1/2 If I were a bacterium 🙄 in the wild, I would welcome beneficial information from my neighbors, while rejecting fake or predatory stuff. Should not microbes discriminate between good from bad info coming. Rejecting all of it upfront looks like a bad evol idea … 🤔 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

“La revisión por pares es imperfecta, cara, lenta y a veces injusta, pero sigue siendo lo único que separa un descubrimiento de una nota de prensa bien redactada. Cuando la eliminamos, no democratizamos la ciencia: la dejamos a merced de quien tenga mejor gabinete de comunicación.“

Great work by Jose Jimenez et al. enabling consolidated bioprocessing of PET plastic in Trends in Biotechnology @cp-trendsbiotech.bsky.social www.cell.com/trends/biote...

The first copy of my new @princetonupress.bsky.social book has just arrived at the office. It explores death in all its forms, from cells to minds, machines, languages and information. A complexity/evolutionary perspective, from Frankenstein to neuroscience. Soon out: www.amazon.com/Endless-Endi...

Here the right link to Perez-Mercader’s article: www.pnas.org/doi/epdf/10....

1/2 En medio de las sensacionalistas noticias estos días sobre creación de células sintéticas, www.nytimes.com/interactive/..., el artículo de @nunodomin.bsky.social elpais.com/ciencia/2026... pone un poco de orden en el asunto.

Open postdoc position in my lab on HGT and interbacterial competition. We seek candidates with a PhD in microbiology (or related fields)+ strong 1st-author publications. Curious, highly motivated, and dedicated team players ready to contribute fully are encouraged to apply. Details: tiny.cc/cz01101

Day 1 of 'Synthetic biology in action: maturing tools and their potential' is underway! 🧪🥼 We kicked off the course with a warm welcome from Nico Claassens, sharing highlights from the 20 years of #EMBOSynBio history. Looking forward to an exciting week of learning, collaboration, and innovation!

In 1881, drawing on her experience as a cook, Fanny Hesse suggested using agar instead of gelatin to culture bacteria: a simple idea that helped shape microbiology today. Happy birthday to a pioneer who deserved far more recognition. 🧫 Illustration by Veronica Pisano

Welcome and congratulations to the 60 new members and 11 associate members who have been elected to the EMBO Membership! They join a community of more than 2,200 leading scientists. 🧪 https://www.embo.org/press-releases/seventy-one-leading-scientists-elected-to-the-embo-membership/ #EMBOMembers2026

Off to @embl.org in Heidelberg for the 6th edition of the hands-on SynBio @embo.org Course share.google/Dg0qMdsNQl55... that I initiated in 2015. Glad to see that many of its earlier students now star senior PI positions in some the best research centers & universities 😀

TOL Plasmid pWW0 Transposons Facilitate Adaptation of Pseudomonas putida for Growth on the New Carbon Source m-Cresol enviromicro-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

PntAB & SthA of #Pseudomonas are a flexible transhydrogenase system, supporting energy balance, acetate assimilation & formate tolerance, impacting redox-intensive & C1 metabolic engineering @michelepartipilo.bsky.social @labnikel.bsky.social @cp-cellsystems.bsky.social www.cell.com/cell-systems...

Canicule : la Tour Eiffel ferme 🖍️ Par Coco

📣 New on the blog! Our short-term fellow, @vdlorenzo.bsky.social, reflects on his experiences at KHK as an experimental scientist spending an extended period immersed in a community of philosophers and social theorists. 🔗 Find the post here: khk.rwth-aachen.de/seven-weeks-...

What can a synthetic (micro)biologist learn from professional philosophers? See what I found during my 7 weeks living & working at @core-rwth.bsky.social, away from the lab and in the midst of a diverse international bunch of social theorists👇

Our paper, “Deep learning reveals antimicrobial peptides within prions,” is now published in Nature Microbiology @natureportfolio.nature.com. We used AI to ask an unexpected question: could proteins best known for their role in fatal neurodegenerative diseases encode molecules that fight infection?

More info about our research @ engineeringbio.science Will post the job ad here as soon as it is available, but feel free to reach out in the meantime. Ideally, this would be a 2-year commitment.

Public money should not flow automatically to journals that fail to meet acceptable standards of editorial quality, transparency and accountability. In this post I ask what a journal accreditation system might look like & how it could work. academicrenewal.substack.com/p/building-a...

Desconozco los detalles de este proyecto, pero el biogas es una de las grandes alternativas sostenibles a los combustibles fósiles y no debe descartarse de entrada, aunque sí explicarse mejor. En Alemania hay instalaciones masivas que suministran energía a regiones enteras elpais.com/espana/galic...

Check out out the 15 papers that are part of our collction called "The Pseudomonads: Versatile Organisms" - lots to learn about this interesting bug! journals.asm.org/topic/sss-ta... @asm.org #JBacteriol

#MicroSky: BIOREMEDIATION In the environment, bacteria sense aromatic pollutants, move to them, adapt to toxicity, & use specialized uptake & catabolic systems. Genomic plasticity, metabolic versatility & division of labor within populations aid to remove persistent chemicals doi.org/10.1111/1751...

We were the *Black SEVATH* band, I wonder why @sevaplasmids.bsky.social … 🤔

the "global biosphere connectome": doi.org/10.1093/fems...

