Catherine S.

Genomic divergence across the tree of life | PNAS Nucleotide sequence data are being harnessed to identify species, even in cases in which organisms themselves are neither in hand nor witnessed. Bu...

Genomic divergence across the tree of life 🧪🌐https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2319389122

UCLA’s funds reinstated after yesterday’s court order! Thanks to the brave researchers and their amazing counsel, including Dean Chemerinsky, who brought suit. This is just another turn in the ongoing fight, but a great result for now.

Modeling predicts that metabolic diversity increases the ecological impacts of weapon gene transfer. Modeling scenarios for each column are shown across the top row. Bottom row: Example dynamics of the strains (attacker, target, transconjugant) during a contest using parameters that correspond to the cross (X) shown in the parameter sweeps directly below.

#Bacteria use weapons to outdo rivals, but what happens if they're transferred? @prokaryota.bsky.social @jdpal.bsky.social &co show that HGT of toxin #plasmids is rare but recipients can thrive under relaxed nutrient competition, reshaping bacterial warfare @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/43vC3X7

let's go back to publishing every weird little thing we see an organism do as a natural history note. i love a good kitchen sink paper that gets into the nitty gritty of a whole-ass system, but when you're trying to research something less well-known, you really need people writing "so one time..."

YouTube video by TrainVEVO Train - Drops of Jupiter (Official Video)

Inspired by the singer’s mother who had passed after a battle with cancer

m.youtube.com/watch?v=7Xf-...

Pharmaceutical pollution influences river-to-sea migration in Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) Despite the growing threat of pharmaceutical pollution, we lack an understanding of whether and how such pollutants influence animal behavior in the wild. Using laboratory- and field-based experiments...

Widely detected in global waterways, clobazam—a common drug used to treat anxiety—is altering the migration behavior of wild Atlantic salmon, according to a new Science study.

The findings underscore the far-reaching ecological consequences of pharmaceutical pollutants. scim.ag/4inFhBl

A tricky thing about modern society is that no one has any idea when they don’t die.

Like, the number of lives saved by controlling air pollution in America is probably over 200,000 per year, but the number of people who think their life was saved by controlling air pollution is zero.

Making Every Penny Count: Kinase Signaling Transduction, Copper Homeostasis, & Nutrient Sensing I am the Harrison McCrea Dickson, MD, and Clifford C. Baker, MD Presidential Associate Professor of Cancer Biology at the University of Pennsylvania P…

Several months ago, I was honored to be invited by JMB Editor-in-Chief Mike Summers to write a Perspective for the Pioneers in Molecular Biology special issue. It was a chance to reflect on the journey that led me here. You can read the pieces here: tinyurl.com/2pb967u9 & tinyurl.com/kkwfynt2

A drawn laptop charger with the frayed cord wrapped around itself and the cord’s end giving a final salute

A small tribute to the valiant laptop charger that saw me through my entire dissertation 🫡

#drawing#charcoal#anthropomorphicobjects

THIS IS HUGE! Researchers at McMaster University have discovered a NEW peptide antibiotic that targets a broad range of disease-causing bacteria INCLUDING those RESISTANT to existing antibiotics. This discovery marks the first potential new class of antibiotics in NEARLY 30 YEARS. 🧪🧵⬇️

A male cardinal looking the right (toward a female in the bush out of shot) is perched on a metal railing

A dapper looking cardinal joining me for breakfast this morning :)
#birds

The Worm That No Computer Scientist Can Crack One of the simplest, most over-studied organisms in the world is the C. elegans nematode. For 13 years, a project called OpenWorm has tried—and utterly failed—to simulate it.

www.wired.com/story/openwo...

These sound like awesome games! My brother recommended A Short Hike to me, in the thick of lockdown during the pandemic, and it had these magical moments mixed throughout. Brought me to happy tears by the end

The FDA Finally Visited an Indian Drug Factory Linked to U.S. Deaths. It Found Problems. The inspection comes after a ProPublica investigation revealed that drugs made at the Glenmark Pharmaceuticals plant accounted for an outsized share of U.S. recalls for pills that didn’t dissolve…

When FDA inspectors went to a Glenmark Pharmaceuticals plant last month — their first inspection in five years — they discovered problems with cleaning and testing that they said could affect medicines that were shipped to Americans.

