Dave Baltrus 🦦
@surtlab.bsky.social
Professor at UArizona interested in genome rummaging, microbial evolution, and occasional tales about having backyard farm animals.
“I’m something of a scientist myself”
Baltrus(at)Arizona.edu
“I’m something of a scientist myself”
Baltrus(at)Arizona.edu
Reposted by Dave Baltrus 🦦
My former student Sofia wrote this story for @startribune.com. She’s less than a year out of college and helping cover the biggest story in the country. I am very proud of her.
Two women trained as first responders were abducted by three ICE agents. One of the agents starts seizing. The other two don’t know what to do. The women jump into action and save the agent’s life, only to be re-handcuffed and processed.
www.startribune.com/detained-by-...
www.startribune.com/detained-by-...
Detained by ICE, two women became first responders during agent’s seizure
The women say they guided agents through the emergency, later raising concerns about medical protocols, weapons safety and accountability.
www.startribune.com
January 24, 2026 at 1:38 AM
My former student Sofia wrote this story for @startribune.com. She’s less than a year out of college and helping cover the biggest story in the country. I am very proud of her.
Reposted by Dave Baltrus 🦦
Governed by people in admin with terminal brainrot
CNN: DHS officials have come to FEMA staff and told them to limit the use of the word ice…they are worried that by posting something like, watch out for the ice, that it's going to become a meme….
January 24, 2026 at 12:10 AM
Governed by people in admin with terminal brainrot
Reposted by Dave Baltrus 🦦
Reposted by Dave Baltrus 🦦
There are many serious governments in the world.
The US is not one of them.
(There are no penguins in Greenland.)
The US is not one of them.
(There are no penguins in Greenland.)
January 23, 2026 at 11:12 PM
There are many serious governments in the world.
The US is not one of them.
(There are no penguins in Greenland.)
The US is not one of them.
(There are no penguins in Greenland.)
It’s a little ecosystem…I bring in chicken food, mice eat chicken food, snake eats mice, circle of life
There’s a rattlesnake that lives under a food container in my chicken coop…and it’s been there for months/years
The chickens and snake all get along
Feels like children’s book potential
The chickens and snake all get along
Feels like children’s book potential
January 23, 2026 at 3:49 PM
It’s a little ecosystem…I bring in chicken food, mice eat chicken food, snake eats mice, circle of life
There’s a rattlesnake that lives under a food container in my chicken coop…and it’s been there for months/years
The chickens and snake all get along
Feels like children’s book potential
The chickens and snake all get along
Feels like children’s book potential
January 23, 2026 at 3:48 PM
There’s a rattlesnake that lives under a food container in my chicken coop…and it’s been there for months/years
The chickens and snake all get along
Feels like children’s book potential
The chickens and snake all get along
Feels like children’s book potential
🤔
I’m skeptical that this kind of thing could happen in actual cancer in a human body (as opposed to tissue culture in this manuscript), but if it can that’s paradigm shifting
I’m skeptical that this kind of thing could happen in actual cancer in a human body (as opposed to tissue culture in this manuscript), but if it can that’s paradigm shifting
Extracellular vesicles facilitate the horizontal transfer of drug resistance and stem-like properties between ovarian tumor cells https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.01.20.699925v1
January 23, 2026 at 10:53 AM
🤔
I’m skeptical that this kind of thing could happen in actual cancer in a human body (as opposed to tissue culture in this manuscript), but if it can that’s paradigm shifting
I’m skeptical that this kind of thing could happen in actual cancer in a human body (as opposed to tissue culture in this manuscript), but if it can that’s paradigm shifting
Reposted by Dave Baltrus 🦦
Isn't this a telling aspiration? To want robots to look after your kids, so you can do stuff, rather than robots to do stuff, so you can spend time with your kids?
The darkness inside these shrivelled men must be like a gaping unfillable void.
The darkness inside these shrivelled men must be like a gaping unfillable void.
January 22, 2026 at 5:39 PM
Isn't this a telling aspiration? To want robots to look after your kids, so you can do stuff, rather than robots to do stuff, so you can spend time with your kids?
The darkness inside these shrivelled men must be like a gaping unfillable void.
The darkness inside these shrivelled men must be like a gaping unfillable void.
Reposted by Dave Baltrus 🦦
I just thought everyone should see this
January 22, 2026 at 11:02 PM
I just thought everyone should see this
Reposted by Dave Baltrus 🦦
🚨 New from me: Grant review at more than half of NIH's institutes could be frozen by the end of the year.
