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Michael Emerman

@memerman.bsky.social
416 followers 518 following 23 posts

Emeritus Professor at Fred Hutch in Seattle. My lab studied HIV and other viruses. My main account is on Mastodon: @memerman@mstdn.science where I post about virology, hiking, biking and gardening. Here, mostly to follow virologists and other friends.

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Michael Emerman @memerman.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
Thanks for the interview! It was fun to talk to you. BTW, the photo is from grad school when I had a lot of hair. Former Teminites will recognize I'm sitting at Howard's microscope.
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virologyunmasked.bsky.social @virologyunmasked.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
virologyunmasked.com/michael-emerman/ This month's titan of virology and vaccinology. Dr. Michael Emerman. Dr. Emerman is an HIV researcher who helped unlock its molecular mysterious. He is also a pioneer in the field of 'plaleovirology' and a mentor to over 100 students! @memerman.bsky.social
virologyunmasked.com
Michael Emerman
Dr. Michael Emerman “You align priorities to favor the trainees (so) that what is good for the trainees will end up being good for the lab” Emerman on successful mentoring, Virology Unm…
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@JohnGrossSF @johngrosssf.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
Congratulations to Yange Niu et al for showing how SIVsmm Vif was pre-equipped to antagonize human A3H-haplotype II through cryoEM and virological studies of the HIV-2 Vif-A3H complex. Another satisfying collaboration with Nicholas Chesarino and @memerman.bsky.social www.nature.com/articles/s41...
nature.com
The structural mechanism of HIV-2 Vif antagonism of human APOBEC3H - Nature Communications
HIV-2 Vif counteracts a broad range of APOBEC3 restriction factors to promote viral infectivity. Here, the authors determine the structure of HIV-2 Vif bound to human APOBEC3H and the host cofactor CB...
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Michael Emerman @memerman.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
My very last, last author paper now published a year since retirement. All credit to grad Caroline Langley who did brilliant work, super tech Michelle Lily who finished the experimental work after Caroline graduated, and my ever wise collaborator (and Caroline’s co-mentor) @harmitmalik.bsky.social
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Harmit Singh Malik @harmitmalik.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
Caroline Langley's primary thesis chapter from her time as a grad student in @memerman.bsky.social's and my lab is now published. She shows that HIV-1 Vif’s ability to maintain A3G antagonism depends on structural robustness, which permits adaptation, and epistasis, which imposes constraints.
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Akio Adachi @1464-205.bsky.social · 13/11/2025
rdcu.be/ePDBS
rdcu.be
Evolutionary characterization of antiviral SAMD9/9L across kingdoms supports ancient convergence and lineage-specific adaptations
Nature Ecology & Evolution - A search for analogues of the human SAMD9/9L antiviral genes identifies convergent evolution of this gene family in the bacterial and animal kingdoms, with...
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Caro Goujon @carogoujon.bsky.social · 07/10/2025
After years in the making, Joe McKellar @viroscope.bsky.social’s final PhD paper is finally out today in PNAS! 🎉 🎉🎉 www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
pnas.org
Human MX1 orchestrates the cytoplasmic sequestration of neosynthesized influenza A virus vRNPs | PNAS
Interferon-inducible Myxovirus resistance 1 (MX1) proteins are known to restrict influenza A virus (IAV) transcription/replication process. Herein,...
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Tamanash Bhattacharya @tamanash.bsky.social · 29/09/2025
New preprint alert! 🦟 <-> 🦠 <-> 🧑 I am thrilled to share our latest study on alphavirus host adaptation. More specifically, on how a single codon helps blunt alphavirus-induced host innate immune responses in mosquito and human cells. Continue reading for more! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
biorxiv.org
The Sindbis virus nsP3 opal codon protects viral RNA and fitness by maintaining replication spherule integrity
Most alphaviruses encode an in-frame opal stop codon between nsP3 and nsP4 in their nsP ORF. This opal stop codon mediates a temperature-dependent balance between viral polymerase production and prote...
