We're using it. Nobody should expect a step forward to complete a long journey, but this is a significant step forward and should be celebrated. We only understand the 1.2% of the human genome that encodes genes. AlphaGenome is a tool towards understanding the remaining 98.8%.

I wrote today about AlphaGenome, Google DeepMind's AI for DNA. It's powerful, experts told me, but it won't solve the mysteries of the genome overnight. Gift link: nyti.ms/4k5NFIl

The US government lost more than 10,000 STEM PhDs last year, according to an analysis by Science of newly released OPM data, with 11 departures for every hire. And many OPM calls "voluntary" separations were probably pushed. www.science.org/content/arti...

If you need some listening while you shovel snow, or just a break from the weekend's harsh news, I'm on "The Sunday Daily," a new @nytimes.com podcast, talking about Neanderthals and other humans with Michael Barbaro & Franz Lidz www.nytimes.com/2026/01/25/p...

Newsmax fabricated a quote from me about my father Richard Zimmer today. They never contacted me. It's not just outrageous but funny. He was talented in many ways, but most definitely not at golf or cooking or craftsmanship. www.newsmax.com/john-gizzi/z...

This witness to Alex Pretti's murder not only refutes the governmen't story, but says she is afraid to go home because federal agents might arrest her. This is what it feels like to live under state terror. www.documentcloud.org/documents/26...

Alex from our time working together, while he was in nursing school. Later, he moved to ICU, working as a nurse to support critically ill Veterans. He had such a great attitude. We’d chat between patients about trying to get in a mountain bike ride together. Will never happen now

NYT video analysis confirms victim’s gun was removed before he was shot. So he was unarmed. https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/24/us/minneapolis-shooting-federal-agents-video.html

The chair of a federal vaccine advisory panel charted a new course for the committee in a podcast released Thursday, suggesting the public might want to reconsider the use of polio vaccines. www.statnews.com/2026/01/22/v...

The US withdrawal from #WHO became official today, leaving the world less prepared for dangerous disease outbreaks. “When that will bite us in the ass, it’s impossible to predict. But there is a 100% certainty that it will bite us in the ass,” one expert told me. www.statnews.com/2026/01/22/u...

It's been almost a century since scientists first demonstrated how to clean the air of measles and other pathogens with ultraviolet light, as I wrote in Air-Borne. Here's the latest guidance from @donmilton.bsky.social & other experts.

The Species Declared Extinct in 2025 My annual look back is, of course, heartbreaking -- but it's also a reminder and encouragement that we can do more to prevent future extinctions: therevelator.org/extinct-2025/

Hello, Chicago! I'll be giving a public talk on Wednesday about reporting on science in these rocky times. events.uchicago.edu/event/259056...

Controversial US study on hepatitis B vaccines in Africa is cancelled. Story by @melodyschreiber.com www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

Hospitals and doctors are ignoring RFK Jr.’s new vaccine schedule and relying on pediatricians’ guidance instead. Story by @danielpayne.bsky.social www.statnews.com/2026/01/15/n...

"Less than 24 hours after the Trump administration informed more than 2,000 addiction and mental health programs nationwide that it was immediately terminating almost $2 billion of their funding, the administration reversed course and reinstated the money." Gift link: nyti.ms/4pzDSLz

#Measles cases continues to climb. The 2025 tally has now hit 2242 & there've already been more confirmed cases in 2026 — 171 — than were logged in most years from the late 1990s to 2023! Interesting to see the age distribution of cases. Lots of susceptible adults, seems. www.cdc.gov/measles/data...

"Last April, HHS had informed staff of plans to terminate around 90% of NIOSH's roughly 1,000 employees, eviscerating the agency." Nine months later, the decision is reversed and layoff notices to workplace safety workers have been revoked. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Confirming the NYT's reporting: FBI agents arrived at Washington Post reporter Hannah Natanson's home this morning and conducted a search. Natanson penned this outstanding first-person piece last month about being "the federal government whisperer." www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

Hannah Natanson is an exceptional reporter and should never have been subjected to this type of extraordinary intimidation tactic. We have few details now, but it’s hard to interpret this as anything other than an attempt to squash the freedom of the press.

Come with me to Lander, Wyo. to meet Bill, Lee and Barb. They were supposed to be retired from the Forest Service. But they're back as volunteers — driving 100s of miles a week, cleaning 5 bathrooms a day — determined to protect forests Trump abandoned. wapo.st/4r4727z

Breaking WaPo: The FBI executed a search warrant this morning at a Post reporter's home as part of an investigation into a government contractor accused of illegally retaining classified materials. 
It's highly unusual and aggressive for law enforcement to conduct a search on a reporter's home.

