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Reposted by Fabienne Benz

Plasmid Society @plasmidsociety.bsky.social · 23d

Hey hey hey!
Tomorrow, September 16th at 16:00 UTC, don’t miss the next ISPB virtual seminar!
This session will focus on plasmid elimination with great speakers lined up.

#Plasmid #ISPB #MGEs

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Reposted by Fabienne Benz

Emma Slack @mucosalimmunology.bsky.social · 28d

Come and be my colleague at the Dunn School! It‘s a brilliant place to work and exciting to be building up our immunology team. Do apply. Do pass on the news 💉🧬🦠🔬🧫

The Dunn School, Oxford @dunnschool.bsky.social · 28d

We're hiring (again)!

We are looking for an associate professor in cell and molecular biology, with a particular focus on immunology (defined broadly)

If you have a great record and exciting plans, consider joining our thriving and welcoming department

www.path.ox.ac.uk/vacancy/asso...

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Reposted by Fabienne Benz

Luuk Loeff @lloeff.bsky.social · Aug 18

Exciting times ahead!

Today marks the first day of the Loeff Lab at Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands 🇳🇱. I’m thrilled to begin this new adventure and continue exploring microbial defense mechanisms and their applications through an integrative structural biology approach.

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DaganLab @daganlab.bsky.social · Aug 3

Happy to finally share this! Read here about the best strategy the the persistence of low-copy plasmids. @mariosanter.bsky.social @iwangtoknow.bsky.social doi.org/10.1038/s414...

The combination of active partitioning and toxin-antitoxin systems is most advantageous for low-copy plasmid fitness - Nature Communications

Effe et al. evaluate how specific plasmid traits influence plasmid fitness; they provide mechanistic insight into the persistence of large conjugative plasmids, including those that disseminate antibi...

doi.org

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Jerónimo Rodríguez-Beltrán @jerorb.bsky.social · Jul 22

Do plasmids evolve faster 🐇, slower 🐢, or just like chromosomes 🧬?

In our new paper, we tackled this question using theory, simulations, bioinformatics, and experiments!

👇 Check out all the details in Paula’s thread!

Hint: 🐇 (most of the time)

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Reposted by Fabienne Benz

Eugen Pfeifer @eugenpfeifer.bsky.social · Jul 28

Excited 🥳 to share our latest work on gut phages!
Big thanks to @epcrocha.bsky.social, Erick D, Camille d'H, @fplazaonate.bsky.social, Quentin LB, and all others involved for support and contributions! 🙌
Out in Cell Reports @cp-cellreports.bsky.social
doi.org/10.1016/j.ce...
Here's what we found 🤓

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Martin Pacesa @martinpacesa.bsky.social · Jul 26

Due to some server issues, some applications have been lost, particularly the ones submitted within 12h of the announcement, if that’s your case, it’s better to resubmit, sorry everyone 🙏🏻

Martin Pacesa @martinpacesa.bsky.social · Jul 25

I am super excited to announce that I will be starting my lab at the Department of Pharmacology of the University of Zurich in Switzerland next year!

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Reposted by Fabienne Benz

Eduardo Rocha @epcrocha.bsky.social · Jul 23

Here's our new broad review on the extended mobility of plasmids, about all mechanisms driving and limiting their transfer. From conjugation to conduction, phage-plasmids to hitchers, molecular to evolutionary dynamics, ecology to biotech. The state of affairs. 1/9 academic.oup.com/nar/article/...

graphical abstract of the article the extended mobility of plasmids

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Jerónimo Rodríguez-Beltrán @jerorb.bsky.social · Jul 2

🚨🚨New paper out in @natcomms.nature.com!!

Come for the first large-scale analysis of plasmid copy number across species,
stay for one of the most intriguing results of my lab: universal scaling laws in plasmid biology! 📈🧬

👉 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Universal rules govern plasmid copy number - Nature Communications

Plasmids exhibit a broad range of sizes and copies per cell, and these two parameters appear to be negatively correlated. Here, Ramiro-Martínez et al. analyse the copy number of thousands of diverse b...

www.nature.com

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Reposted by Fabienne Benz

David Bikard @dbikard.bsky.social · Jun 25

I created a list of researchers working at the @institutpasteur.bsky.social

DM me if you'd like to be added to it.

bsky.app/profile/did:...

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Reposted by Fabienne Benz

sylvain Brisse @sylvainbrisse.bsky.social · Jun 12

The BIGSdb-Pasteur project, running under my supervision since 20 years, is looking for a project manager - great opportunity to contribute to this high-profile international resource in the field of reference strain taxonomies, genomic epidemiology and antimicrobial resistance surveillance

Project manager: Genomic taxonomy of bacterial strains, epidemiological surveillance and antimicrobial resistance - Research

We are looking for a project manager to develop our activities around the genomic taxonomy of bacterial strains and the corresponding platform at https://bigsdb.pasteur.fr/. The project manager’s main...

research.pasteur.fr

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Fabienne Benz @fabbenz.bsky.social · Jun 11

‼️ Great Postdoc opportunity ‼️
In pathogen interactions with Rolf Kümmerli at the University of Zurich

Rolf Kümmerli @rkmicrobes.bsky.social · Jun 10

We are looking for a highly motivated postdoc to work on pathogen interactions. Please send in your application via

jobs.uzh.ch/job-vacancie...

