Brett Baker
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archaeal.bsky.social
Brett Baker
@archaeal.bsky.social

Professor of microbial ecology and evolution at Univ of Texas Austin.

Environmental science 43%
Biology 30%

I appreciate it, and pointing this out. Things are moving fast!

thanks Marc, good point

A wonderful collaboration between my lab and Andy Ellington and Edward Marcotte here at UT.

We obtained lots of thermal stable plastic degrading enzymes from the deep sea (Guaymas Basin, Gulf of California)
Plastic degradation by enzymes from uncultured deep sea microorganisms
Abstract. Polyethylene terephthalate (PET)-hydrolyzing enzymes (PETases) are a recently discovered enzyme class capable of plastic degradation. PETases are
academic.oup.com

Reposted by Jonathan A. Eisen

I will do my best!

Nathalie Scott in my lab, great isn’t it!

Symbiotic Partners of Asgard Research Cruise

Metabolic capacity is maintained despite shifts in microbial diversity in estuary sediments academic.oup.com/ismecommun/a...
Metabolic capacity is maintained despite shifts in microbial diversity in estuary sediments
Abstract. Estuaries are highly productive ecosystems where microbial communities drive nutrient and carbon cycling, supporting complex food webs. With inte
academic.oup.com

The 1st annual Southern Geobiology Symposium will be hosted at UTMSI in fall 2026
Please fill out this interest form (forms.gle/znTuXQuxh9D2...)

Questions may be directed to co-chairs, Penny Demetriades (pdemetriades@disl.org) and John Hinkle (john.hinkle@utexas.edu)
Southern Geobiology Symposium Interest Form
Please fill out this form to indicate interest in attending the Southern Geobiology Symposium, to be held at the University of Texas Marine Science Institute (Port Aransas, TX) in October/November of ...
forms.gle

Baker Lab 2025

The container is our field gear for the research expedition for Uruguay.

sites.utexas.edu/baker-lab/sp...

Thanks so much Vaughn!

Title: The phylogeny and metabolism underlying the global dominance of the freshwater Nanopelagicaceae lineage
Short Talk Symposia: Hot Topics in Microbial Diversity and Systematics
Session  6/21/2025 1:45- 3:45:00 403A
Presentation Time: 3:15:00 PM

Tomorrow at 12:45-1:30 in the EEB Track Hub in the poster hall #ASMmicrobe I am talking about microbial diversity including Asgard archaea, and an expanded tree of life from marine sediments.

Today at ASM Microbe - Carbon Cycling & Methylotrophy In Deep-Sea Hydrothermal Sediments Presentation Number: 5699 Date: Friday June 20th Time - Poster (10:30-11:30am, 4-5pm) AND Rapid Fire Talk (11:45-12:30pm) @emilyraehyde.bsky.social

The Baker Lab is invading LA for #ASMMicrobe

Reposted by Brett J. Baker

ASM @asm.org · Jun 16
How did life begin & why does it matter? A new ASM report, supported by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, explores the origins of microbial life & how understanding it can help tackle some of humanity’s biggest questions around climate, biotech & more. Press release➡️ asm.org/press-releas...

Stay away from me. I’m a horrible person, not looking to meet anyone.

added more mappings below ;) We fundamentally disagree with their findings. The potential combination is extremely low. I say potential because we are looking more closely at it. But overall, not much at all.

Well said, but well represented or accurate? See the mappings I provided.

B7

Another B77...

Well said, but not well represented in the paper. Another example, B6, they claim to be contaminated (shown in Fig 2a). Green are the correct reads from which the MAG was generated. Location markers used for phylogeny in Eme et al in pink.

Terrible question.

The answer is yes, haha.
We need you--every single one of you-- in the US to stand up, right now, and fight for NSF, NIH, USGS, NASA, USDA. Agencies Congress empowered to serve the public with impactful science and innovation. This is not a drill. This is our last stand. After this, there will be nothing left to fight for.

The implications are Nature level, but this is not what we are finding in the data.