My very last, last author paper now published a year since retirement. All credit to grad Caroline Langley who did brilliant work, super tech Michelle Lily who finished the experimental work after Caroline graduated, and my ever wise collaborator (and Caroline’s co-mentor) @harmitmalik.bsky.social

@JohnGrossSF@johngrosssf.bsky.social · 2w ago

Strain-specific epistasis shapes fitness landscapes of APOBEC3G antagonism by HIV-1 Vif proteins | Science Advances www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... Congratulations on this beautiful work!

Caroline Langley's primary thesis chapter from her time as a grad student in @memerman.bsky.social's and my lab is now published. She shows that HIV-1 Vif’s ability to maintain A3G antagonism depends on structural robustness, which permits adaptation, and epistasis, which imposes constraints.

@JohnGrossSF@johngrosssf.bsky.social · 2w ago

Strain-specific epistasis shapes fitness landscapes of APOBEC3G antagonism by HIV-1 Vif proteins | Science Advances www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... Congratulations on this beautiful work!

rdcu.be/ePDBS

Evolutionary characterization of antiviral SAMD9/9L across kingdoms supports ancient convergence and lineage-specific adaptations

Nature Ecology & Evolution - A search for analogues of the human SAMD9/9L antiviral genes identifies convergent evolution of this gene family in the bacterial and animal kingdoms, with...

rdcu.be

After years in the making, Joe McKellar @viroscope.bsky.social’s final PhD paper is finally out today in PNAS! 🎉 🎉🎉 www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Human MX1 orchestrates the cytoplasmic sequestration of neosynthesized influenza A virus vRNPs | PNAS

Interferon-inducible Myxovirus resistance 1 (MX1) proteins are known to restrict influenza A virus (IAV) transcription/replication process. Herein,...

pnas.org

New preprint alert! 🦟 <-> 🦠 <-> 🧑 I am thrilled to share our latest study on alphavirus host adaptation. More specifically, on how a single codon helps blunt alphavirus-induced host innate immune responses in mosquito and human cells. Continue reading for more! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

The Sindbis virus nsP3 opal codon protects viral RNA and fitness by maintaining replication spherule integrity

Most alphaviruses encode an in-frame opal stop codon between nsP3 and nsP4 in their nsP ORF. This opal stop codon mediates a temperature-dependent balance between viral polymerase production and prote...

biorxiv.org

What @memerman.bsky.social learned from Howard Temin

www.fredhutch.org/content/www/...

Virologist and HIV expert Dr. Michael Emerman retires

During his 36-year career at Fred Hutch Cancer Center, Michael Emerman, PhD, made fundamental discoveries about HIV, the retrovirus that causes AIDS. He co-founded the field of paleovirology and consi...

fredhutch.org

New job offer in the team! If you're an experienced virologist (with a PhD), join us to work on Horizon Europe-funded APPEAL project in the vibrant city of Montpellier, South of France! euraxess.ec.europa.eu/jobs/359640

Research assistant (postdoc level) in molecular virology, EU-funded project APPEAL (Montpellier, France)

The research assistant with a PhD in molecular virology (RA, 'ingénieur de recherche' in French) will work on the Horizon Europe-funded APPEAL project involving 13 partners from 6 countries, including...

euraxess.ec.europa.eu

He resolved that he would not stop either, even though it was a huge sacrifice on his part. I believe this is what we owe our trainees: so long as they are invested in their work, we must be as well, even if it seems like the world is on fire around us, both literally and figuratively. 10/

My Keynote Talk at the CSHL 50th annual meeting on Retroviruses is now online: leadingstrand.cshl.edu/Keynote/Medi... Some more general parts such as ~ the 8'30" mark with the "What I learned from Howard Temin" slide and ~ the 40' mark with the "What is important to me in science" section.

Thrilled to share our latest @cp-cell.bsky.social. We present VICAR (VIral-induced Centromeric DNA Amplification and Recognition), a new defense system to detect viruses in the nucleus based on nuclear cGAS. www.cell.com/cell/abstrac...

Centromeric DNA amplification triggered by viral proteins activates nuclear cGAS

Herpesvirus proteins disrupt centromeres, triggering centromeric DNA amplification and local nuclear activation of the nucleic acid sensor cGAS. This reveals an immune surveillance mechanism in the nu...

cell.com

It was such beautiful day and retirement party!

Harmit Singh Malik@harmitmalik.bsky.social · last yr.

I was hoping that many folks who could not make it back to the celebration in Seattle yesterday (picture perfect day btw) and those that did would be inspired by this small thread to tell @memerman.bsky.social about how he influenced their career. Meanwhile I’ll be quietly sobbing in the corner.

How much of the unfortunate, devastating history of that period are we hellbent on recreating in the US? Parents of autistic children would be crazy to trust information of their precious children to this effort.

Yvette Raphael, Gilead Sciences—with special recognition of Moupali Das—and Wesley Sundquist have been awarded the Mani L. Bhaumik Breakthrough of the Year Award for their work on HIV drug lenacapavir. www.aaas.org/news/road-le...

