AI =New drugs and medicines 17 times faster

Good heavens, but it takes a long time to get a new medicine in use. To go from first concept to everyday pharmaceutical use in the high street can take from 10 to 15 years on average. There’s all that Discovery and Initial research: followed by Preclinical Testing, Clinical Trials, and Regulatory Review. Quite right too: we support all this red tape , as there no point in killing the people (or animals) we’re trying to cure. Occasionally things are permitted to speed up (think mRNA vaccines during the COVID-19 pandemic) But we admit the whole thing can be a tad frustrating, particularly for a blog like this one, ever campaigning for new forms of antibiotic and other ways to combat resistant micro-organisms,

Which is why we support every endeavour to speed the process of drug development up. None more so than when its exponents try fresh thinking, as the ingenious Dr Alex Shalek of MITI. Read this AI offers drug-screening shortcut from Nature Briefing

An artificial intelligence (AI) model trained on complex data from human cells could bypass the need for time-consuming drug-screening in the race to develop new medicines. The model, called DrugReflector, was trained on data about how each of nearly 9,600 chemical compounds perturbs gene activity in more than 50 kinds of cell. Researchers found that DrugReflector was up to 17 times more effective at finding compounds that could affect the generation of certain blood cells than standard screening, which depends on randomly selecting compounds from a chemical library.Nature | 4 min read
Reference: Science paper

Dr Shalek and his admirable team think they have accelerated the process by anything between 13 and 17 times, as you will discover if you drill down on the links which we have provided.

It’s easy to bemoan the modern trend for instant narcissistic gratification, where every want is satisfied by the click of a button and a funny little man showing up in a blue van a few hours later. Of course it is essential to test new drugs, and maintain the high standards which we in the educated community hold ourselves to. You can’t run a drugs company at the same moral and intellectual level that you run a popular newspaper. But anything that speeds things up safely, as this technique appears to do, will save many lives and much suffering. We hope we’ve cheered up your morning break.

#drug development #medicine #health #AI #research #mRNA vaccine

How good teaching won a Nobel Prize

For our next look at this year’s Nobels, we thought we’d showcase the three brilliant researchers who share the prize for Chemistry. For those who need to come up to speed here’s Nature Briefing’s story, Chemistry Nobel for Supersponge MOFs

Chemists Susumu Kitagawa, Richard Robson and Omar Yaghi have won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for developing the world’s most porous solid materials, known as metal-organic frameworks (MOFs). Structured like molecular scaffolding, MOFs contain vast caverns of internal space; Nobel committee chair Heiner Linke likens them to “Hermione’s handbag in Harry Potter — it can store huge amounts of gas in a tiny volume”. In the 30 years since they were first developed, they have become part of efforts to capture carbon from the air and remove ‘forever chemicals’ from water, among many other applications.Nature | 4 min read

Now, we in no way would distract from the accomplishments of Drs Kitaga or Yaghi. But what we want to do here is tell a very human story of how the third laureate, Dr Robson, got involved in the first place.

One day he was constructing large wooden models of crystal structures for undergraduate chemistry lectures at the University of Melbourne. These models—representing structures like sodium chloride and fluorite—were made from coloured wooden balls (atoms) connected by rods (bonds), carefully drilled at precise angles using trigonometric calculations. We’ve all seen them, they are stand by of every A level and undergraduate teaching room

As Robson assembled these models, he noticed something profound: the components seemed “invested with information,” naturally predisposed to form the intended structure. This observation led him to wonder: what if molecules could behave similarly—self-assembling into predictable, extended structures using chemical bonds instead of rods? That question planted the seed for MOFs, which he began exploring seriously about a decade later.

It’s funny how learning is a holistic thing. Research informs teaching. And teaching informs research. Oddly enough artists like Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim found the same thing, if you substitute “creative writing” for research. Perhaps its the idea of responding to questions, looking at the bigger picture. Or in Robson’s case, taking time out to play creatively with models. If you have found the same, oh readers, let us know. Meanwhile tell your Government to keep funding research and universities. As we saw in the last blog- they’ll get their money back.

#chemistry #nobel prizes 2025 #metal organic frameworks #carbon capture #climate change #science #research

Are stress and trauma passed down the generations?

