Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

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Ricard Solé @ricardsole.bsky.social · Sep 10

Can a single cell learn? Even without a brain, some microbes show simple forms of cognition. Can this basal cognition be engineered? Check our new paper with @jordiplam.bsky.social on the minimal synthetic circuits & their cognitive limits. @drmichaellevin.bsky.social www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

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Katie Berry @katieberry.bsky.social · Sep 4

Congrats, Elise! Keep up the great work :)

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Siegenthaler Lab @siegenthalerlab.bsky.social · Aug 21

Asking my #DevBio @socdevbio.bsky.social & #Neuroscience @sfn.org colleagues to join me in donating to the ABRCMS conference poster award fund. I am sure there will be 🤩 posters on these topics @ ABRCMS 2025 in Nov, let's make sure there is award $ to recognize their work! abrcms.org/donate/stude...

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Quanta Magazine @quantamagazine.bsky.social · Aug 4

“What a [sunburned] cell is trying to do is make decisions about whether to live or die based on how damaged the DNA is… but amazingly, it’s the RNA that signals that. That’s the remarkable observation.” — Rachel Green, biologist at Johns Hopkins University.
www.quantamagazine.org/rna-is-the-c...

Portrait of Rachel Green, an RNA biologist at Johns Hopkins University

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Katie Berry @katieberry.bsky.social · Jul 30

Congrats on the new position, Saad! What a wonderful place to be.

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Bhamla Lab @ Georgia Tech @bhamlalab.bsky.social · Jul 30

Hiring 4 postdocs — organismal biophysics, soft robotics, frugal Raman diagnostics, or your own bold idea.

3-year funding, $65K+ benefits. GT (Atlanta) now → CU Boulder BioFrontiers Institute in Fall ’26.

PDF/details in next post. Tag/share if someone comes to mind. 🧪🪲🪳#livingphysics

Recruitment poster for the Bhamla Lab. Top shows Georgia Tech and CU Boulder logos. Main headline: “Hiring Multiple Postdoctoral Researchers: Organismal Biomechanics, Soft Robotics, and Raman Diagnostics.” Left column lists four roles—Organismal Biology, Bioinspired Engineering, Raman Diagnostics, and a Curiosity‑Based slot—plus note of 3‑year funding from DARPA, NSF, NIH, and Schmidt. Right side features a vintage collage of a Victorian‑era scientist with robotic arm, insects, and globe, and a circular “Physics of Life” diagram linking biology, physics, engineering, and mathematics. Tan background, Bhamla Lab crest at top.

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Jeremy Berg @jeremymberg.bsky.social · Jun 9

New NIH Notice rescinding the no DEI, no Israeli boycott term and condition added to NIH grants (covers the whole university)

This is what Williams refused to sign and declined all federal funding.

grants.nih.gov/grants/guide...

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NOT-OD-25-124: Notice of Rescission of Civil Rights Term and Condition of Award

NIH Funding Opportunities and Notices in the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts: Notice of Rescission of Civil Rights Term and Condition of Award NOT-OD-25-124. NIH

grants.nih.gov

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eric lai @lucksmith.bsky.social · May 16

www.nytimes.com/2025/05/16/s...

9 Federally Funded Scientific Breakthroughs That Changed Everything

www.nytimes.com

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Michael L. Barnett @mlbarnett.bsky.social · May 15

All of my NIH grants terminated this afternoon along with those of all of my colleagues including big (and extremely successful) P01 grants.

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Dr. Suzanne Le Menestrel @drsl.bsky.social · May 2

The Spencer Foundation is offering rapid response bridge funding for those who lost NSF research grants.

www.spencer.org/grant_types/...

Rapid Response Bridge Funding Program

In the face of recent abrupt shifts in federal funding for education research, including large-scale terminations of National Science Foundation (NSF) research grant awards, we have developed a rap...

www.spencer.org

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Kerstin Göpfrich @kgoepfrich.bsky.social · Apr 20

Hey #RNA world, we are excited to share our RNA design engine #pyFuRNAce - an integrated tool for RNA origami experts and novices alike. Kudos to @monari-luca.bsky.social @floppleton.bsky.social et al! Preprint: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... Try it out at pyfurnace.de Feedback welcome!

PyFuRNAce: An integrated design engine for RNA origami

To realize the full potential of RNA nanotechnology and RNA origami, user-friendly design tools are needed. Here, we present pyFuRNAce, an open-source, Python-based software package with a graphical u...

www.biorxiv.org

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Katie Berry @katieberry.bsky.social · Apr 27

I had a great experience last Spring with my labs first Micropub for PUI work. A senior used it as a capstone writing project and it was published before she graduated. Even 1 figure, it was still two student’s worth of work!

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anil oza @aniloza.bsky.social · Apr 21

BREAKING: NIH planning to prohibit funds going to institutions with DEI initiatives or engage w/ boycotts of Israel, according to internal documents

www.statnews.com/2025/04/21/t...

