Dave Baltrus 🦦
@surtlab.bsky.social
Professor at UArizona interested in genome rummaging, microbial evolution, and occasional tales about having backyard farm animals.
“I’m something of a scientist myself”
Baltrus(at)Arizona.edu
“I’m something of a scientist myself”
Baltrus(at)Arizona.edu
Reposted by Dave Baltrus 🦦
To put this in context, I was offered a teaching track job in 2023 that had a salary of $55,000.
It's impossible to overstate how horrendous this feels to most academics in the US, esp those working at state unis. Higher ed is busy slashing humanities programs allegedly b/c of a lack of popularity (tho they tend to make $$) while paying football coaches US$53 million not to work there
LSU terminates Brian Kelly without cause, clearing way for full buyout
www.nytimes.com
November 27, 2025 at 9:09 PM
To put this in context, I was offered a teaching track job in 2023 that had a salary of $55,000.
Reposted by Dave Baltrus 🦦
Two fully-funded PhD openings in my research group at the University of York.
If you’re excited about viromes, phage biology, Nanopore sequencing, soils and the odd bit of alpine or agricultural field sampling, we’d love to hear from you!
🌱🦠🏔️
tiny.cc/c4pv001
tiny.cc/e4pv001
If you’re excited about viromes, phage biology, Nanopore sequencing, soils and the odd bit of alpine or agricultural field sampling, we’d love to hear from you!
🌱🦠🏔️
tiny.cc/c4pv001
tiny.cc/e4pv001
A Farewell to Arms: The Trade-off Between Growth and Defence in Bacteria (York YBDTP Project) at University of York on FindAPhD.com
PhD Project - A Farewell to Arms: The Trade-off Between Growth and Defence in Bacteria (York YBDTP Project) at University of York, listed on FindAPhD.com
tiny.cc
November 27, 2025 at 5:57 PM
Two fully-funded PhD openings in my research group at the University of York.
If you’re excited about viromes, phage biology, Nanopore sequencing, soils and the odd bit of alpine or agricultural field sampling, we’d love to hear from you!
🌱🦠🏔️
tiny.cc/c4pv001
tiny.cc/e4pv001
If you’re excited about viromes, phage biology, Nanopore sequencing, soils and the odd bit of alpine or agricultural field sampling, we’d love to hear from you!
🌱🦠🏔️
tiny.cc/c4pv001
tiny.cc/e4pv001
Reposted by Dave Baltrus 🦦
It's Thanksgiving and I'm feeling generous so here's Busta Rhymes and the TMNT
November 27, 2025 at 5:38 PM
It's Thanksgiving and I'm feeling generous so here's Busta Rhymes and the TMNT
Reposted by Dave Baltrus 🦦
Begging PhD programs to agree on a common app with only letters of rec that writers upload once. These inane likert scales when students are applying to 15-20 programs is destroying my soul
November 27, 2025 at 5:35 PM
Begging PhD programs to agree on a common app with only letters of rec that writers upload once. These inane likert scales when students are applying to 15-20 programs is destroying my soul
Reposted by Dave Baltrus 🦦
They did it again! NYC subway Thanksgiving 2025, via @scootercaster.com!
November 27, 2025 at 4:19 PM
They did it again! NYC subway Thanksgiving 2025, via @scootercaster.com!
At first I was like “I’m not gonna pay 5 more dollars for plasmid extraction and sequencing in less than 24 hours”….but…it’s so much easier and it magically works way better than having undergrads prep and nanodrop
I am thankful for gene synthesis, hi-fi assembly, and inexpensive whole-plasmid sequencing.
November 27, 2025 at 4:31 PM
At first I was like “I’m not gonna pay 5 more dollars for plasmid extraction and sequencing in less than 24 hours”….but…it’s so much easier and it magically works way better than having undergrads prep and nanodrop
Reposted by Dave Baltrus 🦦
I am thankful for gene synthesis, hi-fi assembly, and inexpensive whole-plasmid sequencing.
November 27, 2025 at 4:26 PM
I am thankful for gene synthesis, hi-fi assembly, and inexpensive whole-plasmid sequencing.
Reposted by Dave Baltrus 🦦
thanksgiving is a time for people to come together, to celebrate the spirit of unity despite our differences, and to demonstrate that, here is busta rhymes performing "break ya neck" with raphael the ninja turtle
November 27, 2025 at 4:06 PM
thanksgiving is a time for people to come together, to celebrate the spirit of unity despite our differences, and to demonstrate that, here is busta rhymes performing "break ya neck" with raphael the ninja turtle
Reposted by Dave Baltrus 🦦
Good Morning from Saguaro National Park 🌵⛅️
November 27, 2025 at 4:19 PM
Good Morning from Saguaro National Park 🌵⛅️
Reposted by Dave Baltrus 🦦
Thats 216 biomedical PhD students for their whole degree, or 140 2 year R21 grants, or 30 5 year R01 grants, or one fired football coach...
