Kate Morton, PhD
@kmortpro.bsky.social
First-gen | postdoctoral scientist in the Wojtovich Lab | mitochondrial redox stress and environmental toxicology 🧪🔬
Views are my own.
Views are my own.
Reposted by Kate Morton, PhD
Horrifying.
I really hope there is some sort of information embedded in these AI generated "data" image files that journals will be able to use to identify this type of fabrication. 🧪
I suspect zero chance a reviewer would identify this as being fake.
I really hope there is some sort of information embedded in these AI generated "data" image files that journals will be able to use to identify this type of fabrication. 🧪
I suspect zero chance a reviewer would identify this as being fake.
Finally the scary example. The image of a western blot with a time course experiment, staining a protein of interest, showing the increase of protein over time and a second staining with a control antibody that does not change over time
November 21, 2025 at 3:10 PM
Horrifying.
I really hope there is some sort of information embedded in these AI generated "data" image files that journals will be able to use to identify this type of fabrication. 🧪
I suspect zero chance a reviewer would identify this as being fake.
I really hope there is some sort of information embedded in these AI generated "data" image files that journals will be able to use to identify this type of fabrication. 🧪
I suspect zero chance a reviewer would identify this as being fake.
Reposted by Kate Morton, PhD
Congratulations @kev-in-situ-et.bsky.social and the whole team on in situ cryo-ET images of OA-induced mitochondria damage and Parkin-dependent mitophagy out now tinyurl.com/25b82cp4. We couldn't have done it without in situ guru @wilflinglab.bsky.social and mito guru @samlewis.bsky.social .
July 31, 2025 at 7:02 PM
Congratulations @kev-in-situ-et.bsky.social and the whole team on in situ cryo-ET images of OA-induced mitochondria damage and Parkin-dependent mitophagy out now tinyurl.com/25b82cp4. We couldn't have done it without in situ guru @wilflinglab.bsky.social and mito guru @samlewis.bsky.social .
Reposted by Kate Morton, PhD
This is the response to Ted Cruz and alike that was needed long ago 👇
“Why Are We Funding This?”
Long-standing myths about “silly science” have contributed to the reckless slashing of government-supported research.
www.americanscientist.org
July 31, 2025 at 1:51 AM
This is the response to Ted Cruz and alike that was needed long ago 👇
Reposted by Kate Morton, PhD
"The myth of meritocracy in science collapses under the financial sacrifices expected at every career stage. From unpaid internships and self-funded conferences to underpaid positions, these hidden costs disproportionately exclude those without generational wealth, compounded by race and gender."
Too poor to science: How wealth determines who succeeds in STEM
From student to researcher, a career in science can come with a high price tag. This Perspective explores how persistent financial barriers limit who can succeed in science, revealing how wealth shape...
dx.plos.org
July 10, 2025 at 1:00 PM
"The myth of meritocracy in science collapses under the financial sacrifices expected at every career stage. From unpaid internships and self-funded conferences to underpaid positions, these hidden costs disproportionately exclude those without generational wealth, compounded by race and gender."
Reposted by Kate Morton, PhD
🚨 Where does #lipid peroxidation kick off in #ferroptosis? 🔥Excited to reveal #ER- #mitochondria #contactsites as the ignition point of the lipid peroxidation cascade! Huge kudos to our Maria Livia Sassano @mariamls.bsky.social & our amazing collaborators who made this breakthrough possible!
Endoplasmic reticulum–mitochondria contacts are prime hotspots of phospholipid peroxidation driving ferroptosis - Nature Cell Biology
Sassano et al. identify endoplasmic reticulum–mitochondria contact sites as the intracellular location where phospholipid peroxidation first occurs to promote ferroptosis. Manipulating these contact s...
doi.org
June 13, 2025 at 10:31 AM
🚨 Where does #lipid peroxidation kick off in #ferroptosis? 🔥Excited to reveal #ER- #mitochondria #contactsites as the ignition point of the lipid peroxidation cascade! Huge kudos to our Maria Livia Sassano @mariamls.bsky.social & our amazing collaborators who made this breakthrough possible!
Reposted by Kate Morton, PhD
Deaths from heart disease down 75%, that’s NIH.
Deaths from stroke down 75%, that’s NIH.
HIV/AIDS no longer a death sentence, that’s NIH.
99% of FDA approved drugs in the last decade, that’s NIH.
