Bravo Karen!

A big advance in the field of bacterial immunity, from the Bernheim and Laub labs

📣Huge preprint 🔔 Today we share something our group has been working toward for a long time, led by @lucasmoriniere.bsky.social We asked can we predict which receptor a phage targets from its genome sequence alone? For most phages, we couldn’t. So Lucas set out to do something I had only dreamed of.

How diverse is bacterial immunity ? We report in @science.org how language models allowed us to predict 2.4M antiphage proteins spanning >23K novel potential systems. 👏 @emordret.bsky.social, @alexhv.bsky.social & al doi.org/10.1126/scie... Explore them here defensefinder.mdmlab.fr/wiki/refseq_...

How do you kill a MRSA superbug armed with 15 different anti-phage defense systems? You make a smarter phage. Check out our latest preprint on overcoming bacterial immunity using defense-guided engineering to build durable therapeutic phage cocktails! Led by Sarah Voss. doi.org/10.64898/202...

Meet Molly Ingersoll, microbiologist & immunologist. Her work shows how women and men can respond very differently to infections, and why sex-specific treatments are urgently needed. She also speaks up about the invisible hurdles women face in science. Follow her here @immunobladder.bsky.social

Today we report single-cell APEX-seq (scAPEX-seq)—a method for unbiased mapping of subcellular transcriptomes at single-cell resolution. It reveals cell states invisible to standard scRNA-seq and identifies regulators of CAR T function that improve solid tumor killing. tinyurl.com/32pf6b8p

We are recruiting! If you are passionate about technology development, protein engineering, computational design, directed evolution, chemical biology - please reach out! (The setting is pretty nice too…)

How can we tap into the enormous functional diversity of microbes on this planet? Join us at EMBL Heidelberg (8–10 Dec 2026) to learn about ongoing efforts to decode gene function and organisation in human gut microbes, and present your science.

Genome modelling and design across all domains of life - Evo2 A biological foundation model trained on 9 trillion DNA base pairs to predict the functional impacts of genetic variation www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Out now! In collaboration with Leifu Chang, we uncover the molecular and structural underpinnings of CRISPR-Cas12f-like RNA-guided transcription systems! Links to the published articles: tinyurl.com/55kpavet tinyurl.com/sk6djwx3 Previous thread for the preprint: bsky.app/profile/did:...

Fantastic collaboration w/ @dbikard.bsky.social @audeber.bsky.social @rayanchikhi.bsky.social labs led by @jmouradesousa.bsky.social : We assessed the rates of variation of anti-phage systems in P4-like satellites and P2 helper phages. Quick conclusion: Huge variation! We focus on 4 key questions/5

➡️ preprint from the lab! Bacteria have loads of antiviral defences in their mobile genetic elements (MGEs). So when MGEs move between bacteria, the defences move with them, generating a fast turnover of defences in bacteria. But what about the antiviral defence turnover in the MGEs themselves? 🤔 🧵👇

Rapid modular evolution of antiviral repertoires in P2 phages and their P4 satellites: shuttling, swapping and mixing https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.02.27.708500v1

🧵 Proud to present a tour de force by postdoc @gregbwhitfield.bsky.social solving the mystery of how bacterial Tad pili can extend and retract with a single motor ATPase. Great collaboration with Lynne Howell, @dr-lori-burrows.bsky.social, @ianyyen.bsky.social www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

SNIPE is a widespread bacterial defence system that exploits the spatial organization of phage genome injection to specifically target viral DNA, distinguishing self from non-self in prokaryotic immune systems @nature.com @mitpress.bsky.social www.nature.com/articles/s41...

New preprint on Detectrons from @jihoon-han.bsky.social! These are programmable biosensors for RNA that produce DNA barcodes in the presence of their target RNA. Check out Jihoon's quoted thread and the preprint for more: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Join us at the 2026 GRC Microbial Stress Response to be held on July 19th-24th at Mount Holyoke College!! Here is the link for more information: www.grc.org/microbial-st...

🚨 Hiring Alert! 🚨My lab at Institut Pasteur is recruiting several Postdocs! We have exciting open projects in: 🦠 Synthetic Biology and🛡️ Bacterial Immunity. Come do great science with us in the middle of Paris! 🇫🇷🥐 research.pasteur.fr/en/job/postd...

Deadline is approaching (Feb 9) to apply for a PI position at Institut Pasteur. Come join us and contribute to an amazing scientific environment!!!

I’m thrilled to share our work on phage triggers of the bacterial immune system in its final form @natmicrobiol.nature.com www.nature.com/articles/s41...

It was a true privilege to co-chair the inaugural GRC meeting on Microbiome Editing together with @jenniferdoudna.bsky.social . The positive energy and quality of the Science presented were truly inspiring. I look forward to the next one chaired by KC Huang and @omalleylab.bsky.social !!!

🦠🧫 Envie d'en savoir plus sur la Microbiologie et de découvrir l'Institut Pasteur ? Rejoignez nous pour conférence scientifique grand public, accompagnée d’une performance artistique le 27 janvier à 18h! Inscrivez-vous :) research.pasteur.fr/fr/event/con...

This is shