A sad day. Ada's pioneering work on the ribosome changed how we understand one of the central machines of life. She is a remarkable example of curiosity and boldness in pursuing questions that seemed impossible. Her scientific courage and persistence has been an inspiration.

Prof. Ada Yonath, Nobel Laureate and a Model of Scientific Perseverance, Has Passed Away - Weizmann Wonder Wander - News, Features and Discoveries

From pursuing an impossible dream to uncovering one of the cell’s best-kept secrets and advancing the design of improved antibiotics

wis-wander.weizmann.ac.il

Open PI position in infection biology at Umeå University, deadline 15 September. MIMS is the Swedish node of the Nordic EMBL partnership and offers "EMBL-style" group leader positions. Great resources and infrastructure in a friendly environment. www.umu.se/en/mims/ 1/2

New from the lab--C. diff uses phase variation to initiate infection in a virulent state but that phenotype presents a fitness cost as disease develops. A programmed reset mechanism primes Clostridioides difficile virulence at the onset of infection | Science Advances www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

A programmed reset mechanism primes Clostridioides difficile virulence at the onset of infection

Clostridioides difficile is a major cause of antibiotic-associated diarrhea. This pathogen produces toxins essential for disease and flagella that promote intestinal colonization. Flagella and toxins ...

science.org

This looks like step 1 to Trump's annexation of Greenland. It's a region I have visited twice- it is an extremely remote and pristine wilderness, too fragile for this kind of operation. A blatant attack on Greenland's and Denmark's national sovereignty. www.techtimes.com/articles/323...

Greenland Energy Told Investors Permits Were On Track: Government Source Said Otherwise

Greenland Energy oil drilling in Jameson Land is blocked for 2026: Greenland’s mineral official confirmed the Trump-linked NASDAQ firm cannot receive permits before November 8, past the logistics wind...

techtimes.com

Biofilm formation in #Bacillus subtilis is thought to precede sporulation, but T. Updegrove says that a subpopulation of sporulating cells triggers other cells to become biofilm formers via an intracellular metabolite (glycerol) repurposed as a signaling molecule (!) www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

A metabolite morphogen coordinates multicellular development in Bacillus subtilis

Cell-cell signaling using a core metabolite repurposed as a developmental cue coordinates bacterial multicellular development.

science.org

Congratulations to Chris Russo, MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, for receiving the 2026 K.H. Kuo Award for Distinguished Scientist in Biological Electron Microscopy www.bsc.org.cn/KuoSymposium...

Where is all the money going? Every day we read about massive cuts by @ukri.org, but their budget wasn't cut.

Julian Sale@juliansalelab.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Growing up in the Northwest, Jodrell Bank helped inspire my interest in science. To hear of its funding being cut by @ukri.org is extremely sad, and an act of monumental vandalism that diminishes UK science in so many ways, including its ability to excite little kids... www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Earlier this year UKRI launched a funding call to invest £40M in ONE AI lab. www.ukri.org/opportunity/... For some unknown reason they decided to fund TWO AI labs at the cost of £60M. An extra £20M. Just found. That's the equivalent of 7 more years of Jodrell Bank. www.ukri.org/news/ukri-la...

UKRI launches two AI research labs to stay ahead in global race

Two new labs will back British researchers to develop next generation artificial intelligence (AI) systems, helping secure the UK’s position as a global leader.

ukri.org

Astronomer Royal for Scotland | Catherine Heymans@astroroyalscot.bsky.social · 2mo ago

I'm absolutely devastated for colleagues at Jodrell Bank who found out this morning that funding for the UK's e-MERLIN radio telescope array will be terminated. This is a short-sighted move, to save a tiny fraction of the overall UK science budget. #SaveJodrellBank 🔭🧪 www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... Our latest paper on C. difficile phage/S-layer interactions with thanks to @robfagan.bsky.social @jasonwils.bsky.social for all their hard work on this.

S-layer-phage interaction in Clostridioides difficile

Successful infection by a bacteriophage requires the injection of the phage genome into the cytoplasm of the host bacterium. To achieve this, an infec…

sciencedirect.com

CryoEM in the fast lane of structural biology pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42489646/ #cryoEM

Look what arrived in the mail! @springernature.com

Checkout out the latest from our lab. One of two papers published by PhD student, Behzad Dehghani who recently completed their PhD. We identify CprV as a "safeguard" protein that helps protect cellular compartmentalisation during bacterial spore formation. www.nature.com/articles/s42...

A safeguarding factor monitors septal pore stability to secure compartmentalization during sporulation in Bacillus subtilis - Communications Biology

Identification of CprV during bacterial sporulation reveals insight into how developing cells monitor compartmental integrity during cellular remodelling and differentiation.

nature.com

Full article: Genomic evolution and re-emergence of a multidrug-resistant Clostridioides difficile RT027 clone with reduced vancomycin susceptibility driving a prolonged hospital outbreak www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/...

