Please share with anyone who cares about NSF support for graduate students and take 30 seconds to sign and leave a comment. The deadline for the 2025 Graduate Research Fellowship Program is about one month away and literally no one can apply. #NSFGRFP jasonjwilliamsny.github.io/grfp2025/

7.1% of drugs approved have a patent that *directly* acknowledges NIH funding. 59.4% of drug approvals cite at least one publication that acknowledges NIH support. That is the hard floor on impact...many others rest on NIH funded work that isn't directly cited of course.

This may be the most important paper ever published about NIH funded research. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Since the late 19th century, microbiologists have relied on agar and its derivatives for growing and separating microbes. However, how many of us really know the story of how this ingredient changed science? The remarkable story of Fanny Angelina Hesse youtu.be/qyTjqIKTQLo

Microbiology societies from five continents recently met at @asm.org HQ in DC for the inaugural Global Strategy Meeting on Microbes and Climate Change. This initiative marks the beginning of coordinated global action to harness microbial life for climate solutions. journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...

“The indispensable component here is the partnership between the public — taxpayers — and the universities” that carry out the research. “The NIH has had the strong commitment to supporting basic science with the anticipation that it might pay off in unexpected ways.” www.aamc.org/about-us/aam...

IOC-endorsed supplements that can give you a performance edge. 1. Caffeine 2. Creatine 3. Baking soda 4. Beta-alanine 5. Nitrate Science! www.nytimes.com/2025/09/15/w...

I know “leucovorin” is the undercard of the latest government fraud aimed at undermining public health and trust in science, but the utterance of this drug re-awoke my PTSD. My sympathies to anyone familiar with its common use.

Phenomenal. In my 10 year update of A Brief History, I make the point that in the first edition, not one disease had been successfully treated using gene therapy. Today that number is at least 7.

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

🚨 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...

A reminder that the my department has an ongoing faculty search! Would love to have more colleagues here!

Delighted and deeply relieved that our R25-SEPA supporting EvolvingSTEM will continue another year. I've never been happier to see a NOA, and this is just a noncompeting renewal. I appreciate the troopers inside NIH for keeping the candles lit. 1000's of students & ~50 teachers will benefit!

One way trip ☢️

Except… Cosmic radiation is a thing.

don't miss this SOUPER bowl!

Giving a webinar on #BlueSoup this Friday, in case anyone wants to pop in during their lunch!

Lineage tracking using methylation states from longitudinal bulk sampling. Sounds 🆒 and given recent work by @trevorgraham.bsky.social and colleagues, looks real. Wondering about other applications like 🦠🧫 👉🏻News and views: www.nature.com/articles/d41... 👉🏻Paper www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Lineage tracking using methylation states from longitudinal bulk sampling. Sounds 🆒 and given recent work by @trevorgraham.bsky.social and colleagues, looks real. Wondering about other applications like 🦠🧫 👉🏻News and views: www.nature.com/articles/d41... 👉🏻Paper www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Of all the stupid things that this regime has done, this is right up near the top. Postdoctoral researchers come to the US on H-1B visas. This will further destroy the US science enterprise. Stupid stupid stupid.

And here's the original (remarkably thorough) article: pubs.aip.org/aip/pof/arti...

My dad kicks his cacio e pepe recipe a notch, now with more geeky chemistry 🤓 foodscienceinstitute.com/2025/04/05/c...

Scientific study of trisodium citrate in the recipe for cacio e pepe wins an Ig Nobel prize this year. Science is cool, kids. www.nature.com/articles/d41...

🚨🎉 The Center for Evolutionary Biology and Medicine (CEBaM) at Pitt is delighted to announce the winners of this year's Catalyst Award program. This year, Catalysts were designated for science communication projects that engage wider audiences in the field of evolutionary biology and medicine. 🧵🥁

Our Pitt Center for Evolutionary Biology and Medicine webpage has been updated to feature these Catalyst award winners focused on science communication of evolutionary medicine. Link below and 🧵 www.cebam.pitt.edu/catalyst-awa...

