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widdowquinn.bsky.social
Leighton Pritchard
@widdowquinn.bsky.social
1K followers 640 following 370 posts
Computational biologist. Views/opinions mine, not my employer's. Repost != agreement. Not green, just pleasant. Fabian. =﹥÷ I can’t see DMs because of the Online Safety Act.
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widdowquinn.bsky.social
Leighton Pritchard @widdowquinn.bsky.social · Jul 23
About 18 months ago we held a @microbiologysociety.org meeting in Glasgow to discuss the thorny topic of #microbial #taxonomy and #nomenclature - and now you can read what we talked about :D

#microbiology #controversy

doi.org/10.1099/ijse...
‘What’s in a name? Fit-for-purpose bacterial nomenclature’: meeting report
Rapid and economical DNA sequencing has resulted in a revolution in phylogenomics. The impact of changes in nomenclature can be perceived as an absolute necessity of scientific rigour, coupled with th...
doi.org
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Reposted by Leighton Pritchard
jcamthrash.bsky.social
Cameron Thrash @jcamthrash.bsky.social · 23h
Half of microbial eukaryote literature focuses on only twelve human parasites academic.oup.com/ismej/advanc... #jcampubs
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Reposted by Leighton Pritchard
naomimc.bsky.social
Naomi McAuliffe @naomimc.bsky.social · 1d
Sacking judges is what authoritarians do. We all know where this is going and where it will end. This must not be acceptable discourse.
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Reposted by Leighton Pritchard
theatlantic.com
The Atlantic @theatlantic.com · 23h
For working-class kids, the path to the middle class Is vanishing. Returning to my Ohio hometown showed me why, Beth Macy writes.
What Happened to My Hometown?
The fraying of my family and the Ohio we once knew
bit.ly
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Reposted by Leighton Pritchard
drjdennehy.bsky.social
John Dennehy @drjdennehy.bsky.social · 23h
www.cell.com/trends/ecolo...

New entry into the Disability in Ecology and Evolution series in TREE featuring me :)
Disability in ecology and evolution
In this TrendsTalk series 'Disability in ecology and evolution' in Trends in Ecology and Evolution, we will be hearing from people about their experiences being disabled in ecology and evolution. We a...
www.cell.com
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Reposted by Leighton Pritchard
albertvilella.bsky.social
Albert Vilella, PhD. @albertvilella.bsky.social · 2d
Managers have been vibe coding forever.
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Reposted by Leighton Pritchard
katiefield4.bsky.social
Katie Field @katiefield4.bsky.social · 4d
If you’re looking for a PhD studentship in some really exciting areas of plant science 🌿 take a look at this year’s Sainsbury PhD studentships - you could come and study orchid mycorrhizas 🌸🍄 with me & @garethphoenix.bsky.social! www.findaphd.com/phds/program...
FindAPhD : Prestigious Sainsbury PhD Studentships in plant sciences at Gatsby Charitable Foundation
Apply for a PhD: Prestigious Sainsbury PhD Studentships in plant sciences at Gatsby Charitable Foundation
www.findaphd.com
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Reposted by Leighton Pritchard
michaelwebster.bsky.social
Michael Webster @michaelwebster.bsky.social · 4d
Start independent research at the JIC with us 👇.

Really interested in finding those with an interest in structural biology and biochemistry of plants and microbes.

Please do get in touch by email if you'd like to know more 👍
johninnescentre.bsky.social
John Innes Centre @johninnescentre.bsky.social · 5d
VACANCY - Independent research fellowships leading to tenured positions

We’re inviting applications from outstanding researchers who either hold, or wish to apply for, Independent Research Fellowships.

