Tag: nih

Scientists Are Putting $14.2M Behind an Ambitious New Effort to Map the Body’s “Hidden” Sixth Sense

Your body is constantly communicating with your brain, sending silent signals about everything from your heartbeat to your blood pressure. It’s an ongoing internal conversation that keeps you alive. However, it is also a system that science still barely understands.

Now, a new $14.2 million research effort led by Scripps Research Institute, a non-profit medical research center based in San Diego, California, aims to change that by mapping the body’s mysterious “hidden sixth sense.”

The five-year project, funded through the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director’s Transformative Research Award, will attempt to decode interoception—the process by which the nervous system monitors and interprets internal physiological signals.

Researchers hope their work will produce the first-ever atlas of this inner sensory system, revealing how the brain keeps tabs on vital functions such as breathing, digestion, and immune responses.

“My team is honored that the NIH is supporting the kind of collaborative science needed to study such a complex system,”  Scripps project lead, Dr. Ardem Patapoutian, said in a statement.

Dr. Patapoutian is no stranger to decoding the body’s hidden senses. In 2021, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discovering how cells sense touch and pressure, a finding that fundamentally reshaped our understanding of sensation. Now, he and colleagues at Scripps believe that interoception could hold the key to the next great understanding of how the brain maintains internal balance.

Interoception isn’t like the classic five senses. You can’t see or hear your blood pressure or digestion. Instead, this “sixth sense” operates through a network of sensory neurons that relay information from deep inside the body to the brain, often without conscious awareness.

These neurons weave through organs and tissues—heart, lungs, stomach, kidneys—forming a hidden communication network that ensures your body’s systems stay in sync.

The project represents a partnership between Scripps Research and the Allen Institute, combining expertise in molecular genetics, whole-body imaging, and neuroscience. Dr. Patapoutian will be joined by Dr. Li Ye, the N. Paul Whittier Chair in Chemistry and Chemical Biology at Scripps Research, and Dr. Bosiljka Tasic, Director of Molecular Genetics at the Allen Institute.

The NIH Director’s Transformative Research Award is part of the agency’s High-Risk, High-Reward Research Program,  designed to fund bold ideas that push scientific boundaries. Established in 2009, the NIH describes the award as “supporting exceptionally innovative and/or unconventional research projects with the potential to create or overturn fundamental paradigms.”

Interoception remains one of biology’s least understood systems, partly because it’s so difficult to study. Unlike external senses that rely on clearly defined organs—eyes, ears, nose—interoceptive pathways are diffuse and overlapping. Signals from the heart, gut, or lungs intermingle as they travel to the brain, blurring the boundaries between systems.

Since the sensations monitored by interoception originate deep within the body and are interpreted largely without our conscious awareness, researchers often liken it to a kind of “hidden sixth sense.” Understanding how this internal sensory network functions could profoundly reshape how medicine approaches everything from stress regulation to chronic disease.

With NIH backing, the researchers plan to systematically map how sensory neurons connect to internal organs, including the heart and gastrointestinal tract.

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GOP Congressman Calls for End to Cruel NIH Dog Testing Following More Abuse Allegations Against Fauci’s Beagle Breeder

In the wake of mounting scandal, Republican Congressman Paul Gosar is demanding that the National Institutes of Health (NIH) halt all experiments on dogs, after new abuse allegations tied to the notorious Ridglan Farms puppy mill that supplies beagles to NIH-funded labs.

Gosar’s comment came in response to a White Coat Waste post that included a disturbing photo of a “9-year-old retired female breeder beagle from the notorious Ridglan Farms” being abused in an NIH-funded experiment at the Cleveland Clinic.

The pressure comes as Ridglan Farms’ lead veterinarian had his veterinary license unanimously suspended this week by the Wisconsin Veterinary Examining Board. Ridglan also faces over 300 alleged animal health violations, a proposed $55,000 state fine, and possible criminal referral, as Gateway Pundit previously reported.

The suspension is a significant escalation in the long‑running controversy over Ridglan, a commercial beagle breeding operation that WCW has documented supplies animals directly to cruel experiments funded with tax dollars by the NIH.

WCW’s investigation has found that dozens of Ridglan beagles have already been used in painful NIH‑supported experiments—ranging from tick infestation studies at the University of Missouri to forced infections, drug injections, and viral exposure protocols. WCW has also obtained documents linking NIH-funded dog testing labs at Northwestern University, University of Chicago, Washington University-St. Louis, University of Georgia, and others to Ridglan.

