Liam Drew
@liamdrew.bsky.social
Freelance science journalist, dad, author of two books, has a writing shed at his allotment. liamdrew.net
Huge advance - but still some questions
An electronic eye implant has restored vision in people with blindness caused by age-related macular degeneration
go.nature.com/48JVwrv
go.nature.com/48JVwrv
People with blindness can read again after retinal implant
An electronic eye implant has restored vision in people with blindness caused by age-related macular degeneration.
go.nature.com
October 20, 2025 at 4:46 PM
Huge advance - but still some questions
If someone unequivocally does the work of a study author (helps design study, analyse data and write the paper) are they ethically obliged to be listed as an official author the study?
October 18, 2025 at 5:19 PM
If someone unequivocally does the work of a study author (helps design study, analyse data and write the paper) are they ethically obliged to be listed as an official author the study?
Absolutely delighted to have scooped this year’s gong for cancer research reporting.
An amazing night at the #mjaawards celebrating the best in UK health journalism. Holding power to account and reporting that leads to change were big themes this year. See the full list of winners on our website mjauk.org/2025/09/17/b...
BBC team wins top MJA Award for report on assisted dying
BBC team wins the headline Outstanding Contribution Award at the 2025 MJA Awards. Read our full list of all the winners
mjauk.org
September 18, 2025 at 10:03 AM
Absolutely delighted to have scooped this year’s gong for cancer research reporting.
Reposted by Liam Drew
At our awards ceremony next week we will find out our winners but until then we will continue to celebrate the finalists! Shortlisted for the Gordon McVie Award for Reporting Cancer Research are @liamdrew.bsky.social @rosietaylorjourno.bsky.social and Clare Wilson 👏
September 9, 2025 at 9:24 AM
At our awards ceremony next week we will find out our winners but until then we will continue to celebrate the finalists! Shortlisted for the Gordon McVie Award for Reporting Cancer Research are @liamdrew.bsky.social @rosietaylorjourno.bsky.social and Clare Wilson 👏
Don’t stop believin’, not even while you…
August 19, 2025 at 7:07 PM
Don’t stop believin’, not even while you…
Very happily in Paris for a few days en famille. Remembering the second time I came, 23-year-old me taking my nan on her first trip abroad… www.liamdrew.net/articles/201...
Paris with my grandmother — Liam Drew
READER’S DIGEST Liam Drew takes us along on his Parisian adventure with his grandmother and explores the importance of spending quality time with the people in your life
www.liamdrew.net
August 17, 2025 at 6:21 PM
Very happily in Paris for a few days en famille. Remembering the second time I came, 23-year-old me taking my nan on her first trip abroad… www.liamdrew.net/articles/201...
I'm absolutely delighted to be shortlisted for The Gordon McVie Award for Reporting Cancer Research.
🚨 Finalists for the 2025 Medical Journalists' Association Awards are revealed today. #mjaawards mjauk.org/2025/08/15/f...
Finalists for the 2025 Medical Journalists' Association Awards are announced. Winners revealed at the awards ceremony on September 17
Finalists for the 2025 Medical Journalists' Association Awards are announced. Winners revealed at the awards ceremony on September 17
mjauk.org
August 15, 2025 at 11:11 AM
I'm absolutely delighted to be shortlisted for The Gordon McVie Award for Reporting Cancer Research.
Reposted by Liam Drew
Hi all, I’m going to be writing an article that looks at when in their careers scientists feel they do their most satisfying work… I’m sure it’ll vary hugely but if you’d like to help provide a starting point please fill in this survey - and please share! survey.alchemer.com/s3/8407348/C...
Careers survey - best work
survey.alchemer.com
August 6, 2025 at 7:51 PM
Hi all, I’m going to be writing an article that looks at when in their careers scientists feel they do their most satisfying work… I’m sure it’ll vary hugely but if you’d like to help provide a starting point please fill in this survey - and please share! survey.alchemer.com/s3/8407348/C...
Hi all, I’m going to be writing an article that looks at when in their careers scientists feel they do their most satisfying work… I’m sure it’ll vary hugely but if you’d like to help provide a starting point please fill in this survey - and please share! survey.alchemer.com/s3/8407348/C...
Careers survey - best work
survey.alchemer.com
August 6, 2025 at 7:51 PM
Hi all, I’m going to be writing an article that looks at when in their careers scientists feel they do their most satisfying work… I’m sure it’ll vary hugely but if you’d like to help provide a starting point please fill in this survey - and please share! survey.alchemer.com/s3/8407348/C...
As a relative of someone with CBD, this pair can go fuck themselves.
Penniless and homeless, Raynor and Moth Winn found fame with their story of their 630-mile walk to salvation. The Salt Path became a global bestseller and was adapted into a major film.
But we can reveal it wasn’t the whole truth.
@chloehadj.bsky.social
Read more:
But we can reveal it wasn’t the whole truth.
@chloehadj.bsky.social
Read more:
The real Salt Path: how the couple behind a bestseller le...
