Simon Maechling Profile picture
PhD Organic Chemistry | Debunking myths | Science not ideology | Follow for facts! 🧪🧬 🌾 Opinions are my own.
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Oct 14 15 tweets 2 min read
Every bite you eat is made of mutants.
Beautiful, delicious mutants.

Yes, even the organic ones. 🧬🍓

Let me explain why that’s not scary.
It’s the foundation of agriculture itself. 🧵 1/ 👉 Mutations are not accidents.
👉 They’re how we made food possible.
👉 Whether natural, induced, or edited, they fuel evolution - and dinner. 2/
Oct 13 10 tweets 2 min read
After 8 billion doses - yes, 8 BILLION - COVID vaccines aren’t “experimental.”

They are one of the most tested medical interventions in human history.

Let’s talk about what that actually means. 👇🧵1/ 8 billion isn’t just a number.
It’s:

– More than all babies born in the last century.
– More than all global flu shots in a typical decade.
– A sample size so massive, even rare effects can’t hide 2/
Oct 9 12 tweets 3 min read
Allergies affect 1 in 3 people.

The immune system goes haywire over harmless things - pollen, peanuts, pets.

But what if we could reprogram the immune system to stop overreacting?

Not suppress it. Not drug it.
Reprogram it.

A new mRNA therapy might do just that. 🧵1/ Image This isn’t science fiction.

Researchers just showed that mRNA lipid nanoparticles can prevent and reverse allergies in mice.

Yes - reverse.

Even in mice that were already sensitized.
No allergic reaction. No inflammation. No symptoms. 2/
Oct 7 10 tweets 2 min read
The scariest thing about misinformation?
It doesn’t look like misinformation.

It looks like something you already believe.
That’s confirmation bias.

And it’s everywhere. 🧵 1/ Image Confirmation bias means this:

Your brain isn’t looking for what’s true.
It’s looking for what feels true.

You’re not searching for facts.
You’re searching for validation.

And algorithms know it. 2/
Oct 6 9 tweets 2 min read
It is unbelievable that in 2025,
defending science has become an act of bravery.

Not because science has failed.
But because we have.

We let the loudest voices be the least informed. 🧵 1/ We live in a time when...

🌾 GM crops fed billions.
☢️ Nuclear energy kept lights on.
🧬 mRNA vaccines saved millions.
💊 TNF inhibitors gave people their lives back.

And yet…

It’s the conspiracy theorists who dominate the narrative. 2/
Sep 30 14 tweets 2 min read
Yesterday, someone told me the safest policy in science is simple:

“If we’re not 100% sure something is safe… ban it.”

The crowd nodded.
It sounded cautious. Responsible.

But here’s the twist:
That’s the precautionary principle.
And it doesn’t always make you safer. 🧵1/ On paper, it looks perfect.
Don’t act until you’re certain.
Don’t approve until there’s zero doubt.

But life doesn’t work in certainties.
And the cost of waiting?

That’s the part nobody sees. 2/
Sep 13 9 tweets 2 min read
You see it too, right?
Disinformation is flooding the feed.

Not subtle. Not clever. Just loud.

And it’s working.
Every day, the same formula: 🧵1/ ⚠️ A half-truth.
🔁 Amplified by bots.
🔥 Juiced by rage.
📢 Spread by people who think they’re “just asking questions.”

The result?
Confusion → Division → Paralysis. 2/
Sep 13 10 tweets 1 min read
Bots aren’t just noise.
They’re the engine of disinformation.

Analysis of 1.269M accounts on X.
Result? 64% look like bots.

That means most of what you see in your feed…
…isn’t real people talking.

So how do bots push disinformation?🧵1/ It’s not by inventing new lies.
It’s by making lies louder.

➡️ Amplification:

A fringe claim gets retweeted thousands of times.

Now it looks “popular.”
Algorithms boost it even more. 2/
Sep 12 12 tweets 1 min read
Disinformation isn’t random.
It follows a playbook.

And if you’ve been watching U.S. events lately, you’ve seen it in action. 🧵 1/ Step 1: Bots & Amplifiers
Sleeper accounts suddenly light up.

Fake followers boost the loudest lies.
What looks like “trending” is often manufactured. 2/
Sep 8 14 tweets 2 min read
Veritasium's glyphosate video blew up.
Millions watched.

But it left out a lot of science.
And replaced nuance with drama.

Let’s fix that. 🧵👇1/ Main source? Carey Gillam.

She’s not neutral.
She’s spent years working with anti-GMO groups.
That’s like citing an anti-vaxxer to explain mRNA vaccines.

It’s not journalism. It’s advocacy. 2/
Sep 4 14 tweets 2 min read
How do you “prove” that vaccines and Tylenol cause autism without real evidence?

There’s a whole playbook for manufacturing scary headlines.

Here’s how it works - and why it falls apart under real science 👇🧵 1/ 📈 Step 1: Draw Two Lines.

Plot autism diagnoses over time.
Plot vaccine use and Tylenol sales.

Both go up → “proof.”

Reality: Autism rates rose mainly because of better awareness + broader diagnosis.