That's because crucial NIH grant-review panels are slated to be empty at those institutes by Jan 2027.
A wonky bureaucratic problem with big implications.
A short 🧵
That's because crucial NIH grant-review panels are slated to be empty at those institutes by Jan 2027.
A wonky bureaucratic problem with big implications.
A short 🧵
Exclusive: key NIH review panels due to lose all members by the end of 2026
Thirteen of the agency’s advisory councils, which must review grant applications before funding is awarded, are on track to have no voting members.
www.nature.com
January 22, 2026 at 7:46 PM
🚨 New from me: Grant review at more than half of NIH's institutes could be frozen by the end of the year.
That's because crucial NIH grant-review panels are slated to be empty at those institutes by Jan 2027.
A wonky bureaucratic problem with big implications.
A short 🧵
That's because crucial NIH grant-review panels are slated to be empty at those institutes by Jan 2027.
A wonky bureaucratic problem with big implications.
A short 🧵
Reposted by Dave Baltrus 🦦
the woke mob is giving He-man pronouns
January 22, 2026 at 6:47 PM
the woke mob is giving He-man pronouns
Reposted by Dave Baltrus 🦦
🔔 New paper alert 🔔 www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Some regions in the genome replicate early and some late, but the why and how remain poorly understood. DNA replication and 3D genome organization appear linked, raising the question if one may regulate the other? (1/n)
Some regions in the genome replicate early and some late, but the why and how remain poorly understood. DNA replication and 3D genome organization appear linked, raising the question if one may regulate the other? (1/n)
DNA methylation and lncRNA control asynchronous DNA replication at specific imprinted gene domains - Nature Communications
It is not fully understood why genomic loci show asynchronous DNA replication. Here, the authors show that two imprinted gene domains replicate asynchronously between the parental chromosomes due to d...
www.nature.com
January 21, 2026 at 8:53 PM
🔔 New paper alert 🔔 www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Some regions in the genome replicate early and some late, but the why and how remain poorly understood. DNA replication and 3D genome organization appear linked, raising the question if one may regulate the other? (1/n)
Some regions in the genome replicate early and some late, but the why and how remain poorly understood. DNA replication and 3D genome organization appear linked, raising the question if one may regulate the other? (1/n)
After 15 years, I borked my -80 and had to move everything to backup freezers (handle wore down and finally broke and door wouldn’t close shut anymore)
January 22, 2026 at 2:33 PM
After 15 years, I borked my -80 and had to move everything to backup freezers (handle wore down and finally broke and door wouldn’t close shut anymore)
Reposted by Dave Baltrus 🦦
If you have paywall issues...
Cell cycle dysregulation of globally important SAR11 bacteria resulting from environmental perturbation www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Cell cycle dysregulation of globally important SAR11 bacteria resulting from environmental perturbation www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
January 22, 2026 at 2:27 PM
If you have paywall issues...
Cell cycle dysregulation of globally important SAR11 bacteria resulting from environmental perturbation www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Cell cycle dysregulation of globally important SAR11 bacteria resulting from environmental perturbation www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Dave Baltrus 🦦
Good news from Merck & Moderna. Custom-made mRNA vaccine, now dubbed intismeran autogene (mRNA-4157) + Keytruda linked to 49% lower risk of melanoma relapse or death. My read is that these vaccines have real potential not so much for initial treatment but to keep cancer in remission.
Personalized mRNA Vaccine Reduces Melanoma Relapse at 5 Years
A customized neoantigen vaccine plus checkpoint inhibitor immunotherapy lowered the risk of recurrence or death by 49% in a mid-stage trial.
www.cancerhealth.com
January 22, 2026 at 2:23 PM
Good news from Merck & Moderna. Custom-made mRNA vaccine, now dubbed intismeran autogene (mRNA-4157) + Keytruda linked to 49% lower risk of melanoma relapse or death. My read is that these vaccines have real potential not so much for initial treatment but to keep cancer in remission.
