Michelle Clay, PhD
@microbigal.bsky.social
Microbiologist | Director of Genomics Operations @SeqCoast.bsky.social | #bluesoup is best soup | mother to two bundles of chaos | she/her | opinions my own
Stop by to chat about your research goals and learn more about how we can help.
Help me out and take some taffy and a notebook - I do NOT want to lug it on my return flight! 😮💨
Help me out and take some taffy and a notebook - I do NOT want to lug it on my return flight! 😮💨
We're sponsoring the University of Maryland's Molecular and Cellular Biology Department Retreat! Visit our table to:
• Grab saltwater taffy and a notebook!
• Ask about prepaid Insights Vouchers to preserve spending power of expiring grant funds
• Get sequencing advice for your next big project
• Grab saltwater taffy and a notebook!
• Ask about prepaid Insights Vouchers to preserve spending power of expiring grant funds
• Get sequencing advice for your next big project
August 21, 2025 at 2:39 PM
Stop by to chat about your research goals and learn more about how we can help.
Help me out and take some taffy and a notebook - I do NOT want to lug it on my return flight! 😮💨
Help me out and take some taffy and a notebook - I do NOT want to lug it on my return flight! 😮💨
Reposted by Michelle Clay, PhD
Don't have time to meet now? You can email questions to scientists@seqcoast.com, or get a quote on our website.
We'd be delighted to work with you on your next big genomics project! 🧬
We'd be delighted to work with you on your next big genomics project! 🧬
August 21, 2025 at 2:38 PM
Don't have time to meet now? You can email questions to scientists@seqcoast.com, or get a quote on our website.
We'd be delighted to work with you on your next big genomics project! 🧬
We'd be delighted to work with you on your next big genomics project! 🧬
Reposted by Michelle Clay, PhD
We're sponsoring the University of Maryland's Molecular and Cellular Biology Department Retreat! Visit our table to:
• Grab saltwater taffy and a notebook!
• Ask about prepaid Insights Vouchers to preserve spending power of expiring grant funds
• Get sequencing advice for your next big project
• Grab saltwater taffy and a notebook!
• Ask about prepaid Insights Vouchers to preserve spending power of expiring grant funds
• Get sequencing advice for your next big project
August 21, 2025 at 2:37 PM
We're sponsoring the University of Maryland's Molecular and Cellular Biology Department Retreat! Visit our table to:
• Grab saltwater taffy and a notebook!
• Ask about prepaid Insights Vouchers to preserve spending power of expiring grant funds
• Get sequencing advice for your next big project
• Grab saltwater taffy and a notebook!
• Ask about prepaid Insights Vouchers to preserve spending power of expiring grant funds
• Get sequencing advice for your next big project
Reposted by Michelle Clay, PhD
FWIW, we send nearly all our sequencing to @seqcoast.bsky.social and have never been disappointed. Great work!
To learn more about SeqCoast including direct orders with transparent pricing, visit seqcoast.com
Sequence smarter, discover more
(said in a New Hampshire accent 😉)
Sequence smarter, discover more
(said in a New Hampshire accent 😉)
July 14, 2025 at 2:07 PM
FWIW, we send nearly all our sequencing to @seqcoast.bsky.social and have never been disappointed. Great work!
Reposted by Michelle Clay, PhD
New in JB: Conaway, Hogan et al. link QS and phosphate metabolism in P. aeruginosa, with implications of pathogenesis.
journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...
@asm.org #JBacteriology
journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...
@asm.org #JBacteriology
July 14, 2025 at 8:53 PM
New in JB: Conaway, Hogan et al. link QS and phosphate metabolism in P. aeruginosa, with implications of pathogenesis.
journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...
@asm.org #JBacteriology
journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...
@asm.org #JBacteriology
Reposted by Michelle Clay, PhD
Great afternoon with friends at @seqcoast.bsky.social esp @microbigal.bsky.social
Our business is growing and sequencing and analysis services are better and more diverse than ever.