Two lines ≠ cause.
Correlation ≠ causation. 2/
Sep 3 10 tweets 2 min read
Just so we’re all on the same page…
“Do your own research” doesn’t mean research.
It means:

“Scroll until you find a post that confirms what you already believe.”

Let's talk about it:🧵👇1/ It used to mean:
→ Go to the library.
→ Read peer-reviewed studies.
→ Compare evidence and sources.

Now it means:
→ Watch a 3-hour YouTube video.
→ Follow a meme account.
→ Accuse scientists of lying. 2/
Sep 2 10 tweets 2 min read
All joking aside…

It's insane how many people trust idiots over scientists.

And I know I’m not the only one who feels this.

Let’s break it down. 🧵👇1/ You study chemistry for 20+ years.
Work in a lab.

Publish peer-reviewed papers.

Then some guy with a ring light and a Rumble channel calls you a fraud - and people believe him. 2/
Sep 2 11 tweets 4 min read
Have you met Bob?
He’s everywhere.

On TV, in Parliament, in headlines.
Bob is "The Precautionary Guardian".

He sees himself as the last line of defense between ordinary people and dangerous technologies. Pesticides, GMOs, chemicals - in his mind, they are lurking threats.

He has built a career out of warning people about them.

I met Bob one gray morning in London. We drunk coffee, and had a conversation I would never forget 🧵👇1/ Rain streaked down the glass walls of the Bundestag’s café. The place smelled of espresso and wet coats. I was early, nervous but steady.

I knew what Bob represented: a worldview that had shaped European politics for decades.

He arrived right on time. Tall, polite, almost scholarly in his composure. He shook my hand firmly, smiled warmly, and yet his eyes gave away his purpose. He wasn’t here for small talk.

We sat, coffee cups steaming between us. His black, mine with milk.

And then, without hesitation, the debate began. 2/
Sep 1 10 tweets 2 min read
People who call scientists “shills”… are the same ones who trust random influencers with zero credentials
and a discount code in their bio.

Let me explain. 🧵👇1/ A scientist with 20 years in chemistry?
🧪 “Bought by Big Chemical.”

But a podcast bro selling detox tea?
✨ “Finally, someone brave enough to speak the truth.”

Make. It. Make. Sense. 2/
Aug 31 12 tweets 2 min read
Spend 20 years studying a subject.
Go online. Get told you’re wrong by an electric screwdriver salesman…

🧵 Let’s talk about the collapse of trust in expertise: 1/ This isn’t just about bruised egos.
It’s about what happens when we flatten every voice to the same level…and ignore the difference between evidence and opinion. 2/
Aug 29 14 tweets 2 min read
Science doesn’t care about your politics.

But RFK Jr. does.

And he’s turning public health into a battlefield.

Let’s talk about what weaponizing health really means - and why it’s dangerous.

🧵👇 1/ The CDC Director just got fired.

Why?

She refused to sign off on “reckless, unscientific directives.”
Her lawyer says RFK Jr. is using health policy as a political tool.

She’s not the only one speaking up. 2/
Aug 27 11 tweets 2 min read
Let’s start simple: Vaccines do NOT cause autism.

This isn’t up for debate. Decades of research, millions of kids studied worldwide, zero credible evidence of a causal link. Full stop.

Here is how RFK Jr. will try to convince you otherwise: 🧵👇1/ So why are we talking about this again?
Because RFK Jr. knows the “vaccines cause autism” myth is losing steam.

So the playbook shifts:

➡️ Add a new villain.
➡️ Frame it as a U.S.-specific “syndrome.”
➡️ Tie it to something millions of Americans use. 2/
Aug 23 9 tweets 2 min read
Science doesn’t just explain the world. It saves it.

Every bar in this chart?
A breakthrough.
A life extended.
A child spared.
A cure.

Let’s talk about the most important data you’ll see this year.

🧵👇 1/ Image Start with this number:

Over 1 billion lives.

That’s how many people were saved by the discovery of blood groups and blood storage.

Karl Landsteiner and Richard Lewishon didn’t go viral.

They made blood transfusions possible. 2/
Aug 22 8 tweets 2 min read
I just got back from the farmers’ market.
Organic signs everywhere.

Someone told me:
“Choosing organic is the only moral choice.”

I smiled. Because I knew this was going to be fun.
Every aisle, another “moral” contradiction.

Let’s take a walk. 🧵1/ First stall:
Handwritten sign: “Chemical-free vegetables.”
Except… organic farming uses pesticides too.

Often older, less selective ones.
Copper sulfate, anyone?

It’s “natural” - and highly toxic to aquatic life. 2/
Aug 21 15 tweets 3 min read
I went for dinner with a “what-if” guy last night.
You know the type. Smart, curious, intense.

We sat down, ordered wine, and for a while it was normal. Work, travel, you know.

I told him worked in R&D for 20 years.
Then he leaned across the table and asked, dead serious: 1/ “What if glyphosate causes cancer?”

I smiled. Not because it was a silly question - but because I knew what kind of evening this was going to be. Every course, another apocalypse.

So I answered: 2/