Super interesting paper on the evolution of parasitism
The Fromm Lab@frommlab.bsky.social · 3w ago**1/7** 🔥 New paper out in Evolution! How predictable is genome evolution? Over the past decade, my work has explored both directions of evolution: the rise of biological complexity and the genomic simplification that accompanies parasitism. lnkd.in/dRnuX-we 🧵👇
Odyssey: great film- cinematography, acting and storyline all superb. Until the credits: dreadful Travis Scott rap completely ruins the atmosphere. Very strange decision
This is a very interesting discussion. Like many scientists I got inspired by many post hoc narratives of discovery eg Galileo, Darwin and the Beagle, that turn out to be much more complicated, and also falsely representing how science works. Perhaps the truer stories would be just as inspiring?
Past Present Future Podcast@ppfideas.bsky.social · 4w agoNEW EPISODE OUT NOW! Today’s bad idea is a way of doing history: David talks to historian Alec Ryrie about the seductions and pitfalls of narrative history. Why do we need more Herodotus and less Thucydides? And how can podcasts do it better? Find us at...🎧 ppfideas.com
0/ 💡💡💡Had one of those slightly weird moments reading something today. Two seemingly very different research traditions—starting from opposite directions—appear to be converging on almost the same conclusion about one of biology’s biggest questions: How do genomes generate phenotypes? 👇🧵
Possibly the best novel by one of the greatest 20thC writers. And as this podcast episode explains it is a very realistic idea of a truly free society. Perhaps Le Guin drew on her anthropology knowledge (her father was a professor of anthropology I believe)
Past Present Future Podcast@ppfideas.bsky.social · 2mo agoNEW EPISODE OUT NOW! Today a path-breaking work of science fiction: David explores Ursula Le Guin’s The Dispossessed (1974), which imagines a world without the need for government or coercive authority. What makes this the most realistic of all utopias? Find us at...🎧 ppfideas.com
A different kind of publication for me- a poem, published on Spillwords! Please read and comment here: spillwords.com/ammonite/
Ammonite, a poem by Peter Sarkies at Spillwords.com
Spillwords.com presents: Ammonite, a poem written by Peter Sarkies, a Biochemist based at the University of Oxford, UK.
spillwords.com
To me it is not to be celebrated that Trump respects an unelected monarch more than the UK government. It’s typical of his approach.
now just waiting for the survey that says that 50% of men think they could win in a fight against this creature. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Earliest octopuses were giant top predators in Cretaceous oceans
Top predators drive changes in ecosystem structure. For the last ~370 million years, large-sized vertebrates have dominated the apex of the marine food chain, while invertebrates have served as smalle...
science.org
Orwell on Hitler is a real WTF moment
Past Present Future Podcast@ppfideas.bsky.social · 4mo agoNEW EPISODE OUT NOW! Today’s episode in our series about how George Orwell tried to make sense of WW2 as it was happening looks at 1940 and 1941, from the collapse of France to Hitler’s invasion of Russia. How close did Britain get to revolution in the summer of 1940? Find us at...🎧 ppfideas.com
This is a really great article and fun to read! Strongly recommend!
Tobias Warnecke@tobiaswarnecke.bsky.social · 4mo agoacademic.oup.com/genetics/adv... Also thanks to Lyndall & @psarkies.bsky.social, @ahocher.bsky.social, and members of the lab for their comments and Francis Barr @oxfordbiochemistry.bsky.social for encouraging me to write down my thoughts.
I wrote an essay. It’s about gain-of-function mutations. And penguins. Also ion channels, chihuahuas, the film Alien, recycled cardboard, and the Apollonian mind. Oh, and muffins. Thanks to the editors of #GENETICS @genetics-gsa.bsky.social for letting me take some stylistic liberties. 1/2
Thought the idea of neo conservativism derived from Trotsky was an April fool’s joke but seems not! Intriguing.
Past Present Future Podcast@ppfideas.bsky.social · 4mo agoNEW EPISODE OUT NOW! In part 3 of our series about political conversions David talks to @dmk1793.bsky.social about the people who left Trotskyism behind – and where they ended up. Stories of one-time revolutionaries who found themselves in a very different place. Find us at...🎧 ppfideas.com
We are excited to be recruiting into 3 Associate Professorship's in @oxfordbiochemistry.bsky.social. Come join us as a colleague and benefit from our vibrant and multidisciplinary environment. Reach out to me if you have any questions. Please repost! (tinyurl.com/48deybuu) (tinyurl.com/4pdvjaft).
Happy pi (RNA) day everyone! And what better way to enjoy than to revisit the unusual features of nematode piRNAs: www.cell.com/developmenta...
