I don’t know Ezra yet but since he’s taking the time to blog (which I hugesly respect) and share thoughts I thought I’d take him up on his challenge and also spill the beans on my secrets. On blogging I blog because I love it. My other secret on blogging? MORE

Cybersecurity company Proofpoint, which helped slow the sweeping global ransomware attack WannaCry after it emerged Friday, has now discovered a much more insidious, profitable, and potentially widespread cyberattack called Adylkuzz. Adylkuzz doesn’t demand, as WannaCry does, that victims pay a ransom to retrieve their data. Adylkuzz makes no announcement when it quietly invades target computers. MORE

Over the holiday I became aware of a new tech blog that aims to have deep insights into the next generation of technology, which they call The Hypernet. MORE

When the FDA last week approved Merck’s cancer drug pembrolizuamb (Keytruda) for tumors with a specific genetic signature , regardless of what body part they originated in, it was a watershed moment for oncology and a victory for the concept of precision medicine. MORE

[ Updated 6/1/17, 3:47 pm PT. See below. President Donald Trump today announced the United States would withdraw from complying with what’s known as the Paris climate accord , a landmark international agreement to combat climate change. MORE

Uncertainty surrounding this year’s presidential election has kept U.S. IPO activity at a sluggish pace—so sluggish, in fact, that this year could end with the fewest IPOs and the lowest level of capital raised since 2009, according to PitchBook data for the first nine months of 2016. MORE

Folks had just clocked out last Friday when the Trump Administration announced a travel ban that threw airports around the country into chaos. That announcement set the tone for this week in life sciences. Many in biopharma blasted Trump’s order and tried to grapple with its implications. MORE

The randomized controlled trial has long been held up as the gold standard for testing new drugs. But the nation’s top drug evaluator, Janet Woodcock, believes they aren’t necessary for all new experimental treatments. MORE

It’s a struggle that comic-book fans know well. Ordinary people, bestowed with super powers from a spider bite or gamma rays, struggle to harness their own abilities. T cells, key soldiers of the immune system, are wrestling with new-found super powers, too. MORE

’Tis the season for giving gifts. And increasingly, those shiny new toys and gadgets can be connected to the Internet—from TVs to watches, speakers to Barbie dolls. That Internet connection opens up a ton of possibilities for how we can use and enjoy our new devices. MORE

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For many years, doctors and researchers have known that cancers in different parts of the body can share genetic abnormalities. For the first time, the FDA has approved a drug based on those abnormalities and not on the organ in which the cancer originated. MORE

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When thousands of cancer researchers from around the world gather in Chicago this weekend for the American Society of Clinical Oncology’s annual meeting, drugs that fight tumors by boosting a patient’s immune system will take center stage, as they have in previous years. But the stage is more crowded, as researchers have begun in earnest combining these immunotherapies into experimental cocktails, hoping to push quickly past the limits of the drugs currently in use as single agents. MORE

An ambitious plan to recruit 1 million U.S. volunteers and amass a treasure trove of their health information will start next week with a “beta test” that health officials hope to eventually expand nationwide. MORE

What does it take to keep highly skilled cybersecurity employees? Salary and benefits are table-stakes. MORE

Prices for agricultural commodities such as corn, soy, and wheat are at their lowest levels in years, but investment in agricultural technology has never been better. MORE

Drivers have plenty of ways to communicate with their fellow drivers, beyond the basic turn signal. Some methods are nice, like a friendly wave to beckon a merging car into your lane. Others, not so much. We’ve all probably cursed or honked at another driver, or been given the finger. MORE

President Trump’s order to bar refugees and immigrants from seven Muslim-majority countries is on temporary hold, and a court hearing later today could eventually force a ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court. One of the latest biotech executives to speak out against the ban is in the backyard of Mitch McConnell (R-KY), the top Republican in the U.S. Senate. MORE

