Fresh from peer review a new and improved version of @taoranfu.bsky.social’s paper out today in @asm.org mSystems
journals.asm.org/eprint/8NWNW...

Postdoctoral Associate MIT - Postdoctoral Associate - Cambridge MA 02139

‼️I'm looking for a postdoc‼️ Come join effort in using metagenomes to quantify microbial catabolic potential and carbon substrate availability at the ecosystem level. We seek to understand evolutionary forces shaping the carbon cycle. Part of ccomp-stc.org

careers.peopleclick.com/careerscp/cl...

New preprint! Deacon is a versatile tool for filtering FASTA/FASTQ files and streams at hundreds of megabases per second using minimizers, built with rapid metagenomic host depletion in mind, but equally useful for search.
github.com/bede/deacon

GitHub - RILAB/statements: Successful Job Applications and Grants Successful Job Applications and Grants. Contribute to RILAB/statements development by creating an account on GitHub.

New additions in fellowships, industry, and academic jobs! If you've recently gotten a fellowship or a job (research, industry, PUI) please consider contributing your application materials. It's a helpful resource for those on the job market! github.com/RILAB/statem...

Student-led experimental evolution reveals novel biofilm regulatory networks underlying adaptations to multiple niches We established a research-education partnership known as EvolvingSTEM that provides secondary school students the opportunity to conduct authentic research experiments centered on microbial evolution....

Sharing the most significant work from my group, led by the @evolvingstem.bsky.social team.

Come for the discoveries of how Pseudomonas adapts in biofilms, stay for the story of how they were discovered by thousands of young scientists in grades 9-12. 🧪🧫🧬🧵

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

Student-led experimental evolution reveals novel biofilm regulatory networks underlying adaptations to multiple niches www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.06....

We have a new 3-year postdoc position in our group at the @hifmb.de to study plasmids and plasmids systems of the marine environment to survey their utility in microbial responses to environmental change.

Please see the official job ad here, and spread the word:

jobs.awi.de/Vacancies/20...

The Wadsworth Center is expanding it's research focus on #virology /vector-borne diseases!
www.asmcareerconnections.org/job/research-scientist-5-g-31/78488664/
This is a unicorn assistant prof equivalent position with 12-month hard money salary and no teaching commitments (!)
Reposts appreciated 🙏

Simons Graduate Fellowships in Ecology and Evolution The purpose of these awards is to provide support for students entering U.S.-based Ph.D. programs with a plan to perform research in ecology and evolution. While we will consider all projects in ecolo...

Check out this brand new fellowship from the Simon’s Foundation in Ecology and Evolution. Incoming grad students this year are eligible to apply. No citizenship restrictions. www.simonsfoundation.org/grant/simons...

This might be worth a read from @peterhotezmdphd.bsky.social in @plosbiology.org :

journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...

I got hit by some rather sudden and extreme financial hardship so if anyone is in need of remote wetlab contract research, strictly BSL1, do let me know. Currently scrambling for gigs.

Plant, Bacterial, Archaeal Non-model Bioeng
Custom Lab Hardware
Turn Key Genetic Design

Please repost for reach 💚

Filamentous cheater phages drive bacterial and phage populations to lower fitness Many bacteria carry phage genome(s) in their chromosome (i.e., prophage), and this intertwines the fitness of the bacterium and the phage. Most Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains carry filamentous phages ...

Our new preprint by @nanamikubota.bsky.social shows that P. aeruginosa, and likely many other bacteria carrying filamentous prophages (like V. parahaemolyticus), risk being exploited by these phages in a runaway process that reduces fitness of both host and virus. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... 🧵

Filamentous cheater phages drive bacterial and phage populations to lower fitness Many bacteria carry phage genome(s) in their chromosome (i.e., prophage), and this intertwines the fitness of the bacterium and the phage. Most Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains carry filamentous phages ...

Preprint out! Bacteria w/ hyper-replicative filamentous phage lead to overnight emergence of cheater phages. Bacteria w/ both phages can outcompete wildtype, then rapidly lose phage via a phage Tragedy of the Commons
@shellyscrib.bsky.social @vscooper.micropopbio.org www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Resident Alien on Netflix (sci-fi comedy)

Excited to see a project I started back in high school finally published! Relative changes in precipitation drive global patterns of bird beta diversity. Huge thanks to Pedro, Mario, and José—couldn't have done it without you!

ATTN: Pennsylvania science folks! @laurenkreeger.bsky.social and I visited Senator McCormick (PA) yesterday and spoke to him about NIH cuts. He *did not know* there were active cuts to grants in part because he does not currently have a health care or science legislative aide to brief him. (1/2)

Unexpected Richness of the Bacterial Small RNA World I stumbled onto a small RNA (sRNA) induced by oxidative stress when I did the “wrong” northern blot experiment as a second-year graduate student. I wa…

Susan Gottesman and Gisela Storz, pioneers in regulatory RNA research, reflect on their personal scientific journeys and the evolution of their groundbreaking group research in two compelling articles.

