Swathi

Some of you may know I simulate a lot of biological systems. And after 15 years of doing this, I can confidently tell you: spatial structure is never irrelevant.

It shapes the frequency of mutants... (Fusco et. al, 2016)

The moment you’ve all been waiting for…

🦠 SAVE THE DATE! 🦠

BBM2026 will be held from June 22nd - 23rd at Boston University’s George Sherman Union. Our featured speaker this year is Dr. Eric Skaar from Vanderbilt University!

Registration opens soon!

More info at: bostonbacterial.org

#BBM2026

Come work with us on #darkoxygen as part of the NASA Postdoctoral Fellowship Program. It is an amazing opportunity to get up to 3 years of funding. Deadlines are March 1. and November 1. Happy to discuss your ideas! Details here: zintellect.com/Opportunity/...

@mblscience.bsky.social #astrobiology

New collaborative paper! ⚡

Hannah Feinsibler et al. show that synthetic FeS, FeNiS, and NiS compounds catalyze H+ and nitrate reduction under hydrothermal-vent–like conditions, supporting mineral precursors to enzymes like hydrogenases and nitrogenases! #astrobiology

chemrxiv.org/doi/full/10....

The Trump Administration Is Racing to Launch the Deep-Sea Mining Industry, Despite Huge Risks and Broad Opposition This would destroy deep-sea habitats and the ecosystems they support.

The Trump administration wants to open our oceans to a destructive deep sea mining industry that would destroy the sea floor and the ecosystems it supports, causing long-lasting harm to the marine environment.

‘This year nearly broke me as a scientist’ – US researchers reflect on how 2025’s science cuts have changed their lives US science lost a great deal in 2025, including tens of billions of dollars of federal funding, entire research agencies and programs, and a generation of researchers.

Trump and DOGE gutted US science: Scientists from a variety of fields researching anything from chemical hazards, drug addiction, pollution, LBTQ health care & paediatric brain disease report how grants were withdrawn and and they struggle to support students, staff and research 🧪

Lost and Found in Modern Microbiology: An Ethnography of Modern Microbiologists A paper on how microbiologists navigate the tension between reductionism and complexity in their everyday practices, and my 2 cents on it.

New blog post for my microbiologist colleagues:

merenlab.org/2025/12/15/r...

In which Meren talks about a paper by Valentina Marcheselli on how microbiologists navigate the tension between reductionism and complexity in their everyday practices.

Thinking of all the colleagues and friends I have who are connected to Brown University. What a devastating day for Brown, and for all of us.

Brown University is a beautiful place, where people come to work and learn. I am filled with horror by news of this tragedy.

American Mineralogist:
Mariakrite, [Ca4Al2(OH)12(H2O)4][Fe2S4]: A new mineral and the first layered double hydroxide intercalated with dithioferrate (iron disulfide) chains
Mikhail N. Murashko, et al.
doi.org/10.2138/am-2...
Found in pyrometamorphic rocks in the Negev Desert.

Here's the most important piece of data (as far as I am concerned). Comparing Earth Microbiome to the new ones (V4EXT) for major phyla. V4EXT by @ppjevac.bsky.social et al cover more diversity than current gold standard😱 Lot's of work, the entire field will benefit! My lab's gonna try V4EXT soon!

So happy to announce our new preprint, “A geothermal amoeba sets a new upper temperature limit for eukaryotes.” We cultured a novel amoeba from Lassen Volcanic NP (CA, USA) that divides at 63°C (145°F) 🔥 - a new record for euk growth!
#protistsonsky 🧵

An Asgard archaeon with internal membrane compartments

Brilliant study led by @fmacleod.bsky.social and Andriko von Kügelgen. Tight collaboration with @buzzbaum.bsky.social and lab. Congrats to all authors!

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

First study of its kind finds deep-sea mining waste threatens life and foodwebs in the ocean's dim 'twilight zone' A new study led by researchers at the University of Hawaii (UH) at Mānoa published in Nature Communications is the first of its kind to show that waste discharged from deep-sea mining operations in the Pacific's biodiverse Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ) could disrupt marine life in the midwater "twilight zone"—a vital region 200–1,500 meters below sea level that supports vast communities of zooplankton, tiny animals that serve as the ocean's basic food building blocks.

Deep-sea mining waste in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone may disrupt the ocean's twilight zone food webs by reducing the nutritional quality of particles vital to zooplankton and micronekton.

WE ARE BACK!!! Archaea Power Hour will return this coming WEDNESDAY, Oct. 22nd at 10AM EST/4PM CET. Check your email for the Zoom link (coming soon) or register here: forms.gle/6QvCjHH2H4pxro…. Take a look at the exciting talks we have planned to kick off our fall seminar series:

New episode of #MattersMicrobial! The superlative Dr. Jeff Gralnick chats with the #QualityQuorum about bacteria that breathe metal! Please spread the #GoodMicrobialWord! @univpugetsound @asmicrobiology @microbe.tv

youtu.be/rh-TK2Bvxj8?...

Ecological Consequences of Iron Scarcity Gold is for the mistress, silver for the maid, copper for the craftsman, cunning at his trade, ‘Good’ said the Baron, sitting in his hall, ‘but iron — cold iron — is master of them all’.

New on Think Like a Microbe ... Iron!
🧫🧪 #philsci

open.substack.com/pub/thinkmic...

How Jane Goodall Turned Her Childhood Dream into Reality: A Sweet Illustrated Story of Purpose and Deep Determination A heartening testament to the power of undivided intention.

How Jane Goodall turned her childhood dream into reality – a sweet illustrated story of purpose and deep determination www.themarginalian.org/2015/01/19/m...

Wildlife advocate, primate expert Jane Goodall dies at 91 Scientist and global activist Jane Goodall, who turned her childhood love of primates into a lifelong quest for protecting the environment, died on Wednesday at the age of 91, the institute she founded said.

Tonight I learned that one of my heroes has died. I loved her and colleagues' "adventures" as a child and grew up to admire her scientific work for so many reasons. RIP Jane Goodall.

Jane Goodall, wildlife advocate and primate expert, dies at 91 - www.reuters.com/business/env...

The Story Behind “Silent Spring”: How Rachel Carson’s Countercultural Courage Catalyzed the Environmental Movement “It is, in the deepest sense, a privilege as well as a duty to have the opportunity to speak out — to many thousands of people — on something so important.”

Silent Spring was published on this day in 1962, catalyzing the environmental movement. The deeply human story behind it: www.themarginalian.org/2017/01/27/r...

I find this reassuring. LLMs don't replace the need to learn how to write whatsoever.

There really are no shortcuts to thinking super hard for many hours. That is the only wait to do good science. All shortcuts are an illusion.

--> This is good for the humans! Roll your sleeves up and think.

Have you ever looked at some differentially occurring gene clusters in a microbial #pangenome and thought to yourself "I wonder if they contribute to any metabolic modules"?

With the most recent changes, the answer is a few clicks away in #anvio 😇

Hydrogen sulfide production distinguishes Salmonella from close relatives, but its biological significance remains obscure. This study uncovers the secret: Salmonella uses hydrogen sulfide production as a weapon to outcompete E. coli and gain a foothold in the gut.
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Mary Oliver on the Measure of a Life Well Lived and How to Magnify Your Aliveness “Do you need a prod? Do you need a little darkness to get you going?”

“Do you need a prod? Do you need a little darkness to get you going?”

Mary Oliver would have been 90 today. Her immortal wisdom on the measure of a life well lived: www.themarginalian.org/2015/02/09/m...

Phew!!! Thank goodness we have a 2025 GRFP announcement!

Reconstructing long-range axons from dense brain images is tough.

This study introduces a novel method that separates axon identification from global statistical rules, showing big improvements over existing tools for mapping neuronal projections.
buff.ly/OBKr9cM

Redox conduction facilitates direct interspecies electron transport in anaerobic methanotrophic consortia Methane-consuming microbial partners use redox conductors to pass electrons.

Redox conduction facilitates direct interspecies electron transport in anaerobic methanotrophic consortia www.science.org/doi/full/10.... #jcampubs

Octopuses sense environmental microbiomes to drive predatory and parental behaviors. Artwork by Lily Soucy. #evolution #sensation #microbiome @cellpress.bsky.social

Pioneer of bacterial genetics: the legacy of Esther Miriam Lederberg Abstract. Esther Miriam Lederberg's brilliant scientific lifework, from the discovery of phage lambda, bacterial conjugation, and replica plating, provided

'Early on in her life, Esther defied societal conventions by pursuing biochemistry, against recommendations from her teachers who believed that a career in science was too difficult for women'
academic.oup.com/genetics/adv...

Microbial iron oxide respiration coupled to sulfide oxidation - Nature Genomic and biochemical analyses of prokaryotic sulfur metabolism identify diverse microorganisms with the capacity to oxidize sulfide using iron(iii).

📢 New paper in @nature.com

Microbes rock 🎸🤘 with sulfide and iron minerals

I am very excited to share our recent study, which describes a previously unknown microbial energy metabolism ⚡⚡⚡🦠🧫⚡⚡⚡

🆕 Microbial iron oxide respiration coupled to sulfide oxidation - MISO

www.nature.com/articles/s41...