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WEEKLY UPDATE /
24 Jan 2025
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Hello!
It’s a new year and that may mean new diets, exercise routines, and productivity plans. But what about a “Twitter break” – or perhaps an X-odus? Elon Musk’s “handling” of the platform has led to considerable soul searching as many, including those in the analytical science community, ponder migrating to microblogging alternative Bluesky – indeed many already have. But I’m beginning to wonder whether scientists really need another Twitter.
Platforms like X are thought to be useful for disseminating research – and several studies have found that widely shared papers on X are more likely to be cited. But what if relevant and impactful papers are simply tweeted about and cited more? As it happens, one study involving 13 scientists with respectable follower counts randomly selected five papers, and tweeted one while retaining the others as controls; they found that the overall increase in citation counts after three years was not statistically significant.
What about networking and discussion? Although there are important conversations taking place on X, distractions are a feature, not a bug, of any cybernetic/algorithmic global communications platform. In other words, when you’re restricted in character count and one click away from the latest emotionally charged hot take, it can feel like trying to quietly converse in a crowded bar with music blaring. And with the resurgence of smaller online communities, including e-newsletters (I hope you are enjoying this one!), Substack blogs, podcasts, and Discord servers, perhaps scientists would be happier hanging out at the quiet pub over the road (I’ll see you there from 8pm).
Until next time,
James Strachan, Editor |
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Essential Reading
The Future Lies in Phenomic Medicine
Jeremy Nicholson explores the potential of metabolic phenotyping in personalized – and democratized – medicine. “Science should benefit all of humanity – not just those in wealthy areas. Unfortunately, current omics technologies are costly and require extensive data analysis, which delays results. ANPC’s approach is to rigorously discover and validate new disease markers, then simplify analytics so they are understandable, fast, affordable, and clinically useful for physicians – essential for real-world impact…” Read more!
Exciting Frontiers in Human Health
Our 2024 Human Health Pioneers reveal the analytical frontiers in human health and disease they’re most excited about.
Perdita Barran: “For me, it’s the opportunity to perform high-throughput multiomic discovery measurements in several labs to find robust biomarkers that can be translated to clinical mass spectrometry assays to benefit patients.”
Robert Kennedy: “Something that I feel is still barely tapped is developing analytical methods for better understanding the brain. The brain has many layers of organization so that single cell, small regions, circuits and the whole brain all represent interesting analytical challenges. We are seeing important advances in many aspects including imaging of neurotransmitters (via receptor interactions) and direct measurements by sensors and sampling. Also, single cell analysis is especially useful in neural systems where heterogeneity is built into the function. And, looking for biomarkers of brain function is very active…” Read more! |
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| APPLICATION NOTE FROM HAMAMATSU |
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In the News.
Tracking Liver Disease with Top-Down Proteomics. Research has identified specific proteoform signatures in blood plasma that could help monitor the progression of liver cirrhosis and predict its transition to advanced stages. Using blood samples from 30 patients across three stages of cirrhosis, the researchers employed top-down mass spectrometry to analyze intact proteins, preserving their full structure and post-translational modifications. The approach identified over 2,800 proteoforms, with distinct changes in proteins such as fibrinogen, apolipoprotein A-I, and haptoglobin correlating with disease progression.
Quartz Control. A new approach to trace gas detection, known as coherently controlled quartz-enhanced photoacoustic spectroscopy (COCO-QEPAS), allows for the identification of gas concentrations in seconds – overcoming limitations of traditional photoacoustic methods. The technique, developed by researchers at the University of Stuttgart, Germany, could become a fast and more versatile tool for environmental monitoring, medical diagnostics, and industrial safety applications.
Decoding Antibody Action in Cancer. Researchers have developed a super-resolution microscopy method that reveals how therapeutic antibodies target and destroy cancerous B cells with molecular precision. The technique, called LLS-TDI-DNA-PAINT, provides 3D visualizations of antibody–cell interactions, challenging current classifications of therapeutic antibodies and paving the way for improved immunotherapies. |
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Reexamining Our Driving Force
It is time to stop, think, and go back to chemistry to explore our methodologies at a deeper level.
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The Planet Protector: Damià Barceló Cullerès
Microplastics, chemically complex vectors for a range of harmful substances, continue to intrigue and concern Damià Barceló Cullerès.
Read the article |
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