Noah Whiteman
@nkwhiteman.bsky.social
Genetics, Genomics, Evolution, and Development Professor at UC-Berkeley / Coevolution researcher / Author of MOST DELICIOUS POISON: https://www.mostdeliciouspoison.com / ☮️ 🕊️
Say hello to my little friend
September 24, 2025 at 3:54 AM
Say hello to my little friend
A Pine White Butterfly, caterpillars of which feed on pine and fir needles (same family as Cabbage White)…
August 16, 2025 at 9:21 PM
A Pine White Butterfly, caterpillars of which feed on pine and fir needles (same family as Cabbage White)…
Western Ponderosa
August 16, 2025 at 6:32 PM
Western Ponderosa
The *hardcover* version of Most Delicious Poison is currently 51% off at Amazon, ~$15 (but please buy from your local bookstore if you can): www.amazon.com/Most-Delicio...
August 11, 2025 at 6:22 PM
The *hardcover* version of Most Delicious Poison is currently 51% off at Amazon, ~$15 (but please buy from your local bookstore if you can): www.amazon.com/Most-Delicio...
@ucberkeleyofficial.bsky.social undergrads, there is still space in this course on the cellular, genetic, and developmental basis of evolution taught by Professor Nicole King and me this Fall. Find out why, as Dobzhansky, said "nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution."
July 28, 2025 at 11:32 PM
@ucberkeleyofficial.bsky.social undergrads, there is still space in this course on the cellular, genetic, and developmental basis of evolution taught by Professor Nicole King and me this Fall. Find out why, as Dobzhansky, said "nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution."
Celebrating a Notice of Award for our genetics training grant (!) and my first barber 💈 cut since 2019…🤗
July 16, 2025 at 1:44 AM
Celebrating a Notice of Award for our genetics training grant (!) and my first barber 💈 cut since 2019…🤗
On beautiful Tomales Bay for the annual Miller Institute for Basic Research in Science, a true gem of Berkeley. I had the privilege of being a Miller Professor this year and have been introduced to new concepts in physics, math, astronomy, quantum computing, physics, and immunology.
May 31, 2025 at 2:56 PM
On beautiful Tomales Bay for the annual Miller Institute for Basic Research in Science, a true gem of Berkeley. I had the privilege of being a Miller Professor this year and have been introduced to new concepts in physics, math, astronomy, quantum computing, physics, and immunology.
Proud of Dr. Rebecca Tarnopol @tarnopol.bsky.social, my 10th (!) PhD student, who gave a spectacular finishing talk (on the role of HGT in the evolution of novelty in animals) today @ucberkeleyofficial.bsky.social. Her proud parents attended. She said my lab was known as the “Talmudic” lab. : )
May 13, 2025 at 10:54 PM
Proud of Dr. Rebecca Tarnopol @tarnopol.bsky.social, my 10th (!) PhD student, who gave a spectacular finishing talk (on the role of HGT in the evolution of novelty in animals) today @ucberkeleyofficial.bsky.social. Her proud parents attended. She said my lab was known as the “Talmudic” lab. : )
At our Annual Retreat of UC-Berkeley’s Genetic Dissection of Cells and Organisms Predoctoral Training Program, we showcased PhD trainee research and hosted Stanford’s Dominique Bergmann as our speaker. It is humbling and rewarding to shepherd junior geneticists through our NIH T32 training program.
May 10, 2025 at 6:17 PM
At our Annual Retreat of UC-Berkeley’s Genetic Dissection of Cells and Organisms Predoctoral Training Program, we showcased PhD trainee research and hosted Stanford’s Dominique Bergmann as our speaker. It is humbling and rewarding to shepherd junior geneticists through our NIH T32 training program.
Today I walked past a nice Angel’s Trumpet (Brugmansia sp.), native to South America and the seeds of which are full of scopolamine (hyoscine) or “Devil’s Breath” an anticholinergic drug I discuss in Most Delicious Poison! They are quite fragrant…
April 25, 2025 at 11:52 PM
Today I walked past a nice Angel’s Trumpet (Brugmansia sp.), native to South America and the seeds of which are full of scopolamine (hyoscine) or “Devil’s Breath” an anticholinergic drug I discuss in Most Delicious Poison! They are quite fragrant…
Thrilled that Most Delicious Poison has been translated into Spanish by a publisher in Spain!
March 25, 2025 at 4:01 PM
Thrilled that Most Delicious Poison has been translated into Spanish by a publisher in Spain!
