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
Reposted by Grant Jacobs BioinfoTools/NotJustDNA 🔬🧬🖥️✍️📚
DON’T EAT THE POTATOES
November 28, 2025 at 3:13 PM
DON’T EAT THE POTATOES
I have to admit similar thoughts here.
There’s that you want to be thinking about what you’re conveying in slides, and bringing out _your_ thinking on the topic. It’s sort of the point of them!
Then there’s worrying about how much care for accuracy there is.
There’s that you want to be thinking about what you’re conveying in slides, and bringing out _your_ thinking on the topic. It’s sort of the point of them!
Then there’s worrying about how much care for accuracy there is.
I don’t know if anyone else notices or cares, but when I see a presentation in which the speaker uses obviously generated-AI images to illustrate their slides, it makes me immediately less confident in whatever other content they’re presenting.
November 28, 2025 at 3:33 PM
I have to admit similar thoughts here.
There’s that you want to be thinking about what you’re conveying in slides, and bringing out _your_ thinking on the topic. It’s sort of the point of them!
Then there’s worrying about how much care for accuracy there is.
There’s that you want to be thinking about what you’re conveying in slides, and bringing out _your_ thinking on the topic. It’s sort of the point of them!
Then there’s worrying about how much care for accuracy there is.
#NZpol
I’m still trying to understand the latest Stanford fuss, and having woken in the wee hours see this.
So… it was on Facebook (?), and Stanford deleted it soon after?
Over at X-Twitter one of her last posts from over two years ago has a longer passage ⬇️
Recycling old grudges or something?
I’m still trying to understand the latest Stanford fuss, and having woken in the wee hours see this.
So… it was on Facebook (?), and Stanford deleted it soon after?
Over at X-Twitter one of her last posts from over two years ago has a longer passage ⬇️
Recycling old grudges or something?
November 28, 2025 at 2:54 PM
#NZpol
I’m still trying to understand the latest Stanford fuss, and having woken in the wee hours see this.
So… it was on Facebook (?), and Stanford deleted it soon after?
Over at X-Twitter one of her last posts from over two years ago has a longer passage ⬇️
Recycling old grudges or something?
I’m still trying to understand the latest Stanford fuss, and having woken in the wee hours see this.
So… it was on Facebook (?), and Stanford deleted it soon after?
Over at X-Twitter one of her last posts from over two years ago has a longer passage ⬇️
Recycling old grudges or something?
Reposted by Grant Jacobs BioinfoTools/NotJustDNA 🔬🧬🖥️✍️📚
Hey Bluesky, I need a Christmas idea for a tricky to buy for relative. What's a popular science book out recently that you've enjoyed? 🧪⚒🥼🌊
November 28, 2025 at 8:01 AM
Hey Bluesky, I need a Christmas idea for a tricky to buy for relative. What's a popular science book out recently that you've enjoyed? 🧪⚒🥼🌊
Reposted by Grant Jacobs BioinfoTools/NotJustDNA 🔬🧬🖥️✍️📚
💉 One thing I rarely see explained is how vaccination *is* "natural immunity".
The immunity is developed by your body not the vaccine. The vaccine itself doesn’t do the work.
I think the confusion partly comes from a phrase scientists use. 🧵⬇️
1/n
The immunity is developed by your body not the vaccine. The vaccine itself doesn’t do the work.
I think the confusion partly comes from a phrase scientists use. 🧵⬇️
1/n
RFK Jr.’s new CDC deputy director prefers “natural immunity” over vaccines
Ralph Abraham is “dangerous,” but somehow not the worst among those considered.
arstechnica.com
November 27, 2025 at 10:32 AM
💉 One thing I rarely see explained is how vaccination *is* "natural immunity".
The immunity is developed by your body not the vaccine. The vaccine itself doesn’t do the work.
I think the confusion partly comes from a phrase scientists use. 🧵⬇️
1/n
The immunity is developed by your body not the vaccine. The vaccine itself doesn’t do the work.
I think the confusion partly comes from a phrase scientists use. 🧵⬇️
1/n
Perhaps time for me to replay the DVDs, then?
We are now further away from the theatrical release of Raiders of the Lost Ark (June 12, 1981) than it was from the year it takes place in (1936). We have reached the Indiana Jones event horizon.
November 28, 2025 at 5:37 AM
Perhaps time for me to replay the DVDs, then?