In a July 2025 letter, Reps. Gosar, Marjorie Taylor Greene and others sent to the NIH requesting the cancelation of all dog and cat testing grants awarded by Dr. Fauci and an end to future funding for dog and cat testing, he cited the ongoing NIH-funded tick bite experiment on Ridglan beagles uncovered by WCW.

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House Appropriations Committee Unanimously Passes Amendment to Defund All NIH-Funded Transgender Animal Experiments in FY26 Spending Bill

In a significant victory for fiscal conservatives and animal welfare advocates, the House Appropriations Committee has unanimously passed an amendment to the FY26 NIH spending bill that would prohibit the use of taxpayer dollars for bizarre and controversial “transgender” experiments on animals.

The amendment, which was added to the spending bill, states explicitly:

“Sec. ___. None of the funds made available by this Act may be used for research on vertebrate animals for the purpose of studying the effects of drugs, surgery, or other interventions to alter the human body (including by disrupting the body’s development, inhibiting its natural functions, or modifying its appearance) to no longer correspond to its biological sex.”

The amendment was first proposed by Rep. Paul Gosar in May, who was working with White Coat Waste Project, a watchdog group focused on ending wasteful taxpayer-funded animal experimentation.

The full FY26 NIH spending bill advanced out of committee and now heads to the full House for a vote. If approved by Congress and signed into law, this provision would permanently bar NIH-funded labs from using tax dollars on such experiments, ensuring no repeat of the disturbing practices uncovered earlier this year.

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NIH Director on FL: In My Opinion, Not Having Vax Mandates Seems Best

On Thursday’s broadcast of Newsmax TV’s “Rob Schmitt Tonight,” NIH Director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya commented on Florida moving to scrap vaccine mandates by stating that he’s not speaking for the administration, but not having mandates “seems to be the better approach” and “The strategy of using mandates, it’s not obvious it’s the right one.”

Bhattacharya said, “I’m not sure exactly what — the administration yet has a take on this, but I’ll tell you, Rob, if you look in the U.K., if you look in Sweden, you look in Denmark, none of them have vaccine mandates for any of their vaccines. All of the vaccines are voluntary in those places. What they do have is public health that doesn’t lie to their people. And so, you have amazing vaccine uptake for vaccines like MMR in all of those places, without vaccine mandates, without violating bodily autonomy of people, because public health has the trust of the people because they’re trustworthy. The problem in the United States has been, public health hasn’t been trustworthy, especially during COVID, you saw a lot of, like, exaggerations about the vaccine’s — the COVID vaccine’s ability to stop you from getting and spreading COVID, for instance, and the mandates, they just deepen the distrust. The strategy of using mandates, it’s not obvious it’s the right one. And, as I said, like in Europe, you have a very, very different strategy and they have better results than we do on uptake of essential vaccines like the MMR.”

He added, “They’re not coercing people. What they’re doing, they’re reasoning with people. I find that approach quite attractive. I’m not making an announcement as far as the administration is concerned. I’m just telling you my point of view as an epidemiologist and scientist, that that seems to be the better approach to public health, talk to people, talk to them about the data, what the data actually show and don’t show, be honest about what — when there are problems, and then, treat people like adults, especially parents, to help them make good decisions for their families.”

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Taxpayer Dollars from NIH Used to Create ‘Transgender Monkeys’ to Inject with mRNA Vaccines

White Coat Waste Project (WCW), a watchdog group dedicated to ending taxpayer-funded animal experiments, has discovered that millions in taxpayer dollars from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the State of Florida are being spent on bizarre experiments to create “transgender” monkeys by pumping male rhesus macaques full of estrogen and then injecting them with mRNA vaccines.

The research, published in Cell Reports earlier this month, says that the experiments are aimed at modeling feminizing hormone therapy (FHT) as used by transgender biological males transitioning to “female.”

According to the paper, “To investigate the immune effects of estrogen within a male biological system, we administered exogenous E2 [estrogen] to male RMs [rhesus monkeys], modeling FHT [feminizing hormone therapy] as prescribed to TGW [transgender women].” Twelve young male monkeys were divided into groups and implanted with slow-release pellets containing either estrogen or a placebo.

