Chris Balakrishnan

Our point in this research is not that bird feeding causes zoonotic spillover, but that we can actually *predict* when spillover is likely to occur, so that we can adjust our behavior (e.g., bird feeding) when the risk supports us making a change.

A promotional image for the BizBiodiversity Assessment Report, featuring multiple photographs. The main image shows two cyclists on a wooden boardwalk viewing Half Dome in Yosemite National Park, with towering granite cliffs and evergreen forest in the background. Below the title and text on a teal green background, there's a strip of five smaller photos showing: colorful textiles at a market, green tree canopy, aerial view of agricultural land, and wildlife in a savanna setting. The text announces "#BizBiodiversity Assessment Report" and details a methodological assessment about business impacts on biodiversity and nature's contributions to people. The event information indicates "#IPBES12 | 3-8 FEBRUARY 2026 | MANCHESTER, UK" The document describes its purpose of strengthening knowledge base for businesses to achieve the 2050 Vision for Biodiversity and Convention on Biological Diversity objectives, focusing on conservation, sustainable use, and equitable sharing of genetic resources.

The Business and Biodiversity Assessment looks at how economic activities both depend on and affect biodiversity and nature’s contributions to people.

Which aspect are you most curious about? 👀

More info about the #BizBiodiversity report set for approval at #IPBES12: ipbes.canto.de/b/HJAGG

Labor calls a general strike in Minnesota to protest the ICE invasion of the state.

"Less than 24 hours after the Trump administration informed more than 2,000 addiction and mental health programs nationwide that it was immediately terminating almost $2 billion of their funding, the administration reversed course and reinstated the money." Gift link: nyti.ms/4pzDSLz

YouTube video by DaptoneRecords Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings "Silver Bells"

Still the best holiday album as far as I know: youtube.com/watch?v=kImY...

I think the answer to stopping the harms of the Big AI companies is *not* to say "we need to kill all the AI", even though we hate seeing the creeping impacts of that bad AI in our lives. The model has to be how Bluesky is a better alternative to Twitter. We need a tolerable AI alternative instead.

Gene-specific selective sweeps are pervasive across human gut microbiomes - Nature Development and application of the integrated linkage disequilibrium score (iLDS) reveals both selective pressures impacting the human gut microbiome and the mechanisms by which gut bacteria adapt to ...

Grateful to share our paper on gene-specific selective sweeps in human gut microbiomes, now out in Nature! It has been a joy to work with @rwolff.bsky.social, whose insights and hard work made this possible.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

No molecular evidence for Muller's ratchet in mitochondrial genomes Muller's ratchet predicts that non-recombining genomes can accumulate deleterious mutations, though molecular evidence for it is rare. Previous studies have tried to detect ratchet-like behavior in mi...

Have you ever wondered: just how strong *is* the evidence for Muller's ratchet on mtDNA?

Well, wonder no more!

(Project led by Yu Mo, with @smishra677.bsky.social and @yadirapga.bsky.social)

"No molecular evidence for Muller's ratchet in mitochondrial genomes"
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Hey @3rdreviewer.bsky.social this looks great ! You might enjoy this one. We are working on revisions but here you go: www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-7...

In all likelihood I’ll provide some other nuance, but after the official communications all go out!

A good time for a reminder that the BIO Directorate will hold a Virtual Office Hour on Thursday www.nsf.gov/events/nsf-b...

I know there are pressing issues afoot, but why did Apple move everything that was on top to the bottom and vice versa in the new iOS?

Zoe Weissman - survivor of 2018 Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, FL

Mia Tretta - survivor of 2019 Saugus High School shooting in Santa Clarita, CA

Both are now students at Brown University in Providence, RI.

A colorful legacy of hybridization in wood-warblers includes frequent sharing of carotenoid genes among species and genera Introgression between species can shape evolutionary trajectories in important ways. This study of the entire family of the colorful wood-warblers (Parulidae) uses whole-genome sequencing to reveal fr...

