Justin Meyer
@justinmeyer.bsky.social
UCSD Prof, phage experimental evolution, first gen uni, LGTBQIA+, yinzer, wastes time on politics
Brand new preprint from my lab, showing that TnpB, the ancestor of Cas12, acts as a gene drive in plasmids! And it turns out in conjugative plasmids that it acts as a primitive anti-self defense system, providing a potential link between its transposon effect and becoming CRISPR!
What is the best strategy to win any contest?
Eliminate your opponents of course.
Recently, my friend @fernpizza.bsky.social showed how plasmids compete intracellularly (check out his paper published in Science today!). With @baym.lol, we now know they can fight.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Eliminate your opponents of course.
Recently, my friend @fernpizza.bsky.social showed how plasmids compete intracellularly (check out his paper published in Science today!). With @baym.lol, we now know they can fight.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
November 20, 2025 at 11:43 PM
Reposted by Justin Meyer
With Jeff Barrick's return to #MSU, the #LTEE was restarted today after a short pause (frozen) for the move.
Today was daily transfer 12,301. With ~6.6 generations per day, they are now at ~82,007 generations.
100,000 generations is fast approaching! Are you ready, #Spartans?
@msumgi.bsky.social
Today was daily transfer 12,301. With ~6.6 generations per day, they are now at ~82,007 generations.
100,000 generations is fast approaching! Are you ready, #Spartans?
@msumgi.bsky.social
September 10, 2025 at 8:54 PM
With Jeff Barrick's return to #MSU, the #LTEE was restarted today after a short pause (frozen) for the move.
Today was daily transfer 12,301. With ~6.6 generations per day, they are now at ~82,007 generations.
100,000 generations is fast approaching! Are you ready, #Spartans?
@msumgi.bsky.social
Today was daily transfer 12,301. With ~6.6 generations per day, they are now at ~82,007 generations.
100,000 generations is fast approaching! Are you ready, #Spartans?
@msumgi.bsky.social
@pivotpod.bsky.social @karaswisher.bsky.social fun fact, the three groundbreaking technologies listed in a recent episode - CRISPR, mRNA vaccines, GLP1s - women scientists had a major role in their development.
August 2, 2025 at 10:30 AM
@pivotpod.bsky.social @karaswisher.bsky.social fun fact, the three groundbreaking technologies listed in a recent episode - CRISPR, mRNA vaccines, GLP1s - women scientists had a major role in their development.
Listen to my science origin story, 13 minutes and includes my recovery from being blind, paralyzed, and unable to breathe to running a lab, and a message about these perilous times for science. Some LGBTQIA+ and first gen uni representation too. www.buzzsprout.com/2513792/epis...
Cichlids All The Way Down - SASSY San Diego
Justin was just hitting his stride. Excelling in classes, conducting exciting research. But then, everything stopped. Justin's story is about how roadblocks can sometimes turn in to opportunities to a...
www.buzzsprout.com
July 14, 2025 at 9:57 PM
Listen to my science origin story, 13 minutes and includes my recovery from being blind, paralyzed, and unable to breathe to running a lab, and a message about these perilous times for science. Some LGBTQIA+ and first gen uni representation too. www.buzzsprout.com/2513792/epis...
~1.5 years ago blood donation was opened up to gay men, and today I've reached the one gallon donation threshold! Still grateful for the change in the discriminatory rule. ***Consider donating if you're able to***
One arm, two symbols of LGTBQ+ progress. 9 years ago and I could not have had that wedding ring, and until 9 days ago I could not donate blood. Let’s keep moving forward!!!
July 6, 2025 at 6:05 PM
~1.5 years ago blood donation was opened up to gay men, and today I've reached the one gallon donation threshold! Still grateful for the change in the discriminatory rule. ***Consider donating if you're able to***
Reposted by Justin Meyer
Evolution ( @aburmeister.bsky.social UWM, Tapan Goel, UMD, @justinmeyer.bsky.social)
Ecology (Sarah Preheim JHU, @beckettstephen.bsky.social UMD, Daniel Muratore SFI, and Paul Fremont UMD)
w/ @mariandm.bsky.social as our lead lab instructor.
