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BIT

Airplane boarding groups

Flying is: 1) a miracle; 2) a luxury; 3) on a risk-adjusted basis—compared to driving—ridiculously safe; and 4) a not-so-insignificant contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. In 1971, 49% US adults had flown commercially in their lifetime, according to Airlines for America. In 2022, that number has increased to nearly 90%. However, does the increased prevalence of lifetime flight make us any better at tolerating the convoluted boarding groups? I don’t think so.

In the spirit of summer travel, I present to you Key and Peele’s take on airline boarding groups. Without giving away any huge spoilers, I will say there are definitely more boarding groups than usual on this flight—Key and Peele definitely lean into the comedic technique of “excess.”

BASE PAIR

Sex bias in HLA class I-associated TCRBV usage

While HLA is genetically predetermined and invariable, our T-cell repertoire starts its development prenatally and is iteratively shaped over a lifetime of variable antigen and other environmental exposures. Because of sex bias in immune system dysfunction—where men tend to be more susceptible to many infectious diseases and cancers of nonreproductive organs and women tend to have a higher burden of autoimmune diseases—Schneider-Hohendorf et al wanted to evaluate if the effect of HLA-A and HLA-B on TCR beta variable (TCRBV) gene usage (a way of defining TCR) varies by sex. They found that sex can influence the degree to which HLA propagates selection and expansion on TCRBV usage.

ACADEMIC MUSING

NIH Loan Repayment Program

I realize at this point that I am more than delinquent in not posting a screenshot of my NIH Loan Repayment Program (LRP) email within 24 hours of receipt (Figure 1)…just kidding. There is no requirement to do so…as far as I know. But I—like many other academic researchers—am tremendously thankful for this award and what it means to propelling and sustaining one’s career in academic research. The NIH LRP is an incredible investment by the NIH to support biomedical discovery by both intramural and extramural academic researchers. If you are anywhere along the path of pursuing a career in academic research, I highly recommend looking into this program—especially if you like me were not smart enough to get full rides to college and medical school.

Thank you for reading and have a fulfilling weekend!

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Views my own.