Jessica Buchser
@microbial.bsky.social
📤 862
📥 866
📝 45
▪️PhD student @ PSU ▪️Gene regulation 🧬 ▪️Structural biology
reposted by
Jessica Buchser
Heba Gowayed هبة جويد
4 months ago
Columbia student detained today is a day-in-the-life influencer with 100K followers. Her stories right now go from her studying for a Genetics exam in a nicely edited "ten hour study with me at Columbia" video, to a photo of her knees with the caption "dhs illegally arrested me please help"
42
5608
2165
Starting this little junior scientist early. Teaching her about her developing
#microbiome
🧫 and wearing some
#WomeninSTEM
PJs to match the vibe 👩🏼🔬
4 months ago
1
23
1
reposted by
Jessica Buchser
Carl Zimmer
5 months ago
One of the biggest questions in biology is how complex cells evolved about 2 billion years ago. Here's my new story on how scientists are solving the mystery of eukaryotes like us. Gift link:
nyti.ms/4qMbo22
9
341
113
reposted by
Jessica Buchser
derek guy
5 months ago
some of you are looksmaxxing when you need to be booksmaxxing
212
15291
2709
reposted by
Jessica Buchser
Michael Baym
8 months ago
Hot off the press! Our latest paper led by
@fernpizza.bsky.social
, understanding how plasmids evolve inside cells. These small, self-replicating DNA circles live inside bacteria and carry antibiotic resistance genes, but also compete with one another to replicate. 1/
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
loading . . .
Intracellular competition shapes plasmid population dynamics
From populations of multicellular organisms to selfish genetic elements, conflicts between levels of biological organization are central to evolution. Plasmids are extrachromosomal, self-replicating g...
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adx0665
11
437
217
reposted by
Jessica Buchser
Connor Sharp
8 months ago
So happy to share this! Bacteriocins were first discovered over 100 years ago, but what do they actually do? We look at >1000 bacteriocin plasmids and find links to virulence and antimicrobial resistance, and frequent bacteriocin sharing in Enterobacteriaceae.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
loading . . .
Bacterial warfare is associated with virulence and antimicrobial resistance - Nature Communications
Bacteria employ a range of competition systems that deliver toxins to inhibit competing strains. This study shows that these systems are particularly important for the ecology of virulent and antibiot...
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-64363-5
1
77
43
reposted by
Jessica Buchser
Jenn Dowd
8 months ago
The RSV vaccine is relatively new on the scene but proving remarkably effective at reducing hospitalizations in babies & older adults. The RSV season is about to ramp up, so get that protection if you are eligible!
jenndowd.substack.com/p/who-should...
#medsky
#episky
#publichealth
loading . . .
Who Should Get the RSV Vaccine?
Babies and older adults are eligible for this newly available protection
https://jenndowd.substack.com/p/who-should-get-the-rsv-vaccine
0
19
6
reposted by
Jessica Buchser
Richard McElreath 🐈⬛
8 months ago
Monty Python understood p-hacking
loading . . .
5
499
153
reposted by
Jessica Buchser
José Aguilar-Rodríguez
8 months ago
One of the most exciting works of my career, years in the making. We used high-throughput precision genome editing to test the fitness effects of thousands of natural variants. Our findings challenge the long-held assumption that common variants are inconsequential.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
loading . . .
Massively parallel interrogation of the fitness of natural variants in ancient signaling pathways reveals pervasive local adaptation
The nature of standing genetic variation remains a central debate in population genetics, with differing perspectives on whether common variants are almost always neutral as suggested by neutral and n...
