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Brian Dilkes

@briandilkes.bsky.social
824 followers 455 following 1.4K posts

Takes things apart to figure out what's inside.

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Reposted by Brian Dilkes
Ishaan Tharoor @ishaantharoor.bsky.social · 5h
My twin @kanishktharoor.bsky.social shared this Anne Carson poem with me. It rules.
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Brian Dilkes @briandilkes.bsky.social · 2h
Anne Carson! Yes!!!! So awesome.
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bioRxiv Evolutionary Biology @biorxiv-evobio.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
All detectable ancient whole-genome duplications involve hybridization www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/20…
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Jessie Uehling @fungaljess.bsky.social · 23h
BPP is hiring! come join us in @osubpp.bsky.social The Department of Botany & Plant Pathology invites applications for a 12-month (0.75 FTE), tenure-track Assistant Professor position in extension plant pathology. more at link below: oregonstate.wd501.myworkdayjobs.com/OSU_Careers_...
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Robert "The Bobby Yaga" McNees @mcnees.bsky.social · 20h
Very sad to hear that Margaret Hamilton has passed away. Here's a short thread about her role in the Apollo mission, and her lesser-known work on the simulations that led to the discovery of Chaos Theory. 🧪 👩‍🔬 ⚛️
news.mit.edu
Margaret Hamilton, computing pioneer who led software development for the Apollo program, dies at 90
Margaret H. Hamilton, a profoundly influential computer scientist best known for leading the software engineering team at MIT’s Instrumentation Lab during NASA’s Apollo program, died at age 90.
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Robert "The Bobby Yaga" McNees @mcnees.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
Margaret Hamilton, a pioneer of software engineering who led NASA's in-flight software team for the Apollo mission, was born #OTD in 1936. 🧪 🔭 👩‍🔬 Image: NASA
A black and white photo of Margaret Hamilton standing next to a stack of printouts, the code that she and her team wrote for the Apollo Lunar Module. She is wearing a short, striped dress and sandals. Hamilton has long hair past her shoulders and wears glasses. She is looking at the stack of code, which is taller than her, smiling and steadying it with her hands.
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Frank Hochholdinger @hochholdingerf.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Cool use of the BonnMu transposon insertion database showed that predicted pollen fitness genes contained less often transposon insertions particularly in the exon. bsky.app/profile/jefo...
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David Roberts @volts.wtf · 05/10/2026
Holy shit.
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John Fowler (he/him) @jefowlerjr.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
The training dataset was generated using EarVision: automated ear image quantification of mutant vs. wild-type allele transmission from competing pollen, letting us determine effects (strong reduction in fitness vs no effect) for >300 GFP-marked mutations in pollen-expressed genes.
Building a large(-ish) gene-specific quantitative phenotype dataset: A. A mix of 1:1 GFP-marked mutant and wild-type pollen compete to generate seeds on a maize ear; B the EarVision platform provides GFP vs WT kernels counts that quantify mutant effects on pollen fitness.
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John Fowler (he/him) @jefowlerjr.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Really happy to see this paper out! Bioengineering PhD student @sebastian--mueller.bsky.social led work building machine-learning models that use omics data to predict reduced pollen fitness for specific maize mutants, with strong performance. academic.oup.com/plcell/artic...
academic.oup.com
Successful predictive modeling of pollen fitness phenotypes is enabled by measures of expression specificity
Abstract. The ability to predict phenotypes from genotypes in multicellular organisms remains limited despite rapid advances in genotyping and phenotyping
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Brian Dilkes @briandilkes.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Shout out today to my dad, who is a book nerd. Years ago now, he went to a book signing of James Watson's and upon being surprised at how pretentious and annoying he was...pretended to be Rosalind Franklin's cousin just to make Watson uncomfortable. It worked.
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Science Magazine @science.org · 05/10/2026
Exclusive: A new analysis refutes James Watson’s claim that he was the first to recognize the significance of the famed photograph 51. scim.ag/4rTKck8
scim.ag
How did Rosalind Franklin miss the helix in her iconic DNA image? She didn’t
New analysis refutes James Watson’s claim he was first to recognize significance of famed photograph 51
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Elizabeth Anne, PhD @lacksauthority.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
never the wrong time for this classic
Screenshot of a tweet by @RobbtKraft reading “scientist: "does everyone here know what Watson and Crick discovered?" 
me from back of room: "Rosalind Franklin's notes"”
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Ciara Torres-Spelliscy @profciara.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Early voting starts October 6: Indiana Oct. 6, 2026 New Mexico Oct. 6, 2026 Ohio Oct. 6, 2026 Wyoming Oct. 6, 2026 🗳️👏
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Mark Peifer (He, him) @peiferlabunc.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
I did not know Sam Altman was the other billionaire involved in funding Arcadia. Seems like that might provide some context. Or that Seemay Chou just launched an AI start up www.statnews.com/2026/03/11/r...
statnews.com
New nonprofit launches with at least $500 million to modernize scientific process for AI era
A new nonprofit called Radial is launching with at least $500 million to modernize the scientific process for the AI era.