Ecology (Sarah Preheim JHU, @beckettstephen.bsky.social UMD, Daniel Muratore SFI, and Paul Fremont UMD)
w/ @mariandm.bsky.social as our lead lab instructor.
June 25, 2025 at 12:57 PM
Evolution ( @aburmeister.bsky.social UWM, Tapan Goel, UMD, @justinmeyer.bsky.social)
Ecology (Sarah Preheim JHU, @beckettstephen.bsky.social UMD, Daniel Muratore SFI, and Paul Fremont UMD)
w/ @mariandm.bsky.social as our lead lab instructor.
Ecology (Sarah Preheim JHU, @beckettstephen.bsky.social UMD, Daniel Muratore SFI, and Paul Fremont UMD)
w/ @mariandm.bsky.social as our lead lab instructor.
A colleague and her brilliant daughter at the #nokings SD March. While these two march often, I’m encouraged by the number of new protestors in my network. Welcome!!
June 15, 2025 at 8:28 PM
A colleague and her brilliant daughter at the #nokings SD March. While these two march often, I’m encouraged by the number of new protestors in my network. Welcome!!
Reposted by Justin Meyer
If randomly kidnapping people (including first grade kids) from places of work, education, worship, and immigration appointments and disappearing them without due process to foreign prisons does not meet your definition of fascism, then your definition of fascism is wrong.
June 11, 2025 at 5:13 PM
If randomly kidnapping people (including first grade kids) from places of work, education, worship, and immigration appointments and disappearing them without due process to foreign prisons does not meet your definition of fascism, then your definition of fascism is wrong.
Reposted by Justin Meyer
Featuring stories by myself, @justinmeyer.bsky.social, two PhD students from @scrippsocean.bsky.social, and more!
June 11, 2025 at 2:50 PM
Featuring stories by myself, @justinmeyer.bsky.social, two PhD students from @scrippsocean.bsky.social, and more!
Happy Pride from my home town!
June 1, 2025 at 8:52 PM
Happy Pride from my home town!
What marker delineates when AI is sentient? When AI questions if humans - with their wetware - could actually be sentient.
May 28, 2025 at 7:46 PM
What marker delineates when AI is sentient? When AI questions if humans - with their wetware - could actually be sentient.
I've started running routinely again, an activity I gave up 10 years ago when I started my faculty position. I am nowhere near as good as I used to be, so I am not setting any personal records. But, I am setting personal middle aged records for speed and distance. Is there a term for this?
May 28, 2025 at 7:43 PM
I've started running routinely again, an activity I gave up 10 years ago when I started my faculty position. I am nowhere near as good as I used to be, so I am not setting any personal records. But, I am setting personal middle aged records for speed and distance. Is there a term for this?
Reposted by Justin Meyer
ATTENTION: NSF GRANT RECIPIENTS
We received a heads up from a trusted source that you should proactively download/print/screen shot any documentation on research.gov pertaining to your NSF awards, both those that are current and any that have closed in the last 5-6 years.
1/n
We received a heads up from a trusted source that you should proactively download/print/screen shot any documentation on research.gov pertaining to your NSF awards, both those that are current and any that have closed in the last 5-6 years.
1/n
a cartoon of a man holding a frying pan and a spoon with red alert written above him
ALT: a cartoon of a man holding a frying pan and a spoon with red alert written above him
media.tenor.com
April 24, 2025 at 9:09 PM
ATTENTION: NSF GRANT RECIPIENTS
We received a heads up from a trusted source that you should proactively download/print/screen shot any documentation on research.gov pertaining to your NSF awards, both those that are current and any that have closed in the last 5-6 years.
1/n
We received a heads up from a trusted source that you should proactively download/print/screen shot any documentation on research.gov pertaining to your NSF awards, both those that are current and any that have closed in the last 5-6 years.
1/n
Reposted by Justin Meyer
NSF Director stepping down.
Email to staff on a Thursday. This doesn’t bode well for the typical Friday news dump.
