Didier Mazel
@amazeld.bsky.social
Bacterial geneticist, Prof @ Institut Pasteur.
Caution: Artificial intelligence tools contract science’s focus....
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Artificial intelligence tools expand scientists’ impact but contract science’s focus - Nature
Artificial intelligence boosts individual scientists’ output, citations and career progression, but collectively narrows research diversity and reduces collaboration, concentrating work in data-rich a...
www.nature.com
January 29, 2026 at 1:11 PM
Caution: Artificial intelligence tools contract science’s focus....
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
a quick reminder!
🔬 Call to create junior research groups at the Institut Pasteur
Focus: Infectious diseases, host-microbe interactions, vaccines
Special interest: AI methodologies
📅 Deadline: Feb 9, 2026
👥 2-12 years post-PhD
Apply now 📝 research.pasteur.fr/en/call/crea...
#JobOpportunity #Research
Focus: Infectious diseases, host-microbe interactions, vaccines
Special interest: AI methodologies
📅 Deadline: Feb 9, 2026
👥 2-12 years post-PhD
Apply now 📝 research.pasteur.fr/en/call/crea...
#JobOpportunity #Research
Creation of new junior research groups at the Institut Pasteur - Call for applications 2026 - Research
The Institut Pasteur is launching an international call to recruit new junior research group leaders leveraging cutting-edge transdisciplinary approaches to exploring infectious diseases, host-microbe...
research.pasteur.fr
January 18, 2026 at 1:26 PM
a quick reminder!
Reposted by Didier Mazel
🔬 Call to create junior research groups at the Institut Pasteur
Focus: Infectious diseases, host-microbe interactions, vaccines
Special interest: AI methodologies
📅 Deadline: Feb 9, 2026
👥 2-12 years post-PhD
Apply now 📝 research.pasteur.fr/en/call/crea...
#JobOpportunity #Research
Focus: Infectious diseases, host-microbe interactions, vaccines
Special interest: AI methodologies
📅 Deadline: Feb 9, 2026
👥 2-12 years post-PhD
Apply now 📝 research.pasteur.fr/en/call/crea...
#JobOpportunity #Research
Creation of new junior research groups at the Institut Pasteur - Call for applications 2026 - Research
The Institut Pasteur is launching an international call to recruit new junior research group leaders leveraging cutting-edge transdisciplinary approaches to exploring infectious diseases, host-microbe...
research.pasteur.fr
December 8, 2025 at 8:53 AM
🔬 Call to create junior research groups at the Institut Pasteur
Focus: Infectious diseases, host-microbe interactions, vaccines
Special interest: AI methodologies
📅 Deadline: Feb 9, 2026
👥 2-12 years post-PhD
Apply now 📝 research.pasteur.fr/en/call/crea...
#JobOpportunity #Research
Focus: Infectious diseases, host-microbe interactions, vaccines
Special interest: AI methodologies
📅 Deadline: Feb 9, 2026
👥 2-12 years post-PhD
Apply now 📝 research.pasteur.fr/en/call/crea...
#JobOpportunity #Research
We've come full circle! I began my postdoctoral career by identifying the peptidyl deformylase gene. Today, we show that half of bacterial species harbor multiple PDF genes (up to 7, for always a single Met-tRNA transformylase), and while the role of these PDFs ... academic.oup.com/mbe/article/...
Unraveling the Prevalence and Multifaceted Roles of Accessory Peptide Deformylases in Bacterial Adaptation and Resistance
Abstract. Peptide deformylases (PDFs) are enzymes that are essential for bacterial viability and attractive targets for antibiotic development. Yet, despit
academic.oup.com
December 12, 2025 at 8:57 AM
We've come full circle! I began my postdoctoral career by identifying the peptidyl deformylase gene. Today, we show that half of bacterial species harbor multiple PDF genes (up to 7, for always a single Met-tRNA transformylase), and while the role of these PDFs ... academic.oup.com/mbe/article/...
Phenomenal! WOOOOOOOW .... speechless
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Semantic design of functional de novo genes from a genomic language model - Nature
By learning a semantics of gene function based on genomic context, the genomic language model Evo autocompletes DNA prompts to generate novel genes encoding protein and RNA molecules with defined acti...
www.nature.com
November 22, 2025 at 3:59 PM
Phenomenal! WOOOOOOOW .... speechless
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Didier Mazel
Let’s wrap things up: my commentary on the Asgard hypernucleosomes.
Congratulations to all the authors of the paper 🍾!
kwnsfk27.r.eu-west-1.awstrack.me/L0/https:%2F...
Cryo-EM reveals open and closed Asgard chromatin assemblies: Molecular Cell www.cell.com/molecular-ce...
