Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by April Hayes

Ben Longdon @blongdon.bsky.social · 2d

Research assistant + postdoc position on a NERC funded project working w @darrenobbard.bsky.social and collaborating with @savebutterflies.bsky.social on the ecological and evolutionary drivers of the virome of UK moths @uniexecec.bsky.social. Descriptions below and links here benlongdon.com/join/

Our local beach - blue waters and white sand

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Kaia Mattioli @kaiamattioli.bsky.social · 24d

what postdocs actually want:
- to not have their grants canceled
- reasonable chances at getting an academic position
- job security
- a thriving private sector so the entire research system can flourish <3

higher ed institutions in 2025:
- best i can do is an origami night

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April Hayes @aprilhayes.bsky.social · 3d

cool phd position with a really great PI and associated supervisory team alert

Daniel Padfield @padpadpadpad.bsky.social · 23d

I have an MRC-funded PhD project available (www.exeter.ac.uk/study/fundin...) on how warming will change the problem of AMR. Join a small and friendly group (padpadpadpad.netlify.app/about) in (sometimes) sunny Cornwall. 🧪🦠 #microsky

Please share the ad below with anyone who may be interested.

A teal flyer for a PhD opportunity to investigate how warming may change antimicrobial resistance. The project will use experiments on Klebsiella bacteria to answer questions about how temperature affects their response to antibiotics, plasmid transfer, and fitness costs. The research involves microbiology lab work, bioinformatics, and mathematical modeling. The flyer includes contact details for Dr. Daniel Padfield and the logos of the sponsoring institutions.

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Hall Lab @halllab.bsky.social · 9d

📢🚨 Check out @drgdavidson.bsky.social's 3-year senior PDRA role below @uniofeastanglia.bsky.social!
Super exciting project exploring wildlife ecology 🐾 and gut microbiome bioinformatics 🧬!
👉 Apply: vacancies.uea.ac.uk/vacancies/18...
💬 Informal enquiries to Gabrielle welcome!

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Pamela Ferretti @pamferretti.bsky.social · 12d

If you generate or reuse #microbiome data, check out these guidelines for equitable sequence data reuse. Grateful to @alexjprobst.bsky.social and his team for leading this important work and for bringing together 160+ microbiome scientists (myself included) to contribute!

doi.org/10.1038/s415...

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Zamin Iqbal @zaminiqbal.bsky.social · 13d

Delighted to see our paper studying the evolution of plasmids over the last 100 years, now out! Years of work by Adrian Cazares, also Nick Thomson @sangerinstitute.bsky.social - this version much improved over the preprint. Final version should be open access, apols.
Thread 1/n

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Jo Garrett @jogarrett.bsky.social · 22d

Join myself and others in Exeter, alongside artist Steve McCracken, for a curated trail of art and science. Get real time insights into pollution while spotting new artworks of birds. @ecehh.org
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/walking-to...

Walking Tour: Sensing Exeter’s Air Quality : A Bird’s View

A curated trail of art and science. Get real time insights into pollution while spotting new artworks of birds.

www.eventbrite.co.uk

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Felix M Key @keyfm.bsky.social · 24d

Open postdoc position in in my lab in Berlin @mpiib-berlin.mpg.de.

Join us to push the frontier in ancient microbial genomics. Please apply until Oct 17th. Reach out in case you have any questions.

www.mpiib-berlin.mpg.de/2193291/job_...

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Emmanuele Severi @emmseveri.bsky.social · 26d

www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...

#microsky #microbiome

Ancient host-associated microbes obtained from mammoth remains

A study of 483 mammoth remains spanning over a million years reveals ancient host-associated microbes preserved in bones and teeth, offering new insights into the long-term evolution of Pleistocene mi...

www.cell.com

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April Hayes @aprilhayes.bsky.social · 28d

more exciting work showing the effects that non-antibiotic pharmaceuticals can have on microbial communities 🦠🧫💊

Uli Klümper @ulikluemper.bsky.social · 29d

First @biorxivpreprint.bsky.social from Eda Deniz Erdem's PhD:

