Michael Emerman
@memerman.bsky.social
Emeritus Professor at Fred Hutch in Seattle. My lab studied HIV and other viruses. My main account is on Mastodon: @memerman@mstdn.science where I post about virology, hiking, biking and gardening. Here, mostly to follow virologists and other friends.
Reposted by Michael Emerman
Reposted by Michael Emerman
After years in the making, Joe McKellar @viroscope.bsky.social’s final PhD paper is finally out today in PNAS! 🎉 🎉🎉
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Human MX1 orchestrates the cytoplasmic sequestration of neosynthesized influenza A virus vRNPs | PNAS
Interferon-inducible Myxovirus resistance 1 (MX1) proteins are known to restrict influenza
A virus (IAV) transcription/replication process. Herein,...
www.pnas.org
October 7, 2025 at 6:26 PM
After years in the making, Joe McKellar @viroscope.bsky.social’s final PhD paper is finally out today in PNAS! 🎉 🎉🎉
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Reposted by Michael Emerman
New preprint alert! 🦟 <-> 🦠 <-> 🧑
I am thrilled to share our latest study on alphavirus host adaptation. More specifically, on how a single codon helps blunt alphavirus-induced host innate immune responses in mosquito and human cells. Continue reading for more!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
I am thrilled to share our latest study on alphavirus host adaptation. More specifically, on how a single codon helps blunt alphavirus-induced host innate immune responses in mosquito and human cells. Continue reading for more!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
The Sindbis virus nsP3 opal codon protects viral RNA and fitness by maintaining replication spherule integrity
Most alphaviruses encode an in-frame opal stop codon between nsP3 and nsP4 in their nsP ORF. This opal stop codon mediates a temperature-dependent balance between viral polymerase production and prote...
www.biorxiv.org
September 29, 2025 at 11:23 AM
New preprint alert! 🦟 <-> 🦠 <-> 🧑
I am thrilled to share our latest study on alphavirus host adaptation. More specifically, on how a single codon helps blunt alphavirus-induced host innate immune responses in mosquito and human cells. Continue reading for more!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
I am thrilled to share our latest study on alphavirus host adaptation. More specifically, on how a single codon helps blunt alphavirus-induced host innate immune responses in mosquito and human cells. Continue reading for more!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Michael Emerman
What @memerman.bsky.social learned from Howard Temin
September 12, 2025 at 3:50 PM
What @memerman.bsky.social learned from Howard Temin
Reposted by Michael Emerman
Reposted by Michael Emerman
New job offer in the team! If you're an experienced virologist (with a PhD), join us to work on Horizon Europe-funded APPEAL project in the vibrant city of Montpellier, South of France! euraxess.ec.europa.eu/jobs/359640
Research assistant (postdoc level) in molecular virology, EU-funded project APPEAL (Montpellier, France)
The research assistant with a PhD in molecular virology (RA, 'ingénieur de recherche' in French) will work on the Horizon Europe-funded APPEAL project involving 13 partners from 6 countries, including...
euraxess.ec.europa.eu
July 9, 2025 at 2:06 PM
New job offer in the team! If you're an experienced virologist (with a PhD), join us to work on Horizon Europe-funded APPEAL project in the vibrant city of Montpellier, South of France! euraxess.ec.europa.eu/jobs/359640
Reposted by Michael Emerman
He resolved that he would not stop either, even though it was a huge sacrifice on his part. I believe this is what we owe our trainees: so long as they are invested in their work, we must be as well, even if it seems like the world is on fire around us, both literally and figuratively. 10/
June 8, 2025 at 7:00 PM
He resolved that he would not stop either, even though it was a huge sacrifice on his part. I believe this is what we owe our trainees: so long as they are invested in their work, we must be as well, even if it seems like the world is on fire around us, both literally and figuratively. 10/
My Keynote Talk at the CSHL 50th annual meeting on Retroviruses is now online:
leadingstrand.cshl.edu/Keynote/Medi... Some more general parts such as ~ the 8'30" mark with the "What I learned from Howard Temin" slide and ~ the 40' mark with the "What is important to me in science" section.
leadingstrand.cshl.edu/Keynote/Medi... Some more general parts such as ~ the 8'30" mark with the "What I learned from Howard Temin" slide and ~ the 40' mark with the "What is important to me in science" section.
CSHL Leading Stand - Keynote Lecture Series
leadingstrand.cshl.edu
June 2, 2025 at 3:20 PM
My Keynote Talk at the CSHL 50th annual meeting on Retroviruses is now online:
leadingstrand.cshl.edu/Keynote/Medi... Some more general parts such as ~ the 8'30" mark with the "What I learned from Howard Temin" slide and ~ the 40' mark with the "What is important to me in science" section.
leadingstrand.cshl.edu/Keynote/Medi... Some more general parts such as ~ the 8'30" mark with the "What I learned from Howard Temin" slide and ~ the 40' mark with the "What is important to me in science" section.