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.10.30.621178
5
165
90
reposted by
Jessica Buchser
Popehat
9 months ago
Don’t let the frogwater that’s boiling us alive let you skip over this: we murdered another country’s citizens in cold blood, and when their leader objected, we called him a drug dealer and cut off aid to his country. That’s freakish.
add a skeleton here at some point
110
7650
2696
reposted by
Jessica Buchser
Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò
9 months ago
Just received from a colleague: looks like Penn is going to join the universities refusing the extortionary Trump "compact". I do not regret to inform you that we are going to win
43
3537
594
Be so for real right now.
add a skeleton here at some point
9 months ago
0
3
0
reposted by
Jessica Buchser
NPR
9 months ago
Antimicrobial resistance is responsible for some 1.2 million deaths a year a year and contributes to millions more. Data in the new report shows that the problem is growing at an alarming rate.
n.pr/3J0HVBC
loading . . .
Study: We're losing the war against drug-resistant infections faster than we thought
Antimicrobial resistance is responsible for some 1.2 million deaths a year a year and contributes to millions more. Data in the new report shows that the problem is growing at an alarming rate.
https://n.pr/3J0HVBC
16
293
156
reposted by
Jessica Buchser
Prof Anna Watts
9 months ago
Lol the Nobels can't even acknowledge women's contribution to discovery. But sure let's acknowledge The Machines.
84
3428
833
reposted by
Jessica Buchser
Dr. Jennifer Glass (she/her)
9 months ago
A reminder to please support non-profit publishers. It’s good for science and scientists. It’s a responsible use of taxpayer dollars. It requires resisting peer pressure to submit to Nature journals. Thanks
@bacteriality.bsky.social
for this helpful slide for microbiology journals.
3
92
33
reposted by
Jessica Buchser
Jason Williams
9 months ago
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/
loading . . .
An Open Letter to U.S. STEM Leadership on the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program
An Open Letter to U.S. STEM Leadership on the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program
https://jasonjwilliamsny.github.io/grfp2025/
12
224
340
reposted by
Jessica Buchser
Needhi Bhalla 💅🏽
9 months ago
I often emphasize that there are rarely "silver bullets" that magically solve problems but vaccines are one of the closest things we have and it's mind-boggling and enraging to watch this "debate" unfold during my lifetime
add a skeleton here at some point
4
317
107
I can’t quite wrap my head around seeing people suggest tetanus is safer than Tdap because “toxins.” According to them, the safe way to avoid “toxins” in vaccines means exposure to a literal neurotoxin instead.
9 months ago
1
1
1
reposted by
Jessica Buchser
Brian Wasik
9 months ago
I still can't get over the suggestion for pregnant women to 'tough it out' spoken by the softest man that has ever lived.
7
258
44
reposted by
Jessica Buchser
Rick Porter
10 months ago
This mf’er is a hugely unpopular lame duck and people and institutions with actual power are out here acting, for eight months straight, like he’s some goddam immortal emperor. Fuck that noise.
97
8517
1494
reposted by
Jessica Buchser
10 months ago
We are all super happy and proud to see our work on the function and evolution of the
#cephalic
#furrow
published in
@nature.com
. Let me say a few things about the background and history of this work on the
#Evolution_of_Morphogenesis
(1/12)
16
357
130
reposted by
Jessica Buchser
Jeff Lengyel & TEM Team at Thermo Fisher Scientific
11 months ago
See our new article in Structure! Sub-3 Å resolution protein structure determination by single-particle
#cryoEM
at 100 keV. Really exciting results with 100kV Tundra Cryo-TEM.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
loading . . .
Sub-3 Å resolution protein structure determination by single-particle cryo-EM at 100 keV
Cryoelectron microscopy (cryo-EM) has transformed structural biology by providing high-resolution insights into biological macromolecules. We report s…
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0969212625002552
1
20
5
reposted by
Jessica Buchser
Tominaga K. (tomiken)
11 months ago
A family of linear plasmid phages that detect a quorum-sensing autoinducer exists in multiple bacterial species | bioRxiv
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.07.30.667625v1?rss=1
loading . . .
