Nelson Grihalde, Ph D’s Post

Companies like Oracle and Microsoft have both begun investigating nuclear energy (as has former Microsoft chairman Bill Gates), with Microsoft inking an agreement to purchase power from the infamous Three Mile Island reactor. Micro nuclear reactors are also set to provide clean, safe, and reliable energy to meet the increasing demands of data centers and other industries. We previously wrote how Nano Nuclear Energy is on track to have its first commercial microreactors ready by the early 2030s, with prototypes expected as soon as 2027. https://lnkd.in/e6MvYKpG

Over the past decade, there has been a clear and unprecedented exodus of young life scientists from academia and into lucrative industry jobs. But new data provide evidence that this trend is slowing, at least for now. The latest numbers from the Survey of Earned Doctorates, an annual National Science Foundation census of freshly minted Ph.D. graduates, show that 61.6% of biomedical scientists who had a job lined up were bound for industry in 2023. That’s a sizable dip from 66.5% in 2022, breaking a decade-long trend of nearly continuous annual increases in the share of graduates headed for the private sector. https://lnkd.in/e_Bg3ACd

In a lawsuit in Fort Worth, Texas federal court, the Outsourcing Facilities Association claims the FDA removed Lilly's tirzepatide from the list even though it remains in short supply. Lilly sells the drug under the brand names Zepbound for weight loss and Mounjaro for diabetes. The FDA did not give the public a chance to weigh in on its decision and trusted assurances from Lilly, "the company that is self-interested in monopolizing the market," that it could meet projected demand, the lawsuit said. https://lnkd.in/ejHGmwyu

In 2019, pharmaceutical companies spent $83 billion dollars on research and development. After accounting for inflation, that’s roughly 10 times what the industry spent in the 1980s, according to the US Congressional Budget Office. A 2024 study showed that the share of sales revenue devoted to research spending rose from 12% in 2008 to 18% in 2019, and drugmakers are beginning to feel the pinch. In addition to rising research costs, several blockbuster drugs will soon be old enough to be reclassified as generic, meaning their developers are set to lose their status as the exclusive manufacturer, says Magid Abou-Gharbia, founding director of the Moulder Center for Drug Discovery Research at Temple University. “When that happens, you can kiss the money goodbye,” he says. https://lnkd.in/e7tJ-umX

Customers of genetic data outfit 23andMe may be at greater risk than they realize, suggests a New York Times story that argues the company’s woes could be short-lived compared to the longer-term threats facing those roughly 15 million people if 23andMe can’t continue as a going concern. Certainly, the hope of founder and CEO Anne Wojcicki to turn around 23andMe seems increasingly unreachable. Following a major breach and resignation en mass of its independent directors, the company, once valued at $6 billion, is now valued at $150 million. It’s poised to be delisted next month. Press stories aren't helping. (Would you buy one of its DNA kits?) The company says it remains committed to “follow laws that regulate the data we collect,” but if at some point soon it can't, that's worrisome, says a Yale biomedical professor to the Times. He notes that hacked credit cards can be replaced, while a genome cannot. Meanwhile, he adds, the tech that analyzes genomes is advancing. Chances are it will become more revealing, too. https://lnkd.in/ecWKR7ZK

Reviving an old approach once dominated by the Soviet Union. The University of Chicago is exploring phage therapy. https://lnkd.in/eEZG6b7m

Researchers found 22 connections between viral infections and neurodegenerative conditions in the study of around 450,000 people. People treated for a type of inflammation of the brain called viral encephalitis were 31 times more likely to develop Alzheimer's disease. (For every 406 viral encephalitis cases, 24 went on to develop Alzheimer's disease – around 6 percent.) Those who were hospitalized with pneumonia after catching the flu seemed to be more susceptible to Alzheimer's disease, dementia, Parkinson's disease, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). https://lnkd.in/eh9Fc3_g

America's Insurance Industry will need to adapt or die. Some areas are simply "UNINSURABLE". https://lnkd.in/eak6k93M