Alyssa Slicko
@alyssaslicko.bsky.social
📍Boston, Massachusetts
👩🔬 @whiteheadinstitute.bsky.social
👩🔬 @whiteheadinstitute.bsky.social
Pinned
Reposted by Alyssa Slicko
October 5, 2026 at 9:51 AM
Reposted by Alyssa Slicko
Huge congratulations to all three Nobel Laureates, and especially Peter Hegemann! 👏
His seminal work on the green alga Chlamydomonas 🦠 laid the foundation for optogenetics. Thank you for putting Chlamy in the spotlight! ✨
Proof that groundbreaking discoveries don't always come from animal models! 🔬
His seminal work on the green alga Chlamydomonas 🦠 laid the foundation for optogenetics. Thank you for putting Chlamy in the spotlight! ✨
Proof that groundbreaking discoveries don't always come from animal models! 🔬
October 5, 2026 at 10:00 AM
Huge congratulations to all three Nobel Laureates, and especially Peter Hegemann! 👏
His seminal work on the green alga Chlamydomonas 🦠 laid the foundation for optogenetics. Thank you for putting Chlamy in the spotlight! ✨
Proof that groundbreaking discoveries don't always come from animal models! 🔬
His seminal work on the green alga Chlamydomonas 🦠 laid the foundation for optogenetics. Thank you for putting Chlamy in the spotlight! ✨
Proof that groundbreaking discoveries don't always come from animal models! 🔬
Reposted by Alyssa Slicko
Here is @jenna-m-norton.bsky.social explaining the issues and highlighting the letter.
www.instagram.com/reel/Dd2xFUs...
3/3
www.instagram.com/reel/Dd2xFUs...
3/3
September 29, 2026 at 1:33 PM
Here is @jenna-m-norton.bsky.social explaining the issues and highlighting the letter.
www.instagram.com/reel/Dd2xFUs...
3/3
www.instagram.com/reel/Dd2xFUs...
3/3
Reposted by Alyssa Slicko
Letter from the American Society of Clinical Investigation regarding recent projected changes in NIH K (career development) awards.
beta.the-asci.org/news/advocac...
1/3
beta.the-asci.org/news/advocac...
1/3
Open letter to the NIH regarding proposed changes to K awards - The American Society for Clinical Investigation
Read more about Open letter to the NIH regarding proposed changes to K awards at The American Society for Clinical Investigation
beta.the-asci.org
September 29, 2026 at 1:33 PM
Letter from the American Society of Clinical Investigation regarding recent projected changes in NIH K (career development) awards.
beta.the-asci.org/news/advocac...
1/3
beta.the-asci.org/news/advocac...
1/3
Reposted by Alyssa Slicko
NIH plans to block international researchers on visas from accessing key funding avenue: the K99/R00.
Devastating news for the international research training community, who strongly contribute to US biomedical research. All will feel this great loss!
www.statnews.com/2026/08/07/n...
Devastating news for the international research training community, who strongly contribute to US biomedical research. All will feel this great loss!
www.statnews.com/2026/08/07/n...
NIH plans to block international researchers on visas from accessing key funding avenue
The NIH plans to close the door on one of the few pathways available to international students on visas to forge a career in biomedical research in the U.S.
www.statnews.com
August 11, 2026 at 12:10 PM
NIH plans to block international researchers on visas from accessing key funding avenue: the K99/R00.
Devastating news for the international research training community, who strongly contribute to US biomedical research. All will feel this great loss!
www.statnews.com/2026/08/07/n...
Devastating news for the international research training community, who strongly contribute to US biomedical research. All will feel this great loss!
www.statnews.com/2026/08/07/n...
Reposted by Alyssa Slicko
Science needs your voice!
A proposed Executive Order could give the White House a role in reviewing NIH research grants. It's essential that you contact your elected representatives and ask them to:
👉 Keep NIH grant decisions grounded in scientific merit and expert review
1/3🧵⬇️
A proposed Executive Order could give the White House a role in reviewing NIH research grants. It's essential that you contact your elected representatives and ask them to:
👉 Keep NIH grant decisions grounded in scientific merit and expert review
1/3🧵⬇️
September 24, 2026 at 1:24 PM
Science needs your voice!