A family of linear plasmid phages that detect a quorum-sensing autoinducer exists in multiple bacterial species
Temperate phages oscillate between lysogeny, a genomic maintenance state within a bacterial host, and lytic replication, in which the host is killed, and newly made phage particles are released. Successful transmission to new hosts requires that temperate phages appropriately time their transitions from lysogeny to lysis. It is well understood that temperate phages trigger lysis upon detection of host cell stress. Understanding of the breadth of cues that induce lysis expanded with the discovery of phages carrying quorum-sensing receptor genes that promote lytic induction exclusively at high host cell density. Bacteria engage in a cell-cell communication process called quorum sensing, which relies on the production, release, accumulation, and group-wide detection of extracellular signal molecules called autoinducers. Bacteria use quorum sensing to monitor changes in population density and synchronize collective behaviors. The temperate phage VP882 (jVP882) encodes VqmAj – a homolog of its host’s quorum-sensing receptor/transcription factor VqmA. VqmAj allows jVP882 to detect the accumulation of the host autoinducer called DPO. Presumably, launching the lytic induction program at high host cell density maximizes jVP882 transmission to new hosts. Here, by mining sequence databases for linear plasmid phages, we identify VP882-like phages in multiple DPO-producing bacterial species isolated at diverse times and geographic locations. We show that the VqmAj homologs can indeed detect DPO and, in response, activate the lytic pathway. Our observation indicates that jVP882 is a member of a large family of globally-dispersed quorum-sensing-responsive temperate phages.
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.07.30.667625v1
0
22
11
reposted by
Jessica Buchser
Marc Dionne
about 1 year ago
My lab studies bacterial infections. We spend a lot of time looking at (or for) species-specific genetic and genomic databases for hosts and microbes. FlyBase is the best of all—there is literally no comparison. Its existence is under threat. Please donate.
www.philanthropy.cam.ac.uk/give-to-camb...
loading . . .
Drosophila Genetic Database
The Drosophila Genetic Database, FlyBase, is on the brink of collapse due to the sudden termination of the FlyBase NIH grant, which includes salaries for 5 literature curators based at the University ...
https://www.philanthropy.cam.ac.uk/give-to-cambridge/physiology-development-and-neuroscience/drosophila-genetic-database
3
53
46
reposted by
Jessica Buchser
PLOS Biology
about 1 year ago
Why do
#StemCells
have lower levels of facultative
#heterochromatin
, defined by H3K27me3, compared to differentiated cells? By artificially lengthening G1 phase,
@4everbiochemist.bsky.social
&co show that G1 length is an essential determinant of H3K27me3 landscape
@plosbiology.org
🧪
plos.io/4lKfztO
0
12
5
reposted by
Jessica Buchser
daniel sieradski
about 1 year ago
in case you're wondering, "what's the harm in claiming an extinct species has been brought back from the dead" when it most certainly has not, our interior secretary is already using it to justify taking animals off the endangered species list
add a skeleton here at some point
19
9335
4659
reposted by
Jessica Buchser
Ezra Levin ❌👑
about 1 year ago
Goal achieved: An unusual number of people in an unusual number of places. 1,300 globally. There were probably more than 10,000 speakers alone at rallies today. Baffling to think about this scale!
add a skeleton here at some point
82
3071
621
reposted by
Jessica Buchser
Petra Levin
about 1 year ago
The “who” is impacted by cancellation of NIH “diversity” awards is much broader than “not white.” Eligibility criteria included individuals who are disabled, economically disadvantaged, grew up in rural communities, first generation college students, homeless…
grants.nih.gov/grants/guide...
add a skeleton here at some point
1
109
67
reposted by
Jessica Buchser
Nature Reviews Microbiology
over 1 year ago
New online! Genetics, ecology and evolution of phage satellites
loading . . .
