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Asher Leeks

@asherleeks.bsky.social

We study social evolution in viruses. Assistant Professor @zoology.ubc.ca & @ubcbiodiversity.bsky.social asherleeks.com

68 Posts2992 Follower1300 Folgt
Asher Leeks@asherleeks.bsky.social · 3h ago

For those not able to make it to #socialviruses this year, Sam is live-tweeting all three days of talks, touching on all aspects of social evolution in viruses! #evosky #virosky 🧪 🦠 🔬

The Social Lives of Viruses conference poster
Sam Díaz-Muñoz (they / ella)@sociovirology.bsky.social · 10h ago

Hi Everyone! I will be broadcasting live from the Social Lives of Viruses 2026 conference @zoology.ubc.ca @ubcbiodiversity.bsky.social in beautiful Vancouver BC, organized by @asherleeks.bsky.social and myself with the support of Canadian Institutes of Health Research and @moorefound.bsky.social.

Asher Leeks@asherleeks.bsky.social · 4w ago

Congratulations to @spyroslytras.bsky.social on launching his lab at the Pasteur in Paris! Looks like there will be some exciting openings at this lab soon... 🧪 #evosky #virosky

Antigen Evolution & Design Lab@antigenevo.bsky.social · 4w ago

Inaugural post! We are a brand new lab @pasteur.fr studying how pathogen antigens evolve and how we can exploit these proteins' evolution to make better vaccines! Read a few words from the currently sole member of the lab @spyroslytras.bsky.social below! 😁 www.pasteur.fr/en/research-...

Antigen Evolution & Design Lab@antigenevo.bsky.social · 4w ago

Inaugural post! We are a brand new lab @pasteur.fr studying how pathogen antigens evolve and how we can exploit these proteins' evolution to make better vaccines! Read a few words from the currently sole member of the lab @spyroslytras.bsky.social below! 😁 www.pasteur.fr/en/research-...

Predicting viral evolution with AI

Spyros Lytras is one of four young scientists selected in 2025 to lead new research groups at the Institut Pasteur. He has headed the “Antigen Evolution & Design laboratory” 5-year Group (G5) since Ju...

pasteur.fr

Jeremy Yoder says no war@jbyoder.org · last mo.

It's as official as it can be: The Yoder Lab has been very lucky to receive NSF funding to develop our TARDIS method of modeling plants' flowering activity in varying environments. Watch for grad (MSci) opportunities in Fall 2027, and a postdoc position sooner than that 🌿 buff.ly/OHpbfB0

The Yoder Lab is building the TARDIS, with new support from NSF

Chaparral whitethorn, Ceanothus leucodermis, bearing flowers and fruits near the Red Box Picnic Area along the Angeles Crest Highway in early May, 2026. (Flickr, jby) Why do Joshua trees grow only …

lab.jbyoder.org

Rowan Green@rowancallumg.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Where are mutations most likely to happen in the genome? @mattjago.bsky.social has answers! This paper is also a masterclass in simple visualizations of complicated ideas. I really enjoyed getting deep into these results as a middle author 🧬

Matt Jago@mattjago.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Our work characterizing how mutational bias is influenced by the local sequence context beyond trinucleotides is out now @pnas.org! We also showed which motifs are most prone to mutations caused by strand misalignment, revealing several new hotspots! 🧬 www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Charles Mullon@charlesmullon.bsky.social · 3mo ago

1 week left to apply for scholarships ! If you are based at an institution in an ODA recipient country (e.g. Brazil, South Africa, India, Mexico; full list: tinyurl.com/5dv7vvs8), you can get all expenses covered to attend the summer school in Lausanne for a week.

Charles Mullon@charlesmullon.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Applications now open for the UNIL Summer School on Modelling for Evolutionary Biology (31 Aug–5 Sep 2026, Lausanne)! For PhD & postdocs interested in formal approaches to evolutionary ecology (incl. social evo, life-history, species interactions). Scholarships available, Pls RP! shorturl.at/fo1GA

Asher Leeks@asherleeks.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Want to join us for Social Viruses in Vancouver this summer? One week to go until we start looking at applications (May 7th). To apply: socialviruses.zoology.ubc.ca #socialviruses #evosky #lovevirology #virosky

Asher Leeks@asherleeks.bsky.social · 4mo ago

The Social Lives of Viruses is coming to Vancouver, Canada, from 4th-8th August 2026! This is a free meeting dedicated to all aspects of virus-virus interactions & evolution. To apply: socialviruses.zoology.ubc.ca @sociovirology.bsky.social #socialviruses #evosky #lovevirology #virosky

Shreyas Pai@theshreyaspai.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Thrilled to have my first PhD paper with @mmdesai.bsky.social out! @science.org Link: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... Thread below: #mevosky #evosky #evobio #popgen #evolsky #ecoevo #molevol

Sex decreases the pleiotropic costs of local adaptation by purging hitchhiking load

Understanding the evolutionary mechanisms that maintain sex despite its direct costs is a long-standing challenge. Previous work has shown that sexual recombination can accelerate adaptation, in part ...

science.org

Shreyas Pai@theshreyaspai.bsky.social · last yr.

