Justin Blumenstiel
@bdelloid.bsky.social
Evolution, Genomics, Genetics, Epigenetics, Transposons, Small RNAs, Meiosis, Politics, Music, Kansas....AND DROSOPHILA!!!
Freaked out ribosome and DNA truther doing my own research.
"We are our own reviewers" - Alejandro Montenegro
Freaked out ribosome and DNA truther doing my own research.
"We are our own reviewers" - Alejandro Montenegro
Pinned
Reposted by Justin Blumenstiel
nature is healing, the average senator should think of the average rep as a pissant and the average house rep should go to sleep dreaming about tasting that senator’s blood
November 20, 2025 at 3:05 AM
nature is healing, the average senator should think of the average rep as a pissant and the average house rep should go to sleep dreaming about tasting that senator’s blood
Reposted by Justin Blumenstiel
we are returning to the state in which the framers intended for the legislature, in which the lower chamber and the upper chamber absolutely despise one another
The House has voted unanimously to repeal the provisions in the shutdown package which allow GOP Senators to sue the federal government and get as much as $1 million in damages - because the feds looked at their phone records in the Jan. 6 investigation.
November 20, 2025 at 2:54 AM
we are returning to the state in which the framers intended for the legislature, in which the lower chamber and the upper chamber absolutely despise one another
Reposted by Justin Blumenstiel
UC San Diego is discovering shocking grade inflation at many Cali high schools, to the point that a large minority of kids with a 4.0 average in math are at 6th grade or below in mathematical ability.
In response, they’re resorting to semi-blacklisting schools with especially bad grade inflation.
In response, they’re resorting to semi-blacklisting schools with especially bad grade inflation.
senate.ucsd.edu
November 19, 2025 at 5:59 PM
UC San Diego is discovering shocking grade inflation at many Cali high schools, to the point that a large minority of kids with a 4.0 average in math are at 6th grade or below in mathematical ability.
In response, they’re resorting to semi-blacklisting schools with especially bad grade inflation.
In response, they’re resorting to semi-blacklisting schools with especially bad grade inflation.
Reposted by Justin Blumenstiel
WE ARE RECRUITING PHD STUDENTS!!!
We have three(!) funded PhD studentships advertising presently. If any of these are of interest, please reach out! Thread below with links to more information on each project.
#Drosophila #Evolution #Immunity #SelfishGene #Aphids
Thread with links below 🧵 1/4
We have three(!) funded PhD studentships advertising presently. If any of these are of interest, please reach out! Thread below with links to more information on each project.
#Drosophila #Evolution #Immunity #SelfishGene #Aphids
Thread with links below 🧵 1/4
November 15, 2025 at 3:35 PM
WE ARE RECRUITING PHD STUDENTS!!!
We have three(!) funded PhD studentships advertising presently. If any of these are of interest, please reach out! Thread below with links to more information on each project.
#Drosophila #Evolution #Immunity #SelfishGene #Aphids
Thread with links below 🧵 1/4
We have three(!) funded PhD studentships advertising presently. If any of these are of interest, please reach out! Thread below with links to more information on each project.
#Drosophila #Evolution #Immunity #SelfishGene #Aphids
Thread with links below 🧵 1/4
Reposted by Justin Blumenstiel
I’ve released a tool to sketch and edit phylogenetic trees!
yawak.jp/PhyloWeaver/
Load a Newick file and intuitively add/remove/resize branches.
Useful for quick conceptual trees, extracting subtrees, or turning ideas into Newick.
yawak.jp/PhyloWeaver/
Load a Newick file and intuitively add/remove/resize branches.
Useful for quick conceptual trees, extracting subtrees, or turning ideas into Newick.
PhyloWeaver – Interactive phylogenetic tree editor
Edit and visualize phylogenetic trees directly in your browser. PhyloWeaver lets you interactively rearrange tree topologies and export high-quality figures for publications and presentations.
yawak.jp
November 18, 2025 at 1:59 AM
I’ve released a tool to sketch and edit phylogenetic trees!
yawak.jp/PhyloWeaver/
Load a Newick file and intuitively add/remove/resize branches.
