Edna Ondari

Paediatricians’ blood used to make new treatments for RSV and colds Antibodies harvested from the blood of paediatricians are up to 25 times better at protecting against the common respiratory infection RSV than existing antibody therapies, and are now being developed...

www.newscientist.com/article/2516...

Gasdermins against intracellular bacterial pathogens Nature Microbiology, Published online: 20 February 2026; doi:10.1038/s41564-026-02272-zThis Review discusses recent advances in our understanding of how gasdermins are activated by distinct signalling pathways and summarizes recent findings from host-adapted bacterial pathogens contrasted with environmental bacteria.

Out Now! Gasdermins against intracellular bacterial pathogens #MicroSky

Genomic diversity in the critical priority pathogen Klebsiella pneumoniae: global and regional perspectives - BMC Microbiology BMC Microbiology - Klebsiella pneumoniae (Kpn) is a hospital-acquired pathogen of critical importance due to extensive resistance to last-resort antibiotics like carbapenems and colistin. The...

link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Unveiling hidden variables in stressed bacteria

@cp-cellreports.bsky.social Review by @divyach.bsky.social and @maxencevincent.bsky.social

www.cell.com/cell-reports...

the FDA have done an abrupt turnaround and after initially saying they wouldn't review Moderna's application to licence an updated flu vaccine for the fall they have NOW decided they will review the application 🤷‍♀️

The UKRI grants pause risks forcing out mid-career medical researchers The fact that a mere few months’ hiatus imperils the futures of those without permanent posts underlines the fragility of UK biomedicine, says a researcher

Opinion: When a mere few months’ hiatus in UKRI funding opportunities imperils the futures of those without permanent posts, it only underlines the fragility of UK biomedicine, says a researcher #AcademicSky #Research
ow.ly/q32l50Yhv9m

Individualized mRNA vaccines evoke durable T cell immunity in adjuvant TNBC - Nature In a phase 1 trial, personalized mRNA vaccines tailored to individual tumour mutations in triple-negative breast cancer induced robust, long-lasting T cell responses and improved prognosis.

Another example of how mRNA vaccine technology is revolutionizing medicine in real time. Individualized mRNA vaccination triggered robust anti-tumor T cell responses in triple negative breast cancer leading to durable cancer remission.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

FDA agrees to review Moderna mRNA flu vaccine in dramatic reversal After initially rejecting Moderna’s application for review, the FDA will now consider the mRNA flu shot

After initially rejecting Moderna’s application for review, the FDA will now consider the mRNA flu shot

Four graphs, showing the response of PA14 and an isogenic pel mutant, and PAO1 and an isogenic pel psl double mutant, to meropenem and colistin. There is no difference between the response of mutants and WTs.

During her PhD, Jenny found something unexpected: biofilm-deficient P. aeruginosa mutants were just as tolerant to antibiotics as the WT when grown in our cystic fibrosis lung model. But why? #MicroSky 1/n

Why haven’t humans been back to the moon in over 50 years? | CNN Humans haven’t been back to the lunar surface since the Apollo moon program ended over five decade ago. The reasons why go beyond science, according to experts.

'Cause it's haunted

www.cnn.com/2026/02/13/s...

Adding first author of the preprint @grahamheieis.bsky.social

Addendum: ESKAPE pathogens rapidly develop resistance against antibiotics in development in vitro Nature Microbiology, Published online: 06 February 2026; doi:10.1038/s41564-026-02267-wAddendum: ESKAPE pathogens rapidly develop resistance against antibiotics in development in vitro

ICYMI Out Now! Addendum: ESKAPE pathogens rapidly develop resistance against antibiotics in development in vitro #MicroSky

Whose ethics govern global health research? Ethical research must not exploit scarcity as an experimental variable.

"Ethical research requires that participant safety remains central, not subordinate to hypothesis testing....Vulnerability should never be seen as an opportunity to advance research at the expense of those it claims to serve." @natureportfolio.nature.com
www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Salmonella relies on siderophore exploitation at low pH Abstract. Salmonella enterica, a prominent enteric pathogen, employs sophisticated iron acquisition mechanisms to overcome host-imposed iron limitation, no

What does competition for iron look like for pathogens in different environments? We had the chance to contribute to this great paper looking at Salmonella in the gut with the Cunrath Lab (UoStrasbourg). Salmonella relies on siderophore exploitation at low pH url: academic.oup.com/microlife/ar...

Efflux pumps control intracellular drug-target kinetics by limiting rebinding in bacteria Efflux pumps disrupt antibiotic rebinding inside bacterial cells, amplifying multidrug resistance.