Why is sex so common if it's so costly? Super excited to share our new preprint “Sex decreases the pleiotropic costs of local adaptation”, where we bring a new angle to this age-old evolutionary question. Co-led by Parris Humphrey, in Michael Desai's lab. Short thread here: (1/n)

Ruthvik Pallagatti@ruthvikpsi.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Apply now for the EEB Scholars Program offered by Princeton's Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. The EEB Scholars program equips aspiring academics in Ecology and Evolution with the tools they need to successfully apply to grad school programs. Applications open until May 15th!

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Jesse Shapiro@bjesseshapiro.bsky.social · 5mo ago

In the lab, antibiotics can make integrated viruses (prophages) pop out of bacterial genomes. In this (short!) preprint, we asked a simple question: how much does this happen outside the lab, in the human gut? TLDR: Not much overall, in specific bacterial species. 🧵 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Species-specific prophage induction by ciprofloxacin in human gut metagenomes

Antibiotics are known to trigger prophage induction in controlled laboratory settings, but it remains unclear whether this also occurs within microbiomes in nature. Current methods investigating the link between antibiotics and prophage induction within the human gut rely on in vitro culturing of human gut bacterial isolates. Using a metagenomic approach, we aimed to measure prophage induction and whether it is associated with antibiotic exposure. Across two independent human cohorts, we compared prophage to bacterial host read depth ratios (P:H) across known or measured antibiotic exposures. We found that induction is not broadly associated with antibiotic exposures at the level of the overall microbiome, but that ciprofloxacin increases P:H ratios in specific bacterial species. We documented heterogeneous trajectories of P:H ratios over the course of antibiotic exposure, sometimes increasing and remaining high, or returning to baseline. This study complements experimental models by providing in vivo evidence of induction in the human gut. Importance Bacteriophages are viruses that infect a bacterial host. The lytic and lysogenic cycles are the two classic outcomes of phage infection. In the lytic cycle, the phage immediately replicates and lyses its host to release new viral particles. In the lysogenic cycle, the phage, now called a prophage, integrates its genome into that of its host without killing it. Prophages can switch to the lytic cycle in a process called induction, in which the viral genome is replicated, the host cell is lysed, and viral particles are released. The most immediate consequence of induction is host cell death which can impact bacterial populations and communities. Since prophages are mobile genetic elements that can move between bacteria, they are also an important vehicle for horizontal gene transfer. While induction has been well studied in vitro , whether and how induction occurs within the complex microbial ecosystem in humans is less well characterized. Understanding prophage induction in vivo is therefore critical in corroborating in vitro observations. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest. NIH Common Fund, https://ror.org/001d55x84 Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council

biorxiv.org

Eduardo Rocha@epcrocha.bsky.social · 5mo ago

Fantastic collaboration w/ @dbikard.bsky.social @audeber.bsky.social @rayanchikhi.bsky.social labs led by @jmouradesousa.bsky.social : We assessed the rates of variation of anti-phage systems in P4-like satellites and P2 helper phages. Quick conclusion: Huge variation! We focus on 4 key questions/5

Jorge Moura de Sousa@jmouradesousa.bsky.social · 5mo ago

➡️ preprint from the lab! Bacteria have loads of antiviral defences in their mobile genetic elements (MGEs). So when MGEs move between bacteria, the defences move with them, generating a fast turnover of defences in bacteria. But what about the antiviral defence turnover in the MGEs themselves? 🤔 🧵👇

Charles Mullon@charlesmullon.bsky.social · 5mo ago

Many organisms, including humans, reshape their environments in ways that influence the conditions faced by future generations. We ask whether this can favour biological variation with @irisprigent.bsky.social in our new paper. Thanks to @dee-unil.bsky.social @snsf.ch www.pnas.org/doi/full/10....

