Michael Meers
@mpmeers.bsky.social
Assistant Prof @WashUGenetics, chromatin-mediated regulation of development. Former postdoc @fredhutch, former grad student @UNC_Biology. Views my own.
Derek Lowe letting loose to start the year...speaking truth and committing to work hard to make this better. I am most definitely with your @dereklowe.bsky.social
Derek Lowe@dereklowe.bsky.social · 8mo agoFirst Pipeline post of the year! A statement of purpose, and science topics resume on Monday:
Giving voice to what American scientists are simmering over in (largely silent) anger and despair www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
The Undermining of the C.D.C.
The Department of Health and Human Services maintains that it is hewing to “gold standard, evidence-based science”—doublespeak that might unsettle Orwell.
newyorker.com
WashU in STL just announced, in a university-wide email, that we will NOT be signing The Compact. This statement, I believe, exists thanks to the tremendous energy generated w/in our community by, among others, the Faculty Senate, the revived AAUP, and student journalists. I'm proud of everybody.
The Meers Lab always follows protocols to the letter except when they don’t 🦁
It feels very apropos to have this announcement preempted by a government shutdown 🥲 but I'm overwhelmed with gratitude for the tireless work of the reviewers and staff of the Office of the Director who saw fit to give us this chance.
WashU Medicine Genetics@washugenetics.bsky.social · 11mo agoCongratulations to Michael Meers, PhD, on receiving the NIH Director’s New Innovator Award in support of his research developing new tools to guide stem cell differentiation. A well-deserved recognition of his innovative work. medicine.washu.edu/news/washu-r...
This may be the most important paper ever published about NIH funded research. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
What if NIH had been 40% smaller?
Replaying history with less NIH funding shows widespread impacts on drug-linked research
science.org
We published a detailed protocol for our Plate-CUT&Tag method on @protocolsio.bsky.social to accompany our recent preprint (www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...) give it a try! Feedback welcome! dx.doi.org/10.17504/protocols.io.n2bvjed5wgk5/v1
Plate CUT&Tag (Meers Lab version)
This protocol describes a method for carrying out CUT&Tag-Direct in 96 well microplates for high-throughput processing of samples by a single operator with only standard lab...
dx.doi.org
On our three year lab anniversary (give or take a few days!), I'm proud to share the first original work produced within the Meers Lab: Plate-CUT&Tag! Take a look: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... 1/3
A protocol for high-throughput microplate-based CUT&Tag
Cleavage Under Targets & Tagmentation (CUT&Tag) is a versatile method for measuring genomic occupancy of chromatin-associated proteins with high sensitivity and specificity. CUT&Tag has low sequencing...
biorxiv.org
Death, taxes, and "the PI is too inexperienced and requires a senior co-mentor for this student's F31" 🙃
Another paper bluetorial! Today: how does the spatial location of genes influence their function? (1/n) www.nature.com/articles/s41...
The nuclear periphery confers repression on H3K9me2-marked genes and transposons to shape cell fate - Nature Cell Biology
Marin et al. report the role of lamin proteins and the lamin B receptor (LBR) in chromatin positioning at the nuclear periphery. Knockout of all lamins and LBR in mouse embryonic stem cells leads to h...
nature.com
I wrote down some of my thoughts down on the current race to build virtual cell models. Overall, excited and wary about the work ahead. Also, it's my first post to Substack; getting more excited about it as a replacement for X and Blue Sky. srikosuri.substack.com/p/the-elusiv...
The elusive virtual cell
Rosetta Stone or Moby Dick?
srikosuri.substack.com
Our paper describing the Range Extender element which is required and sufficient for long-range enhancer activation at the Shh locus is now available at @nature.com. Congrats to @gracebower.bsky.social who led the study. Below is a brief summary of the main findings www.nature.com/articles/s41... 1/
Range extender mediates long-distance enhancer activity - Nature
The REX element is associated with long-range enhancer–promoter interactions.
nature.com
How do non-coding variants in enhancers lead to disease? Happy to share our recent work, led by @ewholling.bsky.social, in which we discovered that poised chromatin sensitizes enhancers to aberrant activation by non-coding mutations, contributing to disease. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... 1/
What an amazing time to be a biomedical scientist. www.nejm.org/doi/abs/10.1...