#NatMicroPicks

More than just pumps? 🦠💊

Bacterial efflux pumps not only block drug entry but also disrupt intracellular drug–target interactions by preventing repeated drug rebinding

#MicroSky

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Addendum: ESKAPE pathogens rapidly develop resistance against antibiotics in development in vitro Nature Microbiology, Published online: 06 February 2026; doi:10.1038/s41564-026-02267-wAddendum: ESKAPE pathogens rapidly develop resistance against antibiotics in development in vitro

Out Now! Addendum: ESKAPE pathogens rapidly develop resistance against antibiotics in development in vitro #MicroSky

YouTube video by American Society for Microbiology What’s Lurking in Your Sink Faucet?

Hospital sink biofilms harbor multidrug-resistant gram-negative organisms capable of disseminating beyond the drain. This talk examines the microbiology, transmission pathways, and infection prevention challenges posed by sink-associated reservoirs in healthcare settings. youtu.be/rREHiXMX9W4

Quantifying the real-world impact of antibiotic use and genetic determinants of resistance on gonococcal dynamics Nature Microbiology, Published online: 30 January 2026; doi:10.1038/s41564-025-02235-wPhylodynamic modelling shows how the changing antibiotic landscape and genetic determinants of resistance shape real-world gonococcal dynamics. Experiments validated that determinants with identical resistance phenotype differed in impact on fitness.

ICYMI: Out now! Out Now! Quantifying the real-world impact of antibiotic use and genetic determinants of resistance on gonococcal dynamics

Also universities.

Guinea-Bissau suspends US-funded vaccine trial as African scientists question its motives Officials at the US Department of Health and Human Services, which awarded funding for the controversial study, say it will proceed as planned.

www.nature.com/articles/d41...

“They’re trying to use African children to prove a case for reducing vaccines in the US,”

"That's problematic"...

No...it's beyond the pale.

A 5500-year-old Treponema pallidum genome from Sabana de Bogotá, Colombia Treponematosis, a bacterial infection caused by Treponema pallidum subspecies and T. carateum (yaws, bejel, syphilis, pinta), has afflicted humans for millennia. Despite paleopathological evidence and...

A newly sequenced 5500-year-old genome of Treponema pallidum rewrites the origins of syphilis, according to a new study in Science.

Learn more: https://scim.ag/3Zpv2W2

Microbial metabolite FAD mobilizes adipocyte lipid remodeling to enhance cancer immunotherapy efficacy Crosstalk between gut microbiota and adipose tissue critically shapes immunotherapy responses in patients with cancer. An obesity-associated microbial…

New study in Cell Metabolism: Microbial metabolite FAD mobilizes adipocyte lipid remodeling to enhance cancer immunotherapy efficacy
#microsky #microbiota #cancer @cp-cellmetabolism.bsky.social

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Impact of databases on genomic survey of Salmonella antimicrobial resistance and virulence factor functional genes across the African continent

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Heterogeneity, dynamics and organelle interactions of lipid droplets Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology, Published online: 15 January 2026; doi:10.1038/s41580-025-00945-xLipid droplets have key roles in energy storage and lipid metabolism. This Review discusses tools used for assessing lipid droplet heterogeneity, and how their heterogeneous composition and interactions with other organelles influence physiology and contribute to disease.

ICYMI: New Online! Heterogeneity, dynamics and organelle interactions of lipid droplets

Salmonella relies on siderophore exploitation at low pH Abstract. Salmonella enterica, a prominent enteric pathogen, employs sophisticated iron acquisition mechanisms to overcome host-imposed iron limitation, no

Salmonella relies on siderophore exploitation at low pH

#microLife by @ferrytin.bsky.social et al from Olivier Cunrath

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

Excited to see this work on the cover of #MolecularCell. A massive, open #cryoEM #cryoET dataset capturing molecular organization inside intact cells, pushing what’s possible for #visualproteomics, method development, and computational reuse. Congratulations to the authors.
ter.li/of4cgh

People think that anyone can do the job of communicating to the public but the fact is the profession of telling people stuff and doing it a way they understand, process, and engage with is actually an incredibly highly skilled job that many, many people lack the training and ability to do.

Personalized Antibiogram: A Novel Multi-Task Machine Learning Framework for Simultaneous Prediction of Antimicrobial Resistance Profile with Enhanced Detection of Carbapenem Resistance in Enterobacteriaceae
https://doi.org/10.1093/cid/ciag027

This is figure 1, which shows that ASCT enables high-throughput assessments of bacterial viability.

A paper in Nature Microbiology presents Antimicrobial Single-Cell Testing, a large-scale live-cell imaging approach that quantifies bacterial killing in real time at single-cell resolution, which can predict treatment outcomes. go.nature.com/3Nwnez8 #microsky 🧪