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

Mechanisms of transcription control by distal enhancers from single-gene nanoscopy www.cell.com/cell/abstrac...

'We tend to imagine science as what happens before the writing begins—as if experiments produce knowledge and writing merely reports it. Yet, for most scientists, the real struggle for clarity and meaning starts when the data must take shape in words.' blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsoci...

What we lose when we outsource scientific writing - LSE Impact

Writing is often said to be thinking. Based on a study of scientific writing practices, this post analyses what is lost when academic writing is outsourced.

blogs.lse.ac.uk

🫳 Topological, Functional, and Phylogenetic Analysis of the Cell Division Site Selection Protein MinJ of Bacillus subtilis in: Molecular Microbiology | Microbiology Journal | Wiley Online Library onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... #subtiwiki #subtilis @molecularmicro.bsky.social

Topological, Functional, and Phylogenetic Analysis of the Cell Division Site Selection Protein <fc>MinJ</fc> of <fi>Bacillus subtilis</fi>

MinJ is a nine-pass transmembrane protein with a cytoplasmic PDZ domain. The PDZ domain, while required for division, is dispensable for localization, and deletion of the transmembrane segments 6 and...

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Check out this really beautiful study by my colleague @hassansalem.bsky.social and his team. Leaf beetles and their symbionts are pretty amazing.

Hassan Salem@hassansalem.bsky.social · 2d ago

Beetles secrete jelly to embed & sustain symbionts with impossibly tiny genomes🪲 But what is this jelly made of? And how does it help maintain a partnership that has lasted over 62 million years? Thrilled to share our latest, out now in @natcomms.nature.com! www.nature.com/articles/s41...

I think scientists have a responsibility to not have press releases issued for random papers. Most research isn't meant or ready for general audiences. We should give science enough time to accumulate evidence before we make our problems the society's problems.

Have a friend whose wife recently passed away. I made a lot of food for him not knowing what he even eats. Now I feel like I am going to drop off a bomb he has to deal with instead of helping.

To kefir or to not kefir, that is the question Used to buy baby spinach by the lb "for health" & would end up just drinking it as slurry at expiration date b/c I am incapable of wasting food Feel like kefir is spinach 2.0

Peer Bork (1963–2026): pioneer of computational biology, architect of bioinformatics resources, and visionary microbiome researcher academic.oup.com/bioinformati... a really great article on the impact of Peer and how he approached life.

Peer Bork (1963–2026): pioneer of computational biology, architect of bioinformatics resources, and visionary microbiome researcher

Peer Bork, one of the most influential computational biologists of his generation, died on 16 January 2026 from natural causes (EMBL 2026). He was 62 years

academic.oup.com

Unlike the BKK yvmA::kan strain, the BKE yvmA::erm strain does not complement, even after moving the yvmA::erm into a clean Bs168 bkgd We sequenced & found a nonsense mutation (dropped A in a string of 9 As (slippage sequence) in pchR. Tight genetic linkage means the pchR mu moved with yvmA::erm

Jen Herman 🌪️@jukebarosh.bsky.social · last wk.

When we knockout yvmA in the 168 background, it overaccumulates extracellular pulcherrimin compared to the wildtype parent on our minimal medium. We can complement the phenotype expressing yvmA in trans. Doesn't really make sense to me that it's an exporter of pulcherriminic acid in 168

Latest from the lab! Kevin England @kevinengland.bsky.social leads a study on how production of various alarmones (p,pp,pppGpp!) depletes GTP, remodels the transcriptome, and inhibits translation. Wonderful collaboration with Jade Wang's lab at UW Madison. academic.oup.com/nar/article/...

The alarmone pGpp inhibits translation through GTP depletion

Abstract. Bacteria produce the alarmone nucleotides ppGpp and pppGpp during stress to affect replication, transcription, and metabolism. ppGpp and pppGpp a

academic.oup.com

Friends don't let friends draw conclusions about knock-outs without complementation

NEW POST: The Untold Story of Bloom's Taxonomy and the Pyramid That Never Was carlhendrick.substack.com/p/the-untold...

