Ben Auxier
@benauxier.bsky.social
Fungal geneticist interested in how fungi recognize themselves, and each other. Asst. Professor at WUR
Reposted by Ben Auxier
I wrote about the bizarre case of Herasight, the embryo selection company going all in on eugenics.
Embryo selection company Herasight goes all in on eugenics
...
open.substack.com
December 13, 2025 at 8:16 PM
I wrote about the bizarre case of Herasight, the embryo selection company going all in on eugenics.
Reposted by Ben Auxier
I posted a long reply to Freddie deBoer's comment on my piece about intelligence with Dan Willingham @dtwuva.bsky.social. substack.com/profile/1707...
Eric Turkheimer (@ericturkheimer2)
Not sure if this is intended as a comment on my piece with @Daniel Willingham: https://www.aft.org/ae/winter2025-2026/turkheimer_willingham But I will go ahead and respond to it as if it is. Speaking ...
substack.com
December 11, 2025 at 3:42 PM
I posted a long reply to Freddie deBoer's comment on my piece about intelligence with Dan Willingham @dtwuva.bsky.social. substack.com/profile/1707...
Reposted by Ben Auxier
just say NO
to emails
to emails
December 9, 2025 at 7:45 PM
just say NO
to emails
to emails
Reposted by Ben Auxier
Anyone looking for roommates for #Fungal26 in Asilomar?
I will participate and I am looking for someone to share a room for the week!
I'm a female PhD student, looking to share a room with another female. Please DM me if you'd like to team up with me 😄
Reposts appreciated!
I will participate and I am looking for someone to share a room for the week!
I'm a female PhD student, looking to share a room with another female. Please DM me if you'd like to team up with me 😄
Reposts appreciated!
December 4, 2025 at 2:22 PM
Anyone looking for roommates for #Fungal26 in Asilomar?
I will participate and I am looking for someone to share a room for the week!
I'm a female PhD student, looking to share a room with another female. Please DM me if you'd like to team up with me 😄
Reposts appreciated!
I will participate and I am looking for someone to share a room for the week!
I'm a female PhD student, looking to share a room with another female. Please DM me if you'd like to team up with me 😄
Reposts appreciated!
Happy to have played a part in this one! This method (air sampling + selective media) is very powerful, and can reveal a lot of fungal ecology.
Our paper with the results of Citizen Science project ‘Fungal Radar’ are now out! @evelinesnelders.bsky.social @benauxier.bsky.social
academic.oup.com/ismej/articl...
academic.oup.com/ismej/articl...
Land use drives drug resistance in an airborne human fungal pathogen
Abstract. Humans are exposed to the mold Aspergillus fumigatus via inhalation, and infections are increasingly resistant to triazole-class antifungals. Eco
academic.oup.com
December 4, 2025 at 6:44 PM
Happy to have played a part in this one! This method (air sampling + selective media) is very powerful, and can reveal a lot of fungal ecology.
Louse Glass presented some of this work a few years ago, great to see it out. I still don't completely understand how the barcoding enrichment works though. Might be a very powerful tool???
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Construction of a randomly barcoded insertional mutant library in the filamentous fungus Trichoderma atroviride
Filamentous fungi play key roles in ecosystems, agriculture, biotechnology, symbiosis, and disease, yet the large-scale characterization of gene function in these organisms remains limited by low tran...
www.biorxiv.org
December 3, 2025 at 7:51 AM
Louse Glass presented some of this work a few years ago, great to see it out. I still don't completely understand how the barcoding enrichment works though. Might be a very powerful tool???
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
My own institution (WUR) will also cut access to WoS this year. Hopefully a sign of good changes in the system!
From January 1st 2026, the CNRS will cut access to one of the largest commercial bibliometric databases, Clarivate Analytics' Web of Science, along with the Core Collection and Journal Citation Reports.
