It has been so marvellous getting to meet Marcela, learn about her journey from Brazil to Cambridge (via Germany) and hear about her sloth research and hobbies. Watch this Space - I'm busy working on a final blog draft. More to share soon. 📝🦥

The queen's gone, but not forgotten. Reread the entire story from the beginning here.

We've had these beautiful months visit our garden recently.

So excited to follow along on this fieldwork trip!

"Whose Larva Is This?" A quick guide to figure out what you're looking at when you find something that resembles a worm or a Zerg unit crawling around. #insect #bug #education #SciArt

A few weeks ago I got a text message from an editor at @theguardian.com and it dawned on me that we submitted a Young Country Diary story. Lo and behold the editor selected it to publish! Miss 9 is thrilled with the cash for hamster treats - and is published!🐹 www.theguardian.com/environment/... 🦋

A new Science study shows that bumble bees can position a ball underneath a fake “flower” to reach a reward, suggesting they can exhibit spontaneous problem-solving and challenging the notion that such advanced cognitive abilities are exclusive to large-brained vertebrates. https://scim.ag/4vs08dC

it was a whole study! i had some and gave them to her, but she never showed much interest. tearing kitchen towels and toilet paper on the other hand 150% enrichment last year for one #InverteFest I did drawings of interesting invertebrate papers and drew the ball bumbles bsky.app/profile/petr...

Wish I was here!!! Save me some shirts!

hey I drew this guy (no. 17)! found on a kelp washed ashore at Lyme Regis

The smell of a library feels like home. As a homeschooled kid, I lived at our local library! A classroom away from home. Read about our @sangerinstitute.bsky.social library here - a great write-up for @literacy-trust.bsky.social's National Year of Reading ⤵️ sangerinstitute.blog/2026/06/11/h...

I am so mad at AI for comandeering the em dash. I loved that thing! Now I am finding myself trying to find other ways to say the same thing when I used to use an em dash. RIP, em.

These days, you may have seen many Painted Ladies (Vanessa cardui) 👀🦋 But did you know they make an extraordinary journey of more than 10,000 km between Africa and Europe, across successive generations? 🌍 🔗 Download the poster here: catalanbms.org/en/recursos/

Sloths are the slowest mammals on the planet and now we know why. Scientists have sequenced the two-toed sloth genome and found ‘jumping genes’ linked to their extremely slow metabolism 🦥 Read more here ⤵️ https://www.sanger.ac.uk/news_item/why-are-sloths-so-slow-its-in-their-dna/

When I sat down with @jamesimcc.bsky.social to learn about all things springtails, I never imagined I'd leave our conversation so inspired about the future of natural science research. I can't wait to see what the future has in store for James. I certainly look forward to following the journey! 😊

A big preprint from my group! Muller Elements are considered to be conserved in flies. We tested it by reconstructing the ancestral dipteran karyotype using 340 chromosomal genomes and suprise suprise, they're not... Led by @juliagries.bsky.social and Sam Ebdon. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... 🧵👇

June is a special month for UK bumblebees – the Big Eight are joined by more of our rare and less common species 💛 👑 This month, most of these rare and less common queens will produce their first daughters – the workers 💼 🎱 For the Big Eight, many queens and workers will be joined by new males 🚹

half face for reference on her chonkiness

Inspiring people I get to meet through work include Archie Madhav: "I spent a lot of time thinking about toilets" and other fascinating facts, in the blog below ⤵️ Please have a read, and a re-share. I'd love to see this blog fly all around the world to help spread gut health research!

It was an absolute pleasure to interview Archie about her work with scientists in Bangladesh. An incredible feat is underway - and it all started with testing microbiome conditions from poo here in Cambridge. Follow her journey in this blog ⤵️

Just me, the microbiologist, correcting my own writing; I'd forgotten to capitalise the B in Bunsen burner! Speaking of microbiology, please read my latest blog following an incredible researcher and a @wellcometrust.bsky.social funded project in Bangladesh. sangerinstitute.blog/2026/06/04/c...

Today is taxonomy appreciation day. Researchers like @jamesimcc.bsky.social , @joanameier.bsky.social and @charlottewright.bsky.social have taught me the importance of taxonomy for their genomics research. Now, I understand full-well how these specialisms coexist and work together. ☯️ #NameItToSaveIt

We’re excited to launch a brand-new opportunity at the Sanger Institute, funded by GoogleDeepMind. This fully funded 3-year Fellowship is designed for exceptional early-career researchers ready to apply AI/ML to some of the most important challenges in genomics. 🧬 Apply here ⤵️ bit.ly/4uBuZUT

It's been really fascinating learning all about the quirks of micro- and dot-chromosomes from experts like Dr @tom-mathers.bsky.social here at the @sangerinstitute.bsky.social! The beautiful bird photo features a black-headed gull, captured by one of our staff members/birders in procurement! 📸

Give Sarah money. Sarah gives back ten fold in energy, science education, and to communities all over the country. Just do it.

A vital topic - and my colleague Shannon Gunn managed to weave an array of women's health research at the @sangerinstitute.bsky.social into one blog - I'm sure she could have written a book! Please re-share. ♀️ sangerinstitute.blog/2026/05/12/w... 🎨by the talented Dr @petrathepostdoc.bsky.social

Meet Clothilde Chenal, who studies mosquito pangenomes. 👋 In her spare time, she slacklines, a balancing practice that takes focus and concentration. Read our latest blog to learn more ⤵️ https://sangerinstitute.blog/2026/05/07/from-grenoble-to-mosquitoes-clothilde-chenals-path-into-pangenomics/

New PLOS Biology paper arising from a collaboration between us at the Sanger/U Cambridge and the U York and Sheffield, and many more collaborators across the Americas and Europe. Regulatory changes in the same genes (optix, ivory) led to the same colour patterns in mimetic butterflies and moths.

