Tapan Goel
@tgoel.bsky.social
Postdoc in the @weitz_group at UMD College Park. Working on eco-evolutionary models of phages and their hosts. UCSD Physics PhD. he/his
For a different perspective on using debates as a form of student engagement from Terry McGlynn's excellent blog:
scienceforeveryone.science/why-i-dont-l...
scienceforeveryone.science/why-i-dont-l...
Why I don't like arguments and debates
I keep a perennial list of topics that had made me think, “ooh, that would make a good post.” The present one has sat there for years, but I never was inspired to flesh it out until now, prompted by a...
scienceforeveryone.science
November 7, 2025 at 4:32 PM
For a different perspective on using debates as a form of student engagement from Terry McGlynn's excellent blog:
scienceforeveryone.science/why-i-dont-l...
scienceforeveryone.science/why-i-dont-l...
Congratulations!!! Excited to have you here at UMD!
July 17, 2025 at 2:30 PM
Congratulations!!! Excited to have you here at UMD!
Thanks for getting the group going! Looking forward to meeting some old friends and some new ones this coming week!
July 4, 2025 at 9:54 PM
Thanks for getting the group going! Looking forward to meeting some old friends and some new ones this coming week!
Huge thanks to @joshuasweitz.bsky.social and @beckettstephen.bsky.social , and the weitzgroup for their guidance and support! (14/14)
May 30, 2025 at 10:49 PM
Huge thanks to @joshuasweitz.bsky.social and @beckettstephen.bsky.social , and the weitzgroup for their guidance and support! (14/14)
This work was supported by the Simons Foundation, the Chaires Blaise Pascal program and funding from Montgomery County, Maryland and The University of Maryland Strategic Partnership: MPowering the State, a formal collaboration between the UMCP and UMBC. (13/14)
May 30, 2025 at 10:49 PM
This work was supported by the Simons Foundation, the Chaires Blaise Pascal program and funding from Montgomery County, Maryland and The University of Maryland Strategic Partnership: MPowering the State, a formal collaboration between the UMCP and UMBC. (13/14)
Check out our paper here: academic.oup.com/ve/article/1... and the associated code here: zenodo.org/records/1478... (12/14)
May 30, 2025 at 10:49 PM
Check out our paper here: academic.oup.com/ve/article/1... and the associated code here: zenodo.org/records/1478... (12/14)
Moreover, temperate strategies help mitigate local extinction in fluctuating environments, maintaining a high survival probability across cycles, unlike viruses that only pass horizontally or vertically. (11/14)
May 30, 2025 at 10:49 PM
Moreover, temperate strategies help mitigate local extinction in fluctuating environments, maintaining a high survival probability across cycles, unlike viruses that only pass horizontally or vertically. (11/14)
On the other hand, temperate strategies persist when there are conflicting selection pressures on the short- and long-term since they balance short-term host exploitation and long-term lysogen maintenance, while obligate lytic strategies may go extinct. (10/14)
May 30, 2025 at 10:49 PM
On the other hand, temperate strategies persist when there are conflicting selection pressures on the short- and long-term since they balance short-term host exploitation and long-term lysogen maintenance, while obligate lytic strategies may go extinct. (10/14)
As a result, obligate lytic virus persist and are evolutionarily stable. (9/14)
May 30, 2025 at 10:49 PM
As a result, obligate lytic virus persist and are evolutionarily stable. (9/14)
We can independently control the short- and long-term selection pressures by changing the number of hosts added and by changing the filtrate, respectively, e.g., when lots of hosts are added and only free viruses are passaged, lysis is favored in the short- and long-term. (8/14)
May 30, 2025 at 10:49 PM
We can independently control the short- and long-term selection pressures by changing the number of hosts added and by changing the filtrate, respectively, e.g., when lots of hosts are added and only free viruses are passaged, lysis is favored in the short- and long-term. (8/14)
This framework is based on the serial passage experiments typically done in virology and mimics “boom-bust” dynamics in marine environments. (7/14)
May 30, 2025 at 10:49 PM
This framework is based on the serial passage experiments typically done in virology and mimics “boom-bust” dynamics in marine environments. (7/14)
To do so, we simulated an experiment: Susceptible hosts inoculated with viruses during a growth phase. Next, a fraction of the viruses and lysogens from the culture are used to inoculate a fresh batch of hosts (filtration phase). These steps are repeated over and over. (6/14)
May 30, 2025 at 10:49 PM
To do so, we simulated an experiment: Susceptible hosts inoculated with viruses during a growth phase. Next, a fraction of the viruses and lysogens from the culture are used to inoculate a fresh batch of hosts (filtration phase). These steps are repeated over and over. (6/14)
We tried to extend these results to the long-term, incorporating environmental fluctuations and analyzing how those fluctuations drive the evolution of temperate viral strategies. (5/14)
May 30, 2025 at 10:49 PM
We tried to extend these results to the long-term, incorporating environmental fluctuations and analyzing how those fluctuations drive the evolution of temperate viral strategies. (5/14)
Population level models suggest that temperate strategies excel when host availability is low and viral mortality is high. But these models only account for short-term dynamics. (4/14)
May 30, 2025 at 10:49 PM
Population level models suggest that temperate strategies excel when host availability is low and viral mortality is high. But these models only account for short-term dynamics. (4/14)
First off, lysogeny presents an interesting conundrum: the process of integrating a virus into a cellular genome and replicated with the host can be slower than lysis and seems to yield fewer offspring! Yet, temperate viruses persist in many environments. (3/14)
May 30, 2025 at 10:49 PM
First off, lysogeny presents an interesting conundrum: the process of integrating a virus into a cellular genome and replicated with the host can be slower than lysis and seems to yield fewer offspring! Yet, temperate viruses persist in many environments. (3/14)
Takeaway: we showed that being temperate can evolve under conflicting short-term and long-term selection pressures, and that it provides insurance against environmental stochasticity. Read on for more details: (2/14)
May 30, 2025 at 10:49 PM
Takeaway: we showed that being temperate can evolve under conflicting short-term and long-term selection pressures, and that it provides insurance against environmental stochasticity. Read on for more details: (2/14)
The paper is inspired by a 40-year-old question in virus/phage ecology: “Why be temperate?” (as Bruce Levin & Frank Stewart put it), or “Why do virus sometimes kill their host (lysis) and sometimes integrate with their hosts to form lysogens.”(1/14)
May 30, 2025 at 10:49 PM
The paper is inspired by a 40-year-old question in virus/phage ecology: “Why be temperate?” (as Bruce Levin & Frank Stewart put it), or “Why do virus sometimes kill their host (lysis) and sometimes integrate with their hosts to form lysogens.”(1/14)
I'm presenting a poster. Looking forward to seeing you!!😊
May 24, 2025 at 11:52 AM
I'm presenting a poster. Looking forward to seeing you!!😊
Are you coming to the GRC in Andover?
May 23, 2025 at 10:31 AM
Are you coming to the GRC in Andover?
Thanks for hosting @vishuguttal.bsky.social :). It was great to be back and share work that I've been doing with @beckettstephen.bsky.social and @joshuasweitz.bsky.social.
November 15, 2024 at 4:33 AM
Thanks for hosting @vishuguttal.bsky.social :). It was great to be back and share work that I've been doing with @beckettstephen.bsky.social and @joshuasweitz.bsky.social.