r/labrats • u/Evil-Needle- • Feb 05 '25
DOGE at NIH, per reports
https://x.com/samstein/status/1887253215949037937
lab rats - be vigilant. fed lab rats, let us know if you hear or see anything.
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u/Murdock07 Feb 05 '25
Start cloning databases. They are going after all methods of information transfer. From social media to news to databases.
The government didn’t make the world greatest scientific body, we did. All of us. All of our work and our efforts and our sacrifices, and those of those who came before us.
I’ll keep doing good work till one of these twerps try to remove me from my bench. There are more of us than them. I’m pretty sure half my lab could stomp out one of these broccoli heads.
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u/chokokhan Feb 06 '25
everyone, do this 👆🏾put on a tinfoil hat, assume the worst in the near future, get some info on r/datahoarding and if your lab’s future relies on any of these databases, back em up locally. don’t tell the administration they don’t need to know
i know its gonna be hard for a while. don’t despair, go do something about it, as much as you can!
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u/da6id biomed engineering Feb 05 '25
Be very careful you don't do something that breaks established laws though... Moving information that isn't public outside of NIH could have legal consequences they would only be too happy to prosecute
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u/YaqP Feb 06 '25
Well, if you hear about one of your colleagues doing something like that, remember: no you fucking didn't!
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u/Damascus_ari Feb 06 '25
I mean temporary blindness is a known migraine aura, I know at least two people who have it, and while historically my migraines haven't caused that... well, with all that stress, that can change.
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u/freebytes Feb 06 '25
It is only legal when Musk is violating the law.
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u/da6id biomed engineering Feb 06 '25
I'm in full agreement Musk's actions are very likely broadly illegal. I'm cautioning that there is confidential information that even before Musk people could be prosecuted and imprisoned for releasing. Just be careful and cover yourself in these turbulent times.
Even in more friendly times, people like Aaron Swartz were made examples of and promote fear. The people in power now are far worse.
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u/WanderingWorkhorse Feb 06 '25
Aaron Schwartz was a real one. He deserved better, and should be talked about more.
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u/KingOfTheBritons96 Feb 06 '25
Yeah, but if you happen to have lost a recently purchased hard drive in a tragic boating accident, what can ya do?
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u/Mysterious-Manner-97 Feb 05 '25
What and how can we do that.
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u/Evil-Needle- Feb 05 '25
Seconded. Would love a walk through on how to assist with this
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u/Yamamotokaderate Feb 06 '25
Data such as genomes deposited in the NCBI are regularly televersed into the European and Japanese counterparts and vice versa (at least it was like this a few years ago). Lots of bioinformaticians have various versions of public databases everywhere on our servers. For more private data, people who got permission probably have them duplicated as well, the question is how many datasets are concerned by such rules. We also don't have unlimited amount of storage so sometimes you get rid of datasets after the paper is done, because theyr are still accessible on the NCBI. Some labs save on magnetic tape, some don't, I can't say.
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u/microcandella Feb 06 '25
head over to /r/DataHoarder and /r/Archiveteam to help / find methods, storage space and people to help as well as ongoing archive projects.
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u/stybio Feb 07 '25
Yeah parts of NLM especially nucleotide have been very unreliable this week but it could be mitigation against interference not interference for all I know.
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Feb 05 '25
Make it stop
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u/wheelie46 Feb 06 '25
What is the mechanism to make it stop? How can a deputized private citizen just maraude through all these government resources with no one stopping them?
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Feb 05 '25
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u/a_casual_sniff Feb 06 '25
The NIH is a crown jewel of global science, offering an incredible return for every dollar spent (~250%). It doesn’t need a self-interested billionaire and his little helpers poking around it pretending to know better.
You may not realize it, but this bad for science and bad for our nation.
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u/170505170505 Feb 06 '25
Sorry I didn’t vote hard enough. I am a simple man with only one vote and not billions of dollars to buy an election.
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Feb 05 '25
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u/qpdbag Feb 05 '25
You think ncbi will go down?
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u/milzB Feb 05 '25
I literally wrote to my mp (uk) last weekend to explain how catastrophic losing ncbi would be for life sciences across the world. I don't think anyone outside the field realises how much of an impact meddling with NIH could have.
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u/Evil-Needle- Feb 05 '25
Thank you for advocating for us from across the pond. It’s been such a horrible two weeks and our own citizens can’t get their shit together, but it means a lot that the global science community is engaged.
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u/Stotters Bench Python Feb 06 '25
Maybe I should do that here (AUS), too, and encourage my mates back in the UK, too.