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Liam U. Taylor @liamtaylor.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
"But whether the cause of tuberculosis is said to be a bacillus or the capitalist exploitation of workers, whether the death rate from cancer is best reduced by studying oncogenes or by seizing control of factories..." p5
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Bradley Morgan @bradleymorgan.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Hey, Chicago! I'm organizing a film presentation for @chirpradio.org where we will be screening "The Last Waltz" at @musicboxtheatre.bsky.social to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Band's legendary concert. There will also be a food drive. Tickets on sale now musicboxtheatre.com/films-and-ev...
Theatrical poster for the Last Waltz
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Stuart McDaniel @stuartmcdaniel.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
UF Biology is searching for an Assistant Professor in Plant Ecology, pass it along explore.jobs.ufl.edu/en-us/search...
explore.jobs.ufl.edu
University of Florida - Search Results
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Dr Hannah M. Rowland @hannahmrowland.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Hope your day was better than Darwin’s, on this day 165 years ago
I am very poorly today & very stupid & hate everybody &everything.

Charles Darwin
Letter to Charles Lyell
1st October 1861
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Mark Peifer (He, him) @peiferlabunc.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
"My mouth was agape for, conservatively, one half of the film’s unusually deserved three-hour run time." "it is an odd choice to allow a comedian famous for his business scams to make a documentary that will supposedly clear your name of arguably the most famous fraud scandal of the 2010s."
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Kelly Dawe @corncolors.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
The UGA Genetics Department is hiring! Please help spread the word. We have an opening for an Associate Professor/Professor in Genetics, Synthetic Biology, and Biological Engineering. See ad for details – and join us here in Athens, GA!
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Alejandro Montenegro @aemonten.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
A new issue of CSH Protocols is out! @cshlpress.bsky.social The cover image highlights the work by Zimina et al., who summarize various approaches for examining meiosis & meiotic recombination in maize, & introduce a set of accompanying protocols to study meiosis in this species🌽 ⬇️Links below
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Jeremy Berg @jeremymberg.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
From a discussion of updating a department website...
A photo with baby Yoda and adult Yoda with the caption "Could it be time for a new photo?"
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Harebrained @harebrained.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Everything Sox
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Kate Manne @katemanne.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
I wrote for @thecut.com about the Cornell case and what it says that, at my institution and many others like it, protesters are often punished more harshly than sexual assailants www.thecut.com/article/what...
thecut.com
What It Feels Like at Cornell Right Now
As a professor at the Ivy League school, Kate Manne has known many, many victims. There’s a palpable feeling on campus, she writes, that this is big.
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John MD @jwbelmon.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Jack Smith at the Iowa v Maryland basketball game www.facebook.com/story.php?st...
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Julia Van Etten @couchmicroscopy.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Spread the word! I’m looking to recruit a PhD student to grow the Paulinella project. Some details can be found here: www.vanettenlab.org/join
vanettenlab.org
Join! — Van Etten lab at UMD
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Beronda L. Montgomery @berondam.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Had an amazing recent event hosted by 44th & 3rd booksellers in ATL that was co-sponsored/co-hosted by @treesatlanta.bsky.social Signed copies of When Trees Testify Science Wisdom History and America's Black Botanical now available through 44th & 3rd: 44thand3rdbookseller.com/search?q=Whe...
44thand3rdbookseller.com
Results for "When Trees Testify "
Results for "When Trees Testify "
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Nicole Bedera @nbedera.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
For every story like the Cornell gang rape, there are thousands more that couldn’t make it into the light. I wrote about a few dozen of them at one university in On the Wrong Side. The university’s treatment of survivors is eerily similar to what Jane Doe at Cornell experienced.
bookshop.org
On the Wrong Side: How Universities Protect Perpetrators and Betray Survivors of Sexual Violence
"Bedera dispels deeply ingrained campus rape myths and puts the innate violence of the campus sexual assault reporting process into focus."--Jezebel"The book's grim conclusions are tempered with a hop...
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Nicole Bedera @nbedera.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Nearly 40% of survivors who report to their schools are pushed out in one way or another—usually, at the urging of school staff who want them to leave. (In comparison, less than 1% of perpetrators are suspended or expelled.)
