Mary O'Riordan
@drbadbug.bsky.social
Professor of Microbiology & Immunology at the University of Michigan | views my own
Reposted by Mary O'Riordan
the democratic party’s basic problem is it has almost no control over how its message reaches the ears of voters, especially outside of presidential election years. but rather than devote serious time, attention and cash to that problem its consultants and pundits want to fight factional battles
October 27, 2025 at 6:29 PM
the democratic party’s basic problem is it has almost no control over how its message reaches the ears of voters, especially outside of presidential election years. but rather than devote serious time, attention and cash to that problem its consultants and pundits want to fight factional battles
Reposted by Mary O'Riordan
This paper does a great job with a "It's a Wonderful Life" scenario about NIH, supposing the consequences of the bottom 40% of the funding NIH grants never existed.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
tl:dr The world would lose a lot, but directly and indirectly
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
tl:dr The world would lose a lot, but directly and indirectly
What if NIH had been 40% smaller?
Replaying history with less NIH funding shows widespread impacts on drug-linked research
www.science.org
September 26, 2025 at 11:01 AM
This paper does a great job with a "It's a Wonderful Life" scenario about NIH, supposing the consequences of the bottom 40% of the funding NIH grants never existed.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
tl:dr The world would lose a lot, but directly and indirectly
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
tl:dr The world would lose a lot, but directly and indirectly
Reposted by Mary O'Riordan
I wanted to get a video of this ghost crab but every time I got close to their hole they scuttled back in, so I tried getting clever with it. I made a little sandcastle and shoved my phone into it, hit record, and walked away. Crab was VERY suspicious of this addition to their environment.
September 19, 2025 at 12:30 PM
I wanted to get a video of this ghost crab but every time I got close to their hole they scuttled back in, so I tried getting clever with it. I made a little sandcastle and shoved my phone into it, hit record, and walked away. Crab was VERY suspicious of this addition to their environment.
Reposted by Mary O'Riordan
So Flint, Michigan gave $1,500 to all pregnant people, plus $500 each month for the first year of the child’s young life.
It saved Flint $6.2 million dollars a year, due to lower rates of rates of prematurity and low birth weight, with fewer corresponding admissions.
The right thing, AND cheaper.
It saved Flint $6.2 million dollars a year, due to lower rates of rates of prematurity and low birth weight, with fewer corresponding admissions.
The right thing, AND cheaper.
The US town that pays every pregnant woman $1,500: ‘We’re not OK with our babies being born into poverty’
Infants in Rx Kids in Flint, Michigan, saw lower rates of prematurity and other issues, saving millions in NICU visits
www.theguardian.com
September 18, 2025 at 2:57 AM
So Flint, Michigan gave $1,500 to all pregnant people, plus $500 each month for the first year of the child’s young life.
It saved Flint $6.2 million dollars a year, due to lower rates of rates of prematurity and low birth weight, with fewer corresponding admissions.
The right thing, AND cheaper.
It saved Flint $6.2 million dollars a year, due to lower rates of rates of prematurity and low birth weight, with fewer corresponding admissions.
The right thing, AND cheaper.
Reposted by Mary O'Riordan
Peroxisomal metabolism of branched fatty acids regulates energy homeostasis
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Peroxisomal metabolism of branched fatty acids regulates energy homeostasis - Nature
A UCP1-independent mechanism of thermogenesis involving ATP-consuming metabolism of monomethyl branched-chain fatty acids in peroxisomes is described and a previously unrecognized role for peroxisomes...
www.nature.com
September 17, 2025 at 4:18 PM
Peroxisomal metabolism of branched fatty acids regulates energy homeostasis
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Mary O'Riordan
There have been 22 cases of Vibrio vulnificus reported across the U.S. South, including 2 recent deaths in Louisiana. That brings the state’s 2025 toll to 6 fatalities. It’s a bit of a “perfect storm,” as shifting ocean conditions and loss of CDC capacity collide.
