Kristin Michel

In the latest issue of #G3journal, @arunsethuraman.bsky.social et al. describe biases in summary statistics, such as genetic differentiation, Tajima’s D, and estimates of theta, migration rates, and divergence for understanding genomic signatures from extinct ghost populations. buff.ly/h6bjoQc

Ancient origin of an urban underground mosquito Understanding how life is adapting to urban environments represents an important challenge in evolutionary biology. In this work, we investigate a widely cited example of urban adaptation, Culex pipie...

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

NEJM and public health group are launching rival to CDC’s MMWR publication Two institutions are coming together to create an alternative to the CDC’s vaunted Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report

New England Journal of Medicine & Center for Infectious Disease Research & Policy (CIDRAP) to begin publishing “public health alerts”

“...will basically serve to be a way to convey the info. that once was shared in the MMWR,” to be published in new section of NEJM Evidence as needed w/ free access🛟

Staff Scientist About EMBL-EBI EMBL’s European Bioinformatics Institute is a data powerhouse, utilised on a global scale to advance scientific discovery through bioinformatics and solutions to some of the world’s mos...

I am hiring! - looking for a Staff Scientist to co-run my research group with me. Staff Scientist is a senior professional scientist role at EMBL. Please forward to people you might know who could be interested! embl.wd103.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/EMBL/j...

TF-MAPS: fast high-resolution functional and allosteric mapping of DNA-binding proteins Transcription factors (TFs) bind specific DNA sequences to control gene expression. Modulating TF activity is of considerable therapeutic interest but very few TFs have been successfully drugged. TF D...

TF-MAPS: fast high-resolution functional and allosteric mapping of DNA-binding proteins by @XianghuaLi2

Are Transcription Factors really 'undruggable'?

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

New @vectorbyte.bsky.social preprint: Modeling asymmetric Thermal Performace Curves for proportion data - led by Prof Leah Johnson, with Paul Huxley @phuxley.bsky.social, Cat Lippi @lippikiyay.bsky.social, and Prof Sadie Ryan @sjryan3.bsky.social.
LINEX TPC: your next fit!

Phylogenomics redefines the evolutionary history of mosquitoes | PNAS Mosquitoes have a substantial impact on human and animal health, but their deeper evolutionary relationships have been difficult to resolve. We inf...

Oh, this changes things!
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

‼️

Whaaattt?!?

Gewaltig :)

A miniature CRISPR–Cas10 enzyme confers immunity by inhibitory signalling - Nature Panoptes, an anti-phage defence system against virus-mediated immune suppression, is revealed.

Today in @nature.com , we highlight how a cousin of CRISPR-Cas10, mCpol, establishes an evolutionary trap in anti-phage immune systems.

Check out @erinedoherty.bsky.social and my work from @doudna-lab.bsky.social lab here:
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Invasive mosquito surveillance in the United Kingdom 2020 to 2024: First detection of Aedes aegypti eggs in the UK and further detection of Aedes albopictus Here, we provide an update on invasive mosquito surveillance activities coordinated by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) between May 2020 and November 2024. Aedes albopictus and Aedes aegypti are ...

Great work by @ukhsa.bsky.social team on 4 yrs of invasive #mosquito surveillance in UK. Sporadic detection of Aedes albopictus on transport routes in England & one-off detection of aegypti at Heathrow don't confirm establishment, but show value of surveillance
journals.plos.org/globalpublic...

