iela Santiago
@ielasantiago.bsky.social
ecology and evolution of microbes and their hosts 🦠🐭 | PhD candidate @ Dartmouth Biological Sciences | MBiol alum @ Oxford Biology | she/her/siya 🌺
Reposted by iela Santiago
Vibrio cholerae interaction with predatory bacteria on chitin suggests an alternative mode of biofilm formation in marine snow conditions
bioRxiv from Carey Nadell
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
bioRxiv from Carey Nadell
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Vibrio cholerae interaction with predatory bacteria on chitin suggests an alternative mode of biofilm formation in marine snow conditions
Vibrio cholerae is a ubiquitous marine microbe that solubilizes and consumes chitin in the marine water column. In both the marine environment and the intestinal track, V. cholerae forms biofilms; a k...
www.biorxiv.org
November 27, 2025 at 12:22 PM
Vibrio cholerae interaction with predatory bacteria on chitin suggests an alternative mode of biofilm formation in marine snow conditions
bioRxiv from Carey Nadell
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
bioRxiv from Carey Nadell
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by iela Santiago
one of the coolest things about ChatGPT is how you can actually just never use it. you can fill your whole entire life with simply not once using it. it's incredible.
November 25, 2025 at 4:15 PM
one of the coolest things about ChatGPT is how you can actually just never use it. you can fill your whole entire life with simply not once using it. it's incredible.
Reposted by iela Santiago
Be the reason your local indie bookstore stays in business this holiday season
November 18, 2025 at 7:11 PM
Be the reason your local indie bookstore stays in business this holiday season
Reposted by iela Santiago
'Most monarchs weigh 500 to 600 milligrams, so each tag-bearing migrator making the transcontinental journey is, by weight, equivalent to a half-raisin carrying three uncooked grains of rice.'
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/17/s...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/17/s...
We Can Now Track Individual Monarch Butterflies. It’s a Revelation.
www.nytimes.com
November 18, 2025 at 4:12 PM
'Most monarchs weigh 500 to 600 milligrams, so each tag-bearing migrator making the transcontinental journey is, by weight, equivalent to a half-raisin carrying three uncooked grains of rice.'
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/17/s...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/17/s...
Reposted by iela Santiago
Reposted by iela Santiago
Baby pigeon mystery.
My pigeon book is here: www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/rosem...
My pigeon book is here: www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/rosem...
November 11, 2025 at 3:10 PM
Baby pigeon mystery.
My pigeon book is here: www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/rosem...
My pigeon book is here: www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/rosem...
Reposted by iela Santiago
lol
November 6, 2025 at 4:47 AM
lol
Reposted by iela Santiago
There are actually only two genders and they are (i) being and (ii) becoming
October 22, 2025 at 4:32 AM
There are actually only two genders and they are (i) being and (ii) becoming
Reposted by iela Santiago
Here's a T. Rex bored to death trying to bite their own tail. My partner asked me to animate it in stop motion, after she watched a video about the very important topic of "could T. Rex chew its own tail like a dog". The puppet is still a work in progress 🦖
October 15, 2025 at 1:35 AM
Here's a T. Rex bored to death trying to bite their own tail. My partner asked me to animate it in stop motion, after she watched a video about the very important topic of "could T. Rex chew its own tail like a dog". The puppet is still a work in progress 🦖
Reposted by iela Santiago
Tiny fossils called foraminifera lie buried in marine sediments.
Their shells display astonishing diversity from spiraling forms to chambered clusters and even architectures that resemble miniature buildings.
But what if this morphological variety could be explained by only a few simple rules? 1/n
Their shells display astonishing diversity from spiraling forms to chambered clusters and even architectures that resemble miniature buildings.
But what if this morphological variety could be explained by only a few simple rules? 1/n
October 5, 2025 at 10:18 AM
Tiny fossils called foraminifera lie buried in marine sediments.
