Wildlife trade drives animal-to-human pathogen transmission over 40 years

New in @science.org ‼️ In the most comprehensive study to date, we show that wildlife trade is driving animal-to-human zoonotic spillover at a planetary scale, with +1 spillover per host every 10 years. Live animal markets and illegal trade pose even greater risks. 🔓 www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

The Cell Type Knowledge Explorer allows anyone to explore the diversity and complexity of the mouse, human, and non-human primate brain.

Explore this free and open resource at: https://knowledge.brain-map.org/celltypes

#BICCN #studyBRAIN #BrainAwarenessWeek

You asked, we listened. Millions of AI-predicted protein complex structures are now available in the #AlphaFold Database.

This spans homodimers from 20 of the most studied species, including humans, as well as the World Health Organization’s priority pathogens list.

www.ebi.ac.uk/about/news/t...

Interoceptomimetics that stimulate gut–brain communication may counteract age-associated cognitive decline.

Celebrating 60 years of partnership between #IITMadras and #RWTHAachen in Chennai, with ABBt – Aachen Biology and Biotechnology proudly represented!🌏✨ Inspiring talks, meaningful exchanges - a great momentum for future joined research and collaborations!

Last week Julia, yesterday Jenice – two of my Aachen first‑generation PhD students smashed their thesis defenses. So proud of these awesome scientists and everything they’ve done, and super excited to see what they’ll get up to next. 🎓🚀

Environmental enrichment and physical exercise prevent stress-induced social avoidance and blood-brain barrier alterations via Fgf2 - Nature Communications Chronic stress disrupts the brain vasculature and contributes to mood disorders, but mechanisms of resilience remain unclear. Here, the authors show that enriched environments increase astrocytic Fgf2...

Out in its final form! Congratulations @sejpaton.bsky.social @jolusolo.bsky.social Alice Cadoret @adelinec.bsky.social @luisa-binder.bsky.social Béatrice Daigle @laura-mb.bsky.social Laurence Dion-Albert @katarzynaadudek.bsky.social @manonlebel5.bsky.social 🥂🧠🤓

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

The ‘silent’ brain cells that shape our behaviour, memory and health Astrocytes make up one-quarter of the brain, but researchers are only now realizing their true value.

Astrocytes make up one-quarter of the brain. Nature reports how researchers are learning their value in shaping our behaviour, memory, and health. #Neuroskyence 🧪

DNMT1 Coordinates PV Interneuron-Glia Coupling to Maintain Cortical Network Stability and Regulate Behavior Parvalbumin (PV) interneurons are central to cortical network stability and psychiatric vulnerability. Here, we identify DNA methyltransferase 1 (DNMT1) as a key epigenetic regulator linking PV intern...

Excited to share that our new preprint is out, showing PV function linked to glial states by DNMT1.
"DNMT1 Coordinates PV Interneuron–Glia Coupling to Maintain Cortical Network Stability and Regulate Behavior." www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

The emerging roles of long non-coding RNAs in the nervous system - Nature Reviews Neuroscience Long non-coding RNAs are abundant in the brain, where they are proposed to regulate numerous processes. In this Review, Mattick and colleagues describe our current understanding of their mechanisms of...

Nice review on lncRNAs in the brain by John Mattick and colleagues.

doi.org/10.1038/s415...

We’re hiring!
@RWTH is opening a W3 Full Professor position in Stress Resilience of Plants 🌿

Join a strong research environment with excellent facilities & great colleagues in the Faculty of Maths & Natural Sciences.

Please share & spread the word! www.rwth-aachen.de/go/id/crfe/?...

Normal aging increases white matter microglial reaction and perivascular macrophages in the microcebe primate - preLights Small primate shows big promise? Grey mouse lemur exhibits various age-related changes in microglia

Small primate shows big promise? Grey mouse lemur exhibits various age-related changes in microglia. #neuroscience

preLighter Isabel Paine covers a recent #preprint from Léo Dupuis and colleagues #CEA_Jacob_

#preLight ⬇️👀 prelights.biologists.com/highlights/n...

Honored to see our work featured among the Editors’ Highlights in the “From brain to behaviour” collection at @NatureComms!
🧩 DNMT1-mediated regulation of somatostatin-positive interneuron migration impacts cortical architecture and function
➡️ www.nature.com/ncomms/edito...

27 things we wish we’d known when we started our PhDs Nature’s survey of PhD candidates reveals hard-won wisdom on choosing supervisors, managing mental health and surviving academic culture.

Nature’s 2025 PhD survey asked doctoral candidates worldwide what advice they would give to someone considering a similar degree. Respondents gave advice on choosing supervisors, managing mental health, and surviving academic culture. #Academicsky 🧪

The NIH institute director firing last Friday is very bad.

