Sam Díaz-Muñoz (they / ella)
@sociovirology.bsky.social
I study the social lives of viruses. Associate Prof at UC Davis. Previously: UHS | B.S. @UPRM | Ph.D. @Cal | PD @UCSanDiego @Yale @nyuniversity
🇵🇷 🏳️⚧️🌈✊
🇵🇷 🏳️⚧️🌈✊
Nothing like starting the day with shiny proofs 🤓
December 15, 2025 at 5:09 PM
Nothing like starting the day with shiny proofs 🤓
Reposted by Sam Díaz-Muñoz (they / ella)
We are searching for a lab manager!
If you are detailed oriented, like southern california, HSV-1, sequencing and microscopy, please get in touch :)
If you are detailed oriented, like southern california, HSV-1, sequencing and microscopy, please get in touch :)
October 29, 2025 at 12:25 AM
We are searching for a lab manager!
If you are detailed oriented, like southern california, HSV-1, sequencing and microscopy, please get in touch :)
If you are detailed oriented, like southern california, HSV-1, sequencing and microscopy, please get in touch :)
Reposted by Sam Díaz-Muñoz (they / ella)
4/ #DYK during pregnancy🤰, cells are exchanged between mothers + offspring, & even twins? Awardee @elizostrow.bsky.social will study how microchimerism mediates genetic conflict and drive resource competition.
🍾 Congrats Dr. Ostrowski! @uwbothell.bsky.social
🙏 #HFScout @paulturnerlab.bsky.social
🍾 Congrats Dr. Ostrowski! @uwbothell.bsky.social
🙏 #HFScout @paulturnerlab.bsky.social
December 11, 2025 at 5:47 PM
4/ #DYK during pregnancy🤰, cells are exchanged between mothers + offspring, & even twins? Awardee @elizostrow.bsky.social will study how microchimerism mediates genetic conflict and drive resource competition.
🍾 Congrats Dr. Ostrowski! @uwbothell.bsky.social
🙏 #HFScout @paulturnerlab.bsky.social
🍾 Congrats Dr. Ostrowski! @uwbothell.bsky.social
🙏 #HFScout @paulturnerlab.bsky.social
PSA to aspiring graduate students: If you have a submitted or pre-printed publication, **please** list it on your CV, mention it in your research statement, and in the application. Don't leave out the one thing that can make your application automatically higher ranking! #GradSchool Pls RT
December 11, 2025 at 8:58 PM
PSA to aspiring graduate students: If you have a submitted or pre-printed publication, **please** list it on your CV, mention it in your research statement, and in the application. Don't leave out the one thing that can make your application automatically higher ranking! #GradSchool Pls RT
Reposted by Sam Díaz-Muñoz (they / ella)
It was great to write a brief commentary with @sociovirology.bsky.social on @nanamikubota.bsky.social and @vscooper.micropopbio.org's recent discovery of cheat-driven cycles in Pseudomonas (www.cell.com/current-biol... - amazing example of the tragedy of the commons!
🧪 #socialviruses #evosky
🧪 #socialviruses #evosky
Phage–bacteria dynamics: The tragedy of the commons at hyperspeed
A recent study found that apparently stable coexistence between a clinically important
pathogen, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and its integrated prophages can break down, setting
off an evolutionary cycle ...
www.cell.com
December 4, 2025 at 8:56 PM
It was great to write a brief commentary with @sociovirology.bsky.social on @nanamikubota.bsky.social and @vscooper.micropopbio.org's recent discovery of cheat-driven cycles in Pseudomonas (www.cell.com/current-biol... - amazing example of the tragedy of the commons!
🧪 #socialviruses #evosky
🧪 #socialviruses #evosky
Reposted by Sam Díaz-Muñoz (they / ella)
A wonderful commentary by @asherleeks.bsky.social and @sociovirology.bsky.social on our recent work with P. aeruginosa filamentous cheater miniphages!
@vscooper.micropopbio.org @shellyscrib.bsky.social
@vscooper.micropopbio.org @shellyscrib.bsky.social
It was great to write a brief commentary with @sociovirology.bsky.social on @nanamikubota.bsky.social and @vscooper.micropopbio.org's recent discovery of cheat-driven cycles in Pseudomonas (www.cell.com/current-biol... - amazing example of the tragedy of the commons!
