You get so used to hearing from professional opinion-havers that "everyone hates and distrusts academics and they fail to demonstrate their value" that sometimes you forget it's not true.

Both the cost of housing and the average income in Vancouver are silly www.theglobeandmail.com/gift/2109fef...

Data, data everywhere but nothing to connect it to health care. Canada spends billions on computer systems but sharing info is marred by a stunning lack of interoperability, by @picardonhealth.bsky.social www.theglobeandmail.com/gift/0fc7a92... via @theglobeandmail.com

Today is the International Day of Women and Girls in Science. It was established by the United Nations General Assembly to promote equal participation of women in STEM fields. Here are the stories of just a few of the great female scientists from Canada's past. 🧵 1/12

One Boston Children’s Hospital researcher said, “This is like asking, how do you think dropping an atomic bomb on New York City will affect the future of Broadway musicals? This is a generational loss of innovation, technology, and economic power.” www.bostonglobe.com/2026/02/09/m...

NEW: The F.D.A. refused to accept an application from Moderna for its mRNA flu vaccine. Its reason: The agency did not think Moderna compared the new vaccine to one of the best flu shots available. The company spent $750M+ on a 41,000 person study. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/10/h...

Someone should come up with a methodology of ranking US universities by their degree of appalling behaviour since January 2025. Figuring out a decent set of indicators and weights would be challenging but not impossible. Who's game?

Aaand there you go: Trump’s sudden about-face on the most important Canada-US border crossing came after meeting with the billionaire family that owns the rival bridge. Nice scoop, confirming suspicions of everyone who has followed this file and is familiar with Trump www.nytimes.com/2026/02/10/w...

The funniest thing is thinking Evan Solomon could help increase trust in something (in this case AI lolz), tell me again why he isn't working at CBC anymore, I feel like it had something to do with trust....

While preparing my response to CIHR reviewers, I'm still amazed that developing a high throughput drug screen & completing a proof concept with a panel of ~1300 FDA/EMA approved drugs (in duplicate) is not considered enough preliminary data for the larger screen we want to do.

I'm at the stage where my lab is so old that everything is breaking. Today it was the UV transilluminator.

BREAKING: “in my 24th year of my quest to settle the planet Mars, I have just been informed of a basic fact of celestial mechanics.”

I'm taking on The Push-Up Challenge to push for better mental health. You can push for better mental health too by donating to my fundraiser for CMHA British Columbia Division: www.thepushupchallenge.ca/fundraisers/francislynn/the-push-up-challenge Any donation, big or small, is really appreciated!

Terrified Conservatives Lose Ability To Speak English After Exposure To Bad Bunny Performance https://theonion.com/terrified-conservatives-lose-ability-to-speak-english-after-exposure-to-bad-bunny-performance-dios-mio-cry-millions-of-panicking-republicans/

Mozilla will allow Firefox users to entirely block current and future generative AI features on the browser after user feedback revealed many who wanted an AI-free browser experience.

Former Washington Post journalists have launched a GoFundMe to help repatriate fired staff members who are effectively stranded in foreign countries. One of the richest men in the world fired them from the paper and didn’t even pay to ensure they got home. Abolish the billionaire class:

Health care on the brink: Half of Canadians say have issues accessing family doctor -- either no family doc, or great difficulty getting an appointment, by Dorcas Marfo www.ctvnews.ca/health/artic... via @ctvnews-mirror.bsky.social @canadahealthwatch.ca #CanadaWAITS

🤣

Please support this petition calling for a parliamentary investigation into foreign (American) interference in our country. It is sponsored by my former colleague Don Davies www.ourcommons.ca/petitions/en...

Dulles? He's obviously never flown through there www.nbcnews.com/politics/don...

Another year trying to access west coast trail reservations. Parks Canada needs to give BC residents priority IMO.

This new paper from Luo Ting Huang, @nictitate.bsky.social & co @bcchresearch.bsky.social used genetic engineering to facilitate magnetic-activated cell sorting enrichment of insulin-producing stem cell-derived β cells with implications for cell-replacement therapy doi.org/10.1242/dmm....

I love how these kids are going to jail for embodying excellence in at least 2 of the strategic areas of the Impact+ Chairs Program. www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

Slow?

I am delighted to report that our latest paper has now been published in Science Advances: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... In this study, we generated and characterised a humanised GLP‑1R mouse model carrying the gain‑of‑function A316T variant using CRISPR/Cas9 knock‑in technology.

Probably a similar story in Canada

In the current context, the need to do this is pretty absurd.

Today I'm struggling with understanding processes for things that don't fit into neat little boxes. Wish me luck

You’re spending $650M on seven soccer games. Maybe start there you ghouls www.biv.com/news/rob-sha...

Those that think F2F review will solve the issue of poor reviews should go back 10-15 years and look at posts on twitter. The solution is having program officers and chairs that call reviewers out on their laziness and demand excellence

"If these folks really hate Canada and they really adore the United States and [President] Donald Trump, then there's a border crossing or two that they can take tomorrow," Kenney said. www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

Danielle Smith is a separatist.

(🧵1/23) First month of 2026: complete✅! Many papers coming from CIRTN scientists, including works from the labs of Drs Bruin, Lynn, Estall, Ferdaoussi, Fullerton, Hull-Meichle, Pepper, Korbutt, Levings, Lim, Mulvihill, Rabasa-Lhoret, Riddell, Rutter, Tsai, Woo and Verchere! 📝

"But the substance was the same. There was no shift, no pivot, no updated agenda. It could have been a speech he delivered a year ago. Or in 2024." www.theglobeandmail.com/gift/65d6ffc...

Just so everyone is clear: the valve here releases pressure that would otherwise build on her leadership from within her party. She would rather lose the country than her own job.

Make Russia great again!

"an elaborate piece of designer taxidermy" is too funny to ignore

Congrats to all awardees, including those in BC with its 12% success rate. I count 8 grants (out of 421) that aim to improve life for those living with diabetes, despite ~1/8 of our healthcare $ being spent on diabetes care. Pretty sad @mark-carney.bsky.social https://cihr-irsc.gc.ca/e/54594.html

Civility?! lol

He is right. Finally someone said it out loud! www.cbc.ca/news/politic...

Flying economy to Calgary: $200? Hiring a digital content agency to announce to Facebook that you’re flying to Calgary in an economy-class seat to “brand” yourself as an everyday working joe: $20,000?

Please 🔁 My group at UBC received an allocation from the school to apply for the Canada Impact+ Training Awards (postdoc). Everything is moving fast but please email me in 48 hours with a CV if you are outside Canada and interested😎 Yachie lab: yachie-lab.org sshrc-crsh.canada.ca/en/funding/o...

The US Embassy in Copenhagen has angered Danish veterans by removing flags honoring soldiers killed in Afghanistan from an area outside the building. https://cnn.it/4k6uaiR

New: Tesla 4th quarter profit plunges 61% year-over-year; annual profit down 46% the brand damage: -1 million lost vehicle sales, per study -Declining revenue, profits, deliveries in 1st half of '25 -Lower total production/deliveries than '24 -Lost crown as world's leading EV seller wapo.st/3LYTef1

Excited to share our latest publication, led by Dr. Ellie McCallum and Juan Burckhardt! bit.ly/4kfzQaf You can access the article for free here: authors.elsevier.com/a/1mWb4L7PXu... And more information is available on the updated preprint: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Best gene synthesis company that does not involve sending #$CAD from taxpayers' money south of the border? #synbio

Puzzling to me why some think ICE is different from the rest of the US government