NIH moving to ban all future grants to universities with DEI programs or Israel boycotts, document suggests

NIH appears to be preparing to prohibit the awarding of new grants to institutions that have DEI programs or boycott Israeli companies

www.statnews.com

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The New York Times @nytimes.com · Apr 14

“No government — regardless of which party is in power — should dictate what private universities can teach, whom they can admit and hire, and which areas of study and inquiry they can pursue,” Alan Garber, Harvard’s president, said about President Trump's demands. nyti.ms/4jzSS9W

The gates of Harvard University. The text reads: "Harvard Says It Will Not Comply With Trump Administration's Demands." Photo by Sophie Park for The New York Times.

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Rodrigo Reis @rodrigoreislab.com · Apr 10

Regulation of translation speed by small RNA: slower is better

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Modulation of protein activity by small RNA base pairing internal to coding sequences

Most characterized interactions between bacterial small RNAs (sRNAs) and their target mRNAs occur near ribosome binding sites, resulting in changes in…

www.sciencedirect.com

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Jonathan Jagodnik @jagodnikscience.bsky.social · Apr 6

I am thrilled to share this new preprint from our lab!
We find (>800!) 30S binding sites in hundreds of 5'UTRs, but also new dynamic steps of translation initiation.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Congrats to all co-authors at the RNA control of gene expression lab, IBPC CNRS
(Thread, 1/6)

30S-seq redefines the bacterial Ribosome Binding Site

The translation initiation step is rate limiting for the efficiency of gene expression in all organisms. However, the mechanism of ribosome recruitment to mRNA start sites strikingly differs between e...

www.biorxiv.org

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Prasad Jallepalli, MD, PhD @prasad.bsky.social · Apr 4

www.nytimes.com/2025/04/03/o...

Really important piece to share widely. Too many Americans don’t know how severe a threat this Administration poses to our scientific infrastructure, global leadership, and health security

Opinion | The Uncertain Fate of the Young American Scientist (Gift Article)

Young researchers are choosing between staying in science and staying in the United States.

www.nytimes.com

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Kathrin Fröhlich @microberna.bsky.social · Mar 28

Excited to share our new preprint on an RNA sponge counteracting sibling sRNAs in Caulobacter!
Laura Vogt and @mvelascogomariz.bsky.social used RILseq, RNA biochemistry and great commitment to work out this story!
www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-6...

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Rachael Sirianni, PhD @docsirianni.bsky.social · Mar 27

They are cutting cancer research. They are cutting cancer research. They can deny it all they want, but they are cutting cancer research. These are the cuts being made the DoD CDMRP cancer funding mechanism www.fightcancer.org/sites/defaul...

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Ethan Prall @ethanprall.bsky.social · Mar 25

NSF grantees and awardees can learn from a *new report* how they might respond to grant changes like termination! 🔬 Like @davidimiller.bsky.social says, prepare now.

I helped edit this with the amazing @isaackamola.bsky.social at AAUP and other great colleagues. Posted w/ other CDAF resources here:

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Katie Berry @katieberry.bsky.social · Mar 24

Now is a critical time for colleges and universities to coordinate a collective fight to protect our missions and freedom of expression.

Please consider signing in solidarity with colleagues at UMass Amherst and other universities targeted by recent threats.

sites.google.com/umass.edu/we...

Home

March 20, 2025 Dear Presidents, Chancellors, and Boards of Trustees of the 60 Universities that received a March 10th warning letter from the U.S. Department of Education: You are on the frontlines ...

sites.google.com

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Jon Rauch @jonrauch.bsky.social · Mar 20

A friend drove two hours today for her breast cancer chemotherapy only to learn it was canceled due to NIH cuts. Clinical trial ended midstream. No treatment, no restart, no plan, no information. Her bro-in-law's chemo was also canceled.

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Science Homecoming @sciencehomecoming.bsky.social · Mar 14

Prof Amy Weeks, a Clinton, Massachusetts native 🫖, explains: funding cuts don’t just hurt labs—they hurt families seeking cures for fatal diseases & kids from Clinton like her who might grow up to find them.
@amyweeks.bsky.social

www.clintonitem.com/writes-cuts-...

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Tami Lieberman @contaminatedsci.bsky.social · Mar 13

It feels like the resumption of study section posting on the federal registrar, while continuing to block advisory council, was an attempt to quell the news cycle while still keeping funds frozen.

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@LaBonneLaB @labonnelab.bsky.social · Mar 13

Dear all, Because of your help shining light on this all 15 were reinstated today. This is a huge win for science - When We Fight We Win!!!

@LaBonneLaB @labonnelab.bsky.social · Mar 11

On Valentine’s day, 15 Assistant Professors at NIH who had started their research labs in the last 2 years were fired. Their scientific expertise was built over 10-12 years of training, most if not all of which was supported by NIH. The start up funds for their laboratories were paid by NIH

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