Chris Brooke
@christopherbrooke.bsky.social
Viral evolution, immunity, and infection biology. Professor at University of Minnesota. brookelab.org
Reposted by Chris Brooke
David Quammen's essay in The New York Times today closes with this paragraph. It's both a scientific falsehood, and an incredibly dangerous narrative. If you're willing to give me five minutes of your time, I'd like to explain why.
September 25, 2026 at 7:23 PM
David Quammen's essay in The New York Times today closes with this paragraph. It's both a scientific falsehood, and an incredibly dangerous narrative. If you're willing to give me five minutes of your time, I'd like to explain why.
Reposted by Chris Brooke
Thrilled to see this published today!
Truly special because we made the initial discovery >15 yrs ago!
We found two copies of a human gene called BC200 embedded in a human poxvirus. BC200 blurs the line between gene & transposon—both functional & mutagenic!
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
🧵1/n
Truly special because we made the initial discovery >15 yrs ago!
We found two copies of a human gene called BC200 embedded in a human poxvirus. BC200 blurs the line between gene & transposon—both functional & mutagenic!
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
🧵1/n
Escape of the BC200 gene to a human poxvirus reveals its persistent transposition in primates
Transposable elements mobilize within and occasionally between genomes, including from host to virus. We identified two insertions of the human BC200 noncoding RNA gene in the poxvirus molluscum conta...
www.science.org
September 24, 2026 at 7:00 PM
Thrilled to see this published today!
Truly special because we made the initial discovery >15 yrs ago!
We found two copies of a human gene called BC200 embedded in a human poxvirus. BC200 blurs the line between gene & transposon—both functional & mutagenic!
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
🧵1/n
Truly special because we made the initial discovery >15 yrs ago!
We found two copies of a human gene called BC200 embedded in a human poxvirus. BC200 blurs the line between gene & transposon—both functional & mutagenic!
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
🧵1/n
Reposted by Chris Brooke
Now online! Direct cell-to-cell transmission of retrotransposons
Direct cell-to-cell transmission of retrotransposons
Retrotransposons can infect neighboring cells using a mechanism that relies on a small fusogen-like protein rather than on the envelope protein that is typically required for infection.
dlvr.it
September 23, 2026 at 10:38 PM
Now online! Direct cell-to-cell transmission of retrotransposons
Reposted by Chris Brooke
Our lab just put out a new preprint! Led by Maria Maltepes, we've been working with @tavisanderson.bsky.social and @alexey-markin.bsky.social to understand how host species impacts the fundamentals of how influenza viruses evolve. TLDR, reassortment and selection rates vary widely across species.
scholar.google.com
September 23, 2026 at 9:04 PM
Our lab just put out a new preprint! Led by Maria Maltepes, we've been working with @tavisanderson.bsky.social and @alexey-markin.bsky.social to understand how host species impacts the fundamentals of how influenza viruses evolve. TLDR, reassortment and selection rates vary widely across species.
Reposted by Chris Brooke
IU is hiring a virologist. I am so excited.
Come join a great group of scientists and people.
Come join a great group of scientists and people.
September 14, 2026 at 5:08 PM
IU is hiring a virologist. I am so excited.
Come join a great group of scientists and people.
Come join a great group of scientists and people.
Reposted by Chris Brooke
We wrote a review! Hope you enjoy reading it! #antibody #influenza #immunity
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
What Antibody Repertoires See: Structural and Immunogenetic Insights Into Influenza A Virus Hemagglutinin Recognition
Human infection with or vaccination against influenza A virus has been one of the most informative systems for understanding how human antibody repertoires recognize viral glycoproteins. Decades of a...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
September 9, 2026 at 6:28 AM
We wrote a review! Hope you enjoy reading it! #antibody #influenza #immunity
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Reposted by Chris Brooke
FUCK ICE
‘Springfield is under siege right now.’ ICE agents in Ohio have detained 2 Haitian pastors. ohiocapitaljournal.com/2026/08/31/s...
'Springfield is under siege right now.' ICE agents in Ohio have detained 2 Haitian pastors. • Ohio Capital Journal
More than 40 Haitians in Springfield have been detained by United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement after President Donald Trump revoked their legal status earlier this summer.
ohiocapitaljournal.com
September 6, 2026 at 10:02 PM
FUCK ICE
Reposted by Chris Brooke
The utility of lab leak trutherism adopted by the GOP becomes more clear. It paves the way to drain publicly funded science money and feed the war machine instead of
The agreement was signed out of the public view a month ago by Pentagon official Robert Kadlec and NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya, echoing my reporting.
It establishes a 10-year framework that officially runs through September 30, 2036.
It establishes a 10-year framework that officially runs through September 30, 2036.
Revealed: inside the US military's plan to tap huge sums from the NIH
An agreement paves the way for hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of projects to be transferred from the NIH’s institute for infectious diseases to the Department of Defense.
www.nature.com
September 5, 2026 at 10:27 PM
The utility of lab leak trutherism adopted by the GOP becomes more clear. It paves the way to drain publicly funded science money and feed the war machine instead of
Reposted by Chris Brooke
Reposted by Chris Brooke
The sole purpose of this is to suck NIAID dry and take away funding for infectious disease research. The administration attempted to do that earlier by demanding major restructuring and funding cuts for NIAID, but were rebuffed by congress - this'll achieve the same
www.nytimes.com/2026/09/04/u...
www.nytimes.com/2026/09/04/u...
