Willem van Schaik
@wvschaik.bsky.social
6.9K followers 1K following 2.5K posts
Microbiology, microbiome, antimicrobial resistance. Sometimes UK politics. Head of Research of the School of Infection, Inflammation and Immunology, University of Birmingham. Also Co-Director of @target-amr.bsky.social.
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Reposted by Willem van Schaik
agagambus.bsky.social
We are looking for a senior technician (can undertake PhD) at Uni of Birmingham (UK) to study chromatin replication and ubiquitylation using Xenopus egg extract. Deadline 28/10/25. Get in touch with me or @m-saponaro.bsky.social for informal inquiries. Please share.
www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DOW912/s...
Senior Research Technician at University of Birmingham
Explore an exciting academic career as a Senior Research Technician. Don't miss out on other academic jobs. Click to apply and explore more opportunities.
www.jobs.ac.uk
Reposted by Willem van Schaik
alanmcn1.bsky.social
After being with the journal since its very inception, the time has come for me to step back from Microbial Genomics. This is a wonderful opportunity to have a leadership role in one of the leading journals for microbial genomics research

microbiologysociety.org/news/society...
<i>Microbial Genomics </i> Deputy Editor-in-Chief: Call for Expressions of interest
microbiologysociety.org
Reposted by Willem van Schaik
alanmcn1.bsky.social
T-Regs win the Nobel prize.

And our School's very own Profs Ye Oo and Graham Anderson were just awarded a Wellcome Discovery grant with Prof Sakaguchi as a Co-I on their project.........

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Scientists win Nobel Prize for groundbreaking immune system work
The prize-winning discovery explains how the immune system attacks hostile infections, but not the body's own cells.
www.bbc.co.uk
Reposted by Willem van Schaik
jamesemcdonald.bsky.social
MMEG is coming to @unibirmingham.bsky.social in December - look out for some exciting announcements about the programme in the next few weeks! Abstract submission and registration is open 👇🏻
amiposts.bsky.social
Save the Date: #MMEG2025 is coming to Birmingham!

Join us on 15–16 December 2025 for the 31st edition of MMEG. This year's event is your chance to:
🔬 Share your research
🤝 Connect with peers
🦠 Discover the latest in molecular microbial ecology

Register now: appliedmicrobiology.org/ems-event-ca...
wvschaik.bsky.social
Apart from the fun insights into our famous Noodlococcus strain of K. rhizophila, we also uncover that the species K. rhizophila is much more diverse than anticipated, with a separate clade that should probably be considered a separate species (K. pseudorhizophila).
Reposted by Willem van Schaik
nature.com
BREAKING: The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded jointly to Mary E. Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell, and Shimon Sakaguchi "for their discoveries concerning peripheral immune tolerance"

Stay tuned for more.
#NobelPrize
A photo of a Nobel medal
Reposted by Willem van Schaik
brockhurstlab.bsky.social
New preprint!

Ever wondered why only a fraction of genomes encode CRISPR immunity? 🧬 🦠

Turns out CRISPR is rarely beneficial against virulent phages, being most beneficial against those for which resistance mutations are rare!

An epic effort by Rosanna Wright

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Resistance mutation supply modulates the benefit of CRISPR immunity against virulent phages
Only a fraction of bacterial genomes encode CRISPR-Cas systems but the selective causes of this variation are unexplained. How naturally virulent bacteriophages (phages) select for CRISPR immunity has...
www.biorxiv.org
Reposted by Willem van Schaik
tunglejic.bsky.social
Independent research fellowships leading to tenured positions at the John Innes Centre.

Repost = nice. Thank you very much!!!
johninnescentre.bsky.social
Shortlisted candidates will be invited to give a seminar at the Fellows Conference, which will be held on 10 March 2026.

Candidates who win Fellowships will be offered a Tenure Track Group Leader position from the outset, initially for 5 years.

Find out more: www.jic.ac.uk/training-car...
Independent Research Fellowships Leading to Tenured Faculty Positions | John Innes Centre
The John Innes Centre (JIC), is a world leading centre of excellence in plant and microbial sciences based on the Norwich Research Park, UK. We are inviting applications from outstanding researchers…
www.jic.ac.uk
wvschaik.bsky.social
Impressive
kojamf.bsky.social
Dr. Jane Goodall filmed an interview with Netflix in March 2025 that she understood would only be released after her death.
Reposted by Willem van Schaik
greenrat.bsky.social
Neat trick if you polycolonal ab's suck. Incubate them with fixed cells with a KO of your protein of interest, then spin. Protocol here: www.med.upenn.edu/markslab/ass...
I was amazed how well it worked on first try (I'm sure that I can completely eliminate unspecific bands)
#WesternBlot #cellsky
On the left - western blot of B16F10 cells wt and KO for CDK8. Our in house produced antibodies give a lot of unspecific bands. On the right same probes with antibodies preincubated with fixed CDK8 KO cells - there is a specific band and faint unspecific bands, which can be probably eliminated with increase of amount of KO cells.
Reposted by Willem van Schaik
roberthutton.co.uk
"I see gangs of masked thugs roaming the streets rounding up anyone the wrong colour, and I think: *this* is what Britain needs."
Reposted by Willem van Schaik
simongosden.bsky.social
Today is the 89th anniversary of The Battle of Cable Street when the people of the East End of London halted the march of Oswald Mosley’s Blackshirts through Stepney.
Reposted by Willem van Schaik
Reposted by Willem van Schaik
veeninglab.com
Finally out, such an awesome piece of work, very proud of this one: www.cell.com/cell-systems... #MicroSky
Reposted by Willem van Schaik
sundersays.bsky.social
Support for staying in the ECHR has been rising (probably a Farage effect of solidifying the majority who oppose him, maybe Trump osmosis effect). Media and political opinion on the right believes there is a strong public desire to quit. Badenoch has now committed the Conservatives to quitting.
wvschaik.bsky.social
Ik denk omdat de D66 leden bepaald niet enthousiast waren over die move?
wvschaik.bsky.social
I very much enjoyed the first three episodes of 'How are you? I'm Alan (Partridge)'

My favourite joke was the quick cut after 'grasping the nettle'
Reposted by Willem van Schaik
davescamp.bsky.social
This is fascinating. Is everyone allowed to block off the highway now, with a police escort, to promote their chosen political beliefs?
khuar.bsky.social
Flags went up in Stirchley a few days ago & were taken down by local residents the same evening.

The men returned with a cherry picker and coned off parts of the road with police accompanying them as they put up new flags along the High Street.

Residents who object have been met with verbal abuse.
wvschaik.bsky.social
there was a bit of blip when Twitter went full nazi, but communities are getting back together again here
wvschaik.bsky.social
Just had an amazing meeting with colleagues from around the world based on a discussion on this platform.

Social media can still be a great place to start scientific discourse.