Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted

BK. Titanji @boghuma.bsky.social · 1d

I hard co-sign this one.

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Jan-Willem Veening @veeninglab.com · 4d

Finally out, such an awesome piece of work, very proud of this one: www.cell.com/cell-systems... #MicroSky

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Tamanash Bhattacharya @tamanash.bsky.social · 9d

New preprint alert! 🦟 <-> 🦠 <-> 🧑

I am thrilled to share our latest study on alphavirus host adaptation. More specifically, on how a single codon helps blunt alphavirus-induced host innate immune responses in mosquito and human cells. Continue reading for more!

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

The Sindbis virus nsP3 opal codon protects viral RNA and fitness by maintaining replication spherule integrity

Most alphaviruses encode an in-frame opal stop codon between nsP3 and nsP4 in their nsP ORF. This opal stop codon mediates a temperature-dependent balance between viral polymerase production and prote...

www.biorxiv.org

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Reposted

Michael Baym @baym.lol · 14d

Pitt is an absolutely amazing place for microbiology, particularly evolutionary microbiology. And they’re hiring!

Vaughn Cooper @vscooper.micropopbio.org · 14d

🚨 Microbiologists! We are recruiting Assistant / Associate Professors in 3 collaborative areas of our U. Pittsburgh School of Medicine.
1) MMG (my dept): fundamental research in med micro
2) Peds ID / I4Kids institute
3) Center for Vaccine Research
🔗 to all 3 w/info: www.linkedin.com/posts/vaughn...

Faculty Professor Associate - Full-Time | Vaughn Cooper

We are recruiting Faculty microbiologists in three (3) different, complementary, and collaborative areas at the University of Pittsburgh associated with the School of Medicine. 1) Fundamental researc...

www.linkedin.com

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Reposted

ALBA Network @network-alba.bsky.social · 20d

🎙️ ALBA-IBRO Diversity Podcast: From Postdoc to PI.
Ep.5 - Redefining success: choosing your compass in academia
🔗 youtu.be/wfIu0ahjpuM
🗣️ Hosts @lonelypipette.bsky.social
👥 Rachael Dangarembizi, Michaela Fenckova, @harmitmalik.bsky.social & @srikipedia.bsky.social
🌟 Supported by @ibroorg.bsky.social

ALBA-IBRO Diversity Podcast - Ep.5 - Redefining success: choosing your compass in academia

YouTube video by ALBA Network

youtu.be

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Reposted

Harmit Singh Malik @harmitmalik.bsky.social · 18d

www.axios.com/2025/09/20/t...

New H-1B visa fee will not apply to existing holders, official says

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Reposted

Ajai Dandekar @ajaidandekar.bsky.social · 18d

New lab preprint! We set out to explore interstrain differences in P. aeruginosa cooperation and discovered an interesting variant of the quorum sensing receptor LasR. — by Kiki Bellamoroso, Maxim Kostylev, and Nicole Smalley

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Inactivation of MexT in Pseudomonas aeruginosa destabilizes cooperation and favors the emergence of a unique quorum sensing variant

Pseudomonas aeruginosa , an opportunistic gram-negative pathogen, uses a cell-cell signaling system called quorum sensing to coordinate group behaviors. Quorum sensing in P. aeruginosa is a model to s...

www.biorxiv.org

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Reposted

Joe Sorg @thejoesorg.bsky.social · 26d

We're hiring! 5 tenure track assistant professors. 2 #microbiology, 2 #Evolution, 1 #biologicalclocks

jobs.sciencecareers.org/job/675062/f...

Five Tenure-Track Assistant Professor Positions in Microbiology, Evolution, and Biological Clocks - College Station, Texas job with Department of Biology - TAMU | 675062

Texas A&M University (TAMU) invites applications for five full-time, tenure-track Assistant Professor positions

jobs.sciencecareers.org

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Reposted

Harmit Singh Malik @harmitmalik.bsky.social · Sep 6

My new favorite T-shirt

(Courtesy outgoing postdocs @ching-hochang.bsky.social & @hsiehyp.bsky.social)

T shirt says Human Support Machine with icons for Drosophila, Bacteria, Yeast, and DNA

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Reposted

Alan McNally @alanmcn1.bsky.social · Sep 3

We have a position for an Assist Prof in Microbial Genomics in our School of III.

Hod Joan Geoghegan will be happy to field questions if you are interested. No specific area of microbial genomics preferred so please do consider it

www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DOO184/a...

Assistant Professor (Research and Education) in Bacterial Genomics at University of Birmingham

Apply now for the Assistant Professor (Research and Education) in Bacterial Genomics role on jobs.ac.uk - the leading job board for higher education jobs. View details.

www.jobs.ac.uk

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Reposted

Ran Blekhman @blekhman.bsky.social · Aug 30

More foundations should do this:

"Funding is exclusively available to applicants who have already received federal funding (e.g., from the NIH, CDC, NSF) for their health equity research, but have since had their funding rescinded due to federal administrative actions"

www.rwjf.org/en/grants/ac...

Rapid Response: Reinvesting in Racial and Indigenous Health Equity Research

The purpose of this call for proposals is to meet the current moment by supporting timely, actionable health equity research that has been interrupted by shifts in federal funding.

www.rwjf.org

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Reposted

BK. Titanji @boghuma.bsky.social · Aug 29

The CDC shaped my career and saved countless lives around the world. To see it hollowed out and replaced by ideology is devastating. In my latest essay, I share my own CDC story and why its unraveling matters for all of us.
open.substack.com/pub/bktitanj...

What Becomes of the CDC Now?

