Diamond Lab

Habitat-specificity in SAR11 is associated with a few genes under high selection Abstract. The order Pelagibacterales (SAR11) is the most abundant group of heterotrophic bacteria in the global surface ocean, where individual sublineages

I'm delighted our paper is out: doi.org/10.1093/isme...
With new SAR11 isolate genomes and time-series metagenomes, we reveal coastal and offshore SAR11 ecotypes, identify associated metabolic traits, and pinpoint selective gene sweeps as a likely evolutionary driver to niche partitioning. 🌊🦠

Read more here: innovativegenomics.org/news/a-micro...

Three black-and-white and brown-and-white dairy cows munch on feed in a trough. Scientists may have found which microbes in a cow's gut could be used to cut methane emissions without harming the cow.

What if we could reprogram a cow's gut so it burps way less methane?🐮👏 @ucdavis.bsky.social & @innovativegenomics.bsky.social scientists found which microbes might help reduce methane w/o harming the cow. Boost that microbe & cows could become naturally cleaner for the climate! bit.ly/4oGv5YE 🧪

Proud to finally have this work published and freely available for everyone: microbiomejournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10....

Red seaweed supplementation suppresses methanogenesis in the rumen, revealing potentially advantageous traits among hydrogenotrophic bacteria - Microbiome Background Macroalgae belonging to the genus Asparagopsis have shown to reduce methane (CH4) production during rumen fermentation, while increasing feed efficiency when added to the feed of cattle. Ho...

We are thrilled to announce our latest publication in the Microbiome journal in collaboration with
@thehesslab.bsky.social
Supplementation with red seaweed in cows reduces methane and induces previously uncharacterized hydrogenotropic bacteria.
microbiomejournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10....

illustration of a petri dishes

📣🦠 New preprint: @savagecatsonly.bsky.social has got you covered with a new approach to building bacterial deletion libraries with unprecedented speed and ease: ow.ly/ltja50WSjBu

How microdosing GLP-1 drugs became a longevity ‘craze’ Internet companies are helping stoke enthusiasm for “microdosing” weight-loss drugs for wellness, mood and joint pain.

Telehealth companies increasingly are marketing “microdoses” of GLP-1 drugs — despite how there is virtually no evidence that smaller-than-standard doses are safe or effective.

illustrations of scientists manipulating DNA in a seed in a steam punk style

Self-cloning crops could transform agriculture – thanks to research from IGI's Venkatesan Sundaresan, who was awarded the 2024 Wolf Prize for his research on apomixis. Read more in this feature from @nature.com: ow.ly/Q7v350WQyne

Model cyanobacterial consortia reveal a consistent core microbiome independent of inoculation source or cyanobacterial host species Abstract. Cyanobacteria are integral to biogeochemical cycles, influence climate processes, and hold promise for commercial applications. In natural habita

Our paper on model cyanobacterial communities by @andrejakust.bsky.social is finally typeset and looks beautiful, check it out:

academic.oup.com/ismej/articl...

decorative illustration

Out now – our reader-friendly 2025 overview of #CRISPR clinical trials! Learn about how CRISPR is being used to treat #HeartDisease, #cancer, #lupus, #RareDiseases, and more! Read here: ow.ly/mRPl50WneTS 🧬

Pam Ronald smiling

Congrats to IGI's @pcronald.bsky.social on receiving the President’s Award for the Advancement of the Common Good from Stanford University! 🎉 Read more: news.stanford.edu/stories/2025...

Scientists hack microbes to identify environmental sources of methane - Berkeley News UC Berkeley researchers tweaked a key enzyme involved in microbial methane production to understand the unique fingerprints of different environments on Earth that generate the greenhouse gas.

UC Berkeley researchers tweaked a key enzyme involved in microbial methane production to understand the different environments on Earth that generate the greenhouse gas. news.berkeley.edu/2025/08/14/s...

illustration of phage infecting and lysing a bacterium

Did you know that the illustrations in our resources like CRISPRpedia and our illustrated scientific glossary are free to use for non-commercial, educational purposes? Tag us to show us how you're using them! innovativegenomics.org/science-x-art/

‼️Diamond Lab is considering potential a new postdoctoral researcher. If you have strong interests in microbiomes, metagenomics, machine learning, or rumen biology drop us a line and shoot us a CV!