Impact of larval diet on fitness outcomes of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes infected with wAlbB and wMelM - Parasites & Vectors Background Releases of Wolbachia-infected Aedes aegypti are being used to effectively control diseases caused by arboviruses, such as dengue. A well-balanced larval diet is essential for producing Wolbachia-infected mosquitoes with optimal fitness for release. Methods In this study, four diets with varying protein-to-carbohydrate ratios were tested with three Ae. aegypti lines (carrying the wAlbB, wMelM Wolbachia infections or uninfected) to identify optimal diets for larval rearing on the basis of diet allocations ranging from 0.4 to 3.2 mg/larva/day. The diets were selected on the basis of a review of existing literature and are characterized by progressively increasing protein and decreasing carbohydrate content: diet 1 (Pd) was based on plant-based protein (low protein and high carbohydrate), diet 2 (Kd) was based on animal-based protein (moderate protein and high carbohydrate), diet 3 (Fd) involved Hikari fish food (high protein and moderate carbohydrate), and diet 4 (IAEA) followed a widely used very-high-protein and low-carbohydrate diet developed by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The optimal concentration for each diet was determined using a fitness index that incorporated pupation success, fecundity, hatch proportion and development time. Results The optimal dietary allocations for diets 1–4 were 1.6, 1.2, 1.2 and 0.8 mg/larva/day, respectively, regardless of Wolbachia status. There was a consistent significant positive relationship between female wing length and fecundity in wAlbB (r2 = 0.881), wMelM (r2 = 0.329), and uninfected (r2 = 0.886) mosquitoes. Diet 3 (Fd) at optimal food allocation reduced a fitness cost commonly associated with the wAlbB line compared with the uninfected line when provided at the optimal concentration. The wMelM line showed a persistently low fecundity regardless of diet and concentration. Conclusions These findings highlight the importance of an appropriate larval diet and dietary allocations in optimizing mosquito fitness for Wolbachia-based vector control programs. Further research into dietary composition, gut microbial interactions and Wolbachia associations could refine larval nutrition strategies, enhancing the effectiveness of mass-rearing for release programs. Graphical abstract

New paper on impacts of different larval diets on the fitness of Wolbachia mosquitoes

parasitesandvectors.biomedcentral.com/articles/10....

Changes in the behavior of Myzus persicae (Hemiptera: Aphididae) in response to predators after transinfection with Rickettsiella (Legionellales: Coxiellaceae) endosymbionts Abstract. Infection with endosymbionts can cause changes in the phenotype of their insect hosts, particularly for life-history traits such as fecundity and

New paper led by @phiddlesticks.bsky.social shows how endosymbionts can affect aphid responses to predators

academic.oup.com/aesa/advance...

Compete in ESO’s Bug Eye Photo Contest! Submit up to 3 unique images of insects for a chance to win! All Ontario residents (and international students living in Ontario) can submit!

Deadline extended to September 30th, 2025!

Full contest details can be found on our website.

Macro photo of a large grey fly in side view on a pure white background. The fly has a dark metallic blue abdomen, red eyes, and a sort of fleshy looking rounded face.

Portrait of a human bot fly. Belize. Friend? Maybe not. But cuter as an adult, I'd say.

I am reading ‘Everything is Tuberculosis’ by johngreensbluesky.bsky.social and indeed, everything is tuberculosis!

Aedes aegypti VLG-1 challenges the assumed antiviral nature of Vago genes - BMC Biology Background Arthropod-borne viruses (arboviruses) such as dengue virus (DENV) and Zika virus (ZIKV) pose a significant threat to global health. Novel approaches to control the spread of arboviruses foc...

🚀 Excited to share (with a little delay) my first first-author publication on #Vago genes in #mosquitoes! 🦟 🦠 Have a look to see how we questioned a mosquito immunity dogma and challenged the existing understanding of Vago-like genes as antiviral factors ⬇️

bmcbiol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10....

VACANCY - We’re recruiting for a visionary group leader to lead fundamental research on Discovery Plant Science as part of our vibrant research community

Successful candidate will be offered a six-year tenure-track position with the opportunity to apply for tenure:

www.jic.ac.uk/vacancies/gr...

Interdisciplinary Post-doctoral fellowships (2 positions) in wound healing - Toronto (City), Ontario (CA) job with The Hospital for Sick Children - Developmental & Stem Cell Biology Program | 1284... Two Postdoc positions to identify & visualize translation dynamics & function of proteins that drive epithelial cell migration during wound healing.

We’re #hiring! 2 #post-doc positions for an interdisciplinary project funded by the @hfspo.bsky.social in #axolotl and #Drosophila #wound healing at @sickkidsto.bsky.social #Canada and @umontpellier.bsky.social #France @laghalab.bsky.social. Share and apply here: www.nature.com/naturecareer...

