Mark Peifer (He, him)
@peiferlabunc.bsky.social
Cell adhesion, cytoskeletal regulation, Wnt signaling & wherever science leads us + wildflowers & my own idiosyncratic views. First gen college grad
Diversity, equity & Inclusion are core American Values
https://peiferlab.web.unc.edu
Diversity, equity & Inclusion are core American Values
https://peiferlab.web.unc.edu
Reposted by Mark Peifer (He, him)
Polygenic embryo screening is being marketed commercially – but how do IVF clinicians view it?
• General approval is low (12%)
For specific uses:
• 59% approved of health-related embryo selection
• 6% approved of trait-based selection
🧵 Survey findings in NPJ Genomic Medicine
• General approval is low (12%)
For specific uses:
• 59% approved of health-related embryo selection
• 6% approved of trait-based selection
🧵 Survey findings in NPJ Genomic Medicine
December 1, 2025 at 8:24 PM
Polygenic embryo screening is being marketed commercially – but how do IVF clinicians view it?
• General approval is low (12%)
For specific uses:
• 59% approved of health-related embryo selection
• 6% approved of trait-based selection
🧵 Survey findings in NPJ Genomic Medicine
• General approval is low (12%)
For specific uses:
• 59% approved of health-related embryo selection
• 6% approved of trait-based selection
🧵 Survey findings in NPJ Genomic Medicine
Reposted by Mark Peifer (He, him)
There is a rightwing student network targeting faculty who engage in research and teaching or simply exist in ways that contradicts their political views and we have to develop strategies to avoid falling into their traps while collectively organizing to protect academic freedom from their attacks
If you are a chair of a department or supervise grad students, it might be important to collaborate with your colleagues on ways to strategize when a "problem essay" comes down the pike. It's one small way of protecting each other.
December 2, 2025 at 1:11 AM
There is a rightwing student network targeting faculty who engage in research and teaching or simply exist in ways that contradicts their political views and we have to develop strategies to avoid falling into their traps while collectively organizing to protect academic freedom from their attacks
What the fuck else are y'all doing all day every day as you collect pay and do NOTHING
December 2, 2025 at 1:34 AM
What the fuck else are y'all doing all day every day as you collect pay and do NOTHING
Reposted by Mark Peifer (He, him)
Wow. Just conceding in advance. Totally unacceptable.
Republicans will absolutely allow articles of impeachment to be brought to the floor if you go out and make them do it. They have a tiny advantage in the House. Peel them off the way Dems did on the Epstein files vote.
Republicans will absolutely allow articles of impeachment to be brought to the floor if you go out and make them do it. They have a tiny advantage in the House. Peel them off the way Dems did on the Epstein files vote.
December 2, 2025 at 12:27 AM
Wow. Just conceding in advance. Totally unacceptable.
Republicans will absolutely allow articles of impeachment to be brought to the floor if you go out and make them do it. They have a tiny advantage in the House. Peel them off the way Dems did on the Epstein files vote.
Republicans will absolutely allow articles of impeachment to be brought to the floor if you go out and make them do it. They have a tiny advantage in the House. Peel them off the way Dems did on the Epstein files vote.
Reposted by Mark Peifer (He, him)
We must stop tinkering around the edges of a broken healthcare system.
Yes, let's extend the ACA tax credits to prevent a huge spike in healthcare costs for millions. Then, let's finally create a system that puts your health over corporate profits.
We need Medicare for All.
Yes, let's extend the ACA tax credits to prevent a huge spike in healthcare costs for millions. Then, let's finally create a system that puts your health over corporate profits.
We need Medicare for All.
December 1, 2025 at 11:20 PM
We must stop tinkering around the edges of a broken healthcare system.
Yes, let's extend the ACA tax credits to prevent a huge spike in healthcare costs for millions. Then, let's finally create a system that puts your health over corporate profits.
We need Medicare for All.
Yes, let's extend the ACA tax credits to prevent a huge spike in healthcare costs for millions. Then, let's finally create a system that puts your health over corporate profits.
We need Medicare for All.
