Julia Van Etten

BERNIE SANDERS: Do vaccines cause autism?

BHATTACHARYA: I do not believe that the measles vaccine causes autism

SANDERS: Nah. Uh uh. I didn't ask measles. Do vaccines cause autism?

BHATTACHARYA: I have not seen a study that suggests any single vaccine causes autism

Should I stay or should I swim Evolutionary pressures have shaped the feeding behaviours of aquatic microorganisms in alignment with the underlying physics of fluid flow.

Do microbes get more food by swimming or staying still? Turns out both work, and cilia help them pull in nutrients no matter the strategy.
buff.ly/vK3GmK5

Uppsala in late autumn

Join us at the Evolutionary Biology Centre at Uppsala University. We’re searching for an Assistant Professor in Biology. www.uu.se/en/about-uu/...

A bird's-eye view of a former Auschwitz II-Birkenau camp showing a wide dirt pathway flanked by parallel rows of barbed-wire fences. Groups of visitors walk along the path, surrounded by the remnants of brick structures and barracks, now reduced to foundations. Green grass contrasts with the somber history of the site, as the path leads toward a guard tower in the distance.

Auschwitz was at the end of a process. We must remember that it did not start from gas chambers.

This hatred gradually developed: from ideas, words, stereotypes & prejudice through legal exclusion, dehumanization & escalating violence... to systematic and industrial murder.

Auschwitz took time.

If you support this administration and think they will never come for you, you need to take a history class.

US science after a year of Trump: what has been lost and what remains A series of graphics reveals how the Trump administration has sought historic cuts to science and the research workforce.

Trump has been in office for one year. We at @nature.com did a deep dive looking at the administration's disruption of science in numbers.

Take a look—the numbers are staggering. By me, @dangaristo.bsky.social, Jeff Tollefson, @kimay.bsky.social, & help from @noamross.net @scott-delaney.bsky.social

Gorgeous

Modern microbialites harbor an undescribed diversity of chromerid algae - Environmental Microbiome Background Chromerid algae are the closest photosynthetic relatives of apicomplexan parasites. While chromerids have been central to understanding the evolutionary transition from free-living algae to...

Out now in Environmental Microbiome! 🧬

By re-analyzing microbialite sequencing data, we show that chromerid algae (the closest photosynthetic relatives of apicomplexans) are consistent and widespread associates of microbialites across diverse marine and freshwater environments worldwide 🌎

Leafcutter ant holds up a large piece of leaf that says "Call for Scientists."

Seeking scientist volunteers for the 2026 spring semester! Want to practice science communication and help author a 🌟comic🌟 about your research? Apply by 1/25. Please share widely. bit.ly/comicscollabspring2026

Same!

Oh also, Bluesky said you were replying to me here but you were replying to Hannah. Wasn’t trying to jump on you out of nowhere about proks vs euks lol

Totally. We need to switch places at some point bc in my experience they are super clued into why at least bacteria are cool and not about protists 🙃

The microbial keystone concept is a very cool topic in microbiome ecology. This review summarises mechanisms, prediction methods and implications, with "keystoneness" being highly context/time dependent + new methods approaches suggested. Very nice read!
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

😂😂😂 I just nominated a bunch euks. Sorry!

It was an honor this week to speak about DNA transfer in the Sex Across Origins symposium at @sicb.bsky.social! It was interesting to step out of the genomics world for a bit and think about non-meiotic recombinative processes like HGT as “Sex0” in the “sex by numbers” framework. #SICB2026

Now published in Nature Biotechnology:
go.nature.com/44P7nSm
If you missed it, the TL;DR is in my April thread below

Excited to be part of this symposium!

Yes, let’s do it! I’d love to hang!

Makes sense. Maybe we’ll meet next year!

She Wanted to Improve Genetic Medicine

I overlapped with Brenna for several years at Stony Brook before we both moved. She does brilliant work and this is devastating to read and makes me even further ashamed of our scientific establishment.

www.nytimes.com/2026/01/02/s...

Yay, would be great to chat!

Who else is going to SICB this year? Would love to meet some of my parasocial Bluesky friends in real life! #SICB2026

Large-scale analysis of bacterial genomes reveals thousands of lytic phages - Nature Microbiology Diverse genomes of lytic phages are found in bacterial assemblies, challenging assumptions about the nature of the lytic lifestyle.

Large-scale analysis of bacterial genomes reveals thousands of lytic phages | Nature Microbiology https://www.nature.com/articles/s41564-025-02203-4

Post a perfect album from the 90s that isn’t Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden or Alice In Chains

Finally, we’ve solved a long-standing mystery: what tintinnid shells are actually made of:
A new class of biomaterial formed by remarkable structural proteins unique to tintinnids.
A major milestone after 3 years of work! Read about it in our preprint: doi.org/10.64898/202...
#ProtistsOnSky

Thanks!

Thank you!!

Thank you!!

We ended up talking a lot about the name choice off the recording after the interview and I’m kicking myself for not having that part recorded! But I do think they mention a little bit about the name during the interview! It’s such a good name.

This is so cool! I still want to try this on protists!