Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Sébastien Pfeffer

Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · 9h

Today my @nytimes.com colleagues and I are launching a new series called Lost Science. We interview US scientists who can no longer discover something new about our world, thanks to this year‘s cuts. Here is my first interview with a scientist who studied bees and fires. Gift link: nyti.ms/3IWXbiE

nyti.ms

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Max Renner @maxrenner.bsky.social · 4h

This was an interesting read.

cmarmitage.substack.com/p/i-research...

I researched every attempt to stop fascism in history. The success rate is 0%.

Once they win elections, it's already too late.

cmarmitage.substack.com

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Caro Goujon @carogoujon.bsky.social · 1d

After years in the making, Joe McKellar @viroscope.bsky.social’s final PhD paper is finally out today in PNAS! 🎉 🎉🎉
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Human MX1 orchestrates the cytoplasmic sequestration of neosynthesized influenza A virus vRNPs | PNAS

Interferon-inducible Myxovirus resistance 1 (MX1) proteins are known to restrict influenza A virus (IAV) transcription/replication process. Herein,...

www.pnas.org

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mixlamalice @mixlamalice.bsky.social · 2d

Macron s'inspire de Groland au premier degré en fait.

bonimenteurfr.bsky.social @bonimenteurfr.bsky.social · 2d

Cet extrait vient de Groland. Mais quand tu compares avec la réalité, tu ne vois presque plus de différence sur ces histoires de remaniement et de nouveau gouvernement.

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EMBO @embo.org · 2d

Want to connect with researchers in #GeneRegulation, small RNAs, #StructuralBiology and more? Sign up for EMBO Workshop "RNA-guided genome protection" in Caux, Switzerland, 16–20 June 2026!

Deadline: 15 March

meetings.embo.org/event/26-gen...
#DNAsky #RNAsky #EMBORNAGenomeProtection #EMBOevents 🧪

RNA-guided genome protection

The genome carries information across generations, ensuring species survival. To preserve faithful transmission of genetic information, RNA-directed mechanisms safeguard the genome integrity in diver…

meetings.embo.org

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Sébastien Pfeffer @sebpfeffer.bsky.social · 15d

@alphaerika.bsky.social @cmeignin.bsky.social @lucievirevolte.bsky.social @leagaucherand.bsky.social @emiliebrasset.bsky.social @deborahbourchis.bsky.social @merklinglab.bsky.social @carogoujon.bsky.social

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Sébastien Pfeffer @sebpfeffer.bsky.social · 22d

and thank you @alphaerika.bsky.social, who was the co-supervisor of Charline's work!

Sébastien Pfeffer @sebpfeffer.bsky.social · 22d

Today was a great day for Charline Pasquier, who successfully defended her PhD thesis in front of the jury composed of @annemarthe.bsky.social @ericci-aeruginosa.bsky.social, Stefania Millevoi and Jean-Luc Imler. Congratulations to her for a brilliant defense! 🍾

Photo of Charline and her jury members after the defense

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Eric Topol @erictopol.bsky.social · 28d

Today @nature.com
www.nature.com/articles/d41...

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Nature Biotechnology @natbiotech.nature.com · 28d

Genome-wide mapping of RNA-protein associations through sequencing go.nature.com/4gmf1Ii

Genome-wide mapping of RNA-protein associations through sequencing - Nature Biotechnology

A resource of human RNA-protein associations is produced using a sequencing-based method.

go.nature.com

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Helmholtz Institute Würzburg @helmholtz-hiri.bsky.social · 28d

Phages, viruses that infect bacteria, could help fight antibiotic resistance, but phage–host interactions are not yet sufficiently understood. Researchers from #HIRI, JMU & HZI now successfully interfered with phage reproduction using ASOs.
Just out in @nature.com:
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

www.nature.com

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Luisa Cochella @lcochella.bsky.social · Sep 3

Our work on the function of miR-51/miR-100 is out! miR-100 is widely conserved across eumetazoans but its function has been mysterious. Emilio Santillán found in worms it regulates signaling and extracellular matrix genes, some of which seem to be conserved targets! www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

An ancient and essential miRNA family controls cellular interaction pathways in C. elegans

A microRNA that arose at the origin of eumetazoans regulates cell adhesion and signaling in C. elegans through conserved targets.

www.science.org

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Miguel Branco @brancolab.bsky.social · Aug 22

New paper from Bin Cao, showing that placenta-specific KO of ADAR1 is embryonic lethal.

ADAR1 as a Placental Innate Immune Rheostat Sustaining the Homeostatic Balance of Intrinsic Interferon Response at the Maternal‐Fetal Interface

This study reveals that ADAR1, an RNA-editing enzyme, fine-tunes immune responses in the placenta by preventing the accumulation of immunogenic double-stranded RNAs (dsRNAs) from interferon-stimulate...

advanced.onlinelibrary.wiley.com

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Ivan Zanoni @lozanzi.bsky.social · Aug 21

#InterferonPower! Thrilled for our latest work @cp-cell.bsky.social! With @danielboehmer.bsky.social, we dug into tons of papers & created what we hope will be a go-to resource for immunologists & non-immunologist about type I, II, III (& IV😉) #interferons! Free👉 authors.elsevier.com/a/1leKGL7PXu...

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Geoff Green @geoffgreen.org · Aug 8

I've seen this on Bluesky and had to try it myself. The image below was the response to the prompt: "Show me a diagram of the US presidents since Herbert Hoover, with their names and years in office under their photos" Bravo, OpenAI, bravo.