We Love it!! And in our colors too

Love these!!! Now let’s see some communities in watercolor

Think about all the amazing chemotropic microbes that must support this system!!! I hope they took samples

Science x Art Science x Art - Innovative Genomics Institute (IGI)

Did you know that the illustrations in our resources like CRISPRpedia are free to use for non-commercial, educational purposes? Check out our Science x Art page to see a selection of work from our designers & artists. Tag us to show us how you're using them! innovativegenomics.org/science-x-art/ 🧬🎨

Strategies for zygotic gene expression during plasmid establishment Conjugative plasmids are key drivers of horizontal gene transfer and the spread of antimicrobial resistance. Their successful establishment in new hos…

Rally nice review on plasmid leading strand anti defense and establishment @bursteinlab.bsky.social

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Precise virulence inactivation using a CRISPR-associated transposase for combating Enterobacteriaceae gut pathogens - Nature Biomedical Engineering A self-transmissible CRISPR-associated transposase system encodes a nanobody payload to treat Shiga toxin infections.

The Ronda lab's newest publication on targeted editing: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

IGI Investigator Carlotta Ronda's New Tool for Precision Microbiome Editing IGI Investigator Carlotta Ronda's New Tool for Precision Microbiome Editing - Innovative Genomics Institute (IGI)

Out now in Nature Biomedical Engineering from IGI's Carlotta Ronda @rondalab.bsky.social — a novel way to precisely edit the genomes of microbes in the microbiome to defeat harmful infections. Read more: ow.ly/efsS50WsVen

CRISPR researchers and startup entrepreneurs will share new building in UC Berkeley's Innovation Zone - Berkeley News A planned addition to the campus's Innovation Zone will expand lab space for the Innovative Genomics Institute and build out the largest innovation hub — Bakar Labs — at any U.S. university.

We’re thrilled to announce IGI–Bakar Labs. This new building will allow the IGI to continue expanding our impact in health and agricultural applications of #CRISPR, and will be shared with the Bakar Labs incubator for growing biotech companies. Learn more: news.berkeley.edu/2025/07/17/c...

CRISPR Researchers and Startup Entrepreneurs Will Share New Building in UC Berkeley's Innovation Zone CRISPR Researchers and Startup Entrepreneurs Will Share New Building in UC Berkeley's Innovation Zone - Innovative Genomics Institute (IGI)

Very excited to now share publicly that @innovativegenomics.bsky.social will be expanding to an amazing new building in the 2028 - 2029 academic year! innovativegenomics.org/news/igi-bak...

Our friends @thehesslab.bsky.social are actively looking for postdoctoral researchers interested in anerobic microbiology, and studying the rumen microbiome. #microbiologists #bioinformatics #microbiomes

Check out their website: hesslab.com

Thank you for the kind words! We agree there is still significant work to be done in this area, and many more model communities to potentially test. If it is any consolation we did choose PCC7120 as it is both in the genus Nostoc (NCBI taxonomy) and a genetic model for studying heterocyst formation.

The $20 Million Bet on CRISPR to Cure Rare Childhood Diseases The center will bring custom gene-editing treatments to children.

Out now in TIME — @jenniferdoudna.bsky.social on IGI's new initiative, teaming up with the @chanzuckerberg.bsky.social to create a new center for pediatric #CRISPR cures! Read here: ow.ly/E5un50WnbCi

graph of progress of various clinical, described in text at the link

Hot off the presses: our reader-friendly 2025 overview of #CRISPR clinical trials! 🧬 Check it out here: ow.ly/mRPl50WneTS

Click on the post for more info about the paper!!!

CRISPRi-ART enables functional genomics of diverse bacteriophages using RNA-binding dCas13d - Nature Microbiology Leveraging RNA-targeting dCas13d enables selective interference with phage protein translation and facilitates measurement of phage gene fitness at a transcriptome-wide scale.

Dive into our lab’s first peer-reviewed publication—co-led with our friends @benadler.bsky.social and Muntathar Al-Shimary from the @doudna lab! If you’ve already read the preprint, don’t miss the new updates: doi.org/10.1038/s415... @naturemicrobiol.bsky.social

🚨 Fresh from the press! We created and analyzed over 100 in vitro cyanobacterial consortia using well-characterized model cyanobacterial hosts to better understand how cyanobacteria recruit and interact with their microbiomes.

Check it out: doi.org/10.1093/isme...