Gigi:
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Susan:
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

#RNA

Genome duplication in a long-term multicellularity evolution experiment - Nature In the Multicellularity Long Term Evolution Experiment, diploid yeast evolve to be tetraploid under selection for larger multicellular size, revealing how whole-genome duplication can arise due to its...

1/46 Hey folks, we have a new paper out on the MuLTEE. Strap in and I’ll tell you the story of how this “little paper on polyploidy” turned into the most data rich paper our lab has produced, largely thanks to the leadership and work ethic of @kaitong25.bsky.social.

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

Donald Trump is lying to you.

Pittsburgh biomedical research funding hit hard by Trump policies, warns former NIH director Berg explained that President Donald Trump's first tactic to halt biomedical research came with a general federal funding freeze, which a judge later reversed. His second tactic: Not updating the Fede...

New post with the WTAE Pittsburgh news story

www.wtae.com/article/pitt...

Indiana’s health and economy depends on U.S.-funded science When people ask me what city I’m from, I say I’m not from a city – I’m from a county!

Anne Carpenter writes about the science cuts: “this is like suddenly announcing that you will pay for doctors and nurses but not the hospital building they work in” for the LaPorte Herald Dispatch in IN 🌽
🧪🧬🔬🏠
@drannecarpenter.bsky.social
www.lpheralddispatch.com/opinion/gues...

I wrote a short letter to the editor of The Missoulian, my hometown newspaper in Montana, about the importance of science funding. I'm posting here in a thread, in case others want a template for writing home to their red state papers.

Disclaimer: these are my own personal opinions/views.

🧵 1/9

A call for healing and unity | mBio Executive orders signed since 20 January 2025 aim to end programs intended to diversify the scientific workforce via equitable and inclusive practices and processes; cut federal funding for research and innovation; and stifle scientific communications. They represent a stunning reversal of policies that have been the bedrock of the U.S. scientific research enterprise and its leadership in the world, and therefore not surprisingly they have been met with a number of legal challenges. Some of the executive orders have been blocked by temporary restraining orders, and others are pending judicial review.

My editorial simultaneously published in all of @asm.org's journals addresses the ongoing effort by the administration to halt efforts to diversify science. It should be obvious from ASM Journals' efforts over the years, but we aren't fans journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...

It's time to stand up and speak out.

Call (202) 224-3121 and tell your representatives to not let Donald Trump and his administration take away your services.

Poster of "National Spending Blackout" - Friday Feb 28. "No shopping, no gas, no big box stores, no Amazon"

"economic blackout - friday, february 28, 2025. 12am - 11:59pm (in your timezones). our first official act: "turn it off". for one day we really show them who has the power. what not to do: do not make purchases. do not shop online or in store. no amazon. no walmart. no best buy. no mcdonald's. do not spend money on: fast food. gas. major retailers. do not use credit or debit cards for non essential spending. what you can do if necessary: only buy essentials of absolutely necessary items such as food, medicine, emergency supplies. if you must spend, ONLY support small, local businesses. spread the message: talk about it. post about it. document your actions that day! why this matters: corporations and banks only care avour their bottom line. if we disrupt the economy for just ONE day, it sends a powerful message. if they don't listen we make the next blackout longer. this is our first action. our numbers are powerful. this is how we make history. share this message."

Reminder that this starts tomorrow! #EconomicBlackout

“It would have a similar effect to the closing of a steel mill,” said Vaughn Cooper, a professor of microbiology. “This is not a steel town anymore; it’s a biomedical research town, and those cuts would affect Pittsburgh perhaps more than any other city in the country.”

Project 2025 is gutting medical funding that helped Russell Vought's own kid Its architect's daughter has cystic fibrosis—and benefits from a "miracle drug" backed by an agency he's attacking.

Russell Vought & his ex-wife Mary have a daughter with cystic fibrosis, who is being treated with elexacaftor/tezacaftor/ivacaftor, drugs developed with the support of the National Institutes of Health. Now Russ & Mary are trying to destroy the agency. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

2025 Study section tracking

Wondering if your study section cancelled? I update this sheet daily. As of today, 56/124 study sections that should have met since Jan 2, 2025 have "not met as scheduled." docs.google.com/spreadsheets...

Trump Costs America Highlighting the real people whose lives have been ruined, the good American jobs that are being destroyed, and the important public goods being lost.

What did we lose when we lost more than 22,000 (so far) fired government workers? This website connects numbers to people -- and to the important work they did. trumpcostsamerica.com

🚨PA colleagues:

"Senator Fetterman wants to hear from you about how the federal funding freeze is affecting Pennsylvania."

"If your project has been impacted, please fill out our constituent impact form:" forms.office.com/g/mFv2JAPxpC

Get out your Other Support and share that info!