Congrats to Sven Bervoets and co-authors for our paper on fly Arc now out in @currentbiology.bsky.social !! This was an awesome collaboration with @thecaronlab.bsky.social’s lab @utah.edu

authors.elsevier.com/c/1lZlk3QW8S...

Call for 20 Assistant Professor positions Karolinska Institutet is a world-leading medical university with a long and proud history of ground-breaking research. We are now recruiting outstanding early-career researchers with particularly exce...

Wow

Karolinska Institutet is recruiting 20 outstanding early-career researchers for assistant professor positions

ki.se/en/about-ki/...

Exciting news! We’re thrilled to launch the European SOVE Education and Development Committee, to support #EarlyCareer researchers in the #SOVE with training, guides, and resources.

Want to stay updated?
- Join our mailing list: lnkd.in/euneQwF7
- Follow us on LinkedIn for updates and events!

Oh, I grew up with a jostaberry in our garden. They are delicious!!!

Macrocyclic Phage Display for Identification of Selective Protease Substrates Traditional methods for identifying selective protease substrates have primarily relied on synthetic libraries of linear peptides, which offer limited sequence and structural diversity. Here, we present an approach that leverages phage display technology to screen large libraries of chemically modified cyclic peptides, enabling the identification of highly selective substrates for a protease of interest. Our method uses a reactive chemical linker to cyclize peptides on the phage surface, while simultaneously incorporating an affinity tag and a fluorescent reporter. The affinity tag enables capture of the phage library and subsequent release of phages expressing optimal substrates upon incubation with a protease of interest. The addition of a turn-on fluorescent reporter allows direct quantification of cleavage efficiency throughout each selection round. The resulting identified substrates can then be chemically synthesized, optimized and validated using recombinant enzymes and cells. We demonstrate the utility of this approach using Fibroblast Activation Protein α (FAPα) and the related proline-specific protease, dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP4), as targets. Phage selection and subsequent optimization identified substrates with selectivity for each target that have the potential to serve as valuable tools for applications in basic biology and fluorescence image-guided surgery (FIGS). Overall, our strategy provides a rapid and unbiased platform for effectively discovering highly selective, non-natural protease substrates, overcoming key limitations of existing methods.

Macrocyclic Phage Display for Identification of Selective Protease Substrates | Journal of the American Chemical Society pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10....

Mechanisms of host exploitation by a microsporidian parasite | Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences Parasites exploit their hosts to enhance their growth and reproduction, yet the mechanisms underlying host manipulation remain understudied for many taxa. The microsporidian Vavraia culicis, a potential biological control agent for mosquitoes, serves as ...

Our NEW paper is OUT in PROCEEDINGS B! 🦟
We show how a #microsporidia exploits its #Anopheles host throughout #infection using a bunch of different methods.
#MicroSky #EvoSky #SymbioSky
See below👇

royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...

Chromosomal Inversions and Their Potential Impact on the Evolution of Arboviral Vector Aedes aegypti Abstract. Chromosomal inversions play a crucial role in evolution and have been found to regulate epidemiologically significant traits in malaria mosquitoe

Detecting chromosome inversions in @aegypti is a real art! I am honored to be part of this project. academic.oup.com/gbe/article/...

3-year Postdoc in philosophy of biology w/ @lucielaplane.bsky.social in Paris on cell lineages; interdisciplinary project w/ mathematicians & biologists. Conceptually-minded historians & social scientists also welcome to apply. Project start in early 2026. Application opens soon #HPS #hpbio #STS

The molecular toll pathway repertoire in anopheline mosquitoes Innate immunity in mosquitoes has received much attention due to its potential impact on vector competence for vector-borne disease pathogens, includi…

Newish manuscript from the lab. Gene annotation and evolutionary rates of Toll pathway genes and toll-like receptors in anopheline mosquitoes. Fun collaboration with @rmwaterhouse.bsky.social www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Congratulations!!!