Kaçar Lab at UW-Madison
@kacarlab.bsky.social
Past, Present and Future of Life
Here and Elsewhere
PI: Betül Kaçar
Account managed by lab members.
✨
kacarlab.org
Here and Elsewhere
PI: Betül Kaçar
Account managed by lab members.
✨
kacarlab.org
Pave the way for the new doctor in the house!
Huge congrats to "Dr. Evrim Fer", who absolutely crushed her PhD defense today! 🥳
We’re so proud of you and can’t wait to see where your next chapter takes you. Way to go!👏✨
#PhDDefense #Science @uwmadisonmdtp.bsky.social @uwmadscience.bsky.social
Huge congrats to "Dr. Evrim Fer", who absolutely crushed her PhD defense today! 🥳
We’re so proud of you and can’t wait to see where your next chapter takes you. Way to go!👏✨
#PhDDefense #Science @uwmadisonmdtp.bsky.social @uwmadscience.bsky.social
October 15, 2025 at 10:08 PM
Pave the way for the new doctor in the house!
Huge congrats to "Dr. Evrim Fer", who absolutely crushed her PhD defense today! 🥳
We’re so proud of you and can’t wait to see where your next chapter takes you. Way to go!👏✨
#PhDDefense #Science @uwmadisonmdtp.bsky.social @uwmadscience.bsky.social
Huge congrats to "Dr. Evrim Fer", who absolutely crushed her PhD defense today! 🥳
We’re so proud of you and can’t wait to see where your next chapter takes you. Way to go!👏✨
#PhDDefense #Science @uwmadisonmdtp.bsky.social @uwmadscience.bsky.social
Hola from Spain! 🇪🇸
Excited to invite you to our session at #ESEB25:
“The Future Meets the Beginning: Synthetic Biology, Evolution, and the Origin of Life”
🗓 Monday 18
⏰ 2PM
📍 Room 131
Chairs: @brunocuevaszuviria.bsky.social, Evrim Fer & Katsumi Hagino.
Can’t wait to see you!
Excited to invite you to our session at #ESEB25:
“The Future Meets the Beginning: Synthetic Biology, Evolution, and the Origin of Life”
🗓 Monday 18
⏰ 2PM
📍 Room 131
Chairs: @brunocuevaszuviria.bsky.social, Evrim Fer & Katsumi Hagino.
Can’t wait to see you!
August 17, 2025 at 5:05 PM
Hola from Spain! 🇪🇸
Excited to invite you to our session at #ESEB25:
“The Future Meets the Beginning: Synthetic Biology, Evolution, and the Origin of Life”
🗓 Monday 18
⏰ 2PM
📍 Room 131
Chairs: @brunocuevaszuviria.bsky.social, Evrim Fer & Katsumi Hagino.
Can’t wait to see you!
Excited to invite you to our session at #ESEB25:
“The Future Meets the Beginning: Synthetic Biology, Evolution, and the Origin of Life”
🗓 Monday 18
⏰ 2PM
📍 Room 131
Chairs: @brunocuevaszuviria.bsky.social, Evrim Fer & Katsumi Hagino.
Can’t wait to see you!
Lab members had a blast at the @proteinsociety.bsky.social annual meeting in San Francisco! 🎉 Huge congrats to grad students Evrim Fer and Kaustubh Amritkar for receiving travel awards, and to Kaustubh for also taking home a poster award 🏆 (shown here with our own Amanda Garcia).👏👏
August 13, 2025 at 7:45 PM
Lab members had a blast at the @proteinsociety.bsky.social annual meeting in San Francisco! 🎉 Huge congrats to grad students Evrim Fer and Kaustubh Amritkar for receiving travel awards, and to Kaustubh for also taking home a poster award 🏆 (shown here with our own Amanda Garcia).👏👏
🎉 Congratulations to Evrim Fer for receiving a Protein Science Graduate Award to present this paper at the Protein Society meeting in San Francisco! 👏 What a recognition for outstanding science! Go, Evrim! @proteinsociety.bsky.social @uwmadisonmdtp.bsky.social
July 1, 2025 at 9:26 PM
🎉 Congratulations to Evrim Fer for receiving a Protein Science Graduate Award to present this paper at the Protein Society meeting in San Francisco! 👏 What a recognition for outstanding science! Go, Evrim! @proteinsociety.bsky.social @uwmadisonmdtp.bsky.social
🎉 Huge congrats to Kaustubh Amritkar for winning one of the Best Poster Awards at the Protein Society 2025 meeting in San Francisco! 🏆👏 Incredible work and well deserved! #ScienceWins @uwmadscience.bsky.social @proteinsociety.bsky.social
July 1, 2025 at 9:21 PM
🎉 Huge congrats to Kaustubh Amritkar for winning one of the Best Poster Awards at the Protein Society 2025 meeting in San Francisco! 🏆👏 Incredible work and well deserved! #ScienceWins @uwmadscience.bsky.social @proteinsociety.bsky.social
A day to remember: #PBS visited our lab to film a documentary on life's history. We explored everything, microbes, ancient rocks and engineered plants & more! So grateful and lucky to share what we learn and love. Huge thanks to @uwbact.bsky.social & @uwmadison.bsky.social community for the support!