A proposed Executive Order could give the White House a role in reviewing NIH research grants. It's essential that you contact your elected representatives and ask them to:
👉 Keep NIH grant decisions grounded in scientific merit and expert review
1/3🧵⬇️
A proposed Executive Order could give the White House a role in reviewing NIH research grants. It's essential that you contact your elected representatives and ask them to:
👉 Keep NIH grant decisions grounded in scientific merit and expert review
1/3🧵⬇️
Reposted by Alyssa Slicko
NIH funding decisions should be made by scientific experts, not political appointees. Protecting rigorous peer review safeguards public trust, biomedical progress and U.S. scientific leadership.
➡️Learn more: www.asbmb.org/advocacy/pos...
#ScienceServesUsAll #ASBMBAdvocates
➡️Learn more: www.asbmb.org/advocacy/pos...
#ScienceServesUsAll #ASBMBAdvocates
September 22, 2026 at 9:58 PM
NIH funding decisions should be made by scientific experts, not political appointees. Protecting rigorous peer review safeguards public trust, biomedical progress and U.S. scientific leadership.
➡️Learn more: www.asbmb.org/advocacy/pos...
#ScienceServesUsAll #ASBMBAdvocates
➡️Learn more: www.asbmb.org/advocacy/pos...
#ScienceServesUsAll #ASBMBAdvocates
Reposted by Alyssa Slicko
Incredibly excited to share my new preprint! 🪰🧬
Ever wondered how germ cells can specify their fate without having a dedicated transcriptional program?
We found that germ cells keep the uncommitted chromatin state of the early embryo
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Ever wondered how germ cells can specify their fate without having a dedicated transcriptional program?
We found that germ cells keep the uncommitted chromatin state of the early embryo
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Decoupling Transcription from Cell Fate Preserves Germ Cell Totipotency
Only germ cells can give rise to a totipotent embryo, yet a conserved transcriptional program for germ cell identity remains elusive. Profiling Drosophila primordial germ cells (PGCs) across embryogen...
www.biorxiv.org
September 19, 2026 at 4:46 PM
Incredibly excited to share my new preprint! 🪰🧬
Ever wondered how germ cells can specify their fate without having a dedicated transcriptional program?
We found that germ cells keep the uncommitted chromatin state of the early embryo
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Ever wondered how germ cells can specify their fate without having a dedicated transcriptional program?
We found that germ cells keep the uncommitted chromatin state of the early embryo
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Reposted by Alyssa Slicko
So proud of my lab mate @sagrill.bsky.social (whose on the job market 👀) for this magnum opus from @remlehmann.bsky.social lab @whiteheadinstitute.bsky.social ScRNA-seq of 🪰 germ cells reveals new biology, answers age old questions, and proposes new paradigms! 1/8
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
September 19, 2026 at 4:07 PM
So proud of my lab mate @sagrill.bsky.social (whose on the job market 👀) for this magnum opus from @remlehmann.bsky.social lab @whiteheadinstitute.bsky.social ScRNA-seq of 🪰 germ cells reveals new biology, answers age old questions, and proposes new paradigms! 1/8
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Reposted by Alyssa Slicko
Decoupling Transcription from Cell Fate Preserves Germ Cell Totipotency https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.17.752471v1
September 18, 2026 at 8:31 PM
Decoupling Transcription from Cell Fate Preserves Germ Cell Totipotency https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.17.752471v1
Reposted by Alyssa Slicko
Banger of a new RasgonLab study by Drs. Najmeh Nejat and Travis van Warmerdam on a new arthropod germline CRISPR delivery system. Knock-out AND knock-in by ORAL delivery! No more injections!
Germline Engineering by Viral transduction (GEValT)
Germline Engineering by Viral transduction (GEValT)
Meet GEValT! Germline Engineering by Viral transduction!
No more injections
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
No more injections
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Infectious transgenesis in arthropods
In the last decade, there has been an explosion in the development of in vivo germline genetic editing technologies in arthropods, first pioneered by the Receptor-Mediated Ovary Transduction of Cargo ...
www.biorxiv.org
September 17, 2026 at 11:12 AM
Banger of a new RasgonLab study by Drs. Najmeh Nejat and Travis van Warmerdam on a new arthropod germline CRISPR delivery system. Knock-out AND knock-in by ORAL delivery! No more injections!
Germline Engineering by Viral transduction (GEValT)
Germline Engineering by Viral transduction (GEValT)
Reposted by Alyssa Slicko
Hoping legal challenges at least delay this. It's sadly impressive that someone involved knows the things most likely to damage the US scientific enterprise
The US President's new proposal to tax international students has been approved by the White House for release this week.