Pentagon Agreement With N.I.H. on Biodefense Draws Alarm From Democrats (Gift Article)
Under a new partnership, the Defense Department would play a larger role in biodefense and pandemic preparedness. Democrats warned it could allow a Pentagon cash grab.
www.nytimes.com
September 4, 2026 at 7:36 PM
The sole purpose of this is to suck NIAID dry and take away funding for infectious disease research. The administration attempted to do that earlier by demanding major restructuring and funding cuts for NIAID, but were rebuffed by congress - this'll achieve the same
www.nytimes.com/2026/09/04/u...
www.nytimes.com/2026/09/04/u...
Reposted by Chris Brooke
Functional atlas of vertebrate viral RNA elements that stabilize RNA and enhance translation @cellcellpress.bsky.social
www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...
www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...
August 13, 2026 at 3:14 PM
Functional atlas of vertebrate viral RNA elements that stabilize RNA and enhance translation @cellcellpress.bsky.social
www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...
www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...
Reposted by Chris Brooke
Bats’ remarkable longevity and immunity are linked through pleiotropic adaptations to viruses and ageing-related disease @nature.com @psudmant.bsky.social @ucberkeleyofficial.bsky.social @lucievirevolte.bsky.social
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
August 27, 2026 at 12:57 AM
Bats’ remarkable longevity and immunity are linked through pleiotropic adaptations to viruses and ageing-related disease @nature.com @psudmant.bsky.social @ucberkeleyofficial.bsky.social @lucievirevolte.bsky.social
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Chris Brooke
Why do most cross-species #virus jumps fail? @sfelenalab.bsky.social &co use Orsay virus across multiple Caenorhabditis species to reveal how mismatches in replication, genome balance and transmission create layered barriers to #spillover @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/4gCVoxg
August 21, 2026 at 12:55 PM
Why do most cross-species #virus jumps fail? @sfelenalab.bsky.social &co use Orsay virus across multiple Caenorhabditis species to reveal how mismatches in replication, genome balance and transmission create layered barriers to #spillover @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/4gCVoxg
Reposted by Chris Brooke
Alina Chan is a discredited crank and it is embarrassing for the Times to publish this
August 17, 2026 at 2:25 PM
Alina Chan is a discredited crank and it is embarrassing for the Times to publish this
Reposted by Chris Brooke
The link to comment on this proposal is in the RFI. Please, please comment. This is nonsense.
The NIH just released a proposal that will apparently hide peer reviewers’ impact scores and percentiles from the research team, their institution, and NIH program officers.
All the better to obscure how funding decisions will be made primarily via political review, I’m guessing.
All the better to obscure how funding decisions will be made primarily via political review, I’m guessing.
NOT-OD-26-088: Request for Information (RFI) on Proposed Changes to Reporting Outcomes from NIH Peer Review
NIH Funding Opportunities and Notices in the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts: Request for Information (RFI) on Proposed Changes to Reporting Outcomes from NIH Peer Review NOT-OD-26-088. NIH
grants.nih.gov
August 15, 2026 at 1:38 AM
The link to comment on this proposal is in the RFI. Please, please comment. This is nonsense.
Reposted by Chris Brooke
I'm excited to share a preprint that's been years in the making: the idea took shape during the COVID pandemic. Anecdotally, people would sometimes spread COVID at work but not at home, and vice versa. Why? One explanation would be if infectiousness is fleeting...
How bursty infectiousness shapes epidemic dynamics
An epidemic’s expected course is determined by the magnitude and timing of a typical person’s infectiousness — captured, in turn, by the basic reproduction number and the generation-time distribution....
www.medrxiv.org
July 29, 2026 at 3:14 PM
I'm excited to share a preprint that's been years in the making: the idea took shape during the COVID pandemic. Anecdotally, people would sometimes spread COVID at work but not at home, and vice versa. Why? One explanation would be if infectiousness is fleeting...
@alnajifg.bsky.social's long-delayed masterpiece (spanning his time in my and Marco Vignuzzi's labs) on influenza virus WT/DelVG co-evolutionary dynamics is finally out!!
Lots of exciting data about how DelVGs evolve and compete within complex populations.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Lots of exciting data about how DelVGs evolve and compete within complex populations.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
July 28, 2026 at 4:11 PM
@alnajifg.bsky.social's long-delayed masterpiece (spanning his time in my and Marco Vignuzzi's labs) on influenza virus WT/DelVG co-evolutionary dynamics is finally out!!
Lots of exciting data about how DelVGs evolve and compete within complex populations.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Lots of exciting data about how DelVGs evolve and compete within complex populations.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Happy to see @lizthayer.bsky.social's magnum opus published in peer-reviewed form in @cp-cellsystems.bsky.social!! Check it out!
www.cell.com/cell-systems...
www.cell.com/cell-systems...
