Annual State of the Lab talk at lab meeting this morning. Always a satisfying exercise to pull together all the lab's accomplishments over the last year and think about what's ahead.

Nice interview by @brotmanbaty.bsky.social with my grad student Gabby, who works with me and @kelleyharris.bsky.social. Promising Young Scientist: Gabrielle Ferra Likes to ‘Parse Out Problems and Understand Them’ brotmanbaty.org/news/promisi...

Had great fun this weekend hanging out with @edwardmarcotte.bsky.social and his lab, past and present, to celebrate his lab’s 25th anniversary. Remarkable science, remarkable people. I only spent 6 months on sabbatical there but it had a long shadow on how I think about research and running a lab.

Nice of @thedailyuw.bsky.social to interview me and @bethbuffalo.bsky.social about becoming AAAS Fellows! www.dailyuw.com/article/fe9d...

⏰ Only 2 DAYS left for early registration! Join us at #Yeast26 (June 13-17, Pacific Grove, CA) for cutting-edge research in #genetics, #genomics, #disease, #regulation, #systemsBiology, #cellBiology, #lifeCycle, #syntheticBiology, & more. Register by April 16 to save! 🧬 genetics-gsa.org/yeast-2026/

New preprint with Bonny Brewer and Raghu's lab. Ku mutant genomes just go bonkers during chemostat evolution, but in very interesting ways! Telomeric amplicons of SUL1 and Y' in yeast are generated by microhomology-mediated break induced replication occurring in cis www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Seattle locals, my student Rachel is giving department research reports today. Special time of 2:00 in Foege auditorium! Come hear about yeast centromere evolution.

Fabulous Q&A with Dr. @maitreya.bsky.social @uwgenome.bsky.social "Reflecting on MSS 2026 and Looking Ahead to the Future of Genome Science" @brotmanbaty.bsky.social @varianteffect.bsky.social #VariantEffect26 ➡️ brotmanbaty.org/news/q-and-a...

Oh gosh, I'm so sorry to hear this. I got to interact w/Don quite a bit thanks to both of us being involved with a CIFAR program. He was always insightful in addition to being a delightful person to interact with. Occasionally made me wonder about the alternate universe where I became a worm person.

Took the lab to see Project Hail Mary tonight. Not every day a method you use in your research saves the universe :)

Here's a better picture of @afrubin.bsky.social's daughter's awesome rendition of my deep mutational scanning experiments as "The Yeast Wars" from my talk at #VariantEffect26 :) Great meeting!

Now out in AEM @asm.org! 🎉🧪 *High school student-isolated mutants 👉🏻 novel genetic causes of biofilm-associated adaptations *We learn how diversity arises quickly and is maintained *EvolvingSTEM enables scalable research in classrooms & promotes scientific literacy journals.asm.org/eprint/FBU9M...

I’m so pleased to be named a AAAS Fellow! I remember opening the original email thinking wow, which of my awesome faculty won this nice thing (a perk of being chair is getting emails like that) but it was me! www.washington.edu/news/2026/03...

Now published! Short title could be: How to do genetics with dead things. A cross-species rescue by mating method to interrogate gene essentiality across the Saccharomyces genus doi.org/10.17912/mic...

David Botstein was one of the giants of genetics and genomics, and my mentor, colleague and friend for more than 40 years. I’m sad that he is gone, but his larger-than-life persona comes through here. www.nytimes.com/2026/03/20/s...

We’re hiring a new student helper! This is a crucial position that supports lab infrastructure, including glassware, autoclaving, lab maintenance tasks, etc. Looking for someone reliable and detail-oriented! UW students please apply! (Login required) app.joinhandshake.com/emp/jobs/108...

Registration for MSS26 in Melbourne will close next Monday - we still have a few tickets available, and an amazing line-up of speakers across all areas of variant effects work, so if you were on the fence, check out our program and then smash that "Register now" button! www.mss2026.org

There is a nice discussion about this book in this interview with Felsenstein as part of the "Reflections on Modeling and Theory in Population Biology" series, presented by the Society for Modeling and Theory in Population Biology. Discussion starts at 48 minutes: www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSSx...

Wow, incredible opportunity for a new Head of fermentation etc at Garden Path. Whoever takes it, please collaborate with me! gardenpathwa.com/2026/03/10/j...

🍺 Fixing brewing #Yeast! 🧬 Experimental evolution corrects mother-daughter separation defects in ale strain over 200 generations: ✅ fewer large clusters ✅ reduced foam accumulation during fermentation 🧪 #YeastResearch #SGD #MoreGoodPours @micropub7n.bsky.social www.yeastgenome.org/reference/S1...

I went to a medical genetics talk today and searched the disease gene name just out of curiosity to see if there’s a homolog in yeast. Turns out the gene was discovered by my PhD advisor’s lab back in 1982.

Check out the new, improved version of our Mutation Browser preprint. We worked with a team from the Broad including their outreach office, a great summer intern, and the G2P project to add a new browser panel that maps mutations onto yeast protein structures! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

David Botstein, a titan within the scientific community, died last week. GSA mourns his passing and celebrates his legacy. Read more about his significance to our community in this thread ⬇️🧵

We are deeply saddened to share the news of the passing of David Botstein, a towering figure in modern #genetics and a foundational force behind SGD. www.yeastgenome.org/blog/in-memo... #yeast #modelOrganism

What are all these beakers of different materials waiting to be autoclaved? Stay tuned for a new yEvo module on evolving adhesion! Beta testing in 2 classrooms this spring.

