Grant Jacobs BioinfoTools/NotJustDNA 🔬🧬🖥️✍️📚
@notjustdna.bsky.social
Scientist and science writer from New Zealand.
BioinfoTools on Twitter.
Traveller. Cycle touring.
More later - just setting this account up!
BioinfoTools on Twitter.
Traveller. Cycle touring.
More later - just setting this account up!
Pinned
Just a quick note to followers -
If you don’t want NZ politics, just mute the hashtag #NZpol
I try to tag political posts with this to help those who are more interested in science, science communication, etc.
Similarly, most posts meant for New Zealanders are tagged #NZ or #kikorangi
1/2
If you don’t want NZ politics, just mute the hashtag #NZpol
I try to tag political posts with this to help those who are more interested in science, science communication, etc.
Similarly, most posts meant for New Zealanders are tagged #NZ or #kikorangi
1/2
💉 Great to see the mass vaccination efforts underway in Nigeria!
- more vaccination efforts in Nigeria mentioned in the article
bsky.app/profile/crof...
- more vaccination efforts in Nigeria mentioned in the article
bsky.app/profile/crof...
January 6, 2026 at 8:31 AM
💉 Great to see the mass vaccination efforts underway in Nigeria!
- more vaccination efforts in Nigeria mentioned in the article
bsky.app/profile/crof...
- more vaccination efforts in Nigeria mentioned in the article
bsky.app/profile/crof...
Reposted by Grant Jacobs BioinfoTools/NotJustDNA 🔬🧬🖥️✍️📚
Each Friday, I write a debrief on what happened to science & higher education this week.
For 2026, three themes I’m bracing myself for:
- research interference
- financial pressure
- institutional betrayal
It’s a lot! Horrible, yes, but far from hopeless.
buttondown.com/liminalcreat...
For 2026, three themes I’m bracing myself for:
- research interference
- financial pressure
- institutional betrayal
It’s a lot! Horrible, yes, but far from hopeless.
buttondown.com/liminalcreat...
Year 2, Week 1
Dec 29, 2025 - Jan 2, 2026
we begin again
buttondown.com
January 3, 2026 at 3:11 PM
Each Friday, I write a debrief on what happened to science & higher education this week.
For 2026, three themes I’m bracing myself for:
- research interference
- financial pressure
- institutional betrayal
It’s a lot! Horrible, yes, but far from hopeless.
buttondown.com/liminalcreat...
For 2026, three themes I’m bracing myself for:
- research interference
- financial pressure
- institutional betrayal
It’s a lot! Horrible, yes, but far from hopeless.
buttondown.com/liminalcreat...
#NZ Latest on the Manage My Health hack -
"They came in through the front door using a valid user password."
www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...
"They came in through the front door using a valid user password."
www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...
Manage My Health CEO: 'Trust us even though we've dropped the ball'
The chief executive of beleaguered patient portal says he is open to standing down if required.
www.rnz.co.nz
January 6, 2026 at 5:46 AM
#NZ Latest on the Manage My Health hack -
"They came in through the front door using a valid user password."
www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...
"They came in through the front door using a valid user password."
www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...
🚴 #NZ New walking and cycling bridge soars over Wellington rail line
- A couple of other projects are briefly mentioned
1News article:
www.1news.co.nz/2026/01/06/n...
- A couple of other projects are briefly mentioned
1News article:
www.1news.co.nz/2026/01/06/n...
New walking and cycling bridge soars over Wellington rail line
By early December, crews had completed the piers, columns and approaches, and fitted in the connecting span that stretches across the rail tracks
www.1news.co.nz
January 6, 2026 at 5:34 AM
🚴 #NZ New walking and cycling bridge soars over Wellington rail line
- A couple of other projects are briefly mentioned
1News article:
www.1news.co.nz/2026/01/06/n...
- A couple of other projects are briefly mentioned
1News article:
www.1news.co.nz/2026/01/06/n...
Reposted by Grant Jacobs BioinfoTools/NotJustDNA 🔬🧬🖥️✍️📚
Mike Coston: afludiary.blogspot.com/2026/01/sout...
