John Fowler (he/him)
At heart, still mostly a geneticist; admittedly over-enthusiastic about maize; in 2026, reminding everyone that the @TheB52s should be in the @rockhall !
- Reposted by John Fowler (he/him)🧬 From Nature Plants: Plants send mobile small RNAs from maternal tissues to pollen, enabling essential gene control for normal male fertility. (Blake C. Meyers) ▶️ www.nature.com/articles/s41... #PlantScience #PlantBiology
- Reposted by John Fowler (he/him)No joke: I got angry hate mail today for writing an obituary of a Black woman scientist—because the person felt she did didn’t deserve the recognition. Which just makes me want to share it again: www.nature.com/articles/d41...
- Reposted by John Fowler (he/him)Reminder there are still 2000 active goons destroying our city and kidnapping civilians to such an extreme extent that kids cant even go to school normally
- Reposted by John Fowler (he/him)BREAKING: Over 680 members of the National Academy of Sciences, Medicine, and Engineering have endorsed articles of impeachment against RFK Jr. (1/2 🧵)
- Reposted by John Fowler (he/him)New paper! From Sam Snodgrass and @genomeofforrest.bsky.social, w/ @druncie.bsky.social, @gcbias.bsky.social, and a collaboration with Andres Moreno and @santiagogmm.bsky.social. Can we quantify the impact of humans on maize dispersal? Plant yourself in a comfy chair and lend me your ear: 1/10
- Reposted by John Fowler (he/him)Holy shit: it's an RFP for the NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology (PRFB). Hello old friend www.nsf.gov/funding/oppo...
- Reposted by John Fowler (he/him)First they came for DEI and I said nothing for I hoped my success rates would improve. Then they came for gender identity research and I said nothing for I hoped my success rates would improve. Then they came for the NPRCs, and I said nothing for I hoped my success rates would improve.
- Reposted by John Fowler (he/him)I am SO incredibly excited to announce the launch of a global list of Inspiring Black Scientists. You can use this list to nominate and connect with researchers. Please share and join us in highlighting these outstanding scientists for #BlackHistoryMonth and beyond! www.wiley.com/en-us/resear...
- Reposted by John Fowler (he/him)Successful Predictive Modeling of Pollen Fitness Phenotypes Is Enabled by Measures of Expression Specificity By Sebastian A.F. Mueller, Zuzana Vejlupkova, Molly Megraw, John E. Fowler doi.org/10.64898/202... via bioRxiv #PlantScience
- Reposted by John Fowler (he/him)In celebration of #BlackHistoryMonth let’s learn more about Marie Taylor, a plant biologist and chair of Howard University’s Botany Department. Love her focus on photomorphogensis and using light microscopy on living plants! 🌱 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie_T...
- Reposted by John Fowler (he/him)Despite the nation being destroyed around us, science is still remarkable & we have exceptional young folks coming up in all of our communities. I just had the pleasure of chairing a committee for a thesis award in my field. We evaluated 26 candidates & read the full thesis of the 5 finalists 1/n 🧪
- Reposted by John Fowler (he/him)I know it's the obvious response and all, but damn it, it's worth repeating: I hate Illinois Nazis. www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHD0...
- University of Illinois college republicans advocate for executing protesters as “traitors” with art that takes a disturbing killing and makes it even more extreme. dailyillini.com/news-stories...
- Reposted by John Fowler (he/him)You know who really ought to pay attention the result in TX Sen 9? Democratic leadership in Congress.
- Reposted by John Fowler (he/him)Academics vying for a spot in Epstein‘s world. There are so many. I feel the need to make a thread, so I don’t keep confusing them. 1/
- Reposted by John Fowler (he/him)Evolutionary analysis of the exocyst complex in streptophytes links early EXO70 diversification with dominance over SEC3 in membrane targeting biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/20…
- Reposted by John Fowler (he/him)🚨 Requesting help: I am looking for an agent who can facilitate more speaking gigs, podcast appearances, and interviews with journalists I want to more widely share my story and expertise as a trans geneticist who understands the reality and complexity of "biological sex" 🏳️⚧️🧬 Please signal boost?