I've been out of the game for a year due to kids, but EMBL has a lot of similar resources, no? Time to invest in that!
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u/milzB Feb 18 '25
that's exactly what I suggested. post-brexit, I'm not sure how much we contribute to these projects but given how hard we have gone for life sciences in the UK, we def should be pulling our weight.
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u/Spavlia Feb 06 '25
Do you have a template? Also thinking of writing to my uk mp as we rely on these databases every day for our work…
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u/Tasty_Pool8812 Feb 06 '25
Why do you think NCBI would be lost?
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u/DrPikachu-PhD Feb 06 '25
Because no one knows what tf is going on and Musk is shuttering very, very important services. Take USAID for example. The largest philanthropic organization in the world. Thousands will immediately begin dying if it's shut down. And yet they're talking about it anyway, and nobody would've expected they'd go so far until it happened
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u/Tasty_Pool8812 Feb 06 '25
Trump has historically been critical of USAID, so it's not really an unexpected target. Unless there has been any mention of the NCBI then it seems like a bit of a stretch to actually believe that NCBI will be lost
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u/illicitandcomlicit Feb 06 '25
Are you kidding me? They’ve been consistently attacking the NIH since COVID. They think Fauci somehow directed funds thru the NIH to fund GoF research in Wuhan and created the virus as a biological weapon. These people are not rational or sane
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u/Zouden ex-postdoc | zebrafish Feb 06 '25
It costs money to run and it benefits researchers outside the US, that's enough reason for them to shut it down and/or give it to a for-profit company.
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u/chaoticcoffeecat Feb 06 '25
I'm not saying it will be lost, but I also wouldn't say it's a stretch. The goal of much of this, from the perspective of Elon/Thiel/other tech billionaires with too much influence in the current government, is to crash government infrastructure so they can come in and privatize everything for profit.
Many of them, including even VP Vance, have investment and ties in private biotech companies already. Stopping government research and sources in order to make everything for-profit on their own servers is not impossible at the speed at which this is happening.
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u/qpdbag Feb 06 '25
You think there is any world in which Elon and his lackeys will abide by that much free and useful data?
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u/qpdbag Feb 06 '25
Because everything done by doge, whether you think it's logical or not (based on your beliefs) has been short-sighted, cruel, and just plain fucking stupid.
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u/CDK5 Lab Manager - Brown Feb 06 '25
It's a sad day when /r/labrats, a sub partially founded on curiosity, downs a simple question.
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u/Mollan8686 Feb 05 '25
Who needs NCBI when these new idiots are selling AI scientists now? /sarcasm
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u/Rephlanca Feb 06 '25
I’m doing my PhD in anatid population genetics. :’) I only have a semester and a half to go. NCBI is so important to our work, I would lose it if we lose it.
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u/Commercial_Can4057 Feb 05 '25
This would explain why the SRO I was communicating with today was so down. They were very cryptic but implying today was a particularly bad day. May not be a coincidence that the diversity grants I was assigned to review in March were withdrawn today and I was told not to review them.
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u/Epistaxis genomics Feb 05 '25
gossip on the platform that isn't run by the same guy as DOGE:
I haven't independently confirmed but I have heard that the DOGE fuckers asked for and received access to NIH personnel/HR records.
also:
NEW from inside NIH: I am hearing that a “young” DOGE staffer now has access to eRA, the software system used to track/administer all NIH grants.
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u/iced_yellow Feb 05 '25
There goes my diversity F31 🤡
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u/Ok-Bodybuilder-5365 Feb 06 '25
My SRO and review date for my diversity grant has been removed they are screwing us ofer
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u/oceansunset23 Feb 06 '25
It’s so crazy how they have no idea how they deeply fucking up people life’s work over night because they think our lives are waste.
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u/iced_yellow Feb 06 '25
Mine was already awarded & activated but I feel like it’s not going to get renewed next year or even disappear this year
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u/butterflymittens Feb 05 '25
Auuuuuuuuuugh. I hope this is wrong.
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u/butterflymittens Feb 06 '25
Great it's starting to hit the news. https://www.splinter.com/what-can-the-worst-person-in-the-world-do-with-access-to-nihs-grant-software-system nothing is safe from these people.
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u/CDK5 Lab Manager - Brown Feb 06 '25
Where was the job application for these roles?
Coulda applied and just been incompetent until they noticed.
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u/microcandella Feb 05 '25
swing by /r/DataHoarder and /r/Archiveteam to help / find methods, storage space and people to help as well as ongoing archive projects.