Penniless and homeless, the Winns found fame and fortune with the story of their 630-mile walk to salvation. We can reveal it was far from the truth
observer.co.uk
July 6, 2025 at 8:42 AM
As a relative of someone with CBD, this pair can go fuck themselves.
Reposted by Liam Drew
#abswss25 #SummerSchool #hybrid
🔗 zurl.co/tUAAn
💻Panel 1 - 5 things we wish we'd known when we began our feature-writing careers
🎯Producer: Aisling Irwin
📢Speakers:
Rachel Brazil @rachelbrazil.bsky.social
@liamdrew.bsky.social
Clare Wilson @theipaper.com
Shaoni Bhattacharya
🔗 zurl.co/tUAAn
💻Panel 1 - 5 things we wish we'd known when we began our feature-writing careers
🎯Producer: Aisling Irwin
📢Speakers:
Rachel Brazil @rachelbrazil.bsky.social
@liamdrew.bsky.social
Clare Wilson @theipaper.com
Shaoni Bhattacharya
June 16, 2025 at 11:00 AM
#abswss25 #SummerSchool #hybrid
🔗 zurl.co/tUAAn
💻Panel 1 - 5 things we wish we'd known when we began our feature-writing careers
🎯Producer: Aisling Irwin
📢Speakers:
Rachel Brazil @rachelbrazil.bsky.social
@liamdrew.bsky.social
Clare Wilson @theipaper.com
Shaoni Bhattacharya
🔗 zurl.co/tUAAn
💻Panel 1 - 5 things we wish we'd known when we began our feature-writing careers
🎯Producer: Aisling Irwin
📢Speakers:
Rachel Brazil @rachelbrazil.bsky.social
@liamdrew.bsky.social
Clare Wilson @theipaper.com
Shaoni Bhattacharya
Reposted by Liam Drew
🧵 Several people have raised questions about what I meant by "deservedly so" when referring to the decline of institutional trust. It's a fair question, so I want to explain that, because it sits at the heart of my work on how democracies collapse when their epistemic foundations rot.
The conditions that have led to what’s happening in the US today exist in democracies around the world.
They are an inevitable outcome of our collective failure to adapt to fundamental changes in the information ecosystem on which our democracies were originally built.
They are an inevitable outcome of our collective failure to adapt to fundamental changes in the information ecosystem on which our democracies were originally built.
June 9, 2025 at 7:39 PM
🧵 Several people have raised questions about what I meant by "deservedly so" when referring to the decline of institutional trust. It's a fair question, so I want to explain that, because it sits at the heart of my work on how democracies collapse when their epistemic foundations rot.
This paper is wild.
Losing the Y chromosome seems to make cancer cells more aggressive in men and the phenomenon may even spread between cells
https://go.nature.com/3Zh7bs7
https://go.nature.com/3Zh7bs7
Cancer more deadly when tumours lack Y chromosomes — and the loss could be contagious
Losing the Y chromosome seems to make cancer cells more aggressive in men and the phenomenon may even spread between cells.
go.nature.com
June 4, 2025 at 7:22 PM
This paper is wild.
A new paper in @nature.com suggests that cancer cells that have lost their Y chromosomes can induce this same mutation in nearby immune cells! And when both cell types have this mutation there's cancers are way more aggressive. www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Cancer more deadly when tumours lack Y chromosomes — and the loss could be contagious
Losing the Y chromosome seems to make cancer cells more aggressive in men and the phenomenon may even spread between cells.
www.nature.com
June 4, 2025 at 3:14 PM
A new paper in @nature.com suggests that cancer cells that have lost their Y chromosomes can induce this same mutation in nearby immune cells! And when both cell types have this mutation there's cancers are way more aggressive. www.nature.com/articles/d41...
I spoke to Vox's Unexplainable podcast -- alongside the brilliant Jennifer French -- about the problem of people having neural implants then losing support for those devices. www.vox.com/unexplainabl...
Sorry, we left an implant in your brain
What happens if you get a life-changing device implanted…and the company that maintains it goes bankrupt?
www.vox.com
April 30, 2025 at 6:43 PM
I spoke to Vox's Unexplainable podcast -- alongside the brilliant Jennifer French -- about the problem of people having neural implants then losing support for those devices. www.vox.com/unexplainabl...
If you have a Y chromosome and are approaching middle age, chances are a good chunk of your immune cells are beginning to lose this chromosome - and that's likely bad for your health. It might help explain why men die earlier than women... My latest www.newscientist.com/article/mg26...
How vanishing Y chromosomes could help explain men's ill health
The enigmatic Y chromosome has a tendency to disappear from cells with age. Now, research is revealing the long-term impacts this can have on disease risk and life expectancy
www.newscientist.com
April 29, 2025 at 4:43 PM
If you have a Y chromosome and are approaching middle age, chances are a good chunk of your immune cells are beginning to lose this chromosome - and that's likely bad for your health. It might help explain why men die earlier than women... My latest www.newscientist.com/article/mg26...
Reposted by Liam Drew
Time Machine.
I can draw this for you as a cartoon
www.worldofmoose.com/products/tim...