I was so honored (and humbled) to receive the Genetics Society of America Medal for our research contributions at the 66th Annual Drosophila Research Conference last week from GSA President and Professor Brenda Andrews. Thank you GSA!
March 25, 2025 at 12:44 AM
I was so honored (and humbled) to receive the Genetics Society of America Medal for our research contributions at the 66th Annual Drosophila Research Conference last week from GSA President and Professor Brenda Andrews. Thank you GSA!
Our Genetics Training Grant PhD students learning about conservation genomics at Cal Academy
March 14, 2025 at 5:24 AM
Our Genetics Training Grant PhD students learning about conservation genomics at Cal Academy
Extinct Xerces Blue Butterfly specimens at California Academy
March 14, 2025 at 5:22 AM
Extinct Xerces Blue Butterfly specimens at California Academy
Freshwater stingray from Amazon basin…
March 14, 2025 at 5:22 AM
Freshwater stingray from Amazon basin…
From the “Most Delicious Poison” book talk last night with @scipsychedelics.bsky.social Director & Professor Michael Silver hosted by the Morrison Library @ucberkeleylibrary.bsky.social . An audience filled with colleagues, mentees & friends. Truly wonderful. Go 🐻s! @ucberkeleyofficial.bsky.social
March 6, 2025 at 5:31 PM
From the “Most Delicious Poison” book talk last night with @scipsychedelics.bsky.social Director & Professor Michael Silver hosted by the Morrison Library @ucberkeleylibrary.bsky.social . An audience filled with colleagues, mentees & friends. Truly wonderful. Go 🐻s! @ucberkeleyofficial.bsky.social
Despite 50% less funding due to a canceled "Pests and Beneficials" grant mechanism at USDA 45 days from our conference, we rallied and had a great 16th Plant-Herbivore Interaction Gordon Research Conference. Most speakers paid their way, including those from other continents...resiliency in action.
February 16, 2025 at 9:16 PM
Despite 50% less funding due to a canceled "Pests and Beneficials" grant mechanism at USDA 45 days from our conference, we rallied and had a great 16th Plant-Herbivore Interaction Gordon Research Conference. Most speakers paid their way, including those from other continents...resiliency in action.
The 16th Plant-Herbivore Interaction Gordon Research Conference is 44 days away! The theme is "unraveling the threads of coevolution" and there are still slots (open to all post-bacc folks). To apply, create a MyGRC account and apply here: www.grc.org/plant-herbiv.... Keynote by Consuelo de Moraes.
December 28, 2024 at 2:18 AM
The 16th Plant-Herbivore Interaction Gordon Research Conference is 44 days away! The theme is "unraveling the threads of coevolution" and there are still slots (open to all post-bacc folks). To apply, create a MyGRC account and apply here: www.grc.org/plant-herbiv.... Keynote by Consuelo de Moraes.
It’s not too late to get Most Delicious Poison delivered by tomorrow OR to pick up a copy from your local bookstore before Christmas 🎄 or Hanukkah 🕎!
December 23, 2024 at 8:01 PM
It’s not too late to get Most Delicious Poison delivered by tomorrow OR to pick up a copy from your local bookstore before Christmas 🎄 or Hanukkah 🕎!
And then it enhanced D. melanogaster survival by 20% and reduced one wasp’s emergence by 40%! The protein behaved as a phenocopy of D. ananassae’s in the new “host” and all we had to do was express it in same tissue/cells that make it in native host for it to work in D. melanogaster against wasps. 🤯
December 21, 2024 at 5:43 PM
And then it enhanced D. melanogaster survival by 20% and reduced one wasp’s emergence by 40%! The protein behaved as a phenocopy of D. ananassae’s in the new “host” and all we had to do was express it in same tissue/cells that make it in native host for it to work in D. melanogaster against wasps. 🤯
A phage gene encoding a DNase I homolog was horizontally transferred to a Drosophila ananassae ancestor 21 mya and is now used against parasitoids. @tarnopol.bsky.social put it into D. melanogaster and expressed in fat body. It moved humorally to wasp serosa just as in Dmel! tinyurl.com/2k9ypyxr
December 21, 2024 at 5:34 PM
A phage gene encoding a DNase I homolog was horizontally transferred to a Drosophila ananassae ancestor 21 mya and is now used against parasitoids. @tarnopol.bsky.social put it into D. melanogaster and expressed in fat body. It moved humorally to wasp serosa just as in Dmel! tinyurl.com/2k9ypyxr