Kate Morton, PhD

From nematode to Nobel: How community-shared resources fueled the rise of Caenorhabditis elegans as a research organism - a perspective written by 11 scientists, six of whom are Nobel laureates

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

Horrifying.

I really hope there is some sort of information embedded in these AI generated "data" image files that journals will be able to use to identify this type of fabrication. 🧪

I suspect zero chance a reviewer would identify this as being fake.

Congratulations @kev-in-situ-et.bsky.social and the whole team on in situ cryo-ET images of OA-induced mitochondria damage and Parkin-dependent mitophagy out now tinyurl.com/25b82cp4. We couldn't have done it without in situ guru @wilflinglab.bsky.social and mito guru @samlewis.bsky.social .‬

“Why Are We Funding This?” Long-standing myths about “silly science” have contributed to the reckless slashing of government-supported research.

This is the response to Ted Cruz and alike that was needed long ago 👇

"The myth of meritocracy in science collapses under the financial sacrifices expected at every career stage. From unpaid internships and self-funded conferences to underpaid positions, these hidden costs disproportionately exclude those without generational wealth, compounded by race and gender."

Endoplasmic reticulum–mitochondria contacts are prime hotspots of phospholipid peroxidation driving ferroptosis - Nature Cell Biology Sassano et al. identify endoplasmic reticulum–mitochondria contact sites as the intracellular location where phospholipid peroxidation first occurs to promote ferroptosis. Manipulating these contact s...

🚨 Where does #lipid peroxidation kick off in #ferroptosis? 🔥Excited to reveal #ER- #mitochondria #contactsites as the ignition point of the lipid peroxidation cascade! Huge kudos to our Maria Livia Sassano @mariamls.bsky.social & our amazing collaborators who made this breakthrough possible!

Deaths from heart disease down 75%, that’s NIH.

Deaths from stroke down 75%, that’s NIH.

HIV/AIDS no longer a death sentence, that’s NIH.

99% of FDA approved drugs in the last decade, that’s NIH.

Please show this video to anyone who doesn’t understand why the NIH is so important.

New work from Zaman et al., in the Shutt Lab @mitomorph.bsky.social, describes a novel variant in MFN2 linked to mtDNA-mediated inflammation and muscle myopathy
www.life-science-alliance.org/content/8/6/...

Are rising lower respiratory infection hospital admissions linked to dirty air? As LRIs put pressure on health services, a Spanish-led study examines what role exposure to air pollution may play

#Covid highlighted gaps in our understanding of the role that air pollution plays in infections.

A new study of >3 m people found #airpollution increases your chances of hospitalisation with lower respiratory infections.

Piece by me. Study by @isglobal.org

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

75% of US scientists who answered Nature poll consider leaving More than 1,600 readers answered our poll; many said they were looking for jobs in Europe and Canada.

The massive changes in US research brought about by the new administration of President Donald Trump are causing many scientists in the country to rethink their lives and careers

https://go.nature.com/41OhAgK

Mitochondria transplantation transiently rescues cerebellar neurodegeneration improving mitochondrial function and reducing mitophagy in mice - Nature Communications Cerebellar ataxia, a hallmark of cerebellar degeneration (CBND), is driven by mitochondrial dysfunction in Purkinje cells. In this study, transplanting mitochondria into CBND mice improve mitochondria...

Mitochondria transplantation transiently rescues cerebellar neurodegeneration improving mitochondrial function and reducing mitophagy in mice www.nature.com/articles/s41...

In a new Science study, cryo–electron tomography captures the in-cell architecture of the mitochondrial respiratory chain, illuminating how the coordinated action of molecular machines drives life’s fundamental energy conversion.

Learn more in this week's issue: scim.ag/3FA3Ygq

New study 🧪 on the long-term consequences of the destruction of the Kakhovka dam 🇺🇦 by my @leibnizigb.bsky.social colleagues Oleksandra Shumilova, Alexander Sukhodolov et al in @science.org

news coverage in the @theguardian.com

www.theguardian.com/world/2025/m...

Confirming that public access to NIH's employee directory will be taken down THIS EVENING, according to an email to staff.

UMass disbands its entering biomed graduate class over Trump funding chaos Schools across the country are cutting back as US research takes “severe blow.”…

"an entire class of future scientists has been wiped out" arstechnica.com/health/2025/...