Really excited to share the final version of Rechel Geiger’s PhD thesis paper with help from friends www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... Rechel is now back in medical school training to become a kickass physician-scientist

Heterozygous and generalist MxA super-restrictors overcome breadth-specificity trade-offs in antiviral restriction

Two evolutionary strategies allow the antiviral protein MxA to evolve simultaneous super-restriction against multiple viruses.

science.org

This paper completes a three paper arc (so far) performed by three remarkable students co-mentored by me and @memerman.bsky.social Patrick Michell (@psmitchej.bsky.social) first identified loop L4 as the key interface with the NP proteins of orthomyxoviruses (pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23084925/)

Our study exploring the evolutionary mechanism of alphavirus opal codon retention is now online! www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

A conserved opal termination codon optimizes a temperature-dependent trade-off between protein production and processing in alphaviruses

Alphaviruses optimize viral polymerase production and polyprotein processing at distinct temperatures via a premature stop codon.

science.org

My dear friend, collaborator and scientific hero is recognised as one of 100 most influential people in the world by TIME. Sometimes the good guys get the recognition they deserve. healthcare.utah.edu/newsroom/new...

Wesley Sundquist Named to TIME’s Annual TIME100 List of the 100 Most Influential People in the World

Research in the Sundquist lab laid the foundations for the development of lenacapavir, a drug that prevents HIV infection with 99.9% to 100% efficacy and could dramatically lower infection rates world...

healthcare.utah.edu

Federal funding of biomedical research has been a remarkably successful partnership, with benefits that are so intertwined in our daily lives that they can be easy to take for granted. So what will we lose if the U.S. continues to defund research? theconversation.com/cuts-to-scie...

Cuts to science research funding cut American lives short − federal support is essential for medical breakthroughs

The National Institutes of Health has been integral to scientific progress in treating countless human diseases. Without its support, patients will ultimately pay the price.

theconversation.com

Proud of this work, led by the amazing Jeannette Tenthorey (now Assistant Professor at UCSF), demonstrating the adaptive power of single indel mutations in host-virus arms races, but a little sad that this is the coda to her amazing postdoc in the Malik & Emerman labs. www.cell.com/cell-genomic...

Indels allow antiviral proteins to evolve functional novelty inaccessible by missense mutations

Tenthorey et al. compare the effects of missense and indel mutations on the acquisition of functional novelty by the rapidly evolving antiviral protein TRIM5α. They find that single indel mutations al...

cell.com

Yesterday when I talked to @maxkozlov.bsky.social about this, I wondered which of my NIH-funded colleagues would have their grants cut. All of them. Research on pandemic viruses has now ground to a screeching halt in the US. www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Exclusive: NIH to cut grants for COVID research, documents reveal

Studies on climate change and South Africa are also on the latest list of grants to be terminated, according to updated documents obtained by Nature.

nature.com

Furthermore, his wife, Betsy Arakawa, died of a virus that most people have not even heard about. Hantavirus is a rare virus, but has a very high mortality. As a virologist, I am greatly concerned about RFK Jr.'s threat:" We're going to give infectious disease a break for about eight years".

Alt NIH Bluesky 🧪@altnih4science.bsky.social · last yr.

As we learn Gene Hackman had severe Alzheimer’s, we find out that Trump and Musk are killing research into Alzheimer’s cures. The Trump/Musk crime spree has to be stopped. Get their hands off our government.

Hope to see many of my colleagues on Friday. www.eventbrite.com/e/stand-up-f... Science is for everyone. For everyone to do, and for everyone to benefit from. Weather forecast has also improved for Friday, but waterproof your posters just in case.

Sad to share news of the loss of a virology legend after a long battle with cancer. We will miss you dearly, Ann Palmenberg. www.cressfuneralservice.com/obituaries/a...

Ann Carol Palmenberg, Ph.D Obituary February 20, 2025 - Cress Funeral and Cremation Services

View Ann Carol Palmenberg, Ph.D's obituary, find service dates, and sign the guestbook.

cressfuneralservice.com

Today we’re celebrating Dr. Jon Cooper’s retirement and his 40 years in Basic Sciences @fredhutch.bsky.social. We’re grateful for his many contributions to science and his service to Fred Hutch and the division, including serving nine years as division director. Congrats Jon!

Patrick Mitchell (@psmitchej.bsky.social), Thornton Thompson and I wrote an OpEd, with support from 650+ biomedical researchers across Washington State (450+ at time of submission). www.heraldnet.com/opinion/comm... List: www.moltkelab.com/s/NIH-OpEd-S...

Comment: Pending cuts to medical research would harm all in state | HeraldNet.com

As UW medical scientists, we urge Washingtonians to defend the NIH’s life-saving research funding.

heraldnet.com

👀Our latest work, led by Amandine Le Corf fantastic PhD student alumni @biorxivpreprint.bsky.social . Great collab @denard.bsky.social @psudmant.bsky.social Genomic and functional #adaptations in #GBP5 highlight specificities of #bat antiviral innate #immunity 🦇🦠 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Congrats to Fred Hutch virologist Dr. Keith Jerome on being named a fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology, a prestigious leadership group within the American Society for #Microbiology! Read more: bit.ly/3EFmnb1 @uwvirology.bsky.social

Dear Virology Community, please see ASV’s statement to our members and the scientific community. asv.org/asv-statemen...

ASV Statement for our Members | American Society for Virology

Our American Society for Virology (ASV) promotes the study and combatting of viruses, more than ever recognizing their importance and responding to them with research and education. Our academic…

asv.org

To all undergraduate students enrolled in the state of Washington: are you interested in microbiology and looking for a summer research opportunity? If so, please apply to the Biomedical Summer Training and Engagement Program, hosted by the Department of Microbiology at UW (Seattle).