Delighted they sponsored the best GRC, full stop!
Our business is growing and sequencing and analysis services are better and more diverse than ever.
Delighted they sponsored the best GRC, full stop!
July 11, 2025 at 9:52 PM
Great afternoon with friends at @seqcoast.bsky.social esp @microbigal.bsky.social
Our business is growing and sequencing and analysis services are better and more diverse than ever.
Delighted they sponsored the best GRC, full stop!
Our business is growing and sequencing and analysis services are better and more diverse than ever.
Delighted they sponsored the best GRC, full stop!
Reposted by Michelle Clay, PhD
Consistent with so much of what I’ve heard and observed. Private funders don’t want to pay to keep people employed & freezers running – they take for granted that they can just piggyback off of those things being federally subsidized, & just cover relatively minor expenses like “reagents”
Considering the Federal situation, campuses are encouraging labs to enter partnerships with industry.
A plant breeding company reached out to see if my lab could rate their plant lines for their resistance to Ralstonia. I said "maybe, but these assays require personnel time and materials"
A plant breeding company reached out to see if my lab could rate their plant lines for their resistance to Ralstonia. I said "maybe, but these assays require personnel time and materials"
June 8, 2025 at 10:14 PM
Consistent with so much of what I’ve heard and observed. Private funders don’t want to pay to keep people employed & freezers running – they take for granted that they can just piggyback off of those things being federally subsidized, & just cover relatively minor expenses like “reagents”
Reposted by Michelle Clay, PhD
The latest publication from our lab!
The famous "glomalin" from arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi is not a protein but a polysaccharide from AM fungi, so we renamed it "glomalose". Glomalin-related proteins are bacterial proteins stuck in this glomalose.
nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
The famous "glomalin" from arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi is not a protein but a polysaccharide from AM fungi, so we renamed it "glomalose". Glomalin-related proteins are bacterial proteins stuck in this glomalose.
nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
June 6, 2025 at 1:54 PM
The latest publication from our lab!
The famous "glomalin" from arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi is not a protein but a polysaccharide from AM fungi, so we renamed it "glomalose". Glomalin-related proteins are bacterial proteins stuck in this glomalose.
nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
The famous "glomalin" from arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi is not a protein but a polysaccharide from AM fungi, so we renamed it "glomalose". Glomalin-related proteins are bacterial proteins stuck in this glomalose.
nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Reposted by Michelle Clay, PhD
Our work on the facial skin microbiome of non-human primates is out in mSystems!
We show there is no close relative of Cutibacterium on the faces of gorillas and chimps at the Lincoln Park Zoo, furthering the mysterious origin of the dominant human skin colonizer.
journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...
We show there is no close relative of Cutibacterium on the faces of gorillas and chimps at the Lincoln Park Zoo, furthering the mysterious origin of the dominant human skin colonizer.
journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...
The microbiome of the human facial skin is unique compared to that of other hominids | mSystems
Understanding how and why human skin bacteria differ from our closest animal relatives
provides crucial insights into human evolution and health. While we have known that
human facial skin hosts disti...
journals.asm.org
May 30, 2025 at 12:14 PM
Our work on the facial skin microbiome of non-human primates is out in mSystems!
We show there is no close relative of Cutibacterium on the faces of gorillas and chimps at the Lincoln Park Zoo, furthering the mysterious origin of the dominant human skin colonizer.
journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...
We show there is no close relative of Cutibacterium on the faces of gorillas and chimps at the Lincoln Park Zoo, furthering the mysterious origin of the dominant human skin colonizer.
journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...
Reposted by Michelle Clay, PhD
This study was:
-done by immigrant scientists, who are now being turned away from the United States by the Trump regime,
-funded by the U.S. Dept of Energy, which is being defunded and purged by the Trump regime
-hosted at a public university experiencing vast Trump regime funding freezes
-done by immigrant scientists, who are now being turned away from the United States by the Trump regime,
-funded by the U.S. Dept of Energy, which is being defunded and purged by the Trump regime
-hosted at a public university experiencing vast Trump regime funding freezes
New research from the University of Texas may give the U.S. an added edge in the race toward rare element dominance.