I made a video explainer about why.

Stay for last post, w link to @science.org story from @jocelynkaiser.bsky.social

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🧪

Stop treating code like an afterthought: record, share and value it Scientists, research institutions, funders, libraries and publishers must all improve software practices.

The authors of a Comment article discuss how scientists, research institutions, funders, libraries and publishers must all improve software practices. They outline recommendations for an approach to handle software better. #Academicsky 🧪

Staff Scientist About EMBL-EBI EMBL’s European Bioinformatics Institute is a data powerhouse, utilised on a global scale to advance scientific discovery through bioinformatics and solutions to some of the world’s mos...

I am hiring! - looking for a Staff Scientist to co-run my research group with me. Staff Scientist is a senior professional scientist role at EMBL. Please forward to people you might know who could be interested! embl.wd103.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/EMBL/j...

Pipeline Olympics: continuable benchmarking of computational workflows for DNA methylation sequencing data against an experimental gold standard Abstract. DNA methylation is a widely studied epigenetic mark and a powerful biomarker of cell type, age, environmental exposures, and disease. Whole-genom

Pipeline Olympics for DNA methylation data

Check this out:
doi.org/10.1093/nar/...

Important study from @rn-toth.bsky.social & @pavlolutsik.bsky.social

Published @narjournal.bsky.social

#epigenetics
#methylation
#bioinformatics

AI models that lie, cheat and plot murder: how dangerous are LLMs really? Tests of large language models reveal that they can behave in deceptive and potentially harmful ways. What does this mean for the future?

Tests of large language models reveal that they can behave in deceptive and potentially harmful ways. Nature reports on what these results mean for the future of AI. 🧪

A cytosolic function of DNMT1 controls neuronal morphogenesis via microtubule regulation Proteins traditionally confined to a single cellular compartment are increasingly recognized to exert non-canonical functions in alternative domains. The DNA methyltransferase 1 (DNMT1), classically d...

What if the DNA methylation enzyme DNMT1 isn’t just about DNA?
Our new preprint reveals a cytosolic role for DNMT1 as a scaffold controlling neuronal morphology via DOCK7–Rac1/STMN1 signaling & mitochondrial trafficking.
A paradigm shift in DNMT1 biology! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Hell yes, Pittsburgh. Love Yinz. No Kings.

Portland Oregon: #NoKings one of the most anticipated protests does not disappoint!

🚀 The RWTH Center for Computational Life Sciences (CCLS) brings together AI, modeling & biology to decode life’s complexity.
Explore how data-driven research is shaping the future of health & sustainability

Watch the video 👉https://youtu.be/uZ9oFc8E4Us?si=VwDm5hfrWO6eUNMC

Today: Seminar on: Addressing Neurodegenerative Diseases in Support of SDG 3: Good Health and Wellbeing: Recent Advances in Alzheimer’s and Other Neurodegeneration Research cassyni.com/events/QuBDF...

I have been trying to get this published as an op-ed, but I am going to post it here since I think it is timely in light of the "consent" extortion events.

Deafening Quiet from the Scientific Establishment

jeremymberg.github.io/jeremyberg.g...

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Rückkehrprogramm Mit dem Rückkehrprogramm will das Ministerium für Kultur und Wissenschaft junge Wissenschaftlerinnen und Wissenschaftler zur Rückkehr nach Nordrhein-Westfalen bewegen.

🚨 NRW Return Programme 2026: Up to €1.25M over 5 years to establish your own independent research group in the Life Sciences (e.g. neurobiology).
👉 More details: www.mkw.nrw/themen/wisse...

A great opportunity – also here in Aachen! 🌍🧬

Several scientists have received letters from the NIH director disinviting them from their positions on advisory councils that make final decisions on grant funding, I'm told.

In July, I reported that NIH staff were told to select members aligned with Trump administration priorities.

No GPS in the head: How the brain flexibly switches between internal maps Since their discovery in 2004, the grid cells in the brain, which are important for our orientation, have been regarded as a kind of “GPS in the head.” However, scientists at the German Cancer Researc...

Since their discovery in 2004, the grid cells in the brain have been regarded as a kind of "GPS in the head." However, scientists at DKFZ and Heidelberg University Hospital have now shown that grid cells work much more flexibly than previously assumed. @nature.com Neuroscience
t1p.de/hpj1m

Equity in science is a beautiful lie — and I’m done pretending Science isn’t really moving towards equity; institutions are just perfecting the appearance of equity. We need to build an alternative system.

“Many scholars from historically overexploited countries (often referred to as the global south) expected that exposing the problem would trigger change. Four years on, I see it clearly: the scientific system was never designed for equity,” writes Dolors Armenteras in Nature. #Academicsky 🧪

The deadline is approaching! Check out that great opportunity!