Erin Goley

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 Author summary Many of the pathogenic mechanisms by which Borrelia burgdorferi causes disease involve cell envelope interactions with host components. To further elucidate the role of peptidoglycan in...

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?

A line graph of the number of NIH awards for new and competitive renewal grants made in fiscal year 2026 compared to fiscal years 2021 through 2025. The curve for fiscal year 2026 appears to be essentially at zero on this scale.

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

This Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program is funded by the National Science Foundation to create "points of entry" for students interested in research. Students apply from across the country to spend 10 weeks in Bozeman, Montana this summer (May 26, 2026 - August 1, 2026). Admitted students are paired with a faculty mentor, who serves as an advisor for a student's summer project. Each student receives a stipend ($7000 for 10 wks). Travel compensation, room, and board are also provided. Our program leverages MSU’s unique microbiology expertise, focusing specifically on microbes living with little or no oxygen (like those in the hot springs of nearby Yellowstone). Low oxygen microbes are essential to human and ecosystem health. They influence (or control) such processes as the breakdown of food in the GI tract, removal of toxins from our bodies and the environment, and production of greenhouse gases. They are also models for understanding the origins of life on this planet, and the potential for life on other planets. A key goal of our program is to recruit students from schools with limited research infrastructure. Being in Montana, a state with a vibrant Native American community, we are particularly interested in applications from students at tribal colleges. However, ANYONE with an interest in microbiology - or biology/science in general - can and should apply. If willing and able, please share/tweet/spread the word far and wide. Applications are due February 14, 2026. Full details can be found through our website http://www.montana.edu/mbi/reu/

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!

Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) | Biofilm Research Center | Binghamton University

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...

Gulf Research Program Science Policy Fellowships The Gulf Research Program’s Science Policy Fellowship helps scientists hone their skills by putting them to practice for the benefit of Gulf Coast communities and ecosystems. Fellows gain first-hand e...

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

Leafcutter ant holds up a large piece of leaf that says "Call for Scientists."

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

2026 Native Plant Project Launch Party · Luma We're gearing up for the 2026 iteration of the Philly Native Plant Project, and we need YOUR HELP! Last year we distributed 10,000 packets of native plant…

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

A graph showing a linear decline in the number of NIH award from ~10000 to ~2500 as a function of increasing percentage of grants multi-year funded.

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. 🥰🧪

Ray Jayawardhana Appointed Caltech's Tenth President The Johns Hopkins University provost, renowned astrophysicist, and award-winning author will begin as the Institute's leader on July 1, 2026.

My boss, Provost Ray Jayawardhana, will be Caltech's next president, taking over in the summer of 2026

www.caltech.edu/about/news/r...

Keri Martinowich, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer | The Lieber Institute for Brain Development | Research & Discovery Lieber Institute for Brain Development Appoints Keri Martinowich, Ph.D., as Chief Scientific Officer Baltimore, MD (January 6, 2025) — The Lieber Institute for Brain Development (LIBD) announced the a...

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...

Congrats Keri!!

YouTube video by Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation From canvas to cell: a portrait of Lucy Shapiro

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...