Ran Blekhman
@blekhman.bsky.social
Professor of Medicine at the University of Chicago. Decoding the human microbiome. http://BlekhmanLab.org
Amazing journal cover for the new Trends In Microbiology special issue on geographic diversity in microbiology
www.cell.com/trends/micro...
www.cell.com/trends/micro...
November 12, 2025 at 2:10 AM
Amazing journal cover for the new Trends In Microbiology special issue on geographic diversity in microbiology
www.cell.com/trends/micro...
www.cell.com/trends/micro...
This project was brilliantly led by Sabrina Arif, and is a close collaboration with @fluca2406.bsky.social's lab, and the Global Microbiome Conservancy (Mathieu Groussin and Mathilde Poyet)
November 5, 2025 at 2:04 AM
This project was brilliantly led by Sabrina Arif, and is a close collaboration with @fluca2406.bsky.social's lab, and the Global Microbiome Conservancy (Mathieu Groussin and Mathilde Poyet)
3. Specific microbes like Bifidobacterium adolescentis (influenced by dairy intake) directly affected metabolic gene expression.
November 5, 2025 at 2:04 AM
3. Specific microbes like Bifidobacterium adolescentis (influenced by dairy intake) directly affected metabolic gene expression.
2. High-diversity microbiomes elicited a stronger host transcriptional response, while low-diversity microbiomes triggered epithelial restructuring & glycolysis – a stress response that characterizes several chronic inflammatory diseases.
November 5, 2025 at 2:04 AM
2. High-diversity microbiomes elicited a stronger host transcriptional response, while low-diversity microbiomes triggered epithelial restructuring & glycolysis – a stress response that characterizes several chronic inflammatory diseases.
1. Urban microbiomes triggered stronger host immune responses, including TNF signaling and bacterial antigen recognition.
November 5, 2025 at 2:04 AM
1. Urban microbiomes triggered stronger host immune responses, including TNF signaling and bacterial antigen recognition.
We used a cell culture-based experimental system, treating colonic epithelial cells with live gut microbiomes from rural and urban individuals from different populations (Ghana, Nigeria, Rwanda, Malaysia, US). We found super interesting results👇
November 5, 2025 at 2:04 AM
We used a cell culture-based experimental system, treating colonic epithelial cells with live gut microbiomes from rural and urban individuals from different populations (Ghana, Nigeria, Rwanda, Malaysia, US). We found super interesting results👇
🧬 🦠 🏙️
Urban vs rural lifestyles create dramatically different gut microbiomes. But how do these different gut microbiomes affect the host?
Excited to share our new paper: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Urban vs rural lifestyles create dramatically different gut microbiomes. But how do these different gut microbiomes affect the host?
Excited to share our new paper: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
November 5, 2025 at 2:04 AM
🧬 🦠 🏙️
Urban vs rural lifestyles create dramatically different gut microbiomes. But how do these different gut microbiomes affect the host?
Excited to share our new paper: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Urban vs rural lifestyles create dramatically different gut microbiomes. But how do these different gut microbiomes affect the host?
Excited to share our new paper: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Indiana Dunes National Park, yesterday
November 2, 2025 at 7:52 PM
Indiana Dunes National Park, yesterday
Never seen our campus like this before. Like every single tree decided to turn red at the same moment
October 30, 2025 at 11:37 PM
Never seen our campus like this before. Like every single tree decided to turn red at the same moment
So funny that this is still the top search term for biorxiv. Like asking what is the impact factor of pubmed. Or your local library.
October 17, 2025 at 3:02 PM
So funny that this is still the top search term for biorxiv. Like asking what is the impact factor of pubmed. Or your local library.
Night heron, spotted at the Garden of the Phoenix
September 28, 2025 at 4:00 PM
Night heron, spotted at the Garden of the Phoenix
Garden of the Phoenix in Hyde Park is a gem
September 14, 2025 at 10:20 PM
Garden of the Phoenix in Hyde Park is a gem
Update from Chicago. The situation is dire. Complete anarchy. Please send the national guard asap to put an end to this lawlessness
August 31, 2025 at 8:43 PM
Update from Chicago. The situation is dire. Complete anarchy. Please send the national guard asap to put an end to this lawlessness
This is not just HHMI. All Chan Zuckerberg Initiative funding calls are CLOSED. The Gates Foundation has no Grand Challenges funding opportunities. I've never seen anything like this. Private foundations have just decided to stop supporting biomedical research.
August 9, 2025 at 4:50 PM
This is not just HHMI. All Chan Zuckerberg Initiative funding calls are CLOSED. The Gates Foundation has no Grand Challenges funding opportunities. I've never seen anything like this. Private foundations have just decided to stop supporting biomedical research.
Good night from Chicago
July 23, 2025 at 2:39 AM
Good night from Chicago
New paper that looked at 15 million biomedical abstracts and found specific words that abruptly increased in frequency in 2024, likely due to the authors using LLMs.
Take home message: don't use the word "Delve"
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Take home message: don't use the word "Delve"
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
July 3, 2025 at 6:52 PM
New paper that looked at 15 million biomedical abstracts and found specific words that abruptly increased in frequency in 2024, likely due to the authors using LLMs.
Take home message: don't use the word "Delve"
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Take home message: don't use the word "Delve"
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
In Cave Point, Wisconsin
June 27, 2025 at 9:47 PM
In Cave Point, Wisconsin
Sending some peace and quiet, from the rocky shores of Lake Michigan
June 27, 2025 at 9:41 PM
Sending some peace and quiet, from the rocky shores of Lake Michigan
📣 Happy to share our review on host-microbiome genomics!
We synthesize the growing field exploring interactions between human genetics and the microbiome, building a roadmap for mapping the dialogue between our genes and microbes
Out now in Nature Reviews Genetics👇
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
We synthesize the growing field exploring interactions between human genetics and the microbiome, building a roadmap for mapping the dialogue between our genes and microbes
Out now in Nature Reviews Genetics👇
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
June 4, 2025 at 11:02 PM
📣 Happy to share our review on host-microbiome genomics!
We synthesize the growing field exploring interactions between human genetics and the microbiome, building a roadmap for mapping the dialogue between our genes and microbes
Out now in Nature Reviews Genetics👇
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
We synthesize the growing field exploring interactions between human genetics and the microbiome, building a roadmap for mapping the dialogue between our genes and microbes
Out now in Nature Reviews Genetics👇
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Amazing. The authors found a gene deletion responsible for orange color in domestic cats. But that was not enough -- they then proceeded to create the best graphical abstract ever (not joking)
www.cell.com/current-biol...
www.cell.com/current-biol...
May 20, 2025 at 10:38 PM
Amazing. The authors found a gene deletion responsible for orange color in domestic cats. But that was not enough -- they then proceeded to create the best graphical abstract ever (not joking)
www.cell.com/current-biol...
www.cell.com/current-biol...
Spring evening, Hyde Park, Chicago
May 7, 2025 at 2:04 AM
Spring evening, Hyde Park, Chicago
We'll probably see a handful of high profile scientists making a publicized move to Europe, but this won't really change the big picture.
And it can't -- the NIH budget is so much larger than any other funder, there is no initiative that can realistically replace it
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
And it can't -- the NIH budget is so much larger than any other funder, there is no initiative that can realistically replace it
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
May 5, 2025 at 2:29 PM
We'll probably see a handful of high profile scientists making a publicized move to Europe, but this won't really change the big picture.
And it can't -- the NIH budget is so much larger than any other funder, there is no initiative that can realistically replace it
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
And it can't -- the NIH budget is so much larger than any other funder, there is no initiative that can realistically replace it
www.nature.com/articles/d41...