Laurel Oldach
@laureloldach.bsky.social
Biochemistry & instrumentation reporter at Chemical & Engineering News. Signal: Laurel_Oldach.07
My colleagues @rowanwalrath.bsky.social and @sarahbraner.bsky.social dug into what we know about how alum and related adjuvants stimulate immunity and why MAHA regulators are going after them.
cen.acs.org/pharmaceutic...
cen.acs.org/pharmaceutic...
MAHA’s next target: metals in vaccine ingredients
Officials are going after metal-containing ingredients, including aluminum adjuvants. Here’s why vaccines need them
cen.acs.org
February 18, 2026 at 9:44 PM
My colleagues @rowanwalrath.bsky.social and @sarahbraner.bsky.social dug into what we know about how alum and related adjuvants stimulate immunity and why MAHA regulators are going after them.
cen.acs.org/pharmaceutic...
cen.acs.org/pharmaceutic...
Whiplash from the FDA: www.statnews.com/2026/02/18/f...
FDA reverses course, agrees to review Moderna’s flu vaccine
The FDA reversed course and told Moderna it would review its application for a new flu vaccine, the company announced Wednesday.
www.statnews.com
February 18, 2026 at 2:23 PM
Whiplash from the FDA: www.statnews.com/2026/02/18/f...
Taking advantage of a rare both-kids-napping window to catch up on “read later” tabs. @jtimmer.bsky.social’s analysis of that MAHA/NIH event last month, and what it says about how Bhattacharya’s goals fit into the administration‘s, is worth your time.
arstechnica.com/science/2026...
arstechnica.com/science/2026...
NIH head, still angry about COVID, wants a second scientific revolution
Can we pander to MAHA, re-litigate COVID, and improve science at the same time?
arstechnica.com
February 15, 2026 at 6:50 PM
Taking advantage of a rare both-kids-napping window to catch up on “read later” tabs. @jtimmer.bsky.social’s analysis of that MAHA/NIH event last month, and what it says about how Bhattacharya’s goals fit into the administration‘s, is worth your time.
arstechnica.com/science/2026...
arstechnica.com/science/2026...
ICYMI yesterday: how this week's news that the FDA won't review Moderna's mRNA vaccine fits into a broader pattern of regulatory restrictions around influenza prevention.
cen.acs.org/safety/drug-...
cen.acs.org/safety/drug-...
FDA launches multipronged attack on flu vaccines
Regulatory moves come when manufacturers would normally gear up for 2026/7 season
cen.acs.org
February 13, 2026 at 7:26 PM
ICYMI yesterday: how this week's news that the FDA won't review Moderna's mRNA vaccine fits into a broader pattern of regulatory restrictions around influenza prevention.
cen.acs.org/safety/drug-...
cen.acs.org/safety/drug-...
Reposted by Laurel Oldach
Half my team seem to be on the US vaccine beat at the moment, but they are also working on other stories. Like this from @laureloldach.bsky.social, on new targets for treating Alzheimer's disease #chemsky 🧪
cen.acs.org/pharmaceutic...
cen.acs.org/pharmaceutic...
Beyond amyloid: Emerging drug targets for Alzheimer’s
As current drugs fall short, companies are exploring new targets to treat the neurodegenerative disease
cen.acs.org
February 13, 2026 at 9:43 AM
Half my team seem to be on the US vaccine beat at the moment, but they are also working on other stories. Like this from @laureloldach.bsky.social, on new targets for treating Alzheimer's disease #chemsky 🧪
cen.acs.org/pharmaceutic...
cen.acs.org/pharmaceutic...
Reposted by Laurel Oldach
FDA's decision not to accept Moderna's flu vaccine filing has sent shock waves through pharma. "When there’s uncertainty about the path to approval & the reliability of the process, that really has pretty serious consequences,” one player told @jasonmast.bsky.social. www.statnews.com/2026/02/12/f...