🧪 #socialviruses #evosky
🧪 #socialviruses #evosky
Phage–bacteria dynamics: The tragedy of the commons at hyperspeed
A recent study found that apparently stable coexistence between a clinically important
pathogen, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and its integrated prophages can break down, setting
off an evolutionary cycle ...
www.cell.com
December 4, 2025 at 10:14 PM
A wonderful commentary by @asherleeks.bsky.social and @sociovirology.bsky.social on our recent work with P. aeruginosa filamentous cheater miniphages!
@vscooper.micropopbio.org @shellyscrib.bsky.social
@vscooper.micropopbio.org @shellyscrib.bsky.social
Reposted by Sam Díaz-Muñoz (they / ella)
A new approach to pandemic preparedness:
1️⃣ Stop preparing for pandemics
2️⃣ Rewrite history of the last major pandemic
3️⃣ Go to the gym
Simple - 🤷♂️.
www.city-journal.org/article/nih-...
1️⃣ Stop preparing for pandemics
2️⃣ Rewrite history of the last major pandemic
3️⃣ Go to the gym
Simple - 🤷♂️.
www.city-journal.org/article/nih-...
NIH Directors: The World Needs a New Pandemic Playbook
The old one failed to cope with Covid and may even have caused it.
www.city-journal.org
November 14, 2025 at 3:21 PM
A new approach to pandemic preparedness:
1️⃣ Stop preparing for pandemics
2️⃣ Rewrite history of the last major pandemic
3️⃣ Go to the gym
Simple - 🤷♂️.
www.city-journal.org/article/nih-...
1️⃣ Stop preparing for pandemics
2️⃣ Rewrite history of the last major pandemic
3️⃣ Go to the gym
Simple - 🤷♂️.
www.city-journal.org/article/nih-...
Yearly reminder for letters of recommendation: Double and triple check your language for gender bias!!
It is super easy to counter our unconscious bias. Check, be mindful, and use a calculator like this one: www.tomforth.co.uk/genderbias/
It is super easy to counter our unconscious bias. Check, be mindful, and use a calculator like this one: www.tomforth.co.uk/genderbias/
Gender Bias Calculator
www.tomforth.co.uk
November 14, 2025 at 10:14 PM
Yearly reminder for letters of recommendation: Double and triple check your language for gender bias!!
It is super easy to counter our unconscious bias. Check, be mindful, and use a calculator like this one: www.tomforth.co.uk/genderbias/
It is super easy to counter our unconscious bias. Check, be mindful, and use a calculator like this one: www.tomforth.co.uk/genderbias/
A very belated spooky season post from our lab! 🎃👻🕸️✨
November 12, 2025 at 5:22 PM
A very belated spooky season post from our lab! 🎃👻🕸️✨
Reposted by Sam Díaz-Muñoz (they / ella)
One more step backward, one more reminder that progress in academia is never linear. But take heart, familia. Nos quisieron enterrar, pero no sabían que éramos semillas.
www.insidehighered.com/news/faculty...
www.insidehighered.com/news/faculty...
UC to Stop Funding Systemwide Postdoc Program
Established in 1984 to encourage women and minority Ph.D.s to pursue academia, the program has attracted right-wing criticism for prioritizing diverse candidates.
www.insidehighered.com
November 6, 2025 at 5:07 PM
One more step backward, one more reminder that progress in academia is never linear. But take heart, familia. Nos quisieron enterrar, pero no sabían que éramos semillas.
www.insidehighered.com/news/faculty...
www.insidehighered.com/news/faculty...
Reposted by Sam Díaz-Muñoz (they / ella)
🧵Remember the preprint claiming SARS-CoV-2 has a "synthetic fingerprint"?
It said a restriction map was "extremely unlikely to have arisen by random evolution.”
I took its claims seriously.
The "synthetic fingerprint" hypothesis collapses. My new preprint explains why.
arxiv.org/abs/2510.23833
It said a restriction map was "extremely unlikely to have arisen by random evolution.”