APPLICATION DEADLINE: 10 November 2025

Click here to apply: jic.link/Fellows
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widdowquinn.bsky.social
Leighton Pritchard @widdowquinn.bsky.social · 5d
Psyche! She _never_ checked…
georgeeaton.bsky.social
George Eaton @georgeeaton.bsky.social · 5d
Kemi Badenoch saying “the last time I checked, Northern Ireland did vote to leave” is so on-brand it hurts. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Kemi Badenoch mistakenly says NI voted in favour of Brexit
In a BBC NI interview, the Tory leader said the
www.bbc.co.uk
Reposted by Leighton Pritchard
suzieh.bsky.social
Suzie Humphrey @suzieh.bsky.social · 6d
Are you fascinated by phages? An admirer of anti-phage systems? Bewitched by biofilms? Well, what are you waiting for?! Come and join us in Glasgow to work on this brilliant project! 🦠
giusym1990.bsky.social
Giusy Mariano @giusym1990.bsky.social · 6d
🚨PhD Opportunity Alert🚨 Join me, @suzieh.bsky.social and @walllabuoglasgow.bsky.social to investigate how environment shapes anti-phage defences & prophage–prophage conflict in Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
Apply here:
www.gla.ac.uk/postgraduate...
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Reposted by Leighton Pritchard
giusym1990.bsky.social
Giusy Mariano @giusym1990.bsky.social · 6d
🚨PhD Opportunity Alert🚨 Join me, @suzieh.bsky.social and @walllabuoglasgow.bsky.social to investigate how environment shapes anti-phage defences & prophage–prophage conflict in Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
Apply here:
www.gla.ac.uk/postgraduate...
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Reposted by Leighton Pritchard
openbio.bsky.social
Open Bioinformatics Foundation @openbio.bsky.social · 7d
An open letter about the recent cuts at GigaScience: www.open-bio.org/2025/09/30/2...
(open for signatures until the end of October)

#OpenScience #OpenData #GigaScience
Scott Edmunds cuts the cake at the 2025 GigaScience birthday party at ISMB/ECCB 2025
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Reposted by Leighton Pritchard
biozentrum.unibas.ch
Biozentrum, University of Basel @biozentrum.unibas.ch · 9d
Assistant/Associate Professor in Structural Biology, Biophysics or Biological Imaging

www.biozentrum.unibas.ch/open-positio...

#biozentrum #University #Basel #Professor #Structural #Biology #Biophysics #Biological #Imaging
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Reposted by Leighton Pritchard
padpadpadpad.bsky.social
Daniel Padfield @padpadpadpad.bsky.social · 22d
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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Reposted by Leighton Pritchard
drewharwell.com
Drew Harwell @drewharwell.com · 7d
OpenAI employees are very excited about how well their new AI tool can create fake videos of people doing crimes and have definitely thought through all the implications of this
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Reposted by Leighton Pritchard
paulhoskisson.bsky.social
Paul Hoskisson 🧫 🦠🐸 @paulhoskisson.bsky.social · 8d
Come and work with me and @ariannebabina.bsky.social on #Streptomyces evolution and antibiotic production

Origins of a tangled bank: Adaptation and evolution in antibiotic-producing Streptomyces

www.gla.ac.uk/postgraduate...

please repost
University of Glasgow - Postgraduate study - Centres for Doctoral Training - NorthWest Biosciences - Our Projects - Underpinning Bioscience - Paul A Hoskisson
www.gla.ac.uk
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Reposted by Leighton Pritchard
rmcelreath.bsky.social
Richard McElreath 🐈‍⬛ @rmcelreath.bsky.social · 7d
A serious failure case is that many biologists seem to have been taught that they should inspect bivariate correlations between predictors and not include pairs with high correlations. That is not even "collinearity" as statisticians define it (where is about joint info in additive model).
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Reposted by Leighton Pritchard
rmcelreath.bsky.social
Richard McElreath 🐈‍⬛ @rmcelreath.bsky.social · 7d
Was asked about collinearity again, so here's Vahove's 2019 post on why it isn't a problem that needs a solution. Design the model(s) to answer a formal question and free your mind janhove.github.io/posts/2019-0...
tl;dr Collinearity is a form of lack of information that is appropriately reflected in the output of your statistical model. When collinearity is associated with interpretational difficulties, these difficulties aren’t caused by the collinearity itself. Rather, they reveal that the model was poorly specified (in that it answers a question different to the one of interest), that the analyst overly focuses on significance rather than estimates and the uncertainty about them or that the analyst took a mental shortcut in interpreting the model that could’ve also led them astray in the absence of collinearity. If you do decide to “deal with” collinearity, make sure you can still answer the question of interest.
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natureportfolio.nature.com
Nature Portfolio @natureportfolio.nature.com · 8d
In a Consensus Statement in Nature Microbiology, a consortium of #microbiome scientists discusses current sequencing data sharing policies and proposes the use of a Data Reuse Information tag to promote equitable and collaborative data sharing. go.nature.com/4o1Gl1f 🧪
This is figure 1, which shows the summary results from a survey of 306 scientists on data reuse.
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widdowquinn.bsky.social
Leighton Pritchard @widdowquinn.bsky.social · 8d
Just tried simplefold and am astounded at being able to predict folds on my laptop.
albertvilella.bsky.social
Albert Vilella, PhD. @albertvilella.bsky.social · 11d
open.substack.com/pub/genomely... Another write up on the recently published Simplefold by @apple
SimpleFold and the Future of Protein Folding
A Generative Shift in Protein Folding
open.substack.com
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Reposted by Leighton Pritchard
scientificdiscovery.dev
Saloni @scientificdiscovery.dev · 8d
I don't think the average person is going to learn much by accessing a paywalled scientific paper.