FDA’s rejection of Moderna threatens to stifle broader vaccine industry
Experts say the FDA "moved the goalposts" on Moderna, creating "a destructive precedent that will undermine the future of vaccine development" in the U.S.
www.statnews.com
February 12, 2026 at 9:04 PM
FDA's decision not to accept Moderna's flu vaccine filing has sent shock waves through pharma. "When there’s uncertainty about the path to approval & the reliability of the process, that really has pretty serious consequences,” one player told @jasonmast.bsky.social. www.statnews.com/2026/02/12/f...
The FDA’s refusal to review Moderna’s flu vaccine candidate is sending shock waves through biotech- and meanwhile, with new safety warnings of dubious value and no word on strain selection for next season, the agency is destabilizing already approved flu shots too.
cen.acs.org/safety/drug-...
cen.acs.org/safety/drug-...
FDA launches multipronged attack on flu vaccines
Regulatory moves come when manufacturers would normally gear up for 2026/7 season
cen.acs.org
February 12, 2026 at 11:16 PM
The FDA’s refusal to review Moderna’s flu vaccine candidate is sending shock waves through biotech- and meanwhile, with new safety warnings of dubious value and no word on strain selection for next season, the agency is destabilizing already approved flu shots too.
cen.acs.org/safety/drug-...
cen.acs.org/safety/drug-...
Reposted by Laurel Oldach
This. And also "just start a paid newsletter" requires that you, yourself, are a BRAND that other people want to pay for! It's a possible niche for op-ed writers or culture.
Most reporters are not that. Most reporters are names at the top of a news story you skip right past.
Most reporters are not that. Most reporters are names at the top of a news story you skip right past.
A lot of people cannot just start a paid newsletter or become freelancers to sustain their careers. The sports, metro, and international desks did work that requires *team* resources, like legal checks, documents, access to archives, and long-term beat experience.
February 4, 2026 at 3:05 PM
This. And also "just start a paid newsletter" requires that you, yourself, are a BRAND that other people want to pay for! It's a possible niche for op-ed writers or culture.
Most reporters are not that. Most reporters are names at the top of a news story you skip right past.
Most reporters are not that. Most reporters are names at the top of a news story you skip right past.
Read this article this morning. Chilling.
A retiree wrote this email to a DHS attorney. Within five hours, DHS demanded Google turn over records for his account.
A Kafkaesque form of domestic surveillance, intimidating Americans for lawful speech.
New from us at the Post: www.washingtonpost.com/investigatio... @johnwoodrowcox.bsky.social
A Kafkaesque form of domestic surveillance, intimidating Americans for lawful speech.
New from us at the Post: www.washingtonpost.com/investigatio... @johnwoodrowcox.bsky.social
February 3, 2026 at 5:38 PM
Read this article this morning. Chilling.
Definitely not, because every time I interview a basic scientist, they make the same case.
Are the humanities the only disciplines whose classes begin with modules speaking to the importance of studying the humanities? "Why study the humanities?" and "Why the humanities are important" must be cliches.
January 28, 2026 at 2:18 AM
Definitely not, because every time I interview a basic scientist, they make the same case.
Also, and not for nothing, I dug the Sunday morning paper bringing my family all this journalism out from under 6” of snow in my driveway
My @washingtonpost.com colleagues worked round the clock this weekend to expose the truth of what's happening in Minneapolis and bring urgent weather news to millions facing dangerous cold and snow.
If you value this work, tell Jeff Bezos to #SaveThePost
www.washingtonpost.com/investigatio...
If you value this work, tell Jeff Bezos to #SaveThePost
www.washingtonpost.com/investigatio...