"Selective spread of mobile antibiotic resistance genes in wastewater microbiomes driven by the non-antibiotic pharmaceutical carbamazepine"

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

#AMR #microsky

Selective spread of mobile antibiotic resistance genes in wastewater microbiomes driven by the non-antibiotic pharmaceutical carbamazepine

Carbamazepine (CBZ), a widely used anticonvulsant, is a persistent aquatic micropollutant that withstands biodegradation and accumulates in wastewater-impacted environments. While non-antibiotic pharm...

www.biorxiv.org

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Abraham Gihawi @abrahamgihawi.bsky.social · Sep 3

Finding microbes in cancer sequencing data has been controversial. Are we seeing real biology… or just contamination + batch effects?

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Moreno Zolfo @azufre451.bsky.social · Sep 2

🤩🎢 #MVIF Season 5 is just about to start!

Ten #microbiome events, free to attend, great to present your latest results. #ECR, #preprints, unpublished work are welcome!

👉 www.microbiome-vif.org

All talks get a DOI, and those associated with preprints are added to their #bioRxiv #medRxiv pages too.

Microbiome Virtual International Forum @microbiomevif.bsky.social · Sep 1

June #MVIF updated!

@julesdeep.bsky.social

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David Sünderhauf @davvi36.bsky.social · Sep 2

PhD opportunity, please share:

We are looking for a prospective PhD student to start in October 2026 who is excited about bacteria (Klebsiella pneumoniae), how they interact, and how they exchange DNA.
All details can be found on the funder website 👉 gw4biomed.ac.uk/developing-c...

Developing CRISPR-Cas antimicrobials to tackle antibiotic resistance spread in Klebsiella pneumoniae - GW4 BioMed MRC DTP

Project Code MRCIIAR26Ex van Houte Project Type Wet lab Research Theme Infection, Immunity, Antimicrobial Resistance and Repair Project Summary Download Summary Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) poses a ...

gw4biomed.ac.uk

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James McInerney @jomcinerney.bsky.social · Aug 29

New preprint reveals bacteria can't just collect all resistance genes like Pokemon cards.
We found mutually exclusive evolutionary pathways to multidrug resistance in E. coli & P. aeruginosa - some resistance mechanisms actively prevent others from coexisting www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Genomic constraints shape the evolution of alternative routes to drug resistance in prokaryotes

Background Variation within the prokaryotic pangenome is not random, and natural selection that favours particular combinations of genes appears to dominate over random drift. What is less clear is wh...

www.biorxiv.org

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Prof Sam Illingworth @samillingworth.com · Aug 27

💊 Non-antibiotic drugs & resistance

A new study shows common medicines like ibuprofen and acetaminophen can boost E. coli resistance to antibiotics, raising concerns for aged care settings.

🔗 www.nature.com/articles/s44...

#SciComm 🧪 #AMR

The effect of commonly used non-antibiotic medications on antimicrobial resistance development in Escherichia coli - npj Antimicrobials and Resistance

npj Antimicrobials and Resistance - The effect of commonly used non-antibiotic medications on antimicrobial resistance development in Escherichia coli

www.nature.com

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Jesse Shapiro @bjesseshapiro.bsky.social · Aug 21

I'm super bummed to be missing #ESEB2025 @eseb2025.bsky.social due to a cancelled flight! Here's a quick overview of my talk "Gene- and genome-focused perspectives on microbial pangenomes" slated to be part of The Evolution of Microbial Pangenomes -- which I recommend you attend tomorrow (Fri) !
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Allison Lopatkin, PhD @ajlopatkin.bsky.social · Aug 12

If you ever find yourself needing evidence for ‘Plasmids are just as common in microbes without resistance genes,’ we’ve got you covered! Check our new paper, out today:

www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/jour...

Plasmid prevalence is independent of antibiotic resistance in environmental Enterobacteriaceae

The rapid rise of antibiotic-resistant pathogens poses a critical threat to the treatment of infectious diseases. While the spread of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) via plasmid conjugation has bee...

www.microbiologyresearch.org

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Hall Lab @halllab.bsky.social · Aug 17

Really pleased to see this study led by @raymondkiu.bsky.social now published in @natcomms.nature.com!

