Sam Wuest
@samwuest.bsky.social
breeding research, passionate about science, plants, crop ecology and modern breeding technologies; views are my own
Reposted by Sam Wuest
Very happy to share that the @erc.europa.eu
has selected PHYTOPOGON for funding! 😁🌱
In this project, we will test whether plants have greenbeard genes — an evolutionary mechanism that could allow them to recognize the genetic identity of their neighbours.
has selected PHYTOPOGON for funding! 😁🌱
In this project, we will test whether plants have greenbeard genes — an evolutionary mechanism that could allow them to recognize the genetic identity of their neighbours.
September 7, 2026 at 9:32 AM
Very happy to share that the @erc.europa.eu
has selected PHYTOPOGON for funding! 😁🌱
In this project, we will test whether plants have greenbeard genes — an evolutionary mechanism that could allow them to recognize the genetic identity of their neighbours.
has selected PHYTOPOGON for funding! 😁🌱
In this project, we will test whether plants have greenbeard genes — an evolutionary mechanism that could allow them to recognize the genetic identity of their neighbours.
Reposted by Sam Wuest
The (un)likelihood of clock-driven lateral root priming; a modeling exploration (Kirsten H Ten Tusscher) doi.org/10.1093/plce... #PlantScience @aspbofficial
The (un)likelihood of clock-driven lateral root priming; a modeling exploration
Abstract. Lateral root formation starts with priming, predisposing subsets of pericycle cells with the potential of future lateral root formation through s
doi.org
September 4, 2026 at 2:03 PM
The (un)likelihood of clock-driven lateral root priming; a modeling exploration (Kirsten H Ten Tusscher) doi.org/10.1093/plce... #PlantScience @aspbofficial
Reposted by Sam Wuest
A good way to end the week: some rain and a new preprint! 🌧️🧬 Big 👏 to @lpiat.bsky.social for tackling a tricky genome assembly problem!
We assembled the genome of a Swiss Lolium multiflorum ecotype, a forage grass with a large (~2.2 Gb), highly heterozygous genome.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
We assembled the genome of a Swiss Lolium multiflorum ecotype, a forage grass with a large (~2.2 Gb), highly heterozygous genome.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
A chromosome-scale genome assembly of the Swiss Lolium multiflorum ecotype Tremona reveals a scalable method to purge spurious duplications
Italian ryegrass ( Lolium multiflorum ) is a key temperate forage species underpinning livestock production in Europe. Genomic resources remain limited by its large (2.2 Gb), repetitive, and highly he...
www.biorxiv.org
August 21, 2026 at 7:26 AM
A good way to end the week: some rain and a new preprint! 🌧️🧬 Big 👏 to @lpiat.bsky.social for tackling a tricky genome assembly problem!
We assembled the genome of a Swiss Lolium multiflorum ecotype, a forage grass with a large (~2.2 Gb), highly heterozygous genome.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
We assembled the genome of a Swiss Lolium multiflorum ecotype, a forage grass with a large (~2.2 Gb), highly heterozygous genome.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Reposted by Sam Wuest
A smart move!
Professor or Associate Professor within the natural sciences, with a focus on Innovation (4 positions). Aarhus, Denmark.
www.academics.de/jobs/profess...
Professor or Associate Professor within the natural sciences, with a focus on Innovation (4 positions). Aarhus, Denmark.
www.academics.de/jobs/profess...
Professor or Associate Professor within the natural sciences, with a focus on Innovation (f/m/d) - Aarhus Universitet
Aarhus Universitet bietet Stelle als Professor or Associate Professor within the natural sciences, with a focus on Innovation (f/m/d) in Aarhus (Dänemark) - jetzt bewerben!
www.academics.de
August 6, 2026 at 12:56 PM
A smart move!
Professor or Associate Professor within the natural sciences, with a focus on Innovation (4 positions). Aarhus, Denmark.
www.academics.de/jobs/profess...
Professor or Associate Professor within the natural sciences, with a focus on Innovation (4 positions). Aarhus, Denmark.
www.academics.de/jobs/profess...
Reposted by Sam Wuest
1. We—@eduede.bsky.social, @mjcrockett.bsky.social, Kevin Gross, and I—have a new preprint on the arXiv today, based on ideas that emerged during an @sfiscience.bsky.social workshop in November 2024:
The unintended consequences of large language models as a labor-augmenting technology in science.
The unintended consequences of large language models as a labor-augmenting technology in science.
The unintended consequences of large language models as a labor-augmenting technology in science
As a labor-augmenting technology, large language models (LLMs) have the potential to accelerate scientific activity across the research pipeline. But even if LLMs perform on par with human experts at ...
arxiv.org
July 21, 2026 at 3:19 PM
1. We—@eduede.bsky.social, @mjcrockett.bsky.social, Kevin Gross, and I—have a new preprint on the arXiv today, based on ideas that emerged during an @sfiscience.bsky.social workshop in November 2024:
The unintended consequences of large language models as a labor-augmenting technology in science.
