Hey DMV cell biologists - see below for a chance to present your work at the JHU Cells in Focus Symposium. 🤩

In terms of what cures are being lost: - Epstein-Barr virus is perhaps the major trigger for multiple sclerosis - herpes simplex virus causes cold sores, genital herpes, infections in babies, deadly meningitis - shingles virus causes an intensely painful disease

If you are in Baltimore, and you haven't had an adult MMR booster or recent titers, now is the time to get that booster! Mumps immunity is more susceptible to waning than measles and it needs a single adult booster after age 18 or so for maximum efficacy!

If you have an interest in mixing computation and experiments to understand microbial evolution (for example antibiotic resistance) and you think you might be a good fit for a postdoc in my lab, reach out. If it seems it might be a fit I’m happy to help you frame it as AI for Biology per this call

Been on multiple search committees For me (personally so YMMV)…I basically dismiss everything that’s labeled *submitted* unless there’s a preprint I can read

It is with deep sadness that we share that Michael J. Matunis, a professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, has passed away. (1/4)

My weekly update on NIH funding. This is for all projects. The breakdown for competing and non-competing awards will follow. 1/4

CauloCon 2026 is coming! 🔬✨ March 3–5 (fully virtual + free). Keynotes by Yves Brun, Becky Lamason & Martin Thanbichler. Great chance for grad students & postdocs to present their work (work-in-progress welcome!). Submit an abstract by Sun Feb 8. Register + submit: www.caulocon.com

Both chambers of Congress have now passed the FY26 minibus with NIH provisions. The President will sign. (1) $48.7 billion for NIH (2) Full IDC recovery (3) No more multi-year funding (4) No NIH reorganization, maintaining the current IC structure.

Hey alpha aficionados - it's almost time for CauloCon 2026! This free, virtual meeting will feature talks from @brunlabcaulo.bsky.social @thanbichlerlab.bsky.social and @lamasonlab.bsky.social with opps for trainee talks. Register using the link below. 👇

Today, I would like to honor the memory of Roger Y. Tsien, born on February 1, 1952. His legacy lives with all who use his technologies, including calcium sensors, fluorescent proteins, the acetoxymethyl (AM) ester, & many more! #FluorescenceFriday www.nature.com/articles/nme...

Peptidoglycan architecture dictates protein interactions, tissue tropism, and arthritis in the Lyme disease spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi Exciting new research from @jutraslab.bsky.social journals.plos.org/plospathogen... #MicroSky

Forty years ago today (Jan 28 2026), the crew of Space Shuttle Challenger 51L slipped the surly bonds of Earth to touch the face of God. Francis R. (Dick) Scobee, Michael J. Smith, Ronald E. McNair, Ellison S. Onizuka, Judith A. Resnik, Gregory Jarvis and Christa McAuliffe.

A number of our students got the following comment back on a rejection for the NSF GFRP. They are in an eligible STEM field. Is this something people in other places are getting too? Is it a quirk or targeted?

New and Competitive renewals These are still be made VERY slowly. Only 75 awards have been made through 1/23/26. These are now from 7 institutes and centers (NIA (45), NINDS (16), NIDDK (5), NIDCR (4), NIDCD (2), NHLBI (1), and NCATS (1)). 3/3

Friends, please help spread the word about our microbiology REU program at Montana State University. www.montana.edu/mbi/reu/ Each student receives a stipend ($7000 for 10 wks). Travel compensation, room, and board are also provided. Details in the attached pic--Feb 14 deadline 🧫🧪🦠#microsky

Really excited to share our new paper in @nature.com! We uncovered how a physical instability of the cytoplasm coupled with the cell cycle drives cytoplasmic partitioning in early embryos #zebrafish #drosophila. Read more in this🧵 www.nature.com/articles/s41... 🤩 @poldresden.bsky.social @mpi-cbg.de

Whoa!! I just learned that small equipment stops working when the motor brushes wear down, and that brushes are cheap and trivial to replace. I just fixed two broken rockers and a rotator. Damn!! This should be part of the PhD curriculum.

Five shows you've seen w female lead singers. Brandi Carlile Tegan and Sara Lucinda Williams First Aid Kit The Breeders (But for real, most of the shows I’ve been to have had female leads.)

Author Tom Pollard: “I hope readers will enjoy movies from our 1970 JCB paper showing dramatic cytoplasmic movements in cell-free extracts. Electron micrographs in the paper related these movements to the assembly of actin filaments. This addendum is a tribute to my very generous mentor Sus Ito.”

#Addendum to 1970 paper, “CYTOPLASMIC FILAMENTS OF AMOEBA PROTEUS: I. The Role of Filaments in Consistency Changes and Movement,” includes eight video sequences originally recorded on 16-mm films. No technology was available at the time to include this data. 🎞️ rupress.org/jcb/article/... #Actin

THE NEXT INSTALLMENT OF BIOLOGY OF MYOCBACTERIA GRC WILL BE IN 2028, NOT 2027. Exact date and location TBD. Sorry about the long wait, but we think it is better long term. PLEASE repost/tell your friends!