Does trauma pass down through the generations? Can someone who has been through a war, a genocide, or a famine in some manner pass that experience on to their children? Grandchildren, even? If so, how? Are the effects purely physiological-or could they even be psychological? It’s a fascinating question for our current dark times. And fortunately we have a carefully written article by Rodrigo Santodomingo of El País which thoughtfully assesses the current state of play [1] (English speaking readers-you are going to need your translator app for this one)

What impressed us was intellectual rigour of experts whom Rodrigo consulted, like Professor Isabelle Mansuy of the University of Zurich and Dr Anna García Gómez, a professional psychiatrist. Professor Mansuy is particularly sharp “it’s not the trauma that’s transmitted, it’s the effects.” she notes. Clear distinctions like this allow us all to wade through a morass of strong evidence, weak evidence, hopeful claims and provisional findings. That something is happening, and that it’s epigenetic seems reasonably certain. Studies of rats indicate that parents subjected to trauma or prolonged stress do indeed have observable consequences in subsequent generations. But-can these changes be genetic as well as epigenetic? The pioneering work of Dr Rachel Yehuda and on the survivors of concentration camps and their descendants is considered: but she always stresses that any alterations associated with the FKBP5 gene are in expression, not its structure. As Professor Mansuy concludes: “we know almost nothing about the epigenetic transmission of trauma. This doesn’t mean its not there, but it’s extremely difficult to prove” (LSS translation)

Why are we raising all this? We can never forget our excitement upon learning that life experiences can be transmitted down the generations even if only by epigenetic mechanisms (If you want to know more about this The Epigenetics Revolution by Professor Nessa Carey is a great place to start) [2] But at a deeper level, and as one presiding over a Whiggish sort of blog we want to live in a safer, more prosperous world where people are on the whole better educated and better off than their parents had been. If trauma from old wars and other catastrophes poisons minds and prevents future generations from achieving this then it’s a form of pollution just as evil as say plastics, pesticides or radiation. The Bible waxes lyrical in several places about the iniquity of sinners being inflicted on future generations. What a pity if the sinned-against must suffer the same fate!

[1] La alargada sombra del trauma: ¿Se transmiten sus efectos de padres a hijos? | Ciencia | EL PAÍS

[2] The Epigenetics Revolution: How Modern Biology is Rewriting Our Understanding of Genetics, Disease and Inheritance: Amazon.co.uk: Carey, Nessa: 9781848313477: Books

#genetics #epigenetics #stress #trauma #psychology #biology

Hello we’re back-and we have Nobel Prizes!

First of all, apologies for our forced and utterly unwanted absence. But Domestic Renovations, and the sorts of people who carry them out, can be as tiresome and time-consuming as any other human relationship which the Gentleman Scholar must negotiate -domestic staff mistresses and lovers, cleaners, mechanics, and countless others. All require patient listening, multiple cups of tea and hefty pay offs, if only to still their incessant demands for even a moment. But here we are back again where it counts-with you, gentle readers. And we are glad to say that we return with one of our favourite sequences of the year. It’s Nobel Prize season again. [1]

For us, the Nobel prizes are the very essence of what this blog is all about. That careful learning and scholarship are not only what lifts our lives above the miserable condition of wild apes (well, some of us): they constitute the only only possible escape route from our current plights, many of which are serious and grave. And this time we think we can prove it. with the help of three of the very winners themselves-how’s that for endorsement, ladies and gentlemen? That’s the prize which will receive our first detailed attention, in the next blog: but let’s start with a roll call of the stupendously intelligent people who have stood out this year as the cream of humanity

Physics: John Clarke Michel H Devoret John M Martins Amazing work “for the discovery of macroscopic quantum mechanical tunnelling and energy quantisation in an electric circuit” Yup, we kind of lost too it after the fourth word in the citation, but we’ll try to understand it better in time for a later blog

Chemistry Susuma Kitagawa Richard Robson Omar M Yaghi Want to capture Carbon dioxide, water in the desert, store toxic gases and many other things? These discoveries will let you do all of them. If this isn’t right on the raison d’etre of this blog, we don’t know what is. Again, come back later for more

Physiology and/or Medicine Anything in these fields must be close to an LSS reader’s heart. So the work of Mary E Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell and Shimon Sakaguchi on the tricky world of the immune system requires our most emphatic hats-off

Literature and Peace Intelligence can be of the Emotional kind as well as the academic, as many of us discover with agonising slowness and pain. So although these subjects lie outside the remit of our blog we are proud to give honourable mentions to László Krasznahorkai and Maria Corina Machado respectively (is she a relative of Antonio Machado the famous Spanish poet, we wonder?-ed)

But finally our first next blog on this subject, as t’were, will be devoted to the patient Economics work of Joel Mokyr, Phillipe Aghion and Peter Howitt. Because finally they have shown at Nobel level, what we have believed for so long. It’s science and learning that drives the economy. Which is where we go next time.