South Korea MAFRA: Special Quarantine Measures Implemented for one Month to Prevent the Spread of HPAI
19,009 Like many other countries, this fall South Korea has been hit particularly hard by this fall's return of avian flu, and over the past...
afludiary.blogspot.com
January 5, 2026 at 3:18 PM
Mike Coston: afludiary.blogspot.com/2026/01/sout...
💉 Bah, humbug, disease-loving idiots at the helm 😔
- reducing universally recommended vax from 17 to 11
- 6 vax shift to only for kids "at high risk of infection”
- now recommending only 1 dose of HPV vax
- changes likely to be challenged in court 🤞
CIDRAP coverage ⬇️
- reducing universally recommended vax from 17 to 11
- 6 vax shift to only for kids "at high risk of infection”
- now recommending only 1 dose of HPV vax
- changes likely to be challenged in court 🤞
CIDRAP coverage ⬇️
HHS announces unprecedented overhaul of US childhood vaccine schedule
www.cidrap.umn.edu
January 5, 2026 at 11:51 PM
💉 Bah, humbug, disease-loving idiots at the helm 😔
- reducing universally recommended vax from 17 to 11
- 6 vax shift to only for kids "at high risk of infection”
- now recommending only 1 dose of HPV vax
- changes likely to be challenged in court 🤞
CIDRAP coverage ⬇️
- reducing universally recommended vax from 17 to 11
- 6 vax shift to only for kids "at high risk of infection”
- now recommending only 1 dose of HPV vax
- changes likely to be challenged in court 🤞
CIDRAP coverage ⬇️
#NZ ☀️ Work starting on new solar farm in north Canterbury, Eyrewell Forest area on the north bank of the Waimakariri River, north of Christchurch.
www.odt.co.nz/star-news/st...
www.odt.co.nz/star-news/st...
Work starts on new 10ha solar farm
Work has officially started on MainPower's new solar farm in North Canterbury.
www.odt.co.nz
January 5, 2026 at 9:07 PM
#NZ ☀️ Work starting on new solar farm in north Canterbury, Eyrewell Forest area on the north bank of the Waimakariri River, north of Christchurch.
www.odt.co.nz/star-news/st...
www.odt.co.nz/star-news/st...
Reposted by Grant Jacobs BioinfoTools/NotJustDNA 🔬🧬🖥️✍️📚
This is fun and resulting graph v interesting >
How likely is ‘likely’? Does ‘likely’ have a higher probability than ‘probable’? I put together a quick quiz so you can see how you interpret probability phrases, then see how you compare with others: probability.kucharski.io
January 5, 2026 at 2:56 PM
This is fun and resulting graph v interesting >
Reposted by Grant Jacobs BioinfoTools/NotJustDNA 🔬🧬🖥️✍️📚
The Utrecht morning rush hour in the snow did not disappoint!
January 5, 2026 at 7:26 AM
The Utrecht morning rush hour in the snow did not disappoint!
Reposted by Grant Jacobs BioinfoTools/NotJustDNA 🔬🧬🖥️✍️📚
“If New Zealand wants to be serious about privacy, then organisations need to be held accountable for their failings […] That includes introducing significant fines, and real consequences.”
Privacy Act 2020 turns 5 – changes are needed
1-Dec-2025
www.privacy.org.nz/tuhono-conne...
Privacy Act 2020 turns 5 – changes are needed
1-Dec-2025
www.privacy.org.nz/tuhono-conne...
January 5, 2026 at 4:29 AM
“If New Zealand wants to be serious about privacy, then organisations need to be held accountable for their failings […] That includes introducing significant fines, and real consequences.”
Privacy Act 2020 turns 5 – changes are needed
1-Dec-2025
www.privacy.org.nz/tuhono-conne...
Privacy Act 2020 turns 5 – changes are needed
1-Dec-2025
www.privacy.org.nz/tuhono-conne...
I’d like to see the #NZ medical/health/safety organisations stand up and do the same ⬇️
All nations that care about reliable health information should be calling out the use of the now unreliable information at US-based institutions under their current leadership.
All nations that care about reliable health information should be calling out the use of the now unreliable information at US-based institutions under their current leadership.
Great to see Canadian officials take a stance.
I’ve been saying for a while I wish other nations’ health and medical institutions would reassure their people they no longer use the US-based resources under the current US administration – and as Canada has, encourage their public to do the same.
