Patrick Phillips

An update of our latest research push. We study the genetic basis of natural variation using nematodes and theory, and have been using that variation to study the biology of aging. I am now convinced that the next era in both evolutionary biology and aging requires new biology: synthetic biology 1/2

Very much looking forward to this! Also pretty funny that the GSA tagged our faculty union.

I’m excited for Jordan Rodriguez’s paper and software, This Must Be the Place and EcoLocator! She uses global prediction of location and climate of origin to identify loci with signatures of local adaptation. Also applies to Doug Fir data. Feedback welcome! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

What if the next breakthrough for human health, climate resilience, or clean energy isn’t waiting to be found in nature, but is waiting to be designed? Today, we’re launching AI BioDesign, a bold endeavor to explore the uncharted design space of life.

A watched H-index never increases.

Terrific article on former postdoc @amywebster.bsky.social new NSF Career award at Florida State. Great things coming! news.fsu.edu/news/univers...

I’ve been posting about the University of Oregon’s budget issues on LinkedIn. Here is my latest, with links to the other two articles. www.linkedin.com/posts/patric...

This is a very odd paper for Am Nat to publish. Wow, use engineered genotypes to study selection, who would have thought of such a thing (citations?). They don't even talk about potential issues/restrictions of releasing engineered animals into the world. www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/epdf/10....

Asked Claude to proofread a commentary I'm drafting. For one sentence, it replied "no typo, intentional dry humor." Oh it knows me well already.

Professor Joe Felsenstein FRS is elected a Fellow of the Royal Society. After initially working on population genetics theory of recombination, of migration, and of speciation, his main focus has been on phylogenetic inference. #RSFellows https://royalsociety.org/people/joseph-felsenstein-38106/

The genome of the Pacific acorn barnacle provides insights into the evolution of extremely large populations https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.04.27.721231v1

Great to see some of our constructs highlighted in this super helpful review.

In 2024, NIH published 756 funding announcements (NOFOs) In 2025, it published 120. In 2026, as of 3/15, it published 14. Scientific program staff can no longer steward their fields b/c every NOFO must be approved by political appointees in the NIH director’s office, the DHHS, & the OMB.

The research center of gravity is shifting faster than many expected. New data suggests China's public R&D spending could overtake the US by 2028. While our investment grew 12% since 2013, theirs surged 90%.

12/25

Following @joshuasweitz.bsky.social post and discussions with him and the Vox story, I have estimated R01 success rates for each NIH institute and center with enough awards for this to be meaningful. A long 🧵... 1/25

we are losing so much talent, progress, and hope for no good reason www.vox.com/future-perfe...

There is a nice discussion about this book in this interview with Felsenstein as part of the "Reflections on Modeling and Theory in Population Biology" series, presented by the Society for Modeling and Theory in Population Biology. Discussion starts at 48 minutes: www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSSx...

Perhaps the most unusual book in my library. Could also be used as a useful tool to bonk young whippersnappers on the head when they don’t realize how great they have it (the thing is massive).

Check our new preprint from the KR-colab with @ramencult.bsky.social and Andy Kern: MKado: a toolkit for McDonald-Kreitman tests of natural selection doi.org/10.64898/202...

Out in print in Geroscience by @rosealsaadi.bsky.social: Pro‑longevity compounds extend Caenorhabditis elegans male lifespan and reproductive healthspan. Most interventions that help hermaphrodites also improve male lifespan, not necessarily reproductive heathspan. link.springer.com/epdf/10.1007...

The resolution of microscopes has increased over 10,000 fold over the last 200 years. It's allowed scientists to examine not only cells, but bacteria, then viruses, their protein structure, and, eventually, the individual atoms that comprise them.

Need a bit of escapism? Not exactly Lord of the Rings, but in similar vein: doi.org/10.1038/s443...

Not totally sure why my son wanted a thermal camera for Christmas, but we’re now prepared to drop our first techno demo track.

Very excited to share this work led by Austin Link, a graduate student in our lab. We have discovered a novel, fig-associated microbe that promotes reproductive success via variable life history mechanisms in two nematode species. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Watch this if you haven't. Pro science viral marketing at its best — and 100% authentic to Tim Boyle's sense of humor and plain spoken approach to the rational. Proud of homegrown @columbiasportswear.bsky.social for the approach. www.youtube.com/watch?v=JxJO...

The Gibson lab at UVA is hiring a postdoc to study dispersal as a parasite avoidance mechanism. Apply by mid-January: https://uva.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/UVAJobs/job/Charlottesville-VA/Research-Associate-in-Biology_R0078709. #postdoc

Inconceivable!

I’ve definitely seen lines at our famous campus Prince Puckler’s Ice Cream, but never a happy mob. That’s apparently what a perfect fall Saturday in Eugene following a Friday night football win brings.

Going to break my social media hiatus for a belated congratulations to @kdc509.bsky.social on an outstanding thesis defense last week! I cannot say enough good things about Killian - an amazing scientist and human being.

Inspired by my recent workshop visit in Sicily, the lab had an Italian food potluck during lab meeting. I made pumpkin stuffed gnocchi in a nutmeg sage cream sauce, but we have no kitchen. So I finished the gnocchi in an electric tea kettle. Worked ok.

Grew up a huge Dodgers fan but the last serious game I watched was in grad school when Kurt Gibson made the greatest hit I’ve ever seen. So yes, I’ve turned on this baby after seeing the hoopla.

Happened to wear black today, so I got sucked into a lab Louvre heist Halloween dress up.

This is nuts, because we know that we can use synthetic biology to optimize these “beasts” of burden. Not sure of the application. I have visions bacterially manned gates sorting the worthiness of other bacteria.

I'm recruiting a postdoc for my group (based in beautiful Eugene, OR). Please get in touch if you're interested, esp if you'd like to chat at #ASHG25!

Available to read via #OpenAccess The egg-counter: a novel microfluidic platform for characterization of Caenorhabditis elegans egg-laying pubs.rsc.org/en/content/a... Patrick C. Phillips et al @patrickphillips.bsky.social @uoregon.bsky.social @stephenbanse.bsky.social

Very important paper for the geroscience hypothesis. Healthy aging is critical, even in the face of obvious disease states.

Save the date! #PEQG26 June 9-12 2026 in Asilomar, CA. Happens only every 2yrs, but is my favorite conference. Full website coming soon, and registration and abstract submission opens November 14, but I'm allowed to tease that keynotes will be @jnovembre.bsky.social @jennytung.bsky.social and me!