugs:

blog.jacobtrefethen.com/ai-optimism/

Hope you enjoy!

AI will not suddenly lead to an Alzheimer’s cure I work on funding science for the sake of medical progress, but only 10% of our science funding at Open Philanthropy is related to AI. The whole premise of Open Philanthropy is we try to allocate mone...

I found it difficult to write about the topic for a unified audience, since, in my experience, people have very different starting beliefs about it.

For readers who suspect AI might change everything soon, I wrote this, with a bunch of questions & responses:

blog.jacobtrefethen.com/ai-san-franc...

What does AI progress mean for medical progress? Rapid AI progress does not automatically mean rapid medical progress. If the point of AI progress is human flourishing, we must make other complementary investments too. Even with extremely powerful A...

Over the weekend I published an essay series on a question I've been thinking about for a while:

What does AI progress mean for medical progress?

It starts with this 500 word piece. If you want more after that, there are 10,000 words of forking paths:

blog.jacobtrefethen.com/ai-progress-...

Announcing Our New $120M Abundance And Growth Fund | Open Philanthropy We are excited to announce the launch of our new Abundance and Growth Fund, which will spend at least $120 million over the next three years to accelerate economic growth and boost scientific and tech...

The Abundance and Growth Fund at Open Philanthropy is hiring! We’re looking for 2-4 people to help expand this new $120+ million program to accelerate economic growth and reduce the cost of living through strategic grantmaking and research. (1/4) www.openphilanthropy.org/research/ann...

Periodic reminder of this article by @jacobtref.bsky.social: blog.jacobtrefethen.com/10-technolog...

The end of tuberculosis that wasn’t In the 1980s, many thought tuberculosis was on the path to elimination. In reality, more were dying from the disease than ever.

In the 1980s, many thought tuberculosis was on the path to elimination. In reality, more were dying from the disease than ever.

The second article in our series on Tuberculosis: ourworldindata.org/the-end-of-t...

I am thankful every day for the work of scientists working to cure HIV/AIDS. We come such a long way.

I lost some amazing people to AIDS and they are missed every single day. I am so happy that this heartbreak can now be avoided thanks to these antivirals.

I still have hope for a cure one day.

Excellent piece on some of the scientists behind lenacapavir, the HIV antiviral that could be scaled up to change the course of the HIV epidemic worldwide.

Great article on the origins of lenacapavir, the amazingly effective HIV prevention drug approved by the FDA last week:
bsky.app/profile/sta...

See, it only takes two weeks to finish, and then you're free... free to start the follow on reading... Go on, why not start listening today... 😈

open.spotify.com/show/7CgKi9l...

Listen to Saloni’s podcast if you want a 5hr drug discovery overview so good it made me cry at multiple points

Ten Drugs, Blockbuster Drugs, and Laughing Gas, Viagra, and Lipitor are fun to dip into too. Relatively separable/digestible chapter stories, not too technical.

(So glad you liked the episode!)

HIV protection with just two shots a year: FDA approves Gilead drug A new twice-yearly shot could be a "game changer" in the fight against AIDS, but experts' hopes have dimmed because of the current political climate.

U.S. FDA approves #lenacapavir (to be sold as Yeztugo), a twice-a-year shot hailed as the closest thing the field has ever had to a #HIV vaccine, by @jasonmast.bsky.social, Ed Silverman www.statnews.com/2025/06/18/f... via @statnews.com #AIDS

FDA approves new twice-yearly HIV shot. What to know The FDA approved Gilead's HIV prevention drug lenacapavir, a twice-a-year injectable medication that clinical trials show prevents new infections.

A bit of positive news today. FDA has just approved Lenacapavir for PrEP in the US. In clinical trials one injection every 6 months was close to 100% effective in preventing HIV transmission.
PrEP is for everyone who needs it.
www.usatoday.com/story/news/h...

Regulators Approve a Twice-Yearly Shot to Prevent H.I.V. Infection

www.nytimes.com/2025/06/18/h...

🚨🚨 Lenacapavir FDA approved today, twice-yearly shot preventing HIV 🚨🚨

It's now possible to drive down transmission everywhere, and win against the AIDS epidemic, with other long-lasting drugs in trials too

Here's the story of how scientists got here, 44 years of hard work: