Devang Mehta🌱🧬
@mehta-lab.com
Leading the Experimental Plant Systems Biology Lab at KU Leuven 🇧🇪. Previously at UAlberta 🇨🇦, ETH_Zurich🇨🇭, Imperial College London 🇬🇧, VIT University 🇮🇳.
Fmr Early Career Advisor @eLife, @biorxiv affiliate
he/him
mehta-lab.com
Fmr Early Career Advisor @eLife, @biorxiv affiliate
he/him
mehta-lab.com
Pinned
Devang Mehta🌱🧬
@mehta-lab.com
· Nov 14
Just a moment...
www.science.org
By way of (re)introduction, here's a repost of a short 🧵 about our latest study published in Science Advances:
We discovered that plants sense the duration of TWILIGHT🌅, giving us a new insight how plants measure the length of a day!
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adl3199
We discovered that plants sense the duration of TWILIGHT🌅, giving us a new insight how plants measure the length of a day!
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adl3199
Reposted by Devang Mehta🌱🧬
Getting Rosalind Franklin’s story right is crucial, because she has become a role model for women going into science
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
What Rosalind Franklin truly contributed to the discovery of DNA’s structure
Franklin was no victim in how the DNA double helix was solved. An overlooked letter and an unpublished news article, both written in 1953, reveal that she was an equal player.
www.nature.com
November 10, 2025 at 9:44 AM
Getting Rosalind Franklin’s story right is crucial, because she has become a role model for women going into science
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Reposted by Devang Mehta🌱🧬
In September, we had an event where we brought in nine international participants. Out of nine total, one was detained in a back room without explanation. I don’t think people here realize what a dice roll it is, but people outside the U.S. certainly do
I have had other colleagues from Europe tell me they simply will not attend conferences in the US for the foreseeable future because they no longer feel welcome. They have seen the stories of travelers detained and don't want to hand their social media over to the current administration for approval
November 9, 2025 at 6:24 PM
In September, we had an event where we brought in nine international participants. Out of nine total, one was detained in a back room without explanation. I don’t think people here realize what a dice roll it is, but people outside the U.S. certainly do
Reposted by Devang Mehta🌱🧬
A deeply misleading book review in Nature implies that the modern view of evolution is woefully incomplete, making the same tired arguments refuted over a decade ago. Moreover, the author of the book review is a collaborator with several of the book's authors.
whyevolutionistrue.com/2025/11/09/n...
whyevolutionistrue.com/2025/11/09/n...
November 9, 2025 at 4:03 PM
A deeply misleading book review in Nature implies that the modern view of evolution is woefully incomplete, making the same tired arguments refuted over a decade ago. Moreover, the author of the book review is a collaborator with several of the book's authors.
whyevolutionistrue.com/2025/11/09/n...
whyevolutionistrue.com/2025/11/09/n...
Maybe the best way to handle Watson’s legacy is to figure out how to change the culture of science so that we still value the drive & insight that leads to groundbreaking discoveries without the crazy ego-boosting that leads so many scientists to turn into overconfident a-holes.
November 9, 2025 at 10:08 AM
Maybe the best way to handle Watson’s legacy is to figure out how to change the culture of science so that we still value the drive & insight that leads to groundbreaking discoveries without the crazy ego-boosting that leads so many scientists to turn into overconfident a-holes.
Reposted by Devang Mehta🌱🧬
Maj Gen Tomer-Yerushalmi—who resigned as Israel’s top military lawyer after saying she released a video that shows severe abuse of a Palestinian detainee by Israeli soldiers “to counter false propaganda” against the army’s investigation of the crime—has now been arrested.
www.bbc.com/news/article...
www.bbc.com/news/article...
Israeli military's ex-top lawyer arrested as scandal over video leak deepens
Maj Gen Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi resigned on Friday, admitting leaking a video allegedly showing abuse of a Palestinian detainee.
www.bbc.com
November 3, 2025 at 1:02 PM
Maj Gen Tomer-Yerushalmi—who resigned as Israel’s top military lawyer after saying she released a video that shows severe abuse of a Palestinian detainee by Israeli soldiers “to counter false propaganda” against the army’s investigation of the crime—has now been arrested.
www.bbc.com/news/article...
www.bbc.com/news/article...
If you don’t like what this represents, join me in boycotting for-profit publishers of scientific research. There are still high quality, highly selective non-profit run journals around. They need our business to survive and thrive.