New paper out. If you like colorful birds, hybridization, and phylogenetics, read on! 🧵https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3003501

@jdmanthey.bsky.social

NSF BIO Virtual Office Hour: Updates from the NSF Directorate for Biological Sciences Please join the NSF Directorate for Biological Sciences for a virtual office hour on Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025, at 1 p.m. Eastern time.

Ok, now with the correct link! BiO-wide virtual office hours at the NSF! www.nsf.gov/events/nsf-b...

Things are tough but not THAT tough … one minute …

Boxing up the NSF at Eisenhower Av for the forced relocation. Boxes have “Details Matter” signage.

NSF

- Forced reorg

- POs down ~ 40% (DRP, most rotators not renewed, retirements)

- Forced move (and we have to pack and clean) to a building with no furniture, little to no conference space for panels, inadequate 🛜, …)

I personally love the boxes they gave us for packing.
“Details matter” 🙃

Now out in @asm.org #mSystems! journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...
Congratulations to Robert and thanks to all collaborators. See thread below for a summary of the work, exploring the use of cross-species coexpression analyses to predict primary and secondary metabolic interactions in microbiomes.

Instacart’s AI-Enabled Pricing Experiments May Be Inflating Your Grocery Bill, CR and Groundwork Collaborative Investigation Finds - Consumer Reports Exclusive: Instacart’s AI pricing may be inflating your grocery bill.

In collaboration w/ @groundwork.bsky.social & @moreperfectunion.bsky.social, we convened hundreds of volunteers from across the country to investigate Instacart’s AI-assisted pricing experiments at popular grocery stores like Target & Kroger. Read our full investigation below:

The past and future of known biodiversity: Rates, patterns, and projections of new species over time The number of known species on Earth is increasing rapidly, suggesting unexpectedly large numbers of many groups.

Fascinated to learn that we are still discovering new species at the highest rate ever. Mapping Earth's biodiversity is far from over, and while we learn more and more about it, let's protect what we do know as well as we can!
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Why is the adobe “Ask AI assistant” right in the middle of the text I am trying to read?

Zillow Removes Climate Risk Scores From Home Listings

Lol, Zillow tried to rate the climate risks facing individual properties. The real estate industry *hated* it, precisely because it worked -- it made selling risky properties more difficult. So they rebelled & Zillow caved.

Don't look up!

Also, I am so grateful for funding - notably from the NSF PurSUiT program - that has valued and recognized the importance of biodiversity & discovery science and that is enabling our lab to continue this geothermal research.

Incl @maureenmkearney.bsky.social @evolutionpirate.bsky.social & others

Introducing ** Incendiamoeba **, a eukaryote that can live at temperatures well beyond what we thought possible. 63C!!

Read @hbrappap.bsky.social thread to see what we’ve already started to learn from this amazing organism!

doi.org/10.1101/2025...

#MicroSky #protistsonsky 🧪 #evobio

4) US being left behind: The US absence was quickly normalized. Whether out of frustration or honest conviction, delegates spoke of the US declining in relevance. As an African govt rep said: “Americans should realize the world is moving on from them... other nations are this as an opportunity.”

Not that you asked, but here's a thread of intriguing (real!) food facts to amuse/bore your friends and family.

Great for gatherings when you need to change the subject!

I keep saying, Google intentionally making its search worse is a world-historical fumble, and it's a huge opportunity for so many others across the internet, if they'll just seize it..

Unfortunately, I can confirm that this is true.

I have known Carl for 2 decades and he is smart, dedicated, and quite apolitical, focused on science and getting stuff done on important problems.

Huge unnecessary loss of leadership and expertise.

Trump’s thugs have come to my state to kidnap people/put them in concentration camps

Anthony Lewis, Superintendent of Durham Public Schools, sent around a really wonderful letter to all parents explaining how DPS would handle any of these thugs coming to any public school

What a time we live in 😢