Ben Morris

Sensitivity to Cuticular Hydrocarbons Across the Odorant Receptor Family in the Indian Jumping Ant Eusocial insects rely on the olfactory detection of cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) to mediate fundamental eusocial behaviors, such as nestmate recognition, and reproductive division of labor. In the po...

New preprint on our ant odorant receptor decoding work just dropped!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

A huge team of primarily undergraduates put this together, with three electrophysiology dynamos in Røskva, Ben (@bimorris.bsky.social ), and Aiden

BREAKING: A federal judge reversed National Institutes of Health's terminations of hundreds of critical research grants that were canceled because of their alleged connection to disfavored topics, including diversity, equity, inclusion, and gender identity.

This is a major win for public health.

On a Nature news article reporting that NIH planned to suspend subawards for foreign collaborations: "No, that's false. There's going to be a policy on tracking subawards. The NIH and the government should be able to see where the money's going." "I'm really uncomfortable with this conversation, because you're like, actually spreading rumors that you don't know anything about. ... Nature also is spreading rumors. Halt foreign collaborations, that's not true." "We're working on the policy, Jocelyn. You shouldn't be reporting rumors. I know there's leaks all over here, but the leaks don't actually reflect what's happening. Don't write about rumors. It actually makes the things that you and I care about worse. Like it spreads panic." Later that day, NIH released a policy that halted future subawards to foreign scientists and said they will need to apply directly for money under a system still in development.

Read this excerpt of an interview with Jay Bhattacharya, new NIH director.

And do not miss the last graf.

Via @jocelynkaiser.bsky.social

www.science.org/content/arti...

"First They Came for Columbia"
"We must learn from the past. We cannot remain silent in the face of authoritarian attacks on our peers, even if they have not yet come for us."
Me and Levitsky in the Harvard Crimson
www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...

So excited to see this out in print! Such an exciting project and a privilege to have had the opportunity to contribute to it

Thrilled to share new work led by @jieyang437.bsky.social in the lab published today in @Nature. We find that Aspirin prevents metastasis by releasing T cells from immune suppression by platelet TXA2. @Cambridge_Uni @CRUKCamCentre rdcu.be/eci1U

Aspirin prevents metastasis by limiting platelet TXA2 suppression of T cell immunity - Nature Inhibition of cyclooxygenase 1 releases T cells from immunosuppression by platelet-derived thromboxane A2, thereby enhancing the immune response against metastasis.

#EveryCellIsAnImmuneCell! @jieyang437.bsky.social @roychoudhurilab.bsky.social &co show @nature.com that platelet-derived thromboxane A2 suppresses T cell effector functions favoring melanoma metastases! Aspirin or COX1 inhibition or deletion in platelets reduce metastasis!

Aspirin: Scientists crack how painkiller might stop cancers from spreading The cheap painkiller seems to help the immune system detect and destroy cancers.

Excellent article by James Gallagher at the BBC summarising the study and its implications:
"Scientists crack how aspirin might stop cancers from spreading"
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Aspirin prevents metastasis by limiting platelet TXA2 suppression of T cell immunity - Nature Inhibition of cyclooxygenase 1 releases T cells from immunosuppression by platelet-derived thromboxane A2, thereby enhancing the immune response against metastasis.

Brilliant new paper from Jie Yang @jieyang437.bsky.social and Rahul Roychoudhuri @roychoudhurilab.bsky.social linking aspirin to immune-mediated prevention of cancer metastasis.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Wish I could be there!!

Congrats!!!

Antibiotic-recalcitrant Salmonella during infection - Nature Reviews Microbiology In this Review, Giorgio and Helaine provide an overview of the physiology of antibiotic-recalcitrant Salmonella enterica during infection, discuss recent insights into the clinical implications of ant...

New Salmonella Persister cells Review is just out❗️

Rachel Giorgio & Sophie Helaine overview the physiology & clinical implications of antibiotic-recalcitrant Salmonella during infection

- highlighting important knowledge gaps that need to be addressed…

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

A prophage competition element protects Salmonella from lysis Most bacteria are polylysogens that carry multiple prophages integrated into the chromosome. These prophages confer advantages to their bacterial host…

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