The new Enabling Discovery through GEnomics (EDGE) Program page is posted. Please contact us at [email protected] if you have questions. www.nsf.gov/funding/oppo...

Great question! 1) First and foremost, we evaluate a candidate based on the departmental guidelines and expectations provided. We don't hold the candidate to arbitrary standards, or even to those of our own institution unless asked to do so. We assess the materials against the guidelines provided.

Every biologist knows the story of Fleming's chance discovery of penicillin. But is it true? Here, with @asimovpress.bsky.social, I write about inconsistencies in the canonical story, and explore a few alternative theories about what really happened in that St. Mary's lab in the summer of 1928.

Nice looking review by @ben-parker.bsky.social Paul Rozo-Lopez "Heritable Viruses as Hidden Drivers of Insect Phenotypes and Evolution" doi.org/10.1146/annu...

The Lariviere lab at UMiami is recruiting PhD students! Incoming students will join us in studying host-microbe interactions in the honey bee gut, using molecular and genetic approaches. Please see the attached flyer for more details. #Symbiosis #SymbioSky #MicroSky #PhDOpportunity #AcademicJobs

My department at UT Austin is looking to hire an Assistant Professor in Evolutionary Biology, broadly defined. Feel free to reach out to me with any questions you may have. apply.interfolio.com/177547

@jcv.bsky.social penned an obituary for Ham Smith in @nature.com. Since the early 90s, Ham has been a key figure at the Institute for his invaluable contributions and mentorship. "Ham was the best colleague that one could ever have in science and a great friend." www.nature.com/articles/d41...

UNC Chancellor Lee Roberts told faculty leaders the university does not plan on signing President Donald Trump’s administration’s “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education” in exchange for favorable consideration of federal funding.

It's been 4 months *to the day* since Tropical Storm #Chantal damaged a key non-car transportation corridor in #ChapelHillNC. Yesterday, temporary repairs on #BolinCreekTrail were finished and it's open for business!!! WOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"Each year the grades rise a little more; each year we feel it less. And the bureaucratic strangle that leads to this inflation continues its creep."

New biology: stink bugs inoculate their eggs with a fungus that protects them from parasitoids www.sciencemagazinedigital.org/sciencemagaz...

Fungal #GenomeSize variation is largely driven by TEs & lineage-specific genome defenses. @tbadet.bsky.social & @danielcroll.bsky.social show that presence/absence of RIP mutation systems influences #genome architecture, identifying a likely novel defense mechanism @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/4hcC5tx

I'm very excited to announce that UNC Biology has 6 faculty positions open this year! The first is for an Asst Professor who studies organismal resilience using an integrative approach 1/n unc.peopleadmin.com/postings/307...

UNC Chapel Hill is hiring an Assistant Professor in Plant Molecular Biology. Per Jeff Dangl MPMI candidates are also highly desired in the search. unc.peopleadmin.com/postings/307...

🚨GRFP DEADLINE ALERT!🚨 I missed this in my original solicitation read-through, so FYI 📣LETTERS ARE DUE BEFORE PROPOSALS📣 this year! "Reference letters are due Friday, November 7 at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time (ET)." www.nsf.gov/funding/oppo...

The Department of Biology at the University of Kentucky is hiring a Microbiologist (broadly defined). Microbial eco-evo folks, this is your sign to come work with us. Not in the search committee, but happy to answer questions. ukjobs.uky.edu/postings/600... #microbiology #ecology

Don’t use ChatGPT to reach out to prospective PhD advisors.

new GRFP solicitation says "Individuals enrolled in graduate degree programs can apply only once, in the first year of their first graduate program" - does this mean 2nd year students who didn't not apply last year are now ineligible?

Confused writing is usually a symptom of confused thinking. As we struggle to clarify writing, we clarify our thoughts. AI writing aids rob us of that struggle, leaving clean-looking text and thoughts still confused for lack of inspection. Writing is not just a product; it is a diagnostic tool.

Ancient organisms may have left microscopic "biosignatures" on Mars. That's according to NASA scientists, who say a rock sample offers the most concrete proof yet that the red planet once hosted life.

The Department of Biology at Colorado State University is hiring an Assistant Professor in the area of plant-microbe interactions! Please spread the word! jobs.colostate.edu/postings/165...

David Baltimore, giant of molecular biology, has died.