June 19, 2025 at 3:37 PM
A day to remember: #PBS visited our lab to film a documentary on life's history. We explored everything, microbes, ancient rocks and engineered plants & more! So grateful and lucky to share what we learn and love. Huge thanks to @uwbact.bsky.social & @uwmadison.bsky.social community for the support!
🚨New preprint!
Origins of life research is fragmented across disciplines. We built #ChemOrigins, a community curated, searchable database of experimental prebiotic chemistry.
Read: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
➡️ chemorigins.bact.wisc.edu
For feedback, contact: @brunocuevaszuviria.bsky.social
Origins of life research is fragmented across disciplines. We built #ChemOrigins, a community curated, searchable database of experimental prebiotic chemistry.
Read: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
➡️ chemorigins.bact.wisc.edu
For feedback, contact: @brunocuevaszuviria.bsky.social
June 17, 2025 at 12:55 PM
🚨New preprint!
Origins of life research is fragmented across disciplines. We built #ChemOrigins, a community curated, searchable database of experimental prebiotic chemistry.
Read: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
➡️ chemorigins.bact.wisc.edu
For feedback, contact: @brunocuevaszuviria.bsky.social
Origins of life research is fragmented across disciplines. We built #ChemOrigins, a community curated, searchable database of experimental prebiotic chemistry.
Read: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
➡️ chemorigins.bact.wisc.edu
For feedback, contact: @brunocuevaszuviria.bsky.social
Accomplishment of the week! Let's go!!! @hollyrucker.bsky.social
June 13, 2025 at 9:59 PM
Accomplishment of the week! Let's go!!! @hollyrucker.bsky.social
🚀 At #BreakthroughDiscuss2025 in Oxford, we explored "Life As We Don't Yet Know It".
Watch Betul's lecture on how rebuilding ancient biosignatures and biological history can guide the search for extraterrestrial life. 🌌🔬
www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHVV...
Watch Betul's lecture on how rebuilding ancient biosignatures and biological history can guide the search for extraterrestrial life. 🌌🔬
www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHVV...
June 5, 2025 at 3:21 PM
🚀 At #BreakthroughDiscuss2025 in Oxford, we explored "Life As We Don't Yet Know It".
Watch Betul's lecture on how rebuilding ancient biosignatures and biological history can guide the search for extraterrestrial life. 🌌🔬
www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHVV...
Watch Betul's lecture on how rebuilding ancient biosignatures and biological history can guide the search for extraterrestrial life. 🌌🔬
www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHVV...
New preprint: eukaryotic origins! 🥁
We propose that iron -not oxygen- may have delayed the rise of complex life. Our model reframes the “oxygen delay” puzzle: the gap between atmospheric O2 and early eukaryotic fossils may reflect iron-mediated stress, not for O2:
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
We propose that iron -not oxygen- may have delayed the rise of complex life. Our model reframes the “oxygen delay” puzzle: the gap between atmospheric O2 and early eukaryotic fossils may reflect iron-mediated stress, not for O2:
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
June 2, 2025 at 6:19 PM
New preprint: eukaryotic origins! 🥁
We propose that iron -not oxygen- may have delayed the rise of complex life. Our model reframes the “oxygen delay” puzzle: the gap between atmospheric O2 and early eukaryotic fossils may reflect iron-mediated stress, not for O2:
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
We propose that iron -not oxygen- may have delayed the rise of complex life. Our model reframes the “oxygen delay” puzzle: the gap between atmospheric O2 and early eukaryotic fossils may reflect iron-mediated stress, not for O2:
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Wonderful to have former PhD student Katie McGrath visit us in Madison today! Katie is now a scientist at Roche. ✨ It's always a joy to see you Katie! We miss you and are so proud of all you're doing. Thanks for visiting us! 👩🔬✨ #AlumniVisit #WomenInSTEM
June 2, 2025 at 6:10 PM
Wonderful to have former PhD student Katie McGrath visit us in Madison today! Katie is now a scientist at Roche. ✨ It's always a joy to see you Katie! We miss you and are so proud of all you're doing. Thanks for visiting us! 👩🔬✨ #AlumniVisit #WomenInSTEM
🌟 Huge congrats to Holly Rucker for winning Best Lightning Talk at the 2025 Geobiology Society Meeting! Woohoo! ⚡️ #NailedIt @hollyrucker.bsky.social @uwbact.bsky.social @uwmadscience.bsky.social
May 22, 2025 at 12:03 PM
🌟 Huge congrats to Holly Rucker for winning Best Lightning Talk at the 2025 Geobiology Society Meeting! Woohoo! ⚡️ #NailedIt @hollyrucker.bsky.social @uwbact.bsky.social @uwmadscience.bsky.social
Aya Klos delivered apresentation on her latest research findings at the Banff Geobiology Conference! Go Aya!!! 💪
Preprint link: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Preprint link: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
May 21, 2025 at 4:09 PM
Aya Klos delivered apresentation on her latest research findings at the Banff Geobiology Conference! Go Aya!!! 💪
Preprint link: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Preprint link: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Excited to share that our lab members Aya Klos, Holly Rucker @hollyrucker.bsky.social and Zach Adam will be presenting their work at the Banff Geobiology Meeting next week!
✅ Ancient enzymes
✅ Eukaryotic origins
✅ Geobiological deep time
See you there, eh? 🇨🇦
cms.eas.ualberta.ca/geobiology20...
✅ Ancient enzymes
✅ Eukaryotic origins
✅ Geobiological deep time
See you there, eh? 🇨🇦
cms.eas.ualberta.ca/geobiology20...
May 16, 2025 at 10:24 PM
Excited to share that our lab members Aya Klos, Holly Rucker @hollyrucker.bsky.social and Zach Adam will be presenting their work at the Banff Geobiology Meeting next week!
✅ Ancient enzymes
✅ Eukaryotic origins
✅ Geobiological deep time
See you there, eh? 🇨🇦
cms.eas.ualberta.ca/geobiology20...
✅ Ancient enzymes
✅ Eukaryotic origins
✅ Geobiological deep time
See you there, eh? 🇨🇦
cms.eas.ualberta.ca/geobiology20...
Hats off (literally) to grad students Evrim Fer AND Kaustubh Amritkar for winning the @proteinsociety.bsky.social travel award!
From translation machinery (Evrim) to Rubisco (Kaustubh), they’re presenting the future of molecular evolution (pictured here in Mexico!) @uwbact.bsky.social 🎉🎉
From translation machinery (Evrim) to Rubisco (Kaustubh), they’re presenting the future of molecular evolution (pictured here in Mexico!) @uwbact.bsky.social 🎉🎉
May 2, 2025 at 9:34 PM
Hats off (literally) to grad students Evrim Fer AND Kaustubh Amritkar for winning the @proteinsociety.bsky.social travel award!
From translation machinery (Evrim) to Rubisco (Kaustubh), they’re presenting the future of molecular evolution (pictured here in Mexico!) @uwbact.bsky.social 🎉🎉
From translation machinery (Evrim) to Rubisco (Kaustubh), they’re presenting the future of molecular evolution (pictured here in Mexico!) @uwbact.bsky.social 🎉🎉
Huge congrats to Holly Rucker @hollyrucker.bsky.social on winning the UW–Madison Bacteriology Ph.D. Student Excellence Award! We're so proud of you, Holly, well deserved! @uwbact.bsky.social @uwmadscience.bsky.social #SupportScience #GoHolly 🚀🚀🚀
May 2, 2025 at 9:17 PM
Huge congrats to Holly Rucker @hollyrucker.bsky.social on winning the UW–Madison Bacteriology Ph.D. Student Excellence Award! We're so proud of you, Holly, well deserved! @uwbact.bsky.social @uwmadscience.bsky.social #SupportScience #GoHolly 🚀🚀🚀
Our analyses further show that Mo-related genes linked to aerobic lifestyles often cluster together and support N, C, and S metabolisms, giving a selective edge in Oxygen-rich environments. 🌱🧬 If you're into paleometabolism, early evolution, or planetary habitability you might enjoy this story, thx!
April 8, 2025 at 12:56 AM
Our analyses further show that Mo-related genes linked to aerobic lifestyles often cluster together and support N, C, and S metabolisms, giving a selective edge in Oxygen-rich environments. 🌱🧬 If you're into paleometabolism, early evolution, or planetary habitability you might enjoy this story, thx!
Mo is central to many enzymes today, especially in redox reactions like C, N, and S cycles. But we’ve never been quite sure when life started using it. Turns out: very, very early.
Early life was already innovating with trace metals and building complex metabolic networks in a low-oxygen world.
Early life was already innovating with trace metals and building complex metabolic networks in a low-oxygen world.
April 8, 2025 at 12:51 AM
Mo is central to many enzymes today, especially in redox reactions like C, N, and S cycles. But we’ve never been quite sure when life started using it. Turns out: very, very early.
Early life was already innovating with trace metals and building complex metabolic networks in a low-oxygen world.
Early life was already innovating with trace metals and building complex metabolic networks in a low-oxygen world.
