🚨Likely my last reminder ⚠️ 1 week left to register for VEGA26: Nov 18-19 in Berkeley CA, two days of talks and discussions around viral ecology, genomics, evolution, and applications. Check jgi.doe.gov/work-with-us... for the provisional agenda, and cvent.me/e0RnA0 to register (before Nov. 4th) !

VEGA Symposium | Joint Genome Institute

Berkeley, CA

jgi.doe.gov

That's the crux. If a human who's an expert in the topic hasn't read the manuscript, it cannot be called peer review.

Rick And Morty This Guy Gets It

Alt: Rick And Morty This Guy Gets It

static.klipy.com

Are you really suggesting that reviewers should not read articles under consideration? Are authors happy with that?

Spending money on AI but not compensating reviewers is a choice.

This just makes me so sad. While yes there's a middle ground where we can accelerate some things efficiently with AI, seeing the replacement of mind, expertise, and a foundational essence of doing science (peer review) is just so saddening. Not to mention running someone's unpubbed work through AI.

Springer Nature@springernature.com · 2d ago

How can AI support researchers in peer review? Springer Nature and Google DeepMind are partnering to co-design an AI peer review assistant that helps reviewers navigate manuscripts and focus on where their scientific judgement matters most. Learn more: spklr.io/63320EVgT8

Fascinating. _Nature_ is the very journal that published Google Deep Mind's AlphaFold3 paper, in violation of its own editorial standards and the field's best practices for release of code and weights. 🤔 Here's a letter about that, signed by over a thousand scientists.

Springer Nature@springernature.com · 2d ago

How can AI support researchers in peer review? Springer Nature and Google DeepMind are partnering to co-design an AI peer review assistant that helps reviewers navigate manuscripts and focus on where their scientific judgement matters most. Learn more: spklr.io/63320EVgT8

I voted no on Prop 38. CA universities have a perfectly functioning immunobiology research community; we don’t need to concentrate it in one place.

Happy213@happy213.bsky.social · 6d ago

No on Prop 38! 🚫 Prop 38 was written and primarily funded by billionaire Gary K Michelson, who will also benefit immensely if Prop 38 passes. ⚠️🚩💰💸 #California #Resist Read here 👇👇 calmatters.org/politics/ele...

Our brains really are cooked now aren't they

David Gura@davidgura.bsky.social · 3d ago

cool, cool

I need to start a collection of "hilarious passive aggressive response to reviewer comments" blog or something.

Have metagenomic data? Want to know the chromosomal sex of the host? Check out SCiMS, a new tool developed by Hanh Tran in our lab, now out in @microbiomej.bsky.social! Paper: link.springer.com/article/10.1... Tool: github.com/davenport-la...

That ain't good

Alejandro Montenegro@aemonten.bsky.social · 6d ago

QIAGEN has announced an agreement to be acquired by EQT Private Equity through an all-cash public takeover offer at €46.50 per share. lnkd.in/p/dgtptXTb

I'm usually 100% for new science funding but a definite NO on Prop 38. There are plenty of currently functioning Immunology labs at CA universities and biotechs that should be able to compete for state money, not just a billionaire's institute with no currently employed scientists.

Happy213@happy213.bsky.social · 6d ago

No on Prop 38! 🚫 Prop 38 was written and primarily funded by billionaire Gary K Michelson, who will also benefit immensely if Prop 38 passes. ⚠️🚩💰💸 #California #Resist Read here 👇👇 calmatters.org/politics/ele...

Excited to share our preprint! “Genome-scale base editing reveals the functional effects of variants in yeast” Using high-throughput base editing, we measured the growth effects of 308,461 variants, identifying 18,009 with significant effects. #Genomics #CRISPR 1/8 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Genome-scale base editing reveals the functional effects of variants in yeast

Genome sequencing has catalogued vast genetic diversity, but the functional consequences of most variants remain unknown. Here, we used genome-scale CRISPR base editing to measure the growth effects o...

biorxiv.org

I'm an NIH scientist, I'm not anonymous, and RFK Jr is destroying NIH.

Mark Histed@markhisted.org · last wk.

This week, NIH advisors rebuked RFK for harming #NIH and US science. Sheryl Gay Stolberg reported it. Then RFK posted calling her sources anonymous or corrupt. I'll say this hoping it does good: I'm an NIH scientist, I'm not anonymous, and RFK Jr is destroying NIH. More in attachment:

Really coming to terms with what it means to be an educator has been completely upended gradually over years but exponentially in the past year. Really trying to focus on the impacts we still may have but it's incredibly hard to not be demoralized and just want to give up.

