We recently stopped by @billerbecks.bsky.social's lab at Imperial to see them using our electroPioreactor - open-source hardware that grows alt-protein bacteria using electrolysis - in action. v0.2 is underway (github.com/amy-bo/elect...), a big step toward our website launch. #SynBio

Can‘t tell your frogs apart? 🐸Dario Tomanin and Serban Tonie have developed XIBBIT, a user-friendly software to recognize Xenopus laevis and accommodate your daily colony management needs. We used XIBBIT to show that egg-quality has an individual and seasonal component. Preprint: tinyurl.com/Xibbit

XIBBIT: A biometric recognition tool for efficient Xenopus laevis identification and colony management

The African clawed frog Xenopus laevis is a widely utilized model organism in biomedical research; however, significant challenges in experimental reproducibility and colony management remain. A major...

biorxiv.org

New paper out by @aliciamv.bsky.social 🤩🥳 …where we study the yeast-based antifungal compound and iron-chelator pulcherriminic acid academic.oup.com/femsyr/advan...

Pulcherriminic acid Biosynthesis and Transport: Insights from a heterologous system in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Abstract. Pulcherriminic acid is an iron chelator produced by some Kluyveromyces and Metschnikowia yeasts. Its biosynthesis is encoded by the four–gene PUL

academic.oup.com

Brilliant #DailyShow life yesterday in NYC hosted by Jon Stewart 🤩! Good to see voices raised Jon Stewart to Los Angeles: ‘Is Your City Ever Not on Fire?’ www.nytimes.com/2025/06/10/a...

Join us for the next edition of this wonderful conference series in 2026! The last editions were very well received by all participants! Great speakers, setting and atmosphere.

Wellcome Connecting Science Learning and Training@eventswcs.bsky.social · last yr.

Discover the #SyntheticBiology based innovations driving improvements in human health and planetary sustainability! #SynBio26 Join us at the intersection of bioengineering and medical science for sharing, networking and collaboration. 🗓️11-13 March 2026 📎Meeting info: bit.ly/43nlbBW #ALife ⚙️🧫

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!

My dept in London at Imperial (Bioengineering) is recruiting a group leader at Professor level 🧑‍🎓 Please RT. It's a great place with world-class expertise in all sorts of biomedical & biological engineering topics like synthetic biology. It's also not in the USA. www.imperial.ac.uk/jobs/search-...

If you are in #Groningen tomorrow, don't forget the upcoming YAG's Pub Lectures: * Clemens Mayer: Evolution as an all-purpose problem solver * Corina Prent: Innovation and imagination 📅 16 April 🕔 17.00-18.00 📍 Café de Toeter

Can expression of a peptide lead to antimicrobial resistance? Yes it can! We discovered this for a toxin we work with and started exploring how #peptides, #antimicrobialresistance and de-novo gene birth can come together. @cp-trendsmicrobiol.bsky.social Amazing work by @rianneprins.bsky.social

Trends in Microbiology@cp-trendsmicrobiol.bsky.social · last yr.

Small proteins and peptides conferring protection against antimicrobial compounds

Great opportunity at a great place to work!

Tom Ellis@proftomellis.bsky.social · last yr.

Unlike a lot of other universities right now, we are still hiring for new faculty here at Imperial in London 🎉🚨🇬🇧🫖 If you want to come and run a research group in the theme of bioengineering then apply to be my colleague before the end of April. www.imperial.ac.uk/jobs/search-...

LIVEBLOG in English: The University of Groningen is on strike on Tuesday, March 18, due to the looming budget cuts in higher education. In this live blog, we will follow the strike, which is unique in the university’s history, hour by hour. ukrant.nl/marathonstak...

Liveblog: the RUG is on strike against impending mega budget cuts

De Rijksuniversiteit Groningen staakt dinsdag 18 maart vanwege de dreigende bezuinigingen in het hoger onderwijs. In dit liveblog volgen we de staking, uniek in de Groningse universitaire geschiedenis...

ukrant.nl

Vandaag staak ik - het is de beurt aan de @unigroningen.bsky.social en de @hanzehogeschool.bsky.social in de estafettestaking van het hoger onderwijs. De hele dag doet @ukrant.bsky.social verslag. #DoeHetNiet @woinactie.bsky.social ukrant.nl/marathonstak...

Liveblog: de RUG staakt tegen dreigende megabezuiniging

De Rijksuniversiteit Groningen staakt dinsdag 18 maart vanwege de dreigende bezuinigingen in het hoger onderwijs. In dit liveblog volgen we de staking, uniek in de Groningse universitaire geschiedenis...

ukrant.nl

🟥 Solidarity with my colleagues in the Netherlands, striking today (and in the coming weeks) to resist outrageous budget cuts proposed by the far-right-led government. 💪

Ingrid Robeyns@ingridrobeyns.bsky.social · last yr.

