Zamin Iqbal
@zaminiqbal.bsky.social
Professor of Algorithmic and Microbial Genomics at the University of Bath (UK). Pangenomes, drug resistance (esp TB), data structures for DNA search, plasmid evolution, global microbial surveillance. Open Data, reproducibility
Pinned
Zamin Iqbal
@zaminiqbal.bsky.social
· Nov 14
Congratulations to @zaminiqbal.bsky.social from @milnerevolution.bsky.social on being awarded the 2026 Mary Lyon Medal!
Honoured and quite blown-over to receive this award. I have been, and continue to be, very lucky - first with great mentors, and then really prodigious students, postdocs and collaborators. Working with them has been a joy.
Reposted by Zamin Iqbal
🧵 New preprint! Our 4-lab team evolved Streptococcus pneumoniae in antibiotic-treated mice of varying immune states and discovered something surprising: bacteria rarely evolved resistance. Instead, they found a different way to survive — by rewiring RNA turnover.
🔗 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
🔗 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
www.biorxiv.org
February 16, 2026 at 4:39 PM
🧵 New preprint! Our 4-lab team evolved Streptococcus pneumoniae in antibiotic-treated mice of varying immune states and discovered something surprising: bacteria rarely evolved resistance. Instead, they found a different way to survive — by rewiring RNA turnover.
🔗 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
🔗 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Reposted by Zamin Iqbal
The emergence of a chemical system capable of self-replication and evolution is a critical event in the origin of life.
This paper describes a ribozyme, a catalytic RNA molecule, able to do just that..
Fascinating stuff…
🧪🦠
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
This paper describes a ribozyme, a catalytic RNA molecule, able to do just that..
Fascinating stuff…
🧪🦠
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
A small polymerase ribozyme that can synthesize itself and its complementary strand
The emergence of a chemical system capable of self-replication and evolution is a critical event in the origin of life. RNA polymerase ribozymes can replicate RNA, but their large size and structural ...
www.science.org
February 15, 2026 at 3:16 AM
The emergence of a chemical system capable of self-replication and evolution is a critical event in the origin of life.
This paper describes a ribozyme, a catalytic RNA molecule, able to do just that..
Fascinating stuff…
🧪🦠
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
This paper describes a ribozyme, a catalytic RNA molecule, able to do just that..
Fascinating stuff…
🧪🦠
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Reposted by Zamin Iqbal
Mycobacterium tuberculosis is so evolved at surviving environmental stresses!
By @oneyrolles.bsky.social & team
#TBSky #MicroSky @embojournal.org
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
By @oneyrolles.bsky.social & team
#TBSky #MicroSky @embojournal.org
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Membrane-associated effluxosomes coordinate multi-metal resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis - The EMBO Journal
Bacterial pathogens must withstand metal-induced stress during infection, yet the mechanisms by which they sense and respond to toxic metal ions remain incompletely understood. Here, we uncover a prev...
link.springer.com
February 16, 2026 at 6:58 AM
Mycobacterium tuberculosis is so evolved at surviving environmental stresses!
By @oneyrolles.bsky.social & team
#TBSky #MicroSky @embojournal.org
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
By @oneyrolles.bsky.social & team
#TBSky #MicroSky @embojournal.org
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Reposted by Zamin Iqbal
BBC's Arabic radio service in Lebanon closed after 85 years as part of a £28.5m savings drive. 'Just months later, in October 2023, the Russian state-owned Sputnik news agency took over the frequency. Its news bulletin opened with “This is Moscow”, replacing the previous “This is London” intro.' 🙄
BBC warns Russia is taking over World Service radio frequencies
Russian propaganda is filling the void where the BBC has closed World Service radio services due to cuts
inews.co.uk
June 10, 2025 at 6:03 AM
BBC's Arabic radio service in Lebanon closed after 85 years as part of a £28.5m savings drive. 'Just months later, in October 2023, the Russian state-owned Sputnik news agency took over the frequency. Its news bulletin opened with “This is Moscow”, replacing the previous “This is London” intro.' 🙄
Looking for recent stats on what % of diagnosed TB cases have gene Xpert run (and what % are sequenced, but that must be tiny). I thought I'd find the former in the annual WHO report but I can't seem to find it. Does anyone happen to know?