FIFTY FOUR MILLION DOLLARS, to fire a football coach at a state university
SOURCE: LSU has given Brian Kelly formal written notice that he has been terminated without cause and that it will fulfill the obligation of his nearly $54 million buyout.
November 27, 2025 at 3:45 AM
Thats 216 biomedical PhD students for their whole degree, or 140 2 year R21 grants, or 30 5 year R01 grants, or one fired football coach...
Reposted by Dave Baltrus 🦦
Please pass along - We've extended the CAMBIUM fellowship deadline to December 15! Our NSF NRT supports new grad students to harness biodiversity big data to adapt to & mitigate climate change impacts. Great fit for evolutionary genomics, bioinformatics, ecology & more. cambium.arizona.edu 🧬🌐🌎
November 26, 2025 at 7:19 PM
Please pass along - We've extended the CAMBIUM fellowship deadline to December 15! Our NSF NRT supports new grad students to harness biodiversity big data to adapt to & mitigate climate change impacts. Great fit for evolutionary genomics, bioinformatics, ecology & more. cambium.arizona.edu 🧬🌐🌎
I can’t buy copy paper because my general accounts are frozen by university mandate, but BK gets 54 million not to work
FIFTY FOUR MILLION DOLLARS, to fire a football coach at a state university
SOURCE: LSU has given Brian Kelly formal written notice that he has been terminated without cause and that it will fulfill the obligation of his nearly $54 million buyout.
November 27, 2025 at 2:03 AM
I can’t buy copy paper because my general accounts are frozen by university mandate, but BK gets 54 million not to work
Reposted by Dave Baltrus 🦦
I found out some of these guys have to get a huge chunk of their buyouts within 30 days and my first thought was what university office is actually paying what they owe in 30 days?
November 27, 2025 at 1:59 AM
I found out some of these guys have to get a huge chunk of their buyouts within 30 days and my first thought was what university office is actually paying what they owe in 30 days?
FIFTY FOUR MILLION DOLLARS, to fire a football coach at a state university
SOURCE: LSU has given Brian Kelly formal written notice that he has been terminated without cause and that it will fulfill the obligation of his nearly $54 million buyout.
November 27, 2025 at 1:59 AM
FIFTY FOUR MILLION DOLLARS, to fire a football coach at a state university
“Codon homonyms”
Natural and artificial variations of the standard genetic code
Great new review by Julius Lukes & colleagues 👇
www.cell.com/current-biol...
Great new review by Julius Lukes & colleagues 👇
www.cell.com/current-biol...
November 27, 2025 at 12:21 AM
“Codon homonyms”
Reposted by Dave Baltrus 🦦
Natural and artificial variations of the standard genetic code
Great new review by Julius Lukes & colleagues 👇
www.cell.com/current-biol...
Great new review by Julius Lukes & colleagues 👇
www.cell.com/current-biol...
November 26, 2025 at 11:54 PM
Natural and artificial variations of the standard genetic code
Great new review by Julius Lukes & colleagues 👇
www.cell.com/current-biol...
Great new review by Julius Lukes & colleagues 👇
www.cell.com/current-biol...
Reposted by Dave Baltrus 🦦
![Comic. Panels up to the 10-year point are grayed out. New panels since the Ten Years comic, which chronicles the first ten years of PERSON 1's journey with cancer: (1) [two people in bed] PERSON 1 (woman): One more chapter? PERSON 2 (man): Don’t we both have to get up early? PERSON 1: Nnnnnggggh PERSON 2: Sure, good point. (2) [many people wearing masks, walking while looking at graphs on their phones] (3) [birds landing on people] PERSON 2 in beanie and scarf: Hah! They like *my* seeds best. PERSON 1 in scarf holding phone with a bird sitting on it: Wait, how do I take a picture of this one? (4) [two people rowing boats with tree landscape] (5) [Person 1 carries overflowing stack of things to Person 2 in bed] PERSON 1: I brought you honey lemon tea, more pillows, a cinnamon roll, Tylenol, another blanket, a– PERSON 2: It was just Appendicitis, I’m really– PERSON 1: *It is my turn to take care of you and I am going to do it right!* (6) [Two people in car] (7) [still in car) PERSON 1: Oh my god. PERSON 2: Oh my god. (8) [car driving] PERSON 1: Pull over! PERSON 2: I am! (9) [both people get out of car] (10) [Large colored panel of aurora borealis over water with both people looking on] (11) [Person 1 sits against tree while Person 2 lies on the ground] PERSON 1: Fifteen years. No sign of the cancer. (12) I *am* having some weird symptoms. Joint pain. Fatigue. I think I’m losing my close-up vision. PERSON 2: Yeah. Me too. (13) PERSON 2: I think we’re getting old. (14) PERSON 1: I guess that’s okay. PERSON 2: It’s all I wanted.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:cz73r7iyiqn26upot4jtjdhk/bafkreihwhjblp5lyiwp63ouar7ocfea7evmckytoeo7rkfuoo4gw5rnrra@jpeg)
November 26, 2025 at 10:32 PM
Reposted by Dave Baltrus 🦦
1) genuine life changing moment of my early 20s was realizing I actually didn't have to do this at all. tell the youths
2) I feel like there's a class discussion to be had around the stakes of this kind of decision though
2) I feel like there's a class discussion to be had around the stakes of this kind of decision though
So many men go through life like that. You can play poker because it's right-coded, you can't enjoy fruity alcoholic drinks because they're women-coded, you can't lick an ice cream cone because it's gay-coded. All day, every day, choosing and judging things based on coding for narrow norms.
