Steven Cheng 程翔

Chemistry & chemical biology PhD candidate @NSF GRFP @Harvard @thewoolab | ChemE @Stanford alumnus | Small molecules 💊, PTMs (esp O-GlcNAc) 🟦, RNA splicing 🧬

[The Kobeissi Letter @KobeissiLetter]

Gold demand is set to rise further this year:

Global gold demand is projected to rise to a record ~4,900 tonnes in 2026, marking the 2nd-consecutive annual increase.

Jewelry demand is expected to rise by +100 tonnes, to ~1,700 tonnes, the highest since 2024.

World central bank purchases are estimated to come in at a historically high ~1,000 tonnes.

Physical-backed gold ETFs are expected to record ~900 tonnes in net inflows for the 2nd-consecutive year.

Meanwhile, bar and coin demand is expected to remain steady at ~1,300 tonnes.

The world cannot get enough gold.

[Sentimental Value @sentvaluefilm]

Read the full interview with SENTIMENTAL VALUE star Stellan Skarsgård: https://t.co/FcGvdSo1nR

[Woo Lab @thewoolab]

Let us take you to the land of sweets with our latest work in @CellChemBiol! Excited to share this proximity-induced target O-GlcNAc approach, where we uncover transcriptional effects of O-GlcNAc. Congrats to Alison and Dan! 🟦🍭🍬🎵❄️
https://t.co/gTqekgP4cp

[Woo Lab @thewoolab]

Roses are red, GlcNAc is blue, sugar is sweet, and we want YOU to read our latest in @NatureComms — where we identify small-molecules that disrupt OGlcNAc homeostasis via RNA splicing. Congrats Steven (@scheng23) and all the authors! 🟦🍭❤️ https://t.co/Vduv9Il3Kc

[U.S. National Science Foundation @NSF]

Today, NSF announced an add’l 500 NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program awardees for the 2025-2026 cohort, bringing the total to approx 1,500. #NSFGRFP supports grad students as they pursue their dreams, build STEM skills, & become the next generation of innovators & leaders.

[Steven Shuken @stshuken]

I was quoted in this very well done story by @MaryKekatos at @ABC highlighting some of the grants that were tragically and needlessly terminated including mine.
https://t.co/HFw8AquMEs

[Steven Shuken @stshuken]

The NIH notified me yesterday that there is currently no policy that supports applying for a R00 that is associated with a terminated K99. So now, both the postdoc K99 (Harvard, $250k) and the R00 (non-Harvard institution TBD, $750) are BOTH effectively terminated.

[Steven Shuken @stshuken]

Harvard notified me today that this K99 grant is terminated.

[Scott Gottlieb, MD 🇺🇸 @ScottGottliebMD]

🧵 Twenty-five years ago, it was common to hear complaints about a “drug lag”—the perception that Europeans routinely enjoyed medical advances years before their American counterparts. Through a generation of congressional actions, investments in expertise and hiring, and careful policymaking, we built the FDA into the most efficient, forward-leaning drug regulatory agency in the world—and established the U.S. as the global center of biopharmaceutical innovation. Today, the cumulative barrage on that drug-discovery enterprise, threatens to swiftly bring back those frustrating delays for American consumers, particularly affecting rare diseases and areas of significant unmet medical need.

[Dan Diamond @ddiamond]

Breaking: RFK Jr. has forced out PETER MARKS, top U.S. vaccine regulator.

In his resignation letter, Marks said he was willing to work with RFK Jr on his vaccine concerns — but said Kennedy wants “subservient confirmation of his misinformation and lies.”

https://t.co/YNeypomftf

[Brian Liau @brian_b_liau]

Today in @Nature we share our back-to-back stories with @nzhenguw revealing chemical-genetic convergence between a molecular glue & E3 ligase cancer mutations. 1/6

[unusual_whales @unusual_whales]

JUST IN: Senator Mitch McConnell, 82, has fell down twice today at the Senate stairs.

Medical staff with a wheelchair were called in to assist after the senator fell and sprained his wrist.

Here he is in the wheelchair.

Of note, his stock portfolio is at all time highs.

[U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. @SenBillCassidy]

PEPFAR is the epitome of soft power. It is a Republican initiative, it is pro-life, pro-America and the most popular U.S. program in Africa. There’s even a waiver acknowledging this, yet I’m told that drugs are still being withheld at clinics in Africa. This must be reversed immediately!!

[Ned Pagliarulo @NedPagliarulo]

FDA approves $VRTX non-opioid drug suzetrigine for acute pain.

Drug will be sold by Vertex as Journavx:

https://t.co/4mzBD83nWj

[Jacob Corn @jcornlab]

Cells are filled with toxic stuff that damages healthy proteins. Is that garbage just left to rot on the curb? No way! Ubiquitin ligases have evolved to recognize chemical damage and clean it up! https://t.co/VKPnOX4ySJ

[Letterboxd @letterboxd]

David Lynch (1946-2025) 🖤

[Steven Cheng 程翔 @scheng23]

"On a molecular level, our structural studies reveal that interdictors bind in a linkerless heterobifunctional manner to both the rRNA and the nascent peptide chain ... much the way a PROTAC can be modularly designed and constructed"

[bioRxiv Cancer Bio @biorxiv_cancer]

Context-dependent translation inhibition as a novel oncology therapeutic modality https://t.co/158F3I8wQM #biorxiv_cancer

[Golden Globes @goldenglobes]

✨ HUGE ✨ congrats to The Brutalist! Best Picture – Drama WINNER at the #GoldenGlobes!

[U.S. Surgeon General @Surgeon_General]

NEW: Today, I’m releasing a Surgeon General’s Advisory on the causal link between alcohol consumption and increased cancer risk. Alcohol is the 3rd leading preventable cause of cancer in the U.S., contributing to about 100,000 cancer cases and 20,000 cancer deaths each year.

[Cell Chemical Biology @CellChemBiol]

Online now! Development of an FKBP12-recruiting chemical-induced proximity DNA-encoded library and its application to discover an autophagy potentiator https://t.co/hHfrSAy280 #chembiol