Message in a bottle Stories on how The Company of Biologists supports the biological community

Throughout the year, our community has been sharing stories with us about how The Company of Biologists has supported you over time. Your stories were heartfelt, and we feel grateful and humbled that we have been able to be part of your journeys. bit.ly/4q7C0Ki

Check out this new preprint from the lab: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Lan Lou, @juliendevilliers.bsky.social, @karthikeyanc.bsky.social, @lahonderelab.bsky.social, the Tu Lab, and @joshuabenoit.bsky.social show that mosquito olfactory rhythms are synced with daily rhythms in how we smell.

We are excited to invite abstract submissions for talks and posters for the 2026 Ecology and Evolution of Infectious Diseases meeting at Virginia Tech (June 2-4). Abstract submissions should be made by February 3, 2026 for consideration, using the google form here: cpe.vt.edu/eeid2026/abs...

Check out this new paper put out by my collaborators and me! Led by Jose Maria Garcia-Carrasco and Javi Illan from WSU Entomology, we created models using tick, host, and environmental data to predict the distribution of different ticks and tick-borne diseases in North America. 🗺️🦌🦠🕷️

Check it out! 👇🏼

Effect of landscape heterogeneity on mosquito abundance and sugar feeding behavior Abstract. Mosquito-borne diseases pose a dire threat to humanity, claiming over 700,000 lives annually. At the local scale, the interplay between several e

Check out our newest paper on mosquito sugar feeding! 🦟🌸

This study was led M. VanderGiessen, F. Upshur & M. Cartadena-Guzman. A great collaboration with L. Escobar & @thevinaugerlab.bsky.social!

@globalchangebio.bsky.social @vtbiochemistry.bsky.social

academic.oup.com/jme/article-...

Agrawal lab logo. A fly in the UBC colors, with dots framing its body.

The Agrawal lab is moving! This January we will be setting up shop at #UBC in Vancouver, in the department of #Zoology! We are actively recruiting at all levels, especially masters and PhD students. These position are #funded! Please send anyone interested my way!

Ancient origin of an urban underground mosquito Understanding how life is adapting to urban environments represents an important challenge in evolutionary biology. In this work, we investigate a widely cited example of urban adaptation, Culex pipie...

How does life evolve to adapt to modern cities?

Out now in Science, my PhD work with @lindymcbr.bsky.social uncovers the ancient origin of the “London Underground mosquito” – one of the most iconic examples of urban adaptation.

🧵(1/n)
@science.org
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.ady4515

Discovery and description of a novel mode of oviposition in the mosquito genus Culex Scientific Reports - Discovery and description of a novel mode of oviposition in the mosquito genus Culex

I am back with great news. A project by a former undergrad, Liz Wynne, is now out in publication. In it she discovered a mosquito in the genus Culex that lays eggs from the air (like a Toxorhynchites) and exhibits skip oviposition (spreading eggs around). An amazing discovery! 🦟🍾
rdcu.be/eBkFM

Dengue virus susceptibility in Aedes aegypti linked to natural cytochrome P450 promoter variants Nature Communications - Genetic factors affecting Aedes aegypti susceptibility to dengue virus infection aren’t well studied. Here the authors show that a cytochrome P450 gene, typically...

🦟🦠 Check out our latest article in @natcomms.nature.com on the genetic basis of #dengue virus susceptibility in #mosquitoes! Collaborative work brillantly led by @merklinglab.bsky.social and @elodiecouderc.bsky.social @pasteur.fr and primarily supported by @agencerecherche.bsky.social rdcu.be/eBbg7

Our new paper is now out in @jexpbiol.bsky.social!!! We had all sorts of fun generating LED stimuli for mosquitos to investigate their visual preferences in the presence of different odors. The paper is open access and available here: journals.biologists.com/jeb/article/...

Recurrent connectivity supports carbon dioxide sensitivity in Aedes aegypti mosquitoes The mosquito Aedes aegypti′s human host-seeking behavior depends on the integration of multiple sensory cues. One of these cues, carbon dioxide (CO2), gates odorant and heat pathways and activates hos...

New preprint from @darbly.bsky.social‬ @briandepasquale.bsky.social‬ and my labs! If you love (or hate) mosquitoes, have a look:

doi.org/10.1101/2025...

We used TEM to describe the circuitry used for CO2 detection by mosquitoes. As usual with mosquitoes, nothing is as expected! 🌬️🦟

New NIH policy announced today:
NIH will only accept six new, renewal, resubmission, or revision applications from an individual Principal Investigator/Program Director or Multiple Principal Investigator for all council rounds in a calendar year.

grants.nih.gov/grants/guide...

🪳"Field evidence of #Trypanosoma cruzi infection, diverse host use and invasion of human dwellings by the #Chagas disease vector in #Florida, #USA" by Norman L Beatty et al. in #PlosNTDs
dx.plos.org/10.1371/jour...

Mosquito immune cells enhance dengue and Zika virus infection in Aedes aegypti Nature Communications - Infection of mosquito immune cells by dengue and Zika virus enhances the spread of virus infection to mosquito tissues, such as the salivary glands, to promote virus...

Excited to share our latest collaborative work with @entomososwin.bsky.social @brackneylab.bsky.social looking at the role of mosquito immune cells in virus infection. It turns out that these cells help disseminate virus infection, increasing the potential for virus transmission rdcu.be/euiZt

Such a pleasure to work with you on this Karthikeyan!! 🙂 Well done, this is truly amazing work!