- Reposted by John Fowler (he/him)"When the emphasis is placed on attitude and adaptability, the burden of systemic failure is absorbed by individual workers." This piece on the insidious normalization of an increasingly and intentionally broken NIH is so spot on it hurts. elizabethginexi.substack.com/p/what-happe...
- Reposted by John Fowler (he/him)I wrote this song on Saturday, recorded it yesterday and released it to you today in response to the state terror being visited on the city of Minneapolis. It’s dedicated to the people of Minneapolis, our innocent immigrant neighbors and in memory of Alex Pretti and Renee Good. Stay free
- Reposted by John Fowler (he/him)the experiences of individuals from marginalized groups are almost ALWAYS the bellwether for weaknesses and stress points in systems. Trying to correct their experiences improves these systems FOR EVERYONE, not just them
- Reposted by John Fowler (he/him)please remember that no matter how many “ICE is losing in MN” articles you read today, there is still a very real, urgent, ongoing crisis in Minnesota. people need food and they need rent money. that has not changed.
- Reposted by John Fowler (he/him)The earliest live video of R.E.M. with sound was resurfaced on YouTube a few days ago. Really great stuff. Love the superfans singing "Windout" as the song starts because they know what's coming. www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMTG...
- Reposted by John Fowler (he/him)I am excited to offer a postdoctoral research position in my lab in Oxford studying the distribution of small RNAs during plant sexual reproduction. shorturl.at/7Goxt Reposts appreciated! Obligatory cat video to brighten your day. :-)
- Reposted by John Fowler (he/him)nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/share/JAIVZX... Excited to share my latest work in @newphyt.bsky.social. Here, we used TurboID proximity labeling with CLAVATA receptors FEA3 and BAM1D in maize meristems to better understand the signaling pathways important for meristem regulation. #PlantScience
- Reposted by John Fowler (he/him)Wow. This is devastating. www.science.org/content/arti...
- Reposted by John Fowler (he/him)brass solidarity band performing “stand by me” in the streets of whittier next to alex pretti’s memorial. the crowd started chanting “the people united will never be defeated” so they incorporated it into the song. i love minneapolis
- Reposted by John Fowler (he/him)Something I think about EVERY SINGLE DAY: When I first got connected with @vambros.bsky.social, he was so excited to be speaking out and so spot on that I assumed he had always been an activist. Not so! He explained that he had “reimagined himself as an activist” in 2025 and this moved me. 1/
- Reposted by John Fowler (he/him)Led by Professor Jane Langdale @biology.ox.ac.uk, the C4 Rice Project builds on decades of interdisciplinary research working to ensure global food security. Discover the incredible story of the multi-decade battle to make better rice ⬇️ youtube.com/watch?v=T3RY0vxzFpg
- Reposted by John Fowler (he/him)
Making calls is actually a giant pain for me as a deaf person and it *still* doesn't take that long and I *still* do it anyway just in fucking case.... So tldr: listen to Chanda and kindly get over yourselves and make the phone calls. - Reposted by John Fowler (he/him)Let us all have the courage displayed by the residents of Minneapolis.
- Reposted by John Fowler (he/him)With alt-text
- Reposted by John Fowler (he/him)If you're living somewhere outside the USA, one thing you can do is pressure your leaders to boycott World Cup and Olympic events here.
- Reposted by John Fowler (he/him)One blip of light among the darkness today: A 25 year old trans guy in biology messaged me on LinkedIn and thanked me for my visibility and making him feel less alone No single person can fix the horrors we're in But every voice that says "this is not okay" gives hope to others 💖🏳️⚧️
- Reposted by John Fowler (he/him)Attention folks in the weather, climate, disaster, wildfire, and Earth science communities: NSF has just published a new "Dear Colleague" letter inviting feedback (by Mar 13) on the proposal to dismantle the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR). www.nsf.gov/funding/...
