Ben Long
@botbml.bsky.social
Cyclist. Scientist. Synthetic biology in plants. Carboxysomes and chloroplasts. Ally 🏳️⚧️🏳️🌈
He/him
Group leader: Biological CO₂ Capture Lab
Awabakal and Worimi country ⬛🟡🟥
University of Newcastle, Australia.
https://www.newcastle.edu.au/profile/ben-long
He/him
Group leader: Biological CO₂ Capture Lab
Awabakal and Worimi country ⬛🟡🟥
University of Newcastle, Australia.
https://www.newcastle.edu.au/profile/ben-long
Reposted by Ben Long
☕️🍬 INSIGHT 🍬☕️
"SWEET tea: transcriptional regulation of sugar transporters in stress and development".
Zhang & Liesche comment on research recently published in JXB by Peng et al.
🔍 Insight: doi.org/10.1093/jxb/...
🔬 Research: doi.org/10.1093/jxb/...
#PlantScience 🧪
"SWEET tea: transcriptional regulation of sugar transporters in stress and development".
Zhang & Liesche comment on research recently published in JXB by Peng et al.
🔍 Insight: doi.org/10.1093/jxb/...
🔬 Research: doi.org/10.1093/jxb/...
#PlantScience 🧪
January 15, 2026 at 2:43 PM
☕️🍬 INSIGHT 🍬☕️
"SWEET tea: transcriptional regulation of sugar transporters in stress and development".
Zhang & Liesche comment on research recently published in JXB by Peng et al.
🔍 Insight: doi.org/10.1093/jxb/...
🔬 Research: doi.org/10.1093/jxb/...
#PlantScience 🧪
"SWEET tea: transcriptional regulation of sugar transporters in stress and development".
Zhang & Liesche comment on research recently published in JXB by Peng et al.
🔍 Insight: doi.org/10.1093/jxb/...
🔬 Research: doi.org/10.1093/jxb/...
#PlantScience 🧪
Reposted by Ben Long
Pitcher plants are one of the cool and innovative species among plants, doing things just a little different. But have you ever wondered what the effect of rain or evaporation might be on the amount of digestive fluids in those pitchers?
Me neither.
🧵1/5
#PlantScience
Me neither.
🧵1/5
#PlantScience
January 15, 2026 at 3:24 PM
Pitcher plants are one of the cool and innovative species among plants, doing things just a little different. But have you ever wondered what the effect of rain or evaporation might be on the amount of digestive fluids in those pitchers?
Me neither.
🧵1/5
#PlantScience
Me neither.
🧵1/5
#PlantScience
Reposted by Ben Long
7th International Conference on Plant Molecular Farming. 13–15 May 2026. Valencia, Spain
@ispmf.bsky.social 2026
www.ispmf2026valencia.org
@ispmf.bsky.social 2026
www.ispmf2026valencia.org
ISPMF 2026 Valencia
Plant Molecular Farming is entering a new era, with breakthroughs in synthetic biology, genome editing, and biomanufacturing driving innovation across healthcare, agriculture, and sustainable industry...
www.ispmf2026valencia.org
January 15, 2026 at 9:37 AM
7th International Conference on Plant Molecular Farming. 13–15 May 2026. Valencia, Spain
@ispmf.bsky.social 2026
www.ispmf2026valencia.org
@ispmf.bsky.social 2026
www.ispmf2026valencia.org
Reposted by Ben Long
Newly Digitized Records Reveal How Indigenous People Shared Their Knowledge of New Zealand’s Plants With Captain Cook’s Crew
www.smithsonianmag.com/history/newl...
Documents housed at Natural History Museum testify to exchange of info between European botanists and their Indigenous counterparts.
www.smithsonianmag.com/history/newl...
Documents housed at Natural History Museum testify to exchange of info between European botanists and their Indigenous counterparts.
Newly Digitized Records Reveal How Indigenous People Shared Their Knowledge of New Zealand's Plants With Captain Cook's Crew
Long-overlooked documents housed at London's Natural History Museum testify to the exchange of information between 18th-century European botanists and their Indigenous counterparts
www.smithsonianmag.com
January 15, 2026 at 8:30 AM
Newly Digitized Records Reveal How Indigenous People Shared Their Knowledge of New Zealand’s Plants With Captain Cook’s Crew
www.smithsonianmag.com/history/newl...
Documents housed at Natural History Museum testify to exchange of info between European botanists and their Indigenous counterparts.
www.smithsonianmag.com/history/newl...
Documents housed at Natural History Museum testify to exchange of info between European botanists and their Indigenous counterparts.
Reposted by Ben Long
It is really not all that long before there are more battery-electric vehicles sold in China than fossil combustion. And again, look at the number on the y axis on this chart.
