Ed Rybicki 🇿🇲🇿🇦🇬🇧🍷🚀
@edrybicki.bsky.social
Semi-retired biotechnologist and virologist, interested in making vaccines, lover of 70s rock and hard SF. And good red wine. Posts are both personal and professional, and may include music and/or strong opinions. And possibly zombies.
Pinned
Cann's Principles of Molecular Virology
**Selected for Doody’s Core Titles® 2024 in Microbiology**Cann's Principles of Molecular Virology, Seventh Edition provides an easily access...
www.sciencedirect.com
"Cann's Principles of Molecular Virology 7th Edition revised extensively by Ed Rybicki, is an easily accessible introduction to modern virology, presenting principles in a clear and concise manner."
**Selected for Doody’s Core Titles® 2024 in Microbiology**
www.sciencedirect.com/book/9780128...
**Selected for Doody’s Core Titles® 2024 in Microbiology**
www.sciencedirect.com/book/9780128...
A nice article about someone who has become a good friend - did a Master’s with someone I know in Germany, a PhD with another friend from UK, bounce around the same conferences, coathored 2 reviews - explaining her very cool work. www.the-scientist.com/plant-viruse...
Plant Viruses: The Unsung Heroes That Deliver Drugs and Destroy Tumors
Nicole Steinmetz engineers plant virus nanoparticles into versatile drug-delivery platforms. This work expanded into cancer vaccines and immunotherapy.
www.the-scientist.com
February 5, 2026 at 3:55 PM
A nice article about someone who has become a good friend - did a Master’s with someone I know in Germany, a PhD with another friend from UK, bounce around the same conferences, coathored 2 reviews - explaining her very cool work. www.the-scientist.com/plant-viruse...
Reposted by Ed Rybicki 🇿🇲🇿🇦🇬🇧🍷🚀
Well this is fascinating. And OF COURSE Terry Pratchett foresaw how big a problem mis/disinformation was going to become, and OF COURSE Bill Gates dismissed it as something that would have a technical solution!
Hi, my name's Jack.
Here is the text of Terry Pratchett interviewing Bill Gates in 1995.
Thanks to @rhi.bsky.social for summoning help, and to @20thcenturymarc.marcburrows.co.uk for the source, I have manually transcribed its 3,481 words into a Google doc.
Enjoy.
docs.google.com/document/d/1...
Here is the text of Terry Pratchett interviewing Bill Gates in 1995.
Thanks to @rhi.bsky.social for summoning help, and to @20thcenturymarc.marcburrows.co.uk for the source, I have manually transcribed its 3,481 words into a Google doc.
Enjoy.
docs.google.com/document/d/1...
Pratchett / Gates GQ Interview
GQ Magazine (UK edition), July 1995 GQ&A “I’m not sure what the word ‘nerd’ means” Bill Gates talks to Terry Pratchett about the future, the Microsoft revolution and how to become a billionaire WILLI...
docs.google.com
February 5, 2026 at 1:39 PM
Well this is fascinating. And OF COURSE Terry Pratchett foresaw how big a problem mis/disinformation was going to become, and OF COURSE Bill Gates dismissed it as something that would have a technical solution!
Reposted by Ed Rybicki 🇿🇲🇿🇦🇬🇧🍷🚀
Mosquito–capsid interactions contribute to flavivirus vector specificity
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Mosquito–capsid interactions contribute to flavivirus vector specificity - Nature
Systemic flavivirus dissemination in mosquitoes following initial infection requires protein–protein interactions within extracellular vesicles, which enable infectious particles to be transported thr...
www.nature.com
February 5, 2026 at 2:33 PM
Mosquito–capsid interactions contribute to flavivirus vector specificity
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Ed Rybicki 🇿🇲🇿🇦🇬🇧🍷🚀
Endogenous retroviruses synthesize heterologous chimeric RNAs to reinforce human early embryo development
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Endogenous retroviruses synthesize heterologous chimeric RNAs to reinforce human early embryo development
Zygotic genome activation (ZGA) failure leads to developmental arrest and poses a clinical challenge to women’s fertility. We observed that human embryos arresting at the eight-cell ZGA stage exhibite...