Their shells display astonishing diversity from spiraling forms to chambered clusters and even architectures that resemble miniature buildings.
But what if this morphological variety could be explained by only a few simple rules? 1/n
Their shells display astonishing diversity from spiraling forms to chambered clusters and even architectures that resemble miniature buildings.
But what if this morphological variety could be explained by only a few simple rules? 1/n
Reposted by iela Santiago
Whatever you're doing, STOP RIGHT THIS SECOND and watch a sperm whale gulp down a squid, I promise you will not regret it
I get that the news cycle is packed right now, but I just heard from a colleague at the Smithsonian that this is fully a GIANT SQUID BEING EATEN BY A SPERM WHALE and it’s possibly the first ever confirmed video according to a friend at NOAA
10 YEAR OLD ME IS LOSING HER MIND (a thread 🧵)
10 YEAR OLD ME IS LOSING HER MIND (a thread 🧵)
September 24, 2025 at 9:07 PM
Whatever you're doing, STOP RIGHT THIS SECOND and watch a sperm whale gulp down a squid, I promise you will not regret it
Reposted by iela Santiago
The Royal Society's Francis Crick Medal and Lecture 2026 is awarded to Professor Kayla King for contributions to the fields of evolutionary biology and genetics of infectious disease. #RSMedals https://royalsociety.org/medals-and-prizes/francis-crick-lecture/
August 29, 2025 at 7:56 AM
The Royal Society's Francis Crick Medal and Lecture 2026 is awarded to Professor Kayla King for contributions to the fields of evolutionary biology and genetics of infectious disease. #RSMedals https://royalsociety.org/medals-and-prizes/francis-crick-lecture/
Reposted by iela Santiago
"Pat, why do you carry that ridiculous 600mm lens on long hikes?"
Buddy, I can see mountains reflected in the eyes of a trailside pika.
Buddy, I can see mountains reflected in the eyes of a trailside pika.
August 28, 2025 at 4:18 PM
"Pat, why do you carry that ridiculous 600mm lens on long hikes?"
Buddy, I can see mountains reflected in the eyes of a trailside pika.
Buddy, I can see mountains reflected in the eyes of a trailside pika.
Reposted by iela Santiago
I'm excited to announce our new biorxiv preprint, wherein we investigate the evolution of the weirdest genetic locus I've ever seen! Behold the tgr genes of the social amoeba, which mediate self/non-self discrimination during facultative multicellularity 🐅 🧵 1/
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Hypermutable hotspot enables the rapid evolution of self/non-self recognition genes in Dictyostelium
Cells require highly polymorphic receptors to perform accurate self/non-self recognition. In the amoeba Dicytostelium discoideum, polymorphic TgrB1 & TgrC1 proteins are used to bind sister cells and e...
www.biorxiv.org
August 5, 2025 at 12:56 AM
I'm excited to announce our new biorxiv preprint, wherein we investigate the evolution of the weirdest genetic locus I've ever seen! Behold the tgr genes of the social amoeba, which mediate self/non-self discrimination during facultative multicellularity 🐅 🧵 1/
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by iela Santiago
Reposted by iela Santiago
I'm seeing another drop off in alt text. You can check the box in your settings to get reminders! Make sure to do it on all your devices.
July 18, 2025 at 1:14 PM
I'm seeing another drop off in alt text. You can check the box in your settings to get reminders! Make sure to do it on all your devices.