February 15, 2026 at 9:54 PM
Looking for recent stats on what % of diagnosed TB cases have gene Xpert run (and what % are sequenced, but that must be tiny). I thought I'd find the former in the annual WHO report but I can't seem to find it. Does anyone happen to know?
Reposted by Zamin Iqbal
North Carolina lawmakers have voted to remove all college campus voting sites. Specifically at the largest HBCU in the US NC A&T. They now have to walk 30 minutes to their nearest polling place. Students are protesting this - pls share and support.
www.tiktok.com/t/ZThx29BJ9/
www.tiktok.com/t/ZThx29BJ9/
Even without an on-campus voting site, NCAT students still marched to the polls. 💙💛 Students at North Carolina A&T showed that barriers won’t stop their voices. When access isn’t easy, they organize. ...
TikTok video by HBCU Student Action Alliance
www.tiktok.com
February 14, 2026 at 1:55 PM
North Carolina lawmakers have voted to remove all college campus voting sites. Specifically at the largest HBCU in the US NC A&T. They now have to walk 30 minutes to their nearest polling place. Students are protesting this - pls share and support.
www.tiktok.com/t/ZThx29BJ9/
www.tiktok.com/t/ZThx29BJ9/
Reposted by Zamin Iqbal
Reposted by Zamin Iqbal
Streets of Minneapolis Irish female duet cover
youtu.be/Ci_0PAObc4A?...
youtu.be/Ci_0PAObc4A?...
Bruce Springsteen - Streets Of Minneapolis (Irish Female Duet)
YouTube video by Ethan Gontar
youtu.be
February 15, 2026 at 2:46 AM
Streets of Minneapolis Irish female duet cover
youtu.be/Ci_0PAObc4A?...
youtu.be/Ci_0PAObc4A?...
Reposted by Zamin Iqbal
My favourite: Bertrand Russell, died 1970, reminiscing about his childhood with his grandfather, who had visited Napoleon on Elba.
February 15, 2026 at 11:37 AM
My favourite: Bertrand Russell, died 1970, reminiscing about his childhood with his grandfather, who had visited Napoleon on Elba.
Reposted by Zamin Iqbal
A reminder that if you live in England or Wales & were born between 1970-1990 – or even before 1970 – you can help protect your community by getting the MMR vaccine free from your NHS GP now. I did last year. www.nhs.uk/vaccinations...
February 15, 2026 at 8:30 AM
A reminder that if you live in England or Wales & were born between 1970-1990 – or even before 1970 – you can help protect your community by getting the MMR vaccine free from your NHS GP now. I did last year. www.nhs.uk/vaccinations...
Reposted by Zamin Iqbal
Just checking, it's now ok to flee your homeland, because you're afraid for your safety, and seek refuge in another Country?
Glad we've cleared that up. Let's hear no more about immigration and refugees then.
Glad we've cleared that up. Let's hear no more about immigration and refugees then.
February 14, 2026 at 7:55 AM
Just checking, it's now ok to flee your homeland, because you're afraid for your safety, and seek refuge in another Country?
Glad we've cleared that up. Let's hear no more about immigration and refugees then.
Glad we've cleared that up. Let's hear no more about immigration and refugees then.
Reposted by Zamin Iqbal
Zahawi’s weird “tired man” story is a comical example of the common habit of conflating “I feel uncomfortable” with “I am in danger.” A lot of prejudiced people can feel uncomfortable for bad reasons!
February 14, 2026 at 12:57 PM
Zahawi’s weird “tired man” story is a comical example of the common habit of conflating “I feel uncomfortable” with “I am in danger.” A lot of prejudiced people can feel uncomfortable for bad reasons!