The CNRS is breaking free from the Web of Science
From January 1st 2026, the CNRS will cut access to one of the largest commercial bibliometric databases, Clarivate Analytics'
www.cnrs.fr
December 2, 2025 at 9:30 AM
My own institution (WUR) will also cut access to WoS this year. Hopefully a sign of good changes in the system!
Reposted by Ben Auxier
From January 1st 2026, the CNRS will cut access to one of the largest commercial bibliometric databases, Clarivate Analytics' Web of Science, along with the Core Collection and Journal Citation Reports.
The CNRS is breaking free from the Web of Science
From January 1st 2026, the CNRS will cut access to one of the largest commercial bibliometric databases, Clarivate Analytics'
www.cnrs.fr
December 1, 2025 at 11:04 AM
From January 1st 2026, the CNRS will cut access to one of the largest commercial bibliometric databases, Clarivate Analytics' Web of Science, along with the Core Collection and Journal Citation Reports.
Reposted by Ben Auxier
We are thrilled to announce the first official release (v0.1.8) of #𝗯𝗲𝗱𝗱𝗲𝗿, the successor to one of our flagship tool, #𝗯𝗲𝗱𝘁𝗼𝗼𝗹𝘀! Based on ideas we conceived of long ago (!), this was achieved thanks to the dedication of Brent Pedersen.
1/n
1/n
Intro to Bedder – The Quinlan Lab
quinlanlab.org
December 2, 2025 at 2:28 AM
Reposted by Ben Auxier
I named my fists AUG and UGA because one starts it and the other finishes it.
I named my fists Master and Commander, because together they’re gonna send you to the far side of the world.
I named my fists Pride and Prejudice, because it is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of two fists must be in want of whupping ass
December 1, 2025 at 3:39 PM
I named my fists AUG and UGA because one starts it and the other finishes it.
Reposted by Ben Auxier
Hard choices for preprint servers.
bioRxiv has always declined reviews/hypotheses b/c of concern about signal:noise and a wish to avoid subjective judgments. AI slop makes screening certain content similarly challenging so other servers are adopting new restrictions. Two thoughts... 1/3
bioRxiv has always declined reviews/hypotheses b/c of concern about signal:noise and a wish to avoid subjective judgments. AI slop makes screening certain content similarly challenging so other servers are adopting new restrictions. Two thoughts... 1/3
In light of record submission rates and a large volume of AI-generated slop, SocArXiv recently implemented a policy requiring ORCIDs linked in the OSF profile of submitting authors, and narrowing our focus to social science subjects. Today we are taking two more steps:
/1
/1
November 27, 2025 at 5:46 PM
Hard choices for preprint servers.
bioRxiv has always declined reviews/hypotheses b/c of concern about signal:noise and a wish to avoid subjective judgments. AI slop makes screening certain content similarly challenging so other servers are adopting new restrictions. Two thoughts... 1/3
bioRxiv has always declined reviews/hypotheses b/c of concern about signal:noise and a wish to avoid subjective judgments. AI slop makes screening certain content similarly challenging so other servers are adopting new restrictions. Two thoughts... 1/3
Reposted by Ben Auxier
The University of Nottingham's Ono lab seeks a postdoc in Mating and Gene Flow in *Candida albicans*. Candidates must have a relevant PhD and experience in microbiology. Apply by Dec 1, 2025: https://jobs.nottingham.ac.uk/Vacancy.aspx?id=53421&forced=2 #postdoc
Job Vacancy at the University of Nottingham: Research Associate/Fellow (Fixed-Term)
Applications are invited to the above role to support the principal investigator Dr Jasmine Ono in conducting research in the area of fungal biology, specifically in investigating mating and gene flow of the opportunistic pathogen Candida albicans...
jobs.nottingham.ac.uk
November 22, 2025 at 9:53 AM
The University of Nottingham's Ono lab seeks a postdoc in Mating and Gene Flow in *Candida albicans*. Candidates must have a relevant PhD and experience in microbiology. Apply by Dec 1, 2025: https://jobs.nottingham.ac.uk/Vacancy.aspx?id=53421&forced=2 #postdoc
Reposted by Ben Auxier
"Postdoc in the job market"
November 16, 2025 at 7:52 PM
"Postdoc in the job market"
Reposted by Ben Auxier
We are phasing out the terms “extant” and “extinct” from our exhibits and will now refer to species as either “Darwinners" or “Darlosers.”