I’ve been saying for a while I wish other nations’ health and medical institutions would reassure their people they no longer use the US-based resources under the current US administration – and as Canada has, encourage their public to do the same.
Canadian officials say US health institutions no longer dependable for accurate information
Misinformation from the Trump administration is cited as fuelling Canadians’ concerns over childhood vaccinations
www.theguardian.com
January 5, 2026 at 5:44 PM
I’d like to see the #NZ medical/health/safety organisations stand up and do the same ⬇️
All nations that care about reliable health information should be calling out the use of the now unreliable information at US-based institutions under their current leadership.
All nations that care about reliable health information should be calling out the use of the now unreliable information at US-based institutions under their current leadership.
Reposted by Grant Jacobs BioinfoTools/NotJustDNA 🔬🧬🖥️✍️📚
Tangentially I remember listening to BBC World Service in Pakistan and Xinjiang (China) many years ago on a months-long overland trip. It was great to have, a little line to the wider world.
China would sometimes jam it if they didn’t like something said about themselves 😄
China would sometimes jam it if they didn’t like something said about themselves 😄
Just a reminder that listening to BBC World Service in the mornings is far superior to listening to the Today programme.
www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...
www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...
World Service - Listen Live - BBC Sounds
Listen live to World Service on BBC Sounds
www.bbc.co.uk
January 4, 2026 at 9:43 AM
Tangentially I remember listening to BBC World Service in Pakistan and Xinjiang (China) many years ago on a months-long overland trip. It was great to have, a little line to the wider world.
China would sometimes jam it if they didn’t like something said about themselves 😄
China would sometimes jam it if they didn’t like something said about themselves 😄
#NZ According to this article the deadline for the ransom (5:37am) should have expired a few minutes ago -
www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...
www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...
Manage My Health data breach ransom deadline arrives
Hackers are demanding a ransom after stealing hundreds of thousands of medical files from the country's largest patient portal.
www.rnz.co.nz
January 5, 2026 at 4:56 PM
#NZ According to this article the deadline for the ransom (5:37am) should have expired a few minutes ago -
www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...
www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...
Reposted by Grant Jacobs BioinfoTools/NotJustDNA 🔬🧬🖥️✍️📚
OpenAI has reportedly been combining multiple teams across engineering, product, and research under a new initiative focused on improving audio models.
OpenAI reorganizes some teams to build audio-based AI hardware products
Voice has lagged in adoption behind screens. OpenAI wants to change that.
arstechnica.com
January 5, 2026 at 4:36 PM
OpenAI has reportedly been combining multiple teams across engineering, product, and research under a new initiative focused on improving audio models.
Reposted by Grant Jacobs BioinfoTools/NotJustDNA 🔬🧬🖥️✍️📚
Silly question: Has anybody done any corpus linguistics on the word 'timeline'? (@lukeccollins.bsky.social)
January 5, 2026 at 8:54 AM
Silly question: Has anybody done any corpus linguistics on the word 'timeline'? (@lukeccollins.bsky.social)
While rare in some climes, this creature was known with close intimate familiarity amongst residents of poorly insulated dwellings of southern New Zealand, especially those of an older generation.
January 5, 2026 at 9:08 AM
While rare in some climes, this creature was known with close intimate familiarity amongst residents of poorly insulated dwellings of southern New Zealand, especially those of an older generation.
Reposted by Grant Jacobs BioinfoTools/NotJustDNA 🔬🧬🖥️✍️📚
NZ is facing a moment of reckoning in its foreign policy, writes Professor Robert Patman in The Conversation: theconversation.com/as-trump-rew...
As Trump rewrites the rules in Venezuela, NZ faces a foreign policy reckoning
The US intervention in Venezuela makes it clear NZ’s ‘softly softly’ foreign policy isn’t a feasible long-term response to a shifting world order.
theconversation.com
January 5, 2026 at 12:23 AM
NZ is facing a moment of reckoning in its foreign policy, writes Professor Robert Patman in The Conversation: theconversation.com/as-trump-rew...