The unintended consequences of large language models as a labor-augmenting technology in science.
Reposted by Sam Wuest
🌾🌱 RESEARCH 🌱🌾
In a durum wheat mixture, increased susceptibility to Septoria tritici blotch is linked to delayed defense response induction, probably triggered by early root competition resulting from contrasting root architectures - Mathieu et al.
🔗 doi.org/10.1093/jxb/...
#PlantScience 🧪
In a durum wheat mixture, increased susceptibility to Septoria tritici blotch is linked to delayed defense response induction, probably triggered by early root competition resulting from contrasting root architectures - Mathieu et al.
🔗 doi.org/10.1093/jxb/...
#PlantScience 🧪
July 14, 2026 at 12:00 PM
🌾🌱 RESEARCH 🌱🌾
In a durum wheat mixture, increased susceptibility to Septoria tritici blotch is linked to delayed defense response induction, probably triggered by early root competition resulting from contrasting root architectures - Mathieu et al.
🔗 doi.org/10.1093/jxb/...
#PlantScience 🧪
In a durum wheat mixture, increased susceptibility to Septoria tritici blotch is linked to delayed defense response induction, probably triggered by early root competition resulting from contrasting root architectures - Mathieu et al.
🔗 doi.org/10.1093/jxb/...
#PlantScience 🧪
Reposted by Sam Wuest
Vaccines are humanity's greatest scientific achievement.
Cervical cancer deaths fall to zero in young women given HPV vaccine
A new study finds that hundreds of lives have been saved since school-age girls were offered the HPV jab in 2008.
www.bbc.co.uk
June 18, 2026 at 8:07 AM
Vaccines are humanity's greatest scientific achievement.
Reposted by Sam Wuest
Das EU-Parlament hat gerade die Verordnung zur Regulierung von Neuen Genomischen Techniken bei Pflanzen beschlossen. In zwei Jahren treten die neuen Regeln in Kraft.
Heute Vormittag habe ich mich @uedio.bsky.social darüber gesprochen, was das für Forschung, Züchtung und Verbraucher*innen bedeutet.
Heute Vormittag habe ich mich @uedio.bsky.social darüber gesprochen, was das für Forschung, Züchtung und Verbraucher*innen bedeutet.
www.deutschlandfunk.de
June 17, 2026 at 11:29 AM
Das EU-Parlament hat gerade die Verordnung zur Regulierung von Neuen Genomischen Techniken bei Pflanzen beschlossen. In zwei Jahren treten die neuen Regeln in Kraft.
Heute Vormittag habe ich mich @uedio.bsky.social darüber gesprochen, was das für Forschung, Züchtung und Verbraucher*innen bedeutet.
Heute Vormittag habe ich mich @uedio.bsky.social darüber gesprochen, was das für Forschung, Züchtung und Verbraucher*innen bedeutet.
Reposted by Sam Wuest
Our study on the evolution of shade avoidance, a "selfish trait" in plants, over 80 years of soybean breeding history. Led by @lukecoevo.bsky.social and Emanuel Kopp, and published here: doi.org/10.1111/eva..... Great stuff!
Shade Avoidance Restricts Soybean Breeding Progress and Increases Herbivore Susceptibility
High planting densities expose field crops to competition for light, which typically induces shade avoidance responses such as stem elongation. While adaptive in natural environments, these responses...
doi.org
June 12, 2026 at 6:28 PM
Our study on the evolution of shade avoidance, a "selfish trait" in plants, over 80 years of soybean breeding history. Led by @lukecoevo.bsky.social and Emanuel Kopp, and published here: doi.org/10.1111/eva..... Great stuff!
Reposted by Sam Wuest
‚Do killer acquisitions by large pesticide producers hold back innovative pest control technologies?‘
ICYMI: New paper in Q Open led by Maximlian Koppenberg and with Ayoub Barissoul, Stefan Hirsch and @tobidal.bsky.social
Open Access: academic.oup.com/qopen/articl...
ICYMI: New paper in Q Open led by Maximlian Koppenberg and with Ayoub Barissoul, Stefan Hirsch and @tobidal.bsky.social
Open Access: academic.oup.com/qopen/articl...
June 1, 2026 at 5:17 AM
‚Do killer acquisitions by large pesticide producers hold back innovative pest control technologies?‘
ICYMI: New paper in Q Open led by Maximlian Koppenberg and with Ayoub Barissoul, Stefan Hirsch and @tobidal.bsky.social
Open Access: academic.oup.com/qopen/articl...