From the other site... (from EVP at Columbia to a training grant director)

Microplastics are facilitating antibiotic resistance
journals.asm.org/doi/epub/10.... open-access

Engineering mtDNA deletions by reconstituting end joining in human mitochondria Combined expression of a mitochondrially targeted endonuclease and end-joining machinery enables formation of mtDNA deletions with a broad range of heteroplasmy.

Engineering mtDNA deletions by reconstituting end joining in human mitochondria

I'm standing up for science because it is my dream. An INBRE undergraduate summer program gave my first taste of lab work. The NSF GRFP supported my PhD and I learned to science. And with the support of NIH I got my dream job running a lab. I'm standing up so students can have their dreams, too.

Structure of mitochondrial pyruvate carrier and its inhibition mechanism - Nature Structural findings define the architecture of the mitochondrial pyruvate carrier, delineate its substrate-binding site and translocation pathway, and reveal its major conformational states, providing...

Structure of mitochondrial pyruvate carrier and its inhibition mechanism

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Trump Administration Said to Drop Lawsuit Over Toxic Chemical The Biden administration had sued to force the Denka Performance Elastomer plant in Louisiana to reduce emissions of chloroprene, a likely carcinogen.

Trump just talked about chemicals causing childhood cancer while his administration drops a lawsuit against a chemical manufacturer that is causing childhood cancer. #SOTU #JointAddress

Complex I superoxide anion production is necessary and sufficient for complex I inhibitor-induced dopaminergic neurodegeneration in Caenorhabditis elegans Parkinson's Disease (PD) is the 2nd most prevalent neurodegenerative disease, but there is currently no cure and limited understanding of the pathogen…

Excited to share this! Using a combination of light-activated superoxide anion production, chemical inhibitors, and S1QEL1.1, an inhibitor of CI Q-site electron leak, we show that CI superoxide anion production can drive dopaminergic neurodegeneration. #mitochondria #Celegans #science🧪

Dual regulation of mitochondrial fusion by Parkin–PINK1 and OMA1 - Nature We find that, in mice, although the individual loss of Parkin or OMA1 does not affect mitochondrial integrity, their combined loss results in small body size, low locomotor activity, premature death, ...

Astonishing paper that makes you question if you truly understand #mitochondrial dynamics 😅 The complexity of Parkin, Oma1, Opa1, Mfn1 in coordinating mitochondrial fitness. The story of Megamitochondria with MegaDNA and an overwhelming amount of mouse crosses
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Intermittent fasting could be unsafe for teenagers Long-term intermittent fasting in adolescents may disrupt the development of beta cells, which are important for insulin production.

Researchers discovered that long-term #intermittentfasting might be unsafe for teenagers, as it can disrupt the development of #insulin-producing #betacells and potentially raise the risk of #metabolicdisorders: go.tum.de/160744

@www.helmholtz-munich.de @barteltlab.bsky.social

📷L.Matta

As a person who feels obligated to read them when sent to me by my PI, I deeply appreciate your restraint and I’m sure your lab does too ❤️

How lead exposure became the Notre-Dame fire's toxic legacy As Paris watched flames consume its beloved Notre-Dame Cathedral five years ago, no one could have imagined just how toxic the smoke spewing from the disaster could be. The rising plume contained seve...

Lead continues to poison.

www.france24.com/en/europe/20...

Texas farmers say sewage-based fertilizer tainted with “forever chemicals” poisoned their land and killed their livestock The fertilizer was promoted as an environmental win-win for years. An untold number of farmers and ranchers across Texas have spread it on their land.

History repeating itself, this time with #PFOS. 🧵

"The fertilizer was promoted as an environmental win-win for years."

www.texastribune.org/2024/12/02/t...

Bluesky Bluesky is now available in Altmetric as an attention source. Analyze social engagement with a comprehensive view of your research influence.

Personal Update

www.altmetric.com/about-us/our...

🧪

Kate Morton and her poster at the SfRBM meeting in Savannah, Georgia.

It was so good to catch up with everyone at #SfRBM2024 , and I’m extremely honored to have received the Irwin Fridovich Young Investigator Award 💖 thank you to the many people who stopped by my poster for so much input and conversation. Only one year until we do it all again!