Biological Sciences

🎨 How can creativity strengthen policymaking?
CCPN Dialogues hosts Vanissa Wanick & Emily Bastable with a rapid-fire line-up on underrepresented groups, sonic methods, playful participation, and games research.

🗓️ Wed 22 Oct, 12–1pm (UK) • Online

🔗 Register: buff.ly/VeZiVl8

Abigail Sudol Mark Chapman and Salah Elias

VC award winners 2025

Huge congratulations to our nominees this evening Rising Star Dr Abigail Sudol - Public Good and Social Mobility Prof Mark Chapman and ED&I Concordat Faculty Champions Network team @theeliaslab.bsky.social and ALL the other nominees & amazing winners tonight 👇 👏👏👏

We are excited to be at the @unisouthampton.bsky.social #vcawards2025 tonight 🌟 Wishing everyone the best of luck!! 🍀🤞🥳

Computer room ready for our students, blue screens showing title slide reading BIOL6105 Advanced Pharmacology

All ready to start our sparkling new BIOL6105 module Advanced Pharmacology 🥳🥳 for our sparkling new MSci Pharmacology and Drug Discovery programme at @sotonbiosciences.bsky.social @unisouthampton.bsky.social

And now, let's Fold.it!! @foldingathome.org

Read BBC South Today's additional coverage of this story here - featuring our academic Prof Tamar Pincus👇

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Evolution of iGluR ligand specificity, polyamine regulation, and ion selectivity inferred from a placozoan epsilon receptor - Communications Biology The authors generated a species-guided phylogeny of eukaryotic iGluRs, alongside a focused analysis of iGluR homologues from the early-branching invertebrate phylum Placozoa.

The latest papers from the Senatore Lab are very interesting and I would recomend to read them to anyone interested in the evolution of the nervous system. First:
www.nature.com/articles/s42...

YprA family helicases provide the missing link between diverse prokaryotic immune systems Bacteria and archaea possess an enormous variety of antivirus immune systems that often share homologous proteins and domains, some of which contribute to diverse defense strategies. YprA family helic...

Three new kids on the block. ARMADA, BRIGADE, and TALON. Impressive how multiple labs all come together to contribute to discovery. Great collaboration with Simon, Chase, and Eugene. From the very talented Ryan Bell, together with Thomas Gaudin and our own Yi Wu.

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

Evolutionarily speaking, the most interesting part for me, is the demonstration that polyamine block in glutamate receptors is an ancestral regulatory mechanism that predates bilaterians, showing that key aspects of synaptic physiology arose early in animal evolution (prebilaterian).

CenSegNet: a generalist high-throughput deep learning framework for centrosome phenotyping at spatial and single-cell resolution in heterogeneous tissues Centrosome amplification (CA) is a hallmark of epithelial cancers, yet its spatial complexity and phenotypic heterogeneity remain poorly resolved due to limitations in conventional image analysis. We ...

Excited to share our new preprint introducing CenSegNet, a deep learning framework for high-throughput, spatially resolved and single-cell centrosome profiling in heterogeneous tissues.

A huge effort co-led by brilliant PhD students, Jiaoqi Cheng & Keqiang Fan.

1/3

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

@erickramonerick.bsky.social‬ from the @unisouthampton.bsky.social is up next! He is talking about enhancing photosynthesis and nutritional value in tomato by manipulating chloroplast development. So interesting! 🍅 #PlastidPreview2025

Today we celebrate 1 year of the Jubilee Sports & Recreation Centre 🥳

A year of movement, energy, and community. We’ve achieved record participation, growing memberships, and a UK Active Award recognition.

Take a look at some of the highlights from across 2025👇

📣 New Pairing Scheme Opportunity with the Royal Society

Are you a research scientist interested in understanding how your expertise can shape policy and decision-making?

See full details of the scheme, and how to apply at: buff.ly/tlmjJUR
📅 Application deadline: 3pm BST, Friday 26 September

Our Keynote Presentation is underway! We are honoured to have @mjtplantbiology.bsky.social‬ from the @unisouthampton.bsky.social‬ discussing the fascinating world of chloroplast-to-nucleus retrograde signalling. What a great start to the day! #PlastidPreview2025

Effects of Sulphate‐Reducing Bacteria Mixed‐Species Biofilms on Microbiologically Influenced Corrosion Overview of key reactions for both abiotic and biotic conditions involved in metal corrosion. Abiotic reactions were associated with the hydrogen evolution reaction, as there was a general lack of a ...

Effects of Sulphate-Reducing Bacteria Mixed-Species Biofilms on Microbiologically Influenced Corrosion

#EnvironMicrobiol by @liamljones.bsky.social et al from Jeremy Webb at @sotonbiosciences.bsky.social

enviromicro-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

A year ago, The Splice Lab was just me. Now it is filled with talented, fun-loving people. Navigating this growth phase is both challenging and rewarding as we bid farewel to colleagues while welcoming fresh talents! www.splicelab.co.uk @sotonbiosciences.bsky.social

Prof Mark Chapman and @socobiodtp.bsky.social PhD student Anastasia Kolesnikova having lots of fun and very busy at #southamptonpride today! 🏳️‍🌈❤️ Beans, games, free plants 2 !! 🌿 Come and say 👋 @sotonlgbt.org.uk @uosengagement.bsky.social #pride #sotonbeans

SOTON BEANS – Building impact from the soil upwards share.google/uI1LM0FSNkoE...