July 17, 2026 at 4:30 PM
Happy to see @lizthayer.bsky.social's magnum opus published in peer-reviewed form in @cp-cellsystems.bsky.social!! Check it out!
www.cell.com/cell-systems...
www.cell.com/cell-systems...
Reposted by Chris Brooke
OUR WORK IS NOT DONE. In unusual move, NSF issued a request for information on plan to conform grant policies to the proposed (unfinalized) OMB rule. Plan includes changes to grant termination provisions & disallowing publication costs. Comments due August 24. www.federalregister.gov/documents/20...
Agency Information Collection Activities: Comment Request; National Science Foundation Proposal/Award Information-NSF Guidance on Financial Assistance
The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) is announcing plans to renew and revise its collection for its financial assistance policies and procedures. In accordance with the requirements of the Paper...
www.federalregister.gov
July 13, 2026 at 10:59 PM
OUR WORK IS NOT DONE. In unusual move, NSF issued a request for information on plan to conform grant policies to the proposed (unfinalized) OMB rule. Plan includes changes to grant termination provisions & disallowing publication costs. Comments due August 24. www.federalregister.gov/documents/20...
Reposted by Chris Brooke
Not too late -- COMMENT! Stop this horrendous, existential threat to USA science. Some resources to write your comment are pinned to my profile.
I submitted my comment on the proposed OMB rule. Sharing here to the extent it’s useful. Today is the last day to comment. If you have not yet commented, please do!
substack.com/@jennanorton...
substack.com/@jennanorton...
A Public Comment on Proposed Rule: Regulation for Federal Financial Assistance
Docket: OMB-2026-0034, Submitted by: Jenna M Norton, PhD, MPH in a personal capacity
substack.com
July 13, 2026 at 11:25 PM
Not too late -- COMMENT! Stop this horrendous, existential threat to USA science. Some resources to write your comment are pinned to my profile.
Reposted by Chris Brooke
July 7, 2026 at 7:17 PM
Reposted by Chris Brooke
Jack Dorman, @williambakhache.bsky.social and I wrote a review of #DeepMutationalScanning ( #DMS ) applications in #virology, exploring the ways it’s been used to understand the rules of #virus #evolution and #immunity. We also explore new applications of the technology. Check it out!
Scanning the horizon: deep mutational scanning approaches in virology | Journal of Virology
The development of deep mutational scanning (DMS) approaches has led to a fundamental
shift in our ability to connect viral genotype and phenotype (1) and accelerated our understanding of viral evolut...
journals.asm.org
July 6, 2026 at 9:32 AM
Jack Dorman, @williambakhache.bsky.social and I wrote a review of #DeepMutationalScanning ( #DMS ) applications in #virology, exploring the ways it’s been used to understand the rules of #virus #evolution and #immunity. We also explore new applications of the technology. Check it out!
Reposted by Chris Brooke
Since the 1960s, the genetic code has been used to predict protein sequences from DNA and mRNA sequences. Our @nature.com article demonstrates that these predictions miss thousands of protein sequences present in human tissues.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
1/
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
1/
June 24, 2026 at 3:57 PM
Since the 1960s, the genetic code has been used to predict protein sequences from DNA and mRNA sequences. Our @nature.com article demonstrates that these predictions miss thousands of protein sequences present in human tissues.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
1/
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
1/
Reposted by Chris Brooke
Welcome to the Fascist States of America, where the EiC of a leading journal is forcibly removed by police for passing out his own editorial at the annual meeting of the field’s association…because it’s “too political” (read: it calls on scientists to speak out & stand up).
We are here. This is it.
We are here. This is it.
June 6, 2026 at 2:25 AM
Welcome to the Fascist States of America, where the EiC of a leading journal is forcibly removed by police for passing out his own editorial at the annual meeting of the field’s association…because it’s “too political” (read: it calls on scientists to speak out & stand up).
We are here. This is it.
We are here. This is it.
Reposted by Chris Brooke
This started in 2019 as daydreamy PhD student musings with Tatsuya Araki. We're as excited as ever about germinal centers as a platform for experimental evolution.
Many thanks to PIs @victora.bsky.social @matsen.bsky.social, co-1st authors Ashni Vora and Tatsuya, and many other key collaborators!
Many thanks to PIs @victora.bsky.social @matsen.bsky.social, co-1st authors Ashni Vora and Tatsuya, and many other key collaborators!
Replaying germinal center evolution on a quantified affinity landscape
Antibody affinity maturation results from a somatic evolutionary process that takes
place in the germinal center. A “parallel replay” experiment on germinal center B
cells reveals the evolutionary for...
www.cell.com
June 5, 2026 at 9:43 PM
This started in 2019 as daydreamy PhD student musings with Tatsuya Araki. We're as excited as ever about germinal centers as a platform for experimental evolution.
Many thanks to PIs @victora.bsky.social @matsen.bsky.social, co-1st authors Ashni Vora and Tatsuya, and many other key collaborators!
Many thanks to PIs @victora.bsky.social @matsen.bsky.social, co-1st authors Ashni Vora and Tatsuya, and many other key collaborators!