Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Vaughn Cooper @vscooper.micropopbio.org · 10h

Reposting, submit soon!

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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Vaughn Cooper @vscooper.micropopbio.org · 11h

That is brutal. VPN time

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Reposted by Vaughn Cooper

Claus Wilke @clauswilke.com · 19h

Biology is much more complicated than most non-biologists can imagine. And AI is not going to change this anytime soon.
blog.genesmindsmachines.com/p/we-still-c...

We still can’t predict much of anything in biology

Biology is hard. Yes, even for AI.

blog.genesmindsmachines.com

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Vaughn Cooper @vscooper.micropopbio.org · 17h

thanks for your service!

Reposted by Vaughn Cooper

Alan McNally @alanmcn1.bsky.social · 1d

After being with the journal since its very inception, the time has come for me to step back from Microbial Genomics. This is a wonderful opportunity to have a leadership role in one of the leading journals for microbial genomics research

microbiologysociety.org/news/society...

<i>Microbial Genomics </i> Deputy Editor-in-Chief: Call for Expressions of interest

microbiologysociety.org

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Reposted by Vaughn Cooper

Boston Tom Levenson @tomlevenson.bsky.social · 19h

Two things of note in today's announcement of the 2025 Nobel physics prize (besides the work being honored).

1: The US institutional dominance of the prize continues.
2: 2 of the three laureates are immigrants, drawn here decades ago by the then-unmatched opportunities for science here...

1/

Nobel Prize in Physics Is Awarded for Work in Quantum Mechanics

www.nytimes.com

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Vaughn Cooper @vscooper.micropopbio.org · 1d

My dad wrote up my wife's amazing scone recipe on his blog. These are legit! Bookmark and share.

foodscienceinstitute.com/2025/10/06/r...

Rich blueberry scones

This delicious scone variation produces a softer textured scone, almost like a little cake. They are more delicate, and you can eat them with a fork while hot, or by hand when cool. I got this reci…

foodscienceinstitute.com

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Reposted by Vaughn Cooper

Vincent J Lynch 🐘🦣🦥 🦇🐋🐢🐍 @devoevomed.bsky.social · 1d

#MammothMonday factoids: A comparison of 23 woolly mammoths (how cool is it to have that many mammoth genomes!) and 28 living elephants identified at least 1.2 million mammoth-specific genetic changes, including 4,786 amino acid substitutions in 3,097 genes 1/n 🧪 🐘 🦣

PMID: 37030294

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Reposted by Vaughn Cooper

Vaughn Cooper @vscooper.micropopbio.org · 5d

DYK most P. aeruginosa carry filamentous phage(s) that don't need to kill the cell to reproduce?

We 👉🏻@nanamikubota.bsky.social show that these Pf phages can go ROGUE.

"Filamentous cheater phages drive bacterial and phage populations to lower fitness"

🔗 authors.elsevier.com/c/1lt5I3QW8S...

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Reposted by Vaughn Cooper

Paul Rainey @paulbrainey.bsky.social · 1d

Two new positions are available at the MPI for Evolutionary Biology to support development of our genomics facility. Both stand to become permanent. Both offer a ton of opportunity to engage in a wide range of creative science.

Pls repost 🙏

www.evolbio.mpg.de/3838377/job_...

Two full-time positions | Bioinformatician (m/f/d) + Applications Specialist (m/f/d) - Molecular Biology

The Genome Facility at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology in Plön is seeking to fill two positions (full time) to support and expand our core facility services.

www.evolbio.mpg.de

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Reposted by Vaughn Cooper

Jeremy Berg @jeremymberg.bsky.social · 3d

Dear Dartmouth community,

As many of you know, Dartmouth was one of nine universities asked by the White House to give feedback by Oct. 20 on a draft of its “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education.”

I am deeply committed to Dartmouth’s academic mission and values and will always defend our fierce independence.

You have often heard me say that higher education is not perfect and that we can do better. At the same time, we will never compromise our academic freedom and our ability to govern ourselves.

Best,

Sian Leah Beilock
President

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Reposted by Vaughn Cooper

Erin Green @erinrgreen.bsky.social · 3d

Job alert ‼️ UChicago Micro is hiring! Open to tenured/tenure track faculty at all levels in any area of microbiology. Come join our amazing and growing department. apply.interfolio.com/174404

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Reposted by Vaughn Cooper

T. Ryan Gregory 🇨🇦 @tryangregory.bsky.social · 4d

No paywall:

archive.ph/2025.10.01-1...

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Reposted by Vaughn Cooper

T. Ryan Gregory 🇨🇦 @tryangregory.bsky.social · 4d

www.chronicle.com/article/why-...

Why Aren’t Professors Braver?

Fear and self-censorship in academe.

www.chronicle.com

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Reposted by Vaughn Cooper

Ákos T Kovács @evolvedbiofilm.bsky.social · 5d

Filamentous cheater phages drive bacterial and phage populations to lower fitness

Pseudomonas aeruginosa VS Pf phage

@currentbiology.bsky.social by @nanamikubota.bsky.social, @shellyscrib.bsky.social and @vscooper.micropopbio.org

www.cell.com/current-biol...

#PhageSky

Filamentous cheater phages drive bacterial and phage populations to lower fitness

Kubota et al. show that bacteria can use their filamentous phage to outcompete other bacteria, but increased phage production enables the evolution of cheater miniphages with truncated genomes. Miniph...

www.cell.com

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Vaughn Cooper @vscooper.micropopbio.org · 5d

thanks Steve!

