Will Ratcliff
@wcratcliff.bsky.social
Evolutionary biologist (Multicellularity & social evolution). Prof. at Georgia Tech & Director of the QBioS PhD program.
https://ratclifflab.biosci.gatech.edu/
https://ratclifflab.biosci.gatech.edu/
Pinned
Will Ratcliff
@wcratcliff.bsky.social
· Mar 5
Genome duplication in a long-term multicellularity evolution experiment - Nature
In the Multicellularity Long Term Evolution Experiment, diploid yeast evolve to be tetraploid under selection for larger multicellular size, revealing how whole-genome duplication can arise due to its...
www.nature.com
1/46 Hey folks, we have a new paper out on the MuLTEE. Strap in and I’ll tell you the story of how this “little paper on polyploidy” turned into the most data rich paper our lab has produced, largely thanks to the leadership and work ethic of @kaitong25.bsky.social.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Will Ratcliff
Now, what you hear is not a test, I'm rapping to the beat
And me, the groove, and my friends are gonna try to move your feet
You see, I am Pontifex and I'd like to say hello
And me, the groove, and my friends are gonna try to move your feet
You see, I am Pontifex and I'd like to say hello
November 23, 2025 at 1:10 AM
Now, what you hear is not a test, I'm rapping to the beat
And me, the groove, and my friends are gonna try to move your feet
You see, I am Pontifex and I'd like to say hello
And me, the groove, and my friends are gonna try to move your feet
You see, I am Pontifex and I'd like to say hello
Reposted by Will Ratcliff
In which I fruitlessly beg NIH grant-seeking folks to focus on what is actually important. drugmonkey.wordpress.com/2025/11/21/i...
In which I fruitlessly beg NIH grant-seeking folks to focus on what is actually important.
A new webpage on the NIH site called “Implementing a Unified NIH Funding Strategy to Guide Consistent and Clearer Award Decisions” is causing a small kerfuffle on the socials. As per us…
drugmonkey.wordpress.com
November 22, 2025 at 12:26 AM
In which I fruitlessly beg NIH grant-seeking folks to focus on what is actually important. drugmonkey.wordpress.com/2025/11/21/i...
Reposted by Will Ratcliff
We just released a new major version of TrackMate (v8), the cell and organelle tracking plugin of Fiji.
It ships many new features, detailed below, but that are articulated around the following:
It ships many new features, detailed below, but that are articulated around the following:
November 20, 2025 at 11:42 AM
We just released a new major version of TrackMate (v8), the cell and organelle tracking plugin of Fiji.
It ships many new features, detailed below, but that are articulated around the following:
It ships many new features, detailed below, but that are articulated around the following:
Epic paper!!
Hot off the press! Our latest paper led by @fernpizza.bsky.social, understanding how plasmids evolve inside cells. These small, self-replicating DNA circles live inside bacteria and carry antibiotic resistance genes, but also compete with one another to replicate. 1/
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Intracellular competition shapes plasmid population dynamics
From populations of multicellular organisms to selfish genetic elements, conflicts between levels of biological organization are central to evolution. Plasmids are extrachromosomal, self-replicating g...
www.science.org
November 20, 2025 at 9:56 PM
Epic paper!!
Does anyone have any recs for good paper reading software? Something that allows me to listen to a paper like its a podcast, so I could digest papers while driving/walking/gardening?
November 20, 2025 at 4:33 PM
Does anyone have any recs for good paper reading software? Something that allows me to listen to a paper like its a podcast, so I could digest papers while driving/walking/gardening?
Super excited for this project and grateful to the John Templeton Foundation for support!
Congrats to @wcratcliff.bsky.social, who received a grant from @templetonfdn.bsky.social. The grant will enable Ratcliff to continue groundbreaking research into the origins of multicellular life. b.gatech.edu/4oPhHSh
November 19, 2025 at 4:20 PM
Super excited for this project and grateful to the John Templeton Foundation for support!
Setting up for the 10 year qbios anniversary professional networking event (party)!
November 14, 2025 at 10:25 PM
Setting up for the 10 year qbios anniversary professional networking event (party)!
Dang, hard disagree. The best papers to write and read are works of art, not merely a list of data and statements.
Don’t let LLMs take this away too, for gods sake.
Don’t let LLMs take this away too, for gods sake.
I honestly think we would all be a lot more productive if papers were bullet points with plots.
November 14, 2025 at 10:22 PM
Dang, hard disagree. The best papers to write and read are works of art, not merely a list of data and statements.
Don’t let LLMs take this away too, for gods sake.
Don’t let LLMs take this away too, for gods sake.
Reposted by Will Ratcliff
Congratulations to Joe Felsenstein on being awarded the 2026 Mendel Medal!
November 14, 2025 at 12:41 PM
Congratulations to Joe Felsenstein on being awarded the 2026 Mendel Medal!
3.49 at my favorite grocery store. How am I gonna fit this in my fridge?
November 13, 2025 at 10:49 PM
3.49 at my favorite grocery store. How am I gonna fit this in my fridge?
Let me use this as an opportunity to talk about Jordi et al's very cool paper, now out in PNAS 🧪:
pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...
You can read our news and views here: www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...
You can read our news and views here: www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
November 13, 2025 at 4:13 PM
Let me use this as an opportunity to talk about Jordi et al's very cool paper, now out in PNAS 🧪:
pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...
You can read our news and views here: www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...