All domains of life are connected through the invisible bond of the environmental microbiome. And microbes themselves make the connection to the abiotic setting. Humans are just one node in a dense ecological network. Beautiful visual depiction of these facts generated with AI 👇

I received wth great sadness the news of the passing of our dear friend & colleague Ana Clara Carrera. One of the most recognizable faces of the @cnb-csic.bsky.social for many years. Her enthusiasm & character touched all of us who had the fortune of crossing paths with her. May she rest in peace 🫶🏻

1/2 Dear Juan Luis, Hearty congratulations on this celebration of your amazing academic career!!! You have been a pioneer, super mentor and an inspiring leader. I, and many others, have learned so much from you and hold your research ethos dear.

1/3 What a week!Aachen ➡️ Madrid ➡️ Barcelona ➡️ Segovia ➡️ Granada. Every stop along the way has brought great encounters, stimulating discussions & inspiring events. Now off to Granada, one of the cradles of TOL plasmid research—a system that, despite decades of study, still keeps many secrets

In the past, people said you could make anything from lignin except money. Now, you might make money out of lignin with further improvement of the following published by Gregg Beckham et al. in Nature www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Are philosophical anthropologists aware of the degree of molecular intimacy and shared ontology between humans and bacteria 🤔? @core-rwth.bsky.social

Awesome Barcelona 🫶🏻!

Congrats Prof Alain Filloux, SCELSE Research Director, on his appointment as President’s Chair in Molecular Microbiology at NTU. One of the University's highest academic honours, this recognises his scientific achievements, leadership, and contributions to microbiology. @fillouxlab.bsky.social

Microorganismos como componentes biointeligentes para transformar viviendas en sistemas vivos que generen energía o reciclen residuos Propuesta de @i2sysbio.es para las ciudades del futuro gracias a la biología sintética e IA @csic.es @uv.es delegacion.comunitatvalenciana.csic.es/edificios-vi...

A new post on how pushing back against predatory practices in publishing led us to focus on the need for academic renewal open.substack.com/pub/academic...

Cascading recombinase memory switch for programmable and stable gene expression in Pseudomonas putida by Javier Hernández @labnikel.bsky.social #SyntheticBiology #MetabolicEngineering #GeneticCircuit #OpenAccess academic.oup.com/nar/article/... @narjournal.bsky.social

Back to Segovia for the last retreat of my Lab, along with friends and colleagues from ETH, Univ Sevilla, DTU and Univ Valencia. Great science & amazing discussions in the unique venue of the historical Dominican Convent of Santa Cruz la Real, now @ieuniversity.bsky.social

¿Porqué el @csic.es no permite pagar las inscripciones en congresos con una tarjeta de crédito y luego el interesado pide una devolución? En vez de eso, hay que hacerlo como un pedido, con toda la burocracia asociada enviromicro-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... Incomprensible ☹️

The best of the SynBio folk—at least at this side of the pond 😅—are the good vibes & the friendly/collaborative mood of every meeting. Discussions indeed everywhere. Thanks @taeseokmoon.bsky.social & @marcguellc.bsky.social for having made it possible. Here blowup talking to Aindrila Mukhopadhyay👇

Off to Barcelona for the 2nd SynBYSS Conf www.jcvi.org/events/synbyss organized by the one and only @taeseokmoon.bsky.social along with Marc Güell of @upf.edu & other local SynBio colleagues. Ready to take the pulse of the field & learn from many of its luminaries 😀. I will honor Gaudí in my talk 👇

What if living cells compute in ways that silicon never can? Rather than mimicking computers, the future of biocomputation may lie in harnessing the unique information-processing strategies of evolution. Check this paper by @angelgm.eurosky.social and co. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti....

Has anyone signed up the Pseudomonas 2026 Conference in Chennai this December? There is a bug in the registration page which asks for an obligatory pho number with a minimum of 10 digits. Spanish numbers (minus the area code) have only 9, impossible to carry on. Can organizers pls fix this 🙏🏻?

Complex Adaptive Systems, like ecosystems, challenge traditional engineering intuition. Synthetic Biology is a powerful tool but ecological principles must become a central part of the design language doi.org/10.1016/j.co... @lizashpilkina.bsky.social @vdlorenzo.bsky.social @ricardsole.bsky.social

Leaving behind the myth of the lab-built heroic strain for bioremediation & environmental recovery. Forefront SynBio-based research in large-scale env biotech needs to refocus on engineering ecological interactions www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... @ricardsole.bsky.social @vmaull.bsky.social

Does unnecessary bureaucracy cause you frustration, affect your work? This paper outlines some root causes and actions needed to address them. If you wish to contribute to the solution, disseminate and engage: enviromicro-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

The 1st tangible outcome of my minisabbatical at @core-rwth.bsky.social surrounded by philosophers & social scientists. Can SynBio be an instrument not of domination but of partnership wth the natural world? I believe so, but a new narrative needs to be developed and its consequences taken seriously

Impressive tour of the Ruhrgebiet—the historic cradle of German industrialisation—guided by Lars Blank. Since the end of coal mining 20yr ago the region has undergone a deep transformation into a recreational & cultural landscape while keeping many monuments to its industrial past & former splendour

📅‼️El I2SysBio celebra un congreso internacional centrado en los avances de la biología integrativa de sistemas del 9 al 11 de septiembre www.i2sysbio.es/communicatio...

Some reflections on bacteria trained in the Laboratory for biodegradation/bioremediation of toxic waste youtu.be/DKkZVIRVs1s in the context of the NYMPHE Project www.nympheproject.eu

I am growingly convinced that GM bacteria for release as bioremediation agents must have a separate regulatory frame compared to other GM items, as their only purpose and moral value is doing good things for the society, the environment and helping restoring ecological balance 🤔