It's an unprecedented $100,000 tax on int'l grads who stay to work after graduation on Optional Practical Training (most grads do), a crucial bridge to remaining by any channel.
It's an unprecedented $100,000 tax on int'l grads who stay to work after graduation on Optional Practical Training (most grads do), a crucial bridge to remaining by any channel.
September 12, 2026 at 11:04 PM
Hoping legal challenges at least delay this. It's sadly impressive that someone involved knows the things most likely to damage the US scientific enterprise
Reposted by Alyssa Slicko
🪰 A new study in #GENETICS demonstrates how the Stellate meiotic drive system in #Drosophila is active in contemporary populations, revealing its evolutionary significance.
🔗 buff.ly/UqEQJrQ
🔗 buff.ly/UqEQJrQ
September 1, 2026 at 8:01 PM
🪰 A new study in #GENETICS demonstrates how the Stellate meiotic drive system in #Drosophila is active in contemporary populations, revealing its evolutionary significance.
🔗 buff.ly/UqEQJrQ
🔗 buff.ly/UqEQJrQ
Reposted by Alyssa Slicko
For those in the mood for some seriously well-done gallows humor, I heartily recommend this...
inpreparation.substack.com/p/nih-simpli...
inpreparation.substack.com/p/nih-simpli...
NIH Simplifies Grant Scoring To 👍 🤷♂️ 😂
BETHESDA, MD—The National Institutes of Health announced Tuesday that it would replace its 50-year-old numerical scoring system with a streamlined three-emoji format, in which grant applications will ...
inpreparation.substack.com
September 1, 2026 at 7:44 PM
For those in the mood for some seriously well-done gallows humor, I heartily recommend this...
inpreparation.substack.com/p/nih-simpli...
inpreparation.substack.com/p/nih-simpli...
Reposted by Alyssa Slicko
Yikes: “I cannot do my best work in America,” said Zamore. “I can’t recruit the best people to help me do that, and I can’t promise them an environment where they’ll be safe.” www.wbur.org/news/2026/08...
Why a UMass researcher is among the dozens leaving the U.S. for Canada
A renowned scientist at UMass Chan Medical School is moving his lab to Canada. The Canadian government named RNA researcher Phillip Zamore among the first recipients of awards that will total more tha...
www.wbur.org
August 27, 2026 at 9:39 PM
Yikes: “I cannot do my best work in America,” said Zamore. “I can’t recruit the best people to help me do that, and I can’t promise them an environment where they’ll be safe.” www.wbur.org/news/2026/08...
Reposted by Alyssa Slicko
Nature honors Dolly Parton's scientific legacy. www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Dolly Parton dies aged 80 – researchers celebrate her contributions to science
The country singer was an advocate for vaccines, public health, literacy and marginalized communities.
www.nature.com
August 26, 2026 at 4:39 PM
Nature honors Dolly Parton's scientific legacy. www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Reposted by Alyssa Slicko
"I think we need to focus our critique on the question of who is doing the deciding and what is the basis for that decision."
August 19, 2026 at 6:06 PM
"I think we need to focus our critique on the question of who is doing the deciding and what is the basis for that decision."
Reposted by Alyssa Slicko
"I encourage you to keep this in mind as you craft your response...My view is that outraged responses that imply or declare the misunderstanding that all NIH grant selection marches in lockstep with the peer review outcome, and/or should only follow the order of peer review, are a huge mistake."
NIH RFI on plans to stop using percentiles to select grants for funding drugmonkey.wordpress.com/2026/08/18/n...
NIH RFI on plans to stop using percentiles to select grants for funding
The NIH issued NOT-OD-26-088 Request for Information (RFI) on Proposed Changes to Reporting Outcomes from NIH Peer Review on 8/14/2026. It proposes a radical upheaval of the way that NIH’s Pr…
drugmonkey.wordpress.com
August 19, 2026 at 6:03 PM
"I encourage you to keep this in mind as you craft your response...My view is that outraged responses that imply or declare the misunderstanding that all NIH grant selection marches in lockstep with the peer review outcome, and/or should only follow the order of peer review, are a huge mistake."
Reposted by Alyssa Slicko
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 14, 2026 at 9:38 PM
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.
Reposted by Alyssa Slicko
Meiotic CENP-C supports #centromere assembly and #kinetochore recruitment in #spermatogenesis. New study form Rachel S. Keegan, Dina Malkeyeva, Meg B. Weever, and Elaine M. Dunleavy @uniofgalway.bsky.social:
rupress.org/jcb/article/...
