"I believe it may have fallen from someone’s grocery bag.” Scientist finds unlikely creature in US parking lot – and only has one thing on his mind... | Discover Wildlife The microscopy expert put the big-clawed animal through his micro-CT scanner, creating an incredibly detailed image of its body.

"When chance brought a lone crustacean to [an LSU] scientist’s car park in the USA, he had an unusual response: try to get an exceptionally detailed 3D scan of the animal." - BBC Wildlife Magazine

discoverwildlife.com/animal-facts... @lsu.bsky.social

Enjoy this animation of sleep neurons in a fruit fly... and while you are at it, did you know fruit flies are teaching us how some people can get by with 4-5 hours of sleep every night just fine?!

It has to do with a genetic variant that boosts mitochondrial function! www.lsu.edu/blog/2026/03...

PhD #3 from the Johnson lab! Congrats @cristianric.bsky.social !

Excellent work by first author graduate student Cristian Ricaurte-Perez who is currently supported by an American Heart Association predoctoral fellowship and will be applying for postdocs soon! @cristianric.bsky.social @lsuscience.bsky.social

Transcriptomic analyses revealed that DAF-16 and HLH-30 cooperate to induce expression of lipid metabolism genes, including vps-34 and bec-1, that support lysosome membrane remodeling.

Remarkably, experimental stimulation of lysosome tubules by over-expression of a small lysosomal gene (SVIP) promotes nuclear localization of HLH-30 in a cell autonomous and cell non-autonomous fashion, which we hypothesize contributes to systemic benefits that support healthy aging.

Graduate student Cristian Ricaurte-Perez, followed up on this work to uncover new regulators of lysosome tubulation. His initial work led to the discovery that DAF-16 and HLH-30, two transcription factors linked to aging regulation, are critical for efficient lysosome tubulation.

Tubular lysosome induction couples animal starvation to healthy aging - Nature Aging The authors report that a change to lysosome morphology, from vesicular to tubular form, supports lifespan extension upon dietary restriction and promotes heightened autophagy and healthy aging when s...

In previous work published in @nataging.nature.com, we showed that lysosomes transform into tubular networks upon food limitation; this morphological transformation of lysosomes promotes faster autophagic cargo turnover and is required for the beneficial effects of dietary restriction.

DAF-16/FOXO and HLH-30/TFEB comprise a cooperative regulatory axis controlling tubular lysosome induction in C. elegans - Nature Communications This study reveals that transcription factors DAF-16/FOXO and HLH-30/TFEB promote healthy aging in C. elegans, in part, by activating lipid metabolism genes that remodel lysosomes into tubular network...

In our newest paper published in @natcomms.nature.com, we show that DAF-16/FOXO and HLH-30/TFRB promote healthy aging, in part, by activating lipid metabolism genes that remodel lysosomes into tubular networks (more in comments below).

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

A familial natural short sleep mutation in dec2 extends healthspan and lifespan in Drosophila Biological sciences; Genetics; Neuroscience

In our newest paper, we show that expression of a familial natural short sleep mutation in flies extends lifespan through enhanced mitochondrial physiology. First first-author paper for former graduate student Pritika Pandey! @pritika26.bsky.social
@lsuscience.bsky.social @lsu.bsky.social

Congratulations to Dr. Pritika Pandey! 2nd PhD student from the lab and now she is off to do a postdoc at UNC! 🎉 🎓
@lsuscience.bsky.social

My student’s R36 (which got a great score) doesn’t have a summary statement even though it was reviewed more than 30 days ago. Assuming her SRO and PO are also not on that list but can’t search it anymore. Hasn’t been reassigned either. She has no one to contact, so it’s just in limbo.

My PO for my MIRA is also not listed even though she is still listed on my eraCommons.

Is there any information on whether no-cost extensions will even be considered? This could be critical for many labs to keep operations going while we wait for decisions on new awards.

Have 2 applications assigned to CMAD 👎🏼. Hope they get to re-schedulling these soon. Thanks for your updates!

This is a useful distinction - generative vs non-generative AI for writing, and how it relates to the writer's own input

I completely agree. I would rather my students struggle and make mistakes. It’s part of the learning process. I worry that creative thought will decline with so much generative AI.

Facilities and Administrative (F&A) Costs Explainer YouTube video by Association of American Universities

Great video explaining indirect costs from the AAU. I shared this with my lab members.

Thanks for the play by play!

ER - a "neuron within a neuron". Fascinating work on signal spread via the ER in dendrites. Still leaves open the role of ER continuity in axons.

What The NIH Cut To Indirect Cost Payments Could Cost Red States The Trump administration’s decision to cap how much NIH will pay for indirect costs on university research grants would cost 10 red states more than $1 billion.

I think this is what you were looking for.. even a link to a google sheet with raw data for all states.

Our negotiated rate at LSU is 50% (non-medical school in a red state). I think that’s probably standard in most red states too, so 15% is a drastic cut across the board.

Increased expression of the small lysosomal gene SVIP in the Drosophila gut suppresses pathophysiological features associated with a high-fat diet Summary: Increasing lysosome activity in the fly midgut offsets negative effects of an obesogenic high-fat diet.

Some good news amidst all the chaos…New paper published in Biology Open! This work was initiated by two undergraduates (Brennan Mercola and Tatiana Villalobos) and completed by graduate students Jocelyn Wood and Ankita Basu!
@biologyopen.bsky.social @lsuscience.bsky.social @lsuresearch.bsky.social

Light-activated binding of a protein to tubular lysosomes:

Are you a graduating undergrad looking for research experience?

Come to @lsu.bsky.social and join @lsulagniappe.bsky.social
Louisiana Graduate Network in Applied Evolution ("LAGNiAppE": a 1-yr research training program for recent college graduates)

Deadline 3/16/25

www.lsu.edu/science/bios...

Kim Lab at UC Irvine Visit the post for more.

Hello Bluesky friends! I am a #newPI starting at UC Irvine in April, interested in gene regulation and functional genomics in stem cell models of development (esp neural crest). We are hiring at all levels – please reach out/spread the word! sskimlab.org

A new study finds ants best humans at tests of collective intelligence.

Learn more: scim.ag/4h2K0ID