Soton beans project with Professor Mark Chapman

We are very excited to be part of #Pride 🏳️‍🌈 this weekend @SouthamptonGuildhall Sat 23rd Sun 24th August! Learn all about our #sotonbeans 🫘🫛 ☀️research @unisouthampton.bsky.social @rsb.org.uk Have fun play games & take a plant home 🌿 #citizenscience sign up below 2 👇 #sotonpride #scienceforall

Bacteria infected with phage. Dots show phage replication sites.

Our researchers have uncovered new insights into how bacteria defend themselves against phages, a type of virus 🦠

The findings could help to develop new treatments for antibiotic resistant bacteria.

Read more 👉‬ https://tr.pulse.ly/tzludunyjy

Another #technician team building day wrapped up - who knew that spaghetti and marshmallows could be so much fun! @unisouthampton.bsky.social @sotonbiosciences.bsky.social

Kiwa is a membrane-embedded defense supercomplex activated at phage attachment sites Zhang, Todeschini, and Wu et al. show that the bacterial defense system Kiwa senses phage attachment at the membrane and assembles a transmembrane complex that halts infection by blocking phage DNA re...

Thrilled to see our Kiwa story out today! A membrane-associated supercomplex that senses infection and blocks replication and transcription.

www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...

Huge congratulations to Yi and Zhiying for bringing it home, to Thomas for starting us off, and to all the collaborators.

How ancient viruses could help fight antibiotic resistance The viruses that kill bacteria may be our best bet against antibiotic resistance – if we can understand how they win.

"If bacteria had a list of things to fear, phages would be at the top."

Dr Franklin Nobrega writes about how understanding the 'rules of engagement' in an ancient, microscopic battle could be key in the fight back against antibiotic-resistant infections.
theconversation.com/how-ancient-...

'It's just a weird, weird bird': Why we got the dodo so absurdly wrong The extinct flightless pigeon has captured imaginations for over 400 years. Experts and artists are now revealing how much we have distorted what the dodo was really like.

The Dodo went extinct more that 350 years ago, and yet it still has a very large presence... Here is a lovely piece from BBC Future about our work and 'it'. with Karen Fawcett and Julian Hume
www.bbc.com/future/artic...
@sotonbiosciences.bsky.social @uosmedia.bsky.social

Large blue letters spelling "UoS" are displayed in front of the Guildhall. The sky is bright blue with scattered clouds.

A group of six graduates in caps and gowns pose outdoors under a bright, partly cloudy sky. Behind them is a modern building with large glass windows.

A group stands smiling outside the Guildhall, under a clear blue sky. In the center, three people in graduation gowns and caps with their family standing next to them.

Four individuals in graduation gowns and caps stand in front of the Guildhall, under a blue sky. Colourful flags are visible on either side.

Graduation officially kicks off today, and we're so proud to be celebrating with you! 🎓 🫶🏻

This moment marks the end of one incredible chapter and the start of an exciting new journey. Here's to the Class of 2025!

#WeAreUoS

Big news! 🎉 Emily Gwyer Findlay has been awarded an MRC Senior Non-Clinical Fellowship—one of the most prestigious UKRI awards, and possibly a first for Southampton! Her research will explore how neutrophils shape autoimmune disease in human lymph nodes.
#ScienceNews #Autoimmunity #ResearchWins

University of Southampton Delhi campus' vertical banner along a sidewalk featuring the university's logo.

Reception area at the University of Southampton Delhi.

An empty lecture hall at University of Southampton Delhi with tiered rows of blue upholstered seats.

A spacious, modern cafeteria of University of Southampton Delhi campus featuring rows of square wooden tables with a mix of white, pink, and black chairs.

Take a sneak peek at our new Delhi campus 🏫✨

Exciting times! We're getting ready to welcome our first students to our flagship India campus 🎊

A vibrant and colorful installation of 400 handmade spheres, each uniquely crafted from various materials such as paper, fabric, and plastic.

400 globes crafted by local community groups are on display at Winchester School of Art for the Small Worlds exhibition, in partnership with the Climate Unity Project 🌎

Visitors are invited to explore the exhibition until 16 August and contribute to the initiative by creating their own spheres.

YouTube video by University of Southampton Ceratosuchops: The Dinosaur Discovered on the Isle of Wight

youtube.com/shorts/pKJWR...

Are you a student or a member of staff at the @unisouthampton.bsky.social planning/thinking about a new public engagement project? 🤔

Then join us THIS WEEK to ask questions about the Call Guidance and the application form.

📍 MS Teams
🗓️ Thursday 17th July
⌚️ 13:00 - 14:00
↘️ bit.ly/UoSDevFundINFO25