Deepa Agashe

I can't be the only one who is made /uncomfortable/ by the way that razor clams burrow into sand, right?

The final moments of this video by Kate Crump on the Oregon coastline are sort of the crowning glory of horror. 😬

But how does this even work?
Let's talk about bivalve mobility (if we must).

Do come listen to this public talk — open to all — by @danielbolnick.bsky.social. So happy to be hosting him in Bangalore!

Led by my talented PhD student @justine-armg.bsky.social we’re running a #meta-analysis of #cross-sex-genetic-correlations in fitness components.

If you have unpublished data or know of studies that might not appear in a systematic search, please reach out, we’d love to include them!

Please share!

Looking forward to this, and some fun discussion that will hopefully follow!

one of the greatest human triumphs of my lifetime is the relentless, unceasing, heroic effort by DECADES' worth of doctors and scientists to find a cure for a disease much of the world didn't take seriously for years because it predominantly affected a community they thought kinda deserved it

A photograph I took quite early on New Year's Day, 2019, while walking on the Isle of Purbeck during the research for my book Ring The Hill, not long before I did a tweet using the photo and this same caption. I imagine it won't have as much impact here, since loads of people have since reused it, and the phrase is now more widely known. It is still very very true, though. Lots of things are solved by walking. Although not everything, obviously.

Solvitur ambulando is my favourite Latin phrase. It means "it is solved by walking".

#ProtistsOnSky
no 'swimming' by 𝘝𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘺𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘢, definitively no 'staying still'. just a relaxed walk towards the lunch...

SMBE Best Graduate Student Paper

SMBE is calling for nominations for Best Graduate Student Papers of 2025, recognizing outstanding papers in @molbioevol.bsky.social and @genomebiolevol.bsky.social

🗓️ Deadline Feb 27

Articles published in 2025 are eligible. The nominated student must be first author; anyone can nominate authors.

Plasmid mutation rates scale with copy number | PNAS Plasmids are extrachromosomal DNA molecules that spread by horizontal transfer and shape bacterial evolution. Plasmids are typically present at mul...

New paper out in PNAS!!! 🎉

Do more plasmid copies mean faster evolution?

🧵 Dive into the story

www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Registration now open for @embo.org workshop on the evolution of biological interactions on April 24 - 27, 2026! Come join us in Taipei, Taiwan to see how interactions shaped the genomes of various organisms and meeting people from across the globe. Info: meetings.embo.org/event/26-bio...

This is one of the most beautiful things I have witnessed, the craft here is impeccable.

A real treat to watch a male Lyrebird perform at the Healesville Sanctuary yesterday. Truly magnificent.

MBE | Cost of Altered Translation Accuracy Shapes Adaptation to Antibiotics in E. coli Bacteria with varying levels of accuracy in protein synthesis (blue cells, using tRNAs to produce amino acid chains) face antibiotics (purple demons). Mistranslation exacts a fitness cost, and as errors increase (red amino acids), so does the cost (the red rubbish heap under each cell). Wild type, mistranslating and hyper-accurate cells also experience different ancestral fitness costs from antibiotic exposure. Strains adapt to antibiotics with varying success, using distinct mutations (represented by the nucleotide sequences). Image credit: Nishant Asawadekar

@laasya2.bsky.social @deepaagashe.bsky.social et al. quantified the growth cost of mistranslation rates and exposure to antibiotics in E. coli, finding that altered translation accuracy can shape adaptive outcomes.

🔗 doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msaf312

🖌️ Nishant Asawadekar

#evobio #molbio

How do bacteria deal with double costs? And how costly are unusual levels of mistranslation anyway? In short - antibiotics are more of an issue than less/more mistranslation, but the latter changes how populations deal with antibiotics. For the long story, check out our new paper!

MVIF 45

We have an early New Year present for you:
🎁The new #MVIF program is out🎁

Highlights:
🇳🇵 Bishwash Thapa
🇮🇷 Zahra Nezamivand Chegini

Keynote:
🇨🇭 @saramitri.bsky.social

Talks:
🇺🇸 @liliancaesar.bsky.social
🇮🇹 Haseeb Manzoor
🇦🇹 Laurenz Holcik

Free registration: cassyni.com/s/mvif-45

See you in January!

The Congress Attendance Aid (CAA) Grant is offered by ESEB to promote equal participation, diversity, and accessibility @empseb31.bsky.social June 2025, Oberwiesenthal, Germany

For more information and to apply click here: eseb.org/prizes-fundi...

A great piece below about science and art. And a great anecdote in the comments by @annfinkbeiner.bsky.social. Both ring pretty true to me.

