Irene Newton
@chicascientifica.bsky.social
Professor at Indiana University, Department of Biology. Interested in all things microbial symbiosis related & these days, a lot of MGEs
Excited to share our new call for papers at @asm.org's MRA journal. Do you have a database, software, or web-based tool that would be a great resource for the micro community? Consider submitting it to MRA! journals.asm.org/journal/mra/...
Microbial Databases, Software Tools, and Web Services
Publish your microbial database or software tool in MRA to gain recognition, citations, and community trust.
journals.asm.org
July 23, 2025 at 3:38 PM
Excited to share our new call for papers at @asm.org's MRA journal. Do you have a database, software, or web-based tool that would be a great resource for the micro community? Consider submitting it to MRA! journals.asm.org/journal/mra/...
Anyone know how to view the recorded talks from ASMicrobe2025?
June 26, 2025 at 2:19 PM
Anyone know how to view the recorded talks from ASMicrobe2025?
#ASMicrobe in LA was just what I needed - I leave feeling energized and excited about the future of microbial sciences - see you in DC next year!
June 23, 2025 at 12:42 PM
#ASMicrobe in LA was just what I needed - I leave feeling energized and excited about the future of microbial sciences - see you in DC next year!
New collaborative work from our group and friends in our NSF Biology Integration Institute,Evolutionary trends in Bombella apis CRISPR-Cas systems
journals.asm.org/eprint/DXFSP...
journals.asm.org/eprint/DXFSP...
Evolutionary trends in Bombella apis CRISPR-Cas systems | mSystems
Honey bee worker gut microbes have been implicated in everything from protection from pathogens to breakdown of complex polysaccharides in the diet. However, there are multiple niches within a honey bee colony that host different groups of microbes, ...
journals.asm.org
June 18, 2025 at 1:12 PM
New collaborative work from our group and friends in our NSF Biology Integration Institute,Evolutionary trends in Bombella apis CRISPR-Cas systems
journals.asm.org/eprint/DXFSP...
journals.asm.org/eprint/DXFSP...
Hello science fam! We have had a last-minute cancellation for our GRC on Ecological and Evolutionary Genomics and are looking for someone who studies EEG in the context of microbes who would be available to come to beautiful Tuscany in July! Message me!
June 12, 2025 at 7:13 PM
Hello science fam! We have had a last-minute cancellation for our GRC on Ecological and Evolutionary Genomics and are looking for someone who studies EEG in the context of microbes who would be available to come to beautiful Tuscany in July! Message me!
So excited to present work from my lab on characterizing which host proteins are targetted by Wolbachia wMel ankyrin repeats - (1/3) www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Wolbachia uses ankyrin repeats to target specific fly proteins
Arthropods, the most diverse phylum on Earth, are hosts to a plethora of bacterial parasites that secrete various toxins of unknown function during infection. The most prevalent of these is the intrac...
www.biorxiv.org
May 19, 2025 at 1:52 PM
So excited to present work from my lab on characterizing which host proteins are targetted by Wolbachia wMel ankyrin repeats - (1/3) www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Irene Newton
Yesterday, the NIH R35 “Outstanding Investigator” grant to fund scientists in my lab studying antibiotic resistance was terminated for reasons not related to the content of the science, or any actions taken by me or members of my lab
May 13, 2025 at 11:37 PM
Yesterday, the NIH R35 “Outstanding Investigator” grant to fund scientists in my lab studying antibiotic resistance was terminated for reasons not related to the content of the science, or any actions taken by me or members of my lab
Reposted by Irene Newton
This is the beauty and wonder that we are being told has no value—or is even antithetical to American values.
Well they're wrong, as anyone can see if they simply take a moment to imagine, truly imagine, what superpowers science gives us to see into worlds where we could otherwise never tread.
Well they're wrong, as anyone can see if they simply take a moment to imagine, truly imagine, what superpowers science gives us to see into worlds where we could otherwise never tread.
Some of you have never sat at the bottom of the Cayman Trench watching a species whom no human has ever seen before or since swimming by and it shows.
youtu.be/UEdfrar1dLU?...
youtu.be/UEdfrar1dLU?...