Reposted by Mark Peifer (He, him)
Last chance! Early abstracts & travel awards for #ASMicrobe close TOMORROW (Dec 2, 2 p.m. ET). Early submissions receive early review—helpful for planning travel & approvals. Submit today! ➜ asm.social/2Ij
December 2, 2025 at 12:54 AM
Last chance! Early abstracts & travel awards for #ASMicrobe close TOMORROW (Dec 2, 2 p.m. ET). Early submissions receive early review—helpful for planning travel & approvals. Submit today! ➜ asm.social/2Ij
Reposted by Mark Peifer (He, him)
🎉 Congratulations to Justus Francis (@justusfrancis.bsky.social), winner of the @jcb.org 2025 Alan Hall Travel Award! Justus is a graduate student in @sc-lab.bsky.social. Be sure to catch Justus’s talk during #CellBio2025!
Read about this year's winners 👉 rupress.org/jcb/pages/al...
Read about this year's winners 👉 rupress.org/jcb/pages/al...
November 24, 2025 at 3:30 PM
🎉 Congratulations to Justus Francis (@justusfrancis.bsky.social), winner of the @jcb.org 2025 Alan Hall Travel Award! Justus is a graduate student in @sc-lab.bsky.social. Be sure to catch Justus’s talk during #CellBio2025!
Read about this year's winners 👉 rupress.org/jcb/pages/al...
Read about this year's winners 👉 rupress.org/jcb/pages/al...
Reposted by Mark Peifer (He, him)
Millions of people living with HIV are at risk of losing the support they rely on.
The progress we’ve made in the global fight against HIV is now under threat.
The progress we’ve made in the global fight against HIV is now under threat.
December 2, 2025 at 1:10 AM
Millions of people living with HIV are at risk of losing the support they rely on.
The progress we’ve made in the global fight against HIV is now under threat.
The progress we’ve made in the global fight against HIV is now under threat.
Reposted by Mark Peifer (He, him)
🔥 BREAKING: A spokesperson for Kids Can Press, the publisher of the Franklin the Turtle books, messaged me today about Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth using the likeness and image from the books to make light of killings in the Caribbean in his post yesterday on X.
December 2, 2025 at 12:16 AM
🔥 BREAKING: A spokesperson for Kids Can Press, the publisher of the Franklin the Turtle books, messaged me today about Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth using the likeness and image from the books to make light of killings in the Caribbean in his post yesterday on X.
Lot's of folks likely frantically looking for jobs elsewhere.....
TX Tech has a flow chat for guidance on what can be taught in the university system. Two things:
1. Very little content seems to be permitted. This is partisan control of the curriculum.
2. I would not enjoy teaching under these conditions, but I really would not want to be a Chair or Dean.
1. Very little content seems to be permitted. This is partisan control of the curriculum.
2. I would not enjoy teaching under these conditions, but I really would not want to be a Chair or Dean.
December 2, 2025 at 1:21 AM
Lot's of folks likely frantically looking for jobs elsewhere.....
Reposted by Mark Peifer (He, him)
TX Tech has a flow chat for guidance on what can be taught in the university system. Two things:
1. Very little content seems to be permitted. This is partisan control of the curriculum.
2. I would not enjoy teaching under these conditions, but I really would not want to be a Chair or Dean.
1. Very little content seems to be permitted. This is partisan control of the curriculum.
2. I would not enjoy teaching under these conditions, but I really would not want to be a Chair or Dean.
December 1, 2025 at 10:55 PM
TX Tech has a flow chat for guidance on what can be taught in the university system. Two things:
1. Very little content seems to be permitted. This is partisan control of the curriculum.
2. I would not enjoy teaching under these conditions, but I really would not want to be a Chair or Dean.
1. Very little content seems to be permitted. This is partisan control of the curriculum.
2. I would not enjoy teaching under these conditions, but I really would not want to be a Chair or Dean.
Reposted by Mark Peifer (He, him)
Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol made $95 million last year. His workers are striking for the bare minimum. Glad to be on the right side of the picket line with them.
December 1, 2025 at 11:46 PM
Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol made $95 million last year. His workers are striking for the bare minimum. Glad to be on the right side of the picket line with them.