Congratulations to all the authors of the paper 🍾!
kwnsfk27.r.eu-west-1.awstrack.me/L0/https:%2F...
Cryo-EM reveals open and closed Asgard chromatin assemblies: Molecular Cell www.cell.com/molecular-ce...
Cryo-EM reveals open and closed Asgard chromatin assemblies
Ranawat et al. show the cryo-EM structures of Asgard archaeal chromatin assemblies,
revealing that the histone HHoB assembles into both compact closed and extended open
hypernucleosomes. The closed co...
www.cell.com
November 20, 2025 at 4:23 PM
Let’s wrap things up: my commentary on the Asgard hypernucleosomes.
Congratulations to all the authors of the paper 🍾!
kwnsfk27.r.eu-west-1.awstrack.me/L0/https:%2F...
Cryo-EM reveals open and closed Asgard chromatin assemblies: Molecular Cell www.cell.com/molecular-ce...
Congratulations to all the authors of the paper 🍾!
kwnsfk27.r.eu-west-1.awstrack.me/L0/https:%2F...
Cryo-EM reveals open and closed Asgard chromatin assemblies: Molecular Cell www.cell.com/molecular-ce...
Reposted by Didier Mazel
Our new paper is out in @narjournal.bsky.social We show that natural transformation enables bacteria to shuffle integron cassettes, boosting their phenotypic diversity.
academic.oup.com/nar/article/... 1/5
academic.oup.com/nar/article/... 1/5
Bacterial natural transformation drives cassette shuffling and simplifies recombination in chromosomal integrons
Abstract. Integrons act as biobanks of gene cassettes conferring functions crucial for bacterial defense, including protection against phages and antibioti
academic.oup.com
November 17, 2025 at 3:44 PM
Our new paper is out in @narjournal.bsky.social We show that natural transformation enables bacteria to shuffle integron cassettes, boosting their phenotypic diversity.
academic.oup.com/nar/article/... 1/5
academic.oup.com/nar/article/... 1/5
A fresh view on phage specificity, which challenges the traditional view of a narrow host spectrum of phages by unveiling that multihost associations are common across ecosystems kudos at @mmarbout.bsky.social &
@rkoszul.bsky.social www.nature.com/articles/s41...
@rkoszul.bsky.social www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Phages with a broad host range are common across ecosystems - Nature Microbiology
Proximity-ligation-based sequencing from 111 samples and 5 environments reveals that a substantial proportion of phages infect multiple species.
www.nature.com
October 2, 2025 at 4:05 PM
A fresh view on phage specificity, which challenges the traditional view of a narrow host spectrum of phages by unveiling that multihost associations are common across ecosystems kudos at @mmarbout.bsky.social &
@rkoszul.bsky.social www.nature.com/articles/s41...
@rkoszul.bsky.social www.nature.com/articles/s41...
I am so proud to be part of this work, that we initiated Fernando de la Cruz and I, when he was on sabbatical in my lab in 2009... it took so much time for this achievement, 1000 thanks to Raúl Fernández-López! this brought me back to my PhD on cyanobacteria genetics. www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Mutations in the circadian cycle drive adaptive plasticity in cyanobacteria | PNAS
Circadian clocks allow organisms to anticipate daily fluctuations in light and temperature,
but how this anticipatory role promotes adaptation to d...
www.pnas.org
September 19, 2025 at 5:32 AM
I am so proud to be part of this work, that we initiated Fernando de la Cruz and I, when he was on sabbatical in my lab in 2009... it took so much time for this achievement, 1000 thanks to Raúl Fernández-López! this brought me back to my PhD on cyanobacteria genetics. www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Striking and frightening 😒 "They found multiple instances of insecticide-resistance variants in this malaria vector, although most of these weren’t shared with museum specimens collected as recently as 1967, suggesting rapid emergence"
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Genomic diversity of the African malaria vector Anopheles funestus
Anopheles funestus s.s. is a major human malaria vector across Africa. To study its evolution, especially under vector control pressure, we sequenced 656 modern specimens (collected 2014 to 2018) and ...
www.science.org
September 19, 2025 at 5:23 AM
Striking and frightening 😒 "They found multiple instances of insecticide-resistance variants in this malaria vector, although most of these weren’t shared with museum specimens collected as recently as 1967, suggesting rapid emergence"
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Reposted by Didier Mazel
Congratulations to PhD students Jasmin Ostermayer and Noa Guzzi (co–first authors 🎉), together with Jakub Czarnecki and Alfonso Soler-Bistué, for compressing the diverse, lineage-wide literature on large extrachromosomal replicons into <5000 words and 80 references 😅
August 20, 2025 at 3:46 PM
Congratulations to PhD students Jasmin Ostermayer and Noa Guzzi (co–first authors 🎉), together with Jakub Czarnecki and Alfonso Soler-Bistué, for compressing the diverse, lineage-wide literature on large extrachromosomal replicons into <5000 words and 80 references 😅
For those who love bacterial replicons, The ultimate review, from our lab, signed by the master of their evolution.
