Art of Academia

Lengthening telomeres with a simple supplement sounds almost too good to be true. Yet, two recent papers suggest that supplying cells with thymidine, a basic DNA building block, is enough to do just that. Join us as we explore the unexpected discovery, why it's a big deal for telomere biology, and the big question that remains: how does it actually work?(00:00) Intro(07:20) Why do we even need telomeres(14:30) The approach: CRISPR screen for telomere regulators(16:30) The core finding: More thymidine, longer telomeres(21:40) What makes these papers cool pt 1(25:00) The missing piece: What's the mechanism?(29:50) What makes these papers cool pt 2(33:30) OutroThe papers:1. Mannherz, W., Agarwal, S. Thymidine nucleotide metabolism controls human telomere length. Nat Genet 55, 568–580 (2023).2. Mannherz, W., Crompton, A., Lampl, N. et al. Metabolic constraint of human telomere length by nucleotide salvage efficiency. Nat Commun 16, 3000 (2025).

We discuss the news feature from Nature covering the most cited papers of the 21st Century(00:00) Intro (grant writing, going to AACR)(11:45) Most cited papers of the 21st century (overview)(15:20) 2ddct method(17:45) Thematic analysis in psychology(23:15) The DSM-5(25:15) Random Forests Classifier (27:40) Attention is all you need(31:45) Sequences and Consequences(34:30) Publish houses of brick, not mansions of straw(35:30) Outro (Potential AI projects)

We discuss a paper on scientific diffusion—a metric for how widely an idea is spread—and how it can tell you if you are in a bubble.(00:00) Intro: Komal's trip to Langkawi(04:30) Setting goals for the new year(14:00) Million dollar weekend(22:10) Diffusion paper(24:20) Knowledge lab(25:10) What is diffusion (of research papers)(26:45) Two case studies of low and high diffusion papers(30:20) Low diffusion correlates with bubble bursting(34:30) What this means for your own research(39:00) Final thoughts on the paper(40:30) Outro: Building a social task manager app for my friends

Checkout r/spillthetae a place to share your insights, hacks, and fuck-ups with other researchers. (00:00) Intro(11:45) Why we started a subreddit(15:30) Spill the TAE(17:00) DMSO freezes at 20*C(19:30) Curios case of the missing mutation(22:20) how miniprep kits separate plasmids from genomic DNA(27:45) which research ideas to follow up on(34:15) don't read papers in PDF format(40:00) Xist RNA might be up to something!(43:00) non-smokers can develop multiple tumors in the lung(48:05) Plans for the subreddit

We discuss this Nature blog post analyzing the characteristics of previous nobel prize winners. (00:00) Intro(18:20) Alfred Nobel and the story behind the prize(22:20) How to win a noble prize(38:00) should you aim to win the prize?(43:45) the utility of ambitious goals(45:45) specific goals vs general direction

(00:00) Intro and catch up(16:30) Feedback loops in biology research are slow(32:40) How to shorten feedback loops in research: cloning tricks and bacteria as a model system(59:10) Outro: Thoughts on Gene Machine Links: Slow feedback loops rule every (living) thing around meWhy haven't biologists cured cancer?

We break down the article "Problem choice and decision trees in science and engineering" by Michael A. Fischbach (00:00) Intro(08:15) How to choose a research question(09:45) Spend more time choosing a problem(15:50) Intuition pumps and avoiding common problems(23:30) Don't avoid risk; befriend it(32:45) Pick the right optimization function(36:45) Fix one parameter; let others float(41:20) Learn the “altitude dance”(46:15) Capitalize on the “adversity feature”(48:00) Turn a problem on its head

We talk about how your expectations from life take an immense amount of effort to manifest and how to manage them (00:00) Intro - Life updates(15:00) Nix on effort(20:30) Oliver Burkemann on expectations(23:00) Starting a discord study group(31:30) AI-assisted literature reviews(35:30) Outro - Movie recommendations

We discuss vgr's blog post The Resourceful Life

We talk about the nature of rest, what it means to rest well, and meditation as one form of rest. (00:00) Intro - Mt. Aijen and being inspired by the pod(16:00) On the nature of rest(25:00) The dose maketh the joy(28:10) What it means to be rested(28:40) Meditation as rest(38:10) Fuel sources for productivity

We dive into an essay titled "Soul-Making Productivity: A Process Manifesto" by River Kenna (00:00) Intro(10:00) River Kenna(12:00) Soul-making productivity(13:00) Two ways of working: Brute force vs waiting for inspiration(18:00) Good and bad fuel sources for work(22:20) Wholeness(25:30) Desire infrastructure(29:00) Why are you doing it(31:30) Stray notes(35:30) Trust the timing, Chronos vs Kairos(38:15) Don't do it alone

