Mino Postdoctoral Fellow at the @SETIInstitute | Gardener and Evolutionary Biologist | Astrobiology | Virus evolution | Children's book author | Brasileiro.
USA
Joined March 2009
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Stoked to see that @DebashB and me became comic book characters in the new issue of @NASAAstrobio graphic novel! You will see a lot more familiar faces in this inspiring story about "How to become an Astrobiologist" issue 9 here: astrobiology.nasa.gov/resour…
L. Felipe Benites retweeted
1/3
Remember our #Magnificent8?
8 mysterious lineages related to animals, known only from environmental DNA. 🧬
We suspected they were just the tip of the iceberg, hiding many more "unknown unknowns".
Our new preprint suggests we were right. 🧵
👉bit.ly/3TUYowB
L. Felipe Benites retweeted
New Essay in @AsimovPress about why trying to define a "species" can be so difficult; the whole notion of a species, at least for bacteria, is almost nonsensical.
Consider: For a 2015 paper, researchers took 2,000+ full E. coli genomes and compared them. Each genome contained about 5,000 genes total, but only 3,000 of those genes were broadly shared across the strains.
The other 2,000 genes were unique and varied *a lot* from one cell to the next. Collectively, the 2,000+ E. coli genomes contained something like 89,000 distinct genes, all within this single species.
The boundaries between species, then, are basically man-made inventions. The reality is that the branches of the tree of life "criss-cross and merge."
Read: press.asimov.com/articles/sp…
Loved this cover! – at Canoas, Brasil
The October issue is live, featuring...
📈a history of bacterial growth rate
🌥️pollution and pneumococcal diseases
🦔hedgehog merbecovirus receptors
🌡️microbial responses to global change
💦how Mtb survives aerosolization
...and more! 👇
nature.com/nmicrobiol/volume…
L. Felipe Benites retweeted
PRESS RELEASE
From viruses and genomes to habitable environments to the birthplaces of planets, three new postdoctoral fellows are joining the SETI Institute.
Mino Fellow L. Felipe Benites studies the evolution of viruses and cells, including biological systems that challenge traditional models of genetic inheritance.
Frank Drake Fellow Genesis Berlanga studies the physical and chemical conditions that constrain the potential for life, using laboratory experiments, Mars analog environments, and spacecraft observations.
Frank Drake Fellow Dingshan Deng studies the gas and dust disks where planets form, combining ALMA and James Webb Space Telescope observations with thermochemical modeling.
Together, their research spans vastly different scales while exploring a shared question: How does life emerge, evolve, and persist in the universe?
Welcome to the SETI Institute, Felipe, Genesis, and Dingshan!
🔗 Learn more about their research and fellowship projects: seti.org/news/three-new-post…
#SETIInstitute #Astrobiology #PlanetaryScience #Astronomy
ALT SETI Institute logo. Background: Artist's impression of a rocky planet set amongst background stars with some technological design elements. Banner text: SETI Institute Welcomes Three New Postdoctoral Fellows. Inset: Photos of L. Felipe Benites, Genesis Berlanga and Dingshan Deng.
L. Felipe Benites retweeted
New book chapter published!
We discuss how metagenomics is reshaping sustainable agriculture and provide an overview of how advances in sequencing are revealing the diversity and functional potential of microbiomes, and their applications. Check it here:
intechopen.com/online-first/…
L. Felipe Benites retweeted
We have a new branch in the family tree of animals: Atreyea- a previously unrecognized lineage among the closest unicellular relatives of animals.
Led by @Mitsikons & Michelle Leger, together with a fantastic group of collaborators.
🔗 papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.…
#protists
L. Felipe Benites retweeted
AlphaFold is being upgraded to better represent some of the least known and deadliest species: viruses
go.nature.com/4yVG2dJ
L. Felipe Benites retweeted
We have been fortunate to have our community enriched by a remarkable stream of Fellows, both theorists and experimentalists. This is our annual effort at renewal. Please apply if it feels like a good match!!
L. Felipe Benites retweeted
Bleaching is an ecosystem collapse that plays out inside single cells.
This was the final chapter of Anthony's PhD, and I could not be prouder 🙌.
With @Cnidarians_Rock, @coralprof and colleagues at @MiamiRosenstiel & @IBE_Barcelona. OA at @MicrobiomeJ: doi.org/10.1186/s40168-026-0…
In 2012, as a Biology undergrad I read this and it stayed with me nature.com/articles/483528a It asked: Is there life elsewhere? Is there foreign life on Earth? Now as the Mino Fellow at the SETI Institute, I’m excited to work on these very questions! Stay tuned for this new chapter!
I had some great years in Tempe, AZ , working at ASU in the @Sara_Imari Lab. I feel so grateful and lucky to have worked on exciting projects, from virology to #astrobiology, to have been part of this team and for making new friends. Now, on to the next chapter!
L. Felipe Benites retweeted
Earth’s “little Marses”: how extremophiles are shaping astrobiology the-microbiologist.com/featu…
L. Felipe Benites retweeted
This is what a Jurassic forest may have sounded like.
By combining exquisitely preserved fossil wings with experiments on living insects, computer simulations, and machine learning, scientists have re-created what they say is a partial Middle Jurassic soundscape.
If the reconstruction is correct, one of the insect calls would be the oldest known evidence of ultrasonic communication in animals—long before echolocating bats appeared.
Learn more: scim.ag/4gFFhPP @NewsfromScience
L. Felipe Benites retweeted
On behalf of 108 colleagues and friends from 11 countries, thrilled to share the first paper from our 100 #Diatom Genomes Project (100DGP). Just out @PLOSBiology | @micronorwich | @uniofeastanglia |@jgi
doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio…
L. Felipe Benites retweeted
Advice for new PhD students: choose a mentor who is committed to your training, not just your project. The most important product of your PhD - even more important than the science - is you, a newly trained scientist.
L. Felipe Benites retweeted
Macro shots from vintage encyclopaedias... These images live on in the deepest substrata of our minds. We've all seen them, we remember them, but not where we saw them. What do you call this phenomenon? Liminal palaeoart?
L. Felipe Benites retweeted
Why does DNA use thymine, whereas the evolutionarily older RNA uses uracil, given thymine’s susceptibility to damage from UV light? A study suggests that although thymine breaks down more easily, its products are less harmful to the DNA molecule. In PNAS: ow.ly/fanQ50ZxF3E
ALT Thymine and uracil chemical structure diagrams. CREDIT: Sanjay Bhatia