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Judah Grunstein @judah-grunstein.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Great reply threads here. (Professor Baker stuck around after class to answer questions.)
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Dominique Baker @bakerdphd.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Shot: "We asked 37 top academics and researchers who study education to rate a range of ideas for both effectiveness and cost, on a scale of 1 to 7." Chaser: "The panel included: Dominique Baker..." LOL y'all I read so many papers to complete this survey on k12 www.nytimes.com/2026/09/28/u...
nytimes.com
30 Ideas for Fixing U.S. Schools, Ranked by Experts
Math and reading scores are in a decade-long slump. We asked three dozen experts: What could turn things around?
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Journal of Cell Science @jcellsci.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Cutting corn-ers: @stephanieemartinez.bsky.social and @carolynplants.bsky.social discover that KATANIN p60 guides asymmetric division plane positioning in maize. Highlight: journals.biologists.com/jcs/article/... Article: journals.biologists.com/jcs/article/...
Figure showing that PPBs are incompletely formed in p60 mutants.
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AAU @aau.edu · 28/09/2026
Most major scientific and medical advances began with federally funded basic research. Tonight, the Golden Goose Award will honor scientists whose fundamental, curiosity-driven research led to unexpected breakthroughs.
aau.edu
Golden Goose Award a Reminder That Federally Funded Basic Research…
These examples of past Golden Goose Award stories help demonstrate why curiosity-driven basic research matters, even when its value is not at first…
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James Goodwin @jamesgoodwin.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
I hadn't really encountered Rich Kids until I went to college and then law school. Of course, they're not all bad. But the ones who are bad are bad in such a distinctive way. Like they are insulated against accountability and are intoxicated by that fact.
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The Guardian @theguardian.com · 28/09/2026
Stevie Wonder releases four unheard songs from Songs in the Key of Life sessions
theguardian.com
Stevie Wonder releases four unheard songs from Songs in the Key of Life sessions
Previously unreleased material comes as Wonder marks 50th anniversary of album with arena tour Stevie Wonder has expanded the scope of what was already the most epic studio album in his catalogue, 1976’s Songs in the Key of Life. Four unheard songs from the recording sessions have been released today as a new EP of the same name, marking the 50th anniversary of an album which won album of the year at the Grammys and contains a number of Wonder’s landmark tracks including Sir Duke, As and Isn’t She Lovely. Continue reading...
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PlantEvolution 🌱🌾 @plantevolution.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Cool new work from @thanvisrikant.bsky.social & @kbomblies.bsky.social: Chromosomes in #Arabidopsis thaliana neo-polyploids break preferentially at fragile sites that correspond to ancient genome rearrangements #plantscience www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Detection and analyses of aneuploidies in neo-tetraploid A. thaliana. (A) Schematic
representation of how neo-tetraploid F1 were generated through reciprocal crossing of Col-0 and
Ler neo-tetraploid inbreds. See Figure S1A for more details. (B-D) Examples of aneuploidy
detection using sequencing coverage data from three F1 individuals, “Cross_3_Plant_32”,
“Cross_3_Plant_25” and “Cross_38_Plant_01”, respectively (Figure S2, S3). The upper panels
show aneuploidy detection using a read-coverage approach and the lower panels show a
variant-calling based approach. The Ler chromosomes are indicated as L1-L5 (orange) and Col-
0 chromosomes are indicated as C1-C5 (blue). In both panels, every data point represents a
mean value (normalised read coverage / allele frequency) in a 100kb window of the genome.
For the upper panels, sequencing data are mapped to an in-silico hybrid genome that combines
TAIR10.1 (Col-0) and Ler. For the lower panels, the sequencing data are mapped to a Ler
reference genome. (B) Data from a euploid individual with normalised coverage consistent with
two copies of each maternally and paternally inherited chromosome (upper panel), and allele
frequencies clustering around 0.5 when mapped to a Ler reference genome (lower panel). (C)
Data from an individual affected by a full-length aneuploidy – a loss of one Chromosome 2 copy
from Col-0, resulting in a drop in coverage (upper panel) and sharp changes in allele frequency
(lower chromosome) for Chr2. (D) Data from an individual affected by a segmental loss of part
of Chromosome 4 from the Ler parent.
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Olivia Goldman PhD @oliviagoldman.net · 25/09/2026
Postdocs across STEM: we’d love your advice! 👀 Did you apply for fellowships before starting your postdoc? If so, did you already have a formal or informal offer from your postdoc mentor? This is for @cientificolatino.com’s #NextLab program for senior grad students. Please share your experience!