Genetics, ecology and evolution of phage satellites
Nature Reviews Microbiology, Published online: 27 March 2025; doi:10.1038/s41579-025-01156-zIn this Review, Penadés et al. explore the genetics, potential origins and life cycle of phage satellites, and they discuss the impact of these elements on the evolution of other mobile genetic elements and their host bacteria.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41579-025-01156-z?utm_source=bluesky&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=nrmicro
0
42
30
reposted by
Jessica Buchser
Fietser
over 1 year ago
Share the media. The news is compromised. We're starting to boil over.
add a skeleton here at some point
16
13024
6703
reposted by
Jessica Buchser
Alt NIH Bluesky 🧪
over 1 year ago
Yes. Journalists should note this: Every science or tech student, age 5-35 today, is looking at the destruction of their career prospects due to Trump and Musk. We should be interviewing those students and talking about the impact to their lives.
add a skeleton here at some point
7
313
94
reposted by
Jessica Buchser
Alt NIH Bluesky 🧪
over 1 year ago
“Our next generation of researchers are now poised on the edge of this cliff, not knowing if there’s going to be a bridge that’s going to get them to the other side, or if this is it” Musk and Trump are blowing up science careers for every STEM student.
add a skeleton here at some point
4
167
80
reposted by
Jessica Buchser
Tom Di Liberto
over 1 year ago
Please enjoy my last ever post at
Climate.gov/ENSO
Blog. This afternoon I was fired by the Trump Administration 15 days before my 2yr probationary period ended on March 13. I have worked at NOAA since 2010, and I'm so incredibly proud of the work I did. If anyone wants a quote, let me know.
add a skeleton here at some point
264
4690
1658
reposted by
Jessica Buchser
Bobby Kogan
over 1 year ago
House Rs just passed the budget resolution, the first step in their process to enact a bill that'd kick millions off Medicaid & cut SNAP down to just $1.60 per person per meal on avg while cutting taxes for the top 0.1% by $278k - all while increasing the debt 🧵on what's to come and WHERE TO FIGHT
700
16603
7999
reposted by
Jessica Buchser
Holden Thorp
over 1 year ago
The response of the science community to the last month is not about one statement or action. It's about all of us with our different frames. For Science's part, we are doing what we have always done and have no plans to change. My thoughts on what we can do.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
loading . . .
Come together, right now
The chaos, conflicting information, firings, and hurtful rhetoric of the Trump administration’s approach to science over the past month are causing anxiety, grief, and concern for the scientific commu...
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adw9972
6
264
133
reposted by
Jessica Buchser
Nature
over 1 year ago
The Trump administration's efforts to slash research funding have US graduate students, postdocs and other early-career scientists fearing for their careers. Some might leave the country -- or abandon research altogether.
https://go.nature.com/43ao2zq
loading . . .
Postdocs and PhD students hit hard by Trump’s crackdown on science
As US federal grants remain frozen and budget cuts loom, anxiety and fear grip early-career researchers.
https://go.nature.com/43ao2zq
7
308
197
reposted by
Jessica Buchser
Cedric Feschotte
over 1 year ago
Feels awkward but necessary to celebrate scientific progress in this imperiled time for US biomedical research. Proud of our latest paper out today exploring the role of transposable elements in antiviral resistance to HIV 🦠
genomebiology.biomedcentral.com/articles/10....
🧵1/n
loading . . .
Transposable elements may enhance antiviral resistance in HIV-1 elite controllers - Genome Biology
Background Less than 0.5% of people living with HIV-1 are elite controllers (ECs)—individuals who maintain undetectable plasma viremia without antiretroviral therapy, despite having replication-compet...
https://genomebiology.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13059-025-03484-y
3
93
32
reposted by
Jessica Buchser
Vaughn Cooper
over 1 year ago
🚨PA colleagues: "Senator Fetterman wants to hear from you about how the federal funding freeze is affecting Pennsylvania." "If your project has been impacted, please fill out our constituent impact form:"
forms.office.com/g/mFv2JAPxpC
Get out your Other Support and share that info!
loading . . .