Reposted by Michael Emerman
Thrilled to share our latest @cp-cell.bsky.social.
We present VICAR (VIral-induced Centromeric DNA Amplification and Recognition), a new defense system to detect viruses in the nucleus based on nuclear cGAS.
www.cell.com/cell/abstrac...
We present VICAR (VIral-induced Centromeric DNA Amplification and Recognition), a new defense system to detect viruses in the nucleus based on nuclear cGAS.
www.cell.com/cell/abstrac...
Centromeric DNA amplification triggered by viral proteins activates nuclear cGAS
Herpesvirus proteins disrupt centromeres, triggering centromeric DNA amplification
and local nuclear activation of the nucleic acid sensor cGAS. This reveals an immune
surveillance mechanism in the nu...
www.cell.com
June 2, 2025 at 3:14 PM
Thrilled to share our latest @cp-cell.bsky.social.
We present VICAR (VIral-induced Centromeric DNA Amplification and Recognition), a new defense system to detect viruses in the nucleus based on nuclear cGAS.
www.cell.com/cell/abstrac...
We present VICAR (VIral-induced Centromeric DNA Amplification and Recognition), a new defense system to detect viruses in the nucleus based on nuclear cGAS.
www.cell.com/cell/abstrac...
It was such beautiful day and retirement party!
May 30, 2025 at 9:37 PM
It was such beautiful day and retirement party!
Reposted by Michael Emerman
How much of the unfortunate, devastating history of that period are we hellbent on recreating in the US? Parents of autistic children would be crazy to trust information of their precious children to this effort.
May 9, 2025 at 2:05 PM
How much of the unfortunate, devastating history of that period are we hellbent on recreating in the US? Parents of autistic children would be crazy to trust information of their precious children to this effort.
Reposted by Michael Emerman
Yvette Raphael, Gilead Sciences—with special recognition of Moupali Das—and Wesley Sundquist have been awarded the Mani L. Bhaumik Breakthrough of the Year Award for their work on HIV drug lenacapavir. www.aaas.org/news/road-le...
May 8, 2025 at 2:05 PM
Yvette Raphael, Gilead Sciences—with special recognition of Moupali Das—and Wesley Sundquist have been awarded the Mani L. Bhaumik Breakthrough of the Year Award for their work on HIV drug lenacapavir. www.aaas.org/news/road-le...
Reposted by Michael Emerman
Really excited to share the final version of Rechel Geiger’s PhD thesis paper with help from friends
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Rechel is now back in medical school training to become a kickass physician-scientist
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Rechel is now back in medical school training to become a kickass physician-scientist
Heterozygous and generalist MxA super-restrictors overcome breadth-specificity trade-offs in antiviral restriction
Two evolutionary strategies allow the antiviral protein MxA to evolve simultaneous super-restriction against multiple viruses.
www.science.org
May 5, 2025 at 9:48 PM
Really excited to share the final version of Rechel Geiger’s PhD thesis paper with help from friends
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Rechel is now back in medical school training to become a kickass physician-scientist
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Rechel is now back in medical school training to become a kickass physician-scientist
Reposted by Michael Emerman
This paper completes a three paper arc (so far) performed by three remarkable students co-mentored by me and @memerman.bsky.social
Patrick Michell (@psmitchej.bsky.social) first identified loop L4 as the key interface with the NP proteins of orthomyxoviruses (pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23084925/)
Patrick Michell (@psmitchej.bsky.social) first identified loop L4 as the key interface with the NP proteins of orthomyxoviruses (pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23084925/)
May 5, 2025 at 10:33 PM
This paper completes a three paper arc (so far) performed by three remarkable students co-mentored by me and @memerman.bsky.social
Patrick Michell (@psmitchej.bsky.social) first identified loop L4 as the key interface with the NP proteins of orthomyxoviruses (pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23084925/)
Patrick Michell (@psmitchej.bsky.social) first identified loop L4 as the key interface with the NP proteins of orthomyxoviruses (pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23084925/)
Reposted by Michael Emerman
Our study exploring the evolutionary mechanism of alphavirus opal codon retention is now online! www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
A conserved opal termination codon optimizes a temperature-dependent trade-off between protein production and processing in alphaviruses
Alphaviruses optimize viral polymerase production and polyprotein processing at distinct temperatures via a premature stop codon.
www.science.org
April 18, 2025 at 10:43 PM
Our study exploring the evolutionary mechanism of alphavirus opal codon retention is now online! www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Reposted by Michael Emerman
My dear friend, collaborator and scientific hero is recognised as one of 100 most influential people in the world by TIME. Sometimes the good guys get the recognition they deserve.
healthcare.utah.edu/newsroom/new...
healthcare.utah.edu/newsroom/new...
