- A new Nature paper describes “search-and-replace” genome editing that fuses a disabled Cas9 to a reverse transcriptase, enabling targeted edits without double-strand breaks or exogenous donor DNA (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-019-1711-4).  
- ACS Synthetic Biology reports on LA-REIMS (Laser-Assisted Rapid Evaporative Ionisation Mass Spectrometry), a method that screens yeast colonies for violacein and betulinic acid production at 6 colonies per minute—450 colonies in <4 h—directly from agar plates without sample prep (https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acssynbio.9b00243).  
- A user shared a DIY microbial fermentation project combining Lactobacillus, Saccharomyces, and possibly Candida milleri to create a methionine-restricted amino source for dietary experiments.  
- Discussion of stimulant experiences: one participant discontinued Vyvanse (lisdexamfetamine) after five days due to side-effects and returned to armodafinil (Nuvigil); others noted poor long-term outcomes among acquaintances using ADHD meds off-label.  
- A blog post was circulated exploring why serotonergic neurons, despite having aggregate axon lengths of “hundreds of meters,” do not degenerate like dopaminergic neurons in Parkinson’s disease (https://luysii.wordpress.com/2019/10/20/why-dont-serotonin-neurons-die-like-dopamine-neurons-do-in-parkinsons-disease/).