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Reposted by Sam Díaz-Muñoz (they / ella)

Vaughn Cooper @vscooper.micropopbio.org · 1d

Terrific writeup of our new paper led by @nanamikubota.bsky.social, thanks Pitt media!

www.medschool.pitt.edu/news/bacteri...

Bacteria Can Use Viruses to Kill Other Bacteria, Pitt Researchers Find | School of Medicine | University of Pittsburgh

Many bacteria, including the opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa, are chronically infected by viruses that can reproduce without killing the cell. These viruses, called filamentous phages, t...

www.medschool.pitt.edu

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Sam Díaz-Muñoz (they / ella) @sociovirology.bsky.social · 1d

Thanks so much for settling this dispute!

I'll see if they can convince the science teacher to participate in #2026MMM!

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Sam Díaz-Muñoz (they / ella) @sociovirology.bsky.social · 1d

🤣🤣🤣

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Sam Díaz-Muñoz (they / ella) @sociovirology.bsky.social · 1d

OK, so this is timely to my household because one of my kiddo's friends insists that a bear would beat a hippo - no one else agrees. I think the Pygmy Hippo Championship in 2018 is sufficient evidence, but do you (or the #2026MMM community) want to weigh in?

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Katie Hinde @mammalssuck.bsky.social · 2d

Have we already finalized the #2026MMM line-up?
Yes.

Is it epic?
For sure.

But is it ridiculous?

a cartoon scene from spongebob squarepants with the words oh absolutely on the bottom

Alt: a cartoon scene from spongebob squarepants of Patrick Star jumping over a coral landscape with a butterfly fish net with an arm pump saying "Oh Absolutely!"

media.tenor.com

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Reposted by Sam Díaz-Muñoz (they / ella)

Shelly Scribner @shellyscrib.bsky.social · Apr 2

Did you know that it only takes one spontaneous mutation in your bacterial culture to activate a phage, and trigger a subsequent cascade of bacterial/phage evolution? 🧪 Curious how you could detect similar events in your experiments? Check out Nanami’s work!

Nanami Kubota @nanamikubota.bsky.social · Apr 2

Preprint out! Bacteria w/ hyper-replicative filamentous phage lead to overnight emergence of cheater phages. Bacteria w/ both phages can outcompete wildtype, then rapidly lose phage via a phage Tragedy of the Commons
@shellyscrib.bsky.social @vscooper.micropopbio.org www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Filamentous cheater phages drive bacterial and phage populations to lower fitness

Many bacteria carry phage genome(s) in their chromosome (i.e., prophage), and this intertwines the fitness of the bacterium and the phage. Most Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains carry filamentous phages ...

www.biorxiv.org

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Nanami Kubota @nanamikubota.bsky.social · 14d

Published in Current Biology! P. aeruginosa can use its filamentous phage to inhibit competitors but high phage production is susceptible to cheater miniphage invasion. Subsequent phage tragedy of the commons can lower bacteria and phage fitness. Link: authors.elsevier.com/c/1lt5I3QW8S...

Nanami Kubota @nanamikubota.bsky.social · Apr 2

Preprint out! Bacteria w/ hyper-replicative filamentous phage lead to overnight emergence of cheater phages. Bacteria w/ both phages can outcompete wildtype, then rapidly lose phage via a phage Tragedy of the Commons
@shellyscrib.bsky.social @vscooper.micropopbio.org www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Filamentous cheater phages drive bacterial and phage populations to lower fitness

Many bacteria carry phage genome(s) in their chromosome (i.e., prophage), and this intertwines the fitness of the bacterium and the phage. Most Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains carry filamentous phages ...

www.biorxiv.org

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Reposted by Sam Díaz-Muñoz (they / ella)

Cathy Hernandez @cathyhernandez.bsky.social · 8d

Very happy to share that I will be starting as an Assistant Professor in the department of Biological Sciences at the University of South Carolina in January! My group will be working on environmental phage ecology and evolution, and I am recruiting for the upcoming year (more info below).

A graphic advertising phage ecology and evolution research at the University of South Carolina, showing a central image of a tide pool flanked by a photo of an agar plate containing diverse microbes and a TEM image of a virus particle.

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Phil Lewis @phillewis.bsky.social · 15d

Jane Goodall, ethologist and conservationist, has died. She was 91

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Science Vs @sciencevs.bsky.social · 15d

This moment from our latest episode with science writer @edyong209.bsky.social is 🔥

We asked Ed — how do we talk up the benefits of science in the face of government cuts? He told us that's the wrong approach. 🧪

Listen wherever, or watch on Spotify 👇

open.spotify.com/episode/7Evh...

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Reposted by Sam Díaz-Muñoz (they / ella)

Internet Archive @archive.org · 15d

🌐 From the first web page created in 1991… to 1 trillion web pages archived today.

Every meme, blog, tweet & vanished site is part of our shared story. This is our collective memory. And it’s being saved.

Join in our celebration this October: blog.archive.org/trillion/

#Wayback1T #WaybackMachine

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Sam Díaz-Muñoz (they / ella) @sociovirology.bsky.social · 16d

New out in #mBio from our lab! Dr. Ile Agu reviewed developments on *host* influences on influenza deletion containing viral genomes (DelVGs, fka defective viral genomes).