Federal agent secured gun from Minn. man before fatal shooting, videos show
A Washington Post analysis of videos sheds light on the encounter that left 37-year-old Alex Pretti dead.
www.washingtonpost.com
January 26, 2026 at 7:26 PM
Also, and not for nothing, I dug the Sunday morning paper bringing my family all this journalism out from under 6” of snow in my driveway
Reposted by Laurel Oldach
Wake up. Make breakfast. Do email. Watch a murder. Go to a party for a 5 year old. Laugh with my daughter. See a different angle of that murder. Hear govt officials slander the victim. Play Barbies with my kid. Feed her dinner. Tear up at that victim reading last honors to a vet. Put kid to bed. USA
January 25, 2026 at 4:43 AM
Wake up. Make breakfast. Do email. Watch a murder. Go to a party for a 5 year old. Laugh with my daughter. See a different angle of that murder. Hear govt officials slander the victim. Play Barbies with my kid. Feed her dinner. Tear up at that victim reading last honors to a vet. Put kid to bed. USA
Reposted by Laurel Oldach
🚨🚨🚨 "At least 63 times since 2007, data from some of the 28 human genomic repositories that the N.I.H. controls was improperly released to researchers, used for unapproved purposes or made vulnerable to theft..." (Gift Link) www.nytimes.com/2026/01/24/u...
Genetic Data From Over 20,000 U.S. Children Misused for ‘Race Science’
www.nytimes.com
January 24, 2026 at 12:19 PM
🚨🚨🚨 "At least 63 times since 2007, data from some of the 28 human genomic repositories that the N.I.H. controls was improperly released to researchers, used for unapproved purposes or made vulnerable to theft..." (Gift Link) www.nytimes.com/2026/01/24/u...
Good morning. Do you want a feel-good story about ingenuity and a determined graduate student cracking a decades-old total synthesis problem? If yes, @bethanyhalford.bsky.social spins a yarn you may enjoy.
cen.acs.org/biological-c...
cen.acs.org/biological-c...
Stereochemical secrets of secalosides A and B revealed at last
After almost 30 years, chemists fully decipher the structures of a pair of natural products
cen.acs.org
January 14, 2026 at 2:13 PM
Good morning. Do you want a feel-good story about ingenuity and a determined graduate student cracking a decades-old total synthesis problem? If yes, @bethanyhalford.bsky.social spins a yarn you may enjoy.
cen.acs.org/biological-c...
cen.acs.org/biological-c...
"In my editing room, we have a neon sign that says, “It’s complicated.” Human events are complicated. It’s important to find out new and destabilizing information. Facts outweigh story and artistic considerations. We’ve always rolled that way."
depthperceptionbyll.substack.com/p/filmmaker-...
depthperceptionbyll.substack.com/p/filmmaker-...
Ken Burns on how his film “The American Revolution” took longer to make than the war itself
If journalism is the first draft of history, the prodigious documentarian’s work records how the past echoes into — and rhymes with — the present.
depthperceptionbyll.substack.com
January 14, 2026 at 1:58 PM
"In my editing room, we have a neon sign that says, “It’s complicated.” Human events are complicated. It’s important to find out new and destabilizing information. Facts outweigh story and artistic considerations. We’ve always rolled that way."
depthperceptionbyll.substack.com/p/filmmaker-...
depthperceptionbyll.substack.com/p/filmmaker-...
Meanwhile, in the lab: intratumor vaccination (or, if you will, "chemical reprogramming") guided by a PD-L1 degrader, all wrapped into one molecule
cen.acs.org/pharmaceutic...
cen.acs.org/pharmaceutic...
A targeted protein degrader that doubles as a cancer vaccine
One molecule combines two approaches to waken dormant immunity against tumors
cen.acs.org
January 13, 2026 at 9:16 PM
Meanwhile, in the lab: intratumor vaccination (or, if you will, "chemical reprogramming") guided by a PD-L1 degrader, all wrapped into one molecule
cen.acs.org/pharmaceutic...
cen.acs.org/pharmaceutic...