Reposted by Zamin Iqbal
The whole sky just exploded in green here in Reykjavík. It was so bright, I didn't even need my flashlight to walk out to my neighborhood beach. It's rare when we get these whole sky engulfing shows.
This season has been something else.
#solarmaximum ftw!
#northernlights #aurora #iceland
This season has been something else.
#solarmaximum ftw!
#northernlights #aurora #iceland
February 13, 2026 at 10:36 PM
The whole sky just exploded in green here in Reykjavík. It was so bright, I didn't even need my flashlight to walk out to my neighborhood beach. It's rare when we get these whole sky engulfing shows.
This season has been something else.
#solarmaximum ftw!
#northernlights #aurora #iceland
This season has been something else.
#solarmaximum ftw!
#northernlights #aurora #iceland
Reposted by Zamin Iqbal
I regularly post updates on this story because it's an atrocity on an incomprehensible scale but people don't really talk about it
www.reuters.com/business/hea...
www.reuters.com/business/hea...
USAID cuts may cause over 14 million additional deaths by 2030, study says
Deep funding cuts to the U.S. Agency for International Development and its potential dismantling could result in more than 14 million additional deaths by 2030, according to research published in The ...
www.reuters.com
February 13, 2026 at 3:01 PM
I regularly post updates on this story because it's an atrocity on an incomprehensible scale but people don't really talk about it
www.reuters.com/business/hea...
www.reuters.com/business/hea...
Reposted by Zamin Iqbal
This man is completely unhinged.
Nadhim Zahawi thinks London is now unsafe, because the other day a tired-looking man walked past him during the morning rush hour.
February 14, 2026 at 8:56 AM
This man is completely unhinged.
Reposted by Zamin Iqbal
'The new rules won’t simply mean a longer wait for ILR. They will mean many people don’t qualify for ILR at all and have to leave the country'. @jamesbowes01.bsky.social on the government's earned settlement proposals ukandeu.ac.uk/remigration-...
Remigration by stealth? The government’s earned settlement proposals - UK in a changing Europe
James Bowes analyses the potential impact of the UK government's proposed changes to its settlement schemes to both new migrants and migrants already in the UK.
ukandeu.ac.uk
February 14, 2026 at 8:45 AM
'The new rules won’t simply mean a longer wait for ILR. They will mean many people don’t qualify for ILR at all and have to leave the country'. @jamesbowes01.bsky.social on the government's earned settlement proposals ukandeu.ac.uk/remigration-...
Reposted by Zamin Iqbal
Reposted by Zamin Iqbal
Shared with permission (no credit; degrees of separation).
ICE activity in Twin Cities region, data coordinated from rapid response groups & ICE Out. Yellow dots are most activity. Almost certainly this under-counts (suburbs especially) as it only includes witnessed & reported ICE activity.
ICE activity in Twin Cities region, data coordinated from rapid response groups & ICE Out. Yellow dots are most activity. Almost certainly this under-counts (suburbs especially) as it only includes witnessed & reported ICE activity.
February 13, 2026 at 10:53 PM
Shared with permission (no credit; degrees of separation).
ICE activity in Twin Cities region, data coordinated from rapid response groups & ICE Out. Yellow dots are most activity. Almost certainly this under-counts (suburbs especially) as it only includes witnessed & reported ICE activity.
ICE activity in Twin Cities region, data coordinated from rapid response groups & ICE Out. Yellow dots are most activity. Almost certainly this under-counts (suburbs especially) as it only includes witnessed & reported ICE activity.
Does anyone have any information on Mtb resistance mutation prevalence in >1 country? I'm trying to make a small table for one gene (say) showing geographical distribution of rare mutations. Want to get students thinking about impact of training set on ML predictors
February 13, 2026 at 10:17 PM
Does anyone have any information on Mtb resistance mutation prevalence in >1 country? I'm trying to make a small table for one gene (say) showing geographical distribution of rare mutations. Want to get students thinking about impact of training set on ML predictors
Reposted by Zamin Iqbal
"[the US's] premier infectious-disease research institute have been instructed to remove the words “biodefense” and “pandemic preparedness” from the institute’s web pages".
