At 15, I left all my family and friends and came to the US , ALONE, seeking a country where MERIT and HARD WORK mattered-not politics. For 30 years, I worked tirelessly, even doing reseach at MIT the day my mother died, knowing she’d want me to keep pushing forward. Today, my

Fascinating new paper. They sequenced Borrelia genomes using DNA from ancient British remains, showing that the pathogen that causes louse-borne relapsing fever evolved ~5,000 years ago in response to humans adopting wool clothing science.org/doi/10.1126/sc…

New online! Genomics of host–microbiome interactions in humans bit.ly/4dIWPHq

Shocking and so sad. Weizmann colleagues, I'm thinking of you. If there's any way I can help right now - resources you need, someone to talk to - please reach out. Stay safe

Complementary studies using transcriptomic analyses are providing a more comprehensive view of the bidirectional relationship between host gene expression and the microbiome Ran Blekhman & colleagues delve into the topic via Nature Reviews Genetics: loom.ly/cwdwJzI

Ashamed this is happening in my field. Excluding scientists based on nationality is discrimination, period. For anyone in the microbiome field, I strongly recommend avoiding the @BeneMicro conference

Another review from my lab out this week, on analyzing gut microbiome data from global populations -- tackling computational challenges and providing practical frameworks and resources for the field With Sabrina Arif, Rich Abdill, Samantha Graham cell.com/trends/microbi…

Sending some peace and quiet, from the rocky shores of Lake Michigan

Had fun on the Inside Matters podcast with James McIlroy discussing the microbiome as our "second genome"! We dive into how genetics & environment shape our microbial communities, the Human Microbiome Compendium, and the future of microbiome diagnostics👇 open.spotify.com/episode/135GfX…

New paper that looked at 15 million biomedical abstracts and found specific words that abruptly increased in frequency in 2024, likely due to the authors using LLMs. Take home message: don't use the word "Delve" science.org/doi/10.1126/sc…

New paper showing that gut bacteria absorb "forever chemicals" (PFAS) at high levels. This bacterial "sponge effect" could influence PFAS levels in our bodies and explain individual differences in PFAS exposure. nature.com/articles/s4156…

What a terrible way for the whole world to find out you're a Coldplay fan

Fascinating new paper reveals a gut microbiome connection to heart disease. Microbes produce imidazole propionate (ImP), which directly triggers atherosclerosis through immune activation - even without high cholesterol. nature.com/articles/s4158…