UZH: Postdoctoral researcher in microbiology

The Department of Quantitative Biomedicine is an interdisciplinary biomedical research unit that combines basic science with biotechnological and medical research, using both experimental and computat...

jobs.uzh.ch

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Reposted by Fabienne Benz

Kelly Wyres @kelwyres.bsky.social · May 22

Working on #klebsiella genomes? ✅
Want to collaborate globally to advance Klebs genomic epi? ✅

Please join us via the KlebNET-GSP Epidemiology consortium ⬇️

#microsky #AMR

KlebNET-GSP @klebnet.bsky.social · May 21

We are pleased to launch the KlebNET Genomic Epidemiology Consortium!

We aim to build a public metadata repository; systematic risk framework for global genomic surveillance; and genomic epi reviews for high-impact #Klebsiella clones.

Join us here:
klebnet.org/klebnet-gsp-...

#ABPHM25

KlebNET-GSP

klebnet.org

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Reposted by Fabienne Benz

David Bikard @dbikard.bsky.social · May 18

I will be recruiting new postdocs with start dates end 2025 - early 2026. If you'd like to work at the Pasteur Institute in the heart of Paris surrounded by amazing scientists, reach out to discuss possible projects on SynBio / Bacterial Immunity!

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Reposted by Fabienne Benz

David Bikard @dbikard.bsky.social · May 15

Very happy to have this comprehensive review published. Well done Fabienne for leading the charge on this 👏

Fabienne Benz @fabbenz.bsky.social · May 15

1/6 Excited to share our review 🚀
🧬 CRISPR–Cas therapies targeting bacteria!
#MicroSky

Nature Reviews Bioengineering @natrevbioeng.nature.com · May 14

ICYMI: CRISPR–Cas therapies targeting bacteria

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Reposted by Fabienne Benz

Beatriz Beamud @beatrizbeamud.bsky.social · May 15

Massive effort lead by the amazing @fabbenz.bsky.social to discuss the present and future of CRISPR-based antimicrobials ⚡

Nature Reviews Bioengineering @natrevbioeng.nature.com · May 14

ICYMI: CRISPR–Cas therapies targeting bacteria

CRISPR–Cas therapies targeting bacteria

Nature Reviews Bioengineering, Published online: 13 May 2025; doi:10.1038/s44222-025-00311-8CRISPR–Cas tools can be designed to kill or modify specific bacteria. This Review explores the engineering of CRISPR–Cas tools and corresponding delivery strategies for the treatment of bacterial infections and modification of the microbiome.

www.nature.com

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Fabienne Benz @fabbenz.bsky.social · May 15

… I had to read it immediately and it is great! Congrats for this important piece of work Laura and Alvaro!

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Reposted by Fabienne Benz

Alvaro San Millan @sanmillan.bsky.social · May 15

New opinion paper from the lab!

www.cell.com/trends/micro...

Plasmid–bacteria associations in the clinical context

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is one of the most pressing global health problems, with plasmids playing a central role in its evolution and dissemination. Over the past decades, many studies have inv...

www.cell.com

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Reposted by Fabienne Benz

Vera Vollenweider @veraeva.bsky.social · May 15

An excellent and insightful review! Congratulations to all authors!

Fabienne Benz @fabbenz.bsky.social · May 15

1/6 Excited to share our review 🚀
🧬 CRISPR–Cas therapies targeting bacteria!
#MicroSky

Nature Reviews Bioengineering @natrevbioeng.nature.com · May 14

ICYMI: CRISPR–Cas therapies targeting bacteria

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Fabienne Benz @fabbenz.bsky.social · May 15

6/6
🙏 Huge thanks to co-authors
@beatrizbeamud.bsky.social
@raphael-microb.bsky.social
@amandinemaire.bsky.social
@adecrulle.bsky.social
XavierDuportet
@dbikard.bsky.social

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Fabienne Benz @fabbenz.bsky.social · May 15

5/6 – Clinical opportunities
👩‍⚕️ First-in-human trials already show safety and efficacy—proof CRISPR therapeutics can work in humans!

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Fabienne Benz @fabbenz.bsky.social · May 15

4/6 – The big hurdles
🛡️ Bacterial defences — restriction–modification systems, anti-CRISPRs and mutational escape — and how to bypass them

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Fabienne Benz @fabbenz.bsky.social · May 15

3/6 – In-situ delivery
🚚 Engineered phages, conjugative plasmids & more — pros, cons, host range, cargo size and manufacturability. No one-size-fits-all!

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Fabienne Benz @fabbenz.bsky.social · May 15

2/6 – CRISPR-Cas strategies
🧰 Toolbox & design considerations to eliminate bacteria or their plasmids — and to engineer microbes in situ

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Fabienne Benz @fabbenz.bsky.social · May 15

1/6 Excited to share our review 🚀
🧬 CRISPR–Cas therapies targeting bacteria!
#MicroSky

Nature Reviews Bioengineering @natrevbioeng.nature.com · May 14

ICYMI: CRISPR–Cas therapies targeting bacteria

CRISPR–Cas therapies targeting bacteria

Nature Reviews Bioengineering, Published online: 13 May 2025; doi:10.1038/s44222-025-00311-8CRISPR–Cas tools can be designed to kill or modify specific bacteria. This Review explores the engineering of CRISPR–Cas tools and corresponding delivery strategies for the treatment of bacterial infections and modification of the microbiome.

www.nature.com

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