@val-meve.bsky.social www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
@val-meve.bsky.social www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Taming wild replicons: evolution and domestication of large extrachromosomal replicons
Bacterial genomes often contain extrachromosomal replicons (ERs), ranging from small, mobile plasmids to large, stably inherited elements, such as meg…
www.sciencedirect.com
August 20, 2025 at 10:28 AM
For those who love bacterial replicons, The ultimate review, from our lab, signed by the master of their evolution.
@val-meve.bsky.social www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
@val-meve.bsky.social www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
A 2-year postdoc position in my lab, under the supervision of P-Alex Kaminski, on Z-DNA phages and the benefit given by ZTGC DNA and the replication machinery, with attempt to create a Z based minireplicon
research.pasteur.fr/en/job/a-two...
research.pasteur.fr/en/job/a-two...
A two year post-doctoral position at the BacterialGenome Plasticity Unit starting October 1st - Research
research.pasteur.fr
July 28, 2025 at 10:30 AM
A 2-year postdoc position in my lab, under the supervision of P-Alex Kaminski, on Z-DNA phages and the benefit given by ZTGC DNA and the replication machinery, with attempt to create a Z based minireplicon
research.pasteur.fr/en/job/a-two...
research.pasteur.fr/en/job/a-two...
Reposted by Didier Mazel
A 2 yr postdoc position at the Bacterial
Genome Plasticity Unit of the Institut Pasteur (Paris) led by @amazeld.bsky.social in collaboration with Pierre-Alexandre Kaminski, funded by the French National Research Agency 👇
Genome Plasticity Unit of the Institut Pasteur (Paris) led by @amazeld.bsky.social in collaboration with Pierre-Alexandre Kaminski, funded by the French National Research Agency 👇
July 24, 2025 at 4:58 PM
A 2 yr postdoc position at the Bacterial
Genome Plasticity Unit of the Institut Pasteur (Paris) led by @amazeld.bsky.social in collaboration with Pierre-Alexandre Kaminski, funded by the French National Research Agency 👇
Genome Plasticity Unit of the Institut Pasteur (Paris) led by @amazeld.bsky.social in collaboration with Pierre-Alexandre Kaminski, funded by the French National Research Agency 👇
A great step for archaea : connection between chromosome organization to genome segregation in Archaea
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
congrats to @danielabarilla.bsky.social
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
congrats to @danielabarilla.bsky.social
Coupling chromosome organization to genome segregation in Archaea - Nature Communications
Proteins SegA and SegB are important for chromosome segregation and organization in archaea of the order Sulfolobales, but mechanisms are unclear. Here, Kabli et al. uncover patterns and mechanisms th...
www.nature.com
July 23, 2025 at 9:59 AM
A great step for archaea : connection between chromosome organization to genome segregation in Archaea
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
congrats to @danielabarilla.bsky.social
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
congrats to @danielabarilla.bsky.social
Reposted by Didier Mazel
Thrilled to share my first PhD paper, out of the Mazel lab! @amazeld.bsky.social
We discovered that accessory peptide deformylases (PDFs) are widespread in bacteria and may provide resistance to natural inhibitors, posing a challenge to future antibiotic strategies
doi.org/10.1101/2025...
We discovered that accessory peptide deformylases (PDFs) are widespread in bacteria and may provide resistance to natural inhibitors, posing a challenge to future antibiotic strategies
doi.org/10.1101/2025...
Unraveling the prevalence and multifaceted roles of accessory peptide deformylases in bacterial adaptation and resistance
Peptide deformylases (PDFs) are enzymes that are essential for bacterial viability and attractive targets for antibiotic development. Yet, despite their conserved function, many bacteria encode multip...
doi.org
June 7, 2025 at 10:09 AM
Thrilled to share my first PhD paper, out of the Mazel lab! @amazeld.bsky.social
We discovered that accessory peptide deformylases (PDFs) are widespread in bacteria and may provide resistance to natural inhibitors, posing a challenge to future antibiotic strategies
doi.org/10.1101/2025...
We discovered that accessory peptide deformylases (PDFs) are widespread in bacteria and may provide resistance to natural inhibitors, posing a challenge to future antibiotic strategies
doi.org/10.1101/2025...
