Martin Humphries
@martinhumphries.bsky.social
Professor of Biochemistry, University of Manchester. Career interest in mechanisms of cell-matrix adhesion. Current interest in mechanosensing in pancreatic cancer and vascular dementia.
Atypical monochromatic shirt Matthew!
Now live, and thanks to @erictopol.bsky.social for organising this!
Matthew Cobb (@matthewcobb2)
This was a terrific discussion with Eric about my new biography of Francis Crick.
substack.com
November 25, 2025 at 10:22 PM
Atypical monochromatic shirt Matthew!
Reposted by Martin Humphries
If you don’t want to watch me and @erictopol.bsky.social chat on Substack, here’s a YouTube link:
Matthew Cobb & Eric Topol: Discuss Crick Book
YouTube video by Matthew Cobb
www.youtube.com
November 25, 2025 at 10:10 PM
If you don’t want to watch me and @erictopol.bsky.social chat on Substack, here’s a YouTube link:
💥 Well done! Great to see my babies (FLIER and Springboard) going from strength to strength and being supported by @wellcometrust.bsky.social !
Pleased to announce our new five-year strategic partnership with @wellcometrust.bsky.social ✨
The agreement, worth over £27m, will boost support for biomedical and health researchers across the UK and address key challenges facing the research workforce.
Explore the details: bit.ly/481qgn5
The agreement, worth over £27m, will boost support for biomedical and health researchers across the UK and address key challenges facing the research workforce.
Explore the details: bit.ly/481qgn5
November 25, 2025 at 11:28 AM
💥 Well done! Great to see my babies (FLIER and Springboard) going from strength to strength and being supported by @wellcometrust.bsky.social !
Doesn't he have some real work to do?
November 25, 2025 at 11:24 AM
Doesn't he have some real work to do?
Not the most deeply thought through review
And the Guardian! There are elements of her critique I accept, others I don't, but there you go...
Crick: A Mind in Motion by Matthew Cobb review – the charismatic philanderer who changed science
Genius and arrogance play leading roles in a new biography of the man who helped uncover the structure of DNA
www.theguardian.com
November 25, 2025 at 10:36 AM
Not the most deeply thought through review
Reposted by Martin Humphries
This used to be career-ending stuff.
Did you ever racially abuse fellow pupils?
It was years ago.
Did you ever racially abuse fellow pupils?
Not in a hurtful way.
Did you ever racially abuse fellow pupils?
Not with intent.
Did you ever racially abuse fellow pupils?
Not genuine abuse.
😮🫣😬😱 ~AA
It was years ago.
Did you ever racially abuse fellow pupils?
Not in a hurtful way.
Did you ever racially abuse fellow pupils?
Not with intent.
Did you ever racially abuse fellow pupils?
Not genuine abuse.
😮🫣😬😱 ~AA
November 25, 2025 at 8:41 AM
This used to be career-ending stuff.
🧵
I wish I didn’t have to share this. But the BBC has decided to censor my first Reith Lecture.
They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1
They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1
November 25, 2025 at 10:32 AM
🧵
Could be useful: Xie L, et al. STUPPIT is a proximity labeling tool for labeling intermediary proteins that bridge two non-interacting proteins. PLoS Biol. 2025 Nov 24;23(11):e3003227. [Epub ahead of print] PMID: 41284752
November 25, 2025 at 10:15 AM
Could be useful: Xie L, et al. STUPPIT is a proximity labeling tool for labeling intermediary proteins that bridge two non-interacting proteins. PLoS Biol. 2025 Nov 24;23(11):e3003227. [Epub ahead of print] PMID: 41284752
Reposted by Martin Humphries
Still reeling from the Stanford report on Brexit. Reduced GDP by up to 8% and investment by as much as 18%. The UK Treasury would have £40 billion more each year if Britain had remained in the EU. Devastating self-immolation.
The Economic Impact of Brexit
Other
siepr.stanford.edu
November 24, 2025 at 11:02 AM
Still reeling from the Stanford report on Brexit. Reduced GDP by up to 8% and investment by as much as 18%. The UK Treasury would have £40 billion more each year if Britain had remained in the EU. Devastating self-immolation.
Reposted by Martin Humphries
Powerful piece by @drrachelclarke.com on the COVID inquiry. Those who say it’s easy to be wise in hindsight are being utterly disingenuous. Many of us spoke out at the time, and it’s in the public record.
@independentsage.bsky.social
observer.co.uk/news/nationa...
@independentsage.bsky.social
observer.co.uk/news/nationa...
I’ll never forget the horror of the Covid wards | The Observer
observer.co.uk
November 23, 2025 at 8:02 AM
Powerful piece by @drrachelclarke.com on the COVID inquiry. Those who say it’s easy to be wise in hindsight are being utterly disingenuous. Many of us spoke out at the time, and it’s in the public record.
@independentsage.bsky.social
observer.co.uk/news/nationa...
@independentsage.bsky.social
observer.co.uk/news/nationa...
Hey RFK. "The truth is incontrovertible. Panic may resent it. Ignorance may deride it. Malice may distort it. But there it is." (Churchill WS)
November 21, 2025 at 8:47 PM
Hey RFK. "The truth is incontrovertible. Panic may resent it. Ignorance may deride it. Malice may distort it. But there it is." (Churchill WS)
Reposted by Martin Humphries
Incredible density (the filaments, not BlueSky!)
Attempt number seven at uploading this video of intermediate filaments in an enormous COS7 cell. I have a feeling the BlueSky compression will not do it any favors.
November 21, 2025 at 8:44 AM
Incredible density (the filaments, not BlueSky!)
