Maria Mercedes (Mechas) Zambrano

Trained Immunity. a new focus issue. explore the collection

We’re pleased to announce our Trained Immunity Focus Issue 🎉

With original research and reviews spanning history, current state and future directions of trained immunity, explore today:
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How a humble weed became a superstar of biology Arabidopsis thaliana was always an unlikely candidate for the limelight. But 25 years ago, the diminutive thale cress launched the botanical world into the molecular era.

Hungary 1956
'Well over a 100k people fled the country seeking asylum. Among them was a young geneticist named George Rédei, who headed for the Austrian border with a small vial of seeds tucked in his pocket.
The seeds belonged to a spindly weed in the mustard family called Arabidopsis thaliana.'

The discovery of DNA and the triplet code inspired me to be a molecular biologist and for that I’m grateful. Forget James Watson. Franklin, Crick, Brenner and Sanger are the heroes in this story.

The eLife Model: Submit your research In January 2023, we switched to a new way of publishing where all papers reviewed by eLife are published as Reviewed Preprints.

Looking for a home for your genetics or genomics preprint?

We review research from the genetic basis of health and disease to epigenetics.

Learn how preprints are changing the way research is shared at eLife and submit today: buff.ly/n9ml5Am
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we're following closely... 👏👏👏
glad to see an "update" to > smallthingsconsidered.blog/schaechter/2...

Non-antibiotics and Enteric Infections Noteworthy — It's allergy season. To assuage your discomfort, your physician prescribes a long-term treatment with an antihistamine. Feeling much better, you go out to enjoy some of your favorite stre...

schaechter.asmblog.org/schaechter/2...
#MicroSky

The stress secret: 12 ways to meditate – without actually meditating Many people struggle with classic forms of meditation, but its benefits are still available. From writing and drawing to pottery or singing, here are everyday ways to find peace

Great ways to relax the mind.

www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...

Decades-long mystery of ginger cats revealed Researchers in Japan and US have unlocked the 60-year mystery of what gives cats their orange colour.

Decades-long mystery of ginger/orange cats revealed.

Parallel studies have shown these cats are missing a section of their genetic code, which means the cells responsible for their skin, eye & fur tone produce lighter colours.

🧪🧬😺 #catsofbluesky
www.bbc.com/news/article...

Distribution of haploid chromosomes into separate nuclei in two pathogenic fungi Nuclei define eukaryotes, enabling macromolecular compartmentalization and cellular regulation. Each nucleus is believed to contain one or more haploid sets of chromosomes (1N). However, we discovered...

Wow: check it out; these fungi distribute their chromosomes across different nuclei!

Normally each nucleus has a complete set of all chromosomes.

Distribution of haploid chromosomes into separate nuclei in two pathogenic fungi | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

‘The Interview’: Ocean Vuong was Ready to Kill. A Moment of Grace Changed His Life. The poet and novelist on the real reason he became a writer.

Breathtaking:
Ocean Vuong Was Ready to Kill. Then a Moment of Grace Changed His Life. www.nytimes.com/2025/05/03/m...

The Church of the Open Road (Gift Article) The writer Colum McCann biked across America, searching for a God.

Among so many, here is a beautifully written account of how to find oneself.
Explore this gift article from The New York Times. You can read it for free without a subscription. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/27/s...

What shapes kindness? People appear to have stable individual differences in their tendency to perceive neediness or deservingness of others, which in turn shapes their willingness to help others.

Why do some people leap to help while others hold back?

New research traces these choices to how we perceive need, merit, and fairness, patterns that stay surprisingly stable over time.

Bioaccumulation of microplastics in decedent human brains Nature Medicine - Pyrolysis gas chromatography–mass spectrometry reveals the presence of microplastics and nanoplastics in human kidney, liver and brain tissue samples from 2016 and 2024,...

Worrisome microplastics are everywhere. Even in ourselves.

rdcu.be/egTxD

The Lab Racing to Find Out What Microplastics Are Doing to Our Bodies Inside a New Mexico lab, researchers estimate there is five bottle caps worth of plastic in human brains. Now they are trying to find out its effects.

