Aaron Straight

New preprint from Kelsey Fryer in the lab using ChAR-seq to identify RNAs that are bound to human centromeres. Lots of surprises! #centromere #RNA www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Had the privilege of hooding 5 new PhD grads @stanfordbiosci.bsky.social this weekend including my student Kelsey Fryer! Good day for science.

“You can get a other job, but you cannot get another soul”.

Our most recent Synthetic Biology for Sustainability symposium was a great success. Lots of excellent ideas and creative approaches to sustainability. And a wonderful group of scientists too! Check here for more info on our Syn Bio efforts (sb.stanford.edu)

Stanford.Berkeley.UCSF Next Generation Faculty Symposium

Are you a postdoc/grad student preparing to launch a faculty search? Do you have a track record of excellence in research, leadership, mentorship & community engagement? Apply to the 2025 Next Generation Faculty Symposium: www.berkeleystanfordnextgensymposium.com! Pls repost! (1/3)

‘Mitotic’ kinesin-5 is a dynamic brake for axonal growth in Drosophila Summary: Kinesin-5 modulates microtubule sliding in neurons, acting as a brake to ensure precise axon pathfinding during Drosophila neuronal development.

Our paper on the role of “mitotic” kinesin Eg5 in neuron development has been published in Development (see journals.biologists.com/dev/article-...). A great work by Wen Lu and colleagues!

This is an amazing opportunity for post-docs, students, faculty search committees and anyone interested in exciting science! Check out the www.berkeleystanfordnextgensymposium.com and apply today.

The Coming Out of a Transgender Scientist "I know that I am making the right decision because whenever I think about changing my gender role, I am flooded with feelings of relief."

We're disappointed to see Ben Barres's powerful book "The Autobiography of a Transgender Scientist" among the ~400 titles removed from the Naval Academy Library. Needless to say, we're proud to have published his book and will keep it — and his memory — alive.

I am honored and humbled to be elected as a AAAS fellow (www.aaas.org/news/aaas-we...) with such great colleagues here at Stanford (news.stanford.edu/stories/2025...) and abroad. It really drives home the amazing nature of our scientific community. Special thanks to @dutcherlab.bsky.social's support

Lab Administration Research Technician- Bertozzi Lab Primary Work Address: Beckman Center, Stanford, CA, 94305-5323 Current HHMI Employees, click here to apply via your Workday account. We are currently looking for a highly motivated Lab Administration ...

We are seeking to hire a lab tech, this is an HHMI funded position, please share the job posting:

hhmi.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/Extern...

me, as a senior PI: US science as we know it may be ending? Review these cool manuscripts? Serve on these grant review panels? Yes! All in! Going down in a blaze of glory!

DiMeLo-cito: a one-tube protocol for mapping protein-DNA interactions reveals CTCF bookmarking in mitosis Genome regulation relies on complex and dynamic interactions between DNA and proteins. Recently, powerful methods have emerged that leverage third-generation sequencing to map protein-DNA interactions...

I am proud to share my first preprint working with @naltemose.bsky.social, where we redesign DiMeLo-seq from the ground up. Thankful for the help and input of collaborators in @astraight.bsky.social and Aaron streets’ lab at Berkeley. More to come soon!

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

Wonderful visit to @hutchbasicsci.bsky.social today and thanks to @yarimura.bsky.social for hosting and dinner with the always entertaining @suebiggins.bsky.social and @harmitmalik.bsky.social. A day discussing science with amazing people is unbeatable.

Another fave

looks like the Santa Cruz mountains! Welcome to California ❤️

When This Stanford Professor Got Cancer, He Decided to Teach a Class About It Dr. Bryant Lin, who teaches medicine at Stanford University, was given a terminal diagnosis. He wanted his students to understand the humanity at the core of medicine.

Wanted to share this story about my colleague Bryant Lin. We’re working together on bringing art and science together but his story runs much deeper. www.nytimes.com/2025/02/26/u...

This is what they mean when they say person skilled in the art. You've got to streak a lot of colonies to get to this level. Not surprised its from Bonnie Brewer 👑 #yeast #toothpick

People keep asking us: “Why are early-career scientists organizing Stand Up for Science?”

Because early-career scientists—especially those from underrepresented backgrounds—are getting hit the hardest.

Our futures—and the future of science itself—are on the line.

🧵 ⬇️

5 Calls Spend 5 minutes. Make 5 calls. Make your voice heard.

Ok scientists & those who love science 🧪: here is another exhortation. Call Congress TODAY about the freeze on NIH Council Meetings and Study Sections. Emphasize that this means NO new grants are being funded & labs will soon start to shut down and fire employees. Phone numbers are at:
5calls.org

Honored be named a #SloanFellow! Grateful to my amazing team @stanford-chemh.bsky.social —this wouldn’t be possible without them.

Way to go Brian and @arcinstitute.org!!

Very important to get this word out!

"This feels like the early days of the pandemic, except there's less I can do about it", a colleague told me yesterday. Yep.

One thing you *can* do is outreach. My sense is that the majority of the country doesn't yet understand the scale or the stakes of what is happening.

We have to tell them:

Communications and Faculty Affairs Manager in School of Medicine, Stanford, California, United States We are seeking a Communications and Faculty Affairs Manager to join our team and lead our efforts to implement, manage, and administer our department....

@stanfordbiochem.bsky.social is looking for a communications and faculty affairs manager. See job ad here careersearch.stanford.edu/jobs/communi...

Read this and understand how important science is and can continue to be in the US if we fight for it. Thanks @gsherloc.bsky.social

a man with glasses and a mustache is making a sad face ALT: a man with glasses and a mustache is making a sad face

(Sorry I took a brief timeout for uncontrollable weeping)

In other NIH news, I have heard from multiple sources that NIH plans to fire most, if not all, probationary employees this afternoon. The numbers I am hearing are >5000.

Lots of folks extramural staff, intramural scientists, etc.

Opinion | American Science is Under Attack The Trump administration hobbles research and endangers the public health.

Varmus is right. Time to stand up for science. www.nytimes.com/2025/02/14/o...

CDC cuts expected to devastate Epidemic Intelligence Service, a ‘crown jewel’ of public health Members of the CDC's Epidemic Intelligence Service were warned Friday that many of them were about to be fired

Make no mistake. This is an all-out attack on health in America.

Not only is the EIS vital to controlling infectious disease; it was where a remarkably high fraction of our public health leaders received formative training and experience.

www.statnews.com/2025/02/14/t...

With measles flaring up and threatening to become a significant concern and H5N1 knocking on the door, today seems like a perfect day to fire all the fellows and postdocs working at the CDC

WTAF?!

How the Senate Voted to Confirm R.F.K. Jr. as Health Secretary The Senate confirmed Mr. Kennedy by a vote of 52 to 48 to lead the department responsible for public health.

True story: when my older boys were little, they both got whooping cough even though they were vaccinated. It was bad. We asked the pediatrician what would’ve happened if they hadn’t been vaccinated. They would’ve died, he said.

www.nytimes.com/interactive/...