Nathan Moerke
@nmoerke.bsky.social
Scientist interested in drug discovery, regenerative medicine, and techbio. Previously at @harvardmed.bsky.social, Denali Therapeutics, and STEMCELL Technologies. All opinions my own.
Reposted by Nathan Moerke
‘Why are you banging your head against the wall?’
‘Because it’ll feel so good when I stop!’
That’s people praising Trump for rolling back some of his OWN tariffs.
‘Because it’ll feel so good when I stop!’
That’s people praising Trump for rolling back some of his OWN tariffs.
November 17, 2025 at 11:51 PM
‘Why are you banging your head against the wall?’
‘Because it’ll feel so good when I stop!’
That’s people praising Trump for rolling back some of his OWN tariffs.
‘Because it’ll feel so good when I stop!’
That’s people praising Trump for rolling back some of his OWN tariffs.
Reposted by Nathan Moerke
Never assume that you know all about what any drug molecule is doing in the body - where it's going, what it's binding to. A new example:
Rapamycin's Secrets
www.science.org
October 15, 2025 at 9:20 PM
Never assume that you know all about what any drug molecule is doing in the body - where it's going, what it's binding to. A new example:
Reposted by Nathan Moerke
🔊 TOMORROW, June 5: Join @fda.gov’s Cell and Gene Therapy Roundtable featuring ASGCT Board Members Terry Flotte, Paula Cannon, and more, on the panel! Watch on YouTube from 9 a.m. to noon (ET).
Do not miss out on this opportunity to hear from top regulatory leaders! www.fda.gov/vaccines-blo...
Do not miss out on this opportunity to hear from top regulatory leaders! www.fda.gov/vaccines-blo...
CBER Roundtable on Cell and Gene Therapy
The Roundtable will provide you with an opportunity to share your thoughts on advancing the field of cell and gene therapy.
www.fda.gov
June 4, 2025 at 4:21 PM
🔊 TOMORROW, June 5: Join @fda.gov’s Cell and Gene Therapy Roundtable featuring ASGCT Board Members Terry Flotte, Paula Cannon, and more, on the panel! Watch on YouTube from 9 a.m. to noon (ET).
Do not miss out on this opportunity to hear from top regulatory leaders! www.fda.gov/vaccines-blo...
Do not miss out on this opportunity to hear from top regulatory leaders! www.fda.gov/vaccines-blo...
Reposted by Nathan Moerke
Vancouver council is debating a giant permanent sign that says "VANCOUVER", and staff say an issue is putting the sign in a place that won't interfere with film shoots.
In other words, a giant "VANCOUVER" sign could interfere with vancouver's lucrative business of pretending to be any other city
In other words, a giant "VANCOUVER" sign could interfere with vancouver's lucrative business of pretending to be any other city
May 21, 2025 at 6:56 PM
Vancouver council is debating a giant permanent sign that says "VANCOUVER", and staff say an issue is putting the sign in a place that won't interfere with film shoots.
In other words, a giant "VANCOUVER" sign could interfere with vancouver's lucrative business of pretending to be any other city
In other words, a giant "VANCOUVER" sign could interfere with vancouver's lucrative business of pretending to be any other city
Reposted by Nathan Moerke
Sheer luck to freeze this moment where both hummingbirds are both sharp in the same frame
I’ve had my share of photos with two or more birds in the same frame. Even a few lucky enough to have two different species interacting
This Allen’s and Anna’s hummingbird being territorial is a good one 📷🪶
I’ve had my share of photos with two or more birds in the same frame. Even a few lucky enough to have two different species interacting
This Allen’s and Anna’s hummingbird being territorial is a good one 📷🪶
May 16, 2025 at 3:23 PM
Sheer luck to freeze this moment where both hummingbirds are both sharp in the same frame
I’ve had my share of photos with two or more birds in the same frame. Even a few lucky enough to have two different species interacting
This Allen’s and Anna’s hummingbird being territorial is a good one 📷🪶
I’ve had my share of photos with two or more birds in the same frame. Even a few lucky enough to have two different species interacting
This Allen’s and Anna’s hummingbird being territorial is a good one 📷🪶
Reposted by Nathan Moerke
Thoughts on Demis Hassabis of Google DeepMind saying that AI could cure disease in general in ten years.
Bonus index to my longer posts on AI/computational drug discovery over nearly 20 years!
Bonus index to my longer posts on AI/computational drug discovery over nearly 20 years!
The End of Disease
www.science.org
April 21, 2025 at 4:45 PM
Thoughts on Demis Hassabis of Google DeepMind saying that AI could cure disease in general in ten years.
Bonus index to my longer posts on AI/computational drug discovery over nearly 20 years!
Bonus index to my longer posts on AI/computational drug discovery over nearly 20 years!
Reposted by Nathan Moerke
Harsh truths in drug discovery: we still have so much to learn about biology.