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Dr. Ahna Skop @ahnaskop.bsky.social · 12/09/2025
What @memerman.bsky.social learned from Howard Temin
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Harmit Singh Malik @harmitmalik.bsky.social · 11/07/2025
www.fredhutch.org/content/www/...
fredhutch.org
Virologist and HIV expert Dr. Michael Emerman retires
During his 36-year career at Fred Hutch Cancer Center, Michael Emerman, PhD, made fundamental discoveries about HIV, the retrovirus that causes AIDS. He co-founded the field of paleovirology and consi...
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Caro Goujon @carogoujon.bsky.social · 09/07/2025
New job offer in the team! If you're an experienced virologist (with a PhD), join us to work on Horizon Europe-funded APPEAL project in the vibrant city of Montpellier, South of France! euraxess.ec.europa.eu/jobs/359640
euraxess.ec.europa.eu
Research assistant (postdoc level) in molecular virology, EU-funded project APPEAL (Montpellier, France)
The research assistant with a PhD in molecular virology (RA, 'ingénieur de recherche' in French) will work on the Horizon Europe-funded APPEAL project involving 13 partners from 6 countries, including...
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Harmit Singh Malik @harmitmalik.bsky.social · 08/06/2025
He resolved that he would not stop either, even though it was a huge sacrifice on his part. I believe this is what we owe our trainees: so long as they are invested in their work, we must be as well, even if it seems like the world is on fire around us, both literally and figuratively. 10/
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Michael Emerman @memerman.bsky.social · 02/06/2025
My Keynote Talk at the CSHL 50th annual meeting on Retroviruses is now online: leadingstrand.cshl.edu/Keynote/Medi... Some more general parts such as ~ the 8'30" mark with the "What I learned from Howard Temin" slide and ~ the 40' mark with the "What is important to me in science" section.
leadingstrand.cshl.edu
CSHL Leading Stand - Keynote Lecture Series
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Nicolas Manel Lab @manellab.bsky.social · 02/06/2025
Thrilled to share our latest @cp-cell.bsky.social. We present VICAR (VIral-induced Centromeric DNA Amplification and Recognition), a new defense system to detect viruses in the nucleus based on nuclear cGAS. www.cell.com/cell/abstrac...
cell.com
Centromeric DNA amplification triggered by viral proteins activates nuclear cGAS
Herpesvirus proteins disrupt centromeres, triggering centromeric DNA amplification and local nuclear activation of the nucleic acid sensor cGAS. This reveals an immune surveillance mechanism in the nu...
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Michael Emerman @memerman.bsky.social · 30/05/2025
It was such beautiful day and retirement party!
A group of smiling people in the Seattle sunshine on a dock next to the boat house
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Harmit Singh Malik @harmitmalik.bsky.social · 09/05/2025
How much of the unfortunate, devastating history of that period are we hellbent on recreating in the US? Parents of autistic children would be crazy to trust information of their precious children to this effort.
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American Association for the Advancement of Science @aaas.org · 08/05/2025
Yvette Raphael, Gilead Sciences—with special recognition of Moupali Das—and Wesley Sundquist have been awarded the Mani L. Bhaumik Breakthrough of the Year Award for their work on HIV drug lenacapavir. www.aaas.org/news/road-le...
Promotional image for AAAS/Science, congratulating the winners of the Mani L. Bhaumik of the Year Award. Featured are three award recipients, each in individual portraits, with names and affiliations displayed: Yvette Raphael, Wesely I. Sundquist, and Gilead Sciences' Merdad Parsey & Kripa Murali.
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Harmit Singh Malik @harmitmalik.bsky.social · 05/05/2025
Really excited to share the final version of Rechel Geiger’s PhD thesis paper with help from friends www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... Rechel is now back in medical school training to become a kickass physician-scientist
science.org
Heterozygous and generalist MxA super-restrictors overcome breadth-specificity trade-offs in antiviral restriction
Two evolutionary strategies allow the antiviral protein MxA to evolve simultaneous super-restriction against multiple viruses.
