scientificdiscovery.dev
Writer, editor, chart maker, podcaster.
Podcast host, Hard Drugs. Researcher at Our World in Data. Co-founder of Works in Progress.
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Note that, although the list price (before insurance) is $28k in the US, Gilead has agreed to sell it at no-profit costs in 120 lower and middle income countries until generic manufacturers can replace it.
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In the episode, we cover:
- the science of HIV and antivirals
- the history of HIV drug development
- global health programs like PEPFAR and the Global Fund
- drug pricing, patenting, and access
- USAID and foreign aid funding cuts
- and much more
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We talk about this in the episode! For about half an hour.
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Source of the passage:
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I thought this story was heart wrenching
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It's so funny that a cucumber could be called an earth apple 😭
I guess it must be a modern connotation that apple-like things are sorta spherical
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unironically, i think putting out long form content like this is the real ballsy resistance to the fragmentation of attention. long stuff reminds people there's something to get from paying sustained attention.
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In case you're interested, I just launched a podcast with its first episode about how that happened!
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Is that the plot line of The Grapefruits of Wrath
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Although I gotta say, as a technology-enjoyer, my first thought was, couldn't grapefruits simply be gene-edited to remove the chemical that interferes with liver metabolism?
And it seems like people are already working on that www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-...
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what the
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I've still never tried it 🙈😂
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I didn't realise the sickos mindset was so strong in you
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You, gulping down bottles of grapefruit juice: "I would simply stop taking prescriptions so I can drink more juice."
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Wow! Is that from here www.nber.org/papers/w11109?
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Yeah — but I think it came across like the letter was written then, which was misleading. I've just fixed it
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In the diagram, I’ve illustrated the many ways that measles can lead to complications across the body.
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The loss of immune memory caused by measles — often called “immune amnesia” — leaves a gap for other infections to take hold.
This can result in ear infections, pneumonia, diarrhea, dehydration, malnourishment, blindness, and brain swelling.
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By multiplying rapidly and spreading across the body, the virus can leave children vulnerable to many complications and additional infections for years.
As measles infects immune cells, it depletes important cells that provide the body with memory of past infections and help protect against them.
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Blood vessels in the skin swell and leak, resulting in characteristic red patches, the “measles rash”, which start on the face & neck.
The rash spreads from the chest to the back, arms, and legs. Spots merge into large, inflamed patches, fevers spike, and the body struggles to control the virus.
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Fever, cough, runny nose, and red, inflamed eyes (conjunctivitis) are common. These symptoms worsen over days, before tiny, blueish-white dots (known as “Koplik’s spots”) appear on the inside of the cheeks.
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Now, the virus can spread into the thymus, spleen, bone marrow, gastrointestinal tract, kidneys, liver, and skin.
However, visible signs of infection only appear after one or two weeks.
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There, it finds its main targets — memory T and B cells, which help the immune system recognize past infections.
But, instead of fighting the virus, these cells become its transport and carry it deeper into the bloodstream; measles turns the body’s defense system against itself.
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How does it do this?
The measles virus spreads through the air and can be inhaled into people’s lungs as they breathe.
It infects immune cells in their airways, where it hitches a ride to their lymph nodes, which coordinate their immune responses.
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Measles is often seen as a routine childhood illness — a fever, a rash, and recovery — but complications are common.
Even when it doesn’t kill, measles can cause lasting damage. It weakens the immune system, making people vulnerable to other infections for months or years.
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Ahh thanks for catching that! Yes you're right.
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Oh yes, I remember this when you published it!
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Also, you can actually hover over each dot (station connection) in the chart to learn which one it is!
I love that Datawrapper makes tooltips so easy.
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This is a particularly nice chart, whose data was compiled by the author, showing how stations that are more widely spaced tend to have trains running faster between them.
Despite this, Munich's U-bahn still runs relatively fast.
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The S-Bahn made it easy to reach the city center. It "whisks them directly to the heart of the city, and the S-Bahn tunnel has six central stations, which means that different parts of the center are accessible without changing trains."
It was also integrated with the U-Bahn metro system.
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The Munich S-Bahn connected 12 suburban lines with a 4.3km tunnel.
Costing $2.8 bn in today’s money, this relatively modest investment made it possible to run continuous train services across the entire network—more than 100x longer than the tunnel itself—because outer lines were already in place.
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Thank you so much Daniel! That's exactly what we were going for and I'm very happy to hear you listened and enjoyed it ☺️
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That was my favourite bit. But like for real "lipo-" means fatty and "-some" usually refers to something with a spherical or blob appearance 😂 Gotta love Greek derived medical terms
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🥹🩷🩵💞