What Are Microplastics Doing to Our Bodies? This Lab Is Racing to Find Out. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/08/w...

‘Some insects are declining but what’s happening to the other 99%?’ Insects are the dominant form of animal life on our planet, providing humans and wildlife with pollination, food, and recycling services but, despite concerns about population declines, little is know...

Because what you don't see can still hurt you: ‘Some insects are declining but what’s happening to the other 99%? | EurekAlert! www.eurekalert.org/news-release...

Our Built Environment Microbiomes by Mechas — There is no doubt that our understanding of microbiomes – those microbial communities in practically any environment – has increased in recent years. Research now covers almost any conceiv...

schaechter.asmblog.org/schaechter/2...
#MicroSky

Imagine if those funds went to paying students, technicians, or postdocs to do more research. 🧪

Everyone in the City Needs Soundproofing, Even Spiders (Gift Article) Researchers have found evidence that a common North American spider species alters its webs to deal with urban noise pollution.

Spiders webs to insulate from sound: www.nytimes.com/2025/03/22/s...

The many surprising lives of DNA

The eLife Model: Two-year update How is the eLife Model driving change in research? We explore some key milestones and accomplishments of the first two years of a new era for research publishing.

💡 In case you missed it: We’re looking back at two years of our publish, review, curate publishing model with headline figures, author testimonials, landmark papers and more.

Take a look at the two-year update ⬇️
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The Great AI Art Heist A lab at the University of Chicago is protecting artists from theft by a new adversary: the machines.

The Great AI Art Heist www.chicagomag.com/chicago-maga...

2024 World Air Quality Report | IQAir Interactive global map of 2024 PM2.5 concentrations by city.

Curious about the quality of the air you breathe? Check it out..
www.iqair.com/us/world-air...

How Poetry Helps Me Resist the Algorithm Instead of defaulting to the notifications on my phone, poetry has inspired me to begin the day in a different way.

New ideas that people have: The Morning Ritual That Helps Me Resist the Algorithm www.nytimes.com/2025/02/25/m...

200 year-old pirate flag at the Åland Maritime Museum. CC BY 4.0 Anneli Karlsson https://digitaltmuseum.se/021015506485/konservator-fran-armemuseet-tittar-till-den-lanade-piratflaggan-fran-alands

Enter the Pirates

by Christoph — Well-known examples of rapacious bacteria are Myxococcus xanthus and the vampires from the Bdellovibrio tribe. Enter the pirates with Captain Aureispira…

thx @pilhoferlab.bsky.social for this story.

Read more > schaechter.asmblog.org/schaechter/2...

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schaechter.asmblog.org/schaechter/2...

#MicroSky #SymbioSky

Genomic Dark Matter by Mechas — Discovering microscopic organisms and elements that exist at the edge of sight is no easy task. New tools designed to explore this mysterious world reveal previously unknown elements and u...

Genomic Dark Matter
.
by Mechas — Discovering microscopic organisms and elements that exist at the edge of sight is no easy task. New tools designed to explore this mysterious world reveal previously unknown element ...
.
Read more > schaechter.asmblog.org/schaechter/2...
#MicroSky #microbiology

Of Terms in Biology: Edaphon
by Roberto — Soil, the material on the surface of ground in which plants grow, is itself teeming with life. And there's a term that unifies all that life as an interconnected whole: edaphon. Though it...
Read more > schaechter.asmblog.org/schaechter/2...
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Guardian will no longer post on Elon Musk’s X from its official accounts Platform’s coverage of US election crystallised longstanding concerns about its content, says Guardian

Some big news this morning

www.theguardian.com/media/2024/n...

"Although ecosystems are not organisms, they demonstrate growth, resilience, & self-regulation...& maintain the processes, relationships, & infrastructure that define them... Ecosystems survive & evolve not through differential reproduction, but differential persistence."
🧪🌍⚒️ #hpbio #evobio #philsci

Job advert. We are looking for another Lecturer/Senior Lecturer in Bacteriology to join us at University of Glasgow. Details can be found here: my.corehr.com/pls/uogrecru...
Reach out if you've any questions. #microsky 🦠🧫🔬