The results were grotesque.

“FHT [feminizing hormone therapy] induces physical changes in TGW [transgender women], such as breast development, fat and muscle redistribution, and reduction in facial hair. To determine whether exogenous E2 [estrogen] therapy triggered similar female characteristics in male RMs [rhesus monkeys], we evaluated body alterations in the E2-treated animals. We found that male RMs [rhesus monkeys] treated with E2 [estrogen], but not placebo, developed significantly enlarged nipples similar to those of non-pregnant non-lactating female macaques.”

The estrogen-treated males developed “significantly enlarged nipples similar to those of non-pregnant non-lactating female macaques.” Additionally, “skin in the [estrogen]-treated macaques’ hips and thighs also became increasingly reddish and vascularized in a manifestation that resembled sex skin.” To further disrupt their systems, the researchers “artificially disrupted immune homeostasis through LNP/mRNA vaccinations,” injecting the animals with mRNA-based vaccines.

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NIH schemes to keep risky gain-of-function research alive despite Trump crackdown

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) plans to continue creating novel pandemic viruses in apparent defiance of an executive order signed by President Donald Trump calling for a crackdown on the research, according to three government sources involved with the process, who were granted anonymity to avoid government reprisals.

Biosafety hawks have been duking it out with officials at the NIH, the Pentagon and the Department of Homeland Security as an interagency group finalizes Trump’s policy on dangerous gain-of-function (GOF) research — which makes viruses more deadly in the lab. Per the executive order, the policy on federal GOF research is due Sept. 2. Three intelligence agencies have concluded that a lab accident sparked COVID-19.

Former White House Office of Pandemic Preparedness and Response Policy Director Gerry Parker — a biodefense expert who has long been critical of the NIH gain-of-function policies that preceded COVID-19 — led the process of drafting the policy. But Parker resigned this July from the White House after a six month stint, STAT News first reported. Parker confirmed his departure to the Daily Caller News Foundation and said it was due to a personal rather than professional issue.

In the void, inertia has set in. At NIH — where the policy shop has remained unchanged since the Biden administration — a consultant hired by NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya was marginalized as an extremist for pushing for a stricter policy, according to a government source. Ed Hammond, who tracked Fauci’s biodefense buildup for years, was fired from NIH on Aug. 21, he said on X. Hammond declined to comment beyond his tweet.

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Supreme Court Allows Trump Admin To Revoke DEI-Related NIH Grants

The Supreme Court voted 5–4 on Aug. 21 to allow the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to cancel hundreds of millions of dollars in research grants linked to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives.

The new ruling clears the way for the funding reductions while litigation over the grants continues in the lower courts.

The justices filed five separate opinions explaining their votes.

Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett voted to allow the grants to be cut.

Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, Ketanji Brown Jackson, and Chief Justice John Roberts voted to deny the government’s request to rescind the funding.

The high court said it acted because the federal government faces the possibility that the grant monies, once paid out, may not be recovered.

Moreover, “the plaintiffs do not state that they will repay grant money if the Government ultimately prevails.”

The case is known as National Institutes of Health v. American Public Health Association.

The Department of Justice filed an emergency application with the nation’s highest court late last month, asking the justices to block a ruling by Boston-based U.S. District Judge William Young, who found the cancellation was unlawful and ordered the government to restore the funding.

NIH began taking steps in February to end the grants that conflict with President Donald Trump’s policy priorities.

The NIH is the world’s largest government funder of biomedical research.

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Federal Complaint Filed After NIH Bureaucrat Attacks Anti-Animal Testing Watchdog Group White Coat Waste, Goes After Board Members

In a brazen display of deep state arrogance straight out of the Fauci era, a high-ranking National Institutes of Health (NIH) official has been exposed abusing his position to defame the White Coat Waste Project (WCW), America’s leading watchdog against wasteful and cruel government-funded animal experiments.

Warren Casey, Director of Strategic Partnerships at the NIH’s Division of Translational Toxicology and Executive Director of the Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Validation of Alternative Methods (ICCVAM), sent emails from his personal Gmail account to members of WCW’s advisory board, abusing his federal credentials to trash the organization and urge supporters to cut ties.