October 29, 2025 at 6:46 AM
If you don’t like what this represents, join me in boycotting for-profit publishers of scientific research. There are still high quality, highly selective non-profit run journals around. They need our business to survive and thrive.
I guess it’s testament to the vanity of scientists that the “Nature Scientific Reports” trick worked so well on us.
Scientific Reports meanwhile on course to publish 40K papers = >$100M pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov?term=%22Scie...
October 29, 2025 at 6:41 AM
I guess it’s testament to the vanity of scientists that the “Nature Scientific Reports” trick worked so well on us.
Reposted by Devang Mehta🌱🧬
1/2 Want to become up to date with pangenomes and genome graphs and their history? Check out this fantastic review by @zbao.bsky.social!
Complexity welcome: Pangenome graphs for comprehensive population genomics
#pangenomes #plantscience #genomegraphs
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Complexity welcome: Pangenome graphs for comprehensive population genomics
#pangenomes #plantscience #genomegraphs
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
October 27, 2025 at 5:53 PM
1/2 Want to become up to date with pangenomes and genome graphs and their history? Check out this fantastic review by @zbao.bsky.social!
Complexity welcome: Pangenome graphs for comprehensive population genomics
#pangenomes #plantscience #genomegraphs
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Complexity welcome: Pangenome graphs for comprehensive population genomics
#pangenomes #plantscience #genomegraphs
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Reposted by Devang Mehta🌱🧬
"A key aspect of the way we lived with each other before these self-styled epochal developments [post-2020] involved exactly the “social shame and cultural pressure” that Klein and other influential voices now come to condemn"
tapping the 'bring back shame' sign
www.bostonreview.net/articles/how...
tapping the 'bring back shame' sign
www.bostonreview.net/articles/how...
October 14, 2025 at 10:37 PM
"A key aspect of the way we lived with each other before these self-styled epochal developments [post-2020] involved exactly the “social shame and cultural pressure” that Klein and other influential voices now come to condemn"
tapping the 'bring back shame' sign
www.bostonreview.net/articles/how...
tapping the 'bring back shame' sign
www.bostonreview.net/articles/how...
Reposted by Devang Mehta🌱🧬
What Young Republicans say to each other when they think no one is listening. No words.
www.politico.com/news/2025/10...
www.politico.com/news/2025/10...
‘I love Hitler’: Leaked messages expose Young Republicans’ racist chat
Thousands of private messages reveal young GOP leaders joking about gas chambers, slavery and rape.
www.politico.com
October 14, 2025 at 5:57 PM
What Young Republicans say to each other when they think no one is listening. No words.
www.politico.com/news/2025/10...
www.politico.com/news/2025/10...
Reposted by Devang Mehta🌱🧬
Remember this paper "Low overlap
of transcription factor DNA binding and regulatory targets" ? (www.nature.com/articles/s41...)
well, well, well 🍿
⬇️
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
of transcription factor DNA binding and regulatory targets" ? (www.nature.com/articles/s41...)
well, well, well 🍿
⬇️
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
On the overlap of transcription factor binding and regulatory targets: functional and regulatory coherence of top-bound targets is masked by weakly bound ones
A recent study that systematically mapped genomic bindings and regulatory effects of transcription factors (TFs) reported a surprisingly low overlap between TF binding and regulatory targets in Saccha...
www.biorxiv.org
October 14, 2025 at 12:00 PM
Remember this paper "Low overlap
of transcription factor DNA binding and regulatory targets" ? (www.nature.com/articles/s41...)
well, well, well 🍿
⬇️
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
of transcription factor DNA binding and regulatory targets" ? (www.nature.com/articles/s41...)
well, well, well 🍿
⬇️
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Devang Mehta🌱🧬
Lost Science is a new NYT series of accounts from scientists who have lost their jobs or funding. You can send your story to the Times here www.nytimes.com/2025/10/08/c...
October 10, 2025 at 8:38 AM
Lost Science is a new NYT series of accounts from scientists who have lost their jobs or funding. You can send your story to the Times here www.nytimes.com/2025/10/08/c...
Reposted by Devang Mehta🌱🧬
After spending 43 years in prison for a crime he didn't commit, evidence hidden by the prosecution reversed his conviction. Rather than finally enjoying freedom, ICE abducted him for deportation
Depraved.
www.miamiherald.com/news/local/i...
Depraved.
www.miamiherald.com/news/local/i...