#NZ
“Rail and Tourism Group […] announced on Friday it will resurrect inter-regional South Island rail, named The Mainlander, for services between Christchurch, Dunedin and Invercargill.”
Full article requires subscription.
“Rail and Tourism Group […] announced on Friday it will resurrect inter-regional South Island rail, named The Mainlander, for services between Christchurch, Dunedin and Invercargill.”
Full article requires subscription.
After decades of abandoned business cases, but much yearning, long distance passenger rail is returning to the South Island.
The Mainlander passenger train returns in January
After decades of abandoned business cases, but much yearning, long distance passenger rail is returning to the South Island.
dlvr.it
November 28, 2025 at 5:36 AM
#NZ
“Rail and Tourism Group […] announced on Friday it will resurrect inter-regional South Island rail, named The Mainlander, for services between Christchurch, Dunedin and Invercargill.”
Full article requires subscription.
“Rail and Tourism Group […] announced on Friday it will resurrect inter-regional South Island rail, named The Mainlander, for services between Christchurch, Dunedin and Invercargill.”
Full article requires subscription.
Reposted by Grant Jacobs BioinfoTools/NotJustDNA 🔬🧬🖥️✍️📚
Lovely segment on gene therapy for a kid with Hunter Syndrome on 1News.
Have to feel for his brother though – he also has the condition, but is too old (5) to get the gene therapy 😞
University of Manchester story ⬇️
www.manchester.ac.uk/about/news/n...
Have to feel for his brother though – he also has the condition, but is too old (5) to get the gene therapy 😞
University of Manchester story ⬇️
www.manchester.ac.uk/about/news/n...
New hope for children with devastating rare genetic disorder, thanks to world-first research in Manchester
The parents of a three-year-old boy born with a devastating, life-limiting genetic condition say they are now excited for his future after he received a revolutionary stem cell gene therapy treatment ...
www.manchester.ac.uk
November 25, 2025 at 6:06 AM
Lovely segment on gene therapy for a kid with Hunter Syndrome on 1News.
Have to feel for his brother though – he also has the condition, but is too old (5) to get the gene therapy 😞
University of Manchester story ⬇️
www.manchester.ac.uk/about/news/n...
Have to feel for his brother though – he also has the condition, but is too old (5) to get the gene therapy 😞
University of Manchester story ⬇️
www.manchester.ac.uk/about/news/n...
Reposted by Grant Jacobs BioinfoTools/NotJustDNA 🔬🧬🖥️✍️📚
Short version: avoid Nucleus Genomics (and in general be cautious about direct-to-consumer genomics).
Drill down for details, e.g. totalhealthoptimization.com/2025/11/21/c... (H/T @nicorobine.bsky.social)
See replies for more comments by scientists.
Drill down for details, e.g. totalhealthoptimization.com/2025/11/21/c... (H/T @nicorobine.bsky.social)
See replies for more comments by scientists.
November 25, 2025 at 6:37 AM
Short version: avoid Nucleus Genomics (and in general be cautious about direct-to-consumer genomics).
Drill down for details, e.g. totalhealthoptimization.com/2025/11/21/c... (H/T @nicorobine.bsky.social)
See replies for more comments by scientists.
Drill down for details, e.g. totalhealthoptimization.com/2025/11/21/c... (H/T @nicorobine.bsky.social)
See replies for more comments by scientists.
Reposted by Grant Jacobs BioinfoTools/NotJustDNA 🔬🧬🖥️✍️📚
It is a good question, although the examples seem to be more about why people fall for them.
IME* it’s a long road out of a belief, conspiratorial or not, with no one step that is "it". It’s more a series or accumulation of things than a single "intervention", to use the medical expression.
IME* it’s a long road out of a belief, conspiratorial or not, with no one step that is "it". It’s more a series or accumulation of things than a single "intervention", to use the medical expression.
What prompts people to change their minds about conspiracy theories? Associate Professor Matt Williams and team from Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa Massey University set out to answer this curious question! 👽👽👽👽👽👽👽👽👽
www.royalsociety.org.nz/research/new...
www.royalsociety.org.nz/research/new...
What prompts people to change their minds about conspiracy theories?
Conspiracies DO happen...
www.royalsociety.org.nz
November 26, 2025 at 6:14 PM
It is a good question, although the examples seem to be more about why people fall for them.