- Reposted by John Fowler (he/him)This is a very special paper for me. I had the idea of combining transcription factor binding with chromatin in 2016/8. It took some time, but thanks to Fred and Vikas, we can finally share the story in @plos.org Genetics looking at chromatin states in Arabidopsis and Marchantia. #PlantScience
- Reposted by John Fowler (he/him)So much work still to do to break the glass ceiling! Analysis of millions of biomed & life science articles reveal that female-authored articles spend longer under review than comparable male-authored ones @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/4658FZN
- Reposted by John Fowler (he/him)I came to Minneapolis to report on what's going on, and one of the main questions I showed up with is "just what is the scale of the resistance?" After all, we're all used to the news calling Portland a "war zone" or whatever when it's just some protests in one part of town.
- Reposted by John Fowler (he/him)Wise words from WEB DuBois to gird us today: "It would be shame and cowardice to surrender this glorious land and its opportunities for civilization and humanity to the thugs and lynchers, the mobs and profiteers, the monopolists & gamblers who today choke its soul and steal its resources."
- Reposted by John Fowler (he/him)One day, if we are lucky, the erasure of American history will itself be remembered as a shameful chapter in American history
- Reposted by John Fowler (he/him)Is anyone else having incredible angst about whether or not their labs will continue to be able to do science? I submit-revise-resubmit grants and hope upon hope something with get funded so I can continue to have a lab, but I get waves of panic and sadness over the current state of things. 😢🧬🔬
- Reposted by John Fowler (he/him)Congratulations to James C. Schnable of @unlincoln.bsky.social, winner of the 2026 NAS Prize in Food and Agriculture Sciences! He is recognized for breakthroughs in plant genomics & quantitative #genetics that are reshaping modern agriculture. www.nasonline.org/award/nas-pr... #NASaward #CropScience
- Reposted by John Fowler (he/him)🎉 Congratulations @szintri.bsky.social Beyond excited to see my guru, James Schnable, University of Nebraska, awarded the NAS Prize in Food and Agricultural Sciences!! www.nasonline.org/award/nas-pr...
- Reposted by John Fowler (he/him)This guy went to work today, put a mask on, kidnapped a 5 year old child, and then used him as bait so both he and his father could be sent behind bars
- Reposted by John Fowler (he/him)A bit of good news, though I wonder whether schools will actually resume the DEI initiatives they abandoned, and I wonder whether that kind of un-enforced, fear-based capitulation was the administration's end-game all along. www.wbez.org/education/20...
- Reposted by John Fowler (he/him)Cost of being female lead/corresponding author in biomedical sciences: "[T]he median amount of time spent under review is 7.4%–14.6% longer for female-authored articles than for male-authored articles" even in disciplines where women well-represented. #AcademicSky journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...
- Reposted by John Fowler (he/him)Just spoke to The Hill about how the dismantling of the NIH is impacting science in America. We still face a cliff of unfathomable heights, w easily 1000+ labs poised to close in the next year due to funding ending. A generation of young scientists lost because there is nowhere for them to train.
- Reposted by John Fowler (he/him)Invoke the 25th Amendment.
- Reposted by John Fowler (he/him)New Brief Communication: "A CRISPR-based sequence proximity binding protein labelling system for scanning upstream regulatory proteins" rdcu.be/eZLUP CRISPR-based proximity labelling system to profile DNA-binding proteins such as PIF4 transcription factor .
- Reposted by John Fowler (he/him)The National Science Foundation sign on our Eisenhower Av building is now gone. The NSF mural in the foyer is removed and torn off in sheets. We were supposed to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the agency in May 2025. That never happened.
- Reposted by John Fowler (he/him)Getting asked about how academics can continue to do science & inspire trainees even in the midst of a continued (escalated) assault on science, reason, truth, & human rights. I don’t have great answers. I would love to hear from mentors about advice they’re giving to trainees/ colleagues.
- Reposted by John Fowler (he/him)amazing that what started with giving a washed up casino magnate a silly television show is ending with the destruction of US and the post-WWII rules-based international power framework
