Bushmanlab
@bushmanlab.bsky.social
Microbiology lab at UPenn, focusing on host microbe interactions in heath and disease. Posts are in personal capacity. Reposts are not endorsements.
Congrats to Ceylan Tanes, Shelley Buffenstein and the team on their fascinating study of the naked mole rat microbiome (PMID: 42012979). No change in the mole rat bacterial microbiome over decades. Notable differences associated with social structure and copraphagy.
Lying from the White House Podium is now a family tradition.
“Vaccinated” by Paul Offit is a brilliant account of where vaccines come from and why they work. Read the book, reach out and spread the word!
“Science Under Siege” is a jaw-dropping account of corrupt profiteering by anti-vaxxers and climate change denialists. Read the book, reach out and spread the word!
Congrats to Philadelphia Fight on their 35th Anniversary! Great party with a moving speach by Malcolm Kenyatta. It is critical to deliver health care to the needy and push back on egregious funding cuts. Fight on Fighters!!
Congrats to Alex McFarland, Friederike Herbst and the team on their preprint on novel methods for tracking off-target base editing. A much needed tool!
We are very fortunate to have Nicola Segata presenting a seminar Friday August 29, 2025. Please join us!
Check out new art at The SPACE gallery, featuring photographs of layered weathering graffiti. All proceeds to the artist are donated to Philabundance, to address food insecurity in our area. www.thespacephiladelphia.com/online-store...
The SPACE Art Gallery — Online Store Frederic Bushman - Urban Collaboration
thespacephiladelphia.com
In case you were wondering why research is important: check out the song from Mags McCarthy and Bruce Levine on saving lives with novel cancer therapy: www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkOr...
Mags McCarthy-Ring That Bell co-written by scientist Dr. Bruce Levine and Mags McCarthy
YouTube video by Mags McCarthy
youtube.com
Thanks so much to Bruce Walker for the moving talk on HIV immunology and initiatives to mitigate AIDS in Africa. It is heartbreaking that federal cuts to PEPFAR over the next four years are projected to lead to 4 million additional deaths and 6 million additional infections (UNAIDS).
Congrats to Marie Seleme, Aradhana Kasimsetty and the team on their report of effective methods for increasing expression from AAV vectors by blocking SUMOylation. Effective boosting by treatment with an inhibitor presently in use in humans! (PMID: 40263936)
The recent Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections 2025 was a moving tribute to the importance of the HIV research field and efforts to eradicate HIV globally. Presentations are now up online. It was a great honor to deliver the Fields Lecture! www.croiwebcasts.org/console/play...
The misinformation from RFK Jr. around measles is shocking. Check out Rachel Maddow’s report. Vaccination beats magical thinking. www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJQU...
'How is it possible that you have this job?': RFK Jr.'s incompetence becomes too glaring to overlook
YouTube video by MSNBC
youtube.com
Congrats to Carter Merenstein on completion of his PhD thesis! A blizzard of impressive first author papers on the human microbiome in health and disease. Well done!! Examples: PMID: 37217829, PMID: 36195943, PMID: 34399607
Fascinating paper from Lev Litichevskiy et al. on the microbiome in a very large cohort of diversity outbred mice. Exciting new insights into mechanisms linking the microbiome to diet, health and aging. PMID: 40164832
PLoS Pathogens just published on Virolithopanspermia, the idea that viruses may move through space inside rocks. Maybe Earth is spewing viruses into space, and going the other way, maybe viral particles would be a good target to evaluate for signs of life in extraplanetary rocks! PMID: 40100845
The projected cuts to PEPFAR and USAID will result in thousands of aviodable deaths world-wide. The US has led the world in helping the vulnerable under both Republican and Democratic leadership. Please write your elected leaders to support PEPFAR and USAID. 5CALLS.org makes it easy.
Terminating PEPFAR and USAID will lead to the avoidable deaths of thousands of people from HIV/AIDS. Add your voice to the protests! The photo shows a moving public event yesterday in San Francisco.
After >34,000 patients treated, CART therapy has a terrific record. We now have two examples of vector integration in tumor suppressor genes associated with T cell malignancies. PMID: 39908432; PMID: 39779930. Nevertheless, the overall safety record remains impressive.
Big congrats to Andrew Marques, Erick Gagne, and the team for their exciting PLoS Path paper on SARS-CoV-2 in deer in PA. At least 12 jumps from humans into deer! PMID: 39854608
Big congratulations to Julie Jadlowsky, Elizabeth Hexner, Joe Fraietta and the (huge) team on their recent Nature Medicine paper on safety of CART therapy. No detectable transformation due to vector integration in 783 patients. PMID: 39833408
Check out the updated booklet “Improving Your Scientific Writing”. The latest edition contains guidance on interacting with AI and use of respectful “person-first” language. The PDF is free! www.med.upenn.edu/bushmanlab/a...
Thanks so much to Eric Freed for a great talk today in the Penn Microbiology Seminar Series on HIV maturation and therapeutics. Beautiful studies using “forced evolution” of HIV to understand determinants of key pathways.
Excited to share updates to Microbiocode, the code repository for the PennCHOP Microbiome program. Numerous well curated software packages to enable Microbiome research. Check it out! www.med.upenn.edu/microbiocode/
"A Triple Threat to Humanity: Climate Change, Pandemics, and Anti-Science" | My new article with Peter Hotez in #SkepticalInquirer: skepticalinquirer.org/2024/12/a-tr...
A Triple Threat to Humanity: Climate Change, Pandemics, and Anti-Science | Skeptical Inquirer
Over the past decade, many of us in the scientific community have come to appreciate the existential threat we face today—a threat unlike any we’ve witnesse ...
skepticalinquirer.org
.@EpgntxEinstein and Mark Ptashne fact-check the heavily criticsed New Yorker epigenetics piece https://whyevolutionistrue.wordpress.com/2016/05/06/researchers-criticize-the-mukherjee-piece-on-epigenetics-part-2/
Researchers criticize the Mukherjee piece on epigenetics:...
Trigger warning: Long science post! Yesterday I provided ...
whyevolutionistrue.wordpress.com
Excited to share updates to Microbiocode, the code repository for the PennCHOP Microbiome program. Numerous well curated software packages to enable Microbiome research. Check it out! www.med.upenn.edu/microbiocode/