We show that probiotics help modulate the preterm infant 👶#microbiome - to reduce ARGs, lower MDR bacteria 🦠 & increase beneficial Bifido ✨

Huge team effort!

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

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Reo Eveleth @reveleth.com · Aug 4

I often say that reporting on sex testing in sports is like reporting on a really twisted, 100 year game of wack-a-mole where we see the same things happen over and over. This is a great example. (A short thread, if you'll indulge me.)

Reo Eveleth @reveleth.com · Aug 4

World Athletics says that "The SRY gene is a reliable proxy for determining biological sex." The guy who literally discovered the gene and has spent the last 35 years researching it says they're wrong. theconversation.com/world-athlet...

World Athletics’ mandatory genetic test for women athletes is misguided. I should know – I discovered the relevant gene in 1990

World Athletics says its genetic test for women ensures ‘the integrity of women’s sport’ – but science does not support this overly simplistic idea.

theconversation.com

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Dan Sprockett @danielsprockett.bsky.social · Aug 16

Check out this incredible analysis!

Prehistoric Global Migration of Vanishing Gut Microbes With Humans
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Prehistoric Global Migration of Vanishing Gut Microbes With Humans

The gut microbiome is crucial for health and greatly affected by lifestyle. Many microbes common in non-industrialized populations are disappearing or extinct in industrialized populations. Understand...

www.biorxiv.org

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Elinne Becket, PhD @bielleogy.bsky.social · Aug 14

A science education is not education without also learning how to be a scientist in and FOR the world we live in. For this, we need humanities.

Matthew J Kuiper @matthewjkuiper.bsky.social · Aug 13

In which a Yale prof calls for jettisoning humanities to make way for science-only universities.

“scientists… are being punished for the sins of [humanities scholars] because we all live under one roof. I cannot see a compelling reason for our continued cohabitation.”

Unyoke the Sciences From the Humanities

Arts and sciences typically cohabitate. Should they?

thedispatch.com

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April Hayes @aprilhayes.bsky.social · Aug 8

love love love going back to code, re-running and somehow you’ve done something somewhere and it brings you straight back to the problem you thought you solved months back. asking for a friend - anyone done phylogenetic trees with added facets but the facets have individual x axes??

April Hayes @aprilhayes.bsky.social · Aug 8

helpful this morning when trying to plan some big things

Manuel Kleiner @manuelkleiner.bsky.social · Aug 7

I am really excited to see this article on basic experimental design principles published. Definitely will be mandatory reading for incoming graduate students in my lab. Maggie Wagner who led this article did an amazing job with the illustrations of basic principles www.nature.com/articles/s41...

How thoughtful experimental design can empower biologists in the omics era - Nature Communications

Here, the authors discuss principles of experimental design that are relevant for all biology research, along with special considerations for projects using -omics approaches, highlighting common expe...

www.nature.com

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David Sünderhauf @davvi36.bsky.social · Aug 8

Phage resistance research position with a fantastic supervisor 👇

Ellinor Alseth @ellinoralseth.bsky.social · Aug 8

Feels surreal to say but: I'm hiring! If you are or know anyone interested in looking at the evolution of phage resistance using A. baumannii and natural transformation, then this might be for you
www.jobbnorge.no/en/available...

Research position in Microbial Pharmacology and Population Biology (282139) | UiT The Arctic University of Norway

Job title: Research position in Microbial Pharmacology and Population Biology (282139), Employer: UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Deadline: Wednesday, August 27, 2025

www.jobbnorge.no

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April Hayes @aprilhayes.bsky.social · Aug 5

coolest email i got all day was about this, what a great and amazing way to raise money for charity! everyone go and enter for the chance to name a phage!!

Meaghan Castledine @mcastd.bsky.social · Aug 5

Want to name a real virus? I have recently discovered 9 new phages which now need names! To enter, you simply need to donate to the Cystic Fibrosis Trust on my JustGiving page (£2 = 1 entry) and share your email with me on donation (see link info). Please share 💚 www.justgiving.com/page/meaghan-c-1

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