[1/n] Our preprint-in-progress on RNA regionalization in Stentor is no longer in progress! Now @pnas.org 🥳 Turns out a single cell isn't a homogenous soup… it has molecular geography, including things like regionalized transcription factors. Think bicoid, but in a ciliate.

Genome-wide analysis of mRNA regionalization in a giant single cell | PNAS

The molecular mechanisms that produce cell structure are poorly understood. The giant ciliate Stentor coeruleus is a unicellular model organism who...

pnas.org

paper revision cram session with my bestie @wallaceucsf.bsky.social at one of the most beautiful places in the world I'm happy to talk about Stentor from anywhere, but why not Taco Bell on the beach?! 🔬 🌮🏖️

How can a single cell learn without a brain? We explore this in my paper with @wallaceucsf.bsky.social! We discovered that single cells may learn using molecules similar to those that animal brains use to learn, like CaMKII. Cells can also propagate memory states to their progeny!

We discovered a new species! Our paper on Stentor stipatus is now published @wallaceucsf.bsky.social @aralbright.bsky.social

maybe it isn’t a coveted Nobel parking spot, but at least I get to feel special when I go to the dentist who I happen to share a last name with 🦷🪥

Our work on Naegleria Myosin 2 is out! Naegleria encodes 3 Myo2s which contract its actin network—the first evidence of contractile Myo2 outside of Amorphea. Myo2 is actually widespread in Naegleria's relatives and correlates with fast cell crawling. Read more: www.cell.com/current-biol...

Myosin 2 drives actin contractility in fast-crawling species outside of the amorphean lineage

Myosin 2-dependent actin contractility—the force that powers cell division and migration in animals, fungi, and other Amorphea—had been previously unknown outside this single eukaryotic group. Guest e...

cell.com

This kind of inconsistency is often used to lift up a few women without helping all, maintaining misogyny. How many other women, and non-white people, could have had a similar effect given the chance or opportunity? We will never know.

See this? This = implanting mouse embryo. Usually this happens inside its mother and is invisible to us, but we can actually watch implantation ex vivo with the hope of understanding why implantation goes awry in embryos of older women. A 🧵...

when you and your friend @dnamystrom.bsky.social both win awards from @ascbiology.bsky.social MBoC you celebrate with hot pot and nails that match your shirt 😍💅

Sharing stories matters. If you’ve faced grant terminations, funding delays, loss of research jobs, etc., your voice is needed. Help show the real impact of NIH funding interference - tell your story so we don’t lose innovation, cures, and hope for the future. www.27unihted.org/biohealthbeats

I am so grateful to have the opportunity to work with Vincent and @wallaceucsf.bsky.social in the first place, but I am so happy that Vincent and I were awarded Paper of the Year at MBoC 🤩 www.ascb.org/society-news...

Here is a word cloud of the words that were missing from the noncompetitive renewal awards but had been present in the parent award. 3/4

What could be more exciting than watching Euplotes scurry around under the microscope? How about adding some raptorial predation by supergiant cannibal cells? www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... Video by Vittorio Boscaro. 1/n

Listed are some of the many NIH research training programs that were terminated! Together, these programs supported thousands of trainees, whose careers are now in limbo. Such a great loss for discovery and innovation. We must protect our next generation of scientists! #HandsOffNIH #ProtectScience

27 UNIHTED@27unihted.bsky.social · 12mo ago

We LOVE our trainees ! From @nihvigils.bsky.social today ❤️❤️

As one can imagine, I have some thoughts. Here’s a thread no one asked for: 1. SCIENCE IN THE US IS POLITICAL. No matter how much you want to ignore that fact, it is supported by taxpayer dollars and is therefore, political by nature. 2. BUT it has had bipartisan support for decades, which…

The Atlantic@theatlantic.com · 12mo ago

For some scientists fighting partisan attacks, the goal is to defend their work from political interference. But in retaliating, @katherinejwu.com reports, they also run the risk of advancing the narrative that they want to fight.

I have certainly lost a lot of hope in this process, but it is nice to see some people are still advocating for us. Thanks @jeremymberg.bsky.social

Jeremy Berg@jeremymberg.bsky.social · 12mo ago

I just sent this email to Director Bhattacharya and am sending him a hard copy by registered mail. 1/14

I am one of these faces. I certainly do feel like my life has been turned upside down multiple times this year, but I will always love my #NIHMOSAIC family and I am so glad we have people like @jeremymberg.bsky.social fighting for us ❤️

Jeremy Berg@jeremymberg.bsky.social · 12mo ago

10/14

Throughout this whole saga, I’ve felt the collective agony of being in constant contact with other MOSAIC scholars facing the same shitty fate. I don’t want to downplay the deep solidarity/support, but what I feel most acutely is the wave of grief crashing over hundreds of early-career scientists.

Really important article in the NY Times today about cuts to NIH diversity grants, featuring a profile of Ashley Albright @aralbright.bsky.social who is an amazing and super inspiring cell biology postdoc whose K99 was prematurely terminated.

Needhi Bhalla 💅🏽@needhibhalla.bsky.social · last yr.

“If you cut out these diversity measures, you're going to make science full of people that are very elite…Full of people who have grown up with a large amount of privilege, who were able to work in a lab in high school because their dad was a prof at Cornell.” 🧪 www.nytimes.com/2025/07/10/u...

Still waiting... www.science.org/content/arti...

NIH will reinstate 900 grants in response to court order

Projects touching on sensitive topics such as DEI had been illegally terminated, judge found

science.org

eartha mae@endoeartha.bsky.social · last yr.

"The NIH is restoring grants", well mine is on the list of 900, and let's see if I get my second year of funding on 7/1 when it's supposed to start. Until then, I don't believe the state.

Read preprints. Cite preprints. Email people and tell them you loved their preprint. Email people you hated their preprint. Embrace preprints, preprints are good.

I’ll say that yesterday wasn’t necessarily the happiest birthday I’ve ever had, but I love the solidarity from my friends and @uaw4811.bsky.social Thank you UAW and thank you to the person that captured this photo of my sign at the rally ❤️

To say I’m devastated to lose what I’ve worked SO hard for is an understatement, but I am trying to remind myself of how grateful I am for the community I got from it. ❤️ you ASCB and friends

American Society for Cell Biology@ascbiology.bsky.social · last yr.

The termination of the NIH MOSAIC program is a critical loss. As one of the 5 societies supporting MOSAIC scholars, ASCB remains dedicated to supporting early-career scientists & broadening the biomedical workforce. We'll continue our mentorship & development efforts through the end of the grant.

I have heard the final goal for overall cuts (external and internal) is higher than this. What are we doing to prepare? It’s clear that most places are not about fighting back, so I hope you have a plan to protect your people and the research that you’ve indicated is critical your mission.

Usha Lee McFarling@usha.bsky.social · last yr.

More NIH cuts. It never stops. By @mmolteni.bsky.social www.statnews.com/2025/04/03/n...

I'm ready to stand up for science and make jokes at @mbeisen.bsky.social's expense at the same time with these buttons 😈

“You can’t spell felon without Elon” - @aralbright.bsky.social

If anyone tells you to "just focus on your science" right now, tell them to fuck off. Our careers and livelihoods are at risk. This is not a drill.

Morgan Carter@morgancarterphd.bsky.social · last yr.

My first NIH proposal was supposed to be scored at a study section yesterday. But that didn't happen. And I'm left wondering how to "just keep doing science" as the entire rulebook gets thrown out and I run out of money this summer. #NewPI

The expiration date for the MOSAIC program was updated to today 😞: www.grants.gov/search-resul...