A picture of a frog on a leaf with the SICB and Skype a Scientist logos on the bottom right with the following words on top: "Call for Artists!" Learn about the latest animal research adn create art inspired by the science at the SICB meeting in Portland, OR. Deadline to apply: dec 12, Project dates Jan 3-7, Stipend $1000"

ARTISTS!
I need your help!

In collab. w/the Society for Integrative & Comparative Biology, I'm organizing a group of artists to come to our Jan. meeting! We're looking for artists to create based on what they learn at the conference. $1000 stipend.

Application is V short! forms.gle/ah1i8KwNJinZ...

Text: Society for the Study of Evolution SSE Presidents' Award for Outstanding Dissertation Paper, Deadline January 30. Recent covers of Evolution Letters and Evolution.

Did you publish part of your PhD work in @journal-evo.bsky.social or @evolletters.bsky.social this year? Submit your paper for the SSE Presidents’ Award! Up to two recipients will each present an award talk during the virtual portion of #Evol2026 in May. Deadline: January 30. shorturl.at/CnVo6

A single human skull lies on the overgrown floor. It has many faces, eyes, noses, repeating in a fractal pattern. From the cracks in the bone, a small fractal flower emerges. The water behind swirls in shimmering patterns.

A picture taken from the floor of a hospital room. In the foreground, a person lies on the floor. Behind its head, their spinal cord, brain and eyes tumble outside, appearing to slither like a snake.

In the far distance, way behind the mountains, a face that is too large to comprehend looks back at you, eyes wide open.

A large 747 aircraft flies low close to a runway on a foggy day. The plane is completely dilapidated, with a missing cockpit area, several large holes in the fuselage and destroyed motors. It is surrounded by a coat of black smoke.

Today is my birthday! 🎂
If you like my work and want to make my day, I only ask that you share my art and stories with someone who might enjoy them :)
Or trick your gullible friend for a minute. That's also a good one.

Please apply for this, and/or encourage your mentees and peers to do so!

WE FOUND IT! We trekked day and night through tiger-patrolled Sumatran rainforests accessible only under permit for this: Rafflesia hasseltii. Few people have ever seen this flower, and we watched it open by night. Magic.

APPLICATIONS welcomed for the ESEB #Outreach Initiative Fund for educational initiatives that promote #evolution, public outreach seminars, public exhibitions, workshops, etc.

Up to €4K available per project.

eseb.org/prizes-fundi...

For a while (many years!) back, @eseb.bsky.social gave us €€€ to form a Special Topic Network. Formally, the network no longer exists, but informally for sure AND we can now pick the fruits of our labours! Here is one and the next post shows another... Thank you ESEB! 🙏

Deep in the Sumatran jungle today we found the extraordinary flowers of Rhizanthes pushing their fangs through the forest floor. A sap-sucking, leafless parasite, this is one of the world's weirdest plants.

Ep. 551 - Sagebrush, Pitcher Plants, & Leaf Microbiomes — In Defense of Plants In Defense of Plants' Matt Candeias talks with Microbial Ecologist Dr. Leonora Bittleston about the leaf microbiomes of sagebrush (Artemisia tridentat) and pitcher plants (Sarracenia, Nepenthes, and C...

I was thrilled to be interviewed by Matt Candeias for his cool podcast In Defense of Plants! Check it out if you want to hear about sagebrush, pitcher plants and leaf microbiomes!
www.indefenseofplants.com/podcast/2025...

📣CALL FOR APPLICATIONS!!

The next deadline for the #GodfreyHewitt mobility award is 31st January 2026. Open to ECRS in support of research trips or lab visits.

For more information, eligibility and how to apply: eseb.org/prizes-fundi...

Neat, look forward to reading the paper Megan!

Elevated rates and biased spectra of mutations in anaerobically cultured lactic acid bacteria | mBio Despite Earth’s oxygen-free origins and the abundance of microorganisms that thrive without oxygen, little is known about the rates and patterns of mutations in anaerobic species. This study directly ...

Excited to share our latest paper led by Ph.D. Candidate, Owen Hale, titled Elevated rates and Biased Spectra of Mutations in Anaerobically Cultured Lactic Acid Bacteria out now in mBio!

journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...

I wrapped up field work in Siang & Dibang Valleys, Arunachal Pradesh, India, two days ago. At my last rest stop, a stunning visitor landed on the dining table, as if saying, 'don't leave!'. It was Banded Redeye (Gangara lebadea;
www.ifoundbutterflies.org/gangara-leba...).
I'll be back next year!