Lzvolk

@lzvolk.bsky.social

Followers

Following

158

Posts

Retired biologist (pathology). Living in an intellectual desert, interested in everything.

Posts Replies Media

Scientists are human, and thus sometimes judge things, including scientific matters, through human filters.

Really enjoyed reviewing Jonathan Silvertown's new book for Nature. A quick and great read that asks some big questions about cooperation and parasitism — and how we often and mistakenly apply moral frameworks to the world of biology 🧪 www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Survival of the nicest: have we got evolution the wrong way round?www.nature.com How humans, animals and even single-celled organisms cooperate to survive suggests there’s more to life than just competition, argues a cheering study of evolutionary biology. How humans, animals and ...

Reply to

jonathan r goodman

Would love to read the full article, but access is behind the Nature journal paywall.

Reply to

Physgal👩🏻‍🔬

All fields. As an undergrad at U of Maine during late 1970’s, the campus community was like what she proposes to achieve. Not sure if bc it was in a state on the fringe of the rest of the country? Or different culture. Grad school in Oregon was almost the opposite. It was a culture shock for me.

Remembering when qPCRs were relatively new. Had one qPCR on campus and we had to sign up for user time. 23 years later….. Advancing qPCR Through Innovation

Link: www.the-scientist.com/ts-digest/is...

TS Digest Issue | July 2024, Issue 2 | What's the Difference Between Flow Cytometry and FACS?www.the-scientist.com Flow-based methods allow researchers to collect multiparameter data from individual cells in their samples, but the fate of samples depends on the instrument.

Reply to

onisillos

In this era of rapid Internet bit-sized information exchange, of which much is misinformation, attention spans are short. Many people don’t make it beyond a few sentences let alone an entire paragraph. Even “abstracts are too long” for some in academia. 🙄

Glad to see this published in a science journal!

Interesting new paper about the design of a university class about underrepresented scientists. 👩🏻‍🔬 🧪 🍎 🧬 #AcademicSky

Teaching the way I wish I was taught: Design and implementation of a class on historically excluded and underrepresented scientistsonlinelibrary.wiley.com The Journal of Cellular Physiology examines eukaryotic cell biology and physiology, focusing on articles that investigate cell structure and function.

Reposted by

Lzvolk

Baltimore Harbor was an open sewer when I was a kid. Thanks to the Clean Water Act and other environmental laws, and monumental citizen effort, swim events in the harbor are now possible. The supreme court and republicans want us to go back to the days of stinking water. Let's stop them.

The Supreme Court has become a joke in American history. And not a funny joke.

Reply to

onisillos

6th season coming late this year or early 2025

I absolutely agree. What has happened to people in this country??? When did it go so terribly wrong?😑

I oppose this worldview—this theory of America—with every fiber of my being.

Reposted by

Lzvolk

I oppose this worldview—this theory of America—with every fiber of my being.

Researchers have discovered chromosomes preserved in their original 3D configuration from fossilized mammoth skin. This is an amazing feat for the field of ancient DNA! www.nature.com/articles/d41...

First fossil chromosomes discovered in freeze-dried mammoth skinwww.nature.com The 3D arrangement of the DNA in the animal’s cells hints at which genes were active. The 3D arrangement of the DNA in the animal’s cells hints at which genes were active.

Reposted by

Lzvolk

In new study led by Bernadeta Dadonaite, we measure how all mutations to H5 influenza HA affect four molecular phenotypes relevant to pandemic risk: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... Results can inform surveillance of ongoing evolution of H5N1.

Reply to

Jasnah Kholin

😁 They do seem to challenge conventional thinking and assumptions re: virology. Or did. Perhaps, no longer?

Reposted by

Lzvolk

I wrote a short piece about a new flu subtype (H19) which uses a surprising receptor. We've known about glycans terminating in sialic acid as a receptor for flu for 70 years but the virus still surprises us! Great work by Karakus et al. authors.elsevier.com/a/1jPEg6t8JE... #ViroSky #EvoSky #MicroSky

authors.elsevier.com

Fascinating! Now I understand why a former colleague loved researching CoVs. 😏 She said they have many unsolved “mysteries” and she likes a good challenge.

we are now on the *fourth* distinct mode of ACE2 binding in coronaviruses, this time from a distinct clade of merbecovirus. incredibly, not only does it not overlap the sarbecovirus, NL63 *or* NeoCoV/PDF-2180 sites, it's *50Å away on the ACE2 extracellular domain*: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

😆

Showing a scientist all the little microscopic origami cranes I made prions fold into and getting a visit from the biosafety and security guys.

I fully agree!!

CF is my favorite of the few acronyms I use. It’s so apt.

Reply to

Tongai Maponga

Which is why I had each of the 3 PCRs in my lab labeled for purpose: plasmids, pathogens, or gene sequencing Only. Along with a “Pain of Death” logo if it was ignored.

Reply to

void princess

Be blunt and look ferocious. Also tell them you’re a good shot with a gun or bow. 😏

Reply to

e.w. niedermeyer

I’m not usually into appearances but that is the most damned ugly vehicle I’ve ever seen.

Reply to

Coach Finstock

Typical Texas! Glad I left.

Reposted by

Lzvolk

TMPRSS2 and glycan receptors synergistically facilitate coronavirus entry www.cell.com/cell/abstrac...

TMPRSS2 and glycan receptors synergistically facilitate coronavirus entrywww.cell.com Coronavirus entry is initiated by the recognition of proteinaceous and/or glycan receptors. Here, cryo-EM analysis of the HCoV-HKU1 spike in the inactive, glycan-activated, and functionally anchored s...

Reposted by

Lzvolk

An emerging PB2-627 polymorphism increases the pandemic potential of avian influenza virus by breaking through ANP32 host restriction in mammalian and avian hosts www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

An emerging PB2-627 polymorphism increases the pandemic potential of avian influenza virus by breaking through ANP32 host restriction in mammalian and avian hostswww.biorxiv.org bioRxiv - the preprint server for biology, operated by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, a research and educational institution

Wish a piperazine derivative like cetirizine was included. It’s not a HRH1 antagonist, but an inverse agonist. Would be interested to know if piperazines have same effect on SARS-2 virus. #chemistry

The histamine receptor H1 acts as an alternative receptor for SARS-CoV-2 journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...

The histamine receptor H1 acts as an alternative receptor for SARS-CoV-2 | mBiojournals.asm.org In addition to human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) can utilize alternative cofactors to facilitate viral entry. In this study, we discov...

Reply to

Thelonevirologist

I remember chatter on antihistamines. Now we have proof. Wish a piperazine derivative like cetirizine was included. It’s not a HRH1 antagonist, but an inverse agonist. Would be interested to know if piperazines have same effect on SARS-2 virus.

Reply to

Ed Rybicki 🇿🇲🇿🇦🍷🚀

It’s rather subdued. You’re forgiven. 😄

Reposted by

Lzvolk

Did we learn NOTHING from the emergences of H5N1 in 1997 and 2004??

Live poultry markets may be source of bird flu virus in San Francisco wastewater www.latimes.com/environment/...

Live poultry markets may be source of bird flu virus in San Francisco wastewaterwww.latimes.com As health officials try to understand how H5N1 got into Bay Area wastewater, they are pointing to live bird markets. But questions remain.