I’ll be taking a holiday break, with intermittent blogging. I hope to put in a recipe or two (as often happens around here this time of year), and I’ll certainly pop up if we have some big news. Otherwise, from now until January 2nd I’ll be on my end-of-the-year schedule.
2020 has been. . .well, adjectives fail me. Or rather, too many of them are trying to get through the door at the same time. 2021 is going to have to be more sane, right? Reversion to the mean and so on? Anyway, best wishes to everyone celebrating at this time, and with any luck the next time you hear from me over the next few days it’ll be with cooking suggestions rather than coronavirus information. Deal?
My best wishes to you and your beloved ones.
Although the mistake does not detract at all from your wonderful message, I can’t help but laugh at the thought of Derek sitting around adoring a collection of numbers one in all shapes and sizes. (The expression is “loved ones”, using “beloved” puts emphasis on the “ones”)
Thank you for your continued commentary on the unfolding covid-19 pandemic! I’m looking forward to the recipes you share! I’m always looking for some new tips on prime rib, mulled wine, or other holiday favorites!
Have a great holiday! And yes, let’s hope for a normal 2021.
Whatever 2021 will be, it won’t be a return to normalcy, though I hope it will be better for everyone. People below the median have been crushed economically, people above have accumulated cash and seen asset appreciation, and many megatrends got accelerated by a few years. It will be a very strange time, at least for a year or two, before “normal” comes back.
Happy holidays Derek.
Your blog is a service to humanity so thank you for it. Apart from the insight into the deeply technical and esoteric world of drug development, you are also a paragon of clear thinking in a world that needs a chronic overdose of it right now.
Thank you
I couldn’t agree more. Thank you.
A link to Derek’s this blog should be provided on the websites of famous newspapers (NYT, Washington Post, WSJ, NPR) for the sake of education of the general public about pharmaceutical industry’s R&D. In the wake of so much angst about the prices of drugs, general public could benefit from the discussions happening on this board.
Ditto, this blog is a treasure. Derek has taught me so much over the past 10 years. As have the (non-HCQ) commenters. Thank you, Derek, for the public service you provide.
Deal.
Best wishes of HEALTH, peace, joy and prosperity to you and your dear ones. And thanks for the sanity anchor.
Thank you Derek for all that you do in the name of science, both in your day job and in this blog. have a great holiday.
Thank you for all you do! Much appreciated.
Gold star for handling the divergent views with aplomb!
Best wishes for a happy & HEALTHY Holiday Season!
Before 2020, I never expected that I would be anxiously checking a blog on microbiology and pharma industry first thing in the morning. Thank you so much for making it understandable for us laypeople! Happy holidays!
Thank you for the blog, it’s very informative for curious laypersons such as me! Have a nice holiday!
This certainly has been an…adventure…of a year. Thanks for spending so much time and expertise piloting us through the waves of news and nonsense.
Wishing you safe and delightful holidays.
Thank you for all your great writing Derek, your blog is an important ingredient in the mix of things which are keeping me sane.
Happy Holidays to you and yours!
Derek:
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
You need a break, as do we all, but we can’t have it. The past year has been so like clinical neurology practice: fascinating intellectual material along with impotence in the face of horrible suffering.
SARS-CoV-2 is fit work for the intelligent. The next phase will be discovering ways to attack what the virus does to the cell after it gets in. The new mutations are scary, and vaccine development while great may not always be enough.
Despite never having a vaccine, we beat HIV1 by attacking what it does inside the cells it infects. We need to know a lot more about the intracellular viral mechanisms of SARS-CoV-2. A huge amount of basic research is called for.
It was indeed a tough year, harder than before but the new year is coming and we all will say…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5P6ADakiwcg
🙂
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Thanks so much for all you do for the public, Derek. Enjoy your down time.
Best wishes to you and yours, Derek!
Your blog remains a bastion of sanity in a world gone mad.
May your new year be blessed with nanomolar target engagement, millimolar hERG binding, and high solubility.
Especially the solubility.
Longtime lurker (mid-undergrad, through PhD, to cofounder of a chemical startup). Your blog has taught me so much over the years. Not only tips on how to be a good chemist, but also lessons on how to be an ethical chemist. Thanks for acting as the collective conscience for our field; as cogs in the big machine; there’s so much we need to hear beyond the click of the HPLC and the clink of three necked flasks. Happy holidays, and hold fast for 2021; this one’s going to be an interesting ride!
Happy holidays and best wishes to you and yours, kind sir!
I’ve learned so much through your blog – thank you. Best wishes to you and yours in this holiday season, Derek.
Derek,
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from Scotland. I’m not from a scientific background but I have been following your blog during this very strange year. It has helped me immensely to look beyond the headlines and understand the challenges of COVID.
Cheers,
Gary
Thank you, sir. I, too, discovered this blog early this year, at the onset of the Didier Raoul’s bubble. And since then it kept me anchored to reason and reasonable hope. Such a huge service to us all, thank you.
Greetings from Germany
Thank you so much for this blog, Derek. It is really helping me to understand information which otherwise terrifies me. I especially appreciate when you clearly explain why to worry and why not. Your blog is also training me to read the non-science news with less of a fear response and plug into more of my complex thought processes. For this relief, even in the midst of such trepidation and sadness, I am extremely grateful.
I sincerely wish you and your family a happy and healthy holiday break.
Another year of service to mankind: you should take out British citizenship so we could give you a knighthood.
“Sir Derek Lowe” has a fine ring to it.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Lang may yer lum reek.
Another year of well written, informative posts, Derek. Thank you.
Happy Holidays! You have always been a great writer, but you really rose up to the challenge of this insane year and brought some much-needed clarity time and again. Thank you!
Enjoy your well earned break, Derek. Your coverage over the year has been invaluable.
Curious to hear your thoughts on Inovio’s vaccine data?
From what I can see they showed the strongest cd8 of any candidate and best safety data yet.
Happy Holidays!
Maybe you could find time to let us know what a medicinal chemist actually *does* in these corona times. Back in the office? Work from home? (Doing what? Catching up on literature doesn’t fill out 9 months.) How is life different from before?
Best wishes for a happy and healthy holiday season. First time in 25 years we’re not holding our annual NY Eve party, for obvious reasons. Thanks for all your efforts – love the blog!!
Thank you, Derek and others, for keeping me sane in an insane year.
Best,
Hope everyone had a good christmas, or as good as can be in current circumstances.
Random Chem related youtube video i found over Christmas for you to all enjoy. Turning plastic gloves into grape soda.
https://youtu.be/zFZ5jQ0yuNA
Guy wears gloves but boils iPrOH in a beaker? Using a hot plate?! What could possibly go wrong. (from video, it’s not even clear that he’s doing it in a hood.) NOT my idea of good practice.
Watched a few of his other video’s, he does use a fume hood.
Cadê as receitas?
“2021 is going to have to be more sane, right?”
(laughs hollowly)
Derek, why did you have to tempt fate this way!