November 15, 2025 at 4:42 PM
We are phasing out the terms “extant” and “extinct” from our exhibits and will now refer to species as either “Darwinners" or “Darlosers.”
Reposted by Ben Auxier
Congratulations to Joe Felsenstein on being awarded the 2026 Mendel Medal!
November 14, 2025 at 12:41 PM
Congratulations to Joe Felsenstein on being awarded the 2026 Mendel Medal!
Reposted by Ben Auxier
TEs aren’t just genomic parasites, they’re also engines of genomic novelty.
Our new study with ~2,000 Z. tritici genomes shows repeated TE mobilization waves during global expansion.
With @danielcroll.bsky.social & @guidopuccetti.bsky.social
🧬 www.nature.com/articles/s41...
#TEworldwide
Our new study with ~2,000 Z. tritici genomes shows repeated TE mobilization waves during global expansion.
With @danielcroll.bsky.social & @guidopuccetti.bsky.social
🧬 www.nature.com/articles/s41...
#TEworldwide
Historic transposon mobilisation waves create distinct pools of adaptive variants in a major crop pathogen - Nature Communications
In this study, the authors analysed a large genomic dataset to trace how jumping genes shaped the global spread of a major wheat pathogen and reveal bursts of activity over decades that drove adaptati...
www.nature.com
November 12, 2025 at 1:17 PM
TEs aren’t just genomic parasites, they’re also engines of genomic novelty.
Our new study with ~2,000 Z. tritici genomes shows repeated TE mobilization waves during global expansion.
With @danielcroll.bsky.social & @guidopuccetti.bsky.social
🧬 www.nature.com/articles/s41...
#TEworldwide
Our new study with ~2,000 Z. tritici genomes shows repeated TE mobilization waves during global expansion.
With @danielcroll.bsky.social & @guidopuccetti.bsky.social
🧬 www.nature.com/articles/s41...
#TEworldwide
Reposted by Ben Auxier
An empirical approach to evaluating the prevalence of long-lived balancing selection in humans--and important limitations. Work by @hannahmm.bsky.social
November 11, 2025 at 7:14 PM
An empirical approach to evaluating the prevalence of long-lived balancing selection in humans--and important limitations. Work by @hannahmm.bsky.social
Reposted by Ben Auxier
For anyone else whose Mac Outlook 365 has started making regular, massive faux pas through Autocorrect recently: Start typing new email > Edit > Spelling and Grammar > uncheck 'Correct Spelling Automatically'. Literally just called a new collaborator Baby because of this ... 🙄
November 10, 2025 at 12:29 PM
For anyone else whose Mac Outlook 365 has started making regular, massive faux pas through Autocorrect recently: Start typing new email > Edit > Spelling and Grammar > uncheck 'Correct Spelling Automatically'. Literally just called a new collaborator Baby because of this ... 🙄
So, maybe some of you have seen this new work on Neurospora nuclei. I have some words about it, as a comment on the preprint. Short version: The long history of Neurospora shows mutation and transformation experiments are not consistent with this result.
disq.us/t/4xk0nij
disq.us/t/4xk0nij
disq.us
November 10, 2025 at 8:50 PM
So, maybe some of you have seen this new work on Neurospora nuclei. I have some words about it, as a comment on the preprint. Short version: The long history of Neurospora shows mutation and transformation experiments are not consistent with this result.