ICYMI: New paper in Q Open led by Maximlian Koppenberg and with Ayoub Barissoul, Stefan Hirsch and @tobidal.bsky.social
Open Access: academic.oup.com/qopen/articl...
Reposted by Sam Wuest
Next fall, Paris-Saclay will host what promises to be a major scientific event for agroecology: the Mix4Agroecology conference.
May 26, 2026 at 1:01 PM
Next fall, Paris-Saclay will host what promises to be a major scientific event for agroecology: the Mix4Agroecology conference.
What a relief, the buggers we were waiting for have arrived! #varietymixtures #diversification #wheat
May 21, 2026 at 7:58 AM
What a relief, the buggers we were waiting for have arrived! #varietymixtures #diversification #wheat
Reposted by Sam Wuest
‘The worst time for wheat’: US farmers face losses to extreme heat and drought
‘The worst time for wheat’: US farmers face losses to extreme heat and drought
Temperature swings have left crops across the Plains in terrible conditions, with some farmers opting not to harvest
www.theguardian.com
May 8, 2026 at 10:05 AM
‘The worst time for wheat’: US farmers face losses to extreme heat and drought
Reposted by Sam Wuest
New paper out: Artificial selection for increased reproductive effort accelerates actuarial senescence and reduces lifespan in a precocial bird url: royalsocietypublishing.org/rspb/article... @uniexecec.bsky.social @erikpostma.bsky.social @joelpick.bsky.social y.social @oscarvedder.bsky.social
April 15, 2026 at 9:17 AM
New paper out: Artificial selection for increased reproductive effort accelerates actuarial senescence and reduces lifespan in a precocial bird url: royalsocietypublishing.org/rspb/article... @uniexecec.bsky.social @erikpostma.bsky.social @joelpick.bsky.social y.social @oscarvedder.bsky.social
Reposted by Sam Wuest
New preprint with Kosuke Hamazaki is out in bioRxiv. The beta version of its R package is available via GitHub at github.com/yassato/rNei...
April 4, 2026 at 1:04 PM
New preprint with Kosuke Hamazaki is out in bioRxiv. The beta version of its R package is available via GitHub at github.com/yassato/rNei...
Reposted by Sam Wuest
😲
Single-molecule peptide sequencing through reverse translation of peptides into DNA | Nature Biotechnology https://www.nature.com/articles/s41587-026-03061-z
Single-molecule peptide sequencing through reverse translation of peptides into DNA - Nature Biotechnology
Peptides are sequenced by converting each amino acid into amplifiable DNA barcodes.
www.nature.com
March 19, 2026 at 1:35 AM
😲
Reposted by Sam Wuest
1. The thing about science that these jokers don't understand is that science cannot be vibe-coded.
Whatever its flaws, the point with vibe coding is that you're trying to quickly make something that sorta works, where you can immediately sorta see if it sorta works and then sorta use it.
Whatever its flaws, the point with vibe coding is that you're trying to quickly make something that sorta works, where you can immediately sorta see if it sorta works and then sorta use it.
“The idea is to put ChatGPT front and center inside software that scientists use to write up their work in much the same way that chatbots are now embedded into popular programming editors.
It’s vibe coding, but for science.”
It’s vibe coding, but for science.”
OpenAI’s latest product lets you vibe code science
Prism is a ChatGPT-powered text editor that automates much of the work involved in writing scientific papers.
www.technologyreview.com
January 27, 2026 at 10:09 PM
1. The thing about science that these jokers don't understand is that science cannot be vibe-coded.
Whatever its flaws, the point with vibe coding is that you're trying to quickly make something that sorta works, where you can immediately sorta see if it sorta works and then sorta use it.
Whatever its flaws, the point with vibe coding is that you're trying to quickly make something that sorta works, where you can immediately sorta see if it sorta works and then sorta use it.
Reposted by Sam Wuest
New preprint from our group:
Phenotypic differentiation between highland and coastal quinoa under cold stress conditions
We use both field trials and lab experiments under controlled conditions to show that the two major quinoa ecotypes differ in adaptive traits.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Phenotypic differentiation between highland and coastal quinoa under cold stress conditions
We use both field trials and lab experiments under controlled conditions to show that the two major quinoa ecotypes differ in adaptive traits.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
www.biorxiv.org
January 26, 2026 at 8:21 AM
New preprint from our group:
Phenotypic differentiation between highland and coastal quinoa under cold stress conditions
We use both field trials and lab experiments under controlled conditions to show that the two major quinoa ecotypes differ in adaptive traits.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Phenotypic differentiation between highland and coastal quinoa under cold stress conditions
We use both field trials and lab experiments under controlled conditions to show that the two major quinoa ecotypes differ in adaptive traits.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Reposted by Sam Wuest
Research with a Focus on Impact and Practical Benefits:
Agroscope’s New Work Programme 2026-2029 Places a Greater Focus on Impact and Practical Benefits. Areas such as #PlantProtection, #PlantBreeding, #ClimateChange adaptation and economic efficiency will also be strengthened.
