Very happy to have contributed some confirmatory experiments to Jaclyn Smith and Monica Mugnier's excellent paper - out now @nature.com www.nature.com/articles/s41... @johnshopkinssph.bsky.social @rmc9z.bsky.social

Thank you so much to everyone who made it to #BSP2026 in beautiful, sunny Glasgow!!! (We asked the weather to behave while everyone was around)! The @bspparasitology.bsky.social 2027 meeting will be in Cardiff! I hope everyone enjoyed themselves! Like Glasgow, People Make #Parasitology! 🥳🧬🧫🔬

🧑‍🔬 The program for the scientific session of the ParaFrap Next Generation in Parasitology Workshop is now available! 🎟️ A few places are still available to attend the session in Montpellier. Registration is free but mandatory. 👉 forms.gle/q1ZZJbqu87CD...

Out Now! Specialized RNA decay fine-tunes monogenic antigen expression in Trypanosoma brucei #MicroSky

(1/7) How does T. brucei achieve a 140-fold stoichiometric excess of VSG mRNA over upstream ESAGs from a single polycistronic unit? Our latest research in @natmicrobiol.nature.com reveals a mechanism of spatially regulated RNA decay to fine-tune expression of virulence genes

Proud to share the yeast telomerase structure, led by the talented @hongmiaohu.bsky.social in collaboration with the Wellinger and Chartrand labs. Discovered 37 years ago and took us nearly 7 years but totally worth the wait 😍. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFE4...

How do parasites disguise themselves to evade our immune system? It’s all about gene selection. The latest work from the Faria Lab in PNAS identifies a new master regulator: ESBX. @fariatrypslab.bsky.social @pnas.org

"Over the last year, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his associates have questioned the safety of childhood vaccines, made false statements about their effectiveness and rescinded recommendations for routine vaccination against a half-dozen diseases." www.nytimes.com/2026/03/11/h...

Thanks for having me @danbose.bsky.social, I had such a wonderful time! Lots of cool questions & great to hear about the exciting research on #condensates and #generegulation @sheffielduni.bsky.social!

Sequence and structure of protein binding sites in RNA impact biomolecular condensates https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.02.24.707737v1

Newest collaborative paper out now on biorxiv - new genome and VSG arrangements in T. congolense, excellent work by Marija! In the words of @scotomorph.bsky.social T. congolense ≠ T. brucei www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... @rmc9z.bsky.social @keithrmatthews.bsky.social

@fariatrypslab.bsky.social in a major collaborative effort with researchers from Imperial College, Oxford, Oxford Brookes, and Edinburgh, has identified a novel factor, ESBX, as the key coordinator between the activation and repression of surface antigen genes in trypanosomes.

New PNAS study identifies ESBX, a protein controlling which surface coat gene is active in sleeping sickness parasites - key to immune evasion. @tiengwe-tryplab.bsky.social @zephyris-science.bsky.social @fariatrypslab.bsky.social www.imperial.ac.uk/news/article...

Nice multiple-team effort shedding some light on the intriguing expression site body (ESB), the key to antigenic variation in trypanosomes @fariatrypslab.bsky.social @zephyris-science.bsky.social @tiengwe-tryplab.bsky.social with Jack Sunter and Keith Gull among others

A factor integrating transcription and repression of surface antigen genes in African trypanosomes pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41632842/

1/5 How do parasites "shape-shift" to evade our immune system? It’s all about gene selection. Our latest work in @pnas.org identifies a new key player: ESBX. @york.ac.uk @ybri-uoy.bsky.social

We’re hiring a PDRA and a technician! If you’re passionate about #parasites #genomes #condensates then this project is for you! Help us decode the role of nuclear architecture in gene expression regulation in #Leishmania alongside the @mottramlab.bsky.social @york.ac.uk @ybri-uoy.bsky.social

ICYMI Out Now! A phage protein screen identifies triggers of the bacterial innate immune system #MicroSky

Check out our latest study on the PfRIPR protein, essential for the malaria parasite to get inside our blood cells. We show how antibodies block the function of PfRIPR by preventing its flexible hinges from bending, or by stopping it from compacting as part of its mechanism.

If you assume GPI insertion signals = surface destination, trypanosomes disagree. Tom’s work shows GPI-anchored protein sorting occurs independently of GPI insertion signals, hinting at alternative sorting logic at the parasite surface. tinyurl.com/gpi-anchor #MembraneBiology #CellSurface

CryoDDM: CryoEM denoising diffusion model for heterogeneous conformational reconstruction https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2025.12.10.693455v1

Why LLPS Scaffolds Cannot Exist – A Thermodynamic Thread If you consider arguments logical, please share. Else please expose logical faults 🧵👇

Interested in pursuing a PhD by working on a long-neglected marine organism and making a lot of discoveries? Darwin Trust offers a PhD studentship for international students (anyone non-UK) www.findaphd.com/phds/project...

Very proud!