You can read our news and views here: www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
@sacrozhangt.bsky.social and I wrote a commentary on Jordi van Gestel and Carol Gross's latest paper, check it out!
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Sadly, the Editors at PNAS rejected our initial introduction, which was a David Attenborough style voice over of the microbial Serengeti (included below)
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Sadly, the Editors at PNAS rejected our initial introduction, which was a David Attenborough style voice over of the microbial Serengeti (included below)
November 13, 2025 at 2:54 PM
@sacrozhangt.bsky.social and I wrote a commentary on Jordi van Gestel and Carol Gross's latest paper, check it out!
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Sadly, the Editors at PNAS rejected our initial introduction, which was a David Attenborough style voice over of the microbial Serengeti (included below)
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Sadly, the Editors at PNAS rejected our initial introduction, which was a David Attenborough style voice over of the microbial Serengeti (included below)
Reposted by Will Ratcliff
Asgard collaborative expedition begins… Falkor (too) has left Montevideo
November 13, 2025 at 12:53 PM
Asgard collaborative expedition begins… Falkor (too) has left Montevideo
End of season figs are delicious
November 11, 2025 at 11:07 PM
End of season figs are delicious
Reposted by Will Ratcliff
Trump: "Nobody knows what magnets are."
November 10, 2025 at 9:07 PM
Trump: "Nobody knows what magnets are."
Reposted by Will Ratcliff
Perhaps a better way to put my view: we should think of intelligence(s) as capacities, i.e. things a system can do, rather than a latent thing that systems have. Then the performance on the test simply is the thing and we don't need to speculate about whether the test measures the real, hidden thing
November 8, 2025 at 11:56 PM
Perhaps a better way to put my view: we should think of intelligence(s) as capacities, i.e. things a system can do, rather than a latent thing that systems have. Then the performance on the test simply is the thing and we don't need to speculate about whether the test measures the real, hidden thing
Reposted by Will Ratcliff
We are looking for a scientific computing associate interested in data-driven equation discovery here at @hhmijanelia.bsky.social. This is an alternative to a postdoc that you can use to move into academic or software jobs. Please spread the word!
hhmi.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/Extern...
hhmi.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/Extern...
Scientific Computing Associate - Data-Driven Equation Discovery
Primary Work Address: 19700 Helix Drive, Ashburn, VA, 20147 Current HHMI Employees, click here to apply via your Workday account. The Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Janelia Research Campus is a pio...
hhmi.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com
November 7, 2025 at 9:08 PM
We are looking for a scientific computing associate interested in data-driven equation discovery here at @hhmijanelia.bsky.social. This is an alternative to a postdoc that you can use to move into academic or software jobs. Please spread the word!
hhmi.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/Extern...
hhmi.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/Extern...
Reposted by Will Ratcliff
Mini @rokaslab.bsky.social reunion with Dr. Abigail Lind @abigailllind.bsky.social
Amazing seminar... What is in our gut and what is it doing!?
I assume our students are flocking to try EukDetect!
Amazing seminar... What is in our gut and what is it doing!?
I assume our students are flocking to try EukDetect!
November 7, 2025 at 7:40 PM
Mini @rokaslab.bsky.social reunion with Dr. Abigail Lind @abigailllind.bsky.social
Amazing seminar... What is in our gut and what is it doing!?
I assume our students are flocking to try EukDetect!
Amazing seminar... What is in our gut and what is it doing!?
I assume our students are flocking to try EukDetect!
If someone made this into a drug, I'd be a hopeless addict.
Super cool- more Asgardian cell biology please!
Super cool- more Asgardian cell biology please!
An Asgard archaeon with internal membrane compartments
Brilliant study led by @fmacleod.bsky.social and Andriko von Kügelgen. Tight collaboration with @buzzbaum.bsky.social and lab. Congrats to all authors!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Brilliant study led by @fmacleod.bsky.social and Andriko von Kügelgen. Tight collaboration with @buzzbaum.bsky.social and lab. Congrats to all authors!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
November 7, 2025 at 6:02 PM
If someone made this into a drug, I'd be a hopeless addict.
Super cool- more Asgardian cell biology please!
Super cool- more Asgardian cell biology please!
Definitely an amazing meeting- attend if you can!
Only a few days left for abstract submission at the brand new EMBO|EMBL Symposium Collectivity in living systems: emergence, function and evolution. We have stellar speakers in cell, animal collectives & beyond @priscaliberali.bsky.social @icouzin.bsky.social @ricardsole.bsky.social
Join us!
Join us!
November 7, 2025 at 6:01 PM
Definitely an amazing meeting- attend if you can!
It's #reccomendation_writing_friday! What rec letters are you working on today?
For me, it's
1 NSF GRFP
1 Goldwater fellowship
2 Tenure letters
3 Grad school letters of rec
For me, it's
1 NSF GRFP
1 Goldwater fellowship
2 Tenure letters
3 Grad school letters of rec
November 7, 2025 at 5:39 PM
It's #reccomendation_writing_friday! What rec letters are you working on today?
For me, it's
1 NSF GRFP
1 Goldwater fellowship
2 Tenure letters
3 Grad school letters of rec
For me, it's
1 NSF GRFP
1 Goldwater fellowship
2 Tenure letters
3 Grad school letters of rec
Should I make this my new professional head shot?
November 2, 2025 at 6:12 PM
Should I make this my new professional head shot?