Email to staff on a Thursday. This doesn’t bode well for the typical Friday news dump.
April 24, 2025 at 6:55 PM
NSF Director stepping down.
Email to staff on a Thursday. This doesn’t bode well for the typical Friday news dump.
Email to staff on a Thursday. This doesn’t bode well for the typical Friday news dump.
Reposted by Justin Meyer
Our latest paper, in which @brinda.eu (along with @zaminiqbal.bsky.social and others) introduces phylogenetic compression for storage and search of enormous microbial genome libraries, was published today in @naturemethods.bsky.social:
rdcu.be/eg4OA
1/
rdcu.be/eg4OA
1/
Efficient and robust search of microbial genomes via phylogenetic compression
Nature Methods - Phylogenetic compression achieves performant and lossless compression of massive collections of microbial genomes, facilitating fast BLAST-like search and versatile alignment tasks.
rdcu.be
April 9, 2025 at 9:07 PM
Our latest paper, in which @brinda.eu (along with @zaminiqbal.bsky.social and others) introduces phylogenetic compression for storage and search of enormous microbial genome libraries, was published today in @naturemethods.bsky.social:
rdcu.be/eg4OA
1/
rdcu.be/eg4OA
1/
Reposted by Justin Meyer
Working with an interdisciplinary team, we have developed a website to communicate how the White House's proposed cuts to health research would cause losses of $16B and 68,500 jobs.
Find out how your community may be impacted.
Explore more at SCIMaP: scienceimpacts.org
a 🧵
Find out how your community may be impacted.
Explore more at SCIMaP: scienceimpacts.org
a 🧵
March 28, 2025 at 2:15 AM
Working with an interdisciplinary team, we have developed a website to communicate how the White House's proposed cuts to health research would cause losses of $16B and 68,500 jobs.
Find out how your community may be impacted.
Explore more at SCIMaP: scienceimpacts.org
a 🧵
Find out how your community may be impacted.
Explore more at SCIMaP: scienceimpacts.org
a 🧵
Reposted by Justin Meyer
"I want parents who have children to know that opportunities for your kids, if they aspire to be scientists or engineers, are being stripped away right in front of you," the NSF employee told Axios.
www.axios.com/2025/03/10/a...
www.axios.com/2025/03/10/a...
Exclusive: Science and tech agency cuts spark industry pushback
As Trump administration cuts hit research, some fear American leadership in computer science is at risk.
www.axios.com
March 12, 2025 at 10:50 AM
"I want parents who have children to know that opportunities for your kids, if they aspire to be scientists or engineers, are being stripped away right in front of you," the NSF employee told Axios.
www.axios.com/2025/03/10/a...
www.axios.com/2025/03/10/a...
Reposted by Justin Meyer
It is finally out!
Muntathar Al-Shimary, @doudna-lab.bsky.social , @cresslab.bsky.social and I present a gene knockdown tool that works in diverse bacteriophages: CRISPRi through antisense RNA Targeting (CRISPRi-ART)!
Check it out @naturemicrobiol.bsky.social
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Muntathar Al-Shimary, @doudna-lab.bsky.social , @cresslab.bsky.social and I present a gene knockdown tool that works in diverse bacteriophages: CRISPRi through antisense RNA Targeting (CRISPRi-ART)!
Check it out @naturemicrobiol.bsky.social
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
CRISPRi-ART enables functional genomics of diverse bacteriophages using RNA-binding dCas13d - Nature Microbiology
Leveraging RNA-targeting dCas13d enables selective interference with phage protein translation and facilitates measurement of phage gene fitness at a transcriptome-wide scale.
www.nature.com
February 26, 2025 at 4:43 PM
It is finally out!
Muntathar Al-Shimary, @doudna-lab.bsky.social , @cresslab.bsky.social and I present a gene knockdown tool that works in diverse bacteriophages: CRISPRi through antisense RNA Targeting (CRISPRi-ART)!
