Modern cancer therapies assail tumors from as many different angles as possible. New research exploits these cells' warped metabolism. A relatively simple dietary change could help out. My latest in @livescience.com www.livescience.com/health/cance...

In 1987, the editor of @science.org, Dan Koshland, wrote: "99.9999 percent of reports are accurate and truthful." www.science.org/doi/pdf/10.1... In 2025, editor Holden Thorp writes: "Sluggishness and defensiveness enabled an executive order on research integrity." www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Researchers have discovered a signal that tells the brain it's time to forget being afraid - and I wrote about it for @nature.com here: www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Genuinely astonished at this decision. It makes no sense at all. My love and unwavering support go out to every trans person in the UK facing uncertainty, fear and exclusion as a result of this. As far as I can tell we just deliberately created an anomaly in law to satisfy transphobes. But it won't.

Harvard’s Decision to Resist Trump Is ‘of Momentous Significance’ “This should be the turning point in the president’s rampage against American institutions.” #GiftLink www.nytimes.com/2025/04/14/u...

More microglia writing from me over at @thetransmitter.bsky.social. This time with videos! www.thetransmitter.org/microglia/vi...

I wrote about the glioblastoma research that won Frank Winkler and @michellemonje.bsky.social the #BrainPrize2025. I hadn't realised before writing this what huge barriers we face towards curing brain cancer. Here's hoping this kind of ambitious work can help: www.the-scientist.com/to-fuel-thei...

Public service announcement. They are not Dire Wolves. They have 20 single letter changes in their entire genomes. I’ve done shits with more mutations. Every time journalists write up a Colossus press release, They are making people stupider. Client journalism by a ridiculous company.

#bioGUNE_News | @rjmsci.bsky.social's first article during his stay via @frontiersmedia.bsky.social @erc.europa.eu program is out! Published in #DrugDiscovNews, it explores how resurrected ancient enzyme could transform gene editing - work from #SynBioLab! www.drugdiscoverynews.com/resurrected-...

Here's the first story from my recent ERC FRONTIERS fellowship. It's expanding the scope of gene-editing tools like CRISPR to help treat genetic diseases currently beyond these tools' scope. As one researcher put it, the goal is "reaching the unreachable": www.drugdiscoverynews.com/resurrected-...

Your reminder that legislation to curb the rights of trans people to use restrooms or do anything else means everyone's behaviour, clothing etc will be opened up to intrusive and unwanted scrutiny and potential challenge in our daily lives. This is not a 'them' issue. Trans rights are human rights.

It's rare disease day! Rare diseases were the focus of my recent fellowship. It's an area I feel so excited about; we are taking huge steps in our understanding of these diseases, and this is bringing therapies to patients who, until recently, had to fight just to have their conditions recognized.

How many skin cells do we shed every day? A short thread reflecting on what an arse it can be to find out basic facts about the human body. Source 1: Imperial College London press release. Answer: 5 billion a day

RFK Jr. thinks that a clinical trial should be done for the entire childhood vaccine schedule. Here’s why that will never happen. 1. You can’t do a randomized trial of something that we already know is safe and effective. There would have to be a placebo group that didn’t get vaxxed. Unethical.

The Trump administration's cuts in science funding will likely lead to an exodus of scientific expertise, the research community warns. "That beacon of research that the US was for several decades — it’s just not going to be there.” www.statnews.com/2025/02/12/t...

A third round of the #FRONTIERS fellowship is focusing on early-career science journalists. If you are starting out, there is no better way to understand science than by rolling up your sleeves and going into the lab - this lets you do just that. Apply apply! frontiers.media/frontiers-la...

Very proud of these journalism orgs (several of which I'm in!) noting that taking down public data sets impacts everyone. Not just us journalists, but people who NEED the data on weather, diseases, water quality. We all NEED to know this stuff! casw.org/news/journal...

"Science journalism can decode complex research, but journalists need scientists' help understanding technical topics. Working together is key to accurate reporting" 🎙️ @rjmsci.bsky.social Ruairi Mackenzie wraps up his #FRONTIERSResidency at @cicbiogune.bsky.social 🔗 bit.ly/ruairiinterv...

Mind-boggling wreckage. Among the lifesaving programs now disrupted by Elon’s attack on @USAID: phase 1 trials for a possible HIV vaccine.

#RuairiTakeover In my last day taking over this account, I wanted to share some snapshots from the last three months. I'll start with group leader Rosa Barrio holding up some food for the flies she studies. It's got yeast and polenta and sugar. I think you could sell it as a health shot.

Great to see another gene therapy for a #raredisease approved through the NHS. It really is the best example of how this healthcare system, with all its faults, can be incredible: www.imperial.nhs.uk/about-us/new...

#RuairiTakeover NMR requires powerful fields generated by superconducting magnets. These magnets are kept at ultralow temperatures by liquid nitrogen and helium. Platform manager Tammo showed me how he fills huge canisters full of liquid nitrogen - see below 👀

#bioGUNE_News | 🗞️ #CICbioGUNE @brtaeus.bsky.social hosted a two-day training to strengthen science communication! 👏 A huge thanks to @rjmsci.bsky.social @frontiersmedia.bsky.social for leading the sessions! 🔗 ow.ly/7pFy50UPPAX

Looking forward to this!

My takeover of the @frontiersmedia.bsky.social account continues this week. Give it a follow to see pictures of me standing and talking and, I hope, not publicly embarrassing myself.

Keep following my fellowship in Bilbao over the next week through my takeover on the FRONTIERS account!

I'm taking over the Frontiers Science Journalism Fellowship account this week - give em a follow to find out what I've been up to here in Bilbao!

35% increase in applications to the ERC consolidator grants. This is not sustainable and it will result in too low acceptance rates. The ERC budget needs to be drastically increased. erc.europa.eu/news-events/...

Critical Psychedelic Studies: Correcting the Hype A collection of essays on underexplored topics in psychedelic medicine, guest edited by @NeseLSD. petrieflom.law.harvard.edu/2024/01/29/c...

A really neat interview with my fellow #FRONTIERS fellow, Javier Barbuzano, about his time in Barcelona at @cragenomica.bsky.social www.cragenomica.es/crag-news/25...

Bad. But how bad? I once asked myself, while finding fakes in the Scientific Report @natureportfolio.bsky.social. So I decide to "do my our research" - I took 100 articles in a row from Physical sciences that contains diffraction. Result - 15 fakes out 100. Details in the 🧵 #ResearchIntegrity 1/x

Nice to see this paper, which I covered as a preprint in my article on microglia for @thetransmitter.bsky.social, now published!

Enjoyed this lecture on the metabolic signatures underlying ageing and cancer, given by @efeyanlab.bsky.social here at @cicbiogune.bsky.social last friday!

I wonder if the participants are aware of the barriers to accessing their generously donated data

Ahh, it's nice to be able to post some of my stories without worrying about AI pornbots arguing with AI propaganda bots in the comments. Here's something I wrote about an stubborn myth in neuroscience communication - whether we are "left-" or "right-" brained. www.snexplores.org/article/why-...

Hello Bluesky, I'm Ruairi - a science reporter and communicator usually based in Glasgow, but temporarily living in Bilbao as part of a fellowship organised by the FRONTIERS program. Glad to be part of the Great Science Twitter Migration of 2024!

We aren't left- or right-brained. I explained why in a new article for @snexplores.bsky.social www.snexplores.org/article/why-...