disq.us/t/4xk0nij
disq.us/t/4xk0nij
Fungal Friends - Some of you may have seen the recent preprint on chromosomes in Neurospora nuclei. I have something to say about that, but waiting while bioRxiv moderates the comment
November 10, 2025 at 4:52 PM
Fungal Friends - Some of you may have seen the recent preprint on chromosomes in Neurospora nuclei. I have something to say about that, but waiting while bioRxiv moderates the comment
Reposted by Ben Auxier
"i asked grok" "i asked chatgpt" yeah well i asked carl sagan and he said the greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance but the illusion of knowledge 🧪
July 18, 2025 at 4:12 AM
"i asked grok" "i asked chatgpt" yeah well i asked carl sagan and he said the greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance but the illusion of knowledge 🧪
Reposted by Ben Auxier
My reviewing style has changed over time. Rather than litigate every little thing, and pushing my own ideas, I focus only on 2 things:
(1) Are the claims interesting/important?
(2) Does the evidence support the claims?
Most of my reviews these days are short and focused.
(1) Are the claims interesting/important?
(2) Does the evidence support the claims?
Most of my reviews these days are short and focused.
November 8, 2025 at 11:22 AM
My reviewing style has changed over time. Rather than litigate every little thing, and pushing my own ideas, I focus only on 2 things:
(1) Are the claims interesting/important?
(2) Does the evidence support the claims?
Most of my reviews these days are short and focused.
(1) Are the claims interesting/important?
(2) Does the evidence support the claims?
Most of my reviews these days are short and focused.
Reposted by Ben Auxier
Interesting story in this preprint.
A male infant was diagnosed with Fanconi anemia due to an X-linked frameshift mutation.
Three years later, his hematopoiesis became normal (without intervention). How?
www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1...
A male infant was diagnosed with Fanconi anemia due to an X-linked frameshift mutation.
Three years later, his hematopoiesis became normal (without intervention). How?
www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1...
Multi-lineage natural gene therapy mediated by embryonic triploid mosaicism in the context of Fanconi anaemia
Fanconi anemia is a rare inherited bone marrow failure syndrome caused by inactivation of genes in the Fanconi anemia/BRCA DNA repair pathway. We report a patient with X-linked Fanconi anemia, and aty...
www.medrxiv.org
November 5, 2025 at 8:04 AM
Interesting story in this preprint.
A male infant was diagnosed with Fanconi anemia due to an X-linked frameshift mutation.
Three years later, his hematopoiesis became normal (without intervention). How?
www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1...
A male infant was diagnosed with Fanconi anemia due to an X-linked frameshift mutation.
Three years later, his hematopoiesis became normal (without intervention). How?
www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Ben Auxier
New research in #GENETICS suggests accessory chromosomes in #fungi #fusarium might be maintained because of Spok genes and not because of their beneficial effects on virulence.
Learn more about this work from @fungage-lab.bsky.social and colleagues: buff.ly/R2CRa3O
Learn more about this work from @fungage-lab.bsky.social and colleagues: buff.ly/R2CRa3O
November 4, 2025 at 9:02 PM
New research in #GENETICS suggests accessory chromosomes in #fungi #fusarium might be maintained because of Spok genes and not because of their beneficial effects on virulence.
Learn more about this work from @fungage-lab.bsky.social and colleagues: buff.ly/R2CRa3O
Learn more about this work from @fungage-lab.bsky.social and colleagues: buff.ly/R2CRa3O
Reposted by Ben Auxier
While there may be "pay to publish" and "predatory" journals, the fact that an editor does not agree with the position of any given peer reviewer is not evidence of this. Peer review is merely advisory, it is not decision making. Confusion over this leads to some very bad reviewer practices.
As far as I see it, it is pay to publish. They have ignored my review comments before just went forward publishing a paper that was simply trash quality. The quality of some of the papers are very bad, which makes me question the editorial and review process. There are of course many good papers.
October 27, 2025 at 4:32 PM
While there may be "pay to publish" and "predatory" journals, the fact that an editor does not agree with the position of any given peer reviewer is not evidence of this. Peer review is merely advisory, it is not decision making. Confusion over this leads to some very bad reviewer practices.