Reposted by iela Santiago
The Xue lab at UC Irvine is looking for a staff scientist to support our work investigating how microbes interact and evolve in the gut microbiome! Open to a wide range of previous experience levels, see ad for more.
recruit.ap.uci.edu/JPF09601
recruit.ap.uci.edu/JPF09601
Junior, Assistant, or Associate Specialist – Xue Lab
University of California, Irvine is hiring. Apply now!
recruit.ap.uci.edu
July 17, 2025 at 8:32 PM
The Xue lab at UC Irvine is looking for a staff scientist to support our work investigating how microbes interact and evolve in the gut microbiome! Open to a wide range of previous experience levels, see ad for more.
recruit.ap.uci.edu/JPF09601
recruit.ap.uci.edu/JPF09601
Reposted by iela Santiago
These NPG spinoff journals are out of control
June 29, 2025 at 4:50 PM
These NPG spinoff journals are out of control
Reposted by iela Santiago
Other side of this, we really gotta start teaching kids about/in a production model of knowledge rather than a discovery one. *Way* too many people still seem to think that knowledge & research just like… happen, w/o the entangled embedded infrastructural systems of universities, libraries, labs, &c
June 5, 2025 at 2:44 PM
Other side of this, we really gotta start teaching kids about/in a production model of knowledge rather than a discovery one. *Way* too many people still seem to think that knowledge & research just like… happen, w/o the entangled embedded infrastructural systems of universities, libraries, labs, &c
Reposted by iela Santiago
Tarsiers are weird little weirdo primates that hunt insects and small lizards nocturnally.
Their eyes are so big that they don’t move independently of the head. They can also turn their head all the way around.
Their eyes are so big that they don’t move independently of the head. They can also turn their head all the way around.
June 22, 2025 at 3:04 AM
Tarsiers are weird little weirdo primates that hunt insects and small lizards nocturnally.
Their eyes are so big that they don’t move independently of the head. They can also turn their head all the way around.
Their eyes are so big that they don’t move independently of the head. They can also turn their head all the way around.
Reposted by iela Santiago
Our new paper, just out “Superspreaders have lower gut microbial alpha-diversity and distinct gut microbial composition in a natural rodent population”.
Highlights gut microbial signatures for those individuals that have the potential to spread the most infectious disease.
doi.org/10.1186/s425...
Highlights gut microbial signatures for those individuals that have the potential to spread the most infectious disease.
doi.org/10.1186/s425...
Superspreaders have lower gut microbial alpha-diversity and distinct gut microbial composition in a natural rodent population - Animal Microbiome
The microbiome is well known to drive variation in host states (e.g. behaviour, immunity) that would be expected to modulate the spread of infectious disease—but the role of microbiotal interactions i...
doi.org
May 6, 2025 at 8:58 AM
Our new paper, just out “Superspreaders have lower gut microbial alpha-diversity and distinct gut microbial composition in a natural rodent population”.
Highlights gut microbial signatures for those individuals that have the potential to spread the most infectious disease.
doi.org/10.1186/s425...
Highlights gut microbial signatures for those individuals that have the potential to spread the most infectious disease.
doi.org/10.1186/s425...
Reposted by iela Santiago
I put together a small guide on how to get started with Fiji. Please distribute to anyone who might benefit form this! zenodo.org/records/1477... #imageanalysis #fiji #imagej #training
Image handling using Fiji - training materials
Description:This training package provides a guide to image processing and analysis using ImageJ/Fiji, an open-source software widely used in biological and medical imaging. The manual includes step-b...
zenodo.org
January 30, 2025 at 3:10 PM
I put together a small guide on how to get started with Fiji. Please distribute to anyone who might benefit form this! zenodo.org/records/1477... #imageanalysis #fiji #imagej #training
Reposted by iela Santiago
ANYWAY, sorry, here's a bird. Pause and regard the bird. The bird is happy, for the bird has found a peanut. May we all find the small joy of finding a tasty snack today.
(photo by me)
(photo by me)
January 29, 2025 at 3:09 PM
ANYWAY, sorry, here's a bird. Pause and regard the bird. The bird is happy, for the bird has found a peanut. May we all find the small joy of finding a tasty snack today.
(photo by me)
(photo by me)
Reposted by iela Santiago
Happy final #FluorescenceFriday of 2024!
December 27, 2024 at 11:22 PM
Happy final #FluorescenceFriday of 2024!
Reposted by iela Santiago