If anyone happens to be around UNC Chapel Hill this week, I'll be speaking on Tuesday: www.med.unc.edu/cgibd/event/... @microbiomeunc.bsky.social #microbiome

UNC Biology's first seminar this week is by Dr. Lillian Fritz-Laylin (Tues 9/9 12:30 PM). Her talk is titled, “Cytoskeletal specification and the diversification of cell function” 1/n 🧪

Look at this crazy thing! www.nature.com/articles/s41...

If you are a college student, maybe a week or two into the semester, why not visit office hours and ask your professor that question? You know, that thing you were wondering in class? Or when you were doing the homework? Go ask them! That’s why they are there. They will be excited to see you.

This is the science I want funded (alongside curing cancer etc) A defined microbial community reproduces attributes of fine flavour chocolate fermentation www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Please repost and amplify ! We are hiring a faculty position in Evolutionary Genetics in the Biology Department at U of South Carolina! Check us out and come be our colleague! sc.edu/study/colleg... Deadline for applications is Oct 1 #AcademicJobs #EvoBio

Good news for NIH MIRA applicants. Grants.gov recently published the forecast notice for the reissuance of the EI/NI MIRA notice of funding opportunity. As indicated at the link, the estimated post date for the NOFO is Nov 3. www.grants.gov/search-resul...

"Fungi can see and react to a wide range of colors." journals.asm.org/doi/abs/10.1...

The Parker Lab at UNC Biology is hiring a postdoc to work on insect–microbe interactions. Support available for multiple years from startup; we are open to a range of project ideas. Come join us to study symbiosis in a supportive, collaborative environment! unc.peopleadmin.com/postings/303...

Please help get the word out - We are hiring at all levels (graduate students, technicians, and postdocs)! If you are interested in sponges, cell biology, evolution, immunity, and symbiosis, please don’t hesitate to contact me to learn more.

Do dogs really understand words or are they just responding to inflection & body language? This 2018 study using fMRI brain-mapping says they *DO* understand our words. I'll explain, but first, let's acknowledge the adorable participants, 12 dogs who were trained at home to retrieve two objects.

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...

Started a starter pack for the presenters and attendees of the 2025 Animal-Microbe Symbiosis Gordon Research Conference. Let me know if I should add (or remove) you! go.bsky.app/Pnzz1R9

If you're planning to apply for an #NSF CAREER this year, I highly recommend attending (even if you don't plan to apply to IOS): www.nsf.gov/events/nsf-i...

Looking for a postdoc on bacterial-insect symbiosis, combining evolution and molecular mechanisms? I'll have one open in my lab starting Sept 2025. If interested contact me (or find me at the GRC on Animal-microbe symbiosis if you'll be there). #SymbioSky

Hey y'all! My department is conducting a search for an assistant or associate professor in bacteriology. It's pretty broadly defined. If you know anyone who's looking for a great department that does awesome science - please send them our way! You can DM me with any questions you have 😀

Hopeful that Chicago Pope can finally bring real pizza to Italy

Wow www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... A cellular entity retaining only its replicative core: Hidden archaeal lineage with an ultra-reduced genome

🎉 We’re hiring! Two ERC-funded #PostdocJobs on insect–phytopathogen mutualisms are available in my lab. Explore the chemical and molecular evolution of symbioses! 🧪Chemical ecology: tinyurl.com/chem-ecol-symb 🦠Phytopathology & mutualisms: tinyurl.com/symb-plantpath #SymbioSky #PlantPathology

#editorbio @ben-parker.bsky.social joined #teamJEB this year

@haraipapilio.bsky.social paper on evolution of Wolbachia MK mechanism through prophage acquisition in molina butterflies - avoiding suppression by the host. Now out! #symbiosky www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti.... With @daisukekageyama.bsky.social @bolinabug.bsky.social and others

📣 🪰 We're hiring a new Assistant/Associate Professor of *Public Health Entomology* at Penn State. Research areas are broad, covering pest management, pesticide resistance, epidemiology, and interactions of arthropods with microbial pathogens and symbionts. psu.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/PSU_Ac...

#MBL course updates! ⚠️ If you're interested in microscopy or symbiosis, read on... 🔬 Two weeks remain to apply for AI@MBL: bit.ly/43vIT0u 🐙 Molecular and Cell Biology of Symbiosis is extending its deadline to April 14: bit.ly/4ig81fJ #sciencestartshere

Yeah, I tried this with my toddler, and in addition to not sharing she also tried to eat the third cookie. Bad sign?