Flesh-eating bacteria cases climb to 22 in Louisiana; 2 deaths tied to Louisiana oysters
Louisiana has reported 22 cases of flesh-eating Vibrio vulnificus this year, with four deaths. Health officials warn of risks from warm Gulf waters.
www.nola.com
August 30, 2025 at 10:33 PM
There have been 22 cases of Vibrio vulnificus reported across the U.S. South, including 2 recent deaths in Louisiana. That brings the state’s 2025 toll to 6 fatalities. It’s a bit of a “perfect storm,” as shifting ocean conditions and loss of CDC capacity collide.
Reposted by Mary O'Riordan
Welcome FEMA to the letter resistance!! The Katrina Declaration was released today out of concern that we are going back to a time when our response was its own man-made disaster. Say Never Again and sign in support!!!
@rebelfema.altgov.info
act.standupforscience.net/forms/sign-o...
@rebelfema.altgov.info
act.standupforscience.net/forms/sign-o...
August 25, 2025 at 12:25 PM
Welcome FEMA to the letter resistance!! The Katrina Declaration was released today out of concern that we are going back to a time when our response was its own man-made disaster. Say Never Again and sign in support!!!
@rebelfema.altgov.info
act.standupforscience.net/forms/sign-o...
@rebelfema.altgov.info
act.standupforscience.net/forms/sign-o...
Reposted by Mary O'Riordan
A study published in Scientific Reports reveals that an online game can enhance individuals' ability to identify vaccine misinformation. The game uses inoculation theory to expose players to manipulation techniques that are commonly used by anti-vaccine groups. go.nature.com/3JiHq5L 🧪
August 21, 2025 at 1:36 PM
A study published in Scientific Reports reveals that an online game can enhance individuals' ability to identify vaccine misinformation. The game uses inoculation theory to expose players to manipulation techniques that are commonly used by anti-vaccine groups. go.nature.com/3JiHq5L 🧪
Reposted by Mary O'Riordan
my statement on Ai from the mini-comic I'm making as syllabus for a new class I'm teaching this fall. It's simple, but I pretty much said all I have to say on it - it robs you of decisions and struggle - and the joy of being surprised. It robs you of learning...
August 12, 2025 at 7:37 PM
my statement on Ai from the mini-comic I'm making as syllabus for a new class I'm teaching this fall. It's simple, but I pretty much said all I have to say on it - it robs you of decisions and struggle - and the joy of being surprised. It robs you of learning...
Reposted by Mary O'Riordan
“This Executive Order is nothing short of obscene," said Ranking Member Zoe Lofgren (D-CA). "In what world does Donald Trump think that Americans want political appointees – who, need I remind the President, are unelected bureaucrats – making decisions on what science gets funded?”
Ranking Member Lofgren Calls Trump Out for Corrupt Executive Order Requiring Political Appointees to Approve Federal Grants | House Committee on Science, Space and Technology
The House Committee on Science, Space and Technology
democrats-science.house.gov
August 7, 2025 at 11:43 PM
“This Executive Order is nothing short of obscene," said Ranking Member Zoe Lofgren (D-CA). "In what world does Donald Trump think that Americans want political appointees – who, need I remind the President, are unelected bureaucrats – making decisions on what science gets funded?”
Reposted by Mary O'Riordan
We outraised every single candidate in this race without a DIME from corporate PACs.
How? YOU.
Every dot on this map is someone who believes in what we’re building — and the latest polling shows I’m the *strongest* Democrat to beat Rogers.
Let’s do this, Michigan 💪
How? YOU.
Every dot on this map is someone who believes in what we’re building — and the latest polling shows I’m the *strongest* Democrat to beat Rogers.
Let’s do this, Michigan 💪
August 7, 2025 at 7:23 PM
We outraised every single candidate in this race without a DIME from corporate PACs.
How? YOU.
Every dot on this map is someone who believes in what we’re building — and the latest polling shows I’m the *strongest* Democrat to beat Rogers.
Let’s do this, Michigan 💪
How? YOU.