IME* it’s a long road out of a belief, conspiratorial or not, with no one step that is "it". It’s more a series or accumulation of things than a single "intervention", to use the medical expression.
IME* it’s a long road out of a belief, conspiratorial or not, with no one step that is "it". It’s more a series or accumulation of things than a single "intervention", to use the medical expression.
Reposted by Grant Jacobs BioinfoTools/NotJustDNA 🔬🧬🖥️✍️📚
Gene therapy may offer hope to diabetes sufferers, NZ study shows
- tested in mice and human cardiac tissues (cardiac organoids), not clinical tests on people (yet!)
Media story at Newsroom ⬇️
newsroom.co.nz/2025/11/25/g...
- tested in mice and human cardiac tissues (cardiac organoids), not clinical tests on people (yet!)
Media story at Newsroom ⬇️
newsroom.co.nz/2025/11/25/g...
Gene therapy may offer hope to diabetes sufferers, NZ study shows
Comment from the University of Auckland: Maintaining heart health is particularly important for diabetics, who should be seen for at least two check-ups each year, writes Dr Kim Mellow
newsroom.co.nz
November 27, 2025 at 5:12 AM
Gene therapy may offer hope to diabetes sufferers, NZ study shows
- tested in mice and human cardiac tissues (cardiac organoids), not clinical tests on people (yet!)
Media story at Newsroom ⬇️
newsroom.co.nz/2025/11/25/g...
- tested in mice and human cardiac tissues (cardiac organoids), not clinical tests on people (yet!)
Media story at Newsroom ⬇️
newsroom.co.nz/2025/11/25/g...
Reposted by Grant Jacobs BioinfoTools/NotJustDNA 🔬🧬🖥️✍️📚
Occasional reminder to new followers ⬇️
(My pinned thread. I try to do a few things to help people get the content they want. In particular, overseas scientists may want to skip the NZ politics! Unless it interests you, of course.)
(My pinned thread. I try to do a few things to help people get the content they want. In particular, overseas scientists may want to skip the NZ politics! Unless it interests you, of course.)
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
November 27, 2025 at 9:28 AM
Occasional reminder to new followers ⬇️
(My pinned thread. I try to do a few things to help people get the content they want. In particular, overseas scientists may want to skip the NZ politics! Unless it interests you, of course.)
(My pinned thread. I try to do a few things to help people get the content they want. In particular, overseas scientists may want to skip the NZ politics! Unless it interests you, of course.)
Reposted by Grant Jacobs BioinfoTools/NotJustDNA 🔬🧬🖥️✍️📚
Anthony A. Hyman will become EMBL’s next Director General.
He joins EMBL from @mpi-cbg.de in Dresden. He is also Professor of Molecular Biology @tudresden.bsky.social, and was a group leader at EMBL Heidelberg from 1993 to 1999.
www.embl.org/news/people-...
He joins EMBL from @mpi-cbg.de in Dresden. He is also Professor of Molecular Biology @tudresden.bsky.social, and was a group leader at EMBL Heidelberg from 1993 to 1999.
www.embl.org/news/people-...
November 27, 2025 at 1:02 PM
Anthony A. Hyman will become EMBL’s next Director General.
He joins EMBL from @mpi-cbg.de in Dresden. He is also Professor of Molecular Biology @tudresden.bsky.social, and was a group leader at EMBL Heidelberg from 1993 to 1999.
www.embl.org/news/people-...
He joins EMBL from @mpi-cbg.de in Dresden. He is also Professor of Molecular Biology @tudresden.bsky.social, and was a group leader at EMBL Heidelberg from 1993 to 1999.
www.embl.org/news/people-...
I don’t use ChatGPT enough, but this is a lovely analogy even if what it’s describing is yucky!
ChatGPT’s signature writing style is everywhere now, and I hate it. It reminds me of when we tried mixing all the beverages at the soda fountain in middle school. We didn’t actually create the perfect drink, we just made a cloying monstrosity that lost everything good about its constituent parts.
November 27, 2025 at 9:09 PM
I don’t use ChatGPT enough, but this is a lovely analogy even if what it’s describing is yucky!