Reposted by Didier Mazel
Our paper is published back2back with one from @amazeld.bsky.social and @epcrocha.bsky.social labs where @baptistedarracq.bsky.social, @eloilittner.bsky.social and co. show that Sedentary Chromosomal Integrons are biobanks of phage defense systems. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Sedentary chromosomal integrons as biobanks of bacterial antiphage defense systems
Integrons are genetic systems that drive bacterial adaptation by acquiring, expressing, and shuffling gene cassettes. While mobile integrons are well known for spreading antibiotic resistance genes, t...
www.science.org
May 8, 2025 at 8:27 PM
Our paper is published back2back with one from @amazeld.bsky.social and @epcrocha.bsky.social labs where @baptistedarracq.bsky.social, @eloilittner.bsky.social and co. show that Sedentary Chromosomal Integrons are biobanks of phage defense systems. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
very interesting! congrats Ankur! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
The molecular basis for DNA-binding by competence T4P is distinct in Gram-positive and Gram-negative species
Competence type IV pili (T4P) are bacterial surface appendages that facilitate DNA uptake during horizontal gene transfer by natural transformation. These dynamic structures actively extend from the c...
www.biorxiv.org
February 19, 2025 at 10:26 AM
very interesting! congrats Ankur! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Next Tuesday Clement Gilbert and myself will discuss impact and extent of HGT in both prokaryotes and eukaryotes! It will be broadcasted on France Culture (in French)
Mardi 11 février, le @sciencecqfd.bsky.social de 16h portera sur le concept de transmission horizontale (TH) de matériel génétique. Ce sera sur @franceculture.fr ! Vous savez de quoi il s'agit ? 👇
a group of green bacteria on a green background .
ALT: a group of green bacteria on a green background .
media.tenor.com
February 7, 2025 at 5:30 PM
Next Tuesday Clement Gilbert and myself will discuss impact and extent of HGT in both prokaryotes and eukaryotes! It will be broadcasted on France Culture (in French)
A spectacular discovery! Sequence-dependent activity and compartmentalization of foreign DNA in a eukaryotic nucleus | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Sequence-dependent activity and compartmentalization of foreign DNA in a eukaryotic nucleus
In eukaryotes, DNA-associated protein complexes coevolve with genomic sequences to orchestrate chromatin folding. We investigate the relationship between DNA sequence and the spontaneous loading and a...
www.science.org
February 7, 2025 at 5:25 PM
A spectacular discovery! Sequence-dependent activity and compartmentalization of foreign DNA in a eukaryotic nucleus | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Reposted by Didier Mazel
La directrice de l'Institut Pasteur prévient que "les maladies infectieuses ont toujours représenté un risque, mais elles sont aussi l’une des principales menaces de santé publique à l’avenir."
Longue interview, morceaux choisis ⤵️ @leparisien.fr
1/12 www.leparisien.fr/so...
Longue interview, morceaux choisis ⤵️ @leparisien.fr
1/12 www.leparisien.fr/so...
« Désespérant » : face au « chaos écologique », la patronne de l’Institut Pasteur tire la sonnette d’alarme - Le Parisien
EXCLUSIF. Maladies infectieuses, vaccinations, origine des pathologies, sous-investissement dans la recherche… La directrice de l’Institut P
www.leparisien.fr
January 21, 2025 at 8:04 AM
La directrice de l'Institut Pasteur prévient que "les maladies infectieuses ont toujours représenté un risque, mais elles sont aussi l’une des principales menaces de santé publique à l’avenir."
Longue interview, morceaux choisis ⤵️ @leparisien.fr
1/12 www.leparisien.fr/so...
Longue interview, morceaux choisis ⤵️ @leparisien.fr
1/12 www.leparisien.fr/so...
Reposted by Didier Mazel
7/ The actors (II)
This was truly a memorable collaborative experience, involving multiple labs: Eric Le Cam (Gustave Roussy), Ole Skovgaard @oskov.bsky.social (Roskilde University), Abel Garcia-Pino (Université libre de Bruxelles), and the Mazel team @amazeld.bsky.social at Institut Pasteur !
This was truly a memorable collaborative experience, involving multiple labs: Eric Le Cam (Gustave Roussy), Ole Skovgaard @oskov.bsky.social (Roskilde University), Abel Garcia-Pino (Université libre de Bruxelles), and the Mazel team @amazeld.bsky.social at Institut Pasteur !
January 9, 2025 at 12:49 PM
7/ The actors (II)
This was truly a memorable collaborative experience, involving multiple labs: Eric Le Cam (Gustave Roussy), Ole Skovgaard @oskov.bsky.social (Roskilde University), Abel Garcia-Pino (Université libre de Bruxelles), and the Mazel team @amazeld.bsky.social at Institut Pasteur !
This was truly a memorable collaborative experience, involving multiple labs: Eric Le Cam (Gustave Roussy), Ole Skovgaard @oskov.bsky.social (Roskilde University), Abel Garcia-Pino (Université libre de Bruxelles), and the Mazel team @amazeld.bsky.social at Institut Pasteur !