Munnopsis Isopod from the Mid-Cayman Spreading Center
YouTube video by Andrew Thaler
youtu.be
May 17, 2025 at 3:15 AM
This is the beauty and wonder that we are being told has no value—or is even antithetical to American values.
Well they're wrong, as anyone can see if they simply take a moment to imagine, truly imagine, what superpowers science gives us to see into worlds where we could otherwise never tread.
Well they're wrong, as anyone can see if they simply take a moment to imagine, truly imagine, what superpowers science gives us to see into worlds where we could otherwise never tread.
Happy Mother’s Day! youtu.be/osWuWjbeO-Y?...
A Biologist's Mother's Day Song
YouTube video by cadamole
youtu.be
May 11, 2025 at 1:14 PM
Happy Mother’s Day! youtu.be/osWuWjbeO-Y?...
Reposted by Irene Newton
Weather and climate research funds are being “chainsawed” from NOAA's budget. Last I checked, Louisiana & Florida, which are maximally susceptible to Hurricanes, voted Red in the last General Election.
Wondering if residents there knew in advance this would happen.
Wondering if residents there knew in advance this would happen.
May 6, 2025 at 11:19 AM
Weather and climate research funds are being “chainsawed” from NOAA's budget. Last I checked, Louisiana & Florida, which are maximally susceptible to Hurricanes, voted Red in the last General Election.
Wondering if residents there knew in advance this would happen.
Wondering if residents there knew in advance this would happen.
Reposted by Irene Newton
Trump proposes unprecedented budget cuts to US science
Trump proposes unprecedented budget cuts to US science
Huge reductions, if enacted, could have ‘catastrophic’ effects on US competitiveness and the scientific pipeline, critics say.
www.nature.com
May 3, 2025 at 8:16 PM
Trump proposes unprecedented budget cuts to US science
Reposted by Irene Newton
Why are they trying to kill the goose that lays the golden eggs? #WithoutNSF the US would not be at the forefront of science innovation in the world. #SaveNSF #StandUpForScience www.nsf.gov/policies/doc...
Policy Notice: Implementation of Standard 15% Indirect Cost Rate
www.nsf.gov
May 2, 2025 at 3:45 PM
Why are they trying to kill the goose that lays the golden eggs? #WithoutNSF the US would not be at the forefront of science innovation in the world. #SaveNSF #StandUpForScience www.nsf.gov/policies/doc...
Is this the end of US science? When will congress grow a backbone? www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Exclusive: NSF stops awarding new grants and funding existing ones
US science funder also plans to screen grant applications for compliance with ‘agency priorities’.
www.nature.com
May 2, 2025 at 1:58 PM
Is this the end of US science? When will congress grow a backbone? www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Reposted by Irene Newton
Further grant terminations from NSF. I don't yet have a list of what has been cut.
It's been hard to concentrate today when every email ping could a notice from NSF that another of our grants is being terminated.
It's been hard to concentrate today when every email ping could a notice from NSF that another of our grants is being terminated.
April 25, 2025 at 10:32 PM
Further grant terminations from NSF. I don't yet have a list of what has been cut.
It's been hard to concentrate today when every email ping could a notice from NSF that another of our grants is being terminated.
It's been hard to concentrate today when every email ping could a notice from NSF that another of our grants is being terminated.
Reposted by Irene Newton
Very cool recent preprint from @chicascientifica.bsky.social
and team. #phages in bee poop, what's not to like? #microbiome #bees
and team. #phages in bee poop, what's not to like? #microbiome #bees
🦠🐝 New preprint reveals that Mobile Genetic Elements in the honeybee gut microbiome show diverse host range patterns, influencing microbial evolution and ecology. ProxiMeta linked MGEs to their microbial hosts. #Microbiome #Bee
@chicascientifica.bsky.social
biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
@chicascientifica.bsky.social
biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
April 17, 2025 at 4:49 PM
Very cool recent preprint from @chicascientifica.bsky.social
and team. #phages in bee poop, what's not to like? #microbiome #bees
and team. #phages in bee poop, what's not to like? #microbiome #bees
Reposted by Irene Newton
Our final version of eLife paper (VOR) is now out! (doi.org/10.7554/eLif...). I investigated functions of wmk and Oscar homologs in a native host (moth) with @daisukekageyama.bsky.social and others:))
Prophage-encoded Hm-oscar gene recapitulates Wolbachia-induced male-killing in the tea tortrix moth Homona magnanima
Oscar homologs play a conserved role in Wolbachia-induced male-killing in Lepidoptera but not in other insects, highlighting the evolution of diverse male-killing mechanisms induced by Wolbachia.
