Environment more crucial than genes in risk of early death, study suggests
Environment more crucial than genes in risk of early death, study suggests
Analysis of UK BioBank data shows importance of factors including living conditions and smoking, say experts
The environment is about 10 times more important than genes in explaining why some people have a higher risk of an early death than others,…
www.theguardian.com
February 19, 2025 at 10:10 AM
Environment more crucial than genes in risk of early death, study suggests
Superbugs resistant to antibiotics are rising fast. I tested water at Lough Neagh (40% of Northern Ireland’s drinking water) & found high levels of antibiotic-resistant genes from human & livestock poo. If we treat waterways like sewers, this is what we get. www.theguardian.com/environment/...
‘Drinking from a fetid pond’: superbug-creating genes found in UK’s largest lake
Exclusive: Lough Neagh, which supplies drinking water for 40% of NI, contains genes resistant to last-resort antibiotics
www.theguardian.com
March 14, 2026 at 6:54 AM
Superbugs resistant to antibiotics are rising fast. I tested water at Lough Neagh (40% of Northern Ireland’s drinking water) & found high levels of antibiotic-resistant genes from human & livestock poo. If we treat waterways like sewers, this is what we get. www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Do you know how complex the biological roots of human behavior are? Do you know how many genes are involved in the simplest things, and how much is unknown about how the environment interacts with genes?
March 16, 2026 at 10:19 PM
Do you know how complex the biological roots of human behavior are? Do you know how many genes are involved in the simplest things, and how much is unknown about how the environment interacts with genes?
#AMR - we are rapidly increasing the volume of resistance genes, a huge threat to #PublicHealth
#AntimicrobialResistance
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
#AntimicrobialResistance
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
‘Drinking from a fetid pond’: superbug-creating genes found in UK’s largest lake
Exclusive: Lough Neagh, which supplies drinking water for 40% of NI, contains genes resistant to last-resort antibiotics
www.theguardian.com
March 14, 2026 at 7:56 AM
#AMR - we are rapidly increasing the volume of resistance genes, a huge threat to #PublicHealth
#AntimicrobialResistance
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
#AntimicrobialResistance
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
New paper from the lab, out in Nature Microbiology. We ran CRISPRi screens to ask what genes E. coli needs in order to live in a gut and what this can tell us about the gut environment itself.
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41564-026-02471-8
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41564-026-02471-8
September 21, 2026 at 8:22 AM
New paper from the lab, out in Nature Microbiology. We ran CRISPRi screens to ask what genes E. coli needs in order to live in a gut and what this can tell us about the gut environment itself.
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41564-026-02471-8
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41564-026-02471-8
Environment more crucial than genes in risk of early death, study suggests
Environment more crucial than genes in risk of early death, study suggests
Analysis of UK BioBank data shows importance of factors including living conditions and smoking, say experts
The environment is about 10 times more important than genes in explaining why some people have a higher risk of an early death than others,…
www.theguardian.com
February 19, 2025 at 10:19 AM
Environment more crucial than genes in risk of early death, study suggests
#theBeeAt3
Basic bee facts every day at 3pm.
45.
Male bumblebees develop from unfertilised eggs.
They have no father.
So 100% of their genes will be in common with their mother, the queen.
They also have no stinger!
#bees #biodiversity
#nature #environment
#bumblebees
#worldbeesanctuary
Basic bee facts every day at 3pm.
45.
Male bumblebees develop from unfertilised eggs.
They have no father.
So 100% of their genes will be in common with their mother, the queen.
They also have no stinger!
#bees #biodiversity
#nature #environment
#bumblebees
#worldbeesanctuary
September 25, 2026 at 11:37 PM
#theBeeAt3
Basic bee facts every day at 3pm.
45.
Male bumblebees develop from unfertilised eggs.
They have no father.
So 100% of their genes will be in common with their mother, the queen.
They also have no stinger!
#bees #biodiversity
#nature #environment
#bumblebees
#worldbeesanctuary
Basic bee facts every day at 3pm.
45.
Male bumblebees develop from unfertilised eggs.
They have no father.
So 100% of their genes will be in common with their mother, the queen.
They also have no stinger!
#bees #biodiversity
#nature #environment
#bumblebees
#worldbeesanctuary
This is a good article about the history of Parkinson’s research & the influence of genes & the environment on the disease.