Reposted by Grant Jacobs BioinfoTools/NotJustDNA 🔬🧬🖥️✍️📚
Law change would stop those aged 65 to 72 excusing themselves from court duties based purely on how old they are, reports Alice Peacock
Boomers won't be able to use their age to get off jury duty
newsroom.co.nz
November 27, 2025 at 6:32 PM
Law change would stop those aged 65 to 72 excusing themselves from court duties based purely on how old they are, reports Alice Peacock
Reposted by Grant Jacobs BioinfoTools/NotJustDNA 🔬🧬🖥️✍️📚
Re-routing of ships around the Cape of Good Hope led to a natural experiment.
By "comparing NO₂ [unaffected by the sulfur-reducing regulations], with cloud droplet number, which is sensitive to sulfur, [they] found a 67% reduction in ships' cloud-altering abilities" after the new IMO regulations.
By "comparing NO₂ [unaffected by the sulfur-reducing regulations], with cloud droplet number, which is sensitive to sulfur, [they] found a 67% reduction in ships' cloud-altering abilities" after the new IMO regulations.
When trade routes shift, so do clouds: Researchers uncover ripple effects of new global shipping regulations
When militia attacks disrupted shipping lanes in the Red Sea, few imagined the ripple effects would reach the clouds over the South Atlantic. But for Florida State University atmospheric scientist Mic...
phys.org
November 22, 2025 at 12:08 PM
Re-routing of ships around the Cape of Good Hope led to a natural experiment.
By "comparing NO₂ [unaffected by the sulfur-reducing regulations], with cloud droplet number, which is sensitive to sulfur, [they] found a 67% reduction in ships' cloud-altering abilities" after the new IMO regulations.
By "comparing NO₂ [unaffected by the sulfur-reducing regulations], with cloud droplet number, which is sensitive to sulfur, [they] found a 67% reduction in ships' cloud-altering abilities" after the new IMO regulations.
Reposted by Grant Jacobs BioinfoTools/NotJustDNA 🔬🧬🖥️✍️📚
Scientific American has changed quite a bit.
My memory has many of the feature articles being written by scientists covering their research focus, with editors’ assistance. From a researcher’s point of view they glossed over things, but they were deep dives for general-readership articles.
My memory has many of the feature articles being written by scientists covering their research focus, with editors’ assistance. From a researcher’s point of view they glossed over things, but they were deep dives for general-readership articles.
SciAm in 1989:Here's a big article about some cool new stuff in epigenetics. Pay attention, we're going to go fast.
SciAm now: What kind of pie?
SciAm now: What kind of pie?
November 25, 2025 at 4:48 PM
Scientific American has changed quite a bit.
My memory has many of the feature articles being written by scientists covering their research focus, with editors’ assistance. From a researcher’s point of view they glossed over things, but they were deep dives for general-readership articles.
My memory has many of the feature articles being written by scientists covering their research focus, with editors’ assistance. From a researcher’s point of view they glossed over things, but they were deep dives for general-readership articles.
Reposted by Grant Jacobs BioinfoTools/NotJustDNA 🔬🧬🖥️✍️📚
📚 Libraries, what are they good for? Absolutely everything
Commentary at Newsroom: newsroom.co.nz/2025/11/26/l...
#NZ, #Wellington, but relevant plenty of places elsewhere.
Commentary at Newsroom: newsroom.co.nz/2025/11/26/l...
#NZ, #Wellington, but relevant plenty of places elsewhere.
Libraries, what are they good for? Absolutely everything
From Auckland University - Comment: Wellington’s contested central library is about to reopen – and it’s not trying to be frictionless and avoid the messy everyday work of being a public space.
newsroom.co.nz
November 27, 2025 at 4:56 AM
📚 Libraries, what are they good for? Absolutely everything
Commentary at Newsroom: newsroom.co.nz/2025/11/26/l...
#NZ, #Wellington, but relevant plenty of places elsewhere.
Commentary at Newsroom: newsroom.co.nz/2025/11/26/l...
#NZ, #Wellington, but relevant plenty of places elsewhere.
Reposted by Grant Jacobs BioinfoTools/NotJustDNA 🔬🧬🖥️✍️📚
#NZ IRD moves to liquidate two Destiny Church entities
- Later in the piece Inland Revenue staff explains why this might be done.
- Note D.C. taking a poke at their name being mentioned
“No reference should be made to the Church in relation to these entities.”
Newsroom story by Alice Peacock ⬇️
- Later in the piece Inland Revenue staff explains why this might be done.