[1] https://www.nobelprize.org/all-nobel-prizes-2025/

#nobel prizes #economics #physics #chemistry #medicine #physiology #economics

How climate change drives the return of deadly diseases

We never thought we’d see it. But Malaria is making a comeback in the British Isles [1] According to the latest findings from the UK Health Security Agency(UKHSA) cases rose by a whopping 32% from 2022 to 2023 making them the highest in 20 years. More than 2000 cases in fact. Now some of this is due no doubt to travel bounce backs after the COVID 19 pandemic. But once put into a broader context. the real pattern becomes both clear and alarming. Global warming is driving a massive spread of insect vector diseases. Dangerous diseases that almost seemed under control until the oil companies unleashed climate change on an innocent world

Staying with Britain just for now, William Hunter of the Mail [2] reports on the appearance of two deadly mosquitoes in the UK: the Egyptian mosquito Aedes aegypti and the appropriately named Tiger mosquito Aedes albopictus. For now these are isolated events, and under current conditions their spread may even be containable. But every year the climate gets a little warmer. Every year brings a higher chance that these vectors will spread their deadly triple load: Dengue Fever, Chikungunya and Zika. With all the consequences which wel- seasoned readers of this blog will recall from our earlier outings on this theme (see LSS 25 3 25, 25 10 21 and many others)

We confess to becoming a little angry when we we write stories like this: such disasters could have been so avoidable. Once, not so long ago these diseases were unknown in this islands except as travellers’ tales, or as the province of medical specialists. Now a wave is crossing the world. We know what the remedy is. If by any chance you are a parent reading these lines: this story is one more line of evidence among many. Your children can never be truly safe until global warming is finally controlled and reversed.

[1]https://ukhsa.blog.gov.uk/2025/05/21/how-we-protect-the-uk-from-vector-borne-diseases/

[2]https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-15151429/tropical-diseases-britain-mosquitoes-dengue-fever.html

[3]https://wellcome.org/news/how-climate-change-affects-vector-borne-diseases

#disease #malaria #dengue fever #climate change #g;obal warming #health

Heroes of Learning: Leonardo Pisano(Fibonacci)

Have you ever looked at the strange spiral in a broccoli floret and wondered how it got like that? Or hundreds of other things in nature from the shapes of waves on the beach to the arrangements of artichoke leaves? The answer to all this and much more was discovered by Leonardo Pisano, better known to the modern world as Fibonnaci.(C1170 AD-c 1245) [1] [2]

A bright lad from Pisa in Italy, his big break came when his father took him on a business trip to Bugia in what is now called Tunisia. Father and son met an Arab mathematician (the Islamic world was still far ahead in science and technology) who kindly showed them the amazing new numbering system which they had learned in turn from the Hindus. The young Leo realised at once that this strange numerical system of 0, 1 2-9 was utterly superior to the cumbersome Roman system of letters( V X MCXCCVL, etc) On his return to Italy he published the Liber Abaci, whose short 27 or so chapters are one of the most significant books in the canon of western learning. Not only did it update all and sundry on the new number system. Not only was it full of useful applications for this system. Above all it promulgated an intriguing new sequence of numbers which goes 0,1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13…..to infinity. Each number in the sequence is formed by adding the two before. Dividing one by its predecessor quickly gets to the Golden ratio, which artists and architects have been using as on of the most aesthetically pleasing constructions for centuries.

We have alluded here before to odd mathematical structures such as pi and Eulers number: which show up again and again in nature: Fibonacci’s sequence is another of them. We have no idea why, but then: nor does anyone else. But the real significance of Fibonacci was his timing. For the first time, and after a long sleep, Western Europe was starting to make original contributions in natural sciences. And it did it by borrowing humbly from other more learned cultures. A lesson we should not forget today.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fibonacci

[2]https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/zm3rdnb

#fibonacci #mathematics #middle ages ##tunisia #india #biology #architecture

Human Evolution: More muddle in the middle?

Taking time out as ever from more serious matters, we return to our old playground of human evolution. And not just for R and R, important as that is. Also, because the methods and pronouncements of its scholars are important guides to how we should all approach any complicated and potentially controversial subject.