PNAS

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), a peer reviewed journal of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) - an authoritative source of high-impact, original research that broadly spans...

pnas.org

Kayla King, Ph.D.@kayla-king.bsky.social · 5mo ago

A nice collaboration from post-docs in my lab 😊 onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.... @jingdi.bsky.social @luismsilva.bsky.social @paradyseb.bsky.social @molecularecolup.bsky.social

Integrating the Microbiome Into Infection Ecology and Evolution in Wild Animals

Parasites are a ubiquitous force in nature threatening wildlife populations and ecosystems. Interactions between hosts and their parasites are impacted by host-associated microbiomes, which are essen...

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Carl T. Bergstrom@carlbergstrom.com · 5mo ago

1. Kevin Gross and I have a new paper out today PLOS Biology. We used economic models based around screening games and the market for unpaid labor to highlight a meltdown cycle threatening peer review.

Screening, sorting, and the feedback cycles that imperil peer review

The process of peer review is vital to contemporary science, but is also under enormous strain. This study uses mathematical models to dissect the threats to the long-term viability of peer review, su...

journals.plos.org

Santa Fe Institute @sfiscience.bsky.social · 6mo ago

SFI’s Santiago Elena has been elected a fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology. He joins 62 fellows in the 2026 class. His work explores how RNA viruses adapt to hosts and manipulate cellular resources. Since joining SFI in 2008, he has organized several working groups on virus evolution.

SFI External Professor Santiago Elena elected to the American Academy of Microbiology

SFI External Professor Santiago Elena has been elected as a fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology, joining 62 other fellows in the class of 2026, each selected for their contributions in the ...

santafe.edu

Jesse Shapiro@bjesseshapiro.bsky.social · 6mo ago

Now out & nicely formatted in @isme-microbes.bsky.social A big analysis of ocean genomes & metagenomes co-led by former postdocs, now PIs, @gmdouglas.bsky.social & @cyanophage.bsky.social along with co-PIs @lbobay.bsky.social & Samuel Chaffron. A few highlights... 🧵 (1/n) doi.org/10.1093/isme...

Co-occurrence is associated with horizontal gene transfer across marine bacteria independent of phylogeny

Abstract. Understanding the drivers and consequences of horizontal gene transfer (HGT) is a key goal of microbial evolution research. Although co-occurring

doi.org

Paul Turner Lab@paulturnerlab.bsky.social · 6mo ago

How does population density affect evolutionary trajectory? Microbes construct their own niche which in turn reshapes their evolution. Preprint drop from grad student @noahhoupt.bsky.social whose evolution experiments featured blue/white colonies, 1000 generations, a lab move, and much more!

Noah Houpt@noahhoupt.bsky.social · 6mo ago

Interested in eco-evolutionary feedbacks? Microbial experimental evolution? Pleiotropy? Filamentous phages?? Check out our latest preprint, now up on BioRxiv! biorxiv.org/content/10.6... For a quick summary, peep the thread below...🧵 (1/10)

Arvid Ågren@arvidagren.bsky.social · 6mo ago

If you can only visit one place at Harvard, make it the glass flower exhibit at the Museum of Natural History. 4000 models, 847 species. Commissioned by the university for teaching botany and created by the Czech father and son Leopold and Rudolf Blaschka 1887 through 1936.

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Philip Ball@philipcball.bsky.social · 6mo ago

Glassblowing is amazing. I had to learn it (a little) at the start of my (theoretical) physics PhD, and am so glad, even if I got a lot of burnt fingers. (The glass isn't necessarily cool when it has stopped glowing.)

Nathan Grubaugh@nathangrubaugh.bsky.social · 7mo ago

Check out our new print that combines dense sequencing and phylodynamics to uncover a bunch of 😎 things about an understudied virus. - Doesn't evolve for 10 months a year ✅ - Uses some mossies for maintenance, others for spread ✅ - Established in Northeast for ~300 years ✅

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Ellie Bourgikos@ebourgikos.bsky.social · 7mo ago

🦟📄 New preprint! Our first large-scale phylodynamic study of Jamestown Canyon virus (JCV) reveals how mosquito ecology shapes the evolution, persistence, and spread of this understudied arbovirus in North America. Read it here! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Sweta Agrawal@hokuba.bsky.social · 10mo ago

The Agrawal lab is moving! This January we will be setting up shop at #UBC in Vancouver, in the department of #Zoology! We are actively recruiting at all levels, especially masters and PhD students. These position are #funded! Please send anyone interested my way!

Agrawal lab logo. A fly in the UBC colors, with dots framing its body.