Tracy Palmer

Mid-career Group Leader position in AI in genomics at Institut Pasteur, Paris - Research Institut Pasteur and the CNRS are launching a call for a mid-career group leader position in AI in genomics. We are looking for an experienced researcher (typically with > 8 years of research experien...

Opening of a Group Leader position in AI in genomics at Institut Pasteur @pasteur.fr , Paris research.pasteur.fr/en/call/mid-...

The diderm cell envelope is not a stack of layers but a unified scaffold of Inner Membrane–Peptidoglycan–Outer Membrane.
We discuss how tethering the OM to the PG in E. coli preserves integrity — and extend the concept across diderm bacteria.
Curr Opin Microbiol: doi.org/10.1016/j.mi...
#microsky 🔬

Ooh congratulations on the new job!

View across a foggy field to the city, the sun trying to cut through the mist

Misty winter morning, Newcastle

Description Please note that job descriptions are not exhaustive, and you may be asked to take on additional duties that align with the key responsibilities ment...

We're advertising for a bacteriology technician and a post-doc to work on AI-guided antibiotic development as part of a large multidisciplinary Fleming Initiative project:
www.imperial.ac.uk/jobs/search-...

www.imperial.ac.uk/jobs/search-...

If you or someone you know is looking for a post-doctoral position working on mycobacterial envelope biology, please get in touch. I am recruiting here at the University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario, Canada.

Fantastic to have Prof Matthias Wilmanns from EMBL Hamburg hosted by @kshbeckham.bsky.social to give a @mhd-newcastle.bsky.social seminar on mycobacterial infection #dreamtheme

Native metabolomics identifies pteridines as CutA ligands and modulators of copper binding | PNAS CutA, a conserved protein across all domains of life, has been suggested to be involved in copper tolerance in bacteria, though recent studies have...

We cracked the mystery: Pteridines are the natural ligands of CutA, a widespread protein in nature @pnas.org
@hhu.de @cmfi.bsky.social

CutA is one of #PII signaling family, but it's function remained unknown coz we didn't know what it binds....
🧵Thread below👇
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

The fall of a prolific science journal exposes the billion-dollar profits of scientific publishing One of the 15 publications that put out the most studies globally has been expelled from the indexing system for irregularities. Its publisher, Elsevier, has a 38% profit margin that reached $1.5 bill...

'The fall of a prolific science journal [Science of the Total Environment] exposes the billion-dollar profits of scientific publishing'

english.elpais.com/science-tech...

'(It) has been expelled from the indexing system for irregularities. Its publisher, Elsevier, has a 38% profit margin in 2024'

Inhibition of fusidic acid resistance through restricting conformational flexibility in domain III of EF-G | PNAS Fusidic acid (FA) is one of few remaining antibiotics active against Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. FusB confers resistance to FA by ...

Happy to see work I contributed to during my MSc at @bioscienceleeds.bsky.social with Jennifer Tomlinson’s lab out in @pnas.org! Everyone Bluesky-less except @antoncalabrese.bsky.social

www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

#AMR #MRSA #NMR

Now properly published at @natcomms.nature.com with few additional experiments incl. demonstration of Daptomycin's ability to depolarise non-growing cells.
See the original preprint-thread for a summary of our findings.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
#microsky

The Penicillin Myth Competing theories seek to explain inconsistencies surrounding Alexander Fleming’s famed discovery.

Every biologist knows the story of Fleming's chance discovery of penicillin. But is it true?

Here, with @asimovpress.bsky.social, I write about inconsistencies in the canonical story, and explore a few alternative theories about what really happened in that St. Mary's lab in the summer of 1928.

Competitive fitness of Staphylococcus aureus against nasal commensals depends on biotin biosynthesis and acquisition Abstract. The human nasal microbiome can serve as a reservoir for pathogens. In particular, the opportunistic pathogen Staphylococcus aureus can be a membe

Really happy to see the final version of this published in @isme-microbes.bsky.social. We show that production of and competition for biotin shapes S. aureus fitness in the context of nasal commensals doi.org/10.1093/isme...
Work lead by the amazing Kevser Bilici!

