Sign in

Michelle Clay, PhD

@microbigal.bsky.social
1.4K followers 2.1K following 33 posts

Microbiologist | Director of Genomics Operations @SeqCoast.bsky.social | #bluesoup is best soup | mother to two bundles of chaos | she/her | opinions my own

PostsRepliesMedia
Michelle Clay, PhD @microbigal.bsky.social · 21/08/2025
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! 😮‍💨
050
Reposted by Michelle Clay, PhD
SeqCoast Genomics @seqcoast.bsky.social · 21/08/2025
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! 🧬
011
Reposted by Michelle Clay, PhD
SeqCoast Genomics @seqcoast.bsky.social · 21/08/2025
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
SeqCoast Genomics vendor table, staffed by co-founders Thom Novak and Michelle Clay
111
Reposted by Michelle Clay, PhD
Paul Carini @uncultured.carinilab.com · 14/07/2025
FWIW, we send nearly all our sequencing to @seqcoast.bsky.social and have never been disappointed. Great work!
1124
Reposted by Michelle Clay, PhD
George O'Toole (he/him/his) @geiselbiofilm.bsky.social · 14/07/2025
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
21911
Reposted by Michelle Clay, PhD
Vaughn Cooper @vscooper.micropopbio.org · 11/07/2025
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!
2424
Reposted by Michelle Clay, PhD
Isabel @isabelott.bsky.social · 08/06/2025
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”
27022
Reposted by Michelle Clay, PhD
Jean-Michel Ané @jeanmichelane.bsky.social · 06/06/2025
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/...
37240
Reposted by Michelle Clay, PhD
Tami Lieberman @contaminatedsci.bsky.social · 30/05/2025
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/...
journals.asm.org
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...
26426
Reposted by Michelle Clay, PhD
Alex Wild @alexwild.bsky.social · 05/05/2025
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
8548212
Reposted by Michelle Clay, PhD
Jeremy Berg @jeremymberg.bsky.social · 05/05/2025
Great thread. Conducting placebo-controlled trials of items known to be relatively safe and effective is unethical.
09536
Reposted by Michelle Clay, PhD
Sebastian S. Cocioba @atinygreencell.bsky.social · 02/05/2025
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 💚
7160278
Reposted by Michelle Clay, PhD
Caitlin Kowalski @caitlinkowa.bsky.social · 14/04/2025
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
15416
Reposted by Michelle Clay, PhD
problem goose @mammothfactory.bsky.social · 02/04/2025
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"
theguardian.com
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
4309158
Reposted by Michelle Clay, PhD
Artologica aka Michele Banks @artologica.net · 30/03/2025
Here's a similar one that is still available. That's how it works. www.etsy.com/listing/1879...
2246
Reposted by Michelle Clay, PhD
Artologica aka Michele Banks @artologica.net · 30/03/2025
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!" 🤦
Blue watercolor grid of mitosis images
115133
Reposted by Michelle Clay, PhD
Needhi Bhalla 💅🏽 @needhibhalla.bsky.social · 28/03/2025
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.
2220125
Reposted by Michelle Clay, PhD
Igor Brodsky @brodskyigorlab.bsky.social · 29/03/2025
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.
20725184
Reposted by Michelle Clay, PhD
Needhi Bhalla 💅🏽 @needhibhalla.bsky.social · 25/03/2025
Just received the email that my recent appointment to a BSC, which was supposed to be until June 2029, was terminated effective immediately.
36214124
Reposted by Michelle Clay, PhD
Typas Lab @typaslab.bsky.social · 16/12/2024
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...
210080
Reposted by Michelle Clay, PhD
Dave Baltrus 🦦 @surtlab.bsky.social · 15/03/2025
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
11498108
Reposted by Michelle Clay, PhD
SeqCoast Genomics @seqcoast.bsky.social · 14/03/2025
It's not too late to cash in on your good luck! ☘️💰🧬 See details below to save on your next NGS project:
Promo information for SeqCoast Genomics. Text reads:
SeqCoast Genomics
Sequence Smarter. Discover More.
You're in luck! 
"We Feel Lucky to Have You" Savings
Receive 17% off SeqCoast services on orders greater than $1,000. 
Email scientists@seqcoast.com for the promo code!