He was wrongfully imprisoned for 43 years. Moments after being released, ICE took him
Subramanyam “Subu” Vedam now faces deportation.
www.miamiherald.com
October 12, 2025 at 2:00 AM
After spending 43 years in prison for a crime he didn't commit, evidence hidden by the prosecution reversed his conviction. Rather than finally enjoying freedom, ICE abducted him for deportation
Depraved.
www.miamiherald.com/news/local/i...
Depraved.
www.miamiherald.com/news/local/i...
Reposted by Devang Mehta🌱🧬
Biology is much more complicated than most non-biologists can imagine. And AI is not going to change this anytime soon.
blog.genesmindsmachines.com/p/we-still-c...
blog.genesmindsmachines.com/p/we-still-c...
We still can’t predict much of anything in biology
Biology is hard. Yes, even for AI.
blog.genesmindsmachines.com
October 7, 2025 at 4:11 PM
Biology is much more complicated than most non-biologists can imagine. And AI is not going to change this anytime soon.
blog.genesmindsmachines.com/p/we-still-c...
blog.genesmindsmachines.com/p/we-still-c...
Reposted by Devang Mehta🌱🧬
The NHS and social care would cease to function under the government’s new rules to be imposed on foreign staff, nursing leaders have said, as hundreds of medics condemned the policy as “divisive and xenophobic”.
NHS could cease to function under Labour’s new visa rules, say nurses
Exclusive: Royal College of Nursing says plan to tighten rules for foreign workers is ‘pandering’ to Reform UK
www.theguardian.com
October 6, 2025 at 5:04 PM
The NHS and social care would cease to function under the government’s new rules to be imposed on foreign staff, nursing leaders have said, as hundreds of medics condemned the policy as “divisive and xenophobic”.
Reposted by Devang Mehta🌱🧬
📣 NEW SPECIAL ISSUE 📣
🔬Plant Proteases - Guardians of Proteome Integrity & Function
🌱 Exploring the fascinating diversity, function & regulation of proteases in plants
📘 Edited by Pitter Huesgen, Annick Stintzi & Andreas Schaller
🔗 academic.oup.com/jxb... #JXBspecialissues #PlantScience 🧪
🔬Plant Proteases - Guardians of Proteome Integrity & Function
🌱 Exploring the fascinating diversity, function & regulation of proteases in plants
📘 Edited by Pitter Huesgen, Annick Stintzi & Andreas Schaller
🔗 academic.oup.com/jxb... #JXBspecialissues #PlantScience 🧪
October 3, 2025 at 8:07 AM
📣 NEW SPECIAL ISSUE 📣
🔬Plant Proteases - Guardians of Proteome Integrity & Function
🌱 Exploring the fascinating diversity, function & regulation of proteases in plants
📘 Edited by Pitter Huesgen, Annick Stintzi & Andreas Schaller
🔗 academic.oup.com/jxb... #JXBspecialissues #PlantScience 🧪
🔬Plant Proteases - Guardians of Proteome Integrity & Function
🌱 Exploring the fascinating diversity, function & regulation of proteases in plants
📘 Edited by Pitter Huesgen, Annick Stintzi & Andreas Schaller
🔗 academic.oup.com/jxb... #JXBspecialissues #PlantScience 🧪
Reposted by Devang Mehta🌱🧬
Zack Polanski leads a conference shout of "migrants and refugees are welcome here"
October 3, 2025 at 1:01 PM
Zack Polanski leads a conference shout of "migrants and refugees are welcome here"
Reposted by Devang Mehta🌱🧬
If you think high-fructose corn syrup is worse than sugar, or artificial sweeteners are harmful, or genetically modified foods are bad for you, or organic vegetables are better for you, you're engaging in the same kind of evidence-blindness that RFK Jr. is.
Not at the same scale! But same idea.
Not at the same scale! But same idea.
October 2, 2025 at 12:11 PM
If you think high-fructose corn syrup is worse than sugar, or artificial sweeteners are harmful, or genetically modified foods are bad for you, or organic vegetables are better for you, you're engaging in the same kind of evidence-blindness that RFK Jr. is.
Not at the same scale! But same idea.
Not at the same scale! But same idea.
Reposted by Devang Mehta🌱🧬
"The right is anti-science!"
We hear it all the time.
But the left does it too. As with glyphosate. When @mikegrunwald.bsky.social runs down the actual science, he gets called names and loses a speaking gig. (Gift link.)