- Note D.C. taking a poke at their name being mentioned
“No reference should be made to the Church in relation to these entities.”
Newsroom story by Alice Peacock ⬇️
IRD moves to liquidate two Destiny Church entities
Court approves application to liquidate commercial entity with a separate appeal for the winding down of a related trust to be heard soon.
newsroom.co.nz
November 27, 2025 at 5:32 AM
#NZ IRD moves to liquidate two Destiny Church entities
- Later in the piece Inland Revenue staff explains why this might be done.
- Note D.C. taking a poke at their name being mentioned
“No reference should be made to the Church in relation to these entities.”
Newsroom story by Alice Peacock ⬇️
- Later in the piece Inland Revenue staff explains why this might be done.
- Note D.C. taking a poke at their name being mentioned
“No reference should be made to the Church in relation to these entities.”
Newsroom story by Alice Peacock ⬇️
Reposted by Grant Jacobs BioinfoTools/NotJustDNA 🔬🧬🖥️✍️📚
🖥️ Building a large-RAM machine might be expensive right now……
arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025...
#bioinformatics
arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025...
#bioinformatics
GPU prices are coming to earth just as RAM costs shoot into the stratosphere
Some RAM kits are over three times as expensive as they were three months ago.
arstechnica.com
November 27, 2025 at 9:16 AM
🖥️ Building a large-RAM machine might be expensive right now……
arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025...
#bioinformatics
arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025...
#bioinformatics
💉 One thing I rarely see explained is how vaccination *is* "natural immunity".
The immunity is developed by your body not the vaccine. The vaccine itself doesn’t do the work.
I think the confusion partly comes from a phrase scientists use. 🧵⬇️
1/n
The immunity is developed by your body not the vaccine. The vaccine itself doesn’t do the work.
I think the confusion partly comes from a phrase scientists use. 🧵⬇️
1/n
RFK Jr.’s new CDC deputy director prefers “natural immunity” over vaccines
Ralph Abraham is “dangerous,” but somehow not the worst among those considered.
arstechnica.com
November 27, 2025 at 10:32 AM
💉 One thing I rarely see explained is how vaccination *is* "natural immunity".
The immunity is developed by your body not the vaccine. The vaccine itself doesn’t do the work.
I think the confusion partly comes from a phrase scientists use. 🧵⬇️
1/n
The immunity is developed by your body not the vaccine. The vaccine itself doesn’t do the work.
I think the confusion partly comes from a phrase scientists use. 🧵⬇️
1/n
Occasional reminder to new followers ⬇️
(My pinned thread. I try to do a few things to help people get the content they want. In particular, overseas scientists may want to skip the NZ politics! Unless it interests you, of course.)
(My pinned thread. I try to do a few things to help people get the content they want. In particular, overseas scientists may want to skip the NZ politics! Unless it interests you, of course.)
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
November 27, 2025 at 9:28 AM
Occasional reminder to new followers ⬇️
(My pinned thread. I try to do a few things to help people get the content they want. In particular, overseas scientists may want to skip the NZ politics! Unless it interests you, of course.)
(My pinned thread. I try to do a few things to help people get the content they want. In particular, overseas scientists may want to skip the NZ politics! Unless it interests you, of course.)
🖥️ Building a large-RAM machine might be expensive right now……
arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025...
#bioinformatics
arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025...
#bioinformatics
GPU prices are coming to earth just as RAM costs shoot into the stratosphere
Some RAM kits are over three times as expensive as they were three months ago.
arstechnica.com
November 27, 2025 at 9:16 AM
🖥️ Building a large-RAM machine might be expensive right now……
arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025...
#bioinformatics
arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025...
#bioinformatics
Reposted by Grant Jacobs BioinfoTools/NotJustDNA 🔬🧬🖥️✍️📚
What a wonderful thing. I was always so spooked by the sudden death of a coworker’s best friend at 26 from cervical cancer. Went for her routine pap smear, no symptoms or anything, found irregular cells, 6 weeks later she was dead. 26 years old. She’d just bought a new car “all by herself”. Insanity
November 27, 2025 at 12:32 AM
What a wonderful thing. I was always so spooked by the sudden death of a coworker’s best friend at 26 from cervical cancer. Went for her routine pap smear, no symptoms or anything, found irregular cells, 6 weeks later she was dead. 26 years old. She’d just bought a new car “all by herself”. Insanity