Wesley Sundquist Named to TIME’s Annual TIME100 List of the 100 Most Influential People in the World
Research in the Sundquist lab laid the foundations for the development of lenacapavir, a drug that prevents HIV infection with 99.9% to 100% efficacy and could dramatically lower infection rates world...
healthcare.utah.edu
April 18, 2025 at 4:54 PM
My dear friend, collaborator and scientific hero is recognised as one of 100 most influential people in the world by TIME. Sometimes the good guys get the recognition they deserve.
healthcare.utah.edu/newsroom/new...
healthcare.utah.edu/newsroom/new...
Reposted by Michael Emerman
Federal funding of biomedical research has been a remarkably successful partnership, with benefits that are so intertwined in our daily lives that they can be easy to take for granted.
So what will we lose if the U.S. continues to defund research?
theconversation.com/cuts-to-scie...
So what will we lose if the U.S. continues to defund research?
theconversation.com/cuts-to-scie...
Cuts to science research funding cut American lives short − federal support is essential for medical breakthroughs
The National Institutes of Health has been integral to scientific progress in treating countless human diseases. Without its support, patients will ultimately pay the price.
theconversation.com
March 28, 2025 at 4:08 PM
Federal funding of biomedical research has been a remarkably successful partnership, with benefits that are so intertwined in our daily lives that they can be easy to take for granted.
So what will we lose if the U.S. continues to defund research?
theconversation.com/cuts-to-scie...
So what will we lose if the U.S. continues to defund research?
theconversation.com/cuts-to-scie...
Reposted by Michael Emerman
Proud of this work, led by the amazing Jeannette Tenthorey (now Assistant Professor at UCSF), demonstrating the adaptive power of single indel mutations in host-virus arms races, but a little sad that this is the coda to her amazing postdoc in the Malik & Emerman labs.
www.cell.com/cell-genomic...
www.cell.com/cell-genomic...
Indels allow antiviral proteins to evolve functional novelty inaccessible by missense mutations
Tenthorey et al. compare the effects of missense and indel mutations on the acquisition
of functional novelty by the rapidly evolving antiviral protein TRIM5α. They find
that single indel mutations al...
www.cell.com
March 27, 2025 at 9:36 PM
Proud of this work, led by the amazing Jeannette Tenthorey (now Assistant Professor at UCSF), demonstrating the adaptive power of single indel mutations in host-virus arms races, but a little sad that this is the coda to her amazing postdoc in the Malik & Emerman labs.
www.cell.com/cell-genomic...
www.cell.com/cell-genomic...
Reposted by Michael Emerman
Yesterday when I talked to @maxkozlov.bsky.social about this, I wondered which of my NIH-funded colleagues would have their grants cut.
All of them. Research on pandemic viruses has now ground to a screeching halt in the US.
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
All of them. Research on pandemic viruses has now ground to a screeching halt in the US.
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Exclusive: NIH to cut grants for COVID research, documents reveal
Studies on climate change and South Africa are also on the latest list of grants to be terminated, according to updated documents obtained by Nature.
www.nature.com
March 26, 2025 at 2:11 PM
Yesterday when I talked to @maxkozlov.bsky.social about this, I wondered which of my NIH-funded colleagues would have their grants cut.
All of them. Research on pandemic viruses has now ground to a screeching halt in the US.
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
All of them. Research on pandemic viruses has now ground to a screeching halt in the US.
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Reposted by Michael Emerman
Furthermore, his wife, Betsy Arakawa, died of a virus that most people have not even heard about. Hantavirus is a rare virus, but has a very high mortality. As a virologist, I am greatly concerned about RFK Jr.'s threat:" We're going to give infectious disease a break for about eight years".
As we learn Gene Hackman had severe Alzheimer’s, we find out that Trump and Musk are killing research into Alzheimer’s cures.
The Trump/Musk crime spree has to be stopped. Get their hands off our government.
The Trump/Musk crime spree has to be stopped. Get their hands off our government.
🧪The Alzheimer's Disease Research Center program is a crown jewel in the NIA's funding portfolio. 35 centers in red, blue and purple states put data in a single repository working towards a shared goal of curing AD. Funding for center renewals is on hold.
tinyurl.com/yc2pr626
#standupforscience2025
tinyurl.com/yc2pr626
#standupforscience2025
March 9, 2025 at 8:47 PM
Furthermore, his wife, Betsy Arakawa, died of a virus that most people have not even heard about. Hantavirus is a rare virus, but has a very high mortality. As a virologist, I am greatly concerned about RFK Jr.'s threat:" We're going to give infectious disease a break for about eight years".