Please show this video to anyone who doesn’t understand why the NIH is so important.
Deaths from stroke down 75%, that’s NIH.
HIV/AIDS no longer a death sentence, that’s NIH.
99% of FDA approved drugs in the last decade, that’s NIH.
Please show this video to anyone who doesn’t understand why the NIH is so important.
April 28, 2025 at 5:20 PM
Deaths from heart disease down 75%, that’s NIH.
Deaths from stroke down 75%, that’s NIH.
HIV/AIDS no longer a death sentence, that’s NIH.
99% of FDA approved drugs in the last decade, that’s NIH.
Please show this video to anyone who doesn’t understand why the NIH is so important.
Deaths from stroke down 75%, that’s NIH.
HIV/AIDS no longer a death sentence, that’s NIH.
99% of FDA approved drugs in the last decade, that’s NIH.
Please show this video to anyone who doesn’t understand why the NIH is so important.
Reposted by Kate Morton, PhD
New work from Zaman et al., in the Shutt Lab @mitomorph.bsky.social, describes a novel variant in MFN2 linked to mtDNA-mediated inflammation and muscle myopathy
www.life-science-alliance.org/content/8/6/...
www.life-science-alliance.org/content/8/6/...
April 4, 2025 at 5:38 PM
New work from Zaman et al., in the Shutt Lab @mitomorph.bsky.social, describes a novel variant in MFN2 linked to mtDNA-mediated inflammation and muscle myopathy
www.life-science-alliance.org/content/8/6/...
www.life-science-alliance.org/content/8/6/...
Reposted by Kate Morton, PhD
#Covid highlighted gaps in our understanding of the role that air pollution plays in infections.
A new study of >3 m people found #airpollution increases your chances of hospitalisation with lower respiratory infections.
Piece by me. Study by @isglobal.org
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
A new study of >3 m people found #airpollution increases your chances of hospitalisation with lower respiratory infections.
Piece by me. Study by @isglobal.org
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Are rising lower respiratory infection hospital admissions linked to dirty air?
As LRIs put pressure on health services, a Spanish-led study examines what role exposure to air pollution may play
www.theguardian.com
April 4, 2025 at 7:54 AM
#Covid highlighted gaps in our understanding of the role that air pollution plays in infections.
A new study of >3 m people found #airpollution increases your chances of hospitalisation with lower respiratory infections.
Piece by me. Study by @isglobal.org
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
A new study of >3 m people found #airpollution increases your chances of hospitalisation with lower respiratory infections.
Piece by me. Study by @isglobal.org
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Reposted by Kate Morton, PhD
The massive changes in US research brought about by the new administration of President Donald Trump are causing many scientists in the country to rethink their lives and careers
https://go.nature.com/41OhAgK
https://go.nature.com/41OhAgK
75% of US scientists who answered Nature poll consider leaving
More than 1,600 readers answered our poll; many said they were looking for jobs in Europe and Canada.
go.nature.com
March 27, 2025 at 2:14 PM
The massive changes in US research brought about by the new administration of President Donald Trump are causing many scientists in the country to rethink their lives and careers
https://go.nature.com/41OhAgK
https://go.nature.com/41OhAgK
Reposted by Kate Morton, PhD
Mitochondria transplantation transiently rescues cerebellar neurodegeneration improving mitochondrial function and reducing mitophagy in mice www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Mitochondria transplantation transiently rescues cerebellar neurodegeneration improving mitochondrial function and reducing mitophagy in mice - Nature Communications
Cerebellar ataxia, a hallmark of cerebellar degeneration (CBND), is driven by mitochondrial dysfunction in Purkinje cells. In this study, transplanting mitochondria into CBND mice improve mitochondria...
www.nature.com
March 23, 2025 at 3:29 PM
Mitochondria transplantation transiently rescues cerebellar neurodegeneration improving mitochondrial function and reducing mitophagy in mice www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Kate Morton, PhD
In a new Science study, cryo–electron tomography captures the in-cell architecture of the mitochondrial respiratory chain, illuminating how the coordinated action of molecular machines drives life’s fundamental energy conversion.
Learn more in this week's issue: scim.ag/3FA3Ygq
Learn more in this week's issue: scim.ag/3FA3Ygq
March 20, 2025 at 6:05 PM
In a new Science study, cryo–electron tomography captures the in-cell architecture of the mitochondrial respiratory chain, illuminating how the coordinated action of molecular machines drives life’s fundamental energy conversion.