Place order by Pi day (3/14)
Deliver samples by St. Paddy's Day (3/17)
Receive data by April 1st (no. joke!)
Don't leave your data quality up to chance!
044
Reposted by Michelle Clay, PhD
Nome @nome.bsky.social · 12/03/2025
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.
media.tenor.com
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.
15139961317
Reposted by Michelle Clay, PhD
Jamie Daw @jamiedaw.bsky.social · 11/03/2025
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.
gothamist.com
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.
711342668
Reposted by Michelle Clay, PhD
Prasad Jallepalli, MD, PhD @prasad.bsky.social · 11/03/2025
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
17835
Reposted by Michelle Clay, PhD
Nikhil Garg @nkgarg.bsky.social · 10/03/2025
*Please repost* @sjgreenwood.bsky.social and I just launched a new personalized feed (*please pin*) that we hope will become a "must use" for #academicsky. The feed shows posts about papers filtered by *your* follower network. It's become my default Bluesky experience bsky.app/profile/pape...
23535299
Reposted by Michelle Clay, PhD
Doran Goldman @goldmandoran.bsky.social · 11/03/2025
I’m thrilled to share my first ever publication, now published in PNAS! www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/... With mentorship from the amazing @ksxue.bsky.social, I looked at how the outcomes of species introductions to microbial communities are influenced by the number of introduced microbes.
pnas.org
PNAS
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), a peer reviewed journal of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) - an authoritative source of high-impact, original research that broadly spans...
19130
Reposted by Michelle Clay, PhD
Dr. Wendy Bohon @drwendyrocks.bsky.social · 08/03/2025
Very much this.
7591164
Reposted by Michelle Clay, PhD
Daniel Gonzales @dgonzales1990.bsky.social · 04/03/2025
There’s been some talk on here about communicating more with undergrads about science funding, policies, outlook etc. I admit I was skeptical there would be interest. I polled my course. 70% were interested in having a discussion. The other 30% were “maybe interested.” 0% were not interested.
513234
Reposted by Michelle Clay, PhD
BK. Titanji @boghuma.bsky.social · 05/03/2025
Transgenic mice are not transgender mice. Thanks for coming to my TED talk
1432333
Reposted by Michelle Clay, PhD
Mike the Mad Biologist and Trump's Press Corps Approver @mikethemadbiol.bsky.social · 04/03/2025
The Kennedy Op-Ed: Don’t Ignore the Dog Whistles Over the weekend, HHS Secretary Robert Kennedy wrote an op-ed suggesting that parents vaccinate their kids with the MMR vaccine, and has widely been seen as a change of heart. But if you have been following anti-vaxxers for a long time, the op-ed is…
mikethemadbiologist.com
The Kennedy Op-Ed: Don’t Ignore the Dog Whistles
Over the weekend, HHS Secretary Robert Kennedy wrote an op-ed suggesting that parents vaccinate their kids with the MMR vaccine, and has widely been seen as a change of heart. But if you have been following anti-vaxxers for a long time, the op-ed is full of dog whistles. It is clear Kennedy was forced into writing this by the Trump administration: one dead child from measles can be explained away as an unfortunate, freak tragedy, but multiple dead kids are a pattern.
1188
Reposted by Michelle Clay, PhD
Alex Merz 🇺🇸🇨🇦🇺🇦 @merz.bsky.social · 05/03/2025
Wait until they learn about mating type switching in yeast, which is (I don't make the news; I only report it) initiated by the HO endonuclease.
53411
Reposted by Michelle Clay, PhD
Vaughn Cooper @vscooper.micropopbio.org · 21/01/2025
I'm incredibly honored by this opportunity to serve as President-Elect of @asm.org starting this summer. Looking forward to working with the Board, ASM leadership ,and staff to help advance the microbial sciences. I'm also glad to share my Vision statement, please join us! asm.org/Press-Releas...
4938570
Reposted by Michelle Clay, PhD
Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 01/03/2025
Francis Collins led the mapping of the human genome, and chose to do big scientific to benefit the public. He is a a former NIH Director. He just resigned his position in government. His resignation letter: www.nytimes.com/2025/03/01/u...