www.science.org
February 5, 2026 at 11:39 AM
Endogenous retroviruses synthesize heterologous chimeric RNAs to reinforce human early embryo development
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
I became interested in this after doing an online quiz. We have since found out that our kids are at either end of the spectrum: aphantasic, and hyperphantasic. I tend toward the latter, but I cannot picture being unable to picture...😧 www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Many people have no mental imagery. What’s going on in their brains?
People with aphantasia are offering a window into consciousness.
www.nature.com
February 5, 2026 at 11:22 AM
I became interested in this after doing an online quiz. We have since found out that our kids are at either end of the spectrum: aphantasic, and hyperphantasic. I tend toward the latter, but I cannot picture being unable to picture...😧 www.nature.com/articles/d41...
I love it when people say "The results didn't fit the hypothesis", which basically means the hypothesis was flawed 😎 Me, I am a firm proponent of the "When in doubt, do an experiment!" school of biology. Or, as per my lab wall, "F*** the hypotheses, just discover s***!"
February 5, 2026 at 11:12 AM
I love it when people say "The results didn't fit the hypothesis", which basically means the hypothesis was flawed 😎 Me, I am a firm proponent of the "When in doubt, do an experiment!" school of biology. Or, as per my lab wall, "F*** the hypotheses, just discover s***!"
And the Greens will not do that, right, @zackpolanski.bsky.social?
By its actions, the UK state hates all migrants, and will dig through their pockets for loose change; if you're a refugee and aren't, in their eyes, an easy mark for a shakedown, they will use you to funnel money to their friends by building a horrendous industry of effective internment around you
February 5, 2026 at 10:51 AM
And the Greens will not do that, right, @zackpolanski.bsky.social?
In one ----, eh, Wordle 1,692 5/6? 😎
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February 5, 2026 at 8:45 AM
In one ----, eh, Wordle 1,692 5/6? 😎
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The Good Wife @anna-lisew.bsky.social and I just listened to an online memorial for a legendary technician from our Institute: Abdurahman Mohamed, mostly known as Abdu. A kind, helpful, friendly and cheerful man who worked in our spaces for nearly 40 years - he will be missed!
February 4, 2026 at 3:59 PM
The Good Wife @anna-lisew.bsky.social and I just listened to an online memorial for a legendary technician from our Institute: Abdurahman Mohamed, mostly known as Abdu. A kind, helpful, friendly and cheerful man who worked in our spaces for nearly 40 years - he will be missed!
And I don't care how many times I've played this, I'm playing it again. One of the first mind-blown radio experiences I ever had, on Radio London, in the UK in 1967.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=a77y...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=a77y...
February 4, 2026 at 1:02 PM
And I don't care how many times I've played this, I'm playing it again. One of the first mind-blown radio experiences I ever had, on Radio London, in the UK in 1967.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=a77y...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=a77y...
I am presently reliving the 1967-1968 British psychedelic rock explosion via YouTube - and it was amazing how haunting some of those songs were. This one, for example. www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEIi...
▶ Keith West - Excerpt From A Teenage Opera (1967)
YouTube video by RoconCommunications
www.youtube.com
February 4, 2026 at 12:52 PM
I am presently reliving the 1967-1968 British psychedelic rock explosion via YouTube - and it was amazing how haunting some of those songs were. This one, for example. www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEIi...
You know, I think it was literally last year, at age 69, that I discovered that the name of Coomassie Brilliant Blue stain, should in fact be "Kumasi" - because that's where it came from. That's right, from Ghana!
February 4, 2026 at 12:06 PM
You know, I think it was literally last year, at age 69, that I discovered that the name of Coomassie Brilliant Blue stain, should in fact be "Kumasi" - because that's where it came from. That's right, from Ghana!