Learn more in this week's issue: scim.ag/3FA3Ygq
Learn more in this week's issue: scim.ag/3FA3Ygq
Reposted by Kate Morton, PhD
New study 🧪 on the long-term consequences of the destruction of the Kakhovka dam 🇺🇦 by my @leibnizigb.bsky.social colleagues Oleksandra Shumilova, Alexander Sukhodolov et al in @science.org
news coverage in the @theguardian.com
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/m...
news coverage in the @theguardian.com
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/m...
March 14, 2025 at 2:22 PM
New study 🧪 on the long-term consequences of the destruction of the Kakhovka dam 🇺🇦 by my @leibnizigb.bsky.social colleagues Oleksandra Shumilova, Alexander Sukhodolov et al in @science.org
news coverage in the @theguardian.com
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/m...
news coverage in the @theguardian.com
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/m...
Reposted by Kate Morton, PhD
Confirming that public access to NIH's employee directory will be taken down THIS EVENING, according to an email to staff.
Per a source with knowledge, external access to NIH's Enterprise Directory, which includes names and work contact info for NIH staff and contractors, may be shut off by tomorrow night. It is working as of now.
ned.nih.gov/search/
ned.nih.gov/search/
March 13, 2025 at 6:05 PM
Confirming that public access to NIH's employee directory will be taken down THIS EVENING, according to an email to staff.
Reposted by Kate Morton, PhD
"an entire class of future scientists has been wiped out" arstechnica.com/health/2025/...
UMass disbands its entering biomed graduate class over Trump funding chaos
Schools across the country are cutting back as US research takes “severe blow.”…
arstechnica.com
March 14, 2025 at 11:55 AM
"an entire class of future scientists has been wiped out" arstechnica.com/health/2025/...
Reposted by Kate Morton, PhD
From the other site... (from EVP at Columbia to a training grant director)
March 11, 2025 at 5:34 PM
From the other site... (from EVP at Columbia to a training grant director)
Reposted by Kate Morton, PhD
Microplastics are facilitating antibiotic resistance
journals.asm.org/doi/epub/10.... open-access
journals.asm.org/doi/epub/10.... open-access
March 11, 2025 at 2:28 PM
Microplastics are facilitating antibiotic resistance
journals.asm.org/doi/epub/10.... open-access
journals.asm.org/doi/epub/10.... open-access
Reposted by Kate Morton, PhD
Engineering mtDNA deletions by reconstituting end joining in human mitochondria
Engineering mtDNA deletions by reconstituting end joining in human mitochondria
Combined expression of a mitochondrially targeted endonuclease and end-joining machinery
enables formation of mtDNA deletions with a broad range of heteroplasmy.
www.cell.com
March 10, 2025 at 8:28 PM
Engineering mtDNA deletions by reconstituting end joining in human mitochondria
Reposted by Kate Morton, PhD
I'm standing up for science because it is my dream. An INBRE undergraduate summer program gave my first taste of lab work. The NSF GRFP supported my PhD and I learned to science. And with the support of NIH I got my dream job running a lab. I'm standing up so students can have their dreams, too.
Tell us your story!
We want to know—why are YOU standing up for science?
Whether it's a commitment to evidence-based policy, a drive to protect our planet, or the personal impact of recent events on your career, we want to feature your story.
Head to standupforscience2025.org/science-stor... to share yours ☀️
Whether it's a commitment to evidence-based policy, a drive to protect our planet, or the personal impact of recent events on your career, we want to feature your story.
Head to standupforscience2025.org/science-stor... to share yours ☀️
March 5, 2025 at 12:55 PM
I'm standing up for science because it is my dream. An INBRE undergraduate summer program gave my first taste of lab work. The NSF GRFP supported my PhD and I learned to science. And with the support of NIH I got my dream job running a lab. I'm standing up so students can have their dreams, too.