Check it out @naturemicrobiol.bsky.social
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Muntathar Al-Shimary, @doudna-lab.bsky.social , @cresslab.bsky.social and I present a gene knockdown tool that works in diverse bacteriophages: CRISPRi through antisense RNA Targeting (CRISPRi-ART)!
Check it out @naturemicrobiol.bsky.social
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Happy 37th birthday to @relenski.bsky.social long term evolution experiment. Here's a beautiful summary: the-ltee.org/history/
History – The Long-Term Evolution Experiment
the-ltee.org
February 24, 2025 at 6:13 PM
Happy 37th birthday to @relenski.bsky.social long term evolution experiment. Here's a beautiful summary: the-ltee.org/history/
Join us this summer for a week of learning about the interdisciplinary study of bacteria-phage interactions.
A small moment of science in the world of the very small... announcing calls for applications from MS + PhD students + postdocs for a Summer School on
Quantitative Phage-Bacteria Dynamics Across Scales
U of Maryland, College Park, June 23-27, 2025
Apply by 3/21/25:
bit.ly/phageschool2...
Quantitative Phage-Bacteria Dynamics Across Scales
U of Maryland, College Park, June 23-27, 2025
Apply by 3/21/25:
bit.ly/phageschool2...
February 21, 2025 at 4:32 PM
Join us this summer for a week of learning about the interdisciplinary study of bacteria-phage interactions.
Reposted by Justin Meyer
A small moment of science in the world of the very small... announcing calls for applications from MS + PhD students + postdocs for a Summer School on
Quantitative Phage-Bacteria Dynamics Across Scales
U of Maryland, College Park, June 23-27, 2025
Apply by 3/21/25:
bit.ly/phageschool2...
Quantitative Phage-Bacteria Dynamics Across Scales
U of Maryland, College Park, June 23-27, 2025
Apply by 3/21/25:
bit.ly/phageschool2...
February 21, 2025 at 12:46 PM
A small moment of science in the world of the very small... announcing calls for applications from MS + PhD students + postdocs for a Summer School on
Quantitative Phage-Bacteria Dynamics Across Scales
U of Maryland, College Park, June 23-27, 2025
Apply by 3/21/25:
bit.ly/phageschool2...
Quantitative Phage-Bacteria Dynamics Across Scales
U of Maryland, College Park, June 23-27, 2025
Apply by 3/21/25:
bit.ly/phageschool2...
Reposted by Justin Meyer
Educational opportunities for college students across the country are about to tank. A well written article for parents of college students by @joshuasweitz.bsky.social
open.substack.com/pub/joshuasw...
open.substack.com/pub/joshuasw...
Welcome to the Incoming Freshman Class of Project 2025 (Science and Research Options Now Limited or Unavailable)
If successful, ongoing efforts to slash federally-funded research mean parents should expect to pay more even as students have fewer options for career-relevant training.
open.substack.com
February 10, 2025 at 11:38 PM
Educational opportunities for college students across the country are about to tank. A well written article for parents of college students by @joshuasweitz.bsky.social
open.substack.com/pub/joshuasw...
open.substack.com/pub/joshuasw...
Looking forward to this! Important question, should I pack hot sauce? I know @luiszaman.bsky.social wouldn’t, but I’m thinking I may need my own supply in Germany! workshops.evolbio.mpg.de/event/119/
Concepts in Evolutionary Biology
Evolutionary Biology has undergone several transitions from the publication of "On the Origin of Species" through holistic gradualism, reconciliation with genetics and the emergence of population gene...
workshops.evolbio.mpg.de
February 7, 2025 at 5:32 PM
Looking forward to this! Important question, should I pack hot sauce? I know @luiszaman.bsky.social wouldn’t, but I’m thinking I may need my own supply in Germany! workshops.evolbio.mpg.de/event/119/
Clear and great writing on the value of the NSF! By @joshuasweitz.bsky.social open.substack.com/pub/joshuasw...
Inbox | Substack
open.substack.com
February 6, 2025 at 2:35 AM
Clear and great writing on the value of the NSF! By @joshuasweitz.bsky.social open.substack.com/pub/joshuasw...