Reposted by Laurel Oldach
Gentle reminder that you can turn off autoplay on videos so you don’t have to be traumatized by graphic images without your consent:
Settings — content and media — autoplay videos and gifs
Settings — content and media — autoplay videos and gifs
January 9, 2026 at 8:14 PM
Gentle reminder that you can turn off autoplay on videos so you don’t have to be traumatized by graphic images without your consent:
Settings — content and media — autoplay videos and gifs
Settings — content and media — autoplay videos and gifs
Reposted by Laurel Oldach
We are proud to announce the formation of the Chemical & Engineering News Guild. We represent staffers across the editorial and operations teams at C&EN. 1/6
January 5, 2026 at 5:16 PM
We are proud to announce the formation of the Chemical & Engineering News Guild. We represent staffers across the editorial and operations teams at C&EN. 1/6
The vaccine news we have been anticipating is now here: www.hhs.gov/press-room/c...
www.hhs.gov
January 5, 2026 at 7:39 PM
The vaccine news we have been anticipating is now here: www.hhs.gov/press-room/c...
"Biopharma people are shockingly the most reserved - they're a little too deferential to the FDA." - an anonymous peptide supplier quoted in this piece.
That's, uh, that's one way of explaining it.
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/03/b...
That's, uh, that's one way of explaining it.
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/03/b...
‘Chinese Peptides’ Are the Latest Biohacking Trend in the Tech World
www.nytimes.com
January 5, 2026 at 6:47 PM
"Biopharma people are shockingly the most reserved - they're a little too deferential to the FDA." - an anonymous peptide supplier quoted in this piece.
That's, uh, that's one way of explaining it.
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/03/b...
That's, uh, that's one way of explaining it.
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/03/b...
👀
January 4, 2026 at 10:57 PM
👀
Reposted by Laurel Oldach
Theorists: this shouldn’t happen!
Biology: bet.
Biology: bet.
the worst part about forensic DNA testing is that it relies on biology, and biology is a messy, messy thing
as an aside: it's more common in casework to see chimerism due to a stem-cell transplant. we had an example of that in our lab not very long ago. this type is called tetragametic chimerism
as an aside: it's more common in casework to see chimerism due to a stem-cell transplant. we had an example of that in our lab not very long ago. this type is called tetragametic chimerism
Murder victim discovered to have two sets of DNA due to rare condition: an extremely rare form of chimerism. www.newscientist.com/article/2507...
January 2, 2026 at 4:41 PM
Theorists: this shouldn’t happen!
Biology: bet.
Biology: bet.
Fascinating conversation on the lifecycle of fields of inquiry:
They are basically frosh level concepts now. If you’re lucky, you do science long enough to see your science become part of the tool kit, instead of a separate discipline.
December 31, 2025 at 4:35 PM
Fascinating conversation on the lifecycle of fields of inquiry:
This paper had me breaking out my biochemistry textbook to review GPCR signaling.
Turns out, from time to time a receptor can release and recapture a GTP-bound G protein (instead of the classic cycle where GPCR binds a GDP-Gprot, swaps in GTP and then frees GTP-Gprot to go conduct signaling).
Turns out, from time to time a receptor can release and recapture a GTP-bound G protein (instead of the classic cycle where GPCR binds a GDP-Gprot, swaps in GTP and then frees GTP-Gprot to go conduct signaling).
Opioid receptor agonists take advantage of new understanding of GPCR biology
Tool compounds separate pain relief from breathing suppression in mice
cen.acs.org
December 31, 2025 at 3:54 PM
This paper had me breaking out my biochemistry textbook to review GPCR signaling.
Turns out, from time to time a receptor can release and recapture a GTP-bound G protein (instead of the classic cycle where GPCR binds a GDP-Gprot, swaps in GTP and then frees GTP-Gprot to go conduct signaling).
Turns out, from time to time a receptor can release and recapture a GTP-bound G protein (instead of the classic cycle where GPCR binds a GDP-Gprot, swaps in GTP and then frees GTP-Gprot to go conduct signaling).