Casey’s email, which appears to be a clear retaliation against WCW’s relentless exposure of NIH’s shady animal testing practices, opens by touting his 15-year tenure at NIH and his ICCVAM role to lend an air of official authority. He accuses WCW of launching a “reckless smear campaign” against fellow NIH scientist Dr. Nicole Kleinstreuer, claiming it incited death threats and harassment that required FBI involvement and police protection.

“I write with serious concern about your association with the White Coat Waste Project (WCW). While WCW claims to support ending animal testing, its recent actions undermine that mission and endanger public servants,” Casey wrote in the email to board members.

Casey claimed the organization’s “demonizing Dr. Kleinstreuer in public forums, distorting her statements, and falsely portraying her as an enemy of reform. WCW’s attacks have incited hundreds of death threats, nonstop harassment (phone calls, emails, social media posts), FBI involvement, and round-the-clock police protection for Dr. Kleinstreuer and her family.”

The email concluded, “Your name and reputation lend legitimacy to WCW’s platform and your continued affiliation with WCW legitimizes their harmful tactics and implies your de facto support as a member of their advisory board. In today’s climate, where violence against public servants is on the rise and political assassination is no longer unthinkable, this is not just immoral—it’s dangerous—and endangers the lives of the civil servants WCW chooses to demonize. I urge you to stand with the scientists and public servants working every day toward ethical, evidence-based reform—without threats, misinformation, or violence.”

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SHOCKING: FDA Commissioner Dr. Makary Says NIH ‘Brewed Up a Virus That Killed 20 Million People Worldwide’

Newly appointed FDA Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary pulled no punches as he directly accused the National Institutes of Health (NIH) of funding the lab responsible for creating the virus that sparked the COVID-19 pandemic and claimed the lives of over 20 million people globally.

Speaking to NewsNation’s Connell McShane, Dr. Makary blasted the former NIH leadership for pouring taxpayer dollars into unaccountable pet projects, including the now-infamous lab that engineered the virus that triggered a global pandemic.

Dr. Makary:
The way it used to be. We’re planning to change our health agencies for a generation or longer. Look at the NIH. When J. Bhattacharya came in there, it was a mess. Fourteen percent of the grants were descriptive studies on health equity.

And the NIH had just funded a lab that brewed up a virus that killed 20 million people worldwide. So they’re getting back to studying root causes, a cure for cancer, debilitating neurodegenerative diseases, and they’re going to do good work.

Connell McShane:
Right, but you have to do it with fewer people. Is that a challenge with the cuts, or is that not really what it’s made out to be either?

Dr. Makary:
The FDA is strong, and it’s going to continue to be strong. The cuts were consolidations. There were no layoffs to scientific reviewers or inspectors at the FDA.

There was consolidation of the twelve travel offices at the FDA. And so we’re going to institute teamwork and break up the fiefdom culture within the agency. It’s an interesting conversation.

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NIH Betrays Promise to End Fauci-Era Animal Cruelty by Renewing Horrific Kitten Heart Failure Experiments, Slaughtering Dozens More Innocent Kittens with YOUR Tax Dollars

In a shocking betrayal and show of government hypocrisy and waste, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has quietly renewed deadly heart failure experiments on kittens, despite public pledges from top officials to “phase out” such barbaric testing on cats and dogs.

This explosive revelation comes from an exclusive investigation by the White Coat Waste Project (WCW), which uncovered how the NIH is reviving Fauci-era pet torture labs while claiming to “work tirelessly” to end them.

“Within days of @NIH publicly claiming it is ‘working tirelessly’ to ‘phase out’ dog and cat labs, the agency extended a grant that’s paying experimenters to surgically induce heart failure in healthy 8-week-old kittens, forcing them to suffer for months, and then killing them” https://t.co/wx7SERNwIx pic.twitter.com/UQjJ6SRTuA

— White Coat Waste (@WhiteCoatWaste) July 25, 2025

According to documents obtained by WCW through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), experimenters at Temple University, in collaboration with the University of Pennsylvania are taking adorable 8- to 10-week-old kittens, cutting open their tiny chests, prying apart their ribs, and surgically implanting bands around their aortas to deliberately restrict blood flow and induce painful heart failure.

These poor creatures are then subjected to months of suffering, two or four months, to be exact, before being killed in the most horrific way imaginable: by cardiectomy, which means cutting out their still-beating hearts while they’re alive. And now, despite the project being set to expire on July 31, 2025, the NIH has extended it for another full year, dooming 25 more kittens to this nightmare.

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