Heather Feaga
Assistant Professor at Cornell studying translation in bacteria. Nothing bad ever happens to a scientist, it's all data.
- Reposted by Heather Feagarince & JB Editor's Choice: Lin, Prince & Feaga identified sporulation genes via analyzing almost 1500 genomes. They show that that an unusual membrane-localized variant of Spo0B is found throughout Paenibacillaceae. journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/... @asm.org #JBacteriology
- Reposted by Heather FeagaHey alpha aficionados - it's almost time for CauloCon 2026! This free, virtual meeting will feature talks from @brunlabcaulo.bsky.social @thanbichlerlab.bsky.social and @lamasonlab.bsky.social with opps for trainee talks. Register using the link below. 👇
- CauloCon 2026 is coming! 🔬✨ March 3–5 (fully virtual + free). Keynotes by Yves Brun, Becky Lamason & Martin Thanbichler. Great chance for grad students & postdocs to present their work (work-in-progress welcome!). Submit an abstract by Sun Feb 8. Register + submit: www.caulocon.com
- Reposted by Heather FeagaOur paper on the structural and functional basis of the human dimeric OS9–SEL1L–HRD1 ERAD complex, together with @qilabuva.bsky.social, is now out! Huge congratulations to Leo, Emir, and Elina! www.nature.com/articles/s41...
- Reposted by Heather FeagaIn case anyone was wondering how it’s going over on American Girl doll Instagram
- Reposted by Heather FeagaCome be our colleague--we're hiring! We have an opening for TT Asst. Prof. in Physical Chemistry in the Dept. of Chemistry and Biochemistry. Interests in spectroscopy, optics, or biophysics broadly defined! I know we're late to the game, but see our add here: apply.interfolio.com/180223 Please RT!
- Mamdani taking pride in doing his job and clearly loving it is such a singular bright spot. Inject it straight into my veins.
- All I do is not hear about grants I applied for 8 months ago.
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- Reposted by Heather FeagaMy first first-author paper is posted! Glad to have this out! 🦠🚨🕺 We show that pGpp production depletes GTP, inhibits translation, and remodels the transcriptome faster than (p)ppGpp. ...and more!
- Starvation-independent alarmone production inhibits translation through GTP depletion biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/20…
- Reposted by Heather FeagaLatest work on the Diadema pathogen and its seasonal occurrence at a time series site
- Host-independent persistence of the Diadema antillarum Scuticociliatosis Philaster clade in coastal environments biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/20…
- Reposted by Heather Feaga"Conflates answers [or outcomes] with learning" - this a is perfect distillation of the shift in how higher ed's value is perceived, and something we need to keep fighting against, particularly in the age of AI.
In case anyone needs it for their syllabi, my statement in gen-Ai from the minicomic I made as a syllabus for class last semester. All online and printable here spinweaveandcut.com/fall-2025-sy...
- Reposted by Heather FeagaA (belated!) highlight from an excellent collaboration with @dunhamlab.bsky.social and #HouLabTJU. In this Nat Commun paper, we combine smFRET and cryo-EM to show how the tRNA modification m¹G37 stabilizes the reading frame—and what happens when it’s missing.
- Penelope’s new years resolution is to be cozy. Thinks that should be your resolution too.
- Reposted by Heather FeagaA single DNA methylation site regulates cell fate during Clostridioides difficile sporulation www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
- Reposted by Heather FeagaJust making sure that 2025 is definitely over
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- Reposted by Heather FeagaJust in time for 2026! 🎆 Presenting a nascent-centric view on the shape of the ribosomal exit tunnel topology, based on MD-derived occupancy maps for 55 distinct ribosomes. 🧶🧬🖥️ 📄 Read the preprint: biorxiv.org/content/10.6... #StructuralBiology #Ribosome #CryoEM #Evolution #Biophysics
- This work was also our first time doing membrane localization (way to go Cassidy)! And so proud of Bella’s gorgeous Paenibacillus tree showing the distribution of the transmembrane containing Spo0B! Also it’s the lab’s first paper without ribosomes 🫨, but don’t worry - the ribosomes made the Spo0B!
- The sporulation phosphorelay protein Spo0B is membrane localized in Paenibacillus! The transmembrane domain appears to increase interaction with relay partners. Congrats to former lab undergrad @isabellalin.bsky.social and her grad mentor @cassidyprints.bsky.social journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...
- The sporulation phosphorelay protein Spo0B is membrane localized in Paenibacillus! The transmembrane domain appears to increase interaction with relay partners. Congrats to former lab undergrad @isabellalin.bsky.social and her grad mentor @cassidyprints.bsky.social journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...
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- Reposted by Heather Feaga1/ Our new preprint is out on biorxiv on how antibiotics bind to bacterial 30S subunits, please repost. #ribosome #antibiotics #microsky #rnasky doi.org/10.64898/202...
- Happy Holidays from the Feaga Lab! Strain credit to Kevin England @kevinengland.bsky.social and streaking/photo credit Katrina Callan.
- Winter
- Reposted by Heather FeagaIn this study, we highlight the importance of the base composition of the first codons for protein expression. An increased abundance of adenine (A) and a decrease in guanine (G) enhance expression and improve mRNA stability. The mediator of this effect is the ribosome.
- Our latest paper on protein expression and mRNA stability is out! academic.oup.com/nar/article/... Check out how to increase your protein output with a simple trick. Congratulations to first author @Anna Lipońska, it was a great collaboration with the Aalberts group. #RNAsky #ribosome #EGM
- My mom’s Christmas card this year is metal
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- It’s okay we’re all going to move to Mars, a planet with a notoriously wonderful climate.
