Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Irene Newton @chicascientifica.bsky.social · Jul 23

Excited to share our new call for papers at @asm.org's MRA journal. Do you have a database, software, or web-based tool that would be a great resource for the micro community? Consider submitting it to MRA! journals.asm.org/journal/mra/...

Microbial Databases, Software Tools, and Web Services

Publish your microbial database or software tool in MRA to gain recognition, citations, and community trust.

journals.asm.org

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Irene Newton @chicascientifica.bsky.social · Jul 23

BEST CONFERENCE BABY EVER!!!!!
Thanks so much for participating!

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Irene Newton @chicascientifica.bsky.social · Jun 26

FFS

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Irene Newton @chicascientifica.bsky.social · Jun 26

Anyone know how to view the recorded talks from ASMicrobe2025?

Irene Newton @chicascientifica.bsky.social · Jun 23

#ASMicrobe in LA was just what I needed - I leave feeling energized and excited about the future of microbial sciences - see you in DC next year!

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Irene Newton @chicascientifica.bsky.social · Jun 22

Thanks for attending!! 🥰

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Irene Newton @chicascientifica.bsky.social · Jun 22

Great pics! It was indeed amazing!

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Irene Newton @chicascientifica.bsky.social · Jun 18

New collaborative work from our group and friends in our NSF Biology Integration Institute,Evolutionary trends in Bombella apis CRISPR-Cas systems
journals.asm.org/eprint/DXFSP...

Evolutionary trends in Bombella apis CRISPR-Cas systems | mSystems

Honey bee worker gut microbes have been implicated in everything from protection from pathogens to breakdown of complex polysaccharides in the diet. However, there are multiple niches within a honey bee colony that host different groups of microbes, ...

journals.asm.org

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Irene Newton @chicascientifica.bsky.social · Jun 12

Is she available!?!

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Irene Newton @chicascientifica.bsky.social · Jun 12

Hello science fam! We have had a last-minute cancellation for our GRC on Ecological and Evolutionary Genomics and are looking for someone who studies EEG in the context of microbes who would be available to come to beautiful Tuscany in July! Message me!

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Irene Newton @chicascientifica.bsky.social · May 19

I'm most excited about exploring what these Drosophila proteins mean for Wolbachia symbiosis and biology! 3/3

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Irene Newton @chicascientifica.bsky.social · May 19

Wolbachia harbor SOOOO many ankyrin repeat proteins - sometimes upwards of 80 in a 1Mb genome! What could these proteins be doing for the microbe? For years, the community has assumed they might be secreted effectors and in this study, we use Drosophila + yeast to identify host targets. 1/2

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Irene Newton @chicascientifica.bsky.social · May 19

So excited to present work from my lab on characterizing which host proteins are targetted by Wolbachia wMel ankyrin repeats - (1/3) www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Wolbachia uses ankyrin repeats to target specific fly proteins

Arthropods, the most diverse phylum on Earth, are hosts to a plethora of bacterial parasites that secrete various toxins of unknown function during infection. The most prevalent of these is the intrac...

www.biorxiv.org

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Reposted by Irene Newton

Michael Baym @baym.lol · May 13

Yesterday, the NIH R35 “Outstanding Investigator” grant to fund scientists in my lab studying antibiotic resistance was terminated for reasons not related to the content of the science, or any actions taken by me or members of my lab

A screenshot of the termination notice showing "Outstanding Investigator Grants"

A screenshot of the termination notice with "This award is terminated effective the date of this award, due to unsafe antisemitic actions that suggest the institution lacks concern for the safety and wellbeing of Jewish students." highlighted

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Reposted by Irene Newton

Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · May 17

This is the beauty and wonder that we are being told has no value—or is even antithetical to American values.

Well they're wrong, as anyone can see if they simply take a moment to imagine, truly imagine, what superpowers science gives us to see into worlds where we could otherwise never tread.

Andrew D Thaler @drandrewthaler.bsky.social · May 17

Some of you have never sat at the bottom of the Cayman Trench watching a species whom no human has ever seen before or since swimming by and it shows.

youtu.be/UEdfrar1dLU?...

Munnopsis Isopod from the Mid-Cayman Spreading Center

YouTube video by Andrew Thaler

youtu.be

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Irene Newton @chicascientifica.bsky.social · May 11

Happy Mother’s Day! youtu.be/osWuWjbeO-Y?...

A Biologist's Mother's Day Song

YouTube video by cadamole

youtu.be

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Reposted by Irene Newton

Neil deGrasse Tyson @neildegrassetyson.com · May 6

Weather and climate research funds are being “chainsawed” from NOAA's budget. Last I checked, Louisiana & Florida, which are maximally susceptible to Hurricanes, voted Red in the last General Election.

Wondering if residents there knew in advance this would happen.

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Reposted by Irene Newton

David Shiffman, Ph.D. 🦈 @whysharksmatter.bsky.social · May 3

Trump proposes unprecedented budget cuts to US science

Huge reductions, if enacted, could have ‘catastrophic’ effects on US competitiveness and the scientific pipeline, critics say.

www.nature.com

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Irene Newton @chicascientifica.bsky.social · May 3

Seriously

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Reposted by Irene Newton

Anne Stone @acstone.bsky.social · May 2

Why are they trying to kill the goose that lays the golden eggs? #WithoutNSF the US would not be at the forefront of science innovation in the world. #SaveNSF #StandUpForScience www.nsf.gov/policies/doc...

Policy Notice: Implementation of Standard 15% Indirect Cost Rate

www.nsf.gov

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Irene Newton @chicascientifica.bsky.social · May 2

Is this the end of US science? When will congress grow a backbone? www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Exclusive: NSF stops awarding new grants and funding existing ones

US science funder also plans to screen grant applications for compliance with ‘agency priorities’.

www.nature.com

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Reposted by Irene Newton

Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · Apr 25

Further grant terminations from NSF. I don't yet have a list of what has been cut.

It's been hard to concentrate today when every email ping could a notice from NSF that another of our grants is being terminated.

U.S. National Science Foundation
@NSF
At NSF, our mission is to advance science, health & prosperity for all. Today, we terminated additional awards that did not align with our priorities. This decision reflects our commitment to funding research opportunities for all Americans everywhere. https://bit.ly/42LQ2aN

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Irene Newton @chicascientifica.bsky.social · Apr 19

Yes - this would be perfect for MRA

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Reposted by Irene Newton

Ivan Liachko @ivanliachko.bsky.social · Apr 17

Very cool recent preprint from @chicascientifica.bsky.social
and team. #phages in bee poop, what's not to like? #microbiome #bees

Phase Genomics @phasegenomics.bsky.social · Apr 17

🦠🐝 New preprint reveals that Mobile Genetic Elements in the honeybee gut microbiome show diverse host range patterns, influencing microbial evolution and ecology. ProxiMeta linked MGEs to their microbial hosts. #Microbiome #Bee
@chicascientifica.bsky.social

biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

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Reposted by Irene Newton

Hiroshi Arai @haraipapilio.bsky.social · Apr 14

Our final version of eLife paper (VOR) is now out! (doi.org/10.7554/eLif...). I investigated functions of wmk and Oscar homologs in a native host (moth) with @daisukekageyama.bsky.social and others:))

Prophage-encoded Hm-oscar gene recapitulates Wolbachia-induced male-killing in the tea tortrix moth Homona magnanima

Oscar homologs play a conserved role in Wolbachia-induced male-killing in Lepidoptera but not in other insects, highlighting the evolution of diverse male-killing mechanisms induced by Wolbachia.

doi.org

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