🚨New preprint from the lab! Work led by our talented former postdoc @karthikeyanc.bsky.social where we show that incomplete larval control can make things worse by producing bigger and meaner adult mosquitoes that are more efficient vectors of Zika. See thread below www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

New work from Abdul Wahaab in my lab! With @zureishon.bsky.social and Hieu Tran Nguyen Minh, in collaboration with ‪@joshuabenoit.bsky.social!

Effect of prolonged dehydration stress on the vector competence of Aedes aegypti for Mayaro virus

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

📢 PhD Opportunity – Join Us at INTERTRYP (CIRAD)! 🌍🧪
🔬 Mathematical modeling of vector-borne diseases

📆 Apply before: July 15, 2025
📍 More info & apply: umr-intertryp.cirad.fr/en/news/2025...

Environmental heterogeneity across an urban gradient influences detritus and nutrients within artificial containers and their associated vector Aedes sp. larvae in San Juan, Puerto Rico Abstract. Detrital inputs from the surrounding terrestrial environment provide essential nutrients that sustain mosquito populations in aquatic containers.

New paper out by my talented former student Limarie (now Dr. Reyes-Torres) on how nutrient vary and may influence Aedes aegypti across urban-rural gradients in Puerto Rico. 🧪🦟🇵🇷
academic.oup.com/jme/advance-...

A graphic for the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA), showing a historical portrait of Marie Skłodowska-Curie overlaid with an image of four young researchers walking down a hallway. The European Commission logo is in the top left. Text reads: "Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions – €404.3 million to support postdoctoral researchers”

Choose Science. Choose Europe.

A new Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Postdoctoral Fellowships 2025 call is now open.

With a budget of €404.3 million, it will support around 1,650 researchers from Europe and beyond.

Apply by 10 September → europa.eu/!fBTMgF

As Chair of the Department of Global and Public Health @healthsciences.mcgill.ca, I am pleased to share two open junior faculty positions!

mcgill.wd3.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/mcgill...

mcgill.wd3.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/mcgill...

Exclusive: NSF faces radical shake-up as officials abolish its 37 divisions Changes seen as a response to presidential directives on what research to fund

Exclusive: National Science Foundation staff were told today that the agency’s 37 divisions—across all eight directorates—are being abolished and the number of programs within those divisions will be drastically reduced.

🌍🎨 Calling all artists! Submit your work to Ripples of Change, an immersive exhibit celebrating how communities are addressing global environmental challenges. Submissions due by May 23. All mediums welcome!

More Info: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

#GCCatVT #SteppinOutBlacksburg

Understanding the Burden of Agriculturally Significant Vector-Borne and Parasitic Diseases in Kansas | Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases Background: The state of Kansas (KS) has been called the “agricultural heartland” of the United States. Vector-borne and parasitic diseases (VBPD) have a major impact on the production of livestock, such as cattle, swine, goats and sheep, as well as crops, such as wheat, corn, and sorghum. The purpose of this review is to educate agricultural professionals in the state of KS about VBPD of current or potential concern and to inform the public about the challenges faced by the agricultural community. Methods: This review describes and discusses the endemic VBPD that currently impact agricultural production in KS and foreign VBPD of concern. In addition, we outline the major arthropod vectors of VBPD in KS, including ticks, mites, and various insects. In the context of this review, parasites are strictly limited to arthropod ectoparasites that negatively impact livestock production. Modern agricultural data for the state of KS were mostly sourced from the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service, and current KS VBPD data were mostly sourced from the KS State Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory. Conclusion: These VBPD have a large economic impact on the state and country, and we have concluded there is a need for updated estimates regarding the economic burden of VBPD in KS and throughout the United States to make better animal and crop health investment decisions.

New review article out. Fun collaboration with colleagues of the Vector-borne and Parasitic Disease Research collective at #K-State. 🦟

www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/...

EoI: Climate/landuse change and disease risk workshop 🦟😷🌳🕷️🦠

Explore how land-use policy impacts human, animal & plant health 🗓️ 23 May 2025, UKCEH Wallingford. Travel covered

➡️ Apply: forms.office.com/r/wFrnzFBPVC

Deadline 2 May. ECRs welcome!

Poster 1drv.ms/b/s!Asq7tlTR...

Figure from paper that shows tsetse blood-meal digestion (and symbiont functionality) under optimal temperature or heat stress

Interested in blood feeding, viviparity, disease vectors and climate change? Have a read of our recent review in Current Opinions in Insect Science on #tsetse as a unique system to explore how these factors interact, & what we can learn from field & lab studies. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Evaluation of the 2022 West Nile virus forecasting challenge, USA - Parasites & Vectors Background West Nile virus (WNV) is the most common cause of mosquito-borne disease in the continental USA, with an average of ~1200 severe, neuroinvasive cases reported annually from 2005 to 2021 (ra...

New paper! How well did the 2022 WNV forecasting challenge do? Ensembles are the best, and improving!

parasitesandvectors.biomedcentral.com/articles/10....

Of course! 🙂

Check out this review, which makes many new and interesting connections between human odor, skin biology, and evolution. 💯% of the insight provided comes from the independent literature sleuthing of first author @jlzung.bsky.social. I came along for the ride and learned some chemistry on the way!

✨🦟✨HOW DO MOSQUITOES HAVE SEX? ✨🦟✨

Join us for a wild journey into hidden female control, rapidly evolving stimulation devices, fierce species competition, and DEADLY MOSQUITOES!

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...