Kamal Nahas

Where Do Viruses Come From? Using genomics, evolutionary biologists test several hypotheses on the origin of viruses. New evidence suggests they may have emerged more times than previously thought.

Where Do #Viruses Come From? ...

| #genomics | #Duplodnaviria | #virus | #DNA | #RNA | By @kamalnahas.bsky.social via the-scientist .com

If tiny lab-grown 'brains' became conscious, would it still be OK to experiment on them? A perspective paper published this week argued that brain organoids could soon gain consciousness, and we should consider stricter regulations around them.

What's your opinion? @livescience.com wants to know!

Share your viewpoint with us in this online poll by @nicolanese.bsky.social

www.livescience.com/health/neuro...

Tiny 'brains' grown in the lab could become conscious and feel pain — and we're not ready Lab-grown brain tissue is too simple to experience consciousness, but as innovation progresses, neuroscientists question whether it's time to revisit the ethics of this line of research.

Human brain organoids are too simple to experience consciousness, but neuroscientists think they may be able to one day with tech advances.

Is it unethical to work on a conscious organoid?

Should regulations change?

This and more in my @livescience.com piece 🧠

www.livescience.com/health/neuro...

Illustrators call out journals and news sites for using AI art Bot-made art undermines research and public trust in science, say illustrators frustrated by inaccurate and outlandish depictions.

Bot-made art undermines research and public trust in science, say illustrators frustrated by inaccurate and outlandish depictions.

@kamalnahas.bsky.social @ella-maru.bsky.social‬ ‪@blokoweka.bsky.social‬

www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Model Organisms Are Not Static A research study reveals that some vertebrate genomes mutate 40-times faster than others.

Thrilled to share my first essay for @asimovpress.bsky.social as a columnist!

Model animals like the lab mouse minimize genetic differences. I explored the impact that mutations accruing over time have on their genomes and what effect that has on reproducibility.

press.asimov.com/articles/sta...

Archaea Inhabit Our Microbiome, but What Are They Doing There? Scientists know relatively little about archaea compared to their bacterial counterparts, but evidence of their roles in health and disease are beginning to trickle in.

Little research has been done on archaea—microbes inhabiting salt lakes, geysers and hydrothermal vents—because scientists assumed they keep to extreme habitats.

But new evidence shows they thrive in the body. Read about what they do there in my latest feature.
www.the-scientist.com/archaea-inha...

The Origins of Adjuvants More than a century after the invention of vaccines, a veterinarian stumbled across a technique to boost their efficacy in an unlikely way — by observing wounded horses.

The story of how Edward Jenner invented vaccines has been told time and time again.

But you may not know the story of the wounded horse that led French scientist Gaston Ramon to change vaccines forever.

Read all about it in @asimovpress.bsky.social

press.asimov.com/articles/adj...

Edward Jenner administered the world's first vaccine, for smallpox, in 1796. At the time, smallpox caused nearly 1/5 of ALL deaths in London.

But it was the unsung scientists, Gaston Ramon and Alexander Glenny, who discovered adjuvants and made modern vaccines possible.

Story🔻

Manu Prakash is scaling down microscopes to expand their global reach - The Brilliant Transforming his lab into a factory for $1 microscopes, Manu Prakash and his team have shipped thousands to remote communities around the globe.

Many school students get a chance to peer at miniature life through a microscope, but while growing up in a remote town @prakashlab.bsky.social wasn't able to.

That didn't curb his curiosity.

Now he makes frugal microscopes (some out paper!) to expand outreach.

thebrilliant.com/2025/04/02/s...

Making a “Miracle” HIV Medicine Lenacapavir — a long-acting, injectable drug — may be our strongest tool yet to curb HIV, provided it reaches those who need it most.

We are closer than ever to an HIV vaccine (of sorts): A single injection of lenacapavir offers six months of protection!

But getting the medicine to everyone who needs it comes with its own challenges.

Read all about the global effort to end HIV/AIDS in AsimovPress
press.asimov.com/articles/hiv...

How many more calories does muscle burn than fat? There's an idea that larger muscles burn a lot more energy while at rest. But is that true?

Muscle burns calories during exercise, and body-warming brown fat burns calories in the cold, but which is easier to leverage for weight loss?

And how true is the saying that every pound of muscle you put on burns an extra 50 calories per day?

thanks to @nicolanese.bsky.social @livescience.com

An AI Lab Partner Helps Sift Through Transcriptomics Data Big omics datasets can be overwhelming for researchers with limited programming skills, but texting with a new AI chatbot could help them wade through their results.

Thrilled to see our work with the @bocklab.bsky.social featured in 'The Scientist'!

It's a really great read and builds on an interview I had with the @kamalnahas.bsky.social.

www.the-scientist.com/an-ai-lab-pa...

Thanks to @jessicasacher.bsky.social @pedrobeltrao.bsky.social @beccrew.bsky.social @natureportfolio.bsky.social

a cartoon of two spidermans standing in front of a nypd van ALT: a cartoon of two spidermans standing in front of a nypd van

Kamal Nahas
Or you can listen to an AI-generated podcast discussing my article about AI-generated podcasts

notebooklm.google.com/notebook/d51...

Can AI-generated podcasts boost science engagement? Researchers are using artificial intelligence to keep up with the literature and spread the word about their work.

There are several AI tools that you can use to turn dense research papers (or even a whole PhD thesis!) into easy-listening podcasts.

For Nature Index, I asked scientists to share their experience using these tools for sci comm as well as keeping up with the lit.

www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Thanks to @moritzbaio.bsky.social and @dmgerhard.bsky.social

An AI Lab Partner Helps Sift Through Transcriptomics Data Big omics datasets can be overwhelming for researchers with limited programming skills, but texting with a new AI chatbot could help them wade through their results.

Sometimes it's easier to find info by asking ChatGPT a question and then fact-checking its response.

Similarly, scientists can now use an AI chatbot as a starting point to analyze transcriptomics data by feeding it simple prompts like "what cells are these?"

www.the-scientist.com/an-ai-lab-pa...

A little bit of fear can bring down levels of inflammation in the body Feeling scared seems to reduce elevated levels of inflammation, which may help explain why some people enjoy a haunted attraction

We know fear triggers an adrenaline rush, but what else can it do?

Here's what happens if you send people to a haunted house attraction and monitor their immune system.

www.newscientist.com/article/2458...

Thanks to @hannahthomasy.bsky.social for edits

Pseudomonas Bacteria Escape Immunity by Disrupting Energy Production in Macrophages Pseudomonas infections are tough to treat, but a new study reveals a chemical they use to subdue macrophages, suggesting new therapeutic avenues.

How do bacteria manipulate the immune system?

New research shows that Pseudomonas aeruginosa switches off energy production in immune cells that engulf and destroy microbes.

Scientists are now developing inhibitors to block this process.

www.the-scientist.com/pseudomonas-...