Rare earth element extraction tech may give US a new edge in China trade war
Researchers at the University of Texas have developed a new method for extracting rare earth elements, such as lanthanum, using tiny tubes made of proteins. This process is similar to how cells in …
www.kxan.com
May 5, 2025 at 8:24 PM
This study was:
-done by immigrant scientists, who are now being turned away from the United States by the Trump regime,
-funded by the U.S. Dept of Energy, which is being defunded and purged by the Trump regime
-hosted at a public university experiencing vast Trump regime funding freezes
-done by immigrant scientists, who are now being turned away from the United States by the Trump regime,
-funded by the U.S. Dept of Energy, which is being defunded and purged by the Trump regime
-hosted at a public university experiencing vast Trump regime funding freezes
Reposted by Michelle Clay, PhD
Great thread. Conducting placebo-controlled trials of items known to be relatively safe and effective is unethical.
Which FDA-approved vaccines had randomized, placebo-controlled trials?
ALL OF THEM.
Polio?
Measles, mumps, rubella?
Haemophilus influenzae B?
Diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis?
Meningococcus?
Varicella?
Pneumococcus?
Rotavirus?
RSV?
Hepatitis B?
Influenza?
HPV?
COVID-19?
Shingles?
YEP.
A thread🧵
1/
ALL OF THEM.
Polio?
Measles, mumps, rubella?
Haemophilus influenzae B?
Diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis?
Meningococcus?
Varicella?
Pneumococcus?
Rotavirus?
RSV?
Hepatitis B?
Influenza?
HPV?
COVID-19?
Shingles?
YEP.
A thread🧵
1/
May 5, 2025 at 12:57 AM
Great thread. Conducting placebo-controlled trials of items known to be relatively safe and effective is unethical.
Reposted by Michelle Clay, PhD
I got hit by some rather sudden and extreme financial hardship so if anyone is in need of remote wetlab contract research, strictly BSL1, do let me know. Currently scrambling for gigs.
Plant, Bacterial, Archaeal Non-model Bioeng
Custom Lab Hardware
Turn Key Genetic Design
Please repost for reach 💚
Plant, Bacterial, Archaeal Non-model Bioeng
Custom Lab Hardware
Turn Key Genetic Design
Please repost for reach 💚
May 2, 2025 at 2:39 PM
I got hit by some rather sudden and extreme financial hardship so if anyone is in need of remote wetlab contract research, strictly BSL1, do let me know. Currently scrambling for gigs.
Plant, Bacterial, Archaeal Non-model Bioeng
Custom Lab Hardware
Turn Key Genetic Design
Please repost for reach 💚
Plant, Bacterial, Archaeal Non-model Bioeng
Custom Lab Hardware
Turn Key Genetic Design
Please repost for reach 💚
Reposted by Michelle Clay, PhD
Excited to share that our story on S. aureus antagonism by Malassezia is live today in Current Biology! The paper has changed a lot since the preprint with the very exciting addition of having identified the antimicrobial effector generated by M. sympodialis.
authors.elsevier.com/c/1kwzj3QW8S...
authors.elsevier.com/c/1kwzj3QW8S...
authors.elsevier.com
April 14, 2025 at 5:33 PM
Excited to share that our story on S. aureus antagonism by Malassezia is live today in Current Biology! The paper has changed a lot since the preprint with the very exciting addition of having identified the antimicrobial effector generated by M. sympodialis.
authors.elsevier.com/c/1kwzj3QW8S...
authors.elsevier.com/c/1kwzj3QW8S...
