Richard Lenski
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relenski.bsky.social
Richard Lenski
@relenski.bsky.social

Evolving better E. coli for 75,000 generations. Prof at MSU, but opinions my own. (Ok, I also speak for billions -- er, TRILLIONS -- of E. coli.)
Website for LTEE: the-ltee.org
Banner pic from NYC, shared by Darwin. (The microbiologist, not the other one.) .. more

Richard E. Lenski is an American evolutionary biologist who is the John A. Hannah Distinguished Professor of Microbial Ecology at Michigan State University. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and a MacArthur Fellow. Lenski is best known for his still ongoing 37-year-old long-term E. coli evolution experiment, which has been instrumental in understanding the core processes of evolution, including mutation rates, clonal interference, antibiotic resistance, the evolution of novel traits, and speciation. He is also well known for his pioneering work in studying evolution digitally using self-replicating organisms called Avida. .. more

Biology 54%
Sociology 10%
Pinned
Excited to share new #program, STEPS, which can simulate #dynamics of the E. coli Long-Term Evolution Experiment (#LTEE) or other microbes in serial transfer regime.

telliamedrevisited.wordpress.com/2025/08/12/s...

STEPS developed by @devinmlake.bsky.social, Zachary Matson, Minako Izutsu, and me.
STEPS To It
Announcing a new program, called STEPS, to simulate the dynamics of evolving microbial populations.
telliamedrevisited.wordpress.com

Wow, what a win for the Chicago Bears 😮
I wrote up my analysis of what Ross's movements and actions reveal about whether or not he had a "reasonable belief that he was in imminent danger of death or serious bodily injury" (the legal standard). I list 7 crucial moments that suggest he did not. asharangappa.substack.com/p/friday-rou...
Friday Round Up! 1/9/26
It was a bad shoot.
asharangappa.substack.com

I'm so old I remember when Indiana University was famous for playing basketball.
Minneapolis, after the murder of Renee Nicole Good.
For those who have forgotten the past 40 years:

Tax cuts for the rich
...don’t trickle down

Boosting military spending
...doesn’t bring peace

Slashing regulations
...doesn’t create jobs

Folks, we’ve seen this all before.

Reposted by Richard E. Lenski

New Microbe Matters!

@relenski.bsky.social traces the legacy of Escherichia coli and how science is evolving to use this model organism in new ways

#microsky

www.nature.com/articles/s41...
GERMAN PRESIDENT STEINMEIER:

“.. the United States has broken with the values that it helped to establish ..

“.. we have now moved beyond the stage where we can lament the lack of respect for international law or the erosion of the international order; we are far beyond that, I believe.”
WITNESS: "I just can't let this narrative of self-defense go any further. That’s absolutely not what it was… ICE agents didn’t let anyone help her for 15 minutes, then medics couldn’t get through with their ambulance.”
Never forget. 🇺🇸
“.. Since his return to office, President Trump and his family have engaged in a moneymaking campaign like none in modern American history.”

@nytimes.com
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
Trump’s Tangled Web of Deal-Making, Policy and Riches
The president, his family and some of their closest associates have engaged in a sprawling campaign of deals that stretches across industries and the globe.
www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Richard E. Lenski

U.S. military spending is set to hit a record $1 trillion.

Roughly half of defense spending goes to private contractors that routinely price-gouge the government.

Meanwhile, the Pentagon has failed EIGHT straight audits.

This is the military industrial complex on steroids.

Reposted by Richard E. Lenski

Billionaire control of the media is a danger to us all.

Handouts (and tax cuts) for billionaires + dismantling of public health by anti-vax nuts should be the top issues for just about anyone running for office in 2026 and 2028.

Reposted by Richard E. Lenski

The next time you hear conservatives railing against "handouts for the poor," remind them that we should really be cutting corporate welfare — unnecessary and unwarranted aid for profitable corporations that are dependent on the taxpayer.

Reposted by Simon Roux

"The changing roles of Escherichia coli" -- a short essay by yours truly.

rdcu.be/eVtXT
The changing roles of Escherichia coli
Nature Microbiology - Richard Lenski traces the legacy of Escherichia coli and how science is evolving to use this model organism in new ways.
rdcu.be
WSJ: The Trump family’s ventures since re-election “generated at least $4 billion in proceeds and paper wealth for the family as of December, according to company statements and securities filings.”

@wsj.com
www.wsj.com/politics/tru...
CDC awards $1.6 million for new hepatitis B vaccine study in Guinea-Bissau. Although the award recipients aren't named, the grant seems tailored to Danish researchers whose work is championed by anti-vaxxers but challenged by mainstream scientists.
www.cidrap.umn.edu/childhood-va...
CDC awards $1.6 million for hepatitis B vaccine study, likely to controversial Danish researchers
www.cidrap.umn.edu
Notice that the parts of Trump's economic program that help working and middle class Americans — DOGE checks, tariff rebates, and warrior dividends — are popular, progressive, and non-existent. Tax cuts for the rich are unpopular, regressive and very very real.

So is tomorrow's inflation report going to be worse than expected? Is that why Trump decided to "address" (harass) the nation?
Simpler times

Reposted by Richard E. Lenski

MAY I REMIND ALL:
The Vanity Fair photographer from the Susie Wiles story.

Holy. Shit.

www.washingtonpost.com/style/power/...

Reposted by Richard E. Lenski

“A-plus plus plus plus”.

#NFP

Reposted by Richard E. Lenski

MAGA absolutely HATES George W Bush for starting a foreign war to protect American oil interests.

But MAGA loves Donald J Trump for... *checks notes*... starting a foreign war to protect American oil interests.

Reposted by Richard E. Lenski

I do not understand these Republicans and conservatives that say they are shocked by what Trump did about Rob Reiner.

WTF!

He has been like this since day one.

He had said despicable words since day one.

There is not one liberal that is shocked by his disgusting behavior.
The media needs to stop writing headlines like “The CDC changes course on vaccines and autism” and “The CDC defends measles response”.

NONE of this is coming from legitimate scientists at the CDC.

ALL of it is coming from RFK Jr.

Every such headline is causing further harm to public health.
Read this. Then read it again.
I've spent all day struggling to write a single page of a popular science article. I bang away at a word processor; give up; start diagramming on paper. Take some notes; draft a few sentences in pen; return to the computer...and very slowly I figure out what I was trying to say in the first place.
One of the biggest moments of my career:
USCIS canceled my client’s naturalization oath ceremony. We filed a lawsuit, went to trial, and the judge swore him in right there in the courtroom!
“.. The US economy is in a hiring recession. Almost no jobs have been added since April.

“Wage gains are slowing.

“710,000 more people are unemployed now versus November 2024.”

@byheatherlong.bsky.social