If you teach biology this is a good article to share with your students to discuss not only research priorities but the need to understand our environment as well as genetics
If you teach biology this is a good article to share with your students to discuss not only research priorities but the need to understand our environment as well as genetics
“No one knows exactly how much of the world’s drinking water is laced with TCE. The CDC reckons the water supply of 4-18% of Americans is contaminated… In Silicon Valley, where TCE was integral to manufacturing of early transistors, a necklace of underground plumes…”
www.wired.com/story/scient...
www.wired.com/story/scient...
Scientists Thought Parkinson’s Was in Our Genes. It Might Be in the Water
New ideas about chronic illness could revolutionize treatment, if we take the research seriously.
www.wired.com
January 11, 2026 at 5:31 PM
This is a good article about the history of Parkinson’s research & the influence of genes & the environment on the disease.
If you teach biology this is a good article to share with your students to discuss not only research priorities but the need to understand our environment as well as genetics
If you teach biology this is a good article to share with your students to discuss not only research priorities but the need to understand our environment as well as genetics
"A perfect storm for the health of Northern Ireland’s people and environment”
Sewage, slurry & antibiotic resistant genes in the lough that supplies drinking water to 40% of NI.
Watershed's @rachelsalvidge.bsky.social reports:
share.google/UPhtlSbsGgye...
Sewage, slurry & antibiotic resistant genes in the lough that supplies drinking water to 40% of NI.
Watershed's @rachelsalvidge.bsky.social reports:
share.google/UPhtlSbsGgye...
‘Drinking from a fetid pond’: superbug-creating genes found in UK’s largest lake
Exclusive: Lough Neagh, which supplies drinking water for 40% of NI, contains genes resistant to last-resort antibiotics
share.google
March 14, 2026 at 5:27 AM
"A perfect storm for the health of Northern Ireland’s people and environment”
Sewage, slurry & antibiotic resistant genes in the lough that supplies drinking water to 40% of NI.
Watershed's @rachelsalvidge.bsky.social reports:
share.google/UPhtlSbsGgye...
Sewage, slurry & antibiotic resistant genes in the lough that supplies drinking water to 40% of NI.
Watershed's @rachelsalvidge.bsky.social reports:
share.google/UPhtlSbsGgye...
As a grant writer for environmental causes, I’ve seen first-hand how funding for the environment often takes a backseat to medical research and human services. This article helps demonstrate why this is a problem; the environment is a HUGE influence on public health and quality of life.
Scientists Thought Parkinson’s Was in Our Genes. It Might Be in the Water
New ideas about chronic illness could revolutionize treatment, if we take the research seriously.
www.wired.com
December 13, 2025 at 5:31 PM
As a grant writer for environmental causes, I’ve seen first-hand how funding for the environment often takes a backseat to medical research and human services. This article helps demonstrate why this is a problem; the environment is a HUGE influence on public health and quality of life.
"Microplastics in soil pose global threat by acting like ‘Trojan horse’ to deliver toxins"
'Exclusive: Plastic surfaces form hotspots with an increase of antibiotic-resistant genes, study finds'
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
'Exclusive: Plastic surfaces form hotspots with an increase of antibiotic-resistant genes, study finds'
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Microplastics in soil pose global threat by acting like ‘Trojan horse’ to deliver toxins
Exclusive: Plastic surfaces form hotspots for interaction between plastics, microbes and agrochemicals
www.theguardian.com
September 19, 2026 at 9:53 AM
"Microplastics in soil pose global threat by acting like ‘Trojan horse’ to deliver toxins"
'Exclusive: Plastic surfaces form hotspots with an increase of antibiotic-resistant genes, study finds'
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
'Exclusive: Plastic surfaces form hotspots with an increase of antibiotic-resistant genes, study finds'
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
eugenics is genetic monocropping. by no means does it prove "natural" genetic fitness. a program of eugenics does not see which genes outcompete others, rather such a program dominates & subjugates the environment (land and market) in artificial, unsustainable favor of certain gene expressions
August 29, 2025 at 7:53 PM
eugenics is genetic monocropping. by no means does it prove "natural" genetic fitness. a program of eugenics does not see which genes outcompete others, rather such a program dominates & subjugates the environment (land and market) in artificial, unsustainable favor of certain gene expressions
“The environment is about 10 times more important than genes in explaining why some people have a higher risk of an early death than others, research has suggested.” [MedSky]
Environment more crucial than genes in risk of early death, study suggests
Analysis of UK BioBank data shows importance of factors including living conditions and smoking, say experts
www.theguardian.com
February 19, 2025 at 11:18 PM
“The environment is about 10 times more important than genes in explaining why some people have a higher risk of an early death than others, research has suggested.” [MedSky]
Remembering Barbara McClintock on International Women's Day!
