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christopherbrooke.bsky.social
Chris Brooke
@christopherbrooke.bsky.social
1.4K followers 500 following 47 posts
Viral evolution and infection biology. Assoc. professor at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. brookelab.org
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Reposted by Chris Brooke
mkrupovic.bsky.social
Check out our latest paper on mirusviruses, one of the most remarkable new groups of protist viruses - extremely diverse, carry lots of spliceosomal introns (including new homing introns) and are at the evolutionary crossroads between tailed phages and herpesviruses! www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Widespread and intron-rich mirusviruses are predicted to reproduce in nuclei of unicellular eukaryotes - Nature Microbiology
Environmental metagenomic explorations show that Mirusviricota lineages lack essential replication and transcription genes and contain spliceosomal introns, suggesting nuclear reproduction.
www.nature.com
November 28, 2025 at 4:43 PM
Reposted by Chris Brooke
asherleeks.bsky.social
Amazing example of influenza cheat/cooperator cycles in this recent paper - the repeatability of the oscillatory cycles is so striking

Congrats to @alnajifg.bsky.social , @christopherbrooke.bsky.social , @vignuzzilab.bsky.social & friends

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

🧪 #socialviruses
November 28, 2025 at 7:20 PM
christopherbrooke.bsky.social
Anyone else getting grant termination notices for gain-of-function concerns at 5pm two days before thanksgiving?
November 25, 2025 at 11:05 PM
Reposted by Chris Brooke
solidevidence.bsky.social
This is wild.
Remember the NJ crytic lineage?
I posted 18 months ago that the Spike was too divergent to predict ACE2 binding, and asked if someone else could figure it out.
Some colleagues took me up on it.
Guess what they found?
1/
November 21, 2025 at 3:19 PM
Reposted by Chris Brooke
cp-cellhostmicrobe.bsky.social
Evolution of Ab cross-reactivity to influenza H5N1 NA:

Isolation & characterization of protective antibody against influenza neuraminidase that acquires cross-reactivity to avian H5N1 as a byproduct of affinity maturation against human H3N2 @wchnicholas.bsky.social
www.cell.com/cell-host-mi...
Evolution of antibody cross-reactivity to influenza H5N1 neuraminidase from an N2-specific germline
Lv et al. isolated a protective antibody against influenza neuraminidase that acquires cross-reactivity to avian H5N1 as a byproduct of affinity maturation against human H3N2. Along with structural an...
www.cell.com
November 19, 2025 at 8:09 PM
Reposted by Chris Brooke
lhmoncla.bsky.social
Our lab's paper describing the North American H5N1 epizootic is out now in Nature! So thrilled to have this out, and congratulations to @lambod50.bsky.social for all the fantastic work on this: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Ecology and spread of the North American H5N1 epizootic - Nature
The panzootic of highly pathogenic H5N1 since 2021 was driven by around nine introductions into the Atlantic and Pacific flyways, followed by rapid dissemination through wild migratory birds, primaril...
www.nature.com
November 12, 2025 at 7:33 PM
Reposted by Chris Brooke
victora.bsky.social
Check out our latest preprint on the effects of antibody-mediated feedback on ongoing germinal center reactions, led by Alex Barbulescu and @janabilanovic.bsky.social