Oh, poor Steenhuisen...did he get a "Dear John" letter from Tannie Helen? "It's not you, John; it's me. I don't like you" 😁 www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2026...
Behind the scenes of Steenhuisen’s dealmaking with the DA
When it came to the prospect of John Steenhuisen potentially seeking a third term as party leader, he was told: ‘Jump or be pushed’.…
www.dailymaverick.co.za
February 4, 2026 at 11:20 AM
Oh, poor Steenhuisen...did he get a "Dear John" letter from Tannie Helen? "It's not you, John; it's me. I don't like you" 😁 www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2026...
Reposted by Ed Rybicki 🇿🇲🇿🇦🇬🇧🍷🚀
🦠New structural insights reveal how viruses choose their hosts! 🔬These findings provide crucial knowledge for combating zoonotic risks! 🦊🐾
🌟Full article: link.springer.com/article/10.1...
#Virology #CryoEM #StructuralBiology #OneHealth #HostSpecificity #Zoonosis
🌟Full article: link.springer.com/article/10.1...
#Virology #CryoEM #StructuralBiology #OneHealth #HostSpecificity #Zoonosis
February 4, 2026 at 7:00 AM
🦠New structural insights reveal how viruses choose their hosts! 🔬These findings provide crucial knowledge for combating zoonotic risks! 🦊🐾
🌟Full article: link.springer.com/article/10.1...
#Virology #CryoEM #StructuralBiology #OneHealth #HostSpecificity #Zoonosis
🌟Full article: link.springer.com/article/10.1...
#Virology #CryoEM #StructuralBiology #OneHealth #HostSpecificity #Zoonosis
Reposted by Ed Rybicki 🇿🇲🇿🇦🇬🇧🍷🚀
"Free-living amoebas aren’t just dangerous on their own. They can also act as living shields for other harmful microbes, protecting them from environmental stress and disinfection."
theconversation.com/why-are-scie...
theconversation.com/why-are-scie...
Why are scientists calling for urgent action on amoebas?
These shape-shifting microbes can harbour deadly pathogens, and climate change is helping them spread.
theconversation.com
February 4, 2026 at 9:20 AM
"Free-living amoebas aren’t just dangerous on their own. They can also act as living shields for other harmful microbes, protecting them from environmental stress and disinfection."
theconversation.com/why-are-scie...
theconversation.com/why-are-scie...
No shit!
Just another example of the US deploying an agreed public good (visa-free travel) to coerce a partner into giving damgerous levels of access to US authorities. Of course it only affects travellers, and thus will only serve to further diminish the appetite for travel to the US.
February 4, 2026 at 10:47 AM
No shit!
Phew! Indeed...! Wordle 1,691 6/6
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February 4, 2026 at 10:44 AM
Phew! Indeed...! Wordle 1,691 6/6
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Oh noooooooo!
February 3, 2026 at 5:19 PM
Oh noooooooo!
I think Jonathan Shapiro - aka Zapiro - really, really doesn’t like Herr Drumpf. Or Epstein. www.dailymaverick.co.za/cartoon/2026...
Heads up
…
www.dailymaverick.co.za
February 3, 2026 at 8:03 AM
I think Jonathan Shapiro - aka Zapiro - really, really doesn’t like Herr Drumpf. Or Epstein. www.dailymaverick.co.za/cartoon/2026...
Reposted by Ed Rybicki 🇿🇲🇿🇦🇬🇧🍷🚀
As if Nipah virus weren’t bad enough, some patients in Asia were coinfected with an emerging bat virus called Pteropine orthoreovirus (PRV).
Symptoms of PRV include fever, disorientation, abnormal gait, and difficulty breathing.
PRV seems to have traits that increase likelihood of zoonosis.
Symptoms of PRV include fever, disorientation, abnormal gait, and difficulty breathing.