Reposted by Michelle Clay, PhD
every story about mass pollinator die-off leads with "this is a mystery, what could cause this" and then ten paragraphs down it's like "oh yeah we're spraying all the bugs with poison, the poison designed to kill bugs"
US honeybee deaths hit record high as scientists scramble to find main cause
US Department of Agriculture calls in university to help study decline as Trump administration staff cuts sting
www.theguardian.com
April 2, 2025 at 12:33 PM
every story about mass pollinator die-off leads with "this is a mystery, what could cause this" and then ten paragraphs down it's like "oh yeah we're spraying all the bugs with poison, the poison designed to kill bugs"
Reposted by Michelle Clay, PhD
Here's a similar one that is still available. That's how it works. www.etsy.com/listing/1879...
March 30, 2025 at 2:46 PM
Here's a similar one that is still available. That's how it works. www.etsy.com/listing/1879...
Reposted by Michelle Clay, PhD
This image was mysteriously super popular on another platform this month. I already sold the painting, so an art friend was like "make a limited edition print, just this once!" 🤦
March 30, 2025 at 2:41 PM
This image was mysteriously super popular on another platform this month. I already sold the painting, so an art friend was like "make a limited edition print, just this once!" 🤦
Reposted by Michelle Clay, PhD
I'm sure y'all are fucking tired of me but one thing I wanna say upfront is that I am brainstorming on here how to talk about what we as academic scientists and experts do so that other people in our country can understand what will be lost.
March 28, 2025 at 5:54 PM
I'm sure y'all are fucking tired of me but one thing I wanna say upfront is that I am brainstorming on here how to talk about what we as academic scientists and experts do so that other people in our country can understand what will be lost.
Reposted by Michelle Clay, PhD
This is an understatement. We have already lost our scientific edge. Mass personnel cuts, lost grant support, gutting of pipeline programs, and the uncertainty about the future has already impacted our competitiveness and future generations of scientists. We just don’t see it yet. But we will.
To the outstanding civil servants at NIH who are waiting to find out if they are one of the 1200 individuals to be laid off this weekend, we stand by you and know that you worked hard to help the country innovate, find cures, and save lives. This sucks. #MedSky www.rdworldonline.com/nih-layoffs-...
NIH layoffs threaten US's edge in science and health innovation
With weekly government layoffs, one announcement deserves far more attention than it’s receiving: staffing cuts at the NIH.
www.rdworldonline.com
March 29, 2025 at 2:58 AM
This is an understatement. We have already lost our scientific edge. Mass personnel cuts, lost grant support, gutting of pipeline programs, and the uncertainty about the future has already impacted our competitiveness and future generations of scientists. We just don’t see it yet. But we will.
Reposted by Michelle Clay, PhD
Just received the email that my recent appointment to a BSC, which was supposed to be until June 2029, was terminated effective immediately.
More political meddling at NIH:
I'm told that multiple (2-4ish) members of the Boards of Scientific Counselors, which oversee intramural research, have been kicked off the boards before their term expires.
No explanation given, but the thought is that these were folks who cared about DEI.
I'm told that multiple (2-4ish) members of the Boards of Scientific Counselors, which oversee intramural research, have been kicked off the boards before their term expires.
No explanation given, but the thought is that these were folks who cared about DEI.
March 25, 2025 at 5:58 PM
Just received the email that my recent appointment to a BSC, which was supposed to be until June 2029, was terminated effective immediately.
Reposted by Michelle Clay, PhD
You want to learn about microbiology from a fantastic lineup of speakers on a beautiful Greek island? PhD students apply now for the @EMBO | @FEBSnews Lecture Course The New Microbiology!
Registration: 1 Apr 2025
Course: 03 – 11 Sep 2025 | Spetses, Greece
meetings.embo.org/event/25-new...
Registration: 1 Apr 2025
Course: 03 – 11 Sep 2025 | Spetses, Greece
meetings.embo.org/event/25-new...
December 16, 2024 at 8:43 AM
You want to learn about microbiology from a fantastic lineup of speakers on a beautiful Greek island? PhD students apply now for the @EMBO | @FEBSnews Lecture Course The New Microbiology!