Wow! In my backyard! Keep it up @zackpolanski.bsky.social
Macclesfield Central (Cheshire East) Council By-Election Result:
🌍 GRN: 41.8% (+19.7)
🌹 LAB: 28.6% (-25.7)
➡️ RFM: 15.8% (New)
🌳 CON: 9.1% (-4.5)
⚖️ EQU: 2.5% (New)
🔶 LDM: 2.2% (-7.7)
Green GAIN from Labour.
Changes w/ 2023.
🌍 GRN: 41.8% (+19.7)
🌹 LAB: 28.6% (-25.7)
➡️ RFM: 15.8% (New)
🌳 CON: 9.1% (-4.5)
⚖️ EQU: 2.5% (New)
🔶 LDM: 2.2% (-7.7)
Green GAIN from Labour.
Changes w/ 2023.
November 21, 2025 at 8:43 AM
Wow! In my backyard! Keep it up @zackpolanski.bsky.social
Very useful thread Andrea! What are your thoughts on LLPS as a mechanism for temporary sequestration and dynamic remodelling of protein complexes (as opposed to long-term storage)?
Why IDPs Are Poor Candidates for Homotypic LLPS
🧵👇A thread
🧵👇A thread
November 21, 2025 at 8:41 AM
Very useful thread Andrea! What are your thoughts on LLPS as a mechanism for temporary sequestration and dynamic remodelling of protein complexes (as opposed to long-term storage)?
Maybe they will listen to experts and employ evidence-based decision-making next time. And there will be a next time.
November 20, 2025 at 6:46 PM
Maybe they will listen to experts and employ evidence-based decision-making next time. And there will be a next time.
🧵
3 papers @thelancet.com today on the health dangers of ultraprocessed foods and a call for action
The health risks
www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
The health risks
www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
November 19, 2025 at 4:29 AM
🧵
Reposted by Martin Humphries
ERK builds a population of short-lived nascent adhesions that produce persistent edge protrusion and cell migration https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.11.17.688923v1
November 18, 2025 at 4:30 AM
ERK builds a population of short-lived nascent adhesions that produce persistent edge protrusion and cell migration https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.11.17.688923v1
Reposted by Martin Humphries
The origin of 'pedigree'. This type of C12 figure (not a family tree but a way of calculating relatedness – the titles of various relatives have not been put in the circles) looked like a crane's foot, thought medieval folk. So 'pied de grue' and hence 'pedigree'. Source in alt.
November 18, 2025 at 9:44 AM
The origin of 'pedigree'. This type of C12 figure (not a family tree but a way of calculating relatedness – the titles of various relatives have not been put in the circles) looked like a crane's foot, thought medieval folk. So 'pied de grue' and hence 'pedigree'. Source in alt.
Reposted by Martin Humphries
"Compared with other European countries, the UK received the fifth largest number of asylum seekers in the year ending March 2025, and the seventeenth largest intake when measured per head of population" - Home Office data
www.gov.uk/government/s...
www.gov.uk/government/s...
November 17, 2025 at 4:10 PM
"Compared with other European countries, the UK received the fifth largest number of asylum seekers in the year ending March 2025, and the seventeenth largest intake when measured per head of population" - Home Office data
www.gov.uk/government/s...
www.gov.uk/government/s...
Reposted by Martin Humphries
Want to walk into and through an actual Iron Age house…and UP THE STAIRS?
Of course you bloody do.
Come with me.
Carn Liath broch, just sitting quietly beside the A9 as thousands whizz by without stopping. Their mistake.
Far too excited to wait for #HillfortsWednesday
Of course you bloody do.
Come with me.
Carn Liath broch, just sitting quietly beside the A9 as thousands whizz by without stopping. Their mistake.
Far too excited to wait for #HillfortsWednesday
November 17, 2025 at 1:26 PM
Want to walk into and through an actual Iron Age house…and UP THE STAIRS?
Of course you bloody do.
Come with me.
Carn Liath broch, just sitting quietly beside the A9 as thousands whizz by without stopping. Their mistake.
Far too excited to wait for #HillfortsWednesday
Of course you bloody do.
Come with me.
Carn Liath broch, just sitting quietly beside the A9 as thousands whizz by without stopping. Their mistake.
Far too excited to wait for #HillfortsWednesday
Just finished this superb book by Jeremy Paxman about the UK coal industry. The book is written chronologically and takes the reader from the initial use of coal that revolutionised heat and light generation, to its role in fuelling the industrial revolution (which eventually took Britain to...
November 17, 2025 at 11:58 AM
Just finished this superb book by Jeremy Paxman about the UK coal industry. The book is written chronologically and takes the reader from the initial use of coal that revolutionised heat and light generation, to its role in fuelling the industrial revolution (which eventually took Britain to...
Reposted by Martin Humphries
🔐 Account Security Thread 🔐
We're seeing an increased number of phishing and social engineering attempts targeting Bluesky users. While we're working hard to protect you, here are essential steps YOU can take to secure your account and stay safe. 1/10
🧵👇
We're seeing an increased number of phishing and social engineering attempts targeting Bluesky users. While we're working hard to protect you, here are essential steps YOU can take to secure your account and stay safe. 1/10
🧵👇
November 14, 2025 at 8:00 PM
🔐 Account Security Thread 🔐
We're seeing an increased number of phishing and social engineering attempts targeting Bluesky users. While we're working hard to protect you, here are essential steps YOU can take to secure your account and stay safe. 1/10
🧵👇
We're seeing an increased number of phishing and social engineering attempts targeting Bluesky users. While we're working hard to protect you, here are essential steps YOU can take to secure your account and stay safe. 1/10
🧵👇