Until recently the origin of our own species seemed fairly clear cut. It emerged from a pack of other big-brained contenders (think Denisovans and Neanderthals among others) starting around 250 000 years ago, in Africa, and clearing the rest of the field no later than 35000 years BP. However recent work by Professor Chris Stringer of London’s prestigious Natural History Museum and colleagues have now cast this into doubt. It is even possible that the line leading to Homo sapiens may have started to go its own way before 1000 000 years BP. You can read why in these takes from Jonathan Chadwick of the Mail here [1] or a slightly extended version in the museums own PR piece here [2] It all goes back to 1990 and the discovery of a rather squashed skull called Yunxian 2 which was attributed to Homo erectus: a perfectly reasonable decision at the time. But using advanced new reconstruction techniques Stringer and his colleagues assert

……… Yunxian 2 displays a unique combination of primitive and more advanced traits. These include a large, squat braincase and a more projecting lower face, similar to Homo erectus. At the same time, derived features in the face and rear of the braincase, as well as a larger brain capacity, are closer to later species such as Homo longi (‘Dragon Man’) and Homo sapiens.

We have been following this game for for nearly six decades: so what do we think? First Chris Stringer is a fine scholar whom we have always admired. Secondly, we welcome all attempts to re evaluate data and set it in new contexts: that way real learning occurs. Our caveat is more with practice . Always and again in human evolution, new fossils found are baptised with confident new binomial Latin names in the great Linnean tradition. Then vast conclusions are drawn, which, in our experience, are substantially revised some years later. This has led not only to the muddle in the middle to which the articles allude. There are plenty more early on the story, and more than one much later on. We think the first clearing step should be to talk less about species, and more about gene frequencies populations. and ways of life. These clearly cluster at points of excavation, such as Afar, Java or Atapuerca to name but a few. But each point, however iconic, is represented by relatively few bones. There are enormous gaps in space and time between each, into which genes and populations must have been flowing all the time. Is it not possible that there has only been one human line all along, and that many of the variations are likely due to factors such as ecology, climate or isolation? The real answer is to dig, dig and dig again.

[1]https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-15132633/skull-pushes-origins-400-000-years.html

[2]https://www.nhm.ac.uk/press-office/press-releases/analysis-of-reconstructed-ancient-skull-pushes-back-our-origins-.html

#paleoanthropology #human evolution #clade #species #Homo sapiens #China

Two good news blogs:#1 AI designer phages against antibiotic resistance

Its not often we bring you unabashed good news, gentle readers. Nor moreover, blow our own trumpet. But the following from Nature Briefing AI Helps design E. coli killing viruses not only unites so many of the themes we push here-(AI molecular design, multidisciplinary studies, bacteriophages etc etc)-that we think that the advance it represents it makes this one of our more significant blogs in months.

Using artificial intelligence (AI), researchers have designed novel viruses capable of killing strains of Escherichia coli. The team used the DNA of a simple bacteriophage called ΦX174 to guide AI models to generate viral genomes with the specific function of infecting antibiotic-resistant strains of E. coli. Researchers used the model’s suggested sequences to select 302 viable phages. When put to the test, 16 of these phages could infect E. coli, and combinations of them could kill three strains of the bacterium, a feat the original ΦX174 couldn’t pull off.Nature | 5 min read
Reference: bioRxiv preprint (not peer reviewed)

its certainly worth clicking on the Nature article and even the Preprint, which has a surprisingly well written summary

Old hands to this blog will recall our long standing worries about this organism. Normally Escherichia coli (named after the ingenious Dr Theodor Escherich) is a fine upstanding member of the microbiological community, being common in nature and a doyenne of experimental departments in microbiological schools. But certain strains of it are developing a profound resistance to our best antibiotics including piperacillin/tazobactam combinations. Which could have made it a very False Friend indeed. But now it seems that Dr King and his team have got ahead of the game.

Note the careful language, full admissions that peer review awaits, and generally understated claims that mark the true signs of trustworthy scholarship. How different from some situations where leaders of great nations go before the cameras and make huge unsubstantiated claims about phenomena of which they have no certain knowledge, But when you choose to believe only what you want to believe, fate has a nasty way of catching up eventually. Wait for the next blog and we’ll tell you more .

#E.coli #bacteriophages #AI #designer biochemistry #antibiotic resistance #microbiology #medicine #health

Mirror Organisms: the ultimate bioweapon?