Dr. Collins noted that when he was recruited to the institutes, and through many of the years that followed, “investment in medical research was seen as a high priority and a nonpolitical bipartisan effort — saving countless lives, relieving human suffering and contributing substantially to the U.S. economy.”

“N.I.H. is the largest supporter of biomedical research in the world,” he wrote. “It is the main piston of a biomedical discovery engine that is the envy of the globe. Yet it is not a household name. It should be.”

He went on: “When you hear about patients surviving stage 4 cancer because of immunotherapy, that was based on N.I.H. research over many decades. When you hear about sickle-cell disease being cured because of CRISPR gene editing, that was built on many years of research supported by N.I.H.”
6441681569
Reposted by Michelle Clay, PhD
Joe Zackular @joeyzacks.bsky.social · 01/03/2025
Excited to share our work with @pjplanet.bsky.social and @ahmedmicrobes.bsky.social tracking Staph aureus transmission across the NICU using genomics!! This study was co-led by the amazing @qianxuan.bsky.social and Lakshmi Srinivasan, and made possible by the @centermicrobialmed.bsky.social
medrxiv.org
Transmission of Staphylococcus aureus in the neonatal intensive care unit predicts invasive infection
Background Staphylococcus aureus is a leading cause of healthcare-associated infection and is one of the most common pathogens causing serious invasive infection in the neonatal intensive care unit (N...
53820
Reposted by Michelle Clay, PhD
SeqCoast Genomics @seqcoast.bsky.social · 28/02/2025
Announcing our NEW Bacterial Profiling workflow! A comprehensive solution that combines strain typing, AMR/virulence factor detection, and outbreak analysis under one powerful pipeline. Here's an example use case about AMR in Acinetobacter baumannii: seqcoast.sharepoint.com/:b:/g/EeuFKo...
Image of two small scientists standing on a lab bench, looking up at a sky full of infinite microbes. Includes the text, "Introducing Bacterial Profiling" and "Read on to learn more about our Bacterial Profiling workflow and apply for a fully funded pilot at your institution ->"
041
Reposted by Michelle Clay, PhD
Chad Topaz Queer DEI Race Traitor @chadtopaz.bsky.social · 26/02/2025
Just some amazing signs up in a congressional office building. Whoever did this… hero(es).
REF:
FROM:
TO:
SUBJECT:
MEMORANDUM
EXECUTIVE ORDER 14168
Department of Justice
ALL PERSONNEL
Bathroom Usage
All humans are female at conception as sex differentiation takes place around 6-7 weeks.
Pursuant to the executive order 14168 "Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government"
no one is allowed to use this men's room.
ANYONE CAUGHT ENTERING WILL BE REPORTED TO DEIATRUTH@OPM.GOV
8861211
Reposted by Michelle Clay, PhD
Dr. Michael D. L. Johnson @copperbae.bsky.social · 26/02/2025
Today, while talking about sequencing, I got to give the history of DNA polymerase as one of the great basic science discoveries. I didn’t asked how amazing is it that we found this not by looking for biomedical discoveries but just because we were curious.
721129
Reposted by Michelle Clay, PhD
Ian Boudreau @ianboudreau.com · 23/02/2025
Maybe corny but it was helpful for me to hear Henry Rollins saying "this is not time to be dismayed, this is punk rock time, this is what Joe Strummer trained you for... You can be thunderous in your own life, to the eight people around you. That rubs off... Goodness is viral"
202159563111
Reposted by Michelle Clay, PhD
SeqCoast Genomics @seqcoast.bsky.social · 24/02/2025
Did you miss our "We Love You Savings" Valentine's Day promo? Your ☘️ lucky day ☘️ might be just around the corner! Keep an eye on your inbox for details soon. Not on our email list yet? Send us a message to sign up here: seqcoast.com/contact/
seqcoast.com
Contact - SeqCoast Genomics
Contact SeqCoast Genomics for information on our sequencing. Based in New Hampshire, USA, we provide rapid results and superior service.