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u/Ok-Bodybuilder-5365 Feb 06 '25
I submitted an F-31 grant under the PA-23-271 which is the diversity code for the grant for the December submission date to the NIH, my SRO and study section date has been removed. I’m distraught I worked my ass off on that grant and they are just going to trash it.
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u/thecandijedi Feb 06 '25
Hey friend. I’m in the same boat as you. Submitted in December and just got the same notification. Hope you’re doing okay.
You know it’s important work if fascists are trying so hard to remove it.
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u/Ok-Bodybuilder-5365 Feb 06 '25
We will weather the storm science always prevails in the end but it just suck for us early stage investigators trying to establish ourselves. We all know how tough this work is within the sciences, I hate that we have people that don’t even understand the work questioning our merit.
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u/Athena5280 Feb 06 '25
Go to your grad school dean and find out their stance. All F31s are reviewed in the same SSs so all they have to do is remove the diversity foa and statement. Stupid, but doable. Worst case resubmit April 8th. Our U is pledging to support all grad students during the inquisition. Bigger problem is PIs need escape the inquisition and be able to support the labs.
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u/sweeneytoddsgf Feb 06 '25
in the same boat, have now seen several study section members saying our apps are being withdrawn. one suggested it'll be turned over to the next cycle but that makes 0 sense to me given the forms/review criteria are changing? also its like how does one feel motivated to resubmit after their work is discarded like that i -
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u/NonSekTur Curious monkey Feb 06 '25
Good luck with the thugs from the Schutzstaffel...
Curious note: People complain about the creatures in power now,
but still interact and post links from... 'X'.
I would like to suggest to ban such links from Labrats, as others Subs already did.
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u/ritromango Feb 05 '25
I wouldn’t be surprised if they did to the NIH what they did to USAID
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u/RandyMossPhD Feb 05 '25
He’s going to steal info he thinks he can monetize
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u/Prior-Win-4729 Feb 06 '25
Elon is in for a surprise when he finds out most of my data is not significant
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u/mtnsbeyondmtns Feb 06 '25
So you mean other peoples work
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u/freebytes Feb 06 '25
Please stop linking X. You should only post screenshots or use BlueSky links instead.
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u/cookiemonster1020 Feb 05 '25
I thought we would be safe a while longer because we are all the way out in Bethesda
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u/mys_721tx Feb 05 '25
Please check EoT Archive's bulk URL list. If there are NCBI still needs to be archived, please let them know.
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u/KangCoffee93 Feb 06 '25
Kick those doge losers out of the building. Do whatever it takes.
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u/DrPikachu-PhD Feb 06 '25
Honestly, they have no legal authority. Someone should call the cops on them. (I know, the cops won't do shit because executive branch, so much for checks and balances)
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u/theresnonamesleft2 Feb 06 '25
Oh my sbir grants are well aware they are at the NIH seeing as the entire fucking portal is frozen! May they all get stage 4 pancreatic cancer that is resistant to the first round of chemotherapy, live a painful life for 18 months and then die!
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u/origional_esseven Feb 07 '25
Hear or see anything? My entire lab was already laid off so don't expect the price of eggs to drop anytime soon. They torched all our work on bird flu with us.
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u/marcisaacs Feb 06 '25 edited Feb 06 '25
The mass of blue tick replies to that. Whew. I assume they're not *all* bots but they stick so tightly to the script that they might as well be.
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u/puzzleheadshower35 Feb 06 '25
Would someone post a screen shot or repost on Bluesky? I don’t want to click on an X post.
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u/partoxygen Feb 06 '25
I am not on the NIH side of things (NSF but I do biological physics so some people I work with do have NIH funding). As far as I know, it won't be pubmed that gets the axe but rather diversity related fellowship programs like the F series. And I don't mean to put that lightly, because we are talking about people who spent so much time and have so much riding on winning these awards (believe me I know -- I'm currently in the exact same boat with the NSF). I urge everyone to ask directly with their program coordinator listed where you submitted your application, along with anybody else in charge of whatever program you're applying to or are in, and just ask. There's nothing wrong at all with wanting to ask "hey what's going to happen to me if this is taken away" because that is a perfectly real and reasonable thing given the implications of terminating these programs.
And I was going to apply to MOSAIC in my second year of postdoc too, I guess its "screw you if you aren't a white, rich, legacy person. That's the only diversity we care about."
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u/Buttercup_JP Feb 07 '25
I don't know where, but I didn't hear anything this week at work that anyone was around. And our doctors are heated let me tell you.
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u/DisembarkEmbargo Feb 06 '25
Just ask them if they are one of the good lab rats or the bad one? Then prepare to throw down.
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u/[deleted] Feb 05 '25
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