Every dot on this map is someone who believes in what we’re building — and the latest polling shows I’m the *strongest* Democrat to beat Rogers.
Let’s do this, Michigan 💪
Reposted by Mary O'Riordan
A remarkable paper. Davisson and colleagues describe an in vitro reaction running under plausible prebiotic conditions that efficiently and stereoselectively aminoacylates a model tRNA.
This suggests a path through which nature may have chosen L vs. D amino acids!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
This suggests a path through which nature may have chosen L vs. D amino acids!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
August 6, 2025 at 11:08 PM
A remarkable paper. Davisson and colleagues describe an in vitro reaction running under plausible prebiotic conditions that efficiently and stereoselectively aminoacylates a model tRNA.
This suggests a path through which nature may have chosen L vs. D amino acids!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
This suggests a path through which nature may have chosen L vs. D amino acids!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Mary O'Riordan
Public health officials have linked 21 Campylobacter and Shiga toxin-producing E. coli infections to raw milk from a Florida farm. Six of the infections were in children younger than 10. In Florida, sale of raw milk is permitted for animal consumption only.
www.tampabay.com/news/health/...
www.tampabay.com/news/health/...
State health officials warn about infected raw milk
More than 20 cases of infections linked to consumption of raw milk from single farm.
www.tampabay.com
August 4, 2025 at 8:49 PM
Public health officials have linked 21 Campylobacter and Shiga toxin-producing E. coli infections to raw milk from a Florida farm. Six of the infections were in children younger than 10. In Florida, sale of raw milk is permitted for animal consumption only.
www.tampabay.com/news/health/...
www.tampabay.com/news/health/...
Reposted by Mary O'Riordan
We are losing the last of the generation who understand just how evil actual fascism is, how hard it is to rid the world of authoritarian governments once they’re established, and how hard it is to build a successful alternative. www.doomsdayscenario.co/p/what-we-lo...
What We Lost When We Lost the Greatest Generation
It's no coincidence that democracy is backsliding in the US exactly eighty years after the end of World War II.
www.doomsdayscenario.co
August 5, 2025 at 5:13 PM
We are losing the last of the generation who understand just how evil actual fascism is, how hard it is to rid the world of authoritarian governments once they’re established, and how hard it is to build a successful alternative. www.doomsdayscenario.co/p/what-we-lo...
Reposted by Mary O'Riordan
BREAKING: Watchdog government agency finds the NIH and the Trump administration have illegally withheld funds in violation of the Impoundment Control Act, and rips into HHS for failing to justify its slow-walking of funds.
www.gao.gov/products/b-3...
www.gao.gov/products/b-3...
Department of Health and Human Services—National Institutes of Health—Application of Impoundment Control Act to Availability of Funds for Grants
Congress appropriated amounts to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to carry out various research objectives for fiscal year 2025. In accordance...
www.gao.gov
August 5, 2025 at 5:17 PM
BREAKING: Watchdog government agency finds the NIH and the Trump administration have illegally withheld funds in violation of the Impoundment Control Act, and rips into HHS for failing to justify its slow-walking of funds.
www.gao.gov/products/b-3...
www.gao.gov/products/b-3...
Reposted by Mary O'Riordan
My New One at @slate.com on the Supreme Court Potentially Killing the Remaining Pillar of the Voting Rights Act: “The Supreme Court Just Signaled Something Deeply Disturbing About the Next Term” slate.com/news-and-pol...
The Supreme Court Just Signaled Something Deeply Disturbing About the Next Term
A court fundamentally hostile to the rights of voters places the court increasingly at odds with democracy itself.
slate.com
August 4, 2025 at 2:28 PM
My New One at @slate.com on the Supreme Court Potentially Killing the Remaining Pillar of the Voting Rights Act: “The Supreme Court Just Signaled Something Deeply Disturbing About the Next Term” slate.com/news-and-pol...
Reposted by Mary O'Riordan
"While members of Congress asked the CBO to model cuts on the scale of Trump’s fiscal year 2026 budget proposal, the reductions are so large that they broke the models."
www.statnews.com/2025/07/28/n...
www.statnews.com/2025/07/28/n...
