Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

bishara marzook @ghostpathogen.bsky.social · Jul 29

Thanks Ana!

bishara marzook @ghostpathogen.bsky.social · Jul 25

Thanks Steph!! Yes loads more work to be done

bishara marzook @ghostpathogen.bsky.social · Jul 25

Yes the publishing process was an insightful journey indeed! Grateful to the editors and reviewers for valuing this dataset and outcomes :)

Reposted by bishara marzook

Kurt Ward @keward.bsky.social · Jul 5

My background is in molecular microbiology and parasitology, with a focus on malaria drug resistance. I’ve worked across international collaborations, mentored, and published in high-impact journals. Open to research, project-management, or education-focused roles in academia, govt or industry.

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Reposted by bishara marzook

Kurt Ward @keward.bsky.social · Jul 5

I’ve recently been made redundant from my role at UNSW due to the NIH’s decision to cancel foreign subawards. It’s an unfortunate situation affecting a lot of great researchers, and I’m now on the lookout for something new. If anyone knows of any molecular biologist roles coming up, let me know!

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Reposted by bishara marzook

Sateriale Lab @saterialelab.bsky.social · Jul 25

We are so excited to see the new avenues for research this will create! 👏👏👏 @ghostpathogen.bsky.social @lottabaumgaertel.bsky.social @netanyabernitz.bsky.social @tapokam.bsky.social @lucy-watson.bsky.social @crick.ac.uk

bishara marzook @ghostpathogen.bsky.social · Jul 24

Our paper has finally graduated from pre-print to peer-reviewed, pretty much unscathed, and is out now! www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...

The essential host genome for Cryptosporidium survival exposes metabolic dependencies that can be leveraged for treatment

An arrayed microscopy-based CRISPR screen revealed host genes affecting multiple infection phenotypes of the intracellular parasite Cryptosporidium. Hits in the host cholesterol biosynthesis pathway a...

www.cell.com

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bishara marzook @ghostpathogen.bsky.social · Jul 24

Thank you so much!

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bishara marzook @ghostpathogen.bsky.social · Jul 24

Oh, and a big thank you to our reviewers! The paper really benefited from them pushing us to explore and contextualise the data more deeply, so we thank them for their contributions and acknowledge their labour for the science we all love.

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bishara marzook @ghostpathogen.bsky.social · Jul 24

In these taxing times, I can only say that I count myself extremely fortunate to get to do what I love with people who make it worthwhile. I would not be here if not for them. I hope I can continue to do so and bring more people along on this continuing Crypto voyage.

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bishara marzook @ghostpathogen.bsky.social · Jul 24

Thankful to everyone in @saterialelab.bsky.social for making this journey so enjoyable, especially to Adam for giving me a shot on this huge project and guiding it through to the end. And of course the High-Throughput Screening team @crick.ac.uk for their invaluable expertise

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bishara marzook @ghostpathogen.bsky.social · Jul 24

We used this large dataset this created to discover some interesting host cell biology, unexpected Crypto biology, and even potentially a new host-directed treatment for this deadly disease. You can read the full thread about our findings here: bsky.app/profile/ghos...
#MicroSky

bishara marzook @ghostpathogen.bsky.social · Dec 6

Have you ever wondered how knocking out every single gene in the human genome, one by one, might affect your intracellular pathogen of interest? We did, & boy was it a wild ride! Happy to share our preprint discovering the essential host genome for Cryptosporidium -

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

Schematic showing the experimental outline for a full genome arrayed CRISPR screen. 384-well plates containing cells with an arrayed crRNA library are infected with Cryptosporidium parasites, which undergo asexual rounds of replication intracellularly, followed by sexual development to male and female forms. Plates are then fixed and immunolabeled to detect all parasites, female parasites, host actin recruited to parasite vacuoles, and host nuclei. Three z-stacks were imaged by high content microscopy to detect apically located parasites as well as host cell actin and nuclei.

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bishara marzook @ghostpathogen.bsky.social · Jul 24

We asked what happens if you disable almost every protein-coding human gene by CRISPR-Cas9 one by one in epithelial cells, infect those cells with the intestinal parasite #Cryptosporidium, and observe the resulting infection phenotypes by high-content microscopy to map the parasite's dependencies.

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bishara marzook @ghostpathogen.bsky.social · Jul 24

Our paper has finally graduated from pre-print to peer-reviewed, pretty much unscathed, and is out now! www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...

The essential host genome for Cryptosporidium survival exposes metabolic dependencies that can be leveraged for treatment

An arrayed microscopy-based CRISPR screen revealed host genes affecting multiple infection phenotypes of the intracellular parasite Cryptosporidium. Hits in the host cholesterol biosynthesis pathway a...

www.cell.com

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Reposted by bishara marzook

Prof Jenny Rohn @jennyrohn.bsky.social · Jul 21

Last chance to apply for great research tech #job in my friendly lab @uclmedsci.bsky.social in London! Cutting-edge organoid and microbiology work seeking to understand how probiotic bacteria might be deployed to fight urinary infection #UTI. Closes 23 July #UTISky www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DNQ902/r...