Summer REU in biofilms! Pls share. www.binghamton.edu/centers/biof...

Amazing to hold @lottepedersen.bsky.social & my @jcellsci.bsky.social Special Issue on #Cilia and #Flagella in all its glossy glory & muscle-engaging brain-boosting weight! So much fabulous content from the community! Fab cover @centriolelab.bsky.social 🥰🥰 journals.biologists.com/jcs/pages/ci...

Are you a graduate student or postdoc who wants to apply your science to policy? The Gulf Research Program’s Science Policy Fellowship provides experience for one year on the staff of federal, state, local, NGO in the Gulf region and impt networking. www.nationalacademies.org/programs/GUL...

Lipid scavenging by the Lyme disease spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi By Peter Gwynne and colleagues #MicroSky

Seeking scientist volunteers for the 2026 spring semester! Want to practice science communication and help author a 🌟comic🌟 about your research? Apply by 1/25. Please share widely. bit.ly/comicscollabspring2026

Philly! Come to the Native Plant Launch Party Wed 1/21! Here's why - I'll have ice whistles/zines - We'll make seed bombs for a collab w @wednightrides.org - Poster hosters can pick up seed kits - I need help packing seeds SO bad - Free beer/food thx to community donations RSVP luma.com/sgn1d246

Grinnell College has openings for two 1-year term positionsto teach microbiology and immunology. More information here: apply.interfolio.com/179939

I have been modeling the impact of multi-year funding. Based on fairly reasonable assumptions, 50% multi-year funding, the number of new and competing awards is anticipated to drop to approximately 6000 compared to 10,000 had there been no multi-year funding above the historical background rate.

Gratitutde to all NIH study section participants who are participating in rescheduled meetings now and in January. Thank you for your service and thanks also to the hard working NIH staff who are making these happen. 🥰🧪

My boss, Provost Ray Jayawardhana, will be Caltech's next president, taking over in the summer of 2026 www.caltech.edu/about/news/r...

Honored to be appointed Chief Scientific Officer @lieberinstitute.bsky.social. LIBD is a uniquely collaborative place with extraordinary biological resources and a commitment to translation 🧠🔬🧪. Grateful to my colleagues and excited to help guide our next chapter! www.libd.org/keri-martino...

This is great: www.youtube.com/watch?v=vivR...

Registration is open for the 2026 Gordon Research Conference on Microbial Stress Response to be held on July 19-24 2026!! Submit your abstract by February 15th to be considered for a short talk. Apply now before it fills up!! Hope to see you there!! www.grc.org/microbial-st...

Some folks stay in touch, some folks do not. Some students liked me, others did not. It's all good, and it's been a privilege to work with EVERY SINGLE STUDENT. I learned so much from EACH of you. If any of you are interested in contributing, great. And please spread the word if you wish?

Insect/arbovirus cell culture people: will my frozen c6/36 cells survive in DMEM or do I have to use EMEM as per the instructions ?

@peterfineran.bsky.social and colleagues develop Tn-seq for phages by leveraging anti-CRISPR (Acr) as a positive selectable marker in the presence of CRISPR-Cas counter-selection, and identify essential genes in phage from non model orgs www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Any suggested scholarship about how graduate student expectations of faculty mentors differ by gender?

How convenient - this tree already comes with ornaments! Get into the holiday spirit with this beautiful cell tree by @oozguc.bsky.social from @ibecbarcelona.eu. This beautiful fusion of science and art was made using our Lamin B1 stem cell line - complete with pink nuclei ornaments!

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A new study from the Rudner lab defines a comprehensive set of genes required for spore formation in Bacillus anthracis. Similarities and striking differences between the Bacillus subtilis model and this important human pathogen are described. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41385520/

Holiday door concept 🤝 reality. Pretty cute I think.

Download our large database of postdoc fellowships in all fields of research. Database freely available to all; 281 fellowships. Download here: research.jhu.edu/rdt/funding-...

Can’t wait!! My bacterial cell bio friends, you’re gonna want to go to this GRC and GRS.

indeed, 𝘙𝘶𝘨𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘢 𝘰𝘳𝘺𝘻𝘢𝘦 looke like fusilli, which are notably better at holding on salsa di pomodoro than spaghetti... and as pasta addicts, we fell instantly in love with the shape of this newly described alphaproteo from the Rhizobiales 🤭 #MicroSky

Just got word that we are a go for the Bacterial Cell Biology and Development GRS and GRC at Southern New Hampshire University! GRS will be on June 5-6, 2027 GRC will be from June 6-11, 2027 Block off your calendars Prokaryotic Cell Biologists! More details to come! Please repost!

Can't wait to do this exercise www.molbiolcell.org/doi/10.1091/...

bioRxiv, medRxiv, openRxiv stickers, pens, camera covers, window clings, magnets and one remaining T-shirt at booth 1134 at #cellbio2025 - last chance today!

Always a joy catching up w the best advisor ever. @mattwelchlab.bsky.social #cellbio25