This isn't even accounting for 2/3 wheelers, trucks, etc.
robbieandrew.github.io/carsales/
This isn't even accounting for 2/3 wheelers, trucks, etc.
robbieandrew.github.io/carsales/
January 14, 2026 at 11:38 AM
It is really not all that long before there are more battery-electric vehicles sold in China than fossil combustion. And again, look at the number on the y axis on this chart.
This isn't even accounting for 2/3 wheelers, trucks, etc.
robbieandrew.github.io/carsales/
This isn't even accounting for 2/3 wheelers, trucks, etc.
robbieandrew.github.io/carsales/
Reposted by Ben Long
Thanks to the student working for me this term, my Wikipedia page finally has a recent photo. It was written as part of a Wikipedia editathon organized by feminist phil grad students at MIT that had the goal of increasing the representation of women philosophers.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samanth...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samanth...
Samantha Brennan - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
January 14, 2026 at 7:36 PM
Thanks to the student working for me this term, my Wikipedia page finally has a recent photo. It was written as part of a Wikipedia editathon organized by feminist phil grad students at MIT that had the goal of increasing the representation of women philosophers.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samanth...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samanth...
Risk assessment of plant-to-bacterium transgene flow associated with novel small synthetic genome (mini-synplastome) platforms for plastid genetic engineering url: academic.oup.com/femsec/artic...
Risk assessment of plant-to-bacterium transgene flow associated with novel small synthetic genome (mini-synplastome) platforms for plastid genetic engineering
Abstract. Novel cutting-edge technologies for plastid genetic engineering have a great potential in agriculture. Genetic engineering of the plastid genome
academic.oup.com
January 14, 2026 at 10:19 PM
Risk assessment of plant-to-bacterium transgene flow associated with novel small synthetic genome (mini-synplastome) platforms for plastid genetic engineering url: academic.oup.com/femsec/artic...
Reposted by Ben Long
🌿 DARWIN REVIEW 🌿
Carboxysomes, a key component of cyanobacterial CO2-concentrating mechanisms, underpin a significant portion of photosynthetic CO2 fixation. Nguyen et al. review carboxysome evolution, function and future applications.
🔗 doi.org/10.1093/jxb/...
#PlantScience 🧪
Carboxysomes, a key component of cyanobacterial CO2-concentrating mechanisms, underpin a significant portion of photosynthetic CO2 fixation. Nguyen et al. review carboxysome evolution, function and future applications.
🔗 doi.org/10.1093/jxb/...
#PlantScience 🧪
January 14, 2026 at 3:16 PM
🌿 DARWIN REVIEW 🌿
Carboxysomes, a key component of cyanobacterial CO2-concentrating mechanisms, underpin a significant portion of photosynthetic CO2 fixation. Nguyen et al. review carboxysome evolution, function and future applications.
🔗 doi.org/10.1093/jxb/...
#PlantScience 🧪
Carboxysomes, a key component of cyanobacterial CO2-concentrating mechanisms, underpin a significant portion of photosynthetic CO2 fixation. Nguyen et al. review carboxysome evolution, function and future applications.
🔗 doi.org/10.1093/jxb/...
#PlantScience 🧪
Reposted by Ben Long
📢 NEW ISSUE ALERT 📢
🌼 JXB Issue 2 of 2026 is out now 🌼
📔 On the cover: Huang et al reveal genetic and evolutionary insights into the cotton GoP1 gene, which controls yellow pollen coloration and enhances pollinator attraction 🧬
🔗 Read the full issue: academic.oup.com/jxb...
#PlantScience 🧪
🌼 JXB Issue 2 of 2026 is out now 🌼
📔 On the cover: Huang et al reveal genetic and evolutionary insights into the cotton GoP1 gene, which controls yellow pollen coloration and enhances pollinator attraction 🧬
🔗 Read the full issue: academic.oup.com/jxb...
#PlantScience 🧪
January 13, 2026 at 3:19 PM
📢 NEW ISSUE ALERT 📢
🌼 JXB Issue 2 of 2026 is out now 🌼
📔 On the cover: Huang et al reveal genetic and evolutionary insights into the cotton GoP1 gene, which controls yellow pollen coloration and enhances pollinator attraction 🧬
🔗 Read the full issue: academic.oup.com/jxb...
#PlantScience 🧪
🌼 JXB Issue 2 of 2026 is out now 🌼
📔 On the cover: Huang et al reveal genetic and evolutionary insights into the cotton GoP1 gene, which controls yellow pollen coloration and enhances pollinator attraction 🧬
🔗 Read the full issue: academic.oup.com/jxb...
#PlantScience 🧪
If the American public aren't aware of the distortion presented by the Mercator projection on landmass size, it simply speaks volumes about how the nation got to the ludicrous position it currently finds itself in. If you find yourself having to explain this, something more fundamental is at issue.