Stem Cell–Derived, Fully Differentiated Islets for Type 1 Diabetes | NEJM
Zimislecel is an allogeneic stem cell–derived islet-cell therapy. Data on the safety and efficacy of zimislecel in persons with type 1 diabetes are needed. We conducted a phase 1–2 study of zimisle...
nejm.org
Thank you @erikaberas.bsky.social for including me in this in depth @planetmoney.bsky.social piece on the mechanics of research funding at universities—I give it a 👍🏻👌👏👨🔬 emoji 🙃 www.npr.org/2025/05/28/1...
Why does the government fund research at universities? : Planet Money
American universities are where people go to learn and teach. They're also where research and development happens. Over the past eight decades, universities have received billions in federal dollars t...
npr.org
Thank you @economist.com for this important, well reasoned piece. www.economist.com/leaders/2025...
MAGA’s assault on science is an act of grievous self-harm
America will pay the price most of all
economist.com
With apologies to @jeremymberg.bsky.social, I borrowed directly and heavily from this thread of his to craft my comment on this policy proposal, which I'm posting here for anyone who would like to use it as a template. Please heed Jeremy's exhortation and post a comment by Friday!
Jeremy Berg@jeremymberg.bsky.social · last yr.Anyone who would like to register an objection should go to this page and click on the green “public comment” button at the top: www.federalregister.gov/documents/20... . PLEASE DO THIS 8/n
Typical of this White House: a non-expert decrying all that’s wrong, using “evidence” that amounts to anecdotes, offering mealy-mouthed “solutions” (wtf is “gold standard science” anyways?) as a pretext to destroy without any strategy to build. www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-st...
Remarks by Director Kratsios at the National Academy of Sciences
Remarks by Director Kratsios at the National Academy of Sciences REINVIGORATING AMERICA’S SCIENTIFIC ENTERPRISE AS PREPARED FOR DELIVERY Washington, D.C.
whitehouse.gov
My quote of the day My dad used to say: “Don't tell me what you value. Show me your budget, and I'll tell you what you value." Joseph R. Biden, Jr.
Yesterday, the NIH R35 “Outstanding Investigator” grant to fund scientists in my lab studying antibiotic resistance was terminated for reasons not related to the content of the science, or any actions taken by me or members of my lab
ACTION ITEM-----ACTION ITEM Implementation of Schedule F This is what a lot of us have been worried about. This allows for many civil service positions to replaced with political appointees. This could include NIH institute directors and even POs. BUT THERE IS A COMMENT PERIOD... 1/n
the word alert is in a purple circle
ALT: the word alert is in a purple circle
media.tenor.com
Another great piece on how students at WashU are organizing to oppose the threats to biomedical research in this country www.stltoday.com/news/local/e...
WashU students ramp up efforts to stop federal cuts
Washington U. students are urging university leadership to speak out forcefully and publicly against the Donald Trump administration’s threats to research.
stltoday.com
So I did this today: banged out a couple hundred words of a pitch while managing lab, sent it to the opinion page editor at the newspaper my parents still somehow get in print, and got back a "yes" in, I absolutely kid you not, under 15 minutes
CantlonLab@cantlonlab.bsky.social · 2y agoJoin us! Science Homecoming helps scientists reconnect with communities by writing about the importance of science funding in their hometown newspapers. We’ve mapped every small newspaper in the U.S. and provide resources to get you started. Help science get back home 🧪🔬🧬 🏠 sciencehomecoming.com
ATTENTION If you are on a study section that was scheduled to meet, please post or DM me with information regarding: 1. The name of the study section 2. The scheduled date 3. Whether the meeting actually occurred THANK YOU
a man wearing a top hat and a purple jacket is asking for more .
ALT: a man wearing a top hat and a purple jacket is asking for more .
media.tenor.com
So it appears that the closely related MRAB study section *did* meet on Feb 6-7, after being posted on the federal register on Jan 13, 24 days prior: www.federalregister.gov/documents/20.... This suggests that the 35 day notice requirement that people have been tossing about might not be accurate?
Center for Scientific Review; Notice of Closed Meetings
Search, browse and learn about the Federal Register. Federal Register 2.0 is the unofficial daily publication for rules, proposed rules, and notices of Federal agencies and organizations, as well as e...
federalregister.gov
Michael Meers@mpmeers.bsky.social · 2y agoJust confirmed by the SRO that it will be rescheduled to an as-yet-to-be-determined later date
@jeremymberg.bsky.social confirmed by SRO that NIGMS MRAA SRG scheduled to meet today will be rescheduled to a later date if you're still keeping track of these things
Michael Meers@mpmeers.bsky.social · 2y agoSo it sounds like the MRAA Study Section for ESI MIRA may not meet tomorrow as scheduled? Anyone have confirmation of this?