OptoLoop: An optogenetic tool to probe the functional role of genome organization https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.11.06.686574v1

PI3Kdelta-driven expansion of regulatory B cells impairs protective immune responses to Trypanosoma congolense parasite infection pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41191641/

Trypanosoma brucei cattle infections contain cryptic transmission-adapted bloodstream forms at low parasitaemia pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41193429/

Our November issue is out now: www.nature.com/nmicrobiol/v...

Delighted to have been awarded a BBSRC grant to study the role of nuclear architecture in gene expression regulation in Leishmania alongside @mottramlab.bsky.social @york.ac.uk We will soon be recruiting, stay tuned!

academic.oup.com/nar/article/... Great to see this out! Big shout out to Douglas Escrivani, Seb Hutchinson & the Horn Lab! @dundee.ac.uk @ybri-uoy.bsky.social @york.ac.uk

An efficient eukaryotic cell-free expression and correlative cryo-electron tomography platform for structural biology of macromolecular complexes www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.10.18.683253v1

This article is a homecoming for me. As a PhD student, I focused on the growth-rate transcriptional regulation in yeast. Now, ~ 20 years later, we report protein regulation scaling with the growth rates of single cells in mammalian tissues. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

New article on equitable reuse of public sequencing data, published in @natmicrobiol.nature.com! Led by the Data reuse core team @lhug.bsky.social @environmicrobio.bsky.social Cristina Moraru, @geomicrosoares.bsky.social, @folker.bsky.social and with Anke Heyer and The Data Reuse Consotrium!

#Editorial If you have ever been surprised by seeing an editor at a conference and wondered what they are doing there, this month's editorial has all the answers you need. #MicroSky #AcademicChatter www.nature.com/articles/s41...

In a Consensus Statement in Nature Microbiology, a consortium of #microbiome scientists discusses current sequencing data sharing policies and proposes the use of a Data Reuse Information tag to promote equitable and collaborative data sharing. go.nature.com/4o1Gl1f#microbiome🧪

Targets of the human antibody response to the variant surface glycoprotein of Trypanosoma brucei pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41040341/

🔬Fascinated by the unique mitochondrial biology that keeps deadly parasites alive? 🥼We have a fully funded NorthWestBio PhD just for you‼️ 🌎 @blslancasteruni.bsky.social 📍Co-supervisor Kostas Tokatlidis @uofglasgow.bsky.social ⏰Deadline 21st Nov 📮Info and to apply👇 www.gla.ac.uk/postgraduate...

vsgseq2: an updated pipeline for analysis of the diversity and abundance of population-wide Trypanosoma brucei VSG expression www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.09.12.675796v1

Calling all mitochondria enthusiasts, we are recruiting for a new project (and the post will be split between Glasgow and Helsinki) www.jobs.gla.ac.uk/job/research...

Our 2025 Sep issue bit.ly/2N9R8Es reviews species sanitation & structural resilience in malaria control, animal trypanosomosis control, parasite genome organization, Leishmania attachment in sandflies, nonchemotherapeutic nematode control, tick & host microbiotas, parasitic neural manipulation &more

A study in Nature Medicine uses a supervised deep neural network to explain the network of concurrent molecular and macroscopic patterns related to insurgence and course of myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome. go.nature.com/4mhoLpp #medsky 🧪

Drs @singh-parul.bsky.social @trypsleon.bsky.social‬ Maureen Cabahug @fariatrypslab.bsky.social & @jessmbryant.bsky.social review #Plasmodium & #Trypanosoma #genome organization. #Trypanosome #Transcription #Chromatin #Epigenetics #Nuclear #Compartment www.cell.com/trends/paras...

Pleased 2 share our new article: single-molecule replication mapping in Leishmania using DNAscent. We show widespread stochastic origin firing and insights into genome variability. www.cell.com/cell-reports...

#NewResearch A human cytomegalovirus long non-coding RNA, RNA4.9, that interacts with cGAS and prevents its activation in the nucleus, thereby suppressing virus-induced IFN expression and antiviral activity #MicroSky 🦠 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

#NewResearch Streptomyces use both polar and dispersed cell wall synthesis during rapid, exploratory growth @mcmasteriidr.bsky.social #BacteriaCellWall #MicroSky 🦠 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

#NewResearch Cryo-EM structures of the full-length Junin virus and Machupo virus spike glycoprotein complexes stabilized in the prefusion conformation - analyses reveal features that regulate glycoprotein pH-dependent membrane fusion activity. #MicroSky 🦠 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

New work from @beckof.bsky.social and our lab's collaboration, with @alengronne.bsky.social! Multifaceted influence of transcription on yeast chromosome folding... loop extrusion of course but also active promoters making loops, bypassing centromeres boundaries www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

How do parasites strategically organise their genomes to influence gene expression? If you’re curious, check our latest review in @cp-trendsparasitol.bsky.social ! @biologyatyork.bsky.social @ybri-uoy.bsky.social @pasteur.fr www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

And what a pleasure it was!!!

We @singh-parul.bsky.social teamed up with the amazing @fariatrypslab.bsky.social @trypsleon.bsky.social to highlight how recent technological advances have revealed exciting new features of parasite genome architecture and its impact on survival and pathogenicity: www.cell.com/trends/paras...