Registration: 1 Apr 2025
Course: 03 – 11 Sep 2025 | Spetses, Greece
meetings.embo.org/event/25-new...
Registration: 1 Apr 2025
Course: 03 – 11 Sep 2025 | Spetses, Greece
meetings.embo.org/event/25-new...
Reposted by Michelle Clay, PhD
In my 25 years since high school I’ve seen
1. HIV/AIDS go from death sentence to manageable with drugs
2. Cystic fibrosis go from pretty much an extended death sentence to manageable with drugs
3. Sickle cell go from a horrible disease to (almost maybe) cured by gene therapy
Simply incredible
1. HIV/AIDS go from death sentence to manageable with drugs
2. Cystic fibrosis go from pretty much an extended death sentence to manageable with drugs
3. Sickle cell go from a horrible disease to (almost maybe) cured by gene therapy
Simply incredible
March 15, 2025 at 1:19 PM
In my 25 years since high school I’ve seen
1. HIV/AIDS go from death sentence to manageable with drugs
2. Cystic fibrosis go from pretty much an extended death sentence to manageable with drugs
3. Sickle cell go from a horrible disease to (almost maybe) cured by gene therapy
Simply incredible
1. HIV/AIDS go from death sentence to manageable with drugs
2. Cystic fibrosis go from pretty much an extended death sentence to manageable with drugs
3. Sickle cell go from a horrible disease to (almost maybe) cured by gene therapy
Simply incredible
Reposted by Michelle Clay, PhD
It's not too late to cash in on your good luck! ☘️💰🧬
See details below to save on your next NGS project:
See details below to save on your next NGS project:
March 14, 2025 at 1:21 PM
It's not too late to cash in on your good luck! ☘️💰🧬
See details below to save on your next NGS project:
See details below to save on your next NGS project:
Reposted by Michelle Clay, PhD
I have been doing entirely too much earnest posting about deep things recently, I need to do a proper thread about hippo testicles or something just to keep myself sane.
Oh by the way hippos have migratory testicles.
Oh by the way hippos have migratory testicles.
a statue of a hippopotamus with its mouth open and teeth showing .
Alt: A hippo being tossed a watermelon, which it crushes in its massive jaws.
media.tenor.com
March 12, 2025 at 5:33 AM
I have been doing entirely too much earnest posting about deep things recently, I need to do a proper thread about hippo testicles or something just to keep myself sane.
Oh by the way hippos have migratory testicles.
Oh by the way hippos have migratory testicles.
Reposted by Michelle Clay, PhD
I received one of the 232 NIH grant "terminations" sent to scientists at Columbia last night. My research focuses on improving maternal and child health in the US. Also affected: ongoing clinical trials, research training programs, and research centers that aim to improve the health of Americans.
Hundreds of research grants at Columbia canceled following Trump edict, administrator says
The National Institutes of Health is terminating 232 grants for scientific research at Columbia University Irving Medical Center, according to an email an administrator sent to faculty.
gothamist.com
March 11, 2025 at 9:05 PM
I received one of the 232 NIH grant "terminations" sent to scientists at Columbia last night. My research focuses on improving maternal and child health in the US. Also affected: ongoing clinical trials, research training programs, and research centers that aim to improve the health of Americans.
Reposted by Michelle Clay, PhD
they’re treating medical research as some kind of favor to bestow, rather than what it is — arduous painstaking and unprofitable work done for all Americans
this will slow Alzheimer’s and other brain research, not help it
in net, patients will suffer
this will slow Alzheimer’s and other brain research, not help it
in net, patients will suffer
I cannot think of a single scientific or justifiable reason to suddenly cut research on brain regions, other than revenge on Columbia. I think many of us have to realize that we are likely next
March 11, 2025 at 1:03 PM
they’re treating medical research as some kind of favor to bestow, rather than what it is — arduous painstaking and unprofitable work done for all Americans
this will slow Alzheimer’s and other brain research, not help it
in net, patients will suffer
this will slow Alzheimer’s and other brain research, not help it
in net, patients will suffer