There is much work to be done before we cure every disease.
Great Cell article from James Fraser and Matt Murcko (yes, open access)
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
There is much work to be done before we cure every disease.
Great Cell article from James Fraser and Matt Murcko (yes, open access)
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
February 7, 2024 at 7:17 AM
Harsh truths in drug discovery: we still have so much to learn about biology.
There is much work to be done before we cure every disease.
Great Cell article from James Fraser and Matt Murcko (yes, open access)
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
There is much work to be done before we cure every disease.
Great Cell article from James Fraser and Matt Murcko (yes, open access)
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Reposted by Nathan Moerke
It's not a dire wolf. It's a gray wolf clone with 20 dire-wolf gene edits, and with some dire wolf traits. And here's my story! Gift link: www.nytimes.com/2025/04/07/s...
April 7, 2025 at 4:38 PM
It's not a dire wolf. It's a gray wolf clone with 20 dire-wolf gene edits, and with some dire wolf traits. And here's my story! Gift link: www.nytimes.com/2025/04/07/s...
Nice work to identify a new CSF biomarker for cognitive decline in AD via the ratio of two synaptic proteins - the team is also working on developing an equivalent plasma biomarker:
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
A cerebrospinal fluid synaptic protein biomarker for prediction of cognitive resilience versus decline in Alzheimer’s disease - Nature Medicine
The ratio between the levels of two synaptic proteins in cerebrospinal fluid predicts future cognitive resilience versus decline among presymptomatic individuals and individuals with early Alzheimer’s...
www.nature.com
April 7, 2025 at 2:41 AM
Nice work to identify a new CSF biomarker for cognitive decline in AD via the ratio of two synaptic proteins - the team is also working on developing an equivalent plasma biomarker:
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
New streamlined method to directly convert mouse fibroblasts into functional motor neurons, with significantly improved efficiency:
news.mit.edu/2025/mit-eng...
news.mit.edu/2025/mit-eng...
MIT engineers turn skin cells directly into neurons for cell therapy
MIT researchers devised a process to convert a skin cell directly into a neuron, eliminating the need to generate induced pluripotent stem cells. Such neurons could be used to treat spinal cord injuri...
news.mit.edu
March 16, 2025 at 11:33 PM
New streamlined method to directly convert mouse fibroblasts into functional motor neurons, with significantly improved efficiency:
news.mit.edu/2025/mit-eng...
news.mit.edu/2025/mit-eng...
Reposted by Nathan Moerke
The discovery of a pro-invasive mechanotransduction pathway driven by cell crowding suggests that an ion channel called TRPV4 may be a promising therapeutic target for inhibiting metastasis.
buff.ly/lNQRGux
buff.ly/lNQRGux
March 13, 2025 at 9:01 PM
The discovery of a pro-invasive mechanotransduction pathway driven by cell crowding suggests that an ion channel called TRPV4 may be a promising therapeutic target for inhibiting metastasis.
buff.ly/lNQRGux
buff.ly/lNQRGux
Playing around with DeepSeek for literature review - so far seems good at summarizing individual articles but when asked to provide references relevant to a specific topic tends to hallucinate articles that don't actually exist.
January 26, 2025 at 4:36 AM
Playing around with DeepSeek for literature review - so far seems good at summarizing individual articles but when asked to provide references relevant to a specific topic tends to hallucinate articles that don't actually exist.
Reposted by Nathan Moerke
Some clinical trial results to look forward to this year:
Clinical Trial Readouts Are A-Comin'
www.science.org
January 22, 2025 at 9:19 PM
Some clinical trial results to look forward to this year:
Nice examples of the use of brain organoids to study the relationship between HSV-1 infection and neurodegeneration:
www.alzforum.org/news/researc...
www.alzforum.org/news/researc...
Does the Brain Make Phospho-Tau to Fight Viruses? | ALZFORUM
www.alzforum.org
January 12, 2025 at 5:15 PM
Nice examples of the use of brain organoids to study the relationship between HSV-1 infection and neurodegeneration:
www.alzforum.org/news/researc...
www.alzforum.org/news/researc...