A very mistaken list of the last 12 presidents of the United States and their years in office produced by the Ph.D level scholar known as ChatGPT-5. Includes John F. Katwady, president 1991-1968; George W. bush, president 220Z-1999), and Bill Christen, president 1999-2001

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Ryan Flynn @raflynn5.bsky.social · Aug 6

RNA N-glycosylation enables immune evasion and homeostatic efferocytosis by chemically caging acp3U. Excited to report this work lead by Vinnie @vinnieviruses.bsky.social and in collaboration with @vijayrathinam.bsky.social in @nature.com www.nature.com/articles/s41...

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Richard Sever @richardsever.bsky.social · Jul 31

bioRxiv bat signal going up. We have a big backlog of submissions. If any affiliates have time to do some screening, we (and all the authors) would be immensely grateful! 🙏

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Julius Brennecke @juliusbrennecke.bsky.social · Jul 29

last call!
submit your abstract by tonight to be selected for one of the many oral presentations at the leading European Transposon Meeting. We are very much looking forward to your contribution and attendance!

EMBL Events @events.embl.org · Jun 18

⏰ Abstract deadline for 'The mobile genome' is 29 July!

👉 https://s.embl.org/mge25-01-bl

Join us 4–7 Nov 2025 at EMBL Heidelberg (or online) to explore the impact of TEs across biology. 🧬🔍

⭐🧑🏼‍🔬 24 talks + 15 flash talks from posters – don't miss out!

#EMBOMobileGenome

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Inserm @inserm.fr · Jul 29

Une protéine humaine héritée des bactéries révèle un pan méconnu de notre immunité.

Lire le communiqué : presse.inserm.fr/une-proteine...

Une protéine humaine héritée des bactéries révèle un pan méconnu de notre immunité - Salle de presse de l'Inserm

Depuis quelques années, certains scientifiques explorent les liens inattendus entre les protéines humaines impliquées dans la défense de l’organisme et certains mécanismes immunitaires bactériens. C’e...

presse.inserm.fr

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Sébastien Pfeffer @sebpfeffer.bsky.social · Jul 28

🚨Preprint alert! Kind of a late notice, but here is our latest work on bat Dicer and viral infection. Work led by @leagaucherand.bsky.social and Hugo Marie in the lab. @cnrsbiologie.bsky.social @unistra.fr @frm-officiel.bsky.social

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

Dicer accumulates in cytoplasmic foci upon alphavirus infection and plays a proviral role in Myotis myotis bat cells

Bats are reservoirs for many viruses that frequently cause epidemics in humans and animals. It is thus critical to better understand their immune system and mechanisms of antiviral immunity. Despite a...

www.biorxiv.org

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Erika Girardi @alphaerika.bsky.social · Jul 18

I am happy to share our last preprint, where we identified FASN as an endogenous dsRNA-associated factor and demonstrated that its depletion triggers endodsRNA accumulation and a stronger antiviral response to exogenous dsRNAs,#RNA, #interferon,#immunometabolism
www.biorxiv.org/cgi/content/...

Fatty Acid Synthase binds endogenous dsRNAs and dampens the innate immune response to exogenous dsRNAs by limiting their accumulation.

In mammalian cells, the presence of double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) in the cytoplasm is a danger signal indicative of viral infection. Cells establish and maintain an antiviral state via the production of...

www.biorxiv.org

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James Saenz @jamessaenz.bsky.social · Jul 4

Hot off the press, our latest review of RNA-lipid interactions -> The secret life of RNA and lipids: "There is no life without RNA or lipids. But could there be life with only RNA and lipids?" @tcjea.bsky.social @bcube-tud.bsky.social be-tud.bsky.social

www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

The secret life of RNA and lipids

There is no life without RNA or lipids. But could there be life with only RNA and lipids? The discovery that RNA can catalyse reactions in addition to encoding information opened new directions for...

www.tandfonline.com

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Nicholas Bellono @nbellono.bsky.social · Jun 25

Corey Allard et al asks how “solar-powered” slugs maintain stolen chloroplasts from their diet for photosynthesis and starvation resistance. @cellpress.bsky.social, @harvardmcb.bsky.social, @harvardmed.bsky.social
www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...

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Sten Linnarsson @sten.linnarsson.org · Jun 25

A major KI initiative to recruit new assistant professors with outstanding proposals in all areas of medicine, biomedicine and public health. We offer an amazing research environment, great colleagues and generous startup packages. Check it out and get working on your applications! (repost please!)

Karolinska Institutet @ki.se · Jun 25

Applications are now open! We are recruiting 20 Assistant Professors in a wide range of subject areas. We're looking for early-career researchers with strong scientific merits and future potential.
🔗 All positions: ki.se/en/about-ki/...

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Max J. Kellner @mjkellner.bsky.social · May 21

Hi 🦋 I’m thrilled to share that our #bat #organoid work has found a publishing home in Nature Immunology!

These models provided unprecedented insight into antiviral immunity at epithelial surfaces of the Egyptian fruit bat 🦇 — a natural reservoir of Marburg virus 🦠

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Bat organoids reveal antiviral responses at epithelial surfaces - Nature Immunology

Kellner et al. develop respiratory and intestinal organoids from Rousettus aegyptiacus to show elevated basal expression of interferon-ε (IFNε) and IFN-stimulated genes, along with robust, self-amplifying type III IFN responses that drive antiviral defense against zoonotic RNA viruses.

www.nature.com

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