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Harmit Singh Malik @harmitmalik.bsky.social · 05/05/2025
This paper completes a three paper arc (so far) performed by three remarkable students co-mentored by me and @memerman.bsky.social Patrick Michell (@psmitchej.bsky.social) first identified loop L4 as the key interface with the NP proteins of orthomyxoviruses (pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23084925/)
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Tamanash Bhattacharya @tamanash.bsky.social · 18/04/2025
Our study exploring the evolutionary mechanism of alphavirus opal codon retention is now online! www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
science.org
A conserved opal termination codon optimizes a temperature-dependent trade-off between protein production and processing in alphaviruses
Alphaviruses optimize viral polymerase production and polyprotein processing at distinct temperatures via a premature stop codon.
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Juan Martin Serrano @juanmartin-serrano.bsky.social · 18/04/2025
My dear friend, collaborator and scientific hero is recognised as one of 100 most influential people in the world by TIME. Sometimes the good guys get the recognition they deserve. healthcare.utah.edu/newsroom/new...
healthcare.utah.edu
Wesley Sundquist Named to TIME’s Annual TIME100 List of the 100 Most Influential People in the World
Research in the Sundquist lab laid the foundations for the development of lenacapavir, a drug that prevents HIV infection with 99.9% to 100% efficacy and could dramatically lower infection rates world...
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Patrick S. Mitchell @psmitchej.bsky.social · 28/03/2025
Federal funding of biomedical research has been a remarkably successful partnership, with benefits that are so intertwined in our daily lives that they can be easy to take for granted. So what will we lose if the U.S. continues to defund research? theconversation.com/cuts-to-scie...
theconversation.com
Cuts to science research funding cut American lives short − federal support is essential for medical breakthroughs
The National Institutes of Health has been integral to scientific progress in treating countless human diseases. Without its support, patients will ultimately pay the price.
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Harmit Singh Malik @harmitmalik.bsky.social · 27/03/2025
Proud of this work, led by the amazing Jeannette Tenthorey (now Assistant Professor at UCSF), demonstrating the adaptive power of single indel mutations in host-virus arms races, but a little sad that this is the coda to her amazing postdoc in the Malik & Emerman labs. www.cell.com/cell-genomic...
cell.com
Indels allow antiviral proteins to evolve functional novelty inaccessible by missense mutations
Tenthorey et al. compare the effects of missense and indel mutations on the acquisition of functional novelty by the rapidly evolving antiviral protein TRIM5α. They find that single indel mutations al...
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Angie Rasmussen @angierasmussen.bsky.social · 26/03/2025
Yesterday when I talked to @maxkozlov.bsky.social about this, I wondered which of my NIH-funded colleagues would have their grants cut. All of them. Research on pandemic viruses has now ground to a screeching halt in the US. www.nature.com/articles/d41...
nature.com
Exclusive: NIH to cut grants for COVID research, documents reveal
Studies on climate change and South Africa are also on the latest list of grants to be terminated, according to updated documents obtained by Nature.
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Marie-Louise (Lou) Hammarskjold @marielouh.bsky.social · 09/03/2025
Furthermore, his wife, Betsy Arakawa, died of a virus that most people have not even heard about. Hantavirus is a rare virus, but has a very high mortality. As a virologist, I am greatly concerned about RFK Jr.'s threat:" We're going to give infectious disease a break for about eight years".
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Harmit Singh Malik @harmitmalik.bsky.social · 04/03/2025
Hope to see many of my colleagues on Friday. www.eventbrite.com/e/stand-up-f... Science is for everyone. For everyone to do, and for everyone to benefit from. Weather forecast has also improved for Friday, but waterproof your posters just in case.
eventbrite.com
Stand Up for Science 2025 - Seattle, WA
Stand up for science with us on March 7th, 2025, because science is for everyone! More info at www.standupforscience2025.org
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Nate Sherer @natesherer.bsky.social · 02/03/2025
Sad to share news of the loss of a virology legend after a long battle with cancer. We will miss you dearly, Ann Palmenberg. www.cressfuneralservice.com/obituaries/a...
cressfuneralservice.com
Ann Carol Palmenberg, Ph.D Obituary February 20, 2025 - Cress Funeral and Cremation Services
View Ann Carol Palmenberg, Ph.D's obituary, find service dates, and sign the guestbook.