Dutch universities go on strike - for the first time since anyone can remember. We protest the treatment and budget cuts of our extreme-right government. The strikers take turns - and Leiden university kicks off tomorrow. ✊🏼

Small proteins and peptides conferring protection against antimicrobial compounds @cp-trendsmicrobiol.bsky.social by @rianneprins.bsky.social and @billerbecks.bsky.social www.cell.com/trends/micro...

Small proteins and peptides conferring protection against antimicrobial compounds

The secretion of antimicrobials is widespread among microorganisms, many of which have developed protection mechanisms. While well-characterized protection mechanisms involve relatively large proteins...

cell.com

Join us @apnet.bsky.social to build a strong network of Assistant Professors in the Netherlands. www.ap-net.nl/register

APNet - Assistant Professor Network Netherlands@apnet.bsky.social · last yr.

If you are an Assistant Professor (or equivalent) in The Netherlands, join us at @apnet.bsky.social. For only 20 €, you can become a member until the end of 2025 and profit from connecting with your peers and having a representation at the national level. www.ap-net.nl/register

For yeast and fungi fans: I’ll be speaking about our work on the yeast toxicome on March 13th. Hybrid attendance possible. www.imperial.ac.uk/events/18820...

Imperial Fungal Science Network | Seminar Series 2025 | Seminar

A hybrid seminar program focussing on our key research themes: Biotechnology and Engineering; Ecology, Evolution and the Environment.

imperial.ac.uk

It’s been a tough few weeks. My 10yo daughter was diagnosed with a very rare, aggressive cancer called interdigitating dendritic cell sarcoma (IDCS). I’m reaching out to identify clinicians/patients who have encountered pediatric IDCS or other (non-LCH) dendritic or histiocytic sarcomas cases.

🚨 Tenure-track jobs at NYU Biology!! We're going to hire two new assistant professors working in ecological and evolutionary genetics and genomics. Live and work in Greenwich Village, with friendly colleagues invested in your success. Apply! apply.interfolio.com/155792

Hi Skeeps, if you are in the London area and would like me to speak at your university or company, I will be in London on Thursday April 10 and Friday April 11. Looking for talks that can offer some travel/lodging reimbursement.

Here the correct link ☺️ www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Protocol to study toxic, immune, and suicidal phenotypes of killer yeast

Killer yeast produce antimicrobial proteins, often together with a self-protective immunity factor. Here, we present a protocol for analyzing the toxi…

sciencedirect.com

Sonja Billerbeck@billerbecks.bsky.social · 2y ago

For those working with antifungal yeast, we consolidated protocols to test for killing, immunity and suicidal phenotypes by @_rprins 🥳🥳 sciencedirect.com/science/articl…

For those working with antifungal yeast, we consolidated protocols to test for killing, immunity and suicidal phenotypes by @_rprins 🥳🥳 sciencedirect.com/science/articl…

Happy to share our new paper in @naturemicrobiol.bsky.social on mapping spatial relationships of the human gut microbiome. We identified distinct spatial hubs between gut bacteria that reflect sub-community assemblies at the micron-scale. Led by Miles Richardson & co. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

SAMPL-seq reveals micron-scale spatial hubs in the human gut microbiome - Nature Microbiology

Split-And-pool Metagenomic Plot-sampling sequencing (SAMPL-seq) can be applied to complex microbial communities to reveal spatial co-localization of microbes at the micron scale.

nature.com

Out now! We consolidated >600 Dutch yeast and characterised their activity against spoilage yeasts and relevant human and plant pathogens, focusing on yeasts that secrete antifungal proteins. Great resource for biocontrol and beyond. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39875071/

Big day! New year, new job 🤩. Settled into my new office and visited the partly original DNA helix model by Watson and Crick in the London Science Museum next door. Fully inspired for 2025 now 😆!

Best farewell gift by @dirkscheffers.bsky.social ! 2025 Discovery walks and runs in my new home fixed 😁. Meanwhile saying good bye to pretty Groningen in Christmas lights.

Christmas lab dinner with this lovely bunch ☺️

💥💥💥 !!! Please re-post !!! 💥💥💥 Hello Community, We’re excited to announce that we’re moving to Groningen in January 2025 to embark on a new chapter in our research careers. For this, we need a house/flat and we hope to find a nice place with your help.

Great day at the #Westerdijk learning new things about fungi 🤓 and sharing some of our yeast work at #KNVMmycology. Especially happy to have learned about #Starship giant transposons and a new sticker.

Ákos T Kovács@evolvedbiofilm.bsky.social · 2y ago

Alicia Macia Valero (from the group of @billerbecks.bsky.social at RUG): The antifungal capacity of a 681-membered collection of environmental yeast isolates #KNVMmycology

Reminder, if you are yeast biologist (species agnostic, just need be single celled and a fungus) please let me know and I will add you to this starter pack. go.bsky.app/PyUwqLU