Reposted by Kate Morton, PhD
Structure of mitochondrial pyruvate carrier and its inhibition mechanism
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Structure of mitochondrial pyruvate carrier and its inhibition mechanism - Nature
Structural findings define the architecture of the mitochondrial pyruvate carrier, delineate its substrate-binding site and translocation pathway, and reveal its major conformational states, providing...
www.nature.com
March 5, 2025 at 5:43 PM
Structure of mitochondrial pyruvate carrier and its inhibition mechanism
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Kate Morton, PhD
Trump just talked about chemicals causing childhood cancer while his administration drops a lawsuit against a chemical manufacturer that is causing childhood cancer. #SOTU #JointAddress
Trump Administration Said to Drop Lawsuit Over Toxic Chemical
The Biden administration had sued to force the Denka Performance Elastomer plant in Louisiana to reduce emissions of chloroprene, a likely carcinogen.
www.nytimes.com
March 5, 2025 at 3:35 AM
Trump just talked about chemicals causing childhood cancer while his administration drops a lawsuit against a chemical manufacturer that is causing childhood cancer. #SOTU #JointAddress
Excited to share this! Using a combination of light-activated superoxide anion production, chemical inhibitors, and S1QEL1.1, an inhibitor of CI Q-site electron leak, we show that CI superoxide anion production can drive dopaminergic neurodegeneration. #mitochondria #Celegans #science🧪
Complex I superoxide anion production is necessary and sufficient for complex I inhibitor-induced dopaminergic neurodegeneration in Caenorhabditis elegans
Parkinson's Disease (PD) is the 2nd most prevalent neurodegenerative disease, but there is currently no cure and limited understanding of the pathogen…
www.sciencedirect.com
February 20, 2025 at 1:22 PM
Excited to share this! Using a combination of light-activated superoxide anion production, chemical inhibitors, and S1QEL1.1, an inhibitor of CI Q-site electron leak, we show that CI superoxide anion production can drive dopaminergic neurodegeneration. #mitochondria #Celegans #science🧪
Reposted by Kate Morton, PhD
Astonishing paper that makes you question if you truly understand #mitochondrial dynamics 😅 The complexity of Parkin, Oma1, Opa1, Mfn1 in coordinating mitochondrial fitness. The story of Megamitochondria with MegaDNA and an overwhelming amount of mouse crosses
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Dual regulation of mitochondrial fusion by Parkin–PINK1 and OMA1 - Nature
We find that, in mice, although the individual loss of Parkin or OMA1 does not affect mitochondrial integrity, their combined loss results in small body size, low locomotor activity, premature death, ...
www.nature.com
February 20, 2025 at 9:46 AM
Astonishing paper that makes you question if you truly understand #mitochondrial dynamics 😅 The complexity of Parkin, Oma1, Opa1, Mfn1 in coordinating mitochondrial fitness. The story of Megamitochondria with MegaDNA and an overwhelming amount of mouse crosses
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Kate Morton, PhD
Researchers discovered that long-term #intermittentfasting might be unsafe for teenagers, as it can disrupt the development of #insulin-producing #betacells and potentially raise the risk of #metabolicdisorders: go.tum.de/160744
@www.helmholtz-munich.de @barteltlab.bsky.social
📷L.Matta
@www.helmholtz-munich.de @barteltlab.bsky.social
📷L.Matta
Intermittent fasting could be unsafe for teenagers
Long-term intermittent fasting in adolescents may disrupt the development of beta cells, which are important for insulin production.
go.tum.de
February 13, 2025 at 10:37 AM
Researchers discovered that long-term #intermittentfasting might be unsafe for teenagers, as it can disrupt the development of #insulin-producing #betacells and potentially raise the risk of #metabolicdisorders: go.tum.de/160744
@www.helmholtz-munich.de @barteltlab.bsky.social
📷L.Matta
@www.helmholtz-munich.de @barteltlab.bsky.social
📷L.Matta
Reposted by Kate Morton, PhD
Reposted by Kate Morton, PhD
History repeating itself, this time with #PFOS. 🧵
"The fertilizer was promoted as an environmental win-win for years."
www.texastribune.org/2024/12/02/t...
"The fertilizer was promoted as an environmental win-win for years."
www.texastribune.org/2024/12/02/t...
Texas farmers say sewage-based fertilizer tainted with “forever chemicals” poisoned their land and killed their livestock
The fertilizer was promoted as an environmental win-win for years. An untold number of farmers and ranchers across Texas have spread it on their land.
www.texastribune.org
December 4, 2024 at 5:12 PM
History repeating itself, this time with #PFOS. 🧵
"The fertilizer was promoted as an environmental win-win for years."
www.texastribune.org/2024/12/02/t...
"The fertilizer was promoted as an environmental win-win for years."
www.texastribune.org/2024/12/02/t...