Hoping for more research in this area. So much promising basic and applied science!
journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...
@asm.org

Host cell state: an overlooked factor impacting the production of influenza A deletion-containing viral genomes and non-infectious particles | mBio

Within the infected host, influenza A virus has a bipartite existence as intracellular viral genomic segments undergoing replication and assembly into progeny particles and extracellular progeny parti...

journals.asm.org

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Lygia Navarro (she/ella) ♿️ + 🏳️‍🌈 💜 🏳️‍⚧️ @lygianavarro.com · Jul 10

PLEASE SHARE!
I'm reporting on #H5N1 #BirdFlu (#AvianInfluenza #HPAI) for @thesicktimes.bsky.social, & want to talk to farmworkers or people who work with them re impacts of H5N1 on farmworkers. I'm especially interested in hearing re human cases since Feb 2025. Sources can be anonymous! (1/4)

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Reposted by Sam Díaz-Muñoz (they / ella)

Alt-NIHscience4ALL @alt-nihscience4all.altgov.info · Jul 1

#AltPride #AltGov
To close out Pride Month, we are recognizing neuroscientist Ben Barres. Beyond making seminal discoveries related to glial cell function, he was also a staunch advocate for equality in science for both women and the LGBTQIA+ community. 1/n

www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Ben Barres (1954–2017)

Neurobiologist who advocated for gender equality in science.

www.nature.com

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Angie Rasmussen @angierasmussen.bsky.social · Apr 21

So this interview lasted 2 hours so this “you’re scaring me” part might seem like an overreaction or fearmongering to someone without that context.

There’s a lot of evidence to support my hypothesis that a potential H5N1 pandemic would be worse than COVID.

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Jeremy Berg @jeremymberg.bsky.social · Apr 23

ACTION ITEM-----ACTION ITEM

Implementation of Schedule F

This is what a lot of us have been worried about.

This allows for many civil service positions to replaced with political appointees. This could include NIH institute directors and even POs.

BUT THERE IS A COMMENT PERIOD...

1/n

the word alert is in a purple circle

ALT: the word alert is in a purple circle

media.tenor.com

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Reposted by Sam Díaz-Muñoz (they / ella)

Hör Lab @hoerlab.bsky.social · Apr 23

In this first publication from the lab, now out in @narjournal.bsky.social, we review the current state of RNA phage biology with a focus on meta-omics methods. Many things left to be discovered!

#PhageSky

doi.org/10.1093/nar/...

Advancing RNA phage biology through meta-omics

Abstract. Bacteriophages with RNA genomes are among the simplest biological entities on Earth. Since their discovery in the 1960s, they have been used as i

doi.org

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Stefan Rothenburg @stefanrothenburg.bsky.social · Apr 22

Another nice example of a host-acquired gene in poxviruses, which modulates the host immune response.
dx.plos.org/10.1371/jour...

Viral piracy of host RNA phosphatase DUSP11 by avipoxviruses

Author summary Viruses face a critical challenge of disabling or avoiding host immune defenses. Cells typically recognize the presence of a virus through specific molecular markers, including triphosp...

dx.plos.org

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Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · Apr 18

“Awards that are not aligned with NSF's priorities have been terminated, including but not limited to those on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and misinformation/disinformation”—National Science Foundation

www.nsf.gov/updates-on-p...

Updates on NSF Priorities

www.nsf.gov

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MIT Press @mitpress.bsky.social · Apr 8

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.

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."

thereader.mitpress.mit.edu

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Eric Topol @erictopol.bsky.social · Apr 2

The vaccine against Shingles helps protect against dementia, results of a natural experiment, adding to prior evidence
"implications are profound"
New @nature.com
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
nature.com/articles/s41...

A natural experiment on the effect of herpes zoster vaccination on dementia - Nature

Using a natural experiment that avoids common bias concerns, this study finds that the live-attenuated shingles vaccine reduced the probability of a new dementia diagnosis within a follow-up period of...

nature.com

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Nanami Kubota @nanamikubota.bsky.social · Apr 2

Preprint out! Bacteria w/ hyper-replicative filamentous phage lead to overnight emergence of cheater phages. Bacteria w/ both phages can outcompete wildtype, then rapidly lose phage via a phage Tragedy of the Commons
@shellyscrib.bsky.social @vscooper.micropopbio.org www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Filamentous cheater phages drive bacterial and phage populations to lower fitness

Many bacteria carry phage genome(s) in their chromosome (i.e., prophage), and this intertwines the fitness of the bacterium and the phage. Most Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains carry filamentous phages ...

www.biorxiv.org

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Reposted by Sam Díaz-Muñoz (they / ella)

Richard Sever @richardsever.bsky.social · Mar 11

Big news: we are setting up a new non-profit organization to run bioRxiv and medRxiv. It's called openRxiv [no it's not a new preprint server; it's dedicated organization to oversee the servers] openrxiv.org 1/n

Homepage - openRxiv

openRxiv is an independent non-profit, the new organizational home for bioRxiv and medRxiv, enabling researchers to instantly share groundbreaking findings with the global scientific community.

openrxiv.org

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Eric Topol @erictopol.bsky.social · Mar 10

Who funds biomedical research? @nature.com
www.nature.com/articles/d41...

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Madhu Pai, MD, PhD @madhupai.bsky.social · Mar 9

“about a million additional people will die terrible deaths every single year for the foreseeable future if PEPFAR doesn’t get reversed”

www.vox.com/future-perfe...

Killing PEPFAR means killing millions of people

All to save 0.08 percent of the budget.

www.vox.com

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