Jay Hinton
@jayhinton.bsky.social
Salmonella admirer & Prof of Microbiology - Working on Salmonella bloodstream infections (iNTS) in sub- Saharan Africa context. Functional genomics. T1D.
Here's the paper! journals.plos.org/plospathogen...
Salmonella effector kinase SteC is activated by phosphorylation at Serine 379
Author summary Salmonella is a bacterium that causes a wide range of human diseases, from gastroenteritis to systemic infection. Blood stream infections are more common in young children or those who ...
journals.plos.org
Macrophages are known as the immune system’s “scavenger cells”. Yet some pathogens use them as hiding places. Researchers from HIRI & @unimarburg.bsky.social have discovered an lncRNA called SAILR that helps macrophages balance their response to infection: www.helmholtz-hiri.de/en/newsroom/... (1/3)
We are advertising an exciting PhD opportunity based at Newcastle University. You’ll use epidemiological and genomic data to characterise Campylobacter burden… and work with me on some cool datasets! Deadline: 28th July 2026 - NB UK Students only due to funding restrictions. Don’t miss out!
NIHR PhD Studentship: Modernising Campylobacter burden assessment using integrated genomics, symptoms and surveillance data at Newcastle University on FindAPhD.com
PhD Project - NIHR PhD Studentship: Modernising Campylobacter burden assessment using integrated genomics, symptoms and surveillance data at Newcastle University, listed on FindAPhD.com
findaphd.com
Beyond AMGs: Phage-encoded transcription and sigma factors as understudied virocell reprogramming tools #phage #phagesky Trends in Microbiology www.cell.com/trends/micro...
Beyond AMGs: Phage-encoded transcription and sigma factors as understudied virocell reprogramming tools
Phages, the most abundant biological entities on Earth, infect bacteria and reprogram them into ‘virocells’ with altered physiology and ecology. While metagenomic studies have largely inferred reprogr...
cell.com
How do dangerous bacteria arm themselves before attack? Scientists from NTU-SCELSE and Imperial College London uncovered a previously unknown mechanism showing how bacteria load toxins into a microscopic weapon system before firing. Nature Microbiology-> rdcu.be/fk0Bq @fillouxlab.bsky.social
Great EMBO YIP @embo.org lecture by Teresa Thurston @thurstonlab.bsky.social @ox.ac.uk at "Pathogen Immunity and Signalling" #EMBOpathogenSignalling. Bacterial effectors mediate kinase reprogramming through mimicry of conserved eukaryotic motifs. See also: -> link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Hate to see this happening, but it's a common thing now with all Frontiers journals. Time to stop publishing there people!!! Please read the full thread!
Michael Okun@michael-okun.bsky.social · 2mo agoI’ve officially resigned as Associate Editor for Frontiers in Systems Neuroscience. It used to be a reputable journal, but became a case study in how forced automation destroys academic integrity. 👇
Phage therapy via receptor-constrained evolutionary traps: Trends in Microbiology www.cell.com/trends/micro... #phage #phagesky
Phage therapy via receptor-constrained evolutionary traps
Phage therapy often fails when bacteria evolve resistance. We argue that phage selection should begin with receptors whose modification imposes predictable costs, turning resistance into reduced virul...
cell.com
Our paper is now published in eBioMedicine and I'm genuinely thrilled it's out 🎉 🧵 www.thelancet.com/journals/EBI... Despite the fact that this is a 2026 paper (such is peer review!), I wanted to write something and take you back to 2023, where the story of this work began. (1/7)
Implementing portable, real-time 16S rRNA sequencing in the healthcare sector enhances antimicrobial stewardship
The integration of ONT 16S sequencing into routine NHS diagnostics has enabled antimicrobial stewardship by offering a faster method with improved taxonomic resolution. Its earlier use in cases where ...
thelancet.com
Research@LivUni@livuniresearch.bsky.social · 2mo agoIn a UK first study, Liverpool researchers have shown that advanced sequencing technologies can be used in routine NHS microbiology services to support real-world patient care. Discover more👉 www.liverpool.ac.uk/research/fro... @edcoakes.bsky.social @annasmielewska.bsky.social @acdarby.bsky.social
Monsanto has a patent on glyphosate as an antimicrobial. That explains its deadly impact on our microbiome. scottcanderson.substack.com/p/the-shocki...
The Shocking Impact of Glyphosate on the Microbiome
Glyphosate, the chemical in Roundup, is also an antibiotic that damages the gut microbiome.
scottcanderson.substack.com
Read the short highlight commentary I wrote with @enningalab.bsky.social for @molecularmicro.bsky.social about the latest story by the Humphreys lab onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.... ISG15 and toxins doing cool things during! #Salmonella
ISG15 At the Crossroads of Innate Immunity and Host Survival in Response to Typhoid Toxin
Typhoid toxin, a genotoxin secreted by typhoidal Salmonella serovars, has been implicated in diverse host responses ranging from DNA damage to cellular senescence. In this Research Highlight, we disc...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
This is awful to hear, describing how Sean Eddy (HMMER, infernal, pfam, rfam) has been defunded. The letter said his work "had been determined to be of absolutely no value to the US taxpayer, and therefore it was being specifically terminated," www.npr.org/2026/05/21/n...
Researchers say the Trump administration is finding new ways to punish science
Even with federal grants largely restored, scientists say the Trump administration is still preventing those funds from reaching them. The consequences, they say, are already becoming clear.
npr.org
"An email from NIH’s National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) to research-center grantees, seen by Science, requires their institutions to promise that U.S. authors of papers NIH has flagged because of foreign co-authors will not collaborate with them in the future."