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Fred Hutch Basic Sciences Division @basicsci.fredhutch.org · 27/02/2025
Today we’re celebrating Dr. Jon Cooper’s retirement and his 40 years in Basic Sciences @fredhutch.bsky.social. We’re grateful for his many contributions to science and his service to Fred Hutch and the division, including serving nine years as division director. Congrats Jon!
Two photos of Dr. Jon cooper: in the lab in the mid-1980s & during his final speech as division director in 2018.
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Jakob von Moltke @jmoltke.bsky.social · 21/02/2025
Patrick Mitchell (@psmitchej.bsky.social), Thornton Thompson and I wrote an OpEd, with support from 650+ biomedical researchers across Washington State (450+ at time of submission). www.heraldnet.com/opinion/comm... List: www.moltkelab.com/s/NIH-OpEd-S...
heraldnet.com
Comment: Pending cuts to medical research would harm all in state | HeraldNet.com
As UW medical scientists, we urge Washingtonians to defend the NIH’s life-saving research funding.
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Lucie Etienne @lucievirevolte.bsky.social · 17/02/2025
👀Our latest work, led by Amandine Le Corf fantastic PhD student alumni @biorxivpreprint.bsky.social . Great collab @denard.bsky.social @psudmant.bsky.social Genomic and functional #adaptations in #GBP5 highlight specificities of #bat antiviral innate #immunity 🦇🦠 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
biorxiv.org
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Fred Hutch @fredhutch.org · 15/02/2025
Congrats to Fred Hutch virologist Dr. Keith Jerome on being named a fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology, a prestigious leadership group within the American Society for #Microbiology! Read more: bit.ly/3EFmnb1 @uwvirology.bsky.social
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American Society for Virology @amersocvirology.bsky.social · 13/02/2025
Dear Virology Community, please see ASV’s statement to our members and the scientific community. asv.org/asv-statemen...
asv.org
ASV Statement for our Members | American Society for Virology
Our American Society for Virology (ASV) promotes the study and combatting of viruses, more than ever recognizing their importance and responding to them with research and education. Our academic…
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Patrick S. Mitchell @psmitchej.bsky.social · 07/02/2025
To all undergraduate students enrolled in the state of Washington: are you interested in microbiology and looking for a summer research opportunity? If so, please apply to the Biomedical Summer Training and Engagement Program, hosted by the Department of Microbiology at UW (Seattle).
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Lucie Etienne @lucievirevolte.bsky.social · 07/02/2025
We are looking for a #postdoc to discover cell-autonomous innate immune antiviral factors in mammals, based on newly-identified defense of prokaryotes! #EvoCure #comparativeImmunology #virology Please share @inserm.fr @ciri-lyon.bsky.social @cnrsbiologie.bsky.social ciri.ens-lyon.fr/teams/lp2l/j...
ciri.ens-lyon.fr
Postdoc position in comparative immunology and virology — Centre International de Recherche en Infectiologie
A 1-year renewable postdoctoral researcher position is available in our lab (PI: Lucie ETIENNE, CIRI, ENS-Lyon) to discover new antiviral cell-autonomous innate immune factors in mammals, based on new...
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Thelonevirologist @thelonevirologist.bsky.social · 31/01/2025
HIV capsids: orchestrators of innate immune evasion, pathogenesis and pandemicity www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/jour...
microbiologyresearch.org
HIV capsids: orchestrators of innate immune evasion, pathogenesis and pandemicity
Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is an exemplar virus, still the most studied and best understood and a model for mechanisms of viral replication, immune evasion and pathogenesis. In this review, we...
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Michael Emerman @memerman.bsky.social · 31/01/2025
Thanks Harmit!