doi.org
April 14, 2025 at 10:00 PM
Our final version of eLife paper (VOR) is now out! (doi.org/10.7554/eLif...). I investigated functions of wmk and Oscar homologs in a native host (moth) with @daisukekageyama.bsky.social and others:))
Reposted by Irene Newton
@haraipapilio.bsky.social paper on evolution of Wolbachia MK mechanism through prophage acquisition in molina butterflies - avoiding suppression by the host. Now out! #symbiosky www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti.... With @daisukekageyama.bsky.social @bolinabug.bsky.social and others
Evolution of Wolbachia male-killing mechanism within a host species
Male-killing bacterial symbionts, prevalent in arthropods, skew population sex ratios by selectively killing male progeny, profoundly impacting ecolog…
www.sciencedirect.com
April 9, 2025 at 3:45 PM
@haraipapilio.bsky.social paper on evolution of Wolbachia MK mechanism through prophage acquisition in molina butterflies - avoiding suppression by the host. Now out! #symbiosky www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti.... With @daisukekageyama.bsky.social @bolinabug.bsky.social and others
If they are flagella… then they are bloody enormous - what do you think they are?
April 14, 2025 at 4:58 AM
If they are flagella… then they are bloody enormous - what do you think they are?
Reposted by Irene Newton
A federal judge issued a nationwide preliminary injunction blocking the Trump administration from slashing NIH payments for research overhead
Judge issues preliminary injunction blocking Trump cuts to NIH research overhead payments
A federal judge issued a nationwide preliminary injunction blocking the Trump administration from slashing NIH payments for research overhead
buff.ly
March 5, 2025 at 9:27 PM
A federal judge issued a nationwide preliminary injunction blocking the Trump administration from slashing NIH payments for research overhead
Happy hump day to all who celebrate
March 5, 2025 at 10:39 PM
Happy hump day to all who celebrate
One of the more interesting sculptures on campus
February 24, 2025 at 6:56 PM
One of the more interesting sculptures on campus
Lemon drop at Tony’s steakhouse in Indy. Great start to a weekend that’s been a wonderful combination of adventure and connection
February 23, 2025 at 3:03 PM
Lemon drop at Tony’s steakhouse in Indy. Great start to a weekend that’s been a wonderful combination of adventure and connection
Reposted by Irene Newton
This summer's GRC on Ecological and Evolutionary Genomics: unique opportunity to compare and contrast methods, paradigms, and datasets 4 microbial and eukaryotic systems. I am thrilled to be co-chairing this with @samyeaman.bsky.social and welcome you to join us! www.grc.org/ecological-a...
2025 Ecological and Evolutionary Genomics Conference GRC
The 2025 Gordon Research Conference on Ecological and Evolutionary Genomics will be held in Lucca (Barga), Lucca Italy. Apply today to reserve your spot.
www.grc.org
February 11, 2025 at 3:17 PM
This summer's GRC on Ecological and Evolutionary Genomics: unique opportunity to compare and contrast methods, paradigms, and datasets 4 microbial and eukaryotic systems. I am thrilled to be co-chairing this with @samyeaman.bsky.social and welcome you to join us! www.grc.org/ecological-a...
Not a cocktail but it’ll do
February 20, 2025 at 10:51 PM
Not a cocktail but it’ll do
Reposted by Irene Newton
Very nice location for discussing evolution!
February 12, 2025 at 8:52 PM
Very nice location for discussing evolution!