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marketapernis.bsky.social @marketapernis.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
We have an open PhD position in plant in vitro regeneration! 🌱👇 www.muni.cz/en/about-us/...
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Stuart McDaniel @stuartmcdaniel.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
It’s almost like the term ‘early diverging lineage’ doesn’t mean anything at all. Having done this exercise myself I’ve realized that tree-thinking is counterintuitive enough that viewpoints like this have to come out routinely to remind people not to fall into higher-lower essentialist thinking
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Plant Physiology @plantphys.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Cytokinin senescence delay is shaped by receptor specificity and metabolic stability (Omar Hasannin , Risheek R Khanna , Satyam Singh , Ivan Petřík , Miroslav Strnad , Ondřej Novák , Martin Černý , Aaron M Rashotte) doi.org/10.1093/plph... #PlantScience @aspbofficial
doi.org
Cytokinin senescence delay is shaped by receptor specificity and metabolic stability
Abstract. Each of the 4 different cytokinin (CK) base forms, trans-zeatin (tZ), isopentenyladenine (iP), dihydrozeatin (DHZ), and cis-zeatin (cZ) has disti
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Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · 27/09/2026
Four days ago, a scientist was surprised by the news that Anthropic discovered new virus genes for making DNA. He says he’s been studying them for years—and feeding his data to Anthropic’s AI as part of his own research. Coincidence? Here’s my story. nyti.ms/3VSWayc
nyti.ms
Did Anthropic’s A.I. Really Make a Scientific Discovery on Its Own? (Gift Article)
An expert at the University of Copenhagen said his team had been sharing its research with the company’s A.I. model, Claude, and that its new finding matched their work.
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Daniel Radosh @radosh.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Kinky Friedman
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Matt Seybold @mattseybold.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Infuriating story that @nkalamb.bsky.social, @derekcrim.bsky.social, & Simran Kaur Sethi unfurl with attention to how colleges are complicit in putting international students in danger. Destabilizing student visa process creates more detentions. That’s not disorganization. That’s design.
theguardian.com
ICE has abducted a college athlete. What are the NCAA and universities going to do about it?
Aminata Seck’s detention shows the bargain facing international college athletes: universities eagerly recruit them, but support can disappear when their immigration status becomes precarious.
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Nathan Kalman-Lamb @nkalamb.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
ICE has abducted Senegalese WBB player Aminata Seck and won't release her. DHS 'policy' is to provide medical care to prisoners at intake, yet they admit to denying her care for an ACL injury for 1.5 months. The NCAA is letting it happen, despite its predatory recruitment of ICAs. We explain.
theguardian.com
ICE has abducted a college athlete. What are the NCAA and universities going to do about it?
Aminata Seck’s detention shows the bargain facing international college athletes: universities eagerly recruit them, but support can disappear when their immigration status becomes precarious.
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Racket @racketmn.com · 26/09/2026
As Sable Adelaide readied to move to Minneapolis from Fargo at the beginning of August, she packed up all the essentials: the kitchen utensils, the clothing, the 1,000 copies of Wedding Crashers on DVD. racketmn.com/wedding-cras...
racketmn.com
An Interview With the Person Who Put Hundreds of ‘Wedding Crashers’ DVDs in South Mpls Little Free Libraries - Racket
'It is 100% a queer art installation,' Sable Adelaide tells us.
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IGN @ign.com · 26/09/2026
The seminal workplace comedy 9 to 5 is returning to theaters October 9 with ticket sales benefitting Dolly Parton's Imagination Library, which gifts free books to kids and promotes childhood literacy.
Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, and Dolly Parton celebrate as they have their boss tied up behind his desk in art for 9 to 5. Caption reads: Dolly Parton's 9 to 5 Returning to Theaters October 9
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Katie Martin @katie0martin.ft.com · 25/09/2026
I have blamed The agents That hacked Your website And which You probably Reasonably thought I controlled Forgive me I am rich And unaccustomed To taking responsibility
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Senator Jeff Merkley @merkley.senate.gov · 26/09/2026
A pocket rescission is an illegal line item veto. It is the president saying that he and he alone will convert a bipartisan spending bill (that has been signed into law) into a partisan spending bill. He is canceling the lines of spending he doesn't like.
politico.com
Trump cancels $1B in federal spending in latest challenge to Congress
Many lawmakers, including some top Republicans, say the "pocket rescission" tactic is illegal.
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Noel Blanco-Touriñán @noelponte.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
🧵 1/8 Have you ever wondered how information embedded within exons regulates gene expression in plants? 🌱🧬 Check out our latest work, where we explore how exonic enhancers (EEs) shape gene expression in plants! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
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