#CellCycle #CellDivision #Development #Meiosis #Drosophila
rupress.org/jcb/article/...
#CellCycle #CellDivision #Development #Meiosis #Drosophila
July 7, 2026 at 1:30 PM
Meiotic CENP-C supports #centromere assembly and #kinetochore recruitment in #spermatogenesis. New study form Rachel S. Keegan, Dina Malkeyeva, Meg B. Weever, and Elaine M. Dunleavy @uniofgalway.bsky.social:
rupress.org/jcb/article/...
#CellCycle #CellDivision #Development #Meiosis #Drosophila
rupress.org/jcb/article/...
#CellCycle #CellDivision #Development #Meiosis #Drosophila
Reposted by Alyssa Slicko
In a new (ish) preprint, we used CRISPR barcodes to label germline stem cell clones in zebrafish, then tracked their contributions to sperm production for 2 years. Instead of staying stable, individual clones rose, fell, and disappeared over time.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Clonal dynamics deviate from neutral drift in zebrafish spermatogenesis
Spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs) maintain male fertility, but how their clonal dynamics change with age remains poorly understood. Here, we use in vivo CRISPR barcoding in zebrafish to label SSCs and ...
www.biorxiv.org
August 4, 2026 at 3:24 PM
In a new (ish) preprint, we used CRISPR barcodes to label germline stem cell clones in zebrafish, then tracked their contributions to sperm production for 2 years. Instead of staying stable, individual clones rose, fell, and disappeared over time.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Reposted by Alyssa Slicko
Well, this explains A LOT
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Triplex DNA and inverted repeats cause long-read sequencing bias against simple satellite DNA
We recently showed that Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT) and Pacific Biosciences (PacBio) have very strong sequencing bias against simple satellites, probably caused by single-stranded DNA folding i...
www.biorxiv.org
July 24, 2026 at 10:40 PM
Well, this explains A LOT
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Reposted by Alyssa Slicko
How do transposons jump when they’re released from host control?
I babysat two chromosomes for 2 years, making sure they are ok without most piRNAs.
Here’s what we found & excited to share my 1st postdoc paper:
“piRNA loss unleashes episodic transposition bursts”
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
I babysat two chromosomes for 2 years, making sure they are ok without most piRNAs.
Here’s what we found & excited to share my 1st postdoc paper:
“piRNA loss unleashes episodic transposition bursts”
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
piRNA loss unleashes episodic transposition bursts
In Metazoa, transposon expression is suppressed by the piRNA pathway, and disruption of this pathway leads to rampant transposon expression. However, it remains unclear whether increased transposon ex...
www.biorxiv.org
July 17, 2026 at 2:07 PM
How do transposons jump when they’re released from host control?
I babysat two chromosomes for 2 years, making sure they are ok without most piRNAs.
Here’s what we found & excited to share my 1st postdoc paper:
“piRNA loss unleashes episodic transposition bursts”
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
I babysat two chromosomes for 2 years, making sure they are ok without most piRNAs.
Here’s what we found & excited to share my 1st postdoc paper:
“piRNA loss unleashes episodic transposition bursts”
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Reposted by Alyssa Slicko
The world’s highest 10% of spenders are responsible for environmental damage estimated to be worth US $1.7–5.7 trillion (at 2017 values) each year, according to research in Communications Sustainability. go.nature.com/43KAHIz #econsky 🌎🧪
June 29, 2026 at 1:08 AM
The world’s highest 10% of spenders are responsible for environmental damage estimated to be worth US $1.7–5.7 trillion (at 2017 values) each year, according to research in Communications Sustainability. go.nature.com/43KAHIz #econsky 🌎🧪
Reposted by Alyssa Slicko
Thousands of biomedical studies are stuck in limbo as NIH drags out renewals months after annual budgets expire. Since 2025, the rate of overdue renewals has TRIPLED. This leaves scientists unable to plan, keep staff employed, or maintain long-term research. grant-witness.us/posts/2026-0... #NIH 🧪
Overdue Grant Renewals at NIH and AHRQ – Grant Witness
The government’s delays renewing in-progress research are leaving researchers in limbo.
grant-witness.us
June 23, 2026 at 6:44 PM
Thousands of biomedical studies are stuck in limbo as NIH drags out renewals months after annual budgets expire. Since 2025, the rate of overdue renewals has TRIPLED. This leaves scientists unable to plan, keep staff employed, or maintain long-term research. grant-witness.us/posts/2026-0... #NIH 🧪