Useful for quick conceptual trees, extracting subtrees, or turning ideas into Newick.
yawak.jp/PhyloWeaver/
Load a Newick file and intuitively add/remove/resize branches.
Useful for quick conceptual trees, extracting subtrees, or turning ideas into Newick.
Reposted by Justin Blumenstiel
Things the microbiota was supposed to cure but did not: obesity, diabetes, autism, depression, IBS, cancer immunotherapy failure. FMT or probiotics did not deliver. The whole thing rested on the meaningless idea of “dysbiosis”.
November 19, 2025 at 3:03 PM
Things the microbiota was supposed to cure but did not: obesity, diabetes, autism, depression, IBS, cancer immunotherapy failure. FMT or probiotics did not deliver. The whole thing rested on the meaningless idea of “dysbiosis”.
November 19, 2025 at 5:20 PM
Reposted by Justin Blumenstiel
Happy 40th to this debut masterpiece of poptastic noise. My UK OP I picked up while an exchange student at UC Swansea (now Swansea U), fall 1985. I failed to see them live while I was there. Twice now in the last decade though. Gonna play my 40th anniversary box later today. #johnsvinyl #nowplaying
November 18, 2025 at 4:44 PM
Happy 40th to this debut masterpiece of poptastic noise. My UK OP I picked up while an exchange student at UC Swansea (now Swansea U), fall 1985. I failed to see them live while I was there. Twice now in the last decade though. Gonna play my 40th anniversary box later today. #johnsvinyl #nowplaying
Reposted by Justin Blumenstiel
"Psychocandy", the debut album from #TheJesusAndMaryChain is forty years old today!
November 18, 2025 at 11:52 AM
"Psychocandy", the debut album from #TheJesusAndMaryChain is forty years old today!
Some truly fantastic opportunities here!
HAPPENING TODAY AT 5:00PM ET! Sign up for the Basic Biomedical Sciences Umbrella Pathway Admissions Workshop on Tues, Nov 18, 2025: direc.to/nA7S
Attend our admissions workshop to get your questions answered ahead of the Dec 1, 2025 deadline for graduate applications.
Attend our admissions workshop to get your questions answered ahead of the Dec 1, 2025 deadline for graduate applications.
November 18, 2025 at 7:03 PM
Some truly fantastic opportunities here!
Reposted by Justin Blumenstiel
40 years ago today our debut album Psychocandy was released. Thank you all for buying it over the years. We ran a competition to win Third Man Records test pressing of Psychocandy. Congrats to life-long fan Chris who won a copy.
40th Anniversary reissues themarychain.com/home
40th Anniversary reissues themarychain.com/home
November 18, 2025 at 11:44 AM
40 years ago today our debut album Psychocandy was released. Thank you all for buying it over the years. We ran a competition to win Third Man Records test pressing of Psychocandy. Congrats to life-long fan Chris who won a copy.
40th Anniversary reissues themarychain.com/home
40th Anniversary reissues themarychain.com/home
Reposted by Justin Blumenstiel
shot: www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...
chaser: "Mr. Summers added that he would continue teaching as an economics professor at Harvard"
chaser: "Mr. Summers added that he would continue teaching as an economics professor at Harvard"
Larry Summers, ‘Ashamed’ Over Epstein Ties, Steps Back From Public Commitments
www.nytimes.com
November 18, 2025 at 3:48 PM
shot: www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...
chaser: "Mr. Summers added that he would continue teaching as an economics professor at Harvard"
chaser: "Mr. Summers added that he would continue teaching as an economics professor at Harvard"
Reposted by Justin Blumenstiel
“While the AI industry claims its models can “think,” “reason,” and “learn,” their supposed achievements rest on marketing hype and stolen intellectual labor. In reality, AI erodes academic freedom, weakens critical reading, and subordinates the pursuit of knowledge to corporate interests.”