FDA deletes warning on bogus autism therapies touted by RFK Jr.‘s allies arstechnica.com/health/2026/...

"A lot of people have long regarded same-sex behaviour as an accident, or rare, or only in zoo animals." But "it’s part of the normal social life of primates." www.nature.com/articles/d41...

I talked to the podcast "Explain It To Me" about why we still struggle with the flu and the common cold. Don't underestimate the power of viruses! Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/3r0h... Apple: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/w...

Scoop: The EPA will no longer estimate the lives saved by reducing air pollution when writing clean-air regulations, according to documents reviewed by @nytimes.com. Gift link: www.nytimes.com/2026/01/12/c...

Maryland health officials are investigating possible measles exposures after a person with a confirmed case traveled through the region on an Amtrak train. buff.ly/u1s9SQP

UCSF scientists build brain organoids at scale equipped with blood vessels, "leading to high fidelity neurodevelopment." Preprint: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Ocean Warming Breaks Record for Ninth Straight Year insideclimatenews.org/news/0901202...

Congress Set to Finalize Science Budgets Rejecting Trump Cuts www.aip.org/fyi/congress...

I talked to @latif.bsky.social at @radiolab.bsky.social about brain organoids for their new episode. Listen here: radiolab.org/podcast/brai...

Chicago, I'm headed your way to talk about the state of science in America. Register here: events.uchicago.edu/event/259056...

Storied newspaper chain McClatchy recently shuttered its Washington bureau and laid off staff. Now its told union leaders it wants to publish AI-generated stories without human review and create AI impersonations of reporters for podcasts. The scoop in @status.news www.status.news/p/mcclatchy-...

Here is my first newsletter of the year, on the destruction of science past and future. buttondown.com/carlzimmer/a...

"I’m going to pause here just to review: an institution that purports to be a university has told a philosophy professor he is forbidden from teaching Plato." surreal times dailynous.com/2026/01/06/t...

This is a delightful story as well as impressive science & I love @carlzimmer.com for including this bit (gift link): www.nytimes.com/2026/01/01/s...

From an email to one of our faculty members.... Not even Plato can escape censorship at Texas A&M!

Lizards have evolved their own version of rock-paper-scissors. Here's my story on the genetics behind nature's games. Gift link: nyti.ms/493KGMI

Appeals Court Upholds Prohibition on Trump’s Medical Research Cuts. Gift link: nyti.ms/4qDnkmR

Congress set to reject Trump’s major budget cuts to NSF, NASA, and energy science. Story by @policyhound.bsky.social www.science.org/content/arti...

1). The US is in the middle of the worst flu season in a decade. 2). Pertussis cases are the highest they have been in 20 years. 3). Measles has rebounded and elimination status has been lost. RFK.Jr. has not recommended vaccination, instead he is aggressively rolling back vaccine policy.

BREAKING: Federal health officials on Monday announced dramatic revisions to the slate of vaccines recommended for American children, reducing the number of diseases prevented by routine shots to 11 from 17. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/05/h...

Here's my latest contribution to the @nytimes "Lost Science" series. Brenna Henn's sweeping study of African genetics has been frozen. Gift link: nyti.ms/3Ypmm1A

New York Times obituary for my dad. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/02/n...

My dad died last night. Here's a story that came out today about his career in politics. newjerseyglobe.com/in-memoriam/...

Eight years ago, the US govt's malaria program took over the fight against the disease in northern Cameroon, one of the worst-affected places in the world, and went at it with all guns blazing. In March, it shut down overnight. I traveled there to see what came next. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/28/h...

I spoke with @carlzimmer.com about our terminated grant on wildfire smoke and homes:

The @nytimes.com Lost Science series continues. Here's my Q&A with a scientist who was studying how wildfire smoke threatens human health when the EPA decided that her research was no longer a funding priority. Gift link: nyti.ms/4jhpw14

On DOGE’s watch, federal spending did not go down at all. It went up. But is still led to cuts that closed offices, canceled programs and deprived people of food, medicine and other aid. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/23/u...

Well, they've finally found their excuse for blocking all offshore wind: a Defense Department report says they create problems. What problems? Sorry, it's classified! I wish I were making this up.