Great and nuanced thread. But I think we can expand further. As noted, phage selected for synthesis, and that worked, were significantly less novel. In Fig 4D, there's a very strong correlation between novelty and not working. The phage that worked were much less novel. This is nucleotide ID!

"Is this willful blindness dressed as philosophy? Perhaps. But isn’t willful blindness, at scale, the churning engine of unbridled optimism?"

Genome evolution of Acinetobacter baylyi ADP1 during laboratory domestication: acquired mutations impact competence and metabolism #ApplEnvironMicrobiol from Jeff Barrick journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...

Rifampicin is more effective against biofilm infections because it targets biofilm-forming mutants that are highly resistant to other antibiotics @niaidnews.bsky.social www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Absolutely brutal that Andor is on Disney.

Not really an overstatement to say that the test of a free society is whether or not comedians can make fun of the country's leader on TV without repurcussions.

New in Evolution: Historical effects during experimental evolution of multicellularity in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, by Joleen Khey and Mike Travisano academic.oup.com/evolut/artic...

Come join us in Knoxville! 🧫🧪🦠

🚨🎉 The Center for Evolutionary Biology and Medicine (CEBaM) at Pitt is delighted to announce the winners of this year's Catalyst Award program. This year, Catalysts were designated for science communication projects that engage wider audiences in the field of evolutionary biology and medicine. 🧵🥁

"But it cannot be utterly foolish to resist injustice when you so clearly see it, as, I presume, you must."

Come for the science, stay for the great story behind the science, or vice versa, your pick. MMMM, green cheese 🧀

Such a delight to share our work on the evolution of a cheese rind fungus in @currentbiology.bsky.social. This is the fantastic PhD work of @nicolasleonlouw.bsky.social and resulted from amazing collaborations, a wedding proposal(!), an undergrad course, & more! 🧵 www.cell.com/current-biol...

openRxiv response to the NIH RFI: adopt Plan U connect.biorxiv.org/news/2025/09...

Respectfully, this is not a both sides issue. We are not advocating for restricting mirror chemistry but rather mirror self replicating biology. Optimistic for more clarity in Manchester

Tony Gilroy's interview with @thebulwark.com about the making of Andor is just an absolute gift. An education. www.youtube.com/watch?v=iaqn...

“we have friends everywhere”

ANDOR!

We're hiring! 5 tenure track assistant professors. 2 #microbiology, 2 #Evolution, 1 #biologicalclocks jobs.sciencecareers.org/job/675062/f...

I am activating the nuclear-grade subtweet machine here but I cannot stand the genre of article that goes "Trump is wrong to attack XYZ institution—but XYZ institution *does* need reform" and then just says we should discuss reforming XYZ institution but doesn't propose a coherent plan of its own

one of the most interesting facts about russ vought’s life, to me, is that NIH research is the reason his daughter had access to life changing drug to treat her cystic fibrosis. vought, of course, is the architect of the administration’s war on science. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/14/m...

On this week, 40 years ago, my friend Ralph Isberg, then a postdoc with Stan Falkow, reported the discovery of the 1st invasin gene in @nature.com "We report here the identification of a single genetic locus from this organism (Y. pseudotuberculosis) that is sufficient to convert the innocuous

Actinomycetota bacteria are like nature's little chemists, thriving everywhere from dirt to inside humans. They're not only behind diseases like tuberculosis but also produce a variety of small molecules, some of which are vital for medical advancements. Scientists are exploring how these microbe...

The Dept. of BioSciences at #RiceUniversity, in Houston, Texas, invites applications for a tenure-track assistant professor position in Evolutionary Biology, with a preferred focus on organismal responses to environmental change. Please RT! Apply: apply.interfolio.com/173889

The landscape of microbial associations in human cancer www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... TLDR -- most cancers do not have microbiomes...but a few do have consistent microbe associations (i.e., colorectal and oral cancers). Make sense!