It is a pleasure to get to work with Prof @joanameier.bsky.social and her incredible co-authors who span continents. They have pulled together this very cool paper published last night in @plosbiology.org. Read the news story via the link below! And, do check the thread for a wonderful video. 📹

Sequencing all complex life in the UK & Ireland could add up to £3bn to the economy over 30 years, a new report finds. Explore the impact of the Darwin Tree of Life Project ⤵️ https://www.sanger.ac.uk/news_item/unlocking-the-value-of-biodiversity-in-the-uk-and-ireland/

It was such a pleasure to interview @peterhousecam.bsky.social PhD student @jamesimcc.bsky.social. Writing this blog allowed me to bask in the springtail enthusiasm; I now think of these soil creatures whenever I am in the garden! Thank you James for sharing your inspiring story with us all!

Many wonderful scientists at @sangerinstitute.bsky.social - even some I'm lucky enough to call friends - featured in this series of videos introducing the basics of DNA. Well done to those involved instructing and filming! I've had a look through the offerings, it seems really great.

I can't resist sharing this wonderfully wormy blog about helminths of all sorts. My all-time favourite course in undergrad was one term of parisitology - so gross but so cool. 💩 Featuring @phylewgenetics.bsky.social and @stephenrdoyle.bsky.social 's research group this was well worth a read!

366 days ago I started my PhD at the @sangerinstitute.bsky.social. No better time to publish my profile on the Sanger website ⬇️ www.sanger.ac.uk/person/mccul... I tend to have my taxonomic hat on when posting here, but there is a bigger picture!

A water-borne pathogenic microbe masquerading as a Vibrio? Do tell me more... ⬇️

There will be signs that you are an academic and an international couple: For jobs, visas, and finding a place we want to call home, in the last 5 yrs we've lived in 4 countries and at five addresses. Anyone else? Would love to know what spots around the globe you've called home. #AcademicChatter

Forget complicated 'situationships'; read about symbioses - partnerships found everywhere in nature. I had access to some seriously expert brains @amjadkhalaf.bsky.social, @mmontonerin.bsky.social @utehentschel.bsky.social and others to discuss. Enjoy: sangerinstitute.blog/2026/02/13/n...

With great images by @nhm-london.bsky.social 's alumna (and current Sanger Institute postdoc) Dr Maggie Georgieva - dive into seven unique, strange, and wonderful symbioses I wrote about for this Valentine's blog ⬇️ 🧽's might be my personal fave...

I'm currently writing about tools created to study bird genomes. Birds are on my brain. @petrathepostdoc.bsky.social + @kiricarini.com here's some dreamy bird #dataviz! searchingforbirds.visualcinnamon.com

This blog was incredibly fun to write. I was able to gain access to all sorts of fascinating freezer drawers (under close supervision of course!). Siberian tiger colons, deep-sea isopods, worms of all sorts - have a read to learn more about them! ⬇️

What a breath of fresh air! After four years diving into the microbiology of the cystic fibrosis lung, it’s cool to see how spatial techniques are opening up new ways to understand microbiology and host tissues. Scientists, take these tools and run with them! Such exciting work! Worth a read ⤵️

"We have made great strides in cancer research in recent years, but there is much more to discover."🔬 At the Sanger Institute, we aren't short on inspiring researchers; yet when one of the greatest of the greats get recognized internationally for cancer research, it is still very special. 🧬🎉

Share your thoughts on what you want from future genomics training & events 📢 Our colleagues at Wellcome Connecting Science are looking to understand how their offerings can best support the genomics community. Anyone can take part via the link below ⤵️ survey.rigourresearch.co.uk/wix/7/p71781...

It is no secret that women's health as a research topic is dramatically understudied. Which is why I'm incredibly proud to work somewhere that is actively changing that. ♀️ Read on for a story about curiosity-driven and urgently needed science ⤵️ Congrats to the team led by Prof. Vento Tormo. 🎉

One of my favourite projects to write about - Project Psyche (an @ebpgenome.bsky.social affiliate) and the wonderful researchers whose collaborative efforts. The Project Psyche team are pushing the envelope for genomics-informed evolutionary biology. Please have a read. ⤵️

🚨🧬 #Breakthrough alert! 🧬 Caroline Howard and the Tree of Life Core Laboratory at the @sangerinstitute.bsky.social are releasing powerful new extraction methods designed for the toughest #species on Earth. These #innovations are helping #genome scientists crack samples once considered impossible.

The infectious disease researcher in me will never not read a blog about bacteria - and this blog about the biggest study of the human nose microbiome is no exception. 👃 The CARRIAGE study impacts our understanding of how to tackle #AMR so do read on ⤵️ sangerinstitute.blog/2025/12/02/w...

Read 'High frequency body site translocation of nosocomial Pseudomonas aeruginosa’ from @sangerinstitute.bsky.social in @natcomms.nature.com here ⤵️ www.nature.com/articles/s41...

A type of hospital bacteria, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, can move from a vulnerable patient's lungs to their gut, raising the risk of sepsis. 🦠 This work could help shape future infection monitoring strategies and reduce sepsis-related deaths. 👇 www.sanger.ac.uk/news_item/ho...

Antimicrobial-resistant bacteria and genes found to move freely between ecological compartments – highlighting the need for cross-compartment interventions🌍 Read ➡️ https://www.sanger.ac.uk/news_item/antimicrobial-resistant-bacteria-and-genes-move-freely-between-people-animals-and-the-environment/