PRV seems to have traits that increase likelihood of zoonosis.
Emerging bat virus found in stored throat swabs from 5 patients with suspected Nipah virus infection
www.cidrap.umn.edu
February 2, 2026 at 11:52 PM
As if Nipah virus weren’t bad enough, some patients in Asia were coinfected with an emerging bat virus called Pteropine orthoreovirus (PRV).
Symptoms of PRV include fever, disorientation, abnormal gait, and difficulty breathing.
PRV seems to have traits that increase likelihood of zoonosis.
Symptoms of PRV include fever, disorientation, abnormal gait, and difficulty breathing.
PRV seems to have traits that increase likelihood of zoonosis.
Reposted by Ed Rybicki 🇿🇲🇿🇦🇬🇧🍷🚀
This is finally out.
Very short take home. All the variation in spike that produced the immune escape characteristics of Omicron can occur in one single persistently infected individual over the period of a year.
This is why persistent infections matter
www.cell.com/cell-reports...
Very short take home. All the variation in spike that produced the immune escape characteristics of Omicron can occur in one single persistently infected individual over the period of a year.
This is why persistent infections matter
www.cell.com/cell-reports...
Antibody escape drives emergence of diverse spike haplotypes resembling variants of concern in persistent SARS-CoV-2 infections
Snell et al. develop sequencing methodology to identify full-length spike haplotypes
and show that persistent SARS-CoV-2 infections drive divergent haplotype emergence,
accelerating viral evolution an...
www.cell.com
February 2, 2026 at 4:09 PM
This is finally out.
Very short take home. All the variation in spike that produced the immune escape characteristics of Omicron can occur in one single persistently infected individual over the period of a year.
This is why persistent infections matter
www.cell.com/cell-reports...
Very short take home. All the variation in spike that produced the immune escape characteristics of Omicron can occur in one single persistently infected individual over the period of a year.
This is why persistent infections matter
www.cell.com/cell-reports...
Reposted by Ed Rybicki 🇿🇲🇿🇦🇬🇧🍷🚀
It is often assumed that assemblage is a technique used by artists who lack the skills to make 'real' art. Not true. As a teenager I earned good money sculpting portraits and making illustrations. But imitation gets boring fast. I prefer assemblage, because to me it is a complex language of mystery.
why assemblage? - an alternative artist's bio - charlayn von solms dotcom
Why I make assemblage. Origins of an Assemblage Artist. Influences of an Assemblage Artist. An Artist's First Experience of Art
charlaynvonsolms.com
February 2, 2026 at 7:11 PM
It is often assumed that assemblage is a technique used by artists who lack the skills to make 'real' art. Not true. As a teenager I earned good money sculpting portraits and making illustrations. But imitation gets boring fast. I prefer assemblage, because to me it is a complex language of mystery.
And so it begins….
5 more dairy cows tested positive for #H5N1 #birdflu antibodies on the Dutch farm where a previous cow tested positive. No surprise that if 1 was positive, others would be too. This dairy farm is the first outside the US to report H5N1 transmission. www-melkvee-nl.translate.goog/artikel/1450...
Screening melkveebedrijf brengt nog vijf koeien met antistoffen tegen vogelgriep aan het licht
Op een melkveebedrijf in Noardeast-Fryslân zijn na screening vijf koeien met antistoffen tegen vogelgriep gevonden, maar er is geen actief virus aangetoond. Minister Wiersma verwacht volgende week een...
www-melkvee-nl.translate.goog
February 2, 2026 at 8:12 PM
And so it begins….
Reposted by Ed Rybicki 🇿🇲🇿🇦🇬🇧🍷🚀
Aye, it were an average ‘arvest, but of three different chillies. Some of them ‘ot enough to melt yer tonsils!
February 2, 2026 at 3:11 PM
Aye, it were an average ‘arvest, but of three different chillies. Some of them ‘ot enough to melt yer tonsils!