November 26, 2025 at 3:43 PM
1) genuine life changing moment of my early 20s was realizing I actually didn't have to do this at all. tell the youths
2) I feel like there's a class discussion to be had around the stakes of this kind of decision though
2) I feel like there's a class discussion to be had around the stakes of this kind of decision though
Reposted by Dave Baltrus 🦦
Boris Shraiman points a physicist’s eye on biological quandaries news.ucsb.edu/2025/022264/... 🧪
Boris Shraiman points a physicist’s eye on biological quandaries
Boris Shraiman is awarded the American Physical Society’s Max Delbrück Prize in Biological Physics.
news.ucsb.edu
November 25, 2025 at 7:38 PM
Boris Shraiman points a physicist’s eye on biological quandaries news.ucsb.edu/2025/022264/... 🧪
UNC is speed running what UArizona did to put us in financial difficulties
The New UNC logo is right on target--fund football and starve academics and research. How many millions did we spend on the re-brand??
November 26, 2025 at 8:22 PM
UNC is speed running what UArizona did to put us in financial difficulties
Reposted by Dave Baltrus 🦦
Fun new preprint from the lab, headed up by two incredible undergraduate researchers: Using Experimental Evolution to Correct Mother-Daughter Separation Defects in Brewing Yeast. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Using Experimental Evolution to Correct Mother-Daughter Separation Defects in Brewing Yeast
The budding yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, is the workhorse of the brewing industry. Brewers have domesticated a vast array of different strains with traits that complement the beers they wish to br...
www.biorxiv.org
November 26, 2025 at 8:18 PM
Fun new preprint from the lab, headed up by two incredible undergraduate researchers: Using Experimental Evolution to Correct Mother-Daughter Separation Defects in Brewing Yeast. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
These people are VERY good at their jobs
This Monterey Mushroom facility has a strong union contract. The good union wages and benefits make for low overturn, which makes for extremely skilled workers like this.
November 26, 2025 at 6:52 PM
These people are VERY good at their jobs
Reposted by Dave Baltrus 🦦
As you’re preparing for your Thanksgiving meal, remember the skilled work it took to get that food to your grocery store.
Tell us your favorite Thanksgiving dish, and we can share some of what we know about the work behind the ingredients.
Tell us your favorite Thanksgiving dish, and we can share some of what we know about the work behind the ingredients.
November 26, 2025 at 6:03 PM
As you’re preparing for your Thanksgiving meal, remember the skilled work it took to get that food to your grocery store.
Tell us your favorite Thanksgiving dish, and we can share some of what we know about the work behind the ingredients.
Tell us your favorite Thanksgiving dish, and we can share some of what we know about the work behind the ingredients.
Reposted by Dave Baltrus 🦦
Kwun et al. test whether transformation is an efficient mechanism for deleting prophage despite sensitivity to the ssDNA imported by competence machinery, identifying key interfaces in the evolutionary arms race between prophage and their hosts.
🔗 doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msaf259
#evobio #molbio
🔗 doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msaf259
#evobio #molbio
Chromosomal Curing Drives an Arms Race Between Bacterial Transformation and Prophage
Abstract. Transformation occurs when bacteria import exogenous DNA via the competence machinery and integrate it into their genome through homologous recom
doi.org
November 26, 2025 at 5:42 PM
Kwun et al. test whether transformation is an efficient mechanism for deleting prophage despite sensitivity to the ssDNA imported by competence machinery, identifying key interfaces in the evolutionary arms race between prophage and their hosts.
🔗 doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msaf259
#evobio #molbio
🔗 doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msaf259
#evobio #molbio