032
Reposted by Michelle Clay, PhD
Jay Hinton @jayhinton.bsky.social · 23/02/2025
Really exciting work: The Salmonella Colicin Col1b cannot only KILL a competing E. coli population, but also AMPLIFY metabolic contributions of susceptible bacteria by liberating β-gal… From @nic-ler.bsky.social. @kroegerlab.bsky.social, Andrew Cameron and others ‼️ academic.oup.com/ismej/advanc...
academic.oup.com
Lysis of Escherichia coli by colicin Ib contributes to bacterial cross-feeding by releasing active β-galactosidase
Abstract. The diffusible toxin ColIb produced by Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium SL1344 is a potent inhibitor of Escherichia coli growth. To identi
0166
Reposted by Michelle Clay, PhD
Vaughn Cooper @vscooper.micropopbio.org · 21/02/2025
➡️ NIH grants in '23 included $26B of direct costs and $9B of F&A = 26% of total costs or 35% of total direct costs. These are LOW overhead rates for any R&D-intensive industry. Academic biomedical research is an efficient bargain. ➡️ Every $1 of NIH support generates ~$2.50 of economic activity.
03624
Reposted by Michelle Clay, PhD
Shematologist, MD @shematologist.medsky.social · 21/02/2025
Just a reminder that the HPV vaccine literally PREVENTS CANCER and the series can be started as early as 9 years of age.
301138283
Reposted by Michelle Clay, PhD
SeqCoast Genomics @seqcoast.bsky.social · 21/02/2025
We're proud to have contributed to this great work by Brian Hsu's group at Virginia Tech! We can help with your next sequencing project, too: seqcoast.com/contact/
seqcoast.com
Contact - SeqCoast Genomics
Contact SeqCoast Genomics for information on our sequencing. Based in New Hampshire, USA, we provide rapid results and superior service.
062
Reposted by Michelle Clay, PhD
Marc Chevrette @wildtypemc.bsky.social · 21/02/2025
What the shit "For FY26 we are told about plans to reduce the NSF budget by 50%-75% - such reduction will mean no new awards for at least a year, elimination of divisions, merging of programs." nanoscale.blogspot.com/2025/02/the-...
nanoscale.blogspot.com
The National Science Foundation - this is not business as usual
The National Science Foundation was created 75 years ago, at the behest of Vannevar Bush , who put together the famed study, Science, The E...
37674
Reposted by Michelle Clay, PhD
Dr. Catherine Macdonald @drcatmac.bsky.social · 19/02/2025
Every scientist, long before they were a scientist, was a little kid who stood in front of a fish tank or stared up at the stars or turned over a rock to look at the bugs underneath and said “wow”. On the best days, working in science still feels like that.
261861411
Reposted by Michelle Clay, PhD
Brian Stevenson Ph.D. spirochete lab @bstevensonlab.bsky.social · 19/02/2025
I had two grant proposals up for review in the NIH Bacterial Virulence (BV) study section. It was canceled without notice this morning. Without those grants, my lab must close within a year. And so the purge of scientific research in the US continues 🤬 #MicroSky 🦠🧫🧪🧬🔬
541163445
Reposted by Michelle Clay, PhD
Elinne Becket, PhD @bielleogy.bsky.social · 12/02/2025
People have been sending me more blue food swabs that our students are having fun analyzing 🤩
Photo of blue rice from Allison Porman SwainPhoto of blue soft cheesePhoto of an agar plate with 3 bacterial streaks that are turning blue, labeled Blue Rice, Blue Cheese, Blue Soup
0202
Reposted by Michelle Clay, PhD
Jeremy Berg @jeremymberg.bsky.social · 09/02/2025
F99/R00 AND K99/R00 DIVERSITY AWARD APPLICANTS If you have applied for a F99/R00 or K99/R00 Diversity award and the study section for review is not listed on your eRA Commons page, please reach out to me. DM me, email berg.grants.2029@gmail.com, Signal jeremymberg.78 THANK YOU
media.tenor.com
a picture of a cartoon character with the words call me on it
ALT: a picture of a cartoon character with the words call me on it
0124141
Reposted by Michelle Clay, PhD
Jennifer Goff, PhD @jlgoff.bsky.social · 04/02/2025
It has been brought to my attention that my article has been censored to exclude certain terms: asm.org/Articles/202... web.archive.org/web/20250114... #MicroSky
web.archive.org
Women in the History of Antimicrobial Development | ASM.org
Women researchers played a key role in the development of antimicrobials during the mid-20th century. This article works to highlight their work, as their contributions often went unacknowledged.
43637385