Landed back in London after an unforgettable @toxo18.bsky.social conference in Brazil! Thank you to the organisers for selecting a wonderful location and program. Grateful to be part of this ever-evolving community that feels home and to meet old colleagues and future collaborators!

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...

cell.com

What happens when the parasite that causes malaria in humans experiences fever-induced heat stress in its host red blood cell? Check out David Jones' PhD work now on BioRxiv www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Excited to announce our paper on ancient Borrelia genomes is finally out! 🦠💀We document the evolutionary history of louse-borne relapsing fever, published today in @science.org‬ with @lucyvandorp.bsky.social and @pontus-skoglund.bsky.social #aDNA 🏺🧪🧬 Main findings and paper below: 🧵⬇️

Crick researchers have uncovered how the intestinal Cryptosporidium parasite uses a protein to alter its host’s gut environment, enabling the parasite to survive and replicate. www.crick.ac.uk/news/2025-04...

Researchers uncover how intestinal parasite Cryptosporidium alters host cells

Researchers at the Francis Crick Institute have shown that the Cryptosporidium parasite exports a protein into infected intestinal cells, altering the gut environment and enabling the parasite to surv...

crick.ac.uk

A common virulence factor that protects Toxoplasma (and probably related parasites) from clearance in genetically diverse murine hosts. A heroic CRISPR screening effort from @fratorelli.bsky.social with some help from colleagues. Thanks to anonymous reviewers for some good suggestions. 1/2

Francesca Torelli@fratorelli.bsky.social · last yr.

🎉 Finally online 🎉 GRA12, the first identified common virulence factor across Toxoplasma strains and murine subspecies! Check this improved manuscript after reviewers’ helpful suggestions www.nature.com/articles/s41...

🎉 Finally online 🎉 GRA12, the first identified common virulence factor across Toxoplasma strains and murine subspecies! Check this improved manuscript after reviewers’ helpful suggestions www.nature.com/articles/s41...

GRA12 is a common virulence factor across Toxoplasma gondii strains and mouse subspecies - Nature Communications

CRISPR screens reveal Toxoplasma’s GRA12 as a strain- and mouse species-transcendent virulence factor. GRA12 protects parasites from IFNγ-activated macrophage clearance and parasitophorous vacuole col...

nature.com

Rumors are true! I joined the very welcoming @jennyrohn.bsky.social lab at UCL to dive into 3D organoids, persistent bugs and GAG layer! Exciting times ahead ✨

Prof Jenny Rohn@jennyrohn.bsky.social · 2y ago

We are all super excited that @fratorelli.bsky.social has joined the lab to do postdoctoral research on host/pathogen interactions in #UTI, focused on the role of the urothelial GAG layer! @UTISky

This image shows cultured human cells called fibroblasts in purple, infected with a kind of parasite called Toxoplasma gondii. #microscopy 🧪🔬 Image credit: @simon-butterworth.bsky.social

The hypothesis for this work was formed when we expectedly observed some Toxoplasma mutants with known fitness defects not showing defects in in vivo CRISPR screens. The results indicate that CRISPR screens can miss important virulence factors through paracine effects that function in the host.

eLife@elife.bsky.social · 2y ago

In Toxoplasma gondii, a parasite infamous for manipulating the behaviour of its hosts that infects an estimated ⅓ of humans, genetic defects are rescued if co-infected with normal parasites, thanks to supportive secreted proteins. https://buff.ly/3BtpD86

In Toxoplasma gondii, a parasite infamous for manipulating the behaviour of its hosts that infects an estimated ⅓ of humans, genetic defects are rescued if co-infected with normal parasites, thanks to supportive secreted proteins. https://buff.ly/3BtpD86

Cryptosporidium is an important public health threat, and it deserves better genetic tools to study it! Here we’ve developed a targeted in vivo CRISPR genetic screen to identify parasite genes required for survival and virulence… www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...