AI Is Hollowing Out Higher Education
Olivia Guest & Iris van Rooij urge teachers and scholars to reject tools that commodify learning, deskill students, and promote illiteracy.
www.project-syndicate.org
November 15, 2025 at 5:24 PM
“While the AI industry claims its models can “think,” “reason,” and “learn,” their supposed achievements rest on marketing hype and stolen intellectual labor. In reality, AI erodes academic freedom, weakens critical reading, and subordinates the pursuit of knowledge to corporate interests.”
Does the double jeopardy clause of the constitution apply to a grand jury? In other words, if an indictment is tossed, can a prosecutor bring a grand jury together to get another indictment?
November 17, 2025 at 7:38 PM
Does the double jeopardy clause of the constitution apply to a grand jury? In other words, if an indictment is tossed, can a prosecutor bring a grand jury together to get another indictment?
Reposted by Justin Blumenstiel
A bittersweet acceptance: Between a manuscript and grief
Stefanie Williams @sillysciencelady.bsky.social shares the story behind her paper on the synaptonemal complex, including a tribute to her supervisor Scott Hawley, who passed away while Stefanie was completing the research.
Stefanie Williams @sillysciencelady.bsky.social shares the story behind her paper on the synaptonemal complex, including a tribute to her supervisor Scott Hawley, who passed away while Stefanie was completing the research.
A bittersweet acceptance: Between a manuscript and grief - the Node
I was so excited when I received notification that my first first-author research paper was accepted. My excitement quickly turned into sadness with the realization that my co-PI was not seeing our vi...
thenode.biologists.com
November 17, 2025 at 9:58 AM
A bittersweet acceptance: Between a manuscript and grief
Stefanie Williams @sillysciencelady.bsky.social shares the story behind her paper on the synaptonemal complex, including a tribute to her supervisor Scott Hawley, who passed away while Stefanie was completing the research.
Stefanie Williams @sillysciencelady.bsky.social shares the story behind her paper on the synaptonemal complex, including a tribute to her supervisor Scott Hawley, who passed away while Stefanie was completing the research.
Reposted by Justin Blumenstiel
Reposted by Justin Blumenstiel
I updated collegetables.info with latest IPEDS data, also added visualizations on graduation rates and "demographic cliff."
Check also the naive Bayesian #rstats collegetables.info/predict.html page that may help students find good options.
All free, open source, etc.
Check also the naive Bayesian #rstats collegetables.info/predict.html page that may help students find good options.
All free, open source, etc.
November 16, 2025 at 3:54 PM
I updated collegetables.info with latest IPEDS data, also added visualizations on graduation rates and "demographic cliff."
Check also the naive Bayesian #rstats collegetables.info/predict.html page that may help students find good options.
All free, open source, etc.
Check also the naive Bayesian #rstats collegetables.info/predict.html page that may help students find good options.
All free, open source, etc.
Reposted by Justin Blumenstiel
Please consider submitting a paper!
Deadline: 28th February 2026
Deadline: 28th February 2026
📣 CALL FOR PAPERS!!
New Special Issue on "Foundations of Internal Conflicts":
academic.oup.com/jeb/pages/ca...
#internalconflict #selfishelements #meioticdrive #imprintedgenes #reproductiveparasitism
New Special Issue on "Foundations of Internal Conflicts":
academic.oup.com/jeb/pages/ca...
#internalconflict #selfishelements #meioticdrive #imprintedgenes #reproductiveparasitism
November 17, 2025 at 1:58 PM
Please consider submitting a paper!
Deadline: 28th February 2026
Deadline: 28th February 2026
Reposted by Justin Blumenstiel
I am looking to hire a postdoc interested in combining genetics and evolution to understand why telomeres vary so much in plants. My group has been developing Mimulus a genetic model for studying plant telomeres and we have really cool research brewing. Please check ad for detail. Deadline is 12/31.
November 16, 2025 at 8:29 PM
I am looking to hire a postdoc interested in combining genetics and evolution to understand why telomeres vary so much in plants. My group has been developing Mimulus a genetic model for studying plant telomeres and we have really cool research brewing. Please check ad for detail. Deadline is 12/31.
Reposted by Justin Blumenstiel
Riiiiight... but seriously, who REALLY is Bubba??? 😭
November 17, 2025 at 1:56 AM
Riiiiight... but seriously, who REALLY is Bubba??? 😭
Reposted by Justin Blumenstiel
Awesome paper from Kathy Collins' lab
Different repair pathways support intact or truncated insertions by R2 retrotransposon protein | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Different repair pathways support intact or truncated insertions by R2 retrotransposon protein | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Different repair pathways support intact or truncated insertions by R2 retrotransposon protein
Non-LTR retrotransposon proteins copy their RNA template into a genome via coordinated nicking and reverse transcriptase activities of target-primed reverse transcription. Mechanisms by which the firs...
www.science.org
November 13, 2025 at 8:05 PM
Awesome paper from Kathy Collins' lab
Different repair pathways support intact or truncated insertions by R2 retrotransposon protein | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Different repair pathways support intact or truncated insertions by R2 retrotransposon protein | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Reposted by Justin Blumenstiel
With Watson's death can we stop teaching his simplified version of the Central Dogma (DNA-RNA-protein) & instead teach what Crick actually proposed? It promotes understanding & critical thinking. wellcomecollection.org/works/xmscu3...
November 13, 2025 at 11:13 PM
With Watson's death can we stop teaching his simplified version of the Central Dogma (DNA-RNA-protein) & instead teach what Crick actually proposed? It promotes understanding & critical thinking. wellcomecollection.org/works/xmscu3...
I mean, I'll take the -5 now. But GenX, WTF !!
November 13, 2025 at 7:24 PM
I mean, I'll take the -5 now. But GenX, WTF !!
Reposted by Justin Blumenstiel
Wonderful talks and discussion from @jenncoughlan.bsky.social
and @ecmoore.bsky.social y.social!
If you missed it, the recording will soon be available at internalconflictsstn.wordpress.com/seminars/
Pencil in December 16 for the last seminar of the year.
and @ecmoore.bsky.social y.social!
If you missed it, the recording will soon be available at internalconflictsstn.wordpress.com/seminars/
Pencil in December 16 for the last seminar of the year.
November 13, 2025 at 4:43 PM
Wonderful talks and discussion from @jenncoughlan.bsky.social
and @ecmoore.bsky.social y.social!
If you missed it, the recording will soon be available at internalconflictsstn.wordpress.com/seminars/
Pencil in December 16 for the last seminar of the year.
and @ecmoore.bsky.social y.social!
If you missed it, the recording will soon be available at internalconflictsstn.wordpress.com/seminars/
Pencil in December 16 for the last seminar of the year.
Reposted by Justin Blumenstiel
Today's #vinyl selection: #Sade #LoversRock
25 years ago today, Sade released their 5th album.
#ByYourSide #KingOfSorrow #SomebodyAlreadyBrokeMyHeart #Immigrant #Vinylsky #NowSpinning #MusicSky #NEOVC #RecordSky #VinylCommunity #SkyMusic #MusicAlmanac
25 years ago today, Sade released their 5th album.
#ByYourSide #KingOfSorrow #SomebodyAlreadyBrokeMyHeart #Immigrant #Vinylsky #NowSpinning #MusicSky #NEOVC #RecordSky #VinylCommunity #SkyMusic #MusicAlmanac
November 13, 2025 at 3:28 PM
Today's #vinyl selection: #Sade #LoversRock
25 years ago today, Sade released their 5th album.
#ByYourSide #KingOfSorrow #SomebodyAlreadyBrokeMyHeart #Immigrant #Vinylsky #NowSpinning #MusicSky #NEOVC #RecordSky #VinylCommunity #SkyMusic #MusicAlmanac
25 years ago today, Sade released their 5th album.
#ByYourSide #KingOfSorrow #SomebodyAlreadyBrokeMyHeart #Immigrant #Vinylsky #NowSpinning #MusicSky #NEOVC #RecordSky #VinylCommunity #SkyMusic #MusicAlmanac