#NZ Three-post thread on the Manage My Health hack/data theft - asks if anyone is able to clarify further
In other news, I had asked "Kazu" if they could speak to why only 6 - 7% users were affected (ie; was the breach only partly successful, was access segmented etc)
They were under the impression that the "Health Documents" module was not in use by the majority of users
They were under the impression that the "Health Documents" module was not in use by the majority of users
January 5, 2026 at 6:02 AM
#NZ Three-post thread on the Manage My Health hack/data theft - asks if anyone is able to clarify further
#NZpol ⬇️ (and more than we’re getting from the government so far…)
On #Venezuela: @IntlCrimCourt is the right court for Maduro to be tried in for crimes against humanity following due process & findings from @UN_HRC Fact-Finding Mission. What has happened this week is illegal under international law: ref Art 24 UN Charter/
www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...
www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...
US attack on Venezuela clearly illegal under UN charter - Helen Clark
The former PM says there is a case for Nicolás Maduro to appear before a criminal court, but the attack wasn't legal.
www.rnz.co.nz
January 5, 2026 at 5:58 AM
#NZpol ⬇️ (and more than we’re getting from the government so far…)
😂
have you seen my star wars idea?
January 5, 2026 at 5:22 AM
😂
Reposted by Grant Jacobs BioinfoTools/NotJustDNA 🔬🧬🖥️✍️📚
Sequencing Instrumrnt Outlook 2026
My observations & predictions on sequencing instrument companies
🧬🖥️
omicsomics.blogspot.com/2026/01/sequ...
My observations & predictions on sequencing instrument companies
🧬🖥️
omicsomics.blogspot.com/2026/01/sequ...
Sequencing Instrument Outlook 2026
A computational biologist's personal views on new technologies & publications on genomics & proteomics and their impact on drug discovery
omicsomics.blogspot.com
January 5, 2026 at 3:23 AM
Sequencing Instrumrnt Outlook 2026
My observations & predictions on sequencing instrument companies
🧬🖥️
omicsomics.blogspot.com/2026/01/sequ...
My observations & predictions on sequencing instrument companies
🧬🖥️
omicsomics.blogspot.com/2026/01/sequ...
Reposted by Grant Jacobs BioinfoTools/NotJustDNA 🔬🧬🖥️✍️📚
Ex-Australia cricket star Damien Martyn has made a sudden turnaround since coming out of an induced coma while in a Gold Coast hospital with meningitis.
Ex-Australia cricket star Damien Martyn out of coma, speaking to loved ones
Former Australia cricket star Damien Martyn has made a sudden recovery after being in an induced coma with meningitis.
bit.ly
January 5, 2026 at 3:30 AM
Ex-Australia cricket star Damien Martyn has made a sudden turnaround since coming out of an induced coma while in a Gold Coast hospital with meningitis.
I know I’m a broken record saying the same line over again, but the HPV vaccine is a great gift to give a kid ⬇️
(And all the other recommended vaccines, too.)
(And all the other recommended vaccines, too.)
Also very cool: a study from 2024 found that in Scottish women fully vaccinated with the HPV vaccine in 2008, *no* cases of cervical cancer have been found. Not a single one. 100% success rate.
Co-author: "It is [now] possible to make cervical cancer a rare disease.”
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Co-author: "It is [now] possible to make cervical cancer a rare disease.”
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
No cervical cancer cases in fully HPV-vaccinated women in Scotland
A study published by Public Health Scotland finds that the HPV vaccine is
www.bbc.co.uk
January 5, 2026 at 4:53 AM
I know I’m a broken record saying the same line over again, but the HPV vaccine is a great gift to give a kid ⬇️
(And all the other recommended vaccines, too.)
(And all the other recommended vaccines, too.)
#NZ
ManageMyHealth breach: Patients at risk of identity theft, extortion - experts
www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...
ManageMyHealth breach: Patients at risk of identity theft, extortion - experts
www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...
ManageMyHealth breach: Patients at risk of identity theft, extortion - experts
The hackers say they will leak more than 400,000 files if a ransom isn't paid, in what an expert says is "the worst data breach that I recall seeing in New Zealand".
www.rnz.co.nz
January 5, 2026 at 4:43 AM
#NZ
ManageMyHealth breach: Patients at risk of identity theft, extortion - experts
www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...
ManageMyHealth breach: Patients at risk of identity theft, extortion - experts
www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...