Joe Parham
@joeparham19.bsky.social
PhD student in Buzz Baum's lab at the MRC-LMB, interested in mechanisms of DNA segregation and cell division. Also birding from time to time.
Structural basis of biofilm formation mediated by the Pseudomonas aeruginosa fibrillar adhesin CdrA led by @olivia--smith.bsky.social Collaboration with @alexbateman1.bsky.social , Andres Floto and @geiselbiofilm.bsky.social labs
Archaeaophiles! Last chance to sign up as a virtual attendee for MBoA2026. It’s cheap and you will have access to all the talks include our archaea@50 celebration with a special guest: meetings.embo.org/event/26-arc...
Molecular Biology of Archaea: Life Through the Prism of Archaea
In 1977, Woese and colleagues revealed Archaea as a distinct domain of life. Building on this insight, the discovery of Asgard archaea has strengthened the view that many hallmarks of eukaryotic cell…
meetings.embo.org
This, emphatically, shouldn't have been done, and shouldn't be used. You'd think we'd have learned that someone else's contextless algorithmic division of science outputs into "the best" and "not the best" is a disaster. Doesn't matter whether AI or Elsevier does it. the-one-percent.qedscience.com
QED — The most compelling preprints of 2025
the-one-percent.qedscience.com
Took a few friends from the lab on a birding jaunt to Norfolk today, pretty quiet until this Great Grey Shrike flew past us on Hunstanton golf course. Showed beautifully for a while this evening. @birdguides.bsky.social @norfolkbirds.bsky.social
Great grey shrike on Hunstanton golf course just now! @norfolkbirds.bsky.social @birdguides.bsky.social
First patch foray of 2026 at Fen Drayton. Nice stumble upon this Red-breasted Merg, which I believe is the first for some years. Two drake Smew visible from the reserve on St Ives gravel pits. Merlin, Goosander and lots of expected wildfowl the supporting cast. #PWC2026 @cambsbirdclub.bsky.social
I’m excited to announce that I will be starting my research group on computational enzyme design at the Generative Biology Institute, Oxford, UK (@eitoxford.bsky.social)! PhD applications are open, deadline is Jan 8th (www.chem.ox.ac.uk/genbio-dtp). Email kiarash.jamali@eit.org with any questions!
GenBio DTP
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chem.ox.ac.uk
New preprint from the lab!!🎉 We show that Asgard archaea ESCRT-III proteins can trigger membrane fission and reveal its molecular mechanism, offering clues to how these cells may have built internal compartments. But do these organisms even have these compartments? www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Molecular basis for cellular compartmentalization by an ancient membrane fission mechanism
The emergence of cell compartmentalization depends on membrane fission to create the endomembrane compartments. In eukaryotes, membrane fission is commonly executed by ESCRT-III, a protein complex con...
biorxiv.org
While admiring this diorama in the Roman baths museum (in Bath..) I noticed this small tribute to the Life of Brian- a figure (under supervision) vandalising the walls with red writing!
An Asgard archaeon with internal membrane compartments Brilliant study led by @fmacleod.bsky.social and Andriko von Kügelgen. Tight collaboration with @buzzbaum.bsky.social and lab. Congrats to all authors! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
How common cuckoos adapt to multiple hosts | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
How common cuckoos adapt to multiple hosts
Genomic data reveal the complexity of egg mimicry evolution in cuckoos
science.org
131 species for the week by public transport in north Norfolk. Self-found GGS and Richard’s Pipit the highlights. Best of rest: Hume’s, many YBW, Glossy Ibis, L Yellowlegs. Classic coastal autumn vismig with many Crossbill, Brambling, thrushes etc. Curlew and Purple Sands, Little Stint.
Just having tea in Cley visitor centre and a Great Grey Shrikes flies past the window! Managed to get a few people on it, appears to have gone down in a hedgerow east of visitor centre. Best bird I’ve found while mid-cup of tea @birdguides.bsky.social
Come and join our lab @mrclmb.bsky.social for your PhD! A wonderful environment to explore our archaeal origins with supportive and collaborative colleagues and the chance to investigate big evolutionary and cell biology questions.
Buzz Baum@buzzbaum.bsky.social · 10mo agoLMB PhD studentship available in the Baum lab to use informatics to infer cell structure from genomic data in collaboration with the brilliant Tom Williams. If you write to me and I don’t reply - try again - the spam filter is hungry…
We are excited to share our preprint describing how Sulfolobus cells coordinate DNA segregation with cell division! In eukaryotes this type of regulation involves checkpoints and CDK-cyclins. But how does this work in archaea? This is the question we ask in our paper: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Temporal and spatial coordination of DNA segregation and cell division in an archaeon.
Cells must coordinate DNA segregation with cytokinesis to ensure that each daughter cell inherits a complete genome. Here, we explore how DNA segregation and division are mechanistically coupled in ar...
biorxiv.org
We are excited to share our preprint describing how Sulfolobus cells coordinate DNA segregation with cell division! In eukaryotes this type of regulation involves checkpoints and CDK-cyclins. But how does this work in archaea? This is the question we ask in our paper: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Temporal and spatial coordination of DNA segregation and cell division in an archaeon.
Cells must coordinate DNA segregation with cytokinesis to ensure that each daughter cell inherits a complete genome. Here, we explore how DNA segregation and division are mechanistically coupled in ar...
biorxiv.org
Excited to announce the Molecular Biology of Archaea (MBoA) 2026! Join us in Cambridge, UK, from 6–10 July 2026 for the only international meeting dedicated to Archaea.
Happy to share our paper’s final version on the evolution, structure, and membrane binding / remodeling of Asgard ESCRT-III proteins! And my first 🦋 post! www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Asgard archaea reveal the conserved principles of ESCRT-III membrane remodeling
Asgard archaea have two ESCRT-III subunits with the conserved traits that drive stepwise membrane remodeling in eukaryotes.
science.org
Our latest work on how the surface layer assists cell division in Sulfolobus is now out! Don't forget to like, comment and subscribe!
The mechanics of a continuous self-assembling surface-layer aids cell division in an archaeon
The surface layer or “S-layer” is a planar lattice of glycosylated proteins that coats a wide range of archaea and bacteria instead of a classical cell wall or capsular polysaccharides, insulating the...
biorxiv.org
My good friend Arjun and I found a stunning male Bluethroat this afternoon at Grantchester meadows in Cambridge. Spring patch birding at its absolute best!
Waxwings on the LMB list, flock of 30+ past a few mins ago.
