Ian Collacott

Geek (say the kids), Fifer, birdwatcher & Moray Firth coast enthusiast. Recovering biomedical scientist/virologist. PCR and vaccines work.

[Neil Stone @DrNeilStone]

RFK Jr has destroyed medicine in the US for a generation in favour of pseudoscience and quackery

[Larry the Cat @Number10cat]

"I have accepted Keir Starmer's resignation as my chief servant and have invited Andy Burnham to lay out details for how many meals a day he'll give me"

[Ian Collacott @joctibeet]

@WingsScotland @overlandertheb1 See para 2.63 here, on the "Blue Economy" https://t.co/h5mI2vicyO
Please note:
1 You asked.
2 I'm only the messenger.
3 You may wish to kill yourself before reading this document.
4 Please don't kill me instead.

[Ian Collacott @joctibeet]

@LucyHunterB @lnmackenzie1 You never know, they may also have asked a civil servant to write a foreword (I'm perhaps setting an overly high literacy bar here though)...

[Ian Collacott @joctibeet]

@LucyHunterB I'd start with a base figure of 73 (58 of whom will do exactly as instructed) before thinking about Labour and Lib Dems...

[mandy rhodes @holyroodmandy]

“This is not about Sturgeon being held responsible for her husband’s crimes; it’s about her responsibility as a party leader & first minister to have had proper oversight of the financial dealings of her party.” My column on the Murrell scandal. https://t.co/z4BlEkc6HA

[Ian Collacott @joctibeet]

The End Of Law https://t.co/qAjZnv7x8u

[Elisabeth Bik @MicrobiomDigest]

Does the COVID 19 vaccine induce eye damage?

A 2025 paper published in Ophthalmic Epidemiology is being promoted online by vaccine skeptics.

But: reused images, impossible demographics, and an incomplete ethics approval number make *me* skeptical.

https://t.co/htGWlbnOAb

[Annemarie Ward 💜 @Annemarieward]

When a government starts managing where questions may be asked, it is usually because it isn't interested in answering them. The creation of a journalist's pen at Holyrood feels less like confidence and more like containment. Holyrood was supposed to bring politics closer to the people . A Parliament that fences in journalists should not be surprised when the public conclude it is trying to fence out scrutiny.

[Derek Thompson @DKThomp]

Super weird, and potentially wonderful.

We now have several natural experiments suggesting that the shingles vaccine significantly reduces dementia risk, or delays dementia risk, potentially by suppressing reactivation of the underlying virus, which can linger in nerve tissue and cause brain damage

[For Women Scotland @ForWomenScot]

We have written to @ScotGovFM asking that any inquiry into the role of money in politics includes lobby groups funded by the Gov which campaign to promote the policies of the governing party.

[Marc Johnson @SolidEvidence]

I’m so excited. My secret (not so secret) observational experiment is about to begin.

This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for wastewater surveillance.

FIFA World cup.
1/
@SecureBio
https://t.co/3Yi9LFwNz2

[Joanna Cherry KC @joannaccherry]

🧵This, from Robin McAlpine, sums up the current position of the SNP very well & also lays out legitimate concerns about Crown Office. “A political party in this country has allowed its Chief Exec to steal money, it bullied & forced out whistleblowers…1/3 https://t.co/2isgUXlkzT

[Ian Collacott @joctibeet]

@MeidasScotland @ForWomenScot "Someone said this and I believed it without checking" doesn't suggest the sort of organisation likely to be able to competently produce any form of materials or media for YES groups. You need to do an awful lot better than this.

[Ian Collacott @joctibeet]

@RFC_Eagle @TakethatCt My rule of thumb for HIV Western blots was to never do one unless you already knew the result...

[Ian Collacott @joctibeet]

@CherokeeRose187 @sasha_latypova @pizzapicklespur In Real-time PCR ( the current standard method) no bands are produced.

[Ian Collacott @joctibeet]

@CherokeeRose187 @sasha_latypova @pizzapicklespur One cycle would yield no detectable product in the PCR method you're describing (endpoint PCR). That method hasn't been commonly used in diagnostic applications for almost 30 years. Your post suggests you have absolutely no knowledge of lab diagnostics.

[Richard Dawkins @RichardDawkins]

This unqualified bore says his secondhand opinions are “not up for debate.” Yes they are. At a university all opinions are up for debate. If you cannot defend your opinions rationally, either they are indefensible or you are too stupid to defend them. In either case you have no right to force them on students who have expressed their wish to attend a lecture by doing so.
https://t.co/2HqOx6x2TP

[David Hamilton 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🇺🇦 @DvdHmltn]

Last summer I raised the proposition of two changes to FOI law.
One was the extension of FOI law to political parties in relation to the murky world of candidate selection, policy influence and to funding- all of which there are clear public interest cases for. (1/x)

[Ian Collacott @joctibeet]

@Heccles94 The NHS isn't seeking to deny anyone freedom of expression. However, professionals have no right to force political or other opinions onto patients, and wearing any form of badge or symbol effectively requires patients to submit to the belief of staff.