And it's also available as a T shirt!
www.redbubble.com/i/t-shirt/Ti...
I can draw this for you as a cartoon
www.worldofmoose.com/products/tim...
And it's also available as a T shirt!
www.redbubble.com/i/t-shirt/Ti...
April 29, 2025 at 9:23 AM
Time Machine.
I can draw this for you as a cartoon
www.worldofmoose.com/products/tim...
And it's also available as a T shirt!
www.redbubble.com/i/t-shirt/Ti...
I can draw this for you as a cartoon
www.worldofmoose.com/products/tim...
And it's also available as a T shirt!
www.redbubble.com/i/t-shirt/Ti...
Whoop - I’m part of a @nature.com team nominated for a Webby Award for our short video on cancer busting vaccines! Any votes would be hugely appreciated :) vote.webbyawards.com/PublicVoting...
Vote for the best of the internet
I just voted in The Webby People's Voice Awards and checked my voter registration.
vote.webbyawards.com
April 9, 2025 at 5:57 PM
Whoop - I’m part of a @nature.com team nominated for a Webby Award for our short video on cancer busting vaccines! Any votes would be hugely appreciated :) vote.webbyawards.com/PublicVoting...
Thrilled for my friend @helenscales.bsky.social
Meet the six brilliant writers behind the six brilliant books on the 2025 #WomensPrize for Non-Fiction shortlist. Head over to our website to discover more about them, explore their books in our library and hear about their research and inspirations: www.womensprize.com/category/interviews/
March 28, 2025 at 7:37 PM
Thrilled for my friend @helenscales.bsky.social
This is wild. People happy with an 80% survival rate among their measles infected kids….
How the anti-vaccine movement weaponized a 6-year-old’s measles death
www.nbcnews.com/health/healt...
www.nbcnews.com/health/healt...
How the anti-vaccine movement weaponized a 6-year-old’s measles death
Anti-vaccine influencers see the child’s death as proof — not of the danger of measles, but of their own debunked theories.
www.nbcnews.com
March 20, 2025 at 10:08 AM
This is wild. People happy with an 80% survival rate among their measles infected kids….
Reposted by Liam Drew
"At this point I believe my academic career is effectively over"--a postdoc studying schizophrenia at Columbia, in the wake of the government's $400 million funding cut. www.nature.com/articles/d41...
‘My career is over’: Columbia University scientists hit hard by Trump team’s cuts
The US government has begun slashing US$400 million in research grants at Columbia University over pro-Palestinian campus protests.
www.nature.com
March 17, 2025 at 1:52 PM
"At this point I believe my academic career is effectively over"--a postdoc studying schizophrenia at Columbia, in the wake of the government's $400 million funding cut. www.nature.com/articles/d41...
As the teens directly affected by the UK raising the minimum school leavers age from 15 to 16 pass through their 60s, it’s created a natural experiment for people interested in whether education decreases dementia risk… and it looks like it might www.newscientist.com/article/2471...
Does education help build a cognitive reserve to ward off dementia?
Spending more time at school could keep you sharp into old age, but there are other factors that might explain the effect
www.newscientist.com
March 14, 2025 at 8:33 PM
As the teens directly affected by the UK raising the minimum school leavers age from 15 to 16 pass through their 60s, it’s created a natural experiment for people interested in whether education decreases dementia risk… and it looks like it might www.newscientist.com/article/2471...
From the “free speech” party…
This is actually the worst thing I’ve seen from federal granting agencies thus far.
This CDC "survey" getting sent to grantees is wild yall.
This is some serious "Kiss my Ring" level bullshit.
This is some serious "Kiss my Ring" level bullshit.
March 7, 2025 at 4:51 PM
From the “free speech” party…
Reposted by Liam Drew
Might optogenetics be on the cusp of becoming a transformative therapy for blindness? My latest looks at the latest advances in using this technology for treating retinitis pigmentosa, with an ongoing clinical trial yielding remarkable results. www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Restoring vision with optogenetics
Trials of therapies that enhance the light-sensitivity of cells in the retina are returning surprisingly positive results in people with retinitis pigmentosa.
www.nature.com
March 5, 2025 at 8:08 PM
Might optogenetics be on the cusp of becoming a transformative therapy for blindness? My latest looks at the latest advances in using this technology for treating retinitis pigmentosa, with an ongoing clinical trial yielding remarkable results. www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Might optogenetics be on the cusp of becoming a transformative therapy for blindness? My latest looks at the latest advances in using this technology for treating retinitis pigmentosa, with an ongoing clinical trial yielding remarkable results. www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Restoring vision with optogenetics
Trials of therapies that enhance the light-sensitivity of cells in the retina are returning surprisingly positive results in people with retinitis pigmentosa.
www.nature.com
March 5, 2025 at 8:08 PM
Might optogenetics be on the cusp of becoming a transformative therapy for blindness? My latest looks at the latest advances in using this technology for treating retinitis pigmentosa, with an ongoing clinical trial yielding remarkable results. www.nature.com/articles/d41...