From shaping global health policy to guiding my own path in medicine, the CDC’s legacy is too important to abandon.

open.substack.com

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Reposted

Luís M. Silva @luismsilva.bsky.social · Aug 29

Very interesting paper!

We actually discussed your paper on our paper where we originally evolved the parasite lines (👇). Tho the experimental settings differed from urs :)

journals.plos.org/plospathogen...

Complex interactions in the life cycle of a simple parasite shape the evolution of virulence

Author summary Classical expectations on parasite evolution assume a trade-off between transmission rate and harm to the host (virulence), favoring parasites with intermediate virulence. However, rece...

journals.plos.org

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Reposted

James McInerney @jomcinerney.bsky.social · Aug 29

New preprint reveals bacteria can't just collect all resistance genes like Pokemon cards.
We found mutually exclusive evolutionary pathways to multidrug resistance in E. coli & P. aeruginosa - some resistance mechanisms actively prevent others from coexisting www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Genomic constraints shape the evolution of alternative routes to drug resistance in prokaryotes

Background Variation within the prokaryotic pangenome is not random, and natural selection that favours particular combinations of genes appears to dominate over random drift. What is less clear is wh...

www.biorxiv.org

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hsiehyp.bsky.social @hsiehyp.bsky.social · Aug 27

You made me cry, Harmit. 😭😭😭 The mugs have been sent to Taiwan before all the crazy moving happens.

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Reposted

Benoit Bruneau @benoitbruneau.bsky.social · Aug 25

shocking to read over and over the stories of close colleagues who can't run their lab anymore. I know Karen well and it's heartbreaking. Also #PIinthelab! www.washingtonpost.com/education/20...

Harvard’s research is shrinking amid the Trump administration’s freeze

Even if grants at Harvard are suddenly restored, there is deep-rooted uncertainty about the damage already done and the future of basic science research in the U.S.

www.washingtonpost.com

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Matt Barber @biobarber.bsky.social · Aug 22

Excited to share the latest work by outstanding PhD student @kdc509.bsky.social. This was one of our first forays into experimental evolution and uncovered some cool connections between potassium transport and antimicrobial resistance in S. aureus. Major kudos to Killian!

Evolution of polyamine resistance in Staphylococcus aureus through modulation of potassium transport | mSphere

Staphylococcus aureus is a leading cause of infectious disease-related deaths globally. Understanding factors that govern adaptation and survival of S. aureus and other pathogens in the host environme...

journals.asm.org

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Reposted

Joanne Flynn @joanneflynn19.bsky.social · Aug 20

We are hiring! The Dept of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics is looking for faculty at the Assistant or Associate professor level (tenure track). Please consider joining our vibrant microbiology and immunology community at the University of Pittsburgh School of medicine

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Reposted

Julie Pfeiffer @jkpfeiff.bsky.social · Aug 18

Faculty search announcement 2025: Tenure-Track Assistant Professor in Microbiology at UT Southwestern. We seek candidates working in microbial pathogenesis (some preference may be given to bacterial pathogens). Come join our community! (1/5) www.utsouthwestern.edu/departments/...

Department members sit at a very long table in the hallway eating a pre-Thanksgiving potluck feast.

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Reposted

Tera Levin @teralevin.bsky.social · Aug 5

I'm excited to announce our new biorxiv preprint, wherein we investigate the evolution of the weirdest genetic locus I've ever seen! Behold the tgr genes of the social amoeba, which mediate self/non-self discrimination during facultative multicellularity 🐅 🧵 1/
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Hypermutable hotspot enables the rapid evolution of self/non-self recognition genes in Dictyostelium

Cells require highly polymorphic receptors to perform accurate self/non-self recognition. In the amoeba Dicytostelium discoideum, polymorphic TgrB1 & TgrC1 proteins are used to bind sister cells and e...

www.biorxiv.org

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Reposted

Matt Barber @biobarber.bsky.social · Aug 1

This week we said farewell to the amazing @caitlinkowa.bsky.social as she moves to start her new lab at Dartmouth. So grateful for all her leadership and mentoring the last few years.

If you’re interested in all things skin microbes (especially fungi) check out her lab! I can’t recommend enough.

HOME

Visit the post for more.

caitlinkowalski.com

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Reposted

Kevin Forsberg @kvnforsberg.bsky.social · Jul 29

Very proud to have our lab’s first work published in @cp-cellhostmicrobe.bsky.social!

In this work, we use functional metagenomics to find phage defenses from human and soil microbiomes!

Congrats to first author @luis840alberto.bsky.social !

www.cell.com/cell-host-mi...

(1/3)

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Reposted

Rob Edwards @linsalrob.bsky.social · Jul 25

🌟 Exciting news! We’re launching three fully-funded postdoc positions for "New Horizons for Synthetic Phages”

Join us in tackling antimicrobial resistance with cutting-edge synthetic biology + AI bioinformatics. Based at Flinders Uni in vibrant Adelaide.

👇 Read on for details!
#Phage

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Reposted

Aude Bernheim @audeber.bsky.social · Jul 24

🦠🧍‍♀️From bacterial to human immunity.

We report in @science.org the discovery of a human homolog of SIR2 antiphage proteins that participates in the TLR pathway of animal innate immunity.
Co-led wt @enzopoirier.bsky.social by D. Bonhomme and @hugovaysset.bsky.social

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

www.science.org

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Martin Kampmann @kampmann.bsky.social · Jul 23

Tenure-track faculty search of the UCSF Biochemistry & Biophysics Department is open for applications!

We are looking for creative, innovative scientists asking fundamental questions in any area of biology.

Join our vibrant, collaborative, and supportive community!

aprecruit.ucsf.edu/JPF05702

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