New analysis predicts sprawling effects of proposed NIH budget cuts
Initial analyses of the Trump administration’s proposed NIH cuts neglect key aspects of their long-term economic and health impact, study says.
www.statnews.com
July 29, 2025 at 12:17 PM
"While members of Congress asked the CBO to model cuts on the scale of Trump’s fiscal year 2026 budget proposal, the reductions are so large that they broke the models."
www.statnews.com/2025/07/28/n...
www.statnews.com/2025/07/28/n...
Reposted by Mary O'Riordan
Beyond excited to share our #NewPaper in @cellcellpress.bsky.social! Inflamed environments acidify intracellular #pH. BRD4 senses this via transcriptional condensates, tuning #macrophage responses to match demand and consequences of #inflammation authors.elsevier.com/sd/article/S...
July 22, 2025 at 1:24 PM
Beyond excited to share our #NewPaper in @cellcellpress.bsky.social! Inflamed environments acidify intracellular #pH. BRD4 senses this via transcriptional condensates, tuning #macrophage responses to match demand and consequences of #inflammation authors.elsevier.com/sd/article/S...
Reposted by Mary O'Riordan
I'm done adulting! Let's just be mermaids. 🧜♀️ 🧜♂️ 🧜♀️ 🧜♂️
How about you?
How about you?
July 17, 2025 at 10:42 PM
I'm done adulting! Let's just be mermaids. 🧜♀️ 🧜♂️ 🧜♀️ 🧜♂️
How about you?
How about you?
Reposted by Mary O'Riordan
My quote of the day
A Video Quote
Medical miracles don't happen overnight. You have to invest in them. Our investments are in trouble.
(From Francis Collins on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, July 16, 2025)
A Video Quote
Medical miracles don't happen overnight. You have to invest in them. Our investments are in trouble.
(From Francis Collins on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, July 16, 2025)
July 17, 2025 at 10:44 AM
My quote of the day
A Video Quote
Medical miracles don't happen overnight. You have to invest in them. Our investments are in trouble.
(From Francis Collins on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, July 16, 2025)
A Video Quote
Medical miracles don't happen overnight. You have to invest in them. Our investments are in trouble.
(From Francis Collins on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, July 16, 2025)
Reposted by Mary O'Riordan
Colbert should just run for President. I mean, it worked for Trump when his show was cancelled.
July 18, 2025 at 2:05 AM
Colbert should just run for President. I mean, it worked for Trump when his show was cancelled.
Great time to support your NPR and your local PBS stations
The rescission bill has passed the Senate. Once it passes the House, as expected, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting's budget will be zeroed out for the first time since 1967, back when TV stations still broadcast in black and white.
July 17, 2025 at 8:41 PM
Great time to support your NPR and your local PBS stations
Reposted by Mary O'Riordan
The rescission bill has passed the Senate. Once it passes the House, as expected, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting's budget will be zeroed out for the first time since 1967, back when TV stations still broadcast in black and white.
July 17, 2025 at 12:36 PM
The rescission bill has passed the Senate. Once it passes the House, as expected, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting's budget will be zeroed out for the first time since 1967, back when TV stations still broadcast in black and white.
Reposted by Mary O'Riordan
i wrote an essay for @thetransmitter.bsky.social about what it feels like to serve on an NIH grant review panel (study section) right now
www.thetransmitter.org/craft-and-ca...
www.thetransmitter.org/craft-and-ca...
Fear and loathing on study section: Reviewing grant proposals while the system is burning
As grants are canceled, delayed and subject to general uncertainty, participating in study sections can feel futile. But it’s more important than ever.
www.thetransmitter.org
July 14, 2025 at 6:49 PM
i wrote an essay for @thetransmitter.bsky.social about what it feels like to serve on an NIH grant review panel (study section) right now
www.thetransmitter.org/craft-and-ca...
www.thetransmitter.org/craft-and-ca...