While you're here...we're also hiring a marine biologist, but the job ad isn't quite posted yet

Casey terHorst@ecoevolab.bsky.social · last wk.

We're hiring a bird or mammal biologist (TT faculty position). Experience with collections is a huge plus. I'm not on the search committee, but happy to answer any questions. Come join us in Los Angeles! careers.pageuppeople.com/873/nr/en-us...

🚨 Our department is hiring! Looking to fill an endowed position in genetics/genomics to join us in beautiful Oregon. Search is at the Associate/Full Professor level. See below for details and share with your colleagues!

Our Biochem Dept is hiring! Come join us! Please Repost! 👍

Thinking about my day, the highlight was when I had time to stop in my lab and brainstorm sample prep approaches with my lab on the magnetic whiteboard on the back of my lab's entry door.

Planning to bike around handing out sour candy on Halloween on my Citric Acid Cycle 🍬🚲

Check out this very nice piece on our article by Viviane Callier: cen.acs.org/biological-c...

This arbiter protein keeps the balance between X and Y chromosomes

Protamine’s role in a sex-selection arms race may be why it evolves so quickly

cen.acs.org

Harmit Singh Malik@harmitmalik.bsky.social · 3w ago

Most animal species pack sperm DNA with protamines instead of histones. Protamines are essential for male fertility. They are among the fastest-evolving genes in animals. That makes little sense. We think we know why, in a new paper led by @ching-hochang.bsky.social. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Cool story and a great thread!! The GpsB story just keeps getting cooler!

Prahathees Eswara@eswaralab.bsky.social · 2w ago

I am so proud of this work spearheaded by @lilymcknight.bsky.social! In this ~4-year effort, we reveal that the presence of GpsB is crucial for cell wall stress response and antibiotic resistance (via Stk/PknB and VraSR) in S. aureus. See the thread below for more info! #MicroSky #AMR #ProudPI

It takes so little effort to clock when someone's done a good job on something, and everyone loves receiving a note/acknowledgement that their efforts are recognized.

I think we, as scientists, should start signing off our emails better than "Thanks" or "Sincerely". I'm gonna start with a rotation of "In enantiomeric excess," "Catalytically inert," and "In Silico" (when sent from my phone). I'll add more if there are any good suggestions.

Editing/reviewing manuscripts is indeed a lot of work, but reading a thoughtful and thorough Response to Reviewers just brings me so much joy. This is why we science. Kudos to these authors.

Most animal species pack sperm DNA with protamines instead of histones. Protamines are essential for male fertility. They are among the fastest-evolving genes in animals. That makes little sense. We think we know why, in a new paper led by @ching-hochang.bsky.social. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Rapid protamine evolution suppresses meiotic drive in Drosophila

Many animal species replace histones with protamines during spermatogenesis. Although essential for sperm function, protamines evolve rapidly for reasons that remain unknown. Using in vivo gene replac...

science.org

6 days to register a comment on NIH Request for Information (RFI) on Changing Reporting Outcomes for Peer Review. They are proposing to hide the impact scores and percentiles. 🤔 funding decisions will not be transparent👎🏼. Register a comment while you still can rfi.grants.nih.gov?s=6a2b1c22c3...

The goal of this rule change is to make grant review impact and percentile scores opaque, so that political interference with grant funding decisions by Trump apparatchiks is harder to detect or document. I submitted my comment in opposition last night. You should submit yours today.

Igor Brodsky@brodskyigorlab.bsky.social · 3w ago

6 days to register a comment on NIH Request for Information (RFI) on Changing Reporting Outcomes for Peer Review. They are proposing to hide the impact scores and percentiles. 🤔 funding decisions will not be transparent👎🏼. Register a comment while you still can rfi.grants.nih.gov?s=6a2b1c22c3...

Out today in @nature.com: our review on how single cells evolve into multicellular organisms. With Ozan Bozdag, @kaitong25.bsky.social, Peter Yunker, and @matthewherron.bsky.social. rdcu.be/9ZuiKow9twKa For an overview, check out the video below.

Beautifully made video overview! Definitely gonna check out the review, but highly recommend this video summary on the evolution of multicellularity 🤩

Will Ratcliff@wcratcliff.bsky.social · 3w ago

Out today in @nature.com: our review on how single cells evolve into multicellular organisms. With Ozan Bozdag, @kaitong25.bsky.social, Peter Yunker, and @matthewherron.bsky.social. rdcu.be/9ZuiKow9twKa For an overview, check out the video below.