And not just that one! ...
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/28/o...
We hear it all the time.
But the left does it too. As with glyphosate. When @mikegrunwald.bsky.social runs down the actual science, he gets called names and loses a speaking gig. (Gift link.)
And not just that one! ...
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/28/o...
Opinion | Spraying Roundup on Crops Is Fine. Really.
www.nytimes.com
October 2, 2025 at 12:11 PM
"The right is anti-science!"
We hear it all the time.
But the left does it too. As with glyphosate. When @mikegrunwald.bsky.social runs down the actual science, he gets called names and loses a speaking gig. (Gift link.)
And not just that one! ...
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/28/o...
We hear it all the time.
But the left does it too. As with glyphosate. When @mikegrunwald.bsky.social runs down the actual science, he gets called names and loses a speaking gig. (Gift link.)
And not just that one! ...
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/28/o...
There’s almost nothing a country can do to damage its scientific infrastructure than making it harder for skilled immigrants to obtain permanent residence, and the security that comes with it.
www.bbc.com/news/article...
www.bbc.com/news/article...
Mahmood demands migrants earn right to settlement in UK
New tests will include learning English to a high standard, paying National Insurance and not claiming benefits.
www.bbc.com
October 2, 2025 at 7:41 AM
There’s almost nothing a country can do to damage its scientific infrastructure than making it harder for skilled immigrants to obtain permanent residence, and the security that comes with it.
www.bbc.com/news/article...
www.bbc.com/news/article...
Reposted by Devang Mehta🌱🧬
People recognised as refugees fleeing persecution & granted the right to live in the UK to be denied the right to be joined safely by their spouse & children.
This Labour govt is a moral void, a stinking darkness, an empty hollow of cowardice & contempt. #r4today www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
This Labour govt is a moral void, a stinking darkness, an empty hollow of cowardice & contempt. #r4today www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
Starmer to end asylum ‘golden ticket’ of resettlement and family reunion rights
People granted asylum will have to earn right to invite family in plan charities call ‘straight from populist playbook’
www.theguardian.com
October 2, 2025 at 7:13 AM
People recognised as refugees fleeing persecution & granted the right to live in the UK to be denied the right to be joined safely by their spouse & children.
This Labour govt is a moral void, a stinking darkness, an empty hollow of cowardice & contempt. #r4today www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
This Labour govt is a moral void, a stinking darkness, an empty hollow of cowardice & contempt. #r4today www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
Reposted by Devang Mehta🌱🧬
Deeply disappointing. Once again the @royalsociety.org has avoided explaining how *actions* by Elon Musk that clearly repudiate the Society's values are consistent with the code of conduct that Fellows must adhere to. royalsociety.org/news/2025/10...
A statement from the President of the Royal Society | Royal Society
A statement from Adrian Smith, President of the Royal Society, regarding threats to the values that allow science to flourish.
royalsociety.org
October 1, 2025 at 5:19 PM
Deeply disappointing. Once again the @royalsociety.org has avoided explaining how *actions* by Elon Musk that clearly repudiate the Society's values are consistent with the code of conduct that Fellows must adhere to. royalsociety.org/news/2025/10...
Reposted by Devang Mehta🌱🧬
Great piece by @jonathanjarry.bsky.social on the descent of Sabine Hossenfelder, from science communicator to contrarian outrage-monger www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/...
Sabine Hossenfelder Asks If Science Is Dying. It’s Not.
Physics is dying. It’s mathematical fiction. Science is failing. Most of academic research that your taxes pay for is almost certainly bullshit. I don’t trust scientists. Would you believe me if I tol...
www.mcgill.ca
September 30, 2025 at 8:11 AM
Great piece by @jonathanjarry.bsky.social on the descent of Sabine Hossenfelder, from science communicator to contrarian outrage-monger www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/...
Reposted by Devang Mehta🌱🧬
As someone who's been on both sides (fmr migrant in the UK & fmr 🇦🇺 Migration Officer), the entire anti-immigration movement (that ironically washes across borders) is destroying my soul. There are so few now who confidently defend welcoming, open-minded, multicultural societies. They are my people.
September 30, 2025 at 3:56 AM
As someone who's been on both sides (fmr migrant in the UK & fmr 🇦🇺 Migration Officer), the entire anti-immigration movement (that ironically washes across borders) is destroying my soul. There are so few now who confidently defend welcoming, open-minded, multicultural societies. They are my people.