Brendan Maher

@bmaher.bsky.social

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News featured editor at Nature. bmaher.01 on signal.

The Alliance for mRNA Medicines, a trade group that represents organizations advancing messenger RNA research, polled more than 100 senior life-science professionals in the industry between March and April. It found that companies were already experiencing impacts owing to changing US policies related to mRNA grants and funding. Impacts include reduced scope of projects Budget cuts Delayed capital investment Terminated collaborations Job losses/hiring freezes Relocation of projects or divisions
Concerns about subaward changes grew earlier this week, with Nature reporting on an apparent draft of the policy on Wednesday, before it was finalized. NIH’s new director, Jayanta “Jay” Bhattacharya, dismissed the report as “rumors” in an interview with Science on Thursday morning, hours before he announced the new policy.
The world will soon get a reminder. The virus starts replicating 6–8 hours after a person with HIV stops taking antiretrovirals. Within a week, their viral load becomes measurable. With waves of HIV leaking into the bloodstream, after four to six weeks, white blood cells start to get chewed up, leaving the body vulnerable to opportunistic infections. “The average number of infections you’d get through is three or four, before it kills you,” Goosby says. Give it three to six months, and hospitals will be overrun with HIV patients who will die in hallways, car parks and overflow tents, he predicts.
Graph predicting the effects of discontinuing PEPFAR funding for HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention.
Crowd gathering outside the NJ statehouse.
Screenshot from a YouTube clip in which Kim Kardashian prepares to scream at a blue folder. Her family looks on with approval and possibly jealousy.