She discovered that genes aren't static, they can actually "jump" around on a chromosome.
Her discovery of transposons ("jumping genes") fundamentally changed how we understand evolution and the complexity of DNA! 🧬🌽
#WomenInScience
She discovered that genes aren't static, they can actually "jump" around on a chromosome.
Her discovery of transposons ("jumping genes") fundamentally changed how we understand evolution and the complexity of DNA! 🧬🌽
#WomenInScience
March 8, 2026 at 12:24 PM
Remembering Barbara McClintock on International Women's Day!
She discovered that genes aren't static, they can actually "jump" around on a chromosome.
Her discovery of transposons ("jumping genes") fundamentally changed how we understand evolution and the complexity of DNA! 🧬🌽
#WomenInScience
She discovered that genes aren't static, they can actually "jump" around on a chromosome.
Her discovery of transposons ("jumping genes") fundamentally changed how we understand evolution and the complexity of DNA! 🧬🌽
#WomenInScience
𝗪𝗵𝘆?
Being “stupid” (low intelligence) is shaped by 𝗯𝗼𝘁𝗵 𝗻𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗻𝘂𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲, genes influence cognitive potential, but environment, education, and early experiences strongly shape how smart someone becomes in practice.
www.simplypsychology.org/naturevsnurt...
Being “stupid” (low intelligence) is shaped by 𝗯𝗼𝘁𝗵 𝗻𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗻𝘂𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲, genes influence cognitive potential, but environment, education, and early experiences strongly shape how smart someone becomes in practice.
www.simplypsychology.org/naturevsnurt...
April 11, 2026 at 11:01 AM
𝗪𝗵𝘆?
Being “stupid” (low intelligence) is shaped by 𝗯𝗼𝘁𝗵 𝗻𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗻𝘂𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲, genes influence cognitive potential, but environment, education, and early experiences strongly shape how smart someone becomes in practice.
www.simplypsychology.org/naturevsnurt...
Being “stupid” (low intelligence) is shaped by 𝗯𝗼𝘁𝗵 𝗻𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗻𝘂𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲, genes influence cognitive potential, but environment, education, and early experiences strongly shape how smart someone becomes in practice.
www.simplypsychology.org/naturevsnurt...
Some of the smallest 😎 viruses on Earth are all around us. Three or four genes 😍 each, in nearly every environment. We keep finding thousands by sequencing, yet don't know who they infect, can't easily isolate them, or even how the few we have infect a cell.
Our new preprint takes this on 🧵👇
Our new preprint takes this on 🧵👇
September 19, 2026 at 4:44 AM
Some of the smallest 😎 viruses on Earth are all around us. Three or four genes 😍 each, in nearly every environment. We keep finding thousands by sequencing, yet don't know who they infect, can't easily isolate them, or even how the few we have infect a cell.
Our new preprint takes this on 🧵👇
Our new preprint takes this on 🧵👇
Happy to share the core work of my PhD!
Our CRISPRi screens revealed key genes for E. coli survival in a gut environment shaped by diet and inflammation.
Many thanks to my co-supervisors @dbikard.bsky.social and @nathalierolhion.bsky.social, and to all co-authors!
Details in David's thread👇
Our CRISPRi screens revealed key genes for E. coli survival in a gut environment shaped by diet and inflammation.
Many thanks to my co-supervisors @dbikard.bsky.social and @nathalierolhion.bsky.social, and to all co-authors!
Details in David's thread👇
New paper from the lab, out in Nature Microbiology. We ran CRISPRi screens to ask what genes E. coli needs in order to live in a gut and what this can tell us about the gut environment itself.
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41564-026-02471-8
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41564-026-02471-8
September 22, 2026 at 10:01 AM
Happy to share the core work of my PhD!
Our CRISPRi screens revealed key genes for E. coli survival in a gut environment shaped by diet and inflammation.
Many thanks to my co-supervisors @dbikard.bsky.social and @nathalierolhion.bsky.social, and to all co-authors!
Details in David's thread👇
Our CRISPRi screens revealed key genes for E. coli survival in a gut environment shaped by diet and inflammation.
Many thanks to my co-supervisors @dbikard.bsky.social and @nathalierolhion.bsky.social, and to all co-authors!
Details in David's thread👇
The environment flows through our bodies, altering our trajectories in ways medicine is just starting to see. "Your 'environment' could be the refinery a town over, the lead in the paint of your mother’s home, the plastic sheath of a Hot Pocket you microwaved in 1996." www.wired.com/story/scient...
Scientists Thought Parkinson’s Was in Our Genes. It Might Be in the Water
New ideas about chronic illness could revolutionize treatment, if we take the research seriously.
www.wired.com
December 11, 2025 at 7:35 PM
The environment flows through our bodies, altering our trajectories in ways medicine is just starting to see. "Your 'environment' could be the refinery a town over, the lead in the paint of your mother’s home, the plastic sheath of a Hot Pocket you microwaved in 1996." www.wired.com/story/scient...
It's not genes. It's 100% environment.
February 11, 2026 at 10:20 PM
It's not genes. It's 100% environment.
We know that 85% of autism is caused by genes. The rest is environment. We also know that vaccines don't cause autism.
This isn’t government efficiency.
It’s redundancy.
This isn’t government efficiency.
It’s redundancy.
April 11, 2025 at 12:18 AM
We know that 85% of autism is caused by genes. The rest is environment. We also know that vaccines don't cause autism.
This isn’t government efficiency.
It’s redundancy.
This isn’t government efficiency.
It’s redundancy.
This dissolves the core-accessory distinction. Core genes are ones whose beneficial environment is always present. Accessory genes are ones whose beneficial environment is intermittent. Same dynamics, different p values. A continuum, no category boundary.
May 11, 2026 at 9:18 AM
This dissolves the core-accessory distinction. Core genes are ones whose beneficial environment is always present. Accessory genes are ones whose beneficial environment is intermittent. Same dynamics, different p values. A continuum, no category boundary.
This went under the radar but answers a fundamental question in Epigenetics...
From many hundreds of olfactory receptor genes, each neuron selects expression of only single one (near-randomly). How?
Outstanding work from Mathieu Boulard and colleagues
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
From many hundreds of olfactory receptor genes, each neuron selects expression of only single one (near-randomly). How?
Outstanding work from Mathieu Boulard and colleagues
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
The transcription of a single olfactory receptor per neuron is enforced by epigenetic silencing of their enhancers
The ability to discriminate thousands of odors in our environment requires each olfactory neuron to express a single olfactory receptor from hundreds of available genes. The biochemical mechanism enfo...
www.biorxiv.org
January 5, 2026 at 12:51 PM
This went under the radar but answers a fundamental question in Epigenetics...
From many hundreds of olfactory receptor genes, each neuron selects expression of only single one (near-randomly). How?
Outstanding work from Mathieu Boulard and colleagues
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
From many hundreds of olfactory receptor genes, each neuron selects expression of only single one (near-randomly). How?
Outstanding work from Mathieu Boulard and colleagues
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
The #ClimateEmergency and increasing #AMR - disturbing further evidence of a direct link
pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...
pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...
Warming is Associated With More Encoded Antimicrobial Resistance Genes and Transcriptions Within Five Drug Classes in Soil Bacteria: A Case Study and Synthesis
The effect of warming on anti‐microbial resistance (AMR) genes in the environment has critical implications for public health but is little studied. We collected published soil bacterial genomes from the BV‐BRC database and tested the correlation ...
pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
October 26, 2025 at 1:04 PM
The #ClimateEmergency and increasing #AMR - disturbing further evidence of a direct link
pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...
pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...
Those are the genes that managed to escape the toxic environment of his body.
July 8, 2026 at 4:41 PM
Those are the genes that managed to escape the toxic environment of his body.