Seattle locals: thesis defense Tuesday at 11:30 in Foege! Mapping the functional landscape of the pharmacogene CYP2D6 in Saccharomyces cerevisiae by Gabby Ferra, joint student between my lab and @kelleyharris.bsky.social

We're doing an experiment with a "cluster hire" of undergrad researchers. Several people in the lab all turned out to be in a good place to take on a student, so we coordinated 5 (!) hires. Hoping this will let us rotate mentors for some group trainings and also cultivate more of a cohort feel.

Our new micropub is out, where we evolve yeast strains that are both scientifically interesting and practically useful! Using Experimental Evolution to Correct Mother-Daughter Separation Defects in Brewing Yeast doi.org/10.17912/mic...

Seattle locals: I'm giving a seminar tomorrow in Microbiology! It'll be 4-5 Tuesday in the Orin Smith Auditorium on "Evolving and engineering brewing yeasts" and will be followed by a tasting of beers made with some of the yeast strains I'll talk about.

Abstract submissions for the 2026 ASBC & CIBD Meeting close Jan 30. Share research that advances beverage science and connect with brewers, distillers, and scientists shaping what’s next. https://bit.ly/44F6DyW #abstractsubmission #ASBCCIBD

Fun new paper with @drpaulrowley.bsky.social Novel killer yeasts and toxins from the gardens of fungus-growing ants | Applied and Environmental Microbiology journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...

Deadline Extended! This funding opportunity offers support that will integrate specialized resources across the NSCs of Oklahoma, the University of Washington, and the Jackson Laboratory. Learn more in the updated RFA here: bit.ly/4a1TN0B

Abstract submission for #Yeast26 is now open! 🍞🍺 Browse abstract submission topics online and start preparing your abstract today. Topics include disease models & aging, evolution & population genetics, gene regulation, genomics & systems biology, and more! Learn more: buff.ly/qotaLne

The lab is looking to hire 2 new undergraduate researchers! You'll get to work on yeast experimental evolution & genomics. UW students only (and this link won't work for others, sorry). Work study students very welcome to apply! Pays the prevailing minimum wage. app.joinhandshake.com/emp/jobs/106...

Labathon week skill-building report: tetrad dissection (lots!), long read genome assembly, DNA copy number analysis, pinning, bulk segregant mapping, FACS ploidy estimation, mating type testing, AI for coding, lit review, learning about weird stuff like mating type switching and tetraploid meiosis

Interested in the Aging Gene Discovery (AGeD) Collaborative NSC Pilot Awards which integrates resources offered by the Nathan Shock Centers of Oklahoma, the University of Washington, and the Jackson Laboratory? Register now for the informational webinar to learn more: bit.ly/4jvyAPQ

Join us tomorrow! with @mehurles.bsky.social @sangerinstitute.bsky.social and @maitreya.bsky.social @uwgenome.bsky.social Info and Link to join: www.varianteffect.org/seminar-seri...

Great kickoff for 2026 with a sabbatical visit from @gsherloc.bsky.social who is conveniently here just in time to participate in our "labathon" (think hackathon, but for a project that has some computational and wetlab components). This year's project is an attempt at genetics with brewing yeast.

Lab freezer defrost day

Hit a new lab record of 89 yeast genomes sequenced in one run!

The Nathan Shock Center at UW has a unique opportunity to utilize multiple cores for a single pilot project at our center. Please see the RFA below:

Fun new preprint from the lab, headed up by two incredible undergraduate researchers: Using Experimental Evolution to Correct Mother-Daughter Separation Defects in Brewing Yeast. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

New preprint with @pyjiang.bsky.social and @kelleyharris.bsky.social! The discovery and patterns of the underlying long-standing mild-effect mutator alleles in S. cerevisiae populations www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Open faculty position (Assistant or Associate) in UW Medical Genetics. As you might expect, faculty often end up also interacting with Genome Sciences, so we're hoping for some great prospects! Note the clinical requirements for the position. apply.interfolio.com/176466

New aging pilot grant opportunity to collaborate with us! The idea is to do CRISPR screens in mammalian cells with the Oklahoma team, then do mechanistic follow up of some of the results using appropriate model organisms (worms, mice, and, of course, yeast, with my lab!) Applications due in February

2026 #Yeast #Genetics Meeting is 13–17 June 2026 in Pacific Grove CA. Conference website has invited speakers, abstract submission topics, preliminary schedule, etc. Bookmark the site as additional updates will be published as they become available. #YEAST26 genetics-gsa.org/yeast-2026/

Incredible new paper from @schacherer.bsky.social et al rdcu.be/eLcTH

The #Yeast26 website is live—start planning your conference attendance now! 🧬 Browse abstract submission topics, key dates, speaker & venue info, details on travel funding, and more: buff.ly/HFIt31b Bookmark the page to stay updated as new information becomes available!

Registration is now open for the Mutational Scanning Symposium!! This is one not to miss. Invited speakers include @mehurles.bsky.social @sangerinstitute.bsky.social @maitreya.bsky.social @uwgenome.bsky.social #VariantEffect26 Register soon for the early bird rate! ℹ️➡️https://www.mss2026.org