View the Slideshow It is a time of great transitions in the technology and business world. Key advances in areas like machine intelligence, agriculture, and healthcare seem poised to transform society—and everyday life. MORE

Has the era of genetic oncology arrived? Last week, the biomedical world took a notable step in that direction when the FDA said Merck’s drug pembrolizumab (Keytruda), already one of the world’s most successful cancer immunotherapies, could now treat any tumor with a particular genetic fingerprint. It was the first time a drug has been approved strictly for a genotype —a tumor’s genetic profile—regardless of the organ or body part where the tumor is growing. MORE

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The blowback from U.S. business leaders to President Trump’s travel ban continues—today from a throng of biotech executives. This morning, 165 U.S. biotech leaders have signed a letter voicing “deep concern and opposition” to the order, which bars entry to the U.S. to refugees and immigrants from seven Muslim-majority countries. The Jan. 27 order placed a 90-day ban on immigrants from Iraq, Iran, Syria, Sudan, Somalia, Libya, and Yemen. MORE

According to several news reports, the Trump administration will nominate Scott Gottlieb to be the new commissioner of the FDA, a selection that had the life sciences industry breathing a sigh of relief Friday afternoon. MORE

It’s 4.50am. Sunday morning. And I couldn’t sleep. I have much on my mind since I just returned from a week on the road. 5 days. 3 cities. Late night Mexican food. Beers. Airports. Delays. I left on a Sunday. I had to miss a full day with my family, camping in the mountains. MORE

[ Note: Ben Fidler coauthored this report.] The American Society of Clinical Oncology conference is wrapping up, and the closely-watched medical meeting-slash-hype machine produced its usual array of data. MORE

Over the next four days, the Second City will be the center of the biomedical world. The American Society of Clinical Oncology’s annual meeting in Chicago brings together thousands of researchers from across the globe to discuss the latest progress in the war against cancer. On tap this year: the crush of immunotherapy drug combinations, the latest in cell therapy, advances in targeted cancer drugs and much more. MORE

I used to love blogging. Blogging proved to be a great way to hone my ideas, have public conversations with people and as it turns out – build meaningful relationships through public dialog that spilled over into the real world. Somewhere along the way blogging changed. Fred Wilson said as much in his blog post today, too. I guess it’s just a reality of blogging and I accept that. I like “single take” blogging. MORE

The New York Times Magazine wrote a few weeks ago about the extraordinary metabolic changes in a python after it gulps down a 50,000 calorie meal. The biomedical world was like a postprandial python this week; after extending its maw around the supersized meal of news and data from the American Society for Clinical Oncology meeting over the weekend, life science info flow nearly came to a halt. James Comey might have had a wee bit to do with that, as well.) MORE

The company said the redesign came after finding that users were interested in using its tools to create blog-like travel and trip journals, rather than the original, animated slideshows the tool provided. networking social blogging travel iphone hipgeo MORE

If power in the business world is centered in the boardroom, women in biotech have a long way to go to get their fair share—and the venture community deserves much of the blame. MORE

It’s been more than a year since an infamous party with hired models in cocktail dresses captured the biotech community’s attention at the 2016 J.P. Morgan conference. There has been plenty of talk since about closing biotech’s notable gender gap. At this year’s J.P MORE

Blogs. By definition, you read blogs. People often ask me why I started blogging. I often get the question from people, “I’d like to blog, but I don’t really know what to talk about?&# My suggestion is to blog about your industry. You need a blog. MORE

A U.S. patient networking group called PatientsLikeMe has dipped its toe in the waters of public opinion, asking its members what they think of the healthcare policy fight. MORE

Fundraising is tough for startups but it’s particularly difficult in agriculture, a sector that has fewer firms focused on agtech investments. The dynamics are starting to change, though. MORE

6 or 7 years ago when TechCrunch was at its peak market share (they are still strong but many more tech blogs have also popped up) there was a term for getting covered there called “the TechCrunch bounce.” that they probably read the main tech blogs. MORE