“We can’t keep making so many scientists tear out their hair over well-intentioned but near-infinite administrative requirements, as if that doesn’t distract from the actual science that they are supposed to be doing.”

Yes!

“…the sheer amount of regulation is so voluminous that if I had to actually read the guidelines that they want us to know about, I would never again be able to submit a grant”.

In communist Russia, the grant writes you!

Silly me, it’s not Russia, it’s the US of A.

He was stage-ready and planning to tape a pair of performances in Los Angeles. Then the coronavirus pandemic hit, shuttering entertainment venues across the nation. At almost the same time, Macdonald’s monthly visit to the hospital revealed that the original cancer, multiple myeloma, had metastasized into myelodysplastic syndrome, which can often lead to acute leukemia. The diagnosis left Macdonald and Hoekstra spinning and unsure of the next steps. Except for one thing: Whatever happened, Macdonald wanted to make sure his material was shown.

There are some great moments in this Washington Post article about Norm Macdonald’s last few years and his last comedy special (available on Netflix starting May 30th), but I couldn’t help noticing a factual error in their description of his medical condition. Macdonald’s multiple myeloma didn’t metastasize to MDS, but was most likely the consequence of prior myeloma treatment. High-dose chemotherapy and autologous stem cell transplantation can cause therapy-related MDS, which is difficult to treat, impossible to cure, and has median overall survival of 18 months.

So why even give this treatment, if a known toxicity is an even deadlier cancer? Because randomized controlled trials showed that people with myeloma who received it lived longer than those who didn’t. And one day, hopefully soon, a randomized trial will show that some other, less toxic treatment is even better than autologous transplantation. Which is to say, it is auto transplant and not randomization that we should strive to send to the dustbin.

“To be able to suppress your dislike or lack of interest in things and just do them to gain an extrinsic rewards like money or grades is a superpower when it comes to being professionally successful, but I… can’t?”

Med school selects for those who can!

Funny that the phrase “stylized facts” started out in economics and is being used in social sciences when 100% of clinical medicine is, in fact, based on stylized facts.

“Natural systems … may look like (a Rube Goldberg machine) superficially because we don’t fully understand what’s going on,” he said. “Once we understand the right way to look at it, we can hopefully appreciate it as a simple design.” Referring to GRNs, but broadly applicable.

🧪 Happy to see Quanta magazine recognized for its outstanding science reporting. Their website is an oasis!

“This is not the Apollo program; we’re planning to stay there for a whole month,” said Jim Green, NASA’s former chief scientist. He added, “The concept of acquiring materials and having habitats on the moon is viable.”

2025 is the year of the first Artemis launch and I can’t wait.

Also, if this week has already burned you out, Quanta Magazine is an excellent source of optimism.

🧪 For the five people out there who are interested in T-cell malignancies, one of the last papers we wrote with Dr. Waldmann is now out as early access at Blood Advances. It is a modest phase 1 trial of IL-15 and Campath with interesting results.

“Science gets entangled with politics; it always has and it always will. And every time it happens the reputation of science get damaged. I am of course not a scientist and cannot speak authoritatively to these matters; but I can at least point to some intellectual problems that need to be addressed.”

Full post here. As a scientist of sorts, I can only nod my head in agreement.