Microsoft Forms
https://forms.office.com/g/mFv2JAPxpC
4
122
137
reposted by
Jessica Buchser
Vikram Paralkar
over 1 year ago
The 'Stand Up For Science" rally is happening around the US on March 7th, spearheaded by graduate students! I have encouraged my lab to attend! Find your city's rally on the website below. The Philadelphia rally is at City Hall March 7th, 12pm to 4pm
standupforscience2025.org/philadelphia...
loading . . .
Philadelphia, PA
Location: Philadelphia City Hall City Hall, Philadelphia, PA, United States Time: 12-4 PM
https://standupforscience2025.org/philadelphia-pa/
2
34
14
reposted by
Jessica Buchser
Michael Baym
over 1 year ago
Legitmately thrilled to share our latest work, in which
@fernpizza.bsky.social
solved an experimental challenge in plasmid biology as old as the field: measuring how plasmids compete and evolve within individual cells!
add a skeleton here at some point
5
218
98
USPS is has safely mailed isopods and other invertebrate critters from my doorstop for a few years now. They are amazing.
add a skeleton here at some point
over 1 year ago
0
1
0
reposted by
Jessica Buchser
Dr Steven White
over 1 year ago
Neat 🦟 paper
www.nature.com/articles/s42...
loading . . .
Prolonged exposure to heat enhances mosquito tolerance to viral infection - Communications Biology
Single versus multi-generational exposure to increased temperature alters mosquito immune response to viral infection, with implications for mosquito-virus interactions under global change.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s42003-025-07617-8
0
21
8
reposted by
Jessica Buchser
Colette Delawalla, PhD
over 1 year ago
Get in dorks, we're going protesting! STAND UP FOR SCIENCE WITH US ON MARCH 7TH, 2025 WASHINGTON DC AND EVERY STATE CAPITOL Because science is for everyone! Find us at
www.standupforscience2025.org
#standupforscience2025
#scienceforall
#sciencenotsilence
49
1529
873
reposted by
Jessica Buchser
boehninglab
over 1 year ago
In case it is not clear, this notice is illegal. Universities should continue to submit grants with the contractually obligated and negotiated IDC rates.
grants.nih.gov/grants/guide...
loading . . .
NOT-OD-25-068: Supplemental Guidance to the 2024 NIH Grants Policy Statement: Indirect Cost Rates
NIH Funding Opportunities and Notices in the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts: Supplemental Guidance to the 2024 NIH Grants Policy Statement: Indirect Cost Rates NOT-OD-25-068. OD
https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-25-068.html
1
9
7
Drosophila melanogaster or beluga whale
#drosophila
#genetics
over 1 year ago
0
4
0
This guy heard all the Super Bowl cheering on our street and said I’m done with this walk 🦅 🦅
#goeagles
#catsky
#philly
loading . . .
over 1 year ago
0
1
0
reposted by
Jessica Buchser
Colette Delawalla, PhD
over 1 year ago
🚨IF YOU WANT TO BE INVOLVED IN PLANNING OF A NATION WIDE STAND UP FOR SCIENCE PROTEST, WAVE (comment, dm, etc.) IN MY DIRECTION! 🚨
#sciencenotsilence
#standupforscience
#scienceforall
5
31
16
reposted by
Jessica Buchser
Sri Kosuri
over 1 year ago
It’s been a tough few weeks. My 10yo daughter was diagnosed with a very rare, aggressive cancer called interdigitating dendritic cell sarcoma (IDCS). I’m reaching out to identify clinicians/patients who have encountered pediatric IDCS or other (non-LCH) dendritic or histiocytic sarcomas cases.
83
1008
878
reposted by
Jessica Buchser
Alex Wild
over 1 year ago
It’s super surreal as an actual biologist to see the dipshit brigade mandate their fevered hallucinations as reality. It’s an abuse of both human rights and of science.
add a skeleton here at some point
18
820
265
Load more
feeds!
log in