Reposted by Michael Emerman
Hope to see many of my colleagues on Friday.
www.eventbrite.com/e/stand-up-f...
Science is for everyone.
For everyone to do, and for everyone to benefit from.
Weather forecast has also improved for Friday, but waterproof your posters just in case.
www.eventbrite.com/e/stand-up-f...
Science is for everyone.
For everyone to do, and for everyone to benefit from.
Weather forecast has also improved for Friday, but waterproof your posters just in case.
Stand Up for Science 2025 - Seattle, WA
Stand up for science with us on March 7th, 2025, because science is for everyone! More info at www.standupforscience2025.org
www.eventbrite.com
March 4, 2025 at 9:27 PM
Hope to see many of my colleagues on Friday.
www.eventbrite.com/e/stand-up-f...
Science is for everyone.
For everyone to do, and for everyone to benefit from.
Weather forecast has also improved for Friday, but waterproof your posters just in case.
www.eventbrite.com/e/stand-up-f...
Science is for everyone.
For everyone to do, and for everyone to benefit from.
Weather forecast has also improved for Friday, but waterproof your posters just in case.
Reposted by Michael Emerman
Sad to share news of the loss of a virology legend after a long battle with cancer. We will miss you dearly, Ann Palmenberg. www.cressfuneralservice.com/obituaries/a...
Ann Carol Palmenberg, Ph.D Obituary February 20, 2025 - Cress Funeral and Cremation Services
View Ann Carol Palmenberg, Ph.D's obituary, find service dates, and sign the guestbook.
www.cressfuneralservice.com
March 2, 2025 at 8:48 PM
Sad to share news of the loss of a virology legend after a long battle with cancer. We will miss you dearly, Ann Palmenberg. www.cressfuneralservice.com/obituaries/a...
Reposted by Michael Emerman
Today we’re celebrating Dr. Jon Cooper’s retirement and his 40 years in Basic Sciences @fredhutch.bsky.social. We’re grateful for his many contributions to science and his service to Fred Hutch and the division, including serving nine years as division director. Congrats Jon!
February 27, 2025 at 11:00 PM
Today we’re celebrating Dr. Jon Cooper’s retirement and his 40 years in Basic Sciences @fredhutch.bsky.social. We’re grateful for his many contributions to science and his service to Fred Hutch and the division, including serving nine years as division director. Congrats Jon!
Reposted by Michael Emerman
Patrick Mitchell (@psmitchej.bsky.social), Thornton Thompson and I wrote an OpEd, with support from 650+ biomedical researchers across Washington State (450+ at time of submission).
www.heraldnet.com/opinion/comm...
List: www.moltkelab.com/s/NIH-OpEd-S...
www.heraldnet.com/opinion/comm...
List: www.moltkelab.com/s/NIH-OpEd-S...
Comment: Pending cuts to medical research would harm all in state | HeraldNet.com
As UW medical scientists, we urge Washingtonians to defend the NIH’s life-saving research funding.
www.heraldnet.com
February 21, 2025 at 6:17 PM
Patrick Mitchell (@psmitchej.bsky.social), Thornton Thompson and I wrote an OpEd, with support from 650+ biomedical researchers across Washington State (450+ at time of submission).
www.heraldnet.com/opinion/comm...
List: www.moltkelab.com/s/NIH-OpEd-S...
www.heraldnet.com/opinion/comm...
List: www.moltkelab.com/s/NIH-OpEd-S...
Reposted by Michael Emerman
👀Our latest work, led by Amandine Le Corf fantastic PhD student alumni @biorxivpreprint.bsky.social . Great collab @denard.bsky.social @psudmant.bsky.social
Genomic and functional #adaptations in #GBP5 highlight specificities of #bat antiviral innate #immunity 🦇🦠
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Genomic and functional #adaptations in #GBP5 highlight specificities of #bat antiviral innate #immunity 🦇🦠
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org
February 17, 2025 at 5:25 PM
👀Our latest work, led by Amandine Le Corf fantastic PhD student alumni @biorxivpreprint.bsky.social . Great collab @denard.bsky.social @psudmant.bsky.social
Genomic and functional #adaptations in #GBP5 highlight specificities of #bat antiviral innate #immunity 🦇🦠
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Genomic and functional #adaptations in #GBP5 highlight specificities of #bat antiviral innate #immunity 🦇🦠
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...