I am calling for a complete and total boycott of the Mercator projection in all news stories about Greenland until every member of the American public has seen this
January 14, 2026 at 1:34 AM
If the American public aren't aware of the distortion presented by the Mercator projection on landmass size, it simply speaks volumes about how the nation got to the ludicrous position it currently finds itself in. If you find yourself having to explain this, something more fundamental is at issue.
Reposted by Ben Long
First paper of the year: my last ever one on Pittosporum after 50 years! 🌱🪴
- "data support the current management practices of targeting the removal of females ...work highlights the value in understanding the breeding strategy employed by focal invasive species" www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/17...
- "data support the current management practices of targeting the removal of females ...work highlights the value in understanding the breeding strategy employed by focal invasive species" www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/17...
www.mdpi.com
January 13, 2026 at 10:33 PM
First paper of the year: my last ever one on Pittosporum after 50 years! 🌱🪴
- "data support the current management practices of targeting the removal of females ...work highlights the value in understanding the breeding strategy employed by focal invasive species" www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/17...
- "data support the current management practices of targeting the removal of females ...work highlights the value in understanding the breeding strategy employed by focal invasive species" www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/17...
Reposted by Ben Long
Call for better international coordination of collections like herbaria
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Client Challenge
www.nature.com
January 13, 2026 at 10:27 PM
Call for better international coordination of collections like herbaria
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Ben Long
Reposted by Ben Long
A note about our recent article on record 2025 heat content. It may seem counter-intuitive, but 2025 saw greater sub-surface ocean heat than 2024 even though global surface temps were lower. That's because transition from El Nino to La Nina in 2025 decreased ocean heat loss to atmosphere.
"Ocean Heat Content Sets Another Record in 2025" | Our (Yuying Pan et al) new article in Advances in Atmospheric Science: link.springer.com/article/10.1...
January 13, 2026 at 5:15 PM
A note about our recent article on record 2025 heat content. It may seem counter-intuitive, but 2025 saw greater sub-surface ocean heat than 2024 even though global surface temps were lower. That's because transition from El Nino to La Nina in 2025 decreased ocean heat loss to atmosphere.
Such as awesome win
“That one’s for you, mate”
Conti team rider shocks Jayco AlUla behemoth to win Aussie champs days after spending night in hospital with partner hit by car driver – and jokingly dedicates victory to former team boss who “gave me the flick”
road.cc/317605
Conti team rider shocks Jayco AlUla behemoth to win Aussie champs days after spending night in hospital with partner hit by car driver – and jokingly dedicates victory to former team boss who “gave me the flick”
road.cc/317605
January 13, 2026 at 11:50 AM
Such as awesome win
Reposted by Ben Long
We have an open POSTDOC position to explore Marchantia immune receptor biology that is closing on the 18th of Jan. Apply using the link below, and/or email me for more details. www.jic.ac.uk/vacancies/po...
Postdoctoral Researcher (Carella Group) | John Innes Centre
An exciting opportunity has arisen for a Postdoctoral Researcher to join the Carella Group at the John Innes Centre, working on cutting-edge science in the field of Evo-MPMI (Evolutionary Molecular…
www.jic.ac.uk
January 13, 2026 at 11:31 AM
We have an open POSTDOC position to explore Marchantia immune receptor biology that is closing on the 18th of Jan. Apply using the link below, and/or email me for more details. www.jic.ac.uk/vacancies/po...
Reposted by Ben Long
This is today! Go check it out and say hi to Anna!
#PAG33 friends, go check out postdoc in the lab Anna Pardo's talk on Monday at 4:20pm in the Plant Gene Expression Analysis Workshop. She's talking about a huge time course RNA-seq dataset from a homoploid Yucca hybrid that uses both C3 + CAM photosynthesis!
@annapardo-phd.bsky.social
Yucca tax:
@annapardo-phd.bsky.social
Yucca tax:
January 12, 2026 at 2:39 PM
This is today! Go check it out and say hi to Anna!
Great news!
Neo-Nazi group National Socialist Network says it will disband due to proposed hate speech laws
www.abc.net.au/news/2026-01...
Neo-Nazi group National Socialist Network says it will disband due to proposed hate speech laws
www.abc.net.au/news/2026-01...
'We don't want them': Neo-Nazi group says it will disband ahead of new laws
In a statement posted to Telegram, the group announced the closure of the National Socialist Network would also spell the end of "co-projects" White Australia, the European Australian Movement and the...
www.abc.net.au
January 13, 2026 at 6:15 AM
Great news!
Neo-Nazi group National Socialist Network says it will disband due to proposed hate speech laws
www.abc.net.au/news/2026-01...
Neo-Nazi group National Socialist Network says it will disband due to proposed hate speech laws
www.abc.net.au/news/2026-01...
