Super excited to share the final project of my postdoc career! We found that Borgs and mini-Borgs are widespread across diverse ecosystems. They don't just exist in Banfield Lab — they are everywhere! 🌎

bioRxiv Microbiology@biorxiv-microbiol.bsky.social · 3mo ago

The origin and evolution of archaeal Borg extrachromosomal elements https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.05.22.727314v1

🚨 New pre-print alert! Jumbo circular extrachromosomal elements of methane-oxidizing archaea with variably extensive metabolic and defense gene repertoires www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Ling-Dong Shi@lingdong-shi.bsky.social · 7mo ago

Excited to share our discovery of archaeal circular, jumbo extrachromosomal elements (up to ~535 kb genomes). One related, 409-kb genome is integrated in CH4-eating Methanoperedens, representing the largest integrative element in Archaea so far! Curious about what they are doing? See the paper

Huge thanks to The Scientist for this feature that really captured the spirit of our research! www.the-scientist.com/how-ocean-cu...

How Ocean Currents Shape the Marine Microbiome

Ocean microbes keep the planet healthy by cycling nutrients and capturing carbon, but a detailed and precise map of where they live had never been made—until now.

the-scientist.com

Many of you gave me so much encouragement when I posted here earlier about my 10 year long passion project to make a microbial map of the ocean. Pinch me because I can't believe I get to update you that today that research was published in the journal SCIENCE! @science.org

Thanks for covering our latest research @jcvi.org! So happy that our interactive microbial map of the ocean is out for the world to use!

J. Craig Venter Institute@jcvi.org · last yr.

Just published in @science.org: Deep ocean currents don’t just move water—they shape entire microbial ecosystems. Our new study reveals how overturning circulation structures microbial life across the South Pacific. www.jcvi.org/media-center... 🧪

I’m very excited to finally share the results of a passion project that has been on my mind for nearly a decade. You can find the pre-print below, but what follows is the saga of how this project came to be: