Osama Alian
@osamaalien.bsky.social
postdoc geomicrobiologist thinking about ocean hydrothermal vent systems, global geo/ecological processes and the origin of life at NASA JPL
www.caltech.edu/about/news/c...
Got to know George briefly since I came west, and what a magnificent, gentle, genuine and humble soul he was. I'll never forget geeking out in the mineral gallery one evening, and thinking how his excited curiosity was sincerely youthful and infectious.
Got to know George briefly since I came west, and what a magnificent, gentle, genuine and humble soul he was. I'll never forget geeking out in the mineral gallery one evening, and thinking how his excited curiosity was sincerely youthful and infectious.
Caltech Mourns the Passing of George Rossman (1944–2026)
Caltech mineralogist George Rossman (PhD '71) passed away on February 6, 2026.
www.caltech.edu
February 11, 2026 at 12:52 AM
www.caltech.edu/about/news/c...
Got to know George briefly since I came west, and what a magnificent, gentle, genuine and humble soul he was. I'll never forget geeking out in the mineral gallery one evening, and thinking how his excited curiosity was sincerely youthful and infectious.
Got to know George briefly since I came west, and what a magnificent, gentle, genuine and humble soul he was. I'll never forget geeking out in the mineral gallery one evening, and thinking how his excited curiosity was sincerely youthful and infectious.
Reposted by Osama Alian
🌊🪸 Just when they thought the #DeepSea was a barren "desert": scientists find a brand new species clinging to metal #nodules that mining companies want to scoop up 💔🧪🌑 #DefendTheDeep #StopDeepSeaMining 🐚💙
New Deep-Sea Coral Found Living on Nodules Targeted for Mining - environment coastal & offshore
An international research team led by Dr. Guadalupe Bribiesca-Contreras from the National Oceanography Centre (NOC) and Senckenberg scientist Dr. Nadia Santodomingo has discovered a new species of deep-sea coral that lives attached to polymetallic nodules
ecomagazine.com
November 27, 2025 at 12:20 PM
🌊🪸 Just when they thought the #DeepSea was a barren "desert": scientists find a brand new species clinging to metal #nodules that mining companies want to scoop up 💔🧪🌑 #DefendTheDeep #StopDeepSeaMining 🐚💙
Reposted by Osama Alian
WOW!
An incredible discovery. The first ever image of a baby exoplanet embedded in the dust rings from which planets are forming around a star. Confirms the developing view of planet formation that we’ve never before seen in action.
🧪🔭
www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/news/2025...
An incredible discovery. The first ever image of a baby exoplanet embedded in the dust rings from which planets are forming around a star. Confirms the developing view of planet formation that we’ve never before seen in action.
🧪🔭
www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/news/2025...
November 8, 2025 at 3:20 AM
WOW!
An incredible discovery. The first ever image of a baby exoplanet embedded in the dust rings from which planets are forming around a star. Confirms the developing view of planet formation that we’ve never before seen in action.
🧪🔭
www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/news/2025...
An incredible discovery. The first ever image of a baby exoplanet embedded in the dust rings from which planets are forming around a star. Confirms the developing view of planet formation that we’ve never before seen in action.
🧪🔭
www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/news/2025...
Just gave this a spin on a paper I've been working on for too long and WOW. Even though it was outside its topic domains, the feedback it highlighted was oh so constructive and insightful. Highly recommended and congrats @odedrechavi.bsky.social and team on an awesome tool!
BIG ANNOUNCEMENT📣: I haven’t been this excited to be part of something new in 15 years… Thrilled to reveal the passion project I’ve been working on for the past year and a half!🙀🥳 (thread 👇)
October 26, 2025 at 8:36 PM
Just gave this a spin on a paper I've been working on for too long and WOW. Even though it was outside its topic domains, the feedback it highlighted was oh so constructive and insightful. Highly recommended and congrats @odedrechavi.bsky.social and team on an awesome tool!
Reposted by Osama Alian
I still contend that >90% of the benefit of writing a review isn't the audience. It's for the author going through the literature, finding gaps in knowledge, learning how experiments are done, etc. It really isn't about writing a review. It's about doing the review yourself. AI can't do that for you
October 21, 2025 at 5:28 PM
I still contend that >90% of the benefit of writing a review isn't the audience. It's for the author going through the literature, finding gaps in knowledge, learning how experiments are done, etc. It really isn't about writing a review. It's about doing the review yourself. AI can't do that for you
As night falls on Pasadena today after goodbyes to many colleagues and friends, it's important to remember that while places and their history are important, ideas and inspiration live within people. As a community we shouldn't forget holding strong those ties that nurture optimism and innovation
October 15, 2025 at 5:11 AM
As night falls on Pasadena today after goodbyes to many colleagues and friends, it's important to remember that while places and their history are important, ideas and inspiration live within people. As a community we shouldn't forget holding strong those ties that nurture optimism and innovation
Reposted by Osama Alian
Very excited to share the first paper out of my Postdoc @CMR:
GenomeFISH: genome-based fluorescence in situ hybridisation for strain-level visualisation of microbial communities.
@sjmcilroy.bsky.social @jamesvolmer.bsky.social @benjwoodcroft.bsky.social
doi.org/10.1093/isme...
🧵1/7
GenomeFISH: genome-based fluorescence in situ hybridisation for strain-level visualisation of microbial communities.
@sjmcilroy.bsky.social @jamesvolmer.bsky.social @benjwoodcroft.bsky.social
doi.org/10.1093/isme...
🧵1/7
GenomeFISH: genome-based fluorescence in situ hybridisation for strain-level visualisation of microbial communities
Abstract. Fluorescence in situ hybridisation (FISH) is a powerful tool for visualising the spatial organisation of microbial communities. However, traditio
doi.org
July 8, 2025 at 2:30 AM
Very excited to share the first paper out of my Postdoc @CMR:
GenomeFISH: genome-based fluorescence in situ hybridisation for strain-level visualisation of microbial communities.
@sjmcilroy.bsky.social @jamesvolmer.bsky.social @benjwoodcroft.bsky.social
doi.org/10.1093/isme...
🧵1/7
GenomeFISH: genome-based fluorescence in situ hybridisation for strain-level visualisation of microbial communities.
@sjmcilroy.bsky.social @jamesvolmer.bsky.social @benjwoodcroft.bsky.social
doi.org/10.1093/isme...
🧵1/7
Reposted by Osama Alian
New Consensus Statement in Nature Microbiology!
Working with low-biomass microbiome samples? From deep subsurface rocks to human lungs, contamination is a major challenge. We offer field-to-data analysis guidelines to help keep your results clean.
📖 doi.org/10.1038/s415...
Working with low-biomass microbiome samples? From deep subsurface rocks to human lungs, contamination is a major challenge. We offer field-to-data analysis guidelines to help keep your results clean.
📖 doi.org/10.1038/s415...
Guidelines for preventing and reporting contamination in low-biomass microbiome studies - Nature Microbiology
In this Consensus Statement, the authors outline strategies for processing, analysing and interpreting low-biomass microbiome samples, and provide recommendations to minimize contaminants.
doi.org
June 23, 2025 at 4:54 PM
New Consensus Statement in Nature Microbiology!
Working with low-biomass microbiome samples? From deep subsurface rocks to human lungs, contamination is a major challenge. We offer field-to-data analysis guidelines to help keep your results clean.
📖 doi.org/10.1038/s415...
Working with low-biomass microbiome samples? From deep subsurface rocks to human lungs, contamination is a major challenge. We offer field-to-data analysis guidelines to help keep your results clean.
📖 doi.org/10.1038/s415...
Reposted by Osama Alian
Defining ultra-slow-growing extremophilic microorganisms as aeonophiles #USC_earth #USC_MEB #jcampubs www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Defining ultra-slow-growing extremophilic microorganisms as aeonophiles - Nature Microbiology
In environments like the deep subsurface, microorganisms with long doubling times can remain metabolically active for millions of years — we propose referring to this class of extremophile as aeonophi...
www.nature.com
June 20, 2025 at 5:14 PM
Defining ultra-slow-growing extremophilic microorganisms as aeonophiles #USC_earth #USC_MEB #jcampubs www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Osama Alian
May 31, 2025 at 2:28 PM
Reposted by Osama Alian
Out in Science! Zakem et al. mechanistically modeled global marine prokaryotic functional diversity, grounded with field data. Shifts in community composition drive respiration and thus biological C storage. This facilitates C cycle projections in a warming ocean
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Functional biogeography of marine microbial heterotrophs
Heterotrophic bacteria and archaea (“heteroprokaryotes”) drive global carbon cycling, but how to quantitatively organize their functional complexity remains unclear. We generated a global-scale unders...
www.science.org
May 22, 2025 at 10:34 PM
Out in Science! Zakem et al. mechanistically modeled global marine prokaryotic functional diversity, grounded with field data. Shifts in community composition drive respiration and thus biological C storage. This facilitates C cycle projections in a warming ocean
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Reposted by Osama Alian
Exciting! We have successfully deployed our in situ mass spectrometer, developed together with @marumunibremen.bsky.social, on their brand new #ROV #MARUM-QUEST 5000. It provides real-time information on gas concentrations in water 400°C hot and 4000m deep.
mpi-bremen.de/en/Diving-ro...
mpi-bremen.de/en/Diving-ro...
Diving robot enables complex measurements and analyses
mpi-bremen.de
May 21, 2025 at 6:30 AM
Exciting! We have successfully deployed our in situ mass spectrometer, developed together with @marumunibremen.bsky.social, on their brand new #ROV #MARUM-QUEST 5000. It provides real-time information on gas concentrations in water 400°C hot and 4000m deep.
mpi-bremen.de/en/Diving-ro...
mpi-bremen.de/en/Diving-ro...
Reposted by Osama Alian
In the phosphorus-limited Sargasso Sea, microbes partition phosphorus uptake by time of day—bacteria in the morning, phytoplankton by day, and cyanobacteria at dusk—revealing a temporal niche strategy. www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Diel partitioning in microbial phosphorus acquisition in the Sargasso Sea | PNAS
The daily cycle of photosynthetic primary production at the base of marine food webs
is often limited by the availability of scarce nutrients. Micr...
www.pnas.org
May 3, 2025 at 5:44 PM
In the phosphorus-limited Sargasso Sea, microbes partition phosphorus uptake by time of day—bacteria in the morning, phytoplankton by day, and cyanobacteria at dusk—revealing a temporal niche strategy. www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Reposted by Osama Alian
New paper out!
We discovered a tiny archaeon with the smallest known archaeal genome — only 238 kbp!
Candidatus Sukunaarchaeum mirabile has almost no recognizable metabolic pathways and may rely heavily on a host to survive.
It also represents a novel, deep-branching lineage in the archaeal tree.
We discovered a tiny archaeon with the smallest known archaeal genome — only 238 kbp!
Candidatus Sukunaarchaeum mirabile has almost no recognizable metabolic pathways and may rely heavily on a host to survive.
It also represents a novel, deep-branching lineage in the archaeal tree.
A cellular entity retaining only its replicative core: Hidden archaeal lineage with an ultra-reduced genome https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.05.02.651781v1
May 3, 2025 at 5:08 AM
New paper out!
We discovered a tiny archaeon with the smallest known archaeal genome — only 238 kbp!
Candidatus Sukunaarchaeum mirabile has almost no recognizable metabolic pathways and may rely heavily on a host to survive.
It also represents a novel, deep-branching lineage in the archaeal tree.
We discovered a tiny archaeon with the smallest known archaeal genome — only 238 kbp!
Candidatus Sukunaarchaeum mirabile has almost no recognizable metabolic pathways and may rely heavily on a host to survive.
It also represents a novel, deep-branching lineage in the archaeal tree.
Reposted by Osama Alian
Happy #FossilFriday, check out this beautifully preserved crinoid! These animals have inhabited the oceans for 480 million years, and they're relatives of sea urchins and sea stars. This specimen is long fossilized, but looks like it just died and fell into the seabed's embrace. (1/3)
#paleontology
#paleontology
February 7, 2025 at 2:04 PM
Happy #FossilFriday, check out this beautifully preserved crinoid! These animals have inhabited the oceans for 480 million years, and they're relatives of sea urchins and sea stars. This specimen is long fossilized, but looks like it just died and fell into the seabed's embrace. (1/3)
#paleontology
#paleontology
Reposted by Osama Alian
40 years ago all of Genbank was published in print form by NAR. The same format today would require over 4 light seconds of shelf space. To a year of progress in 2025.
December 29, 2024 at 9:50 AM
40 years ago all of Genbank was published in print form by NAR. The same format today would require over 4 light seconds of shelf space. To a year of progress in 2025.
Reposted by Osama Alian
🧪🦠🌍 Nitrogenases are one of the most ecologically important enzymes on Earth. They're ancient too.
In this PREPRINT, Cuevas-Zuviría & Co. analyze how their structures tell the story of planetary-wide ecological changes
doi.org/10.1101/2024...
In this PREPRINT, Cuevas-Zuviría & Co. analyze how their structures tell the story of planetary-wide ecological changes
doi.org/10.1101/2024...
December 28, 2024 at 9:12 AM
🧪🦠🌍 Nitrogenases are one of the most ecologically important enzymes on Earth. They're ancient too.
In this PREPRINT, Cuevas-Zuviría & Co. analyze how their structures tell the story of planetary-wide ecological changes
doi.org/10.1101/2024...
In this PREPRINT, Cuevas-Zuviría & Co. analyze how their structures tell the story of planetary-wide ecological changes
doi.org/10.1101/2024...
Reposted by Osama Alian
Reposted by Osama Alian
Useful benchmarking study
'Evaluation of DNA extraction kits for long-read shotgun metagenomics using Oxford Nanopore sequencing for rapid taxonomic and antimicrobial resistance detection'
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
'Evaluation of DNA extraction kits for long-read shotgun metagenomics using Oxford Nanopore sequencing for rapid taxonomic and antimicrobial resistance detection'
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Evaluation of DNA extraction kits for long-read shotgun metagenomics using Oxford Nanopore sequencing for rapid taxonomic and antimicrobial resistance detection - Scientific Reports
Scientific Reports - Evaluation of DNA extraction kits for long-read shotgun metagenomics using Oxford Nanopore sequencing for rapid taxonomic and antimicrobial resistance detection
www.nature.com
November 28, 2024 at 9:48 PM
Useful benchmarking study
'Evaluation of DNA extraction kits for long-read shotgun metagenomics using Oxford Nanopore sequencing for rapid taxonomic and antimicrobial resistance detection'
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
'Evaluation of DNA extraction kits for long-read shotgun metagenomics using Oxford Nanopore sequencing for rapid taxonomic and antimicrobial resistance detection'
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Osama Alian
Now that we've had a migration of twitter people here, I figured it's a good time to re-share our most recent work, measuring the growth rates of individual microbial cells with Raman. Super cool technique if you're curious about quantifying microbial activity in/on minerals, plants, etc!
Excited to share our new work in FEMSEC exploring single-cell SIP with Raman spectroscopy. This is a tool that I'm excited for more researchers/fields to apply! A quick thread: academic.oup.com/femsec/advan...
with @rockymicrobe.bsky.social
with @rockymicrobe.bsky.social
Single-cell measurement of microbial growth rate with Raman microspectroscopy
Abstract. Rates of microbial growth are fundamental to understanding environmental geochemistry and ecology. However, measuring the heterogeneity of microb
academic.oup.com
November 20, 2024 at 6:08 AM
Now that we've had a migration of twitter people here, I figured it's a good time to re-share our most recent work, measuring the growth rates of individual microbial cells with Raman. Super cool technique if you're curious about quantifying microbial activity in/on minerals, plants, etc!
Life finds a way
A cautionary tale for returning samples from Mars.
#MarsSampleReturn #astrobiology
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
#MarsSampleReturn #astrobiology
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Rapid colonization of a space‐returned Ryugu sample by terrestrial microorganisms
The presence of microorganisms within meteorites has been used as evidence for extraterrestrial life, however, the potential for terrestrial contamination makes their interpretation highly controvers...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
November 23, 2024 at 3:42 AM
Life finds a way
Reposted by Osama Alian
When I will respond to your email
November 20, 2024 at 6:38 PM
When I will respond to your email
Reposted by Osama Alian
If you are not aware, Giant Squid eyes are huge. #marinelife
November 19, 2024 at 5:55 PM
If you are not aware, Giant Squid eyes are huge. #marinelife
Reposted by Osama Alian
Metabolomics folks / mass spectrometrists, are you looking for a cool postdoc opportunity? Dr. Anitra Ingalls @ the Univ. of Washington is hiring a postdoc to work with an international team (including yours truly) on the metabolites of marine critters. Come work with us!
apply.interfolio.com/150110
apply.interfolio.com/150110
Apply - Interfolio
{{$ctrl.$state.data.pageTitle}} - Apply - Interfolio
apply.interfolio.com
November 19, 2024 at 7:19 PM
Metabolomics folks / mass spectrometrists, are you looking for a cool postdoc opportunity? Dr. Anitra Ingalls @ the Univ. of Washington is hiring a postdoc to work with an international team (including yours truly) on the metabolites of marine critters. Come work with us!
apply.interfolio.com/150110
apply.interfolio.com/150110
It's so nice to find the science tribe again 🥲
November 18, 2024 at 10:31 PM
It's so nice to find the science tribe again 🥲