Carl T. Bergstrom@carlbergstrom.com · 3mo ago“Units of the NIH are privately directing grantees to request permission in advance for any co-authorship with a scholar affiliated with a foreign institution, even if all the work was done in the United States.” Grantees also told to remove papers with foreign authors from progress reports.
There’s a LOT going on as researchers and public health experts race to respond to the Ebola Bundibugyo outbreak in DRC and Uganda before it grows bigger. Some really important questions still open, but also a few answers coming into view🧪 My overview in @science.org is here (and thread coming):
Scientists play catch-up to startling Ebola outbreak
Testing, sequencing, and clinical trial efforts spring to life as Bundibugyo virus spreads
science.org
As @statnews.com reported yesterday, several Americans in DRC had high-risk exposures to #Ebola in the latest outbreak. One has tested positive. These individuals are being flown to Germany for observation and treatment as needed. www.statnews.com/2026/05/18/c...
U.S. bans entry from Ebola-affected countries as American patient is identified
In response to an Ebola outbreak, the U.S. has banned entry for foreign travelers who have been in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, or South Sudan in the past 21 days.
statnews.com
BBSRC Early Independence Fellowships had an Outline stage this year to try help with amount of peer review. Turns out they received 586 applications, a 110% increase on 2025, and only typically fund 15 a year. They are cancelling this stage and going straight to full app with an institutional sift.
Pathogen genomics is increasingly being implemented in clinical microbiology. Discover the factors that represent barriers to, and potential enablers of, this implementation, including the availability of funding and genomics-trained staff. #ClinMicroRev: asm.social/2VH
Peer reviewed studies showing good safety of the covid and shingles vaccines looking at millions of people were suppressed from being public and published because under RFKJr , HHS is pursuing an anti vaccine agenda
FDA blocked studies finding Covid and shingles vaccines safe, HHS official says
Serious side-effects from vaccines were rare, scientists found in studies funded by US taxpayer money
theguardian.com
Congratulations Valerie Mizrahi valmizrahi.bsky.social 🦠 🧪 #WomenInStem #TB www.nasonline.org/news/2026-na...
National Academy of Sciences Elects Members and International Members - NAS
WASHINGTON — The National Academy of Sciences announced today the election of 120 members and 25 international members in recognition of their distinguished and continuing achievements in original res...
nasonline.org
Bacteria have been fighting off viruses using a huge arsenal of molecular weaponry that scientists did not know about — until now. Researchers have identified proteins that could lead to virus-fighting drugs and technologies. go.nature.com/4dqQnXI
‘Treasure trove’ of antiviral proteins could inspire powerful molecular tools
Two research teams mined genomic data from bacteria to create databases containing thousands of antiviral defence proteins that could inspire powerful biotechnologies.
go.nature.com
Dissecting host stress responses for predictable heterologous gene expression in E. coli url: academic.oup.com/nar/article/... #microsky
Dissecting host stress responses for predictable heterologous gene expression in E. coli
Abstract. Predictable expression of heterologous genes remains a key challenge in biotechnology, largely due to cellular stresses imposed on the production
academic.oup.com
Genome sequence of a 5,000 year old bacterium (Psychrobacter) from cave ice contains more than 100 genes associated with antimicrobial resistance 😳 www.frontiersin.org/journals/mic...
Frontiers | First genome sequence and functional profiling of Psychrobacter SC65A.3 preserved in 5,000-year-old cave ice: insights into ancient resistome, antimicrobial potential, and enzymatic activi...
IntroductionAncient cryospheric environments may preserve overlooked reservoirs of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and bioactive potential. This study reports...
frontiersin.org
📣Huge preprint 🔔 Today we share something our group has been working toward for a long time, led by @lucasmoriniere.bsky.social We asked can we predict which receptor a phage targets from its genome sequence alone? For most phages, we couldn’t. So Lucas set out to do something I had only dreamed of.
www.nature.com/articles/s41... Biological AI to interpret and generate DNA, RNA, proteins and cellular systems
Generalist biological artificial intelligence in modeling the language of life - Nature Biotechnology
This Review discusses the promises and pitfalls of biological AI algorithms and presents a vision for generalist biological artificial intelligence, in which models can perform diverse tasks across bi...
nature.com
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/... Phages drive the dissemination of antibiotic resistance genes by facilitating host adaptation to heavy metal stress #phage #phagesky
The list of new (2026) elected members of the @femsmicro.org European Academy of Microbiology is out 👏 Congrats to the newcomers, most of them very well-known names incl many friends & close colleagues 😀 fems-microbiology.org/european-aca...
Fellows
The European Academy of Microbiology (EAM) proudly brings together a distinguished community of leading scientists whose contributions have shaped and advanced the field of microbiology. Below, you wi...
fems-microbiology.org
Great time in Segovia with Jay Hinton—one of my favourite microbiology colleagues. The castle of the background (El Alcazar) hosted the first chemistry lab in Spain in the XVIII century. While working there, Joseph Proust discovered the Law of Definite Proportions that every Chemistry student knows
Does an imbalanced gut microbiome worsen chronic kidney disease? By elucidating the ecological causes for changes in the gut microbiota composition and its consequences for disease progression we were able to answer this question. Read more at: www.eurekalert.org/news-release...
How an imbalanced gut microbiome worsens chronic kidney disease
Researchers have identified how chronic kidney disease turbocharges E. coli toxin production, worsening the disease. An investigational drug might break the destructive feedback loop.
eurekalert.org