Agroscope’s New Work Programme 2026-2029 Places a Greater Focus on Impact and Practical Benefits. Areas such as #PlantProtection, #PlantBreeding, #ClimateChange adaptation and economic efficiency will also be strengthened.
Agroscope stellt sein Arbeitsprogramm 2026–2029 vor
YouTube video by agroscopevideo
www.youtube.com
January 20, 2026 at 2:36 PM
Research with a Focus on Impact and Practical Benefits:
Agroscope’s New Work Programme 2026-2029 Places a Greater Focus on Impact and Practical Benefits. Areas such as #PlantProtection, #PlantBreeding, #ClimateChange adaptation and economic efficiency will also be strengthened.
Agroscope’s New Work Programme 2026-2029 Places a Greater Focus on Impact and Practical Benefits. Areas such as #PlantProtection, #PlantBreeding, #ClimateChange adaptation and economic efficiency will also be strengthened.
Reposted by Sam Wuest
Excellent overview of the strength of Europe's farm lobby in this Politico article by Bartosz Brzezinski today www.politico.eu/article/euro...
Europe’s farmers lost the Mercosur battle. They’re still ahead.
Europe’s farmers are a minority. You wouldn’t know it from the political power they wield.
www.politico.eu
January 12, 2026 at 12:49 PM
Excellent overview of the strength of Europe's farm lobby in this Politico article by Bartosz Brzezinski today www.politico.eu/article/euro...
Just wow!
“We did our absolute best to get the best possible outcome from these products.”
but
“The biggest surprise of anything is that nothing worked anywhere,” says Naeve. “Even among cynical people like me, that was really shocking.”
Me too.
blog-crop-news.extension.umn.edu/2026/01/do-b...
but
“The biggest surprise of anything is that nothing worked anywhere,” says Naeve. “Even among cynical people like me, that was really shocking.”
Me too.
blog-crop-news.extension.umn.edu/2026/01/do-b...
Do biostimulant seed treatments boost soybean yields? New study across 103 locations in 22 states says no
Biostimulants—especially seed-applied biological products—continue to generate interest across soybean-growing regions. The promise is appe...
blog-crop-news.extension.umn.edu
January 7, 2026 at 7:54 PM
Just wow!
Reposted by Sam Wuest
Eine sehr lesenswerte Analyse in der BauernZeitung. Er zeigt fundiert die Zusammenhänge zwischen Überproduktion und Wachstumszwang auf. Gleichzeitig weist er auf die Widersprüchlichkeit aktueller politischer Forderungen hin.
Wenn aus Fülle ein Problem wird: Die Schweizer Landwirtschaft im Würgegriff der Überproduktion - bauernzeitung.ch
126 Millionen Kilo Milch zu viel, Schweineschlachtungen über Zielmarke, Weinlager randvoll: Die Schweizer Landwirtschaft kämpft mit massiver Überproduktion. Während die Politik mit Ertragsprämien noch...
www.bauernzeitung.ch
January 7, 2026 at 1:01 PM
Eine sehr lesenswerte Analyse in der BauernZeitung. Er zeigt fundiert die Zusammenhänge zwischen Überproduktion und Wachstumszwang auf. Gleichzeitig weist er auf die Widersprüchlichkeit aktueller politischer Forderungen hin.
Reposted by Sam Wuest
Have we been overstating the role of transposable elements in adaptation to local or rapidly changing environmental conditions? Happy to share my (somewhat unpopular?) opinion paper on this matter: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Thanks to those who already shared the link!
Thanks to those who already shared the link!
Blinded by the lights? Re-examining the adaptive role of transposable elements in plants with population genomics
Transposable elements (TEs) are ubiquitous components of the genome whose mobility can be triggered by environmental stress and influenced by genotype…
www.sciencedirect.com
January 5, 2026 at 9:02 AM
Have we been overstating the role of transposable elements in adaptation to local or rapidly changing environmental conditions? Happy to share my (somewhat unpopular?) opinion paper on this matter: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Thanks to those who already shared the link!
Thanks to those who already shared the link!
Reposted by Sam Wuest
Imagine all cars were electric, and then one Volkswagen engineer comes up with another idea …
#EMobility
#EMobility
August 11, 2025 at 10:46 AM
Imagine all cars were electric, and then one Volkswagen engineer comes up with another idea …
#EMobility
#EMobility