Comparative Epigenomics Reveals that RNA Polymerase II Pausing and Chromatin Domain Organization Control Nematode piRNA Biogenesis
piRNAs are an important genome regulatory mechanism conserved across metazoans. In the nematode C. elegans, piRNA biogenesis evolved several differences from other metazoans. Beltran et al. study the ...
cell.com
Another horse has died at this year’s Cheltenham Festival. HMS Seahorse’s death follows that of Hansard, bringing the total number of horses who have died at the festival since 2000 to 80*. This is unacceptable. If this happened in any other sport, there would be a huge outcry. *Animal Aid
Introducing our new blood-stage malaria vaccine immunogen based on the essential invasion protein PfCyRPA. By understanding where on PfCyRPA the best antibodies bind, we used structure guided design to generate PfCyRPA-EM, which contains only the epitopes of the best antibodies.
This is really interesting. Tony Blair condemned Saddam Hussein's execution publicly. Was this genuine or was he perhaps happy with it behind the scenes? If he was genuinely opposed, what would he have preferred? UN trial might not have gone the way he would have wanted.
Past Present Future Podcast@ppfideas.bsky.social · 7mo agoNEW EPISODE OUT NOW! For the final episode in this series David talks to historian & political scientist Glen Rangwala about the trial and execution of Saddam Hussein in 2006. What plans did the Americans have for Saddam before the Iraq war began? Was justice served? Find us at...🎧 ppfideas.com
the current Greenland thing shows that fawning to Trump like Starmer has been doing is totally pointless as well as degrading.
Zack Polanski@zackpolanski.bsky.social · 7mo agoIt's time to stop subservience to Donald Trump. And that starts with questions about how to stop US bases on UK soil and maintain our national security. www.lbc.co.uk/article/subs...
Check out our latest study on the PfRIPR protein, essential for the malaria parasite to get inside our blood cells. We show how antibodies block the function of PfRIPR by preventing its flexible hinges from bending, or by stopping it from compacting as part of its mechanism.
Epimutations: raw material for evolution? Nabeel Ganem & @psarkies.bsky.social explore how epimutations mediating transgenerational epigenetic inheritance compare to DNA sequence mutations w.r.t. influence on drift and natural selection link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Epimutations: raw material for evolution? - The EMBO Journal
Epigenetics is fundamental to cell differentiation as it enables cells with identical genomes to adopt distinct fates. Some epigenetic information can also be transmitted between generations, in a pro...
link.springer.com
Incredibly cool- a must read!
René Ketting@reneketting.bsky.social · 7mo agoInterested in the unexpected? How about a link between piRNAs and maternal histone mRNAs … Great collab with @sebastianfalk.bsky.social, @koenig-lab.bsky.social and Florian Steiner. #piRNA #histone #mRNA #maternal #RNAbiology #RNASky www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
don't miss this! will be very interesting
Itai Yanai@itaiyanai.bsky.social · 7mo agoOded Rechavi is presenting a Night Science Seminar next week about transgenerational epigenetic inheritance and his process of discovery! He will also talk about his influence on science communication & academia in general. Free registration: cassyni.com/events/TjxgV... @odedrechavi.bsky.social
Need a bit of escapism? Not exactly Lord of the Rings, but in similar vein: doi.org/10.1038/s443...
Epimutations: raw material for evolution? - The EMBO Journal
Epigenetics is fundamental to cell differentiation as it enables cells with identical genomes to adopt distinct fates. Some epigenetic information can also be transmitted between generations, in a pro...
link.springer.com
Worth a read. In my opinion possibly the only thing worse than humans recklessly driving a species to extinction is for us to attempt to bring it back- likely to be a vanity project with huge potential for cruelty and harm. www.cell.com/trends/genet...
If we could turn back time
De-extinction critiques focus on animal welfare, ecosystem disruption, threats to traditional conservation, and anxiety about human hubris. Respondents argue that humanity is obligated to reverse dama...
cell.com
On BBC News today: striking that it’s the two old establishment parties - Labour and the Conservatives - refusing to condemn the US breaking international law and doing what it wants. Feels like politics stuck in the past, while the public has clearly moved on.
Starmer and Farage both drape themselves in flags but once again it's really clear where their loyalty really is. It's Trump first. They will always be on the side of the super rich and powerful - no matter how heinous the crime. This is not patriotism. It's subservience.
Whatever you might think of Maduro, the seizure and kidnapping of a head of state takes us to a very dark place. Vast, arbitrary, extra-legal power, which could be exercised almost anywhere, regardless of the character of the target government.