🚨New preprint alert!🚨
We mapped Mo-dependent pathways across microbes and show this reliance emerged before oxygen showed up. Our results challenge assumptions about Mo scarcity on early Earth. Study led by Aya Klos!
Biology’s been metal since the very beginning🤘
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
We mapped Mo-dependent pathways across microbes and show this reliance emerged before oxygen showed up. Our results challenge assumptions about Mo scarcity on early Earth. Study led by Aya Klos!
Biology’s been metal since the very beginning🤘
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
April 7, 2025 at 6:25 PM
🚨New preprint alert!🚨
We mapped Mo-dependent pathways across microbes and show this reliance emerged before oxygen showed up. Our results challenge assumptions about Mo scarcity on early Earth. Study led by Aya Klos!
Biology’s been metal since the very beginning🤘
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
We mapped Mo-dependent pathways across microbes and show this reliance emerged before oxygen showed up. Our results challenge assumptions about Mo scarcity on early Earth. Study led by Aya Klos!
Biology’s been metal since the very beginning🤘
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Understanding the emergence of translation factors is key to tracing the transition from prebiotic chemistry to LUCA. Fer et al. show that initiation, elongation, and termination each followed distinct evolutionary paths, shaped by functional constraints dating back to life’s beginnings. 🧬
March 24, 2025 at 2:59 PM
Understanding the emergence of translation factors is key to tracing the transition from prebiotic chemistry to LUCA. Fer et al. show that initiation, elongation, and termination each followed distinct evolutionary paths, shaped by functional constraints dating back to life’s beginnings. 🧬
🚨New paper!🚨
A comprehensive take on the origins and evolution of translation factors & how these essential players evolved across the tree of life. 🌍🧬
Led by Evrim Fer @uwmadisonmdtp.bsky.social grad student! 👏
Free access: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... @cp-trendsgenetics.bsky.social
A comprehensive take on the origins and evolution of translation factors & how these essential players evolved across the tree of life. 🌍🧬
Led by Evrim Fer @uwmadisonmdtp.bsky.social grad student! 👏
Free access: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... @cp-trendsgenetics.bsky.social
March 24, 2025 at 2:46 PM
🚨New paper!🚨
A comprehensive take on the origins and evolution of translation factors & how these essential players evolved across the tree of life. 🌍🧬
Led by Evrim Fer @uwmadisonmdtp.bsky.social grad student! 👏
Free access: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... @cp-trendsgenetics.bsky.social
A comprehensive take on the origins and evolution of translation factors & how these essential players evolved across the tree of life. 🌍🧬
Led by Evrim Fer @uwmadisonmdtp.bsky.social grad student! 👏
Free access: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... @cp-trendsgenetics.bsky.social
Attention evolutionary biologists studying life's origins & early evolution! 📢
Our lab is leading the ESEB 2025 symposium: "The future meets the beginning: Synthetic biology, evolution and the origins of life". 🧬
Submit abstracts by April 25. See you in Barcelona!
@eseb.bsky.social
Our lab is leading the ESEB 2025 symposium: "The future meets the beginning: Synthetic biology, evolution and the origins of life". 🧬
Submit abstracts by April 25. See you in Barcelona!
@eseb.bsky.social
January 27, 2025 at 5:40 PM
Attention evolutionary biologists studying life's origins & early evolution! 📢
Our lab is leading the ESEB 2025 symposium: "The future meets the beginning: Synthetic biology, evolution and the origins of life". 🧬
Submit abstracts by April 25. See you in Barcelona!
@eseb.bsky.social
Our lab is leading the ESEB 2025 symposium: "The future meets the beginning: Synthetic biology, evolution and the origins of life". 🧬
Submit abstracts by April 25. See you in Barcelona!
@eseb.bsky.social
🚀 We’ve just given our lab website a fresh new look! We plan to update it frequently. Come take a look! 🔬👇
www.kacarlab.org
www.kacarlab.org
January 27, 2025 at 5:23 PM
🚀 We’ve just given our lab website a fresh new look! We plan to update it frequently. Come take a look! 🔬👇
www.kacarlab.org
www.kacarlab.org
Our nitrogenase engineering subgroup from early January. Huge thanks to Jeff Miller for capturing this moment! #NitrogenaseEngineering #TeamScience #LabLife
January 15, 2025 at 9:23 PM
Our nitrogenase engineering subgroup from early January. Huge thanks to Jeff Miller for capturing this moment! #NitrogenaseEngineering #TeamScience #LabLife
Excited for today’s lab photoshoot! Capturing the heart of science in action—microbes with a touch of glam. Stay tuned for behind-the-scenes highlights! 💡🔬✨
January 3, 2025 at 7:25 PM
Excited for today’s lab photoshoot! Capturing the heart of science in action—microbes with a touch of glam. Stay tuned for behind-the-scenes highlights! 💡🔬✨