I took its claims seriously.
The "synthetic fingerprint" hypothesis collapses. My new preprint explains why.
arxiv.org/abs/2510.23833
October 29, 2025 at 7:32 AM
🧵Remember the preprint claiming SARS-CoV-2 has a "synthetic fingerprint"?
It said a restriction map was "extremely unlikely to have arisen by random evolution.”
I took its claims seriously.
The "synthetic fingerprint" hypothesis collapses. My new preprint explains why.
arxiv.org/abs/2510.23833
It said a restriction map was "extremely unlikely to have arisen by random evolution.”
I took its claims seriously.
The "synthetic fingerprint" hypothesis collapses. My new preprint explains why.
arxiv.org/abs/2510.23833
Reposted by Sam Díaz-Muñoz (they / ella)
Come be my chair at The University of Arizona! We have great bike riding, hiking, and of course, science! arizona.csod.com/ux/ats/caree...
Department Head, Department of Immunobiology
Strategic LeadershipDevelop and execute a bold
vision for the Department of Immunobiology that advances understanding of
how immune and micr...
arizona.csod.com
October 21, 2025 at 3:42 PM
Come be my chair at The University of Arizona! We have great bike riding, hiking, and of course, science! arizona.csod.com/ux/ats/caree...
Wonderful and engaging presentation from #ASMicrobe by @jaycdoesid.bsky.social of @ucsandiego.bsky.social on important vaccine awareness work that is so needed in these days of disinformation. @asm.org
Change Clothes and Go: Viral Mutations and the Remix of Infection
YouTube video by American Society for Microbiology
www.youtube.com
October 21, 2025 at 4:10 PM
Wonderful and engaging presentation from #ASMicrobe by @jaycdoesid.bsky.social of @ucsandiego.bsky.social on important vaccine awareness work that is so needed in these days of disinformation. @asm.org
Reposted by Sam Díaz-Muñoz (they / ella)
Terrific writeup of our new paper led by @nanamikubota.bsky.social, thanks Pitt media!
www.medschool.pitt.edu/news/bacteri...
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
October 15, 2025 at 8:31 PM
Terrific writeup of our new paper led by @nanamikubota.bsky.social, thanks Pitt media!
www.medschool.pitt.edu/news/bacteri...
www.medschool.pitt.edu/news/bacteri...
Reposted by Sam Díaz-Muñoz (they / ella)
Reposted by Sam Díaz-Muñoz (they / ella)
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!
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...
@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
April 2, 2025 at 4:58 PM
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!
Reposted by Sam Díaz-Muñoz (they / ella)
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...
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...
@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
October 2, 2025 at 3:54 PM
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...
Reposted by Sam Díaz-Muñoz (they / ella)
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).
October 8, 2025 at 4:34 PM
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).
Reposted by Sam Díaz-Muñoz (they / ella)
Jane Goodall, ethologist and conservationist, has died. She was 91
October 1, 2025 at 6:02 PM
Jane Goodall, ethologist and conservationist, has died. She was 91
Reposted by Sam Díaz-Muñoz (they / ella)
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...
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...
October 1, 2025 at 2:56 PM
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...
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...
Reposted by Sam Díaz-Muñoz (they / ella)
🌐 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
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
October 1, 2025 at 2:04 PM
🌐 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
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
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
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
September 30, 2025 at 4:45 PM
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
Hoping for more research in this area. So much promising basic and applied science!
journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...
@asm.org
Reposted by Sam Díaz-Muñoz (they / ella)
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)
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)
July 10, 2025 at 7:31 PM
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)
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)
Reposted by Sam Díaz-Muñoz (they / ella)
#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...
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
July 1, 2025 at 12:56 AM
#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...
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...
Reposted by Sam Díaz-Muñoz (they / ella)
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.
There’s a lot of evidence to support my hypothesis that a potential H5N1 pandemic would be worse than COVID.
April 21, 2025 at 1:28 PM
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.
There’s a lot of evidence to support my hypothesis that a potential H5N1 pandemic would be worse than COVID.