The Untold Story of Bloom's Taxonomy and the Pyramid That Never Was

How a 1956 filing system for exam questions became a bad theory of mind and instruction

carlhendrick.substack.com

1/2 The Declaration of Helsinki demands that medical trials provide access to the best proven intervention available, regardless of the current standard in the country where the trial is conducted. In this case, a hepatitis B vaccine immediately after birth.

Outrage grows as CDC reportedly poised to fund "unethical" vaccine trial

CDC allocated $1.6M for study on alleged harms of hepatitis B vaccine.

arstechnica.com

Life is short

🚨 Fantastic new lab and mentor alert!!! 🚨

Pravrutha Raman@pravrutharaman.bsky.social · 6d ago

Now that we have moved coasts, I am thrilled to share that the ChromEvo (Raman) lab is officially open at UMass Boston 🎉 We ask how CHROMatin EVOlution leads to functional innovation and we are hiring at multiple levels. Read on and share with folks who maybe interested chromevoramanlab.github.io

Incredible hype shot of a hedgehog

Unofficial BBCNews (UK) Bot@bbcnews-uk-rss.bsky.social · 7d ago

Bank of England reveals the four animals to feature on banknotes

Pls share:The Department of Microbiology at the University of Georgia invites applications for a tenure track Associate or Full professor position in Medical Mycology, beginning August 1, 2027. www.ugajobsearch.com/postings/508...

When we knockout yvmA in the 168 background, it overaccumulates extracellular pulcherrimin compared to the wildtype parent on our minimal medium. We can complement the phenotype expressing yvmA in trans. Doesn't really make sense to me that it's an exporter of pulcherriminic acid in 168

1/ 🧵 Two classic mitochondrial pathways the TCA cycle and OXPHOS are taught as linked but distinct pathways. I’m happy to share our new work out in @cp-cell.bsky.social showing that in Acanthamoeba they're physically linked—with a TCA enzyme incorporated in ATP synthase. www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...

Acanthamoeba ATP synthase structure reveals the TCA cycle is tethered to OXPHOS

Acanthamoeba castellanii, a pathogenic amoeba, belongs to an evolutionary branch distinctly removed from humans and fungi. Cryo-EM of the organism’s ATP synthase enzyme using raw mitochondrial lysates...

cell.com

Because, I am not a machine, that is why.

what could possibly go wrong....

Sholto David@sholtodavid.bsky.social · last wk.

Today I'm posting a new video! This case report includes AI generated images. Despite being apparently fabricated with OpenAI tools this paper is already suggested by ChatGPT as evidence to be considered for off label treatment of an autoimmune disease. youtu.be/G9KHwXNIJyk

All my best memories I was dancing

Elsa@erli.bsky.social · last wk.

I can't stop thinking how wrong the tech bros have understood creativity and creators. Or even just having hobbies. #erliart

NIH’s move toward multiyear funding is a major reason for the drop in grant numbers: The agency now commits several years of funding at once to fewer awards, rather than paying for projects one year at a time. www.the-scientist.com/federal-rese...

NIH Grant Awards Fall to a Six-Year Low in FY2026 | The Scientist

A public dataset from Grant Witness shows NIH has issued about 11 percent fewer grant awards this fiscal year than its five-year average pace.

the-scientist.com

When the morning walk with 🐕 feels like walking by a painting

Two Assistant Professor Positions in Evolutionary Biology and Mechanistic Processes - including microbes! faculty.utexas.edu/career/191568

I don’t think everyone realizes how bad things are for US science: For the fiscal year that just ended, the Trump regime withheld $1.4 billion from the National Science Foundation’s research budget, which is about 1/5 of its primary research budget.

National Science Foundation Diverted $1.4 Billion in Science Funds Mandated by Congress (Gift Article)

The move, affecting about one-fifth of the National Science Foundation’s primary research budget, is the latest sign of how the White House is asserting more control over grants.

nytimes.com

No cheating. Share the last photo of the sky from your camera roll.

Brendan Maher@bmaher.bsky.social · 2w ago

No cheating. Share the last photo of the sky from your camera roll.

Amazing editorial cartoon re artificial intelligence by @mackinnonart.bsky.social

Need some new tunes, preferably upbeat. Please suggest!