- Reposted by Heather FeagaAnother snow day❄️❄️❄️
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- Reposted by Heather FeagaWhat started out as a structure-function project for an undergraduate researcher morphed into something bigger w/ @popea.bsky.social leading the way. Check out how RhlR fine tunes its response to its autoinducer to avoid producing too much pyocyanin. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
- Reposted by Heather FeagaThe Gonzalez Lab at Columbia University is seeking a scientific leader! Join us in a Research Scientist position, driving single-molecule, structural, and biochemical studies of translation, translational control, and other RNA-based processes. Apply: apply.interfolio.com/176949
- Reposted by Heather FeagaSpx inhibits expression of the SwrA•DegU master flagellar activator in Bacillus subtilis -in JBacteriol journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...
- Reposted by Heather Feaga🚨The Yap Lab at Northwestern Univ is looking to fill 2 postdoc positions in 2026 to study aspects of Staphylococcus aureus antibiotic resistance and RNA synthesis-degradation. Please contact Frances Yap at frances.yap@northwestern.edu for details. sites.northwestern.edu/yaplab/. Pls repost #Microsky
- Reposted by Heather FeagaEarliest sunsets are almost here. In early to mid-December, evenings become brighter again—no “Daylight Saving Time” needed!
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- Great visit to UW Madison, microbiology home base! Thanks to Jason Peters for hosting! See you at Phages! 👋
- Reposted by Heather FeagaVery proud of our recently published work in @narjournal.bsky.social led by senior PhD candidate Julia Warrick. #RNA academic.oup.com/nar/article/...
- It’s normal for colleagues in a field to share and discuss their unpublished results. What’s not normal is basing your entire model off of those results and declaring yourself the winner. Announcing that that is what you did IN YOUR PAPER is even weirder.
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- Reposted by Heather Feaga🚨Just in press @asbmb.bsky.social JBC!🚨 Alex & Chioma's paper detailing the interaction of Fe(II) with an intact membrane His kinase for the first time! Binding stoichiometry ✅ Fe(II) structure ✅ Direct observation of selectivity ✅ Signal transmission pathway ✅ Read more here: tinyurl.com/49wdkecu
- Reposted by Heather Feaga“So hear me, President Trump, when I say this: to get to any of us, you will have to get through all of us. - New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani
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- Reposted by Heather FeagaSuper proud of Dr Brayan Vilanova Cuevas for successfully defending his dissertation on Philaster diadema interactions. Well done, and watch out world!!
- Reposted by Heather FeagaThis month, my lab celebrated our 5 year anniversary! On October 16, 2020, I rode the L train to start my lab at UIC, as the only lab member during COVID. In 2025, we celebrated together! It’s been such an honor that all these incredible people and more have chosen to do science with me!
- Reposted by Heather FeagaExcited to share my latest postdoctoral work in the Shen Lab at Tufts! In this study, we follow up on an exciting finding by former grad student @shailab.bsky.social that C diff uses its Class A PBP (PBP1) to drive cell division (unlike previously studied bacteria)! journals.plos.org/plosgenetics...
- Of course Amazon runs Canvas.
- Reposted by Heather FeagaWe’re starting to look for postdocs for 2026 and beyond. Nothing official yet, but if you want to use your synbio skills and the growing Microbe-Mineral Atlas to build cutting-edge biomining technologies read more below: docs.google.com/document/d/1...
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- Reposted by Heather FeagaWe are hiring…position suitable for PhD student with interest in ribosomes, antibiotics and cryoEM… www.uni-hamburg.de/en/stellenan...
- Reposted by Heather FeagaHappy to share our new review in Royal Society Open Biology 🎉 tRNA-modifying enzymes in bacterial stress adaptation: How tRNA mods rewire translation under oxidative + antibiotic stress (MoTTs, moonlighting, therapy angles). Read: doi.org/10.1098/rsob... #RNAsky #microsky #AMR #RNAmodifications
- Reposted by Heather FeagaWe're hiring! Check out our ad and please re-post or forward to interested #Microbiology parties: apply.interfolio.com/174783
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- I left this geranium for dead last spring in a window sill and suddenly this morning I notice one green leaf and one tiny pink flower. That’s hope y’all.
- Reposted by Heather FeagaThe Peters lab is looking for a new team member! The role transposons play in evolution, basic mechanisms regulating transposition, and applying transposons as tools for genome modification with a special focus on guide RNA-directed transposition. cornell.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/CornellCaree...
- Reposted by Heather FeagaI am very happy to share that I have started this week as an Assistant Professor of Microbiology at the Richard A. Gillespie College of Veterinary Medicine in Harrogate, Tennessee. It has been a beautiful journey from IAAS to Ohio State to Cornell, and now to LMU-CVM.
- Reposted by Heather FeagaApply for a #PhD with @paulhoskisson.bsky.social and me on all things #Streptomyces, #evolution, #AMR, #antibiotics, #biotech! Deadline 21st November. #MicroSky please share!
- Come and work with me and @ariannebabina.bsky.social on #Streptomyces evolution and antibiotic production Origins of a tangled bank: Adaptation and evolution in antibiotic-producing Streptomyces www.gla.ac.uk/postgraduate... please repost
- Reposted by Heather Feagaquick while the government is shut down let’s all switch to metric
- Reposted by Heather FeagaCome and work with me and @ariannebabina.bsky.social on #Streptomyces evolution and antibiotic production Origins of a tangled bank: Adaptation and evolution in antibiotic-producing Streptomyces www.gla.ac.uk/postgraduate... please repost
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