Reposted by Dave Baltrus 🦦
Our latest. Led by the very talented @ahoiching.bsky.social
Cell cycle dysregulation of globally important SAR11 bacteria resulting from environmental perturbation www.nature.com/articles/s41... #jcampubs 🌊
Cell cycle dysregulation of globally important SAR11 bacteria resulting from environmental perturbation www.nature.com/articles/s41... #jcampubs 🌊
Cell cycle dysregulation of globally important SAR11 bacteria resulting from environmental perturbation - Nature Microbiology
Without key cell cycle control genes, SAR11 cells experience aneuploidy and growth inhibition when exposed to changes in nutrients, carbon sources or temperature stress, a vulnerability that may repre...
www.nature.com
January 22, 2026 at 2:24 PM
Our latest. Led by the very talented @ahoiching.bsky.social
Cell cycle dysregulation of globally important SAR11 bacteria resulting from environmental perturbation www.nature.com/articles/s41... #jcampubs 🌊
Cell cycle dysregulation of globally important SAR11 bacteria resulting from environmental perturbation www.nature.com/articles/s41... #jcampubs 🌊
Reposted by Dave Baltrus 🦦
Finally a satisfying answer to why some microbes just 'hate' organics. Amazing work!
Cell cycle dysregulation of globally important SAR11 bacteria resulting from environmental perturbation www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Cell cycle dysregulation of globally important SAR11 bacteria resulting from environmental perturbation - Nature Microbiology
Without key cell cycle control genes, SAR11 cells experience aneuploidy and growth inhibition when exposed to changes in nutrients, carbon sources or temperature stress, a vulnerability that may repre...
www.nature.com
January 22, 2026 at 2:16 PM
Finally a satisfying answer to why some microbes just 'hate' organics. Amazing work!
Reposted by Dave Baltrus 🦦
In the 2010s, the Icelandic tv station Channel 2 accidentally added subtitles from a gritty crime drama to an episode of Teletubbies.
I have translated some of the highlights
I have translated some of the highlights
January 20, 2026 at 12:30 AM
In the 2010s, the Icelandic tv station Channel 2 accidentally added subtitles from a gritty crime drama to an episode of Teletubbies.
I have translated some of the highlights
I have translated some of the highlights
David Stearns, you magnificent bastard #LFGM
New York Mets Ny Mets GIF
Alt: A man (named Apu) saying that the NY Mets are “his favorite squadron”
media.tenor.com
January 22, 2026 at 2:02 PM
David Stearns, you magnificent bastard #LFGM
Reposted by Dave Baltrus 🦦
A five-year-old boy seized on his way home in Minnesota and now locked up in Texas. His family didn't know where he was for 24 hours.
January 21, 2026 at 11:36 PM
A five-year-old boy seized on his way home in Minnesota and now locked up in Texas. His family didn't know where he was for 24 hours.
Reposted by Dave Baltrus 🦦
I had posted earlier about how I couldn’t let Talmage be outside alone waiting for his school bus because some goons might fuck with him. This is what everyday Minnesotans are dealing with. Lawless armed, masked goons perpetuating a federal government-led ethnic cleansing.
Heartbreaking cruelty visited upon children in our name
January 21, 2026 at 8:55 PM
I had posted earlier about how I couldn’t let Talmage be outside alone waiting for his school bus because some goons might fuck with him. This is what everyday Minnesotans are dealing with. Lawless armed, masked goons perpetuating a federal government-led ethnic cleansing.
Reposted by Dave Baltrus 🦦
The arguments I have received from the pro-ICE world are “it all happened so fast” but looking down your barrel through an open window at the side of a person’s head and pulling the trigger is murder.
If this is accurate, Good was killed by a bullet fired after there was any conceivable argument Agent Ross was in the path of her vehicle, which means there was no legal justification for using deadly force. But DOJ says there’s no reason to investigate.
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/21/u...
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/21/u...
Private Autopsy Shows Renee Good Was Shot at Least 3 Times, Lawyers Say
www.nytimes.com
January 22, 2026 at 1:08 PM
The arguments I have received from the pro-ICE world are “it all happened so fast” but looking down your barrel through an open window at the side of a person’s head and pulling the trigger is murder.
I’m tired and angry and embarrassed and all the other words…
Trump: "I don't discriminate but you can look at some people and say, 'They're criminals.' And we took in tremendous numbers of murderers, drug dealers, mental institutions, insane asylum people."
January 21, 2026 at 7:10 PM
I’m tired and angry and embarrassed and all the other words…
I mean, it is confusing…Greenland with the ice and Iceland with the green etc….
US President Trump stunned a watching world by mixing up Iceland for Greenland several times in a fiery speech to the WEF at Davos. On one occasion, he said NATO appreciated him “until I told them about Iceland” – and he referred to Iceland three times within seconds when
January 21, 2026 at 7:06 PM
I mean, it is confusing…Greenland with the ice and Iceland with the green etc….