Reposted by Mark Peifer (He, him)
Costco sues the Trump administration, seeking a refund of tariffs
Costco sues the Trump administration, seeking a refund of tariffs
The wholesaler is the latest company to sue a federal agency over the president's signature economic policy.
www.nbcnews.com
December 2, 2025 at 12:14 AM
Costco sues the Trump administration, seeking a refund of tariffs
Reposted by Mark Peifer (He, him)
Fentanyl. Drug Overdoses, including Fentanyl, are not even in the top 20 causes of death in the USA. Cancer, Diabetes, Covid, Heart Disease all in the top 10, and all have had their research funding cut. They aren't murdering just Venezuelans. However they are killing us much slower.
December 1, 2025 at 5:28 PM
Fentanyl. Drug Overdoses, including Fentanyl, are not even in the top 20 causes of death in the USA. Cancer, Diabetes, Covid, Heart Disease all in the top 10, and all have had their research funding cut. They aren't murdering just Venezuelans. However they are killing us much slower.
Reposted by Mark Peifer (He, him)
For all of us who have been afraid, read this from @iwashyna.bsky.social
www.atsjournals.org/doi/full/10....
www.atsjournals.org/doi/full/10....
On Not Betraying Our Trainees, Especially Now | American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine
www.atsjournals.org
December 1, 2025 at 4:35 PM
For all of us who have been afraid, read this from @iwashyna.bsky.social
www.atsjournals.org/doi/full/10....
www.atsjournals.org/doi/full/10....
While I expected silence from UNC's Chancellor, and was somewhat disappointed by the tepid words from our Provost, the person whose total silence really surprised me was Jim White, Dean of the UNC College of Arts and Sciences. 1/2
UNC Faculty--ICE actions in the Triangle have terrified many of our students and their families. I posted these signs on outside doors of my building and am re-posting as they are removed. JOIN ME! They match what administrators told us to they shouldn't complain
December 1, 2025 at 7:17 PM
While I expected silence from UNC's Chancellor, and was somewhat disappointed by the tepid words from our Provost, the person whose total silence really surprised me was Jim White, Dean of the UNC College of Arts and Sciences. 1/2
Reposted by Mark Peifer (He, him)
Trump isn't doing anything to lower costs for your family, but he is using the full force of the presidency to make himself and his family very, very, very, very rich.
All the president’s millions: how the Trumps are turning the presidency into riches
From Vietnam to the Balkans, Donald Trump’s family has launched a global dealmaking blitz since his re-election
www.theguardian.com
November 30, 2025 at 9:11 PM
Trump isn't doing anything to lower costs for your family, but he is using the full force of the presidency to make himself and his family very, very, very, very rich.
Reposted by Mark Peifer (He, him)
Friendly reminder that the current administration is seeking to cut NASA's heliophysics budget by ~75%. Understanding the sun is critical to protecting life on our planet!
Sunspot Clusters, Solar Flares, CMEs, and a Coronal Hole High Speed Stream (CH HSS) - these are the primary solar activity threats and events during the week. Stay informed at the Nation's official source for space weather forecasts at spaceweather.gov
December 1, 2025 at 7:06 PM
Friendly reminder that the current administration is seeking to cut NASA's heliophysics budget by ~75%. Understanding the sun is critical to protecting life on our planet!
Reposted by Mark Peifer (He, him)
December 1, 2025 at 5:36 PM
Reposted by Mark Peifer (He, him)
We are looking for a Head of Cell Biology here at @kwsgroup.bsky.social Vegetables.
This is a permanent, full-time position located in Wageningen, Netherlands.
jobs.kws.com/job/Wagening...
#PlantScience #PlantSciJobs #PlantScienceJobs #PlantCellBiology #PlantBreeding #PlantSciJob #PlantScienceJob
This is a permanent, full-time position located in Wageningen, Netherlands.
jobs.kws.com/job/Wagening...