Reposted by Ben Long
Nice article in the ANU reporter about our project in Tonga using slightly saline water for irrigation. The paper should be out soon, too. reporter.anu.edu.au/all-stories/... 🪴🌾🌱🧂
The ANU team drought-proofing staple crops to improve Pacific food security
ANU researchers are working together to ensure yams and taro are capable of surviving droughts in the Pacific.
reporter.anu.edu.au
January 13, 2026 at 2:57 AM
Nice article in the ANU reporter about our project in Tonga using slightly saline water for irrigation. The paper should be out soon, too. reporter.anu.edu.au/all-stories/... 🪴🌾🌱🧂
Rewinding evolution in planta: A Rubisco-null platform validates high-performance ancestral enzymes.
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
PNAS
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), a peer reviewed journal of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) - an authoritative source of high-impact, original research that broadly spans...
www.pnas.org
January 12, 2026 at 11:01 AM
Rewinding evolution in planta: A Rubisco-null platform validates high-performance ancestral enzymes.
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Reposted by Ben Long
Final Call and reminder. Register via this link:https://forms.gle/cYNXKv5A65bpvrNg9
SynBio4ALL Africa wishes to remind you that the launch of SynBio4ALL Africa will take place today Monday 12th January 2026 both on zoom and in person at 6pm EAT|3PM UTC (GMT). In person registration is closed
SynBio4ALL Africa wishes to remind you that the launch of SynBio4ALL Africa will take place today Monday 12th January 2026 both on zoom and in person at 6pm EAT|3PM UTC (GMT). In person registration is closed
January 12, 2026 at 5:34 AM
Final Call and reminder. Register via this link:https://forms.gle/cYNXKv5A65bpvrNg9
SynBio4ALL Africa wishes to remind you that the launch of SynBio4ALL Africa will take place today Monday 12th January 2026 both on zoom and in person at 6pm EAT|3PM UTC (GMT). In person registration is closed
SynBio4ALL Africa wishes to remind you that the launch of SynBio4ALL Africa will take place today Monday 12th January 2026 both on zoom and in person at 6pm EAT|3PM UTC (GMT). In person registration is closed
Reposted by Ben Long
Discovery Projects are now a complete joke:
EoIs were due 12 Dec last year. Full apps are due 22 April this year. Results won't be out until next year: 15 Jan – 15 Apr 2027.
That’s up to 16 MONTHS!
EoIs were due 12 Dec last year. Full apps are due 22 April this year. Results won't be out until next year: 15 Jan – 15 Apr 2027.
That’s up to 16 MONTHS!
January 12, 2026 at 1:17 AM
Discovery Projects are now a complete joke:
EoIs were due 12 Dec last year. Full apps are due 22 April this year. Results won't be out until next year: 15 Jan – 15 Apr 2027.
That’s up to 16 MONTHS!
EoIs were due 12 Dec last year. Full apps are due 22 April this year. Results won't be out until next year: 15 Jan – 15 Apr 2027.
That’s up to 16 MONTHS!
Reposted by Ben Long
⁉️The ARC has delayed outcomes of ALL grants 1–4 months & increased scheduled outcome windows from 2 weeks to 3 months!
This reverses 4 years of progress in providing greater certainty & ability to plan for researchers, their families & unis.
Their excuse? Security checks under new ARC legislation👇
This reverses 4 years of progress in providing greater certainty & ability to plan for researchers, their families & unis.
Their excuse? Security checks under new ARC legislation👇
January 12, 2026 at 1:17 AM
⁉️The ARC has delayed outcomes of ALL grants 1–4 months & increased scheduled outcome windows from 2 weeks to 3 months!
This reverses 4 years of progress in providing greater certainty & ability to plan for researchers, their families & unis.
Their excuse? Security checks under new ARC legislation👇
This reverses 4 years of progress in providing greater certainty & ability to plan for researchers, their families & unis.
Their excuse? Security checks under new ARC legislation👇
Reposted by Ben Long
“We can try to climb this mountain,” said Frog. “That should tell us if we are brave.”
January 11, 2026 at 8:37 PM
“We can try to climb this mountain,” said Frog. “That should tell us if we are brave.”
Reposted by Ben Long
“Extreme heat isn’t just “a hot day”. It isn’t the summer weather Australians grew up expecting. It is a dangerous, escalating threat, supercharged by the continued burning of fossil fuels”
www.theage.com.au/environment/...
www.theage.com.au/environment/...
The data doesn’t lie: it’s getting hotter and fossil fuels are fanning the flames
The big question for me is how do I keep my kids safe? The good news is that we are not powerless.
www.theage.com.au
January 11, 2026 at 10:25 AM
“Extreme heat isn’t just “a hot day”. It isn’t the summer weather Australians grew up expecting. It is a dangerous, escalating threat, supercharged by the continued burning of fossil fuels”
www.theage.com.au/environment/...
www.theage.com.au/environment/...