By @sheinvestigates.bsky.social

Left: Structural comparison of ATPγS-DppABCDF and apo-DppBCDF. Clipped view of the outward-facing substrate loading cavity in ATPγS-DppABCDF (left), the outward-facing conformation of ATPγS-DppABCDF (middle) and inward-facing conformation of apo-DppBCDF (right). Below: Two inserts showing distance changes of the two coupling helices in two states. Right: Surface representations of the ATPases in the two states viewed from membrane plane. The RecA-like domain and the helical subdomain are differentiated by color shadings. The rotation of the helical subdomain with respect to the RecA-like domain during transition from the inward-facing conformation (ATPγS-DppBCDF) to the outward-facing conformation (ATPγS-DppABCDF) is indicated.

Bacterial ABC peptide transporters are involved in processes like nutrient uptake. This study solves #cryoEM structures of the #Ecoli dipeptide #transporter DppABCDF in both apo & ATP analog-bound forms, providing insights into assembly & import mechanism 🧪 @plosbiology.org plos.io/3DxP8pU

29 Bands Announced for Inaugural Unhinged Festival - See Who's Playing Lamb of God and Knocked Loose will headline the inaugural Unhinged Festival in Denver, Colorado. See the full lineup and how to get tickets.

When you need to scream into the void for a little while. An amazing lineup for anyone in the Denver area!

loudwire.com/unhinged-fes...

If you feel up to it, attend a Stand Up for Science protest tomorrow. I think it will lift your spirits. Standupforscience2025.org

What yesterday’s Supreme Court decision means for clean water Trending headlines implied a weakening of the Clean Water Act, but utilities working for clean water see a victory.

if you tagged us yesterday after reading headlines about the Supreme Court and the Clean Water Act, we understand.

it's important you also read a headline from a utility cited in the decision:

ours.

“Before we start, however, keep in mind that although fun and learning are the primary goals of all enrichment center activities, serious injuries may occur” -GLaDOS

What can theoretical physics teach us about knitting? The practice of purposely looping thread to create intricate knit garments and blankets has existed for millennia. Though its precise origins have been lost to history, artifacts like a pair of wool s...

What can theoretical physics teach us about knitting? phys.org/news/2025-02...

Beautiful video of inter-cellular signaling in a swarming response that I pulled from the other place, produced by @strickland-evelyn.bsky.social in collaboration with D. Irimia lab.

The dye detects calcium flux that indicates a signal being received by each cell: you're seeing the 'alarm' go out.

Map of the United States displaying hydrogen ion wet deposition levels from measurements taken in 1985 by the Central Analytical Laboratory. The map uses a color gradient from green (low deposition) to red (high deposition) to show varying levels of H+ deposition (kg/ha). The highest deposition levels are concentrated in the northeastern U.S., while the western U.S. has the lowest levels. Black dots indicate measurement locations. The map is sourced from the National Atmospheric Deposition Program/National Trends Network

Map showing hydrogen ion wet deposition measurements across the United States and parts of Canada, indicating values in kg/ha for 2022. The color gradient represents different concentration levels, with a scale on the right. Sites not pictured are listed at the bottom. The map is mostly green, indicating that H+ deposition is no longer a environment issue that it once was.

Another dataset I like is from the National Atmospheric Deposition Program, which has maps of the US that show we fixed the acid rain problem by implementing stricter emission controls on power plants.

nadp.slh.wisc.edu/maps-data/nt...

the version of record (VoR) of our most recent paper has been published @elife.bsky.social! 🎉🥳 🧪

elifesciences.org/articles/102...

Copper-enriched automotive brake wear particles perturb human alveolar cellular homeostasis - Particle and Fibre Toxicology Background Airborne fine particulate matter with diameter < 2.5 μm (PM2.5), can reach the alveolar regions of the lungs, and is associated with over 4 million premature deaths per year worldwide. Howe...

particleandfibretoxicology.biomedcentral.com/articles/10....

US wildfire suppressants rife with toxic heavy metals, study finds Suppressants a ‘major’ source of toxic pollution that causes heavy-metal levels to spike in the environment

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

“It’s Bluey!” - exclaimed my toddler after looking over my shoulder to see what’s on my phone

Got to talk with a couple of these folks during a virology course at my university years ago. Easily the most badass scientists I’ve ever met with amazing stories and career achievements. Heartbroken is an understatement

Roses are red
Violets are blue
Microbes are awesome
Even when they're in poo
#microValentines
#ValentinesDay

So cool! Never been that far south on the Brazos, but I hadn’t considered how much the composition of fossils could change along the river

Today is a good day to get your flu shot 💉💪