Research Technician at UCL

Apply now for the Research Technician role on jobs.ac.uk - the leading job board for higher education jobs. View details.

www.jobs.ac.uk

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Reposted by bishara marzook

robmoon.bsky.social @robmoon.bsky.social · Jul 19

For those interested in Masters in lab and field based research in infectious disease we have 3 fantastic programmes to choose from MSc Immunology, medical parasitology and entomology and medical microbiology. They benefit from very flexible module choices and summer projects in UK and abroad!

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Reposted by bishara marzook

The Carlson Lab @ Yale @carlsonlab.bsky.social · Jul 14

Open call: If you are a researcher working on a project estimating a cause-specific burden of disease attributable to climate change at regional to global scales, please reach out! We're looking for researchers who might be interested in joining a new collaborative network / workshop series.

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Reposted by bishara marzook

Maria Bernabeu @mariabernabeu.bsky.social · Jul 11

Pre-print alert 🚨: We have developed 2D and 3D stable iPSC endothelial-differentiation models through dox inducible ETS expression. We demonstrate endothelial identity and used these models for studying malaria pathogenesis research. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

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Reposted by bishara marzook

Marketa Novotna @marketanovotna.bsky.social · Jul 6

I used inducible CRISPR/Cas9 to make Trypanosoma brucei cell line that allowed me to edit originally muti-copy histone gene. We uncovered a novel role of H4 histone tail in gene regulation. I enjoyed working on this exciting project with @joanarcf.bsky.social, a great mentor.
doi.org/10.1038/s414...

Precision-edited histone tails disrupt polycistronic gene expression controls in trypanosomes - Nature Communications

Transcription in trypanosomatids, such as Trypanosoma brucei, is predominantly polycistronic and involves unconventional RNA polymerase II promoters. This study uses precision gene editing, site-satur...

www.nature.com

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Reposted by bishara marzook

Joanna Young @youngtoxolab.bsky.social · Jul 8

Postdoc position open to investigate chronic Toxoplasma infection!

elxw.fa.em3.oraclecloud.com/hcmUI/Candid...

Postdoctoral Research Associate

We are looking for a talented and enthusiastic Postdoctoral researcher to join the Young lab to investigate secreted proteins during chronic Toxoplasma gondii infection.

elxw.fa.em3.oraclecloud.com

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bishara marzook @ghostpathogen.bsky.social · Jun 15

Very cool work! More proof we have a lot to learn about actin and associated nucleation factors from apicomplexans :)

Freddy Frischknecht @freddyfrischknecht.bsky.social · Jun 14

Finally published: discovery of an unusual Arp2/3 complex with surprising new function in transmission of #malaria #parasites. Great work by Franzi Hentzschel, Yvonne Sokolowski + David Jewanski + fantastic collaboration with Matthias Marti: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

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bishara marzook @ghostpathogen.bsky.social · Feb 2

Woody Guthrie's guitar... hello

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bishara marzook @ghostpathogen.bsky.social · Jun 14

Honoured to have been invited to give a hallowed GRiP-ing seminar yesterday in Glasgow! Thanks @abhinay.bsky.social for the invite and @uofgsii.bsky.social for hosting me! Now enjoying the classic Glaswegian weather 😁 (yesterday was beautiful though!)

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Reposted by bishara marzook

Omaya Dudin 𓂆 ¦🍉¦🦠¦🔬¦ @dudinlab.bsky.social · Jun 10

90% of you probably don’t need to read this.
But maybe some of you are curious & 10% will feel seen. Or a little less alone. This isn’t about seeking sympathy.
It’s about sharing something hard to say out loud;
partly to heal, partly in case someone needs to hear it too. (1/3)
tinyurl.com/DudinO

Omaya Dudin

Interview with Omaya Dudin, who uses Ichthyosporea as models to study how and why unicellular organisms evolved multicellularity at the University of Geneva.

www.cell.com

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Reposted by bishara marzook

Geoff McFadden @fad1.bsky.social · Jun 8

We are developing a simple, very cheap, low tech way to reduce malaria transmission. Instead of giving the antimalarials to people, we give them to the mosquitoes that spread the parasite. How do we drug a mosquito? Read on. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Identifying antimalarials that disrupt malaria parasite transmission when fed to the mosquito

A decade-long decline in malaria cases has plateaued, primarily due to parasite drug resistance and mosquito resistance to insecticides used in bed ne…

www.sciencedirect.com

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Reposted by bishara marzook

Mark A. Hanson @hansonmark.bsky.social · Jun 3

URGENT: FlyBase has lost practically all its funding overnight; even user fees are tied up in denied grant funding. 🤬🤯

Any lab using @flybase.bsky.social please donate using the link in post below.

This incredible community, on whose backs our #Drosophila labs depend, can't be left out to dry.

Marc Dionne @marcsdionne.bsky.social · Jun 3

My lab studies bacterial infections. We spend a lot of time looking at (or for) species-specific genetic and genomic databases for hosts and microbes. FlyBase is the best of all—there is literally no comparison. Its existence is under threat. Please donate.
www.philanthropy.cam.ac.uk/give-to-camb...

Drosophila Genetic Database

The Drosophila Genetic Database, FlyBase, is on the brink of collapse due to the sudden termination of the FlyBase NIH grant, which includes salaries for 5 literature curators based at the University ...

www.philanthropy.cam.ac.uk

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