Emily Costa, PhD
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emcosta.bsky.social
Emily Costa, PhD
@emcosta.bsky.social
210 followers 400 following 23 posts
🧬 science communicator and cell biologist
🎭 co-host of @factsmachinepod.bsky.social
🌿 preferably in the woods petting the moss

opinions mine (she/her/hers)
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emcosta.bsky.social
Though the editor's summary really didn't have to do them like that
Screenshot of the first sentence of the "Editor's Summary" section of the paper, which reads: "Somewhat lacking in good looks, the naked mole rat gets attention because it is very long lived and highly resistant to cancer."
October 27, 2025 at 3:22 AM
Reposted by Emily Costa, PhD
markhisted.org
The VC model is the antithesis of good basic science.

Basic science is best when many labs are funded over the long-term, when many different scientists pursue their own ideas. Let a thousand flowers bloom —and support them.

VC investment is about relentless, exponential growth.
But starting in the late 1980s, that investment in basic science began to pay off, driving a revolution in the molecular biology of cancer. Though it took decades, the cancer investment increase in the 1970s has led to a cornucopia of new cancer cures today. Immunotherapies, CAR-T cell treatments, checkpoint inhibitors, and precision drug targeting are all a product of that basic science work. And that progress has contributed to increased quality of life. Between 1991 and 2019, the risk of dying of cancer dropped by 31%. This is a common story for basic scientific research: it's a long-term investment, one that only governments have the time horizon to make, and it brings enormous payoffs. The payoffs are both economic, generating jobs, and in better health, generating cures. And the US scientific research system is complex, painstakingly constructed, and easy to
September 14, 2025 at 1:56 PM
Reposted by Emily Costa, PhD
lindabessin.bsky.social
This was posted this morning by Humans of New York and I think this captures exactly what we are all experiencing right now
“It’s a weird time. I’ve still got to get to work on time, pay my bills, manage chronic illness, all that stuff, while the world in general seems to be falling apart. It can be a challenge to juggle those two things while making sure one of them doesn't completely destroy my mental health. It’s just an odd thing to be like: ‘Oh, all of these atrocities are being committed in Gaza with my tax dollars, but what am I going to eat for dinner?’ Or: ‘Trump just dismantled another check on his power. We’re slowly sliding into fascism, nobody’s stopping him-- but what concert should we go to this weekend?’ The strangest part about the whole thing is that we’ve never been so connected. I could understand if this was eighty years ago; news travelled slowly. But now, in an instant, you get these facts, photos, videos. Verified by credible news, verified by aid organizations—and nobody cares. Well, a lot of people care. But the people who can actually fix things: they don’t care. Instead of standing up for the voiceless, they’d rather lay low, cling to their money or status. It’s hard to be a person who cares right now. Sometimes you just want to melt into your bed or couch and be with your feelings. But I won’t say that I feel hopeless. I’d never say that, because that’s what they want—those people who only care about winning, who don’t care about collateral damage. They want people to feel powerless. And I’m not going to give them that luxury. There are still reasons to be hopeful. Zohran just won the primary. And that’s a sign of change, in New York City at least. Even the people who don’t agree with his politics have to admit: his campaign was built on community. It wasn’t funded by billionaires. This was a campaign of fifty thousand people who volunteered, and canvassed, and made calls. Last week a lot of people who had been feeling powerless realized that they still have some power in this country. Let’s just hope a lot more people are learning from that.”
July 3, 2025 at 2:43 PM