We discuss the book "Letters to a Young Scientist" written by the American biologist and naturalist Edward O. Wilson (00:00) Intro(12:00) Edward O. Wilson and Letters to a Young Scientist(15:00) Passion before training(18:30) March away from the sound of guns(25:00) Cultivate expertise(32:00) Don't be afraid of math and computers(37:00) Pursuit of knowledge for its own sake(40:00) Two approaches to science(42:00) Stray notes on collaboration and what it takes to succeed(50:00) Outro - 20-hour rule, mastering stand-up comedy and getting unstuck

Listen as we share our thoughts on memes we have collected for you (Not your typical depressed PhD memes) (00:00) Intro(13:20) Meme 1 - Feeling burnout without working too hard(23:00) Meme 2 - It's so over / We're so back(25:00) Meme3 - Make it happier (40:50) Meme4 - Shiny new project flow chart(46:00) Meme4 - Pros and cons of doing things(46:40) Meme 5 - Simple explanations(50:20) Meme 6 - Not even wrong answers(51:30) Meme 7 - Time spent doing research

We talk about what life as a PhD student is like (00:00) Intro(02:30) Medicine vs science(09:20) How did we choose our labs(13:00) Alliosn's PhD topic (chemo + DDR inhibitor for lymphoma)(14:00) Favorite thing about a PhD (Pursuing your curiosity)(16:45) Working for a clinician-scientist (translational vs basic science)(19:30) Reading papers(25:45) Notion to organize your research(37:30) Academia vs Industry(47:30) Moving from America to Singapore(55:00) Socializing as a scientist(01:01:00) Hobbies (exercising and writing)(01:14:00) Outro

We talk about our experience of making a podcast and what we have learned from it (00:00) Intro - Interviews and APIs(06:00) 10th episode milestone(07:00) How we got started(09:30) Podcasting is fun and rewarding(14:00) Don't turn something into a "project" too early(16:00) Coming up with new ideas for the pod and freestyling(21:00) Make what you want, not what others want to see(23:30) Try things before committing(26:30) Don't set the bar too high(28:50) Handling people's reactions to you art(32:00) Be prolific(38:00) Challenges with doing the pod(39:00) Our favorite episodes so far

We talk about how we decided to study abroad, our experiences, and why you should too. (00:00) Intro - Call of Cthulhu and building your own website from scratch(06:30) Studying abroad(07:45) How Madan decided to apply for masters(11:55) How Komal decided to apply for masters and then PhD(16:30) Madan's experience of studying in Singapore(19:30) Komal's experience of studying in cambridge(23:45) Reasons to study abroad(28:15) Why Komal moved from Cambridge to Singapore(32:45) How Singapore is different from the UK(35:05) Should you study abroad?

A scene is a group of people with overlapping interests creating cool stuff together. We go over examples of very successful scenes, what makes a good scene, scenes in science, and our attempts to participate in happening scenes. (00:00) Intro - Journalling(07:00) - Cooking(08:00) - What are Scenes(09:50) - Historical scenes - The Inklings and Oppenheimer(14:20) - Mordern scenes - Silicon Valley, EA, tpot, lesswrong(21:00) - Camp4 - The rock climbing scene(23:20) - Lindy Hop in Singapore(26:30) - Elements of a good scene(29:20) - Why care about scenes(30:30) - Scenes in science(32:20) - You can't force a scene(37:10) - Stray notes on scenes Links Tweet thread on scenes: https://twitter.com/visakanv/status/1153706486586994688?lang=en

Andy is a self-taught bioinformatician who uses Mutational signatures to understand cancer genomes. We talk about how he got into bioinformatics, what mutational signatures as a field is like, making pretty presentations, aging research, and more. (00:00) Intro(02:30) Andy's Background(03:50) Fascination with computer science(05:45) Programming is ADHD friendly(08:00) The wet lab grind(09:00) The Thanos technique of splitting cells(11:40) Transition from wet lab to dry lab(14:20) Don't get trapped in tutorial hell(16:30) Mutational signatures to understand cancer(26:05) Publishing as a bioinformatics PhD(29:40) Hybrid scientists(32:20) Spending time on visualization(39:00) Using Chat-GFP and co-pilot(42:00) Aging research and philosophical concerns(51:20) Leaving behind a legacy(52:45) Tiktok and Memes Links Andy's Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@wubbywub