Vaughn Cooper @vscooper.micropopbio.org · 5d

Straight out of the Cambrian explosion

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution @whoi.edu · 5d

Meet the “squidworm” 🦑🪱

Discovered by WHOI biologist Larry Madin and colleagues, this 4-inch-long animal was just one of roughly 6,000 new species uncovered during the Census of Marine Life, a decade-long global effort involving more than 2,700 scientists to explore and document ocean life.

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Vaughn Cooper @vscooper.micropopbio.org · 5d

Let's let the published peer-reviewed paper speak for itself and not supercharge the spin cycle:

"AI-redesigned sequences could not be detected reliably by current tools. In response, we developed and deployed patches,improving detection rates of synthetic homologs"

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

Strengthening nucleic acid biosecurity screening against generative protein design tools

Advances in artificial intelligence (AI)–assisted protein engineering are enabling breakthroughs in the life sciences but also introduce new biosecurity challenges. Synthesis of nucleic acids is a cho...

www.science.org

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Vaughn Cooper @vscooper.micropopbio.org · 5d

thanks Lauren!

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Vaughn Cooper @vscooper.micropopbio.org · 5d

Thank you! It is 🤯

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Reposted by Vaughn Cooper

Philip Ball @philipcball.bsky.social · 5d

Just caught up on this fascinating paper in Science in August. It reports evidence of strong selective pressure from breeding of horses around 5000-3000 years ago in Central Asia. One reason it's interesting is that the selection is *really* strong... /1
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Selection at the GSDMC locus in horses and its implications for human mobility

Horsepower revolutionized human history through enhanced mobility, transport, and warfare. However, the suite of biological traits that reshaped horses during domestication remains unclear. We scanned...

www.science.org

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Reposted by Vaughn Cooper

Vaughn Cooper @vscooper.micropopbio.org · 5d

Check out the full thread on the preprint!

bsky.app/profile/nana...

Nanami Kubota @nanamikubota.bsky.social · Apr 3

The combination of Pf repressor mutation happening spontaneously + virome diversification means what you thought were bacterial clones might not be clones, and every colony/overnight might be different! A nightmare when doing experiments but very cool!

Vaughn Cooper @vscooper.micropopbio.org · Apr 3

TLDR: most P. aeruginosa cells have active, diverse viromes that affect host-pathogen interactions.
➡️ Pf interact with host cells, interfere w/ antibiotics as @prsecor.bsky.social et al have shown.

Dynamics can be FAST! If you don't look carefully, you'll miss it! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

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Reposted by Vaughn Cooper

Zandrea Ambrose, Ph.D. @zandrea.bsky.social · 5d

Check out this cool paper from my colleagues @nanamikubota.bsky.social and @vscooper.micropopbio.org on phages that can affect bacterial evolution!

Nanami Kubota @nanamikubota.bsky.social · 5d

Published in Current Biology! P. aeruginosa can use its filamentous phage to inhibit competitors but high phage production is susceptible to cheater miniphage invasion. Subsequent phage tragedy of the commons can lower bacteria and phage fitness. Link: authors.elsevier.com/c/1lt5I3QW8S...

Nanami Kubota @nanamikubota.bsky.social · Apr 2

Preprint out! Bacteria w/ hyper-replicative filamentous phage lead to overnight emergence of cheater phages. Bacteria w/ both phages can outcompete wildtype, then rapidly lose phage via a phage Tragedy of the Commons
@shellyscrib.bsky.social @vscooper.micropopbio.org www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

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Vaughn Cooper @vscooper.micropopbio.org · 5d

Check out the full thread on the preprint!

bsky.app/profile/nana...

Nanami Kubota @nanamikubota.bsky.social · Apr 3

The combination of Pf repressor mutation happening spontaneously + virome diversification means what you thought were bacterial clones might not be clones, and every colony/overnight might be different! A nightmare when doing experiments but very cool!

Vaughn Cooper @vscooper.micropopbio.org · Apr 3

TLDR: most P. aeruginosa cells have active, diverse viromes that affect host-pathogen interactions.
➡️ Pf interact with host cells, interfere w/ antibiotics as @prsecor.bsky.social et al have shown.

Dynamics can be FAST! If you don't look carefully, you'll miss it! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

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Reposted by Vaughn Cooper

Nanami Kubota @nanamikubota.bsky.social · 5d

Published in Current Biology! P. aeruginosa can use its filamentous phage to inhibit competitors but high phage production is susceptible to cheater miniphage invasion. Subsequent phage tragedy of the commons can lower bacteria and phage fitness. Link: authors.elsevier.com/c/1lt5I3QW8S...

Nanami Kubota @nanamikubota.bsky.social · Apr 2

Preprint out! Bacteria w/ hyper-replicative filamentous phage lead to overnight emergence of cheater phages. Bacteria w/ both phages can outcompete wildtype, then rapidly lose phage via a phage Tragedy of the Commons
@shellyscrib.bsky.social @vscooper.micropopbio.org www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Filamentous cheater phages drive bacterial and phage populations to lower fitness

Many bacteria carry phage genome(s) in their chromosome (i.e., prophage), and this intertwines the fitness of the bacterium and the phage. Most Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains carry filamentous phages ...

www.biorxiv.org

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