Genomic evolution and re-emergence of a multidrug-resistant Clostridioides difficile RT027 clone with reduced vancomycin susceptibility driving a prolonged hospital outbreak

Following an extended period of declining prevalence of the epidemic Clostridioides difficile ribotype 027 (RT027) in Portugal, a genetically distinct, multidrug-resistant (MDR) RT027 strain with r...

tandfonline.com

Beautiful images!

bioRxiv Microbiology@biorxiv-microbiol.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Assembly of the essential SpoIVA coat protein at the surface of developing bacterial spores https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.07.09.737436v1

For 6 months the line from DSIT & UKRI on STFC cuts has been that no final decisions have been taken That is no longer the case, after DSIT approved UKRI's proposal for how to save £162m British research at Cern will be hit, along with UK science facilities Scoop by me & @francesjones.bsky.social

UK research at Cern to shrink as government approves STFC cuts - Research Professional News

Exclusive: Science department approves UKRI’s cost-saving proposal, with major UK facilities also facing cutbacks

researchprofessionalnews.com

Pseudosymmetry in the wild 🙃🌻

We’re happy to introduce phageFACTor (Functional Annotation and Curation Tool) 👩‍💻Developed by Tanaïs Moreau, our most recent PhD candidate, and building on Phold, we were able to improve annotation of prophage genes by as much as 50% 🧬 You should check it out github.com/TMs-code/pha...

Clostridioides difficile as a Zoonotic and Foodborne Pathogen: Reviewing the Global Evidence and South African Data onlinelibrary.wiley.com/share/Z6KJUI...

New preprint from the lab led by Alex Dobrila! We show that butyrate-dependent toxin release in C. difficile is mediated by a broadly-conserved endolysin (EndD), which is under the control of the sporulation sigma factor SigK. Excited to share this story! 👇 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

EndD mediates butyrate-dependent toxin release in Clostridioides difficile

Clostridioides difficile is an urgent threat to human health. Current treatments for C. difficile infections (CDIs) are antibiotics and microbiome restoration therapy (MRT) for recurrent cases. Howeve...

biorxiv.org

Latest from our lab in special issue "CryoEM in the Fast Lane of Structural Biology". Review on CISs in #C.difficile & new results on phage contraction & receptor binding @jasonwils.bsky.social @robfagan.bsky.social @molmicrosheffield.bsky.social #SLayers #CryoEM #Phages doi.org/10.1107/S205...

How cryoEM has advanced our understanding of bacteriophages and bacteriocins targeting Clostridioides difficile

Two recent cryogenic electron microscopy (cryoEM) structures provide a unique opportunity to compare a bacteriophage and a bacteriocin targeted at the same host. CryoEM reveals the most detailed view ...

doi.org

Come join the new Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Protein Design as a group leader Cool science in a great scientific environment in wonderful and very family friendly Copenhagen There are two positions that can either be at TT assistant or associate prof level employment.ku.dk/tenure-track...

Tenure-track Assistant Professor or Associate Professor of De novo Protein Design

The Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Protein Design at the University of Copenhagen seeks to appoint two new group leaders in de novo protein design from 1 February 2027 or as soon as possible thereafter. These positions will be at the Assistant or Associate Professor level and associated with the Department of Biology (Faculty of Science) or the Department of Drug Design and Pharmacology (Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences).

employment.ku.dk

A fellow of the Royal Society slashed funding for disease prevention, leading directly to the deaths of uncounted children. He promotes white supremacy and is actively encouraging racist violence in the UK. But he's Elon Musk, a billionaire. So the Royal Society does nothing. @royalsociety.org

sheffield.ac.uk/news/univers...

University of Sheffield strengthens top 100 global standing with 10-place rise in QS World University Rankings 2027

The University of Sheffield has risen 10 places in the QS World University Rankings 2027 to be ranked 82nd in the world and 14th in the UK, reinforcing its position as a world-leading university

sheffield.ac.uk

The resolution revolution revisited pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42290378/ #cryoEM

I don't usually post about my day job, but the University of Sheffield is planing a restructure and compulsory staff redundancies within Chemistry. 20% of staff are under threat. You can sign an open letter opposing this decision here #SaveSheffieldChemistry savesheffieldchemistry.netlify.app

Gargantuan deep-sea crustaceans can go for years without eating, thanks to a metabolism-related gene borrowed from bacteria go.nature.com/4v9LQPl

Giant crustacean of the deep sea steals a trick from bacteria

Nature - Organisms called bathynomids boast a bacterial gene that helps them to regulate their metabolism in the cold depths.

go.nature.com

"Fellows shall not act or fail to act in any way which would […] bring the Society into disrepute." But this morning ministers condemned Elon Musk FRS for enabling violence on the streets of Belfast. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026... Would the @royalsociety.org like to comment?

This just keeps getting worse. For non-science people, we use commercial antibodies on a daily basis to detect proteins of interest using many methods. Bad antibodies mean bad results, which means a lot of medical research was wasted. I can't imagine the costs to trainees (their time), labs, etc.

Reese Richardson@reeserichardson.bsky.social · 3mo ago

The Thermo Fisher situation keeps getting worse. We've now collected 450+ problematic images presented as verification data in TF's antibody catalog. This includes: 🖌️ Dozens more images with duplications or painting 🖨️ Hundreds of blots that all share the same background (behold slideshow below)

Hosting @3cdf.bsky.social was a blast! Thanks to all attendees and presenters for sharing their exciting research! @robfagan.bsky.social @pssalgado.bsky.social @meeraunnikri.bsky.social @perbullough.bsky.social @johann-i2bc.bsky.social

Measles vaccines save millions of lives each year. Measles used to be an extremely common disease. Just sixty years ago, over 90% of children would have been infected by it, and of those who developed symptoms, around a quarter would be hospitalized.