We talk about the nature of ambition, how unlikely one is to succeed, and why one should try anyway (00:00) Intro - Getting into mediation(02:00) Going on a meditation retreat(05:45) Training to be a monk is no joke(08:15) Ambition and expertise(09:25) Ambitious careers do not maximize well-being(11:40) Everyone loves an ambitious story(12:30) Ambitious stories misrepresent the truth(14:00) We underestimate the work it takes(15:45) 10,000 hour rule(16:20) Does a PhD make you an expert?(19:00) Expertise on the internet(22:10) How to find your calling(23:40) Tiger Woods vs Roger Federer(25:45) Being ambitious does not guarantee success(29:00) Be ambitious in your youth(30:50) Our ambitions Links: How Karate Kid Ruined the Modern World Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World Crossing the Unknown Sea

Anya's love for math has steered her career to theoretical physics, drug discovery, bioinformatics, machine learning, and more. We talk about her journey and what she is currently up to. (00:00) Intro - Who is Anya Korsakova(03:15) Training as a theoretical physicist(05:00) Shifting to life science(06:55) Transition to bioinformatics and machine learning(08:55) Self-learning bioinformatics(14:15) Pros and cons of having a math background(20:15) Studying both math and biology(21:00) Math in India and the role of teachers(24:00) Math (and coding) can be addictive(27:30) Consequences of the Artificial Intelligence revolution(34:00) AI assistants for research and writing code(38:40) Being ambitious in life and passion for science(41:30) Hobbies outside of science(47:20) Aging research(01:00:20) Being a woman in academia

Our day-to-day urges are often at odds with the grand plans we have for ourselves. What can we do about it? (00:00) Intro - Life updates(04:10) Plans and urges: definitions(06:55) Plans and urges rarely intersect(08:00) But the intersection is immensely gratifying (09:30) Our personal plans and urges(16:05) How to align plans and urges(23:30) Progress is hard to see, don't be discouraged(25:00) Balance plans and urges(26:45) Outro - The story of Etsuro Sotoo

We compare wet lab and dry lab and discuss how we navigate both as "hybrid" scientists (00:00) Intro & Life updates (05:00) Quarto Notebooks and presentations (08:30) Wet-lab vs Dry-lab (09:00) Why is it called "wet" or "dry" lab? (11:00) How we became "Hybrid" scientists (14:00) Different classes of bioinformatics (16:20) Bioinfo is ADHD friendly (18:10) Bioinfo has shorter feedback loops (19:00) Bioinfo lets you solve problems permanently (20:00) Wet lab can be meditative (21:00) Results feel more conclusive with wet-lab (23:20) Wet lab is tangible (25:40) Wet lab forces you to be organized (27:35) Advice and resources for learning bioinformatics (29:30) Outro - Oppenheimer OST is great for deep work

Rants and recommendations on habits, or, as Madan likes to call them, rituals. Timestamps (00:00) Intro (01:50) Struggling to exercise daily (04:15) Andrew huberman (05:10) Morning walks (06:25) Meditation (10:40) Coffee and productivity (12:30) Coffee as a reinforcer (15:20) Experimenting with life (19:15) Gattaca (23:30) Alpha go

Science and art seem like fundamentally different philosophies but they occasionally intersect Timestamps (00:15) Life updates (03:00) Rick Rubin (07:10) Is science creative? (08:30) Truth vs resonance (10:00) Publishing "failed" work (13:10) Following vs breaking rules (14:45) Originality vs remixing (18:00) Seeking inspiration and insanity (19:00) Feeling creative and finding flow with science

We discuss "Breaking Smart", a book that outlines the core principles of software engineering, and attempt to export them to the world of academia (00:00) Intro (00:10) Who is Venkatesh Rao (01:00) What is Breaking smart (02:30) Software is eating the world (03:00) Software gives you high leverage (03:50) A new approach to problem solving (06:00) Agility and iteration (08:00) Top-down vs bottom-up approaches (12:00) Rough consensus and maximal interestingness (13:30) Important vs fun problems (15:10) Seek ambiguity in the long term, extreme clarity in the immediate next steps (17:10) Strong views, weakly held (17:50) Release early, release often (18:30) Stress test your ideas (20:00) Perpetual beta (21:00) Pros of open source (22:00) Streams of ideas and serendipity (23:10) Challenges of making academia open source (26:10) Tinkering (26:50) How does anything important get done with this model?

Memes, anecdotes, and stories about the weirdness of thoughts (00:00) Intro (00:15) Illusion of free choice meme (02:00) Buddhism vs Advaita Vedanta (05:00) Weirdness of thoughts (06:30) Lessons from split-brain patients (08:30) The brain is a story-telling machine (09:30) Why does this matter? (12:00) The meditation project

Komal humors Madan while he raves about his attempts to solve the age-old problem of "remembering what you have read" (00:00) Intro (01:00) Indexing (7:20) Rediscovery (11:10) Mastery