Pauline Scanlan

Academics in Assyria in the 7th c BC complain that admin is preventing them from doing research and teaching

Colonization, translocation, and evolution of opportunistic pathogens during hospital-associated infections Many commensal bacteria that peacefully reside in the human microbiome are also able to cause acute opportunistic infections. Emerging evidence suggests that within-host evolution contributes to infec...

Is the human microbiome a source for hospital-associated infections (HAI) and are any genetic changes associated with HAI? In our new preprint, we longitudinally reconstruct the evolutionary processes within the human microbiome leading up to HAI: doi.org/10.1101/2025...

Thanks @microscrum.bsky.social ....seminar series is a great initiative for @uccmicrobiology.bsky.social, well done for organising!

Delighted to see our paper studying the evolution of plasmids over the last 100 years, now out! Years of work by Adrian Cazares, also Nick Thomson @sangerinstitute.bsky.social - this version much improved over the preprint. Final version should be open access, apols.
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Congratulations Siobhán!Super news and so well deserved....we will have to toast your success in November!

Matthew McConaughey says he wants a private LLM, fed only with his books, notes, journals, and aspirations, so he can ask it questions and get answers based solely on that information, without any outside influence.

this exists it is called thinking

Phenotypic heterogeneity of capsule production across opportunistic pathogens | mBio The polysaccharidic capsule is present in ~50% of species across the bacterial phylogeny, including all ESKAPE microorganisms, the six most significant multidrug-resistant (MDR) nosocomial pathogens. It is also an important virulence factor and a major ...

Delighted to share our recently published work!
Ever wondered how Klebsiella (and others) deals with capsule production’s costs ?
The paper: journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...
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Dr @lewysj.bsky.social from @tcddublin.bsky.social discusses his research on advancements in microscopy, and how his @royalsociety.org - Research Ireland University Research Fellowship award has supported this work. For more info visit: www.researchireland.ie/funding/royal-society-university/

The 2024 rankings of bacterial threats

Vaccines do not cause autism.

Monbiot’s Law of Leaving the House:

T = 2(A² + 3C²)

Where T is time taken to get out the door in minutes, A is adults and C is children.

TLDR: if you’re herding more than five children, you'll never get out.

Truth Art! #arresttrump #art

Good ideas come from having lots of experience. And experience comes from having lots of bad ideas.

With #eseb2025 coming to a close, it is time to start making plans for 2026. Interested in the interface of evolution 🧬 and ecology 🌳? Come to our #ExE conference hosted by @uniexecec.bsky.social in beautiful #Cornwall. Leave your email address at tinyurl.com/EvolxEcol to join our mailing list!

Getting out of this moment won't happen all at once. There is real damage to projects and institutions already. Experts have been threatened. Expertise has been squandered. Rebuilding will happen step by step.

But the longer we wait to speak up the longer the darkness will remain.

/🧵

STAND UP FOR SCIENCE

For others, they might choose to write an OpEd

sciencehomecoming.com

or take place in a @standupforscience.bsky.social action:

www.standupforscience.net

or call their representative and ask them to support free inquiry & the base of our innovation-driven economy.

Our #SCIMaP team, a group of interdisciplinary scientists and coders, have built a county, house district, and state level analysis tool that assesses the local, economic impacts of NIH funding. I don't recall you having reached out to learn more. Who exactly is trapped here?

scienceimpacts.org

🧵

Great to cochair a session on bacteria-phage interactions with @frimanscience.bsky.social at #eseb2025 @eseb2025.bsky.social @uccmicrobiology.bsky.social
Thanks again to our excellent speakers @fredoleroux.bsky.social @olayarendueles.bsky.social @clara-inrae.bsky.social for their inspiring talks!

Want to name a real virus? I have recently discovered 9 new phages which now need names! To enter, you simply need to donate to the Cystic Fibrosis Trust on my JustGiving page (£2 = 1 entry) and share your email with me on donation (see link info). Please share 💚 www.justgiving.com/page/meaghan-c-1

Safety of JN.1-Updated mRNA COVID-19 Vaccines This cohort study investigates the association between booster vaccinations containing the JN.1 lineage and 29 serious adverse events in Denmark.

mRNA COVID-19 vaccines are very, very safe, as studies from multiple countries show.

Internet stories are not really a good answer to these large, careful studies.

jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

De novo mutations mediate phenotypic switching in an opportunistic human lung pathogen - Nature Communications Bacteria evolving within humans employ strategies to overcome trade-offs. Here, the authors report that the cystic fibrosis-associated pathogen Burkholderia dolosa alternates phenotypes in vivo by acc...

How likely are SNP-based phenotypic reversions during human infection/coloniziation?

Our latest paper on the rare CF pathogen B. dolosa -- a great collaboration with folks I've worked with since my PhD and led by Alex Poret -- adds to the evidence that reversions are likely in large populations.

#BookSky

How may theoretical ecology & evolutionary theory push microbiology forward?
At Environmental Microbiology, I am commissioning a series of Perspectives exploring that question. Excited to share them in the 🧵 below
The series is open, so do get in touch if you'd like to propose a new contribution!

One week left to submit your abstract to @microbiologysociety.org meeting on “Understanding and Predicting Microbial Evolutionary Dynamics” at Liverpool 26-27 November

Lots of spaces for ECR talks and posters!
microbiologysociety.org/event/societ...

Delighted to give a "state-of-the-art" lecture on #bacteria-phage interactions in the #gutmicrobiome at #ASV2025 #Montreal @uccmicrobiology.bsky.social @uccresearch.bsky.social @apcmicrobiomeirel.bsky.social

thank you @royalsociety.org for a great #summerexhibition and #summersoiree

Schrier to RFK Jr: You gave Cassidy the answer he needed to hear in order to get his confirmation vote, then as soon as you were secretary you turned around & fired all 17 members. You lied. I also want to be clear that I will lay all responsibility for every vaccine-preventable death at your feet.

Image of the planet Uranus, shared in a humorous science post by IFLScience. The caption reads: "Uranus May Be Filled With A Lot More Methane Than We Thought.

Sometimes, the headlines just write themselves!

This is the last thing the BBC needs

He's right. "Nothing short of devastating"
By @holdenthorp.bsky.social @science.org
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...