Reposted by Nathan Moerke
Gearing up vs the potential of building "mirror life"
A looming danger of bioengineered reversed-chirality bacteria and microbes.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... @science.org
A looming danger of bioengineered reversed-chirality bacteria and microbes.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... @science.org
Confronting risks of mirror life
Broad discussion is needed to chart a path forward.
www.science.org
December 12, 2024 at 7:41 PM
Gearing up vs the potential of building "mirror life"
A looming danger of bioengineered reversed-chirality bacteria and microbes.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... @science.org
A looming danger of bioengineered reversed-chirality bacteria and microbes.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... @science.org
Reposted by Nathan Moerke
Scared to share this after 10 freaking years of waiting, but here we go: We found that temperature *perception* can change the biology of the next generations, even when “it’s just in the parents' head”. Read how C. elegans neurons control epigenetic inheritance!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Perception of Temperature Even in the Absence of Actual Change is Sufficient to Drive Transgenerational Epigenetic Inheritance
Can processes occurring in one individuals nervous system influence the physiology of the descendants? Here we explored the provocative hypothesis that parents sensation or perception of environmental...
www.biorxiv.org
December 5, 2024 at 7:32 PM
Scared to share this after 10 freaking years of waiting, but here we go: We found that temperature *perception* can change the biology of the next generations, even when “it’s just in the parents' head”. Read how C. elegans neurons control epigenetic inheritance!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Nathan Moerke
Kanatani et al. report the development of a brain tissue–clearing method called TRISCO, which enables three-dimensional in situ hybridization on the whole brain, allowing the visualization of specific mRNAs in the complete brain at cellular resolution
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Whole-brain spatial transcriptional analysis at cellular resolution
Recent advances in RNA analysis have deepened our understanding of cellular states in biological tissues. However, a substantial gap remains in integrating RNA expression data with spatial context acr...
www.science.org
November 22, 2024 at 7:07 PM
Kanatani et al. report the development of a brain tissue–clearing method called TRISCO, which enables three-dimensional in situ hybridization on the whole brain, allowing the visualization of specific mRNAs in the complete brain at cellular resolution
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Gene therapy to treat chronic pain - Sangamo has received FDA clearance to start clinical trials for their zinc finger repressor targeting SCN9A:
investor.sangamo.com/news-release...
investor.sangamo.com/news-release...
Sangamo Therapeutics Announces U.S. FDA Clearance of IND Application for ST-503 for the Treatment of Idiopathic Small Fiber Neuropathy, a Type of Chronic Neuropathic Pain | Sangamo Therapeutics, Inc.
The Investor Relations website contains information about Sangamo Therapeutics, Inc.'s business for stockholders, potential investors, and financial analysts.
investor.sangamo.com
November 20, 2024 at 3:52 AM
Gene therapy to treat chronic pain - Sangamo has received FDA clearance to start clinical trials for their zinc finger repressor targeting SCN9A:
investor.sangamo.com/news-release...
investor.sangamo.com/news-release...
Reposted by Nathan Moerke
Developing new drugs for central nervous system diseases like depression is extremely difficult - and the story of Sage Therapeutics illustrates that all too well:
CNS Drug Development: Same As It Ever Was
www.science.org
November 18, 2024 at 9:20 PM
Developing new drugs for central nervous system diseases like depression is extremely difficult - and the story of Sage Therapeutics illustrates that all too well:
Reposted by Nathan Moerke
Exploring the full bluesky firehose, in three dimensions: firehose3d.theo.io
November 16, 2024 at 9:56 PM
Exploring the full bluesky firehose, in three dimensions: firehose3d.theo.io
Reposted by Nathan Moerke
I’m creating a drug development starter pack, reach out to join or suggest additions: go.bsky.app/B2pzQm2
November 10, 2024 at 6:50 PM
I’m creating a drug development starter pack, reach out to join or suggest additions: go.bsky.app/B2pzQm2
Reposted by Nathan Moerke
First post on Bluesky. Let's do some Macro photography and see how thos works 📸😊 #photography
November 15, 2024 at 5:02 PM
First post on Bluesky. Let's do some Macro photography and see how thos works 📸😊 #photography
Nice library of free public domain illustrations for figures and presentations from NIH:
bioart.niaid.nih.gov
bioart.niaid.nih.gov
Bioart
bioart.niaid.nih.gov
November 15, 2024 at 12:53 AM
Nice library of free public domain illustrations for figures and presentations from NIH:
bioart.niaid.nih.gov
bioart.niaid.nih.gov
New preclinical data on a first-in-class gene therapy for Angelman syndrome:
encoded.com/press-releas...
encoded.com/press-releas...
Encoded Demonstrates Therapeutic Potential of a Vectorized miRNA-based Approach for Angelman Syndrome at the FAST Annual Global Science Summit
New preclinical data for candidate ETX201 illustrate its potential as a first-in-class gene therapy for Angelman syndrome. Studies in non-human primates demonstrate safety, biodistribution, and target...
encoded.com
November 9, 2024 at 7:30 PM
New preclinical data on a first-in-class gene therapy for Angelman syndrome:
encoded.com/press-releas...
encoded.com/press-releas...
Reposted by Nathan Moerke
AlphaFold (and its peers) are wonderful tools, but don't imagine that they can replace actual experimentally determined protein structures. The details:
AlphaFold's Place in the World
www.science.org
December 11, 2023 at 8:48 PM
AlphaFold (and its peers) are wonderful tools, but don't imagine that they can replace actual experimentally determined protein structures. The details: