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blarson.bsky.social
Ben Larson
@blarson.bsky.social
1.1K followers 1.2K following 49 posts
Protists, microscopy, biophysics, evolution. Interested in how cells control shape and movement https://www.benlarson.org

Natura in minimis maxima

Asst Prof, RPI | Postdoc, UCSF, Wallace Marshall | PhD, UCBerkeley, Nicole King | BA, Physics, Reed College
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blarson.bsky.social
Ben Larson @blarson.bsky.social · Aug 26
What could be more exciting than watching Euplotes scurry around under the microscope? How about adding some raptorial predation by supergiant cannibal cells?

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

Video by Vittorio Boscaro.

1/n
Reposted by Ben Larson
wallaceucsf.bsky.social
Wound healing is a hallmark feature of all life, including single cells. In a new preprint, Ambika Nadkarni @biochembika.bsky.social investigates a new dimension in cellular wound healing: how cells recover AFTER the wound has been closed

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
November 10, 2025 at 5:47 PM
Reposted by Ben Larson
tbharat-lab.bsky.social
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...
November 7, 2025 at 10:44 AM
blarson.bsky.social
Difflugia are absolutely amazing. What a wild shell!
brucedstaylor.bsky.social Bruce Taylor @brucedstaylor.bsky.social · 4d
The amoeba Difflugia bacillifera builds its shell from things that contain silica, and it is not particular about the source. These ones have incorporated whole shells from another testate amoeba (Euglypha), along with diatoms, algal cysts and chunks of rock. #Amoebae #ProtistsOnSky #peatlands
November 6, 2025 at 4:19 PM
Reposted by Ben Larson
brucedstaylor.bsky.social
The amoeba Difflugia bacillifera builds its shell from things that contain silica, and it is not particular about the source. These ones have incorporated whole shells from another testate amoeba (Euglypha), along with diatoms, algal cysts and chunks of rock. #Amoebae #ProtistsOnSky #peatlands
November 6, 2025 at 4:16 PM
Reposted by Ben Larson
micromotility.bsky.social
interested in mechanobiology and physics of living systems? this is the conference for you! Join us 9-12 June in Heidelberg! with @nicolettapetridou.bsky.social @xaviertrepat.bsky.social Enrique Rojas & Alba Diz-Munoz

Registration OPEN
www.embl.org/about/info/c...
November 6, 2025 at 11:50 AM
Reposted by Ben Larson
scbagby.bsky.social
Microbial eukaryote folks, you've got two more weeks to apply for this TT job: apply.interfolio.com/174456. We're a supportive department with a great breadth of interests, with really sharp students, in a very livable city with the nation's best park system. Come join us!
Apply - Interfolio {{$ctrl.$state.data.pageTitle}} - Apply - Interfolio
apply.interfolio.com
November 3, 2025 at 6:32 PM
Reposted by Ben Larson
biorxiv-microbiol.bsky.social
Trypanosomes Modulation of Motility from Swimming to Threading Propulsion in Confined Environments https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.11.03.686241v1
November 4, 2025 at 2:18 PM
Reposted by Ben Larson
piwoszomonas.bsky.social
Our new paper on what heterotrophic nanoflagellates do in nature doi.org/10.1111/1462... or www.biorxiv.org/cgi/content/.... Data available at doi.org/10.5281/zeno.... Funded by @ncn.gov.pl #ProtistsOnSky
High‐Temporal Resolution of Microbial Food Web Dynamics and Structure During Phytoplankton Blooms in the Baltic Sea
Heterotrophic nanoflagellates are typically considered to be bacterial grazers, but some are actually omnivores and predators, both eating also other eukaryotes. Thanks to a high-frequency sampling c...
doi.org
October 31, 2025 at 7:55 PM
Reposted by Ben Larson
mixotrophe.bsky.social
NYC and adjacent friends: I'm thrilled and terrified to be giving a public lecture in Manhattan at 6pm on Wednesday, 19 November. If you feel like coming into the city* for the evening, I'd love to see you there!

