Mark Bitter

@markcbitter.bsky.social

Postdoc at Stanford University. Interested in pop. gen., adaptation, and a wholesome scientific community. he/him

Cannot be more excited about the lineup for the inaugural Function of Evolving Systems GRC conference I am co-organizing with the amazing Joy Bergelson. Less than a month away: August 9 - 14, 2026. Still a few spots left! And do check out the amazing list of speakers: www.grc.org/function-of-...

2026 Function of Evolving Systems Conference GRC

The 2026 Gordon Research Conference on Function of Evolving Systems will be held in Waterville Valley, New Hampshire. Apply today to reserve your spot.

grc.org

I am seeking a postdoc to join my group at UCLA -- ideally the candidate would have some experience in either population genetics or microbes/microbiome (computational background needed). We have a range of projects and are happy to tailer to your interests. Please dm/email me if interested.

Scientists across the career spectrum are burnt out, & people are leaving STEM in startling numbers, particularly those from under-represented groups. A lab handbook can foster a more positive research culture. By @scattercushion.bsky.social @nature.com 🧪 www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Lab morale got you down? Try a handbook

Documents that lay out a research group’s ethos and practical guidelines are becoming increasingly popular in the academic community.

nature.com

Excited that SpaceBar is now out in Nature Methods!🥳 We combined clone tracing with spatial transcriptomics to untangle what drives gene expression in tumors: a cell's identity or its neighborhood? Most genes were driven by location, but some showed strong clonal patterns. rdcu.be/eVhpc

SpaceBar enables single-cell-resolution clone tracing with imaging-based spatial transcriptomics

Nature Methods - SpaceBar is a cellular barcoding strategy for simultaneous analysis of cell clonal and spatial identities.

rdcu.be

So excited to share this work led by @alexrob.bsky.social with Ben Kerr! We investigated a poliovirus capsid inhibitor that exploits a breakdown in the genotype-phenotype map to prevent drug resistance evolution. Or does it? See Alex's thread, but a few extras: #socialviruses #evosky #virosky 🧪

Alexander Robertson@alexrob.bsky.social · 8mo ago

My first lead author paper is out with Ben Kerr and @alisonfeder.bsky.social! We found that making an antiviral too strong can sometimes make resistance easier to evolve. This has implications for how we design drugs, choose doses, and think about viral evolution in the face of treatment. (1/n)

One week to apply for our fully funded PhD position in Norway! This is a really exciting project in collab. with University of Helsinki and Benchmark Genetics. Samples are ready - you do (read: learn) everything - functional genomics, bioinformatics, genotype-phenotype associations 🤩 Please RT!

Jukka-Pekka Verta@jpverta.bsky.social · 12mo ago

How do regulatory genes control alternative life histories? We have an open PhD position to answer this question using functional genomics in Atlantic salmon. Apply by October 15th through www.jobbnorge.no/en/available... Please share widely! 🧬🦑🖥️

Check out our paper in Evolution Letters! We used D. melanogaster pigmentation as a focal trait to explore parallelism in phenotypic and genomic responses to environmental change - read more at the link below 👇

Evolution Letters@evolletters.bsky.social · last yr.

How predictably does complex trait adaptation proceed over space and time in wild populations? doi.org/10.1093/evle... Now in @evolletters.bsky.social by @skylerberardi.bsky.social, @paulrschmidt.bsky.social et al. 📷: Dr. Rush Dhillon

Figure showing the experimental overview as a graphic. Remaining alt text taken from the figure caption in the paper: (A) we sampled flies from six wild orchard populations ranging from Homestead, FL, to Lancaster, MA, and established isofemale lines in the laboratory. (B) We returned to a focal orchard in Media, PA, at early- and late-season timepoints and collected flies to capture evolutionary patterns following winter and summer conditions. (C) We then seeded outdoor mesocosms (N = 9) with an outbred population originating from early-season collections in Media, PA, and sampled flies at the end of summer (mid-season) and fall (late-season) to determine if seasonal patterns are recapitulated in experimental populations controlled for migration, drift, and cryptic population structure. (D) Across each wild or experimental context, we sampled flies, established lines in the lab, completed common garden treatment to remove environmental effects, and scored females for abdominal pigmentation. We also conducted pooled DNA sequencing on additional flies sampled from each population to map genomic patterns for candidate pigmentation SNPs.