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Antibody-mediated feedback modulates interclonal competition in the germinal center
Serum antibodies from prior immune responses regulate B cell activation and germinal center (GC) access upon recall immunization. However, how antibodies produced by an ongoing immune response influen...
www.biorxiv.org
November 8, 2025 at 3:04 PM
Reposted by Chris Brooke
alnajifg.bsky.social
Finally, it's up on bioRxiv! It's been a rewarding journey shaping this story. My deepest gratitude to @vignuzzilab.bsky.social and @christopherbrooke.bsky.social for their incredible support, and to the @mcbillinois.bsky.social & @astar-idlabs.bsky.social for enabling this research
November 4, 2025 at 11:02 AM
Reposted by Chris Brooke
ptdolan.bsky.social
New in ‘Virus Evolution’ from #QVEU! PhD student Jack Dorman used deep mutational scanning to measure evolutionary constraints on the Envelope protein of West Nile Virus in human, mosquito, and bird cell lines, doing a lot of work to put it into a structural context #VirEvol
Constraint in West Nile Virus Envelope Protein across Mosquito, Human, and Avian Host Cell Environments
Abstract. Arthropod-borne viruses are a major cause of global viral infections, displaying evolutionary dynamics that differ significantly from vertebrate-
academic.oup.com
November 1, 2025 at 6:44 PM
Reposted by Chris Brooke
langloislab.bsky.social
Excited to announce that we have a new faculty search opening in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Minnesota for a tenure track Assistant Professor in RNA Virology. More info can be found here: hr.myu.umn.edu/jobs/ext/365...
Careers
Minimum qualifications:PhD, MD, or equivalent in a relevant field of study, plus applicable postdoctoral experience.
hr.myu.umn.edu
October 26, 2025 at 2:41 PM
Reposted by Chris Brooke
chlandalab.bsky.social
Mysteries of trafficking of the vRNP segmented genome and assembly of influenza A virus revealed by in situ cryo-ET!
🔗 rdcu.be/eMmct
We are very excited that our paper is finally out!
🎉 Big congratulations to Moritz Wachsmuth-Melm and to everyone involved.
October 24, 2025 at 8:11 AM
Reposted by Chris Brooke
cp-cellhostmicrobe.bsky.social
Evolution of Ab cross-reactivity to influenza H5N1 NA

New work isolates & characterizes protective antibody against influenza neuraminidase that acquires cross-reactivity to avian H5N1 as a byproduct of affinity maturation against human H3N2 @wchnicholas.bsky.social
www.cell.com/cell-host-mi...
Evolution of antibody cross-reactivity to influenza H5N1 neuraminidase from an N2-specific germline
Lv et al. isolated a protective antibody against influenza neuraminidase that acquires cross-reactivity to avian H5N1 as a byproduct of affinity maturation against human H3N2. Along with structural an...
www.cell.com
October 22, 2025 at 11:38 AM
Reposted by Chris Brooke
arambaut.bsky.social
Our paper on the phenomenon of persistence and latency in Ebola virus in an unobserved reservoir is finally out in preprint: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Evidence of latency reshapes our understanding of Ebola virus reservoir dynamics
Ebola virus (EBOV) has caused severe outbreaks of haemorrhagic fever in Central and West Africa since the first observed zoonotic epidemic in the late 1970s. While recent outbreaks have revealed much ...
www.biorxiv.org
October 19, 2025 at 11:36 AM
Reposted by Chris Brooke
labwaggoner.bsky.social
Tonic type I interferon signaling optimizes the antiviral function of plasmacytoid dendritic cells
www.nature.com/articles/s41... @natimmunol.nature.com @idoyagalab.bsky.social
October 14, 2025 at 5:53 PM
Reposted by Chris Brooke
pamherd.bsky.social
RFK fired the CDC official (w/decades of experience) leading the measles outbreak response. It's been decades since we've had such a large outbreak. And just to ensure they they can spread the measles outbreak even farther, they also fired the leadership for the center focused on immunization.
Figure showing the largest measles outbreak in the US in decades. There are over 1500 cases as of October 7 2025
October 11, 2025 at 2:58 PM
Reposted by Chris Brooke
lenasun.bsky.social
NEW: @CDCgov hit hard by massive firings that several staff describe to me as a “bloodbath.”
Among those RIFd:
—leadership of the center for immunization and respiratory diseases;
—leadership of global health center
—leadership of the measles outbreak response; 1/4
October 11, 2025 at 12:49 PM
Reposted by Chris Brooke
erinrgreen.bsky.social
Job alert ‼️ UChicago Micro is hiring! Open to tenured/tenure track faculty at all levels in any area of microbiology. Come join our amazing and growing department. apply.interfolio.com/174404
October 4, 2025 at 6:44 PM
Reposted by Chris Brooke
joshuasweitz.bsky.social
A large (2.5M+) sibling control analysis that found "no evidence of increased risk of autism, ADHD, or intellectual disability associated with acetaminophen use" seems to be the kind of data that requires serious consideration before declaring mission accomplished.

jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
September 22, 2025 at 8:55 PM
Reposted by Chris Brooke
marisakabas.bsky.social
Reporters on the ground in Chicago are screaming to be heard over the false narrative that Pritzker defeated Trump there. PLEASE listen to them.
mskellymhayes.bsky.social Puff the Magic Hater @mskellymhayes.bsky.social · Sep 15
Legacy media and cable news reduced Trump's aggression against Chicago to a question of whether troops would be sent immediately. When he said he was taking his fascist military spectacle elsewhere, those media players declared the situation over—while waves of federal agents attack our neighbors.
September 15, 2025 at 1:12 AM
Reposted by Chris Brooke
colincarlson.bsky.social
New preprint! 🥳🎉 We looked at viral coinfection patterns at the largest scale ever in wildlife. We found a strong association among CoVs, PMVs, and influenza A, and higher coinfection rates in wildlife trade; plus, evidence that bats accumulate persistent infections. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Figure 3 of our paper, which shows viral coinfection networks at the virus level
September 10, 2025 at 12:36 PM
Reposted by Chris Brooke
sfelenalab.bsky.social
Check the latest publication from our group!
rdcu.be/ey1Fj
@i2sysbio.es @csic.es
Latent infection of Caenorhabditis elegans by Orsay virus induces age-dependent immunity and cross-protection
Nature Communications - Orsay virus establishes a latent infection in C. elegans, triggering age-dependent immunity and RNAi based cross-protection that limits secondary infections and reveals...
rdcu.be
August 4, 2025 at 6:58 AM
Reposted by Chris Brooke
owenouyang.bsky.social
I'm thrilled to share that the oPool⁺ display is on the cover of this week's #ScienceTranslationalMedicine! We hope that the future use of this platform can accelerate antibody characterization, benefit therapeutic & vaccine development, and facilitate iterative refinements of antibody AI models.
science.org Science Magazine @science.org · Sep 3
Don't miss the new issue of #ScienceTranslationalMedicine!

A clinical study in Nepal shows that waning immunity to Japanese encephalitis virus can worse the severity of dengue, a new platform leapfrogs laborious obstacles in antibody discovery, and more. https://scim.ag/47qcFpw
The cover shows a library of antibody single-chain variable fragment (scFv)-mRNA-cDNA fusion molecules targeting an influenza hemagglutinin immobilized on a magnetic bead surface.
September 4, 2025 at 2:05 AM
Reposted by Chris Brooke
plosbiology.org
What causes viral transmission bottlenecks? This study uses barcoded virions to show that in the case of #influenza A #virus, early within-host replication dynamics (rather than a reduced inoculum population) drive loss of diversity during transmission @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/4ngicDK
Population diversity declines between inoculated and exposed guinea pigs. Viral titers in nasal lavage samples are indicated by the overall height of the bar. Red lines show LOD (50 PFU/mL). Colors within the bars represent unique barcodes, and the height of each color indicates barcode frequency within the sample. Plots for individual animals are paired with those of their cage mate. Representative pairs for direct contact (top half) and aerosol (bottom half) exposure are shown from three experimental replicates. Guinea pig ID numbers are shown in the upper right corner of each plot.
September 3, 2025 at 12:56 PM
Reposted by Chris Brooke
joshforgeorgia.bsky.social
I took this picture myself at the CDC protest today. These are among the hundreds of bullet holes in CDC headquarters windows, visible from the street. I heard today that the admin has no urgent plan to fix these windows.