*Yes, NYC = "the city" for Jersey girls.

www.simonsfoundation.org/event/trade-...
Trade, Borrow, or Steal: How Acquired Metabolism Drives Evolution
Trade, Borrow, or Steal: How Acquired Metabolism Drives Evolution on Simons Foundation
www.simonsfoundation.org
November 3, 2025 at 1:34 AM
Reposted by Ben Larson
maxjtelford.bsky.social
I've written a piece about great new article by @thibautbrunet.bsky.social, Chantal Combredet & Mylan Ansel. (www.cell.com/cell-reports... )

theconversation.com/how-the-firs...
How the first animals evolved – a new clue from a tiny relative
Meet the choanoflagellates - the microscopic cousins of animals.
theconversation.com
October 29, 2025 at 3:04 PM
Reposted by Ben Larson
floravincent.bsky.social
Exciting day for the lab: our 1rst paper is officially out in @currentbiology.bsky.social 🥳 Wonderful collaboration wt @gautamdey.bsky.social showing how Cryo-ExM achieves consistent immunostaining in diverse diatoms, from the lab and the natural environment 1/n
#ProtistsOnSky
tinyurl.com/2zxaund7
October 31, 2025 at 3:27 PM
Reposted by Ben Larson
dudinlab.bsky.social
🚨Our collaboration with @centriolelab.bsky.social & @gautamdey.bsky.social is out today in @cp-cell.bsky.social
We show that #Expansion #Microscopy is a broad-spectrum modality for Euks, enabling 3D phenotypic maps rooted to phylogeny.
#ProtistsOnSky #SciComm #SciSky

www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...
October 31, 2025 at 2:42 PM
Reposted by Ben Larson
monicabettencourt.bsky.social
📣 We are moving to Barcelona to join the amazing @crg.eu and explore how centrosomes & cilia work, evolve & respond to the environment. We are looking for
PhD students www.crg.eu/en/content/t...
Postdocs gimm.pt/jobs/postdoc...
Other calls to open, also for an experienced lab manager.
Get in touch!
October 30, 2025 at 1:15 PM
Reposted by Ben Larson
mblscience.bsky.social
🔬 Applications are now open!

Join MBL’s world-renowned Advanced Research Training Courses, where scientists from around the globe come together to explore new ideas, master cutting-edge techniques, and become part of a dynamic network.

➡️Apply today: go.mbl.edu/courses
Course Offerings | Marine Biological Laboratory
go.mbl.edu
October 28, 2025 at 6:08 PM
Reposted by Ben Larson
wallaceucsf.bsky.social
Almost show-time at the Bay Area Science Festival. Come see how cells can learn! If you can’t make it, you can find out about the super-powers of time organisms at the Nature’s Tiny Marvels web site: sites.google.com/view/natures...
October 25, 2025 at 4:58 PM
Reposted by Ben Larson
surajshankar.bsky.social
Preprint 🚨! B cells form localized patterns in the immune synapse when mature, allowing improved affinity discrimination. How? We suggest a new mechanism using dynamic active forces and feedback! Read more @ arxiv.org/abs/2510.18771. Great colab with Shenshen Wang, Tom Chou and Tony Wong (UCLA).
October 24, 2025 at 6:54 PM
Reposted by Ben Larson
mollyschumer.bsky.social
Anyone looking for an undergrad research assistant this coming summer? I have a truly phenomenal undergrad with expertise in genetic mapping, long read sequencing & bioinformatics who wants experience in another lab before grad school. She has been in our lab for 3 years & writing her first paper!
October 23, 2025 at 11:16 PM
Reposted by Ben Larson
soniachaabane.bsky.social
Excited to share our new paper out today in Science led by Patrizia Ziveri and the BIOCAL Working Group!
With @willerstorfi.bsky.social, @nanophyto.bsky.social, @tdegaridel.bsky.social and many colleagues!