Anyone who got beyond basic school science will recall the frustrating new level of complexity when the teacher first told you about stereoisometry. You recall-all biomolecules starting with the slightly complicated upwards really have two identical forms, left hand and right hand. Amino acids, proteins you name it. And life can only work with one. All amino acids in living things on this planet have left handed amino acids and right handed sugars. Of course living systems could work the other way round, It just has happened yet on this planet. Until now. Read this Debate heats up over mirror life from Nature Briefing

At a meeting this week in the United Kingdom, scientists are deliberating whether to restrict research that could eventually enable ‘mirror life’ — synthetic cells built from molecules that are mirror images of those found in the natural world. “Pretty much everybody agrees” that mirror-image cells would be “a bad thing”, says synthetic biologist John Glass. Such a cell might proliferate uncontrollably in the body or spread unchecked through the environment, because the body’s enzymes and immune system might not as readily recognize right-handed amino acids or left-handed DNA. But there are disagreements about where to set limits on research — the ability to evade degradation could also make such molecules useful as therapeutic drugs.Nature | 7 min read
Read more: Life scientist Ting Zhu, whose work explores various mirror-image molecular processes, considers how to bridge divergent views on such research. (Nature | 11 min read)

Unfortunately its the down size that worries us here, Not only the uncontrolled spread alluded to by the learned scientists above. But, as the world falls into the grip of authoritarian dictators and ever more powerful plutocrats, the potential these tools give them to get rid of surplus and redundant sections of humanity. Forever.

#isomers #biochemistry #bioweapons

LSS at 5:A blog of all our blogs

It’s funny, we’ve been doing this blog for more than five years now. And in response to growing numbers of readers and requests, we thought it might be time to provide a round up, not of the week, but of our whole outpourings which might be interesting to those who seem to have been trawling avidly through our archives of late.

It all started back in 2020, around the time of the great COVID-19 epidemic. Our initial aim was to raise awareness of the problem of antibiotic resistance in microbes, and the health dangers that posed. The idea was a short three paragraph hit the sort of thing that informed readers could take in over a quick coffee, while giving them a few links and references if they wanted to follow up. Just to keep it interesting, we started throwing in other topics on other areas of science. And these widened to include economics, social issues like women’s safety, and of course our regular Friday cocktail night, which certain readers still recall fondly.

Antibiotics and associated matters have remained well represented. We have looked for untapped sources in nature, even including the unlikely Komodo Dragon( LSS 3 5 21) the evolutionary arms race between bacteria and antibiotics which humans have been forced to join(LSS 8 6 23) and all sorts of new discoveries and techniques including AI (LSS 6 6 24) Being who we are, and untied to the constraints of any institution, we were quick to suggest that bacteriophages might be a useful adjunct to the general theme of overcoming resistant bacteria(LSS 17 3 22, 10 9 25 et al) Ever mindful that lack of antibiotics might not be the only catastrophe waiting we have provided handy little guides to what might happen if the magnetic poles flip, sea levels rise and even more endocrine disruptors are poured out from our factories. Other scientific tropes like evolution get a look in too. We enjoyed posing you a few puzzles on things like Homo naledi (LSS 4 4 21) the tools of Socotra (LSS 17 6 22) and even the possibility of Denisovan Fine Art( LSS 9 8 23) But these last were mainly for entertainment.

Our general theme has, we think been broad but consistent. The scientific method, of gathering objective evidence and analysing it by the rules of logic are the most reliable manner to fashion a passingly decent way of life. To this end you will have noticed is praise all kinds of people from journalists like Larry Elliott and Simon Kuper to more general thinkers like John Rawls, EO Wilson and Carl Sagan. We have tried to keep away from obvious stars like Darwin, Einstein, Bach, Keynes and the others as these thinkers speak for themselves. Instead we have tried to put forward slightly overlooked figures such as Ada Lovelace, Peter Ramus or Cassiodorus. Our Heroes of Learning feature is the place to look for those.

But above all we thank you, our readers, contributors and researchers for all their good companionship. All those who posts likes, shares and comments-it shows someone out there is interested. We wish all of you well with your various blogs, careers, lives and families. As Gore Vidal observed , it is the top one or two percent who carry knowledge through and pass it from generation to generation. And you are in it.

#antibiotic resistance #bacteriophages #environment #pollution #economics #history #evolution #science #reason #cocktails