Imagine being a CDC employee going to work under these conditions
CDC headquarters windows with visible bullet holes
August 28, 2025 at 11:43 PM
Reposted by Chris Brooke
donmoyn.bsky.social
Full resignation letter from Demetre C. Daskalakis, a CDC leader, does not hold back.
"The recent shooting at CDC is not why I am resigning. My grandfather, who I am named after, stood up to fascist forces in Greece and lost his life doing so. I am resigning to make him and his legacy proud."
My resignation letter from CDC. Dear Dr. Houry, I am writing to formally resign from my position as Director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), effective August 28, 2025, close of business. I am happy to stay on for two weeks to provide transition, if requested. This decision has not come easily, as I deeply value the work that the CDC does in safeguarding public health and am proud of my contributions to that critical mission. However, after much contemplation and reflection on recent developments and perspectives brought to light by Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., I find that the views he and his staff have shared challenge my ability to continue in my current role at the agency and in the service of the health of the American people. Enough is enough. While I hold immense respect for the institution and my colleagues, I believe that it is imperative to align my professional responsibilities to my system of ethics and my understanding of the science of infectious disease, immunology, and my promise to serve the American people. This step is necessary to ensure that I can contribute effectively in a capacity that allows me to remain true to my principles. The recent change in the adult and children’s immunization schedule threaten the lives of the youngest Americans and pregnant people. The data analyses that supported this decision have never been shared with CDC despite my respectful requests to HHS and other leadership. This lack of meaningful engagement was further compounded by a “frequently asked questions” document written to support the Secretary’s directive that was circulated by HHS without input from CDC subject matter experts and that cited studies that did not support the conclusions that were attributed to these authors. Having worked in local and national public health for years, I have never experienced such radical non-transparency, nor have I seen such unskilled manipulation of data to achieve a political end rather than the good of the American people. It is untenable to serve in an organization that is not afforded the opportunity to discuss decisions of scientific and public health importance released under the moniker of CDC. The lack of communication by HHS and other CDC political leadership that culminates in social media posts announcing major policy changes without prior notice demonstrate a disregard of normal communication channels and common sense. Having to retrofit analyses and policy actions to match inadequately thought-out announcements in poorly scripted videos or page long X posts should not be how organizations responsible for the health of people should function. Some examples include the announcement of the change in the COVID-19 recommendations for children and pregnant people, the firing of scientists from ACIP by X post and an op-ed rather than direct communication with these valuable experts, the announcement of new ACIP members by X before onboarding and vetting have completed, and the release of term of reference for an ACIP workgroup that ignored all feedback from career staff at CDC. Their desire to please a political base will result in death and disability of vulnerable children and adults. Their base should be the people they serve not a political voting bloc. I have always been first to challenge scientific and public health dogma in my career and was excited by the opportunity to do so again. I was optimistic that there would be an opportunity to brief the Secretary about key topics such as measles, avian influenza, and the highly coordinated approach to the respiratory virus season. Such briefings would allow exchange of ideas and a shared path to support the vision of “Making America Healthy Again.” We are seven months into the new administration, and no CDC subject matter expert from my Center has ever briefed the Secretary. I am not sure who the Secretary is listening to, but it is quite certainly not to us. Unvetted and conflicted outside organizations seem to be the sources HHS use over the gold standard science of CDC and other reputable sources. At a hearing, Secretary Kennedy said that Americans should not take medical advice from him. To the contrary, an appropriately briefed and inquisitive Secretary should be a source of health information for the people he serves. As it stands now, I must agree with him, that he should not be considered a source of accurate information. The intentional eroding of trust in low-risk vaccines favoring natural infection and unproven remedies will bring us to a pre-vaccine era where only the strong will survive and many if not all will suffer. I believe in nutrition and exercise. I believe in making our food supply healthier, and I also believe in using vaccines to prevent death and disability. Eugenics plays prominently in the rhetoric being generated and is derivative of a legacy that good medicine and science should continue to shun. The recent shooting at CDC is not why I am resigning. My grandfather, who I am named after, stood up to fascist forces in Greece and lost his life doing so. I am resigning to make him and his legacy proud. I am resigning because of the cowardice of a leader that cannot admit that HIS and his minions’ words over decades created an environment where violence like this can occur. I reject his and his colleagues’ thoughts and prayers, and advise they direct those to people that they have not actively harmed. For decades, I have been a trusted voice for the LGBTQ community when it comes to critical health topics. I must also cite the recklessness of the administration in their efforts to erase transgender populations, cease critical domestic and international HIV programming, and terminate key research to support equity as part of my decision. Public health is not merely about the health of the individual, but it is about the health of the community, the nation, the world. The nation’s health security is at risk and is in the hands of people focusing on ideological self-interest. I want to express my heartfelt gratitude for the opportunities for growth, learning, and collaboration that I have been afforded during my time at the CDC. It has been a privilege to work alongside such dedicated professionals who are committed to improving the health and well-being of communities across the nation even when under attack from within both physically and psychologically. Thank you once again for the support and guidance I have received from you and previous CDC leadership throughout my tenure. I wish the CDC continued success in its vital mission and that HHS reverse its dangerous course to dismantle public health as a practice and as an institution. If they continue the current path, they risk our personal well-being and the security of the United States.
August 28, 2025 at 1:01 AM