But the current system keeps out journalists, science communicators, policy researchers, and fact checkers from reading into a topic as well.
scientificdiscovery.dev
Saloni @scientificdiscovery.dev · 9d
In general I think it's hard to combat scientific misinformation when some of the best research is locked behind an academic paywall, while lots of nonsense gets published free for everyone to read in predatory journals.
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Reposted by Leighton Pritchard
halllab.bsky.social
Hall Lab @halllab.bsky.social · 8d
Come join us 2-4th March 2026 for a cracking #microbiome conference in Hinxton UK! Speaker line up is AMAZING and lots of opportunities for ECRs for selected talks, flash talks and posters.

Bursaries are also available!

See details below 👇
eventswcs.bsky.social
Wellcome Connecting Science Learning and Training @eventswcs.bsky.social · 8d
Showcase your microbiome research at our 2026 conference! #Microbiome26

Demonstrate how #genomics tools and technologies are contributing to a deeper understanding of the microbiome.

🗓️ 2-4 March
Submit an abstract by 24 November ✍🏼

📎 bit.ly/4kttBOX
#MicrobiomeSky #AcademicSky
Wellcome Connecting Science hybrid conference Microbiome Interactions in Health and Disease Conference dates: 2-4 March 2026 Location: Hinxton Hall Conference Centre, Wellcome Genome Campus, UK and online Bursary and abstract deadline: 24 November 2025 Registration deadline In person: 2 February Virtual: 14 February
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Reposted by Leighton Pritchard
mattcameron.bsky.social
Matt Cameron @mattcameron.bsky.social · 8d
hey @nytimes.com: there is no counterpoint here. There are no credible legal experts who would EVER say that the US military has any right or authority to blow civilian craft out of the Caribbean and kill their crews from afar without any provocation. There is no other side to this question.
"Some legal experts have called it a crime to summarily kill civilians not directly taking part in hostilities, even if they are believed to be smuggling drugs."
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lobstereo.bsky.social
josh @lobstereo.bsky.social · 8d
photo of parked car annotated to where I think I should be able to destroy it for blocking pavement
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Reposted by Leighton Pritchard
superresolusian.bsky.social
Siân Culley @superresolusian.bsky.social · 9d
BioImage analysis friends - King's are recruiting for a full-time, permanent facility position! Come and work with fun microscopes and fun people (and me!) - please share! www.kcl.ac.uk/jobs/126345-...
Bioimage Analysis Specialist | King's College London
www.kcl.ac.uk
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Reposted by Leighton Pritchard
andraswf.bsky.social
András Forgács W @andraswf.bsky.social · 9d
imagine, saying that with a straight face, that if you vote for racist policies you are not a racist, and then expected to be treated like an intelligent human being
aphclarkson.bsky.social
Alexander Clarkson @aphclarkson.bsky.social · 9d
The Labour leadership is going to struggle when journalists and members start asking what would then make a voter racist
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