#PlantScience #PlantSciJobs #PlantScienceJobs #PlantCellBiology #PlantBreeding #PlantSciJob #PlantScienceJob
Head of Cell Biology KWS Vegetables
Head of Cell Biology KWS Vegetables
jobs.kws.com
December 1, 2025 at 1:36 PM
We are looking for a Head of Cell Biology here at @kwsgroup.bsky.social Vegetables.
This is a permanent, full-time position located in Wageningen, Netherlands.
jobs.kws.com/job/Wagening...
#PlantScience #PlantSciJobs #PlantScienceJobs #PlantCellBiology #PlantBreeding #PlantSciJob #PlantScienceJob
This is a permanent, full-time position located in Wageningen, Netherlands.
jobs.kws.com/job/Wagening...
#PlantScience #PlantSciJobs #PlantScienceJobs #PlantCellBiology #PlantBreeding #PlantSciJob #PlantScienceJob
Reposted by Mark Peifer (He, him)
Hey UConn, protect academic freedom now! @aaup.org #adminsofragile
December 1, 2025 at 6:45 PM
Hey UConn, protect academic freedom now! @aaup.org #adminsofragile
Reposted by Mark Peifer (He, him)
Solarion is kind of fire. Immobile sun-like cells with radiating, stalked organelles called celestiomes. It has the secA gene, a bacterial protein transport gene most other eukaryotes don’t harbor (remnant from the mitochondria’s endosymbiont days). Probably more.
🧪🖥️🧬🔬
phys.org/news/2025-11...
🧪🖥️🧬🔬
phys.org/news/2025-11...
Discovery of rare protist reveals previously unknown branch of eukaryotic tree of life
A research team from the Faculty of Science, Charles University in Prague has discovered Solarion arienae, an extremely rare and morphologically unique unicellular eukaryote that sheds new light on ea...
phys.org
December 1, 2025 at 5:40 PM
Solarion is kind of fire. Immobile sun-like cells with radiating, stalked organelles called celestiomes. It has the secA gene, a bacterial protein transport gene most other eukaryotes don’t harbor (remnant from the mitochondria’s endosymbiont days). Probably more.
🧪🖥️🧬🔬
phys.org/news/2025-11...
🧪🖥️🧬🔬
phys.org/news/2025-11...
No, I do not want you to give me AI's suggestions for my future research. and I now know never to refer someone to "The Knowledge Lab and Data Science Institute at the University of Chicago"
December 1, 2025 at 6:54 PM
No, I do not want you to give me AI's suggestions for my future research. and I now know never to refer someone to "The Knowledge Lab and Data Science Institute at the University of Chicago"
Reposted by Mark Peifer (He, him)
If you run across a gen A.I. slop 🤖💩 diagram in an academic journal, I’d love to know about it! Please fill out this form:
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
Slop in journals is illuminating about journals’ quality control. And journals would like you to forget their mistakes.
#AcademicChatter
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
Slop in journals is illuminating about journals’ quality control. And journals would like you to forget their mistakes.
#AcademicChatter
Slop graphics in academic journals
Use this form to share graphics (e.g., figures, covers, graphical abstracts) made using generative A.I. that have appeared in academic journals.
The plan is to compile these slop graphics in an ope...
docs.google.com
December 1, 2025 at 6:36 PM
If you run across a gen A.I. slop 🤖💩 diagram in an academic journal, I’d love to know about it! Please fill out this form:
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
Slop in journals is illuminating about journals’ quality control. And journals would like you to forget their mistakes.
#AcademicChatter
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
Slop in journals is illuminating about journals’ quality control. And journals would like you to forget their mistakes.
#AcademicChatter
Reposted by Mark Peifer (He, him)
Very pleased to have had a small part in this new paper showing that the greater chestnut weevil is not, as feared, extinct.
"Rediscovery of the greater chestnut #weevil highlights the power of digital platforms in biodiversity research and conservation" spkl.io/63326Ad07u
@Michael A. Charles & colleagues
@currentbiology.bsky.social
@Michael A. Charles & colleagues
@currentbiology.bsky.social
December 1, 2025 at 6:40 PM
Very pleased to have had a small part in this new paper showing that the greater chestnut weevil is not, as feared, extinct.