As leadership said, all as part of the effort to "restore trust".
Down is up and up is down.
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
As leadership said, all as part of the effort to "restore trust".
Down is up and up is down.
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Exclusive: Key US infectious-diseases centre to drop pandemic preparation
Staff members have been instructed to scrub this topic and ‘biodefense’ from the agency’s website.
www.nature.com
February 13, 2026 at 7:37 PM
"[the US's] premier infectious-disease research institute have been instructed to remove the words “biodefense” and “pandemic preparedness” from the institute’s web pages".
As leadership said, all as part of the effort to "restore trust".
Down is up and up is down.
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
As leadership said, all as part of the effort to "restore trust".
Down is up and up is down.
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
The best Wuthering Heights
youtu.be/-1pMMIe4hb4?...
youtu.be/-1pMMIe4hb4?...
Kate Bush - Wuthering Heights - Official Music Video - Version 1
YouTube video by KateBushMusic
youtu.be
February 13, 2026 at 6:34 PM
The best Wuthering Heights
youtu.be/-1pMMIe4hb4?...
youtu.be/-1pMMIe4hb4?...
Reposted by Zamin Iqbal
Many good points caught here by the estimable @jamesrball.com
The judgment was an impressive win for the claimant, but the court was certainly *not* impressed by Palestine Action.
The judgment was an impressive win for the claimant, but the court was certainly *not* impressed by Palestine Action.
Significant that the High Court ruling is still, in places, quite damning of Palestine Action. It emphatically rejects that the group is engaged in "civil disobediance", for example.
It just finds (compellingly) that proscription was still wrong, despite that.
It just finds (compellingly) that proscription was still wrong, despite that.
February 13, 2026 at 12:07 PM
Many good points caught here by the estimable @jamesrball.com
The judgment was an impressive win for the claimant, but the court was certainly *not* impressed by Palestine Action.
The judgment was an impressive win for the claimant, but the court was certainly *not* impressed by Palestine Action.
THREAD
TBI argues the UK should reset its energy strategy away from hitting clean-energy targets quickly.
It should focus on making electricity cheaper and abundant [👋 Ezra Klein] b/c affordability determines if decarbonisation succeeds.
No quibbles until here. We see the geopol situation. Q is: how?
2/
It should focus on making electricity cheaper and abundant [👋 Ezra Klein] b/c affordability determines if decarbonisation succeeds.
No quibbles until here. We see the geopol situation. Q is: how?
2/
February 13, 2026 at 10:52 AM
THREAD
Reposted by Zamin Iqbal
Outstanding. A triumph for liberty and against unrestrained state power. The government should be ashamed of having to be forced into this position.
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
UK ban on Palestine Action unlawful, high court judges rule
Protest group’s co-founder wins legal challenge against decision to proscribe it under anti-terrorism laws
www.theguardian.com
February 13, 2026 at 10:24 AM
Outstanding. A triumph for liberty and against unrestrained state power. The government should be ashamed of having to be forced into this position.
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
Reposted by Zamin Iqbal
"Why do you care about US politics?"
No reason. No reason at all.
No reason. No reason at all.
In terms of what cures are being lost:
- Epstein-Barr virus is perhaps the major trigger for multiple sclerosis
- herpes simplex virus causes cold sores, genital herpes, infections in babies, deadly meningitis
- shingles virus causes an intensely painful disease
- Epstein-Barr virus is perhaps the major trigger for multiple sclerosis
- herpes simplex virus causes cold sores, genital herpes, infections in babies, deadly meningitis
- shingles virus causes an intensely painful disease
February 13, 2026 at 8:44 AM
"Why do you care about US politics?"
No reason. No reason at all.
No reason. No reason at all.