@climatecerege.bsky.social
@icta-uab.bsky.social
🔗 science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adq8520
Calcifying plankton: From biomineralization to global change
The cycling of calcium carbonate (CaCO3) in the ocean is closely linked to seawater alkalinity and the regulation of atmospheric CO2. In the modern pelagic ocean, almost all CaCO3 is produced by three...
science.org
October 23, 2025 at 9:15 PM
Reposted by Ben Larson
simonahuwiler.bsky.social
Multiple small, curved, predatory bacteria (Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus) lyse the bacterial prey remnants below. How are they doing this & which predator proteins are involved in this process?

See our newly released research article 📑
=> rdcu.be/eL6gu

🦠 #microsky #bacteria #PredatoryBacteria
October 23, 2025 at 4:44 PM
Reposted by Ben Larson
oliverio.bsky.social
This was such a neat study it got posted twice on our 'cool papers' channel in lab slack 😅

#ProtistsonSky
rsrp27.bsky.social rsrp27.bsky.social @rsrp27.bsky.social · 25d
Ever wondered how single-celled predators in soil boost plant health?
🧬 Protists don't just eat bacteria -they team up with them to shape the rhizosphere.
📈 Auxin isn't just a plant hormone -it's an interkingdom signal influencing microbial and protist life.
🌱 Read: academic.oup.com/ismej/advanc...
Diverse soil protists show auxin regulated growth in partnership with auxin-producing bacteria
Abstract. Predatory protists are single-cell eukaryotic organisms capable of hunting and ingesting bacteria and other microorganisms, which are thought to
academic.oup.com
October 23, 2025 at 11:55 AM
Reposted by Ben Larson
apramos.bsky.social
I am thrilled to share the main result of our work at @nordenlab.bsky.social with @liormoneta.bsky.social and @carldmodes.bsky.social . We bridged DevBiology + theoretical physics to understand how the eye becomes round #morphogenesis #devbio #biophysics #zebrafish www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
The Optic cup is actively shape programmed by independently patterned apical forces
During morphogenesis, initially flat tissues often must transition into complex 3D shapes, reminiscent of shape-programmable systems in physics and engineering. One key question in developmental biolo...
www.biorxiv.org
September 1, 2025 at 9:22 PM
Reposted by Ben Larson
jenniferhurleylab.bsky.social
Want to be a faculty member? Come joins us in the Biological Sciences Department at RPI. careers.rpi.edu/mob/en-us/jo...
Assistant Professor, Microbial Ecology
The Department of Biological Sciences at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in Troy, NY, invites applications for a tenure-track faculty position at the rank of Assistant Professor in Microbial Ec...
careers.rpi.edu
October 14, 2025 at 9:10 PM
Reposted by Ben Larson
jenniferhurleylab.bsky.social
Want to be a faculty member and are interested in cellular neuroscience? Come join us at RPI! careers.rpi.edu/mob/en-us/jo...
Assistant Professor, Cellular Neuroscience
The Department of Biological Sciences at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY invites applications for a tenure-track faculty position at the rank of Assistant Professor in Cellular Neuroscien...
careers.rpi.edu
October 14, 2025 at 9:13 PM
Reposted by Ben Larson
stforth.bsky.social
Our department at RPI is hiring an Assistant Professor in the field of Cell/Neuro Biology. Come join our collaborative and highly interdisciplinary department! careers.rpi.edu/en-us/job/49...
Details - Assistant Professor, Cellular Neuroscience - RPI Jobs
careers.rpi.edu
October 15, 2025 at 7:37 PM
blarson.bsky.social
Two tenure-track faculty positions open in our department:

1) Microbial Ecology and Evolution careers.rpi.edu/en-us/job/49...
2) Cellular Neuroscience careers.rpi.edu/en-us/job/49...

Join our collaborative, interdisciplinary community, which has proved to be a fantastic place to start a lab!
Details - Assistant Professor, Microbial Ecology - RPI Jobs
careers.rpi.edu
October 22, 2025 at 4:46 PM