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Behnam Nabet @behnamnabet.bsky.social · 10/01/2025
Many thanks to @jhigginswriter.bsky.social @fredhutch.bsky.social for this fantastic article showcasing our latest dTAG study! I am so proud of our amazing team!!
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Gregg Gonsalves @gregggonsalves.bsky.social · 02/01/2025
So, you may ask, why do I get so angry about the new liberal spin on RFK Jr, as in, "he gets some things right, so let's collaborate on those" or "we have to work with him because he has a huge following we need to reach"? Because I've seen this movie before. 1/
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Bella Rauch @rauchlab.bsky.social · 14/12/2024
Please distribute far and wide! I am part of this initiative and very excited about it. Join us and help improve publishing!!! Happy to answer any questions you might have.
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Harmit Singh Malik @harmitmalik.bsky.social · 14/12/2024
I don't think it should be a controversial opinion that batshit crazy persons should not be in charge of the health of hundreds of millions of people, including millions of young and unborn kids, who don't have the luxury of you learning from your mistakes. Also, see Samoa and the measles vaccine.
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Michael Emerman @memerman.bsky.social · 11/12/2024
Brilliant thesis defense today by Rechel Geiger; "Evolutionary strategies for MxA antiviral proteins to overcome breadth-specificity tradeoffs in Orthomyxovirus restriction" at the Fred Hutch and UW MCB Program. She is the 11th PhD student that @harmitmalik.bsky.social and I have co-mentored
Person in front of a podium answering questions from the audience.  A slide of many acknowledgments is on the screen behind her.
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Colin Parrish @colinparrish.bsky.social · 07/12/2024
Sometimes we forget that there have been (at least) 4 epidemics of influenza A viruses in horses, starting around 1872, 1956, 1963, and 1989..they seem to be quite susceptible - and here is another example.
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Michael Emerman @memerman.bsky.social · 06/12/2024
Yikes! Look who's giving a Keynote at the 2025 Cold Spring Harbor Retroviruses Meeting. This was the first meeting I ever attended as a graduate student, 4 decades ago.
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Stuart Neil @tetherin.bsky.social · 01/12/2024
Excellent article on AIDS Denialism and its persistence even now amongst those who deny the evidence on vaccine efficacy, COVID19 aetiology and the origins of SARS CoV-2. Unfortunately many of these charlatans are either in the MAGA admin or adjacent to it. link.springer.com/article/10.1...
link.springer.com
HIV Denial in the COVID Era - AIDS and Behavior
Though scientific consensus regarding HIV causation of AIDS was reached decades ago, denial of this conclusion remains. The popularity of such denial has waxed and waned over the years, ebbing as evid...
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BK. Titanji @boghuma.bsky.social · 26/11/2024
Many people do not grasp the real risk of an outbreak of avian influenza in humans. ⚠️ Large outbreaks in livestock ⚠️Unexplained sporadic human cases ⚠️ Infected farm workers ⚠️ Tainted raw milk. Viruses thrive on opportunities and right now #H5N1 in US is at the unchecked opportunities buffet.
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Gigi Gronvall @ggronvall.bsky.social · 23/11/2024
RFK Jr. questions whether HIV causes AIDS (it does), says vaccines do not undergo testing (they do), spreads conspiracy theories about COVID—he is a dangerous pick for HHS. Go to this site, it will make it easy to let your representatives know you care about this www.safecommunitiescoalition.org/rfk
safecommunitiescoalition.org
RFK — SAFE Communities Coalition
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Michael Emerman @memerman.bsky.social · 23/11/2024
Reviewing a "short" communication with over 15 Extended Figures and 4 supplements is not going to be the easy assignment I thought it would be when I agreed to have it done by Monday.
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Michael Emerman @memerman.bsky.social · 20/11/2024
Carley Gray will defend her thesis entitled “A CRISPR-screening approach to increase HIV latency reversal to improve an HIV cure strategy” on Friday at 1:30PM Pacific. She'll mostly talk about this pre-print, www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1.... Let me know if you want a Zoom link.
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