Editorial: Society journals matter—supporting science through renewed commitment Paul B Rainey, Puri López-García, Zeynep Ceren Karahan, Paul Williams, Stipan Jonjić, Kenneth N Timmis; Editorial: Society journals matter—supporting scien

Editorial: Society journals matter—supporting science through renewed commitment

Editorial in @femsjournals.bsky.social microLife by @paulbrainey.bsky.social and colleagues

academic.oup.com/microlife/ad...

As part of the WHO World AMR Awareness Week a group of engaged undergraduate students, led by Eloise Nelson, have organised a @microbiologysociety.org sponsored seminars:
Dr Ishwar Singh (University of Liverpool) & Dr Tom Hellyer (Newcastle University) @medicalsciencesncl.bsky.social #antibiotics

I Dream of Theresa May: an electric black comedy about the hostile environment The former Home Secretary torments and guides a queer Indian immigrant as he desperately seeks settled status

How thrilling is this! A glowing review of I Dream of Theresa May in the London Evening Standard:

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
"There’s honestly not a weak link in this hilarious and heart-breaking production"
www.standard.co.uk/culture/thea...

On until November 29th @taratheatre.com :
taratheatre.com/whats-on/i-d...

We are back, soon!
The secrets of bacterial cell envelopes' our free online seminar series is due to resume in January 2026 after a long break.
Hosted by Georgina Benn and Syma Khalid- supported by the Microbiology Society. More details soon.
@microbiologysociety.org
Please spread the word

✨Opportunity to join the 🦁🦠 Predatory Bacteria lab!

My lab will move to University of Bern (CH) in April 2026 based on my #ERCStG.
Therefore, we are looking for:
-a PhD student (shorturl.at/mt0LR)
-a 50% Technical Assistant/Lab manager (shorturl.at/0IIKe)

🙏Thanks for sharing.
#MicroSky

Fluorescein-based dyes are not valid reporters of oxidative stress in bacteria, and conclusions based on their use must be reconsidered | PNAS Dihydrodichlorofluorescein derivatives have been employed as reporters of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) in innumerable studies. Their...

www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Very cool print demonstrating how variation in at TonB-dependent transporter repertoires shapes the ability of Bacteroides and Phocaeicola species to utilize fructooligosaccharides (FOS) of different chain lengths

That’s awesome! Congratulations

It was fab. Yes the Robbie Williams stuff was a really pleasant surprise!

When you met your other half in a lab working on molybdenum cofactor (Moco), somehow this museum selfie seems appropriate

First page of Opinion piece: "Conceptual and methodological flaws undermine claims of a link between the gut microbiome and autism"

The link between the gut #microbiome and autism is not backed by science, researchers say.

Read the full opinion piece in @cp-neuron.bsky.social: spkl.io/63322AbxpA

@wiringthebrain.bsky.social, @statsepi.bsky.social, & @deevybee.bsky.social

📣New preprint alert! We report the alarming finding that stringent response mutations found in clinical isolates increase the frequency of donation of multiresistance plasmids in S. aureus 😱 Great team effort @microclaire.bsky.social @paulrjohnston.bsky.social

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Super seminar from @mfwhite2.bsky.social thank you for visiting us in Newcastle!

Exciting news! I have two positions open in my lab at the UoManchester: one PDRA and one Research Tech.
Join our team to study evolutionary mycology and help us understand antifungal resistance in fungal pathogens. A fantastic opportunity to join the brilliant Manchester Fungal Infection Group!

Rosalind Franklin and the damage of gender harassment Spurred by a recent report on sexual harassment in academia, our columnist revisits a historical case and reflects on what has changed—and what hasn’t

Thinking only of Rosalind Franklin today, and what was stolen from her (and so many other female scientists alongside her).

DNA scientist James Watson has a remarkably long history of sexist, racist public comments “People say it would be terrible if we made all girls pretty,” he said in 2003. “I think it would be great.”

Hey folks, as news of Watson's demise spreads, please don't set aside his weighty legacy of misogyny and racism. He was truly among the worst of us. www.vox.com/2019/1/15/18...

James Watson, Co-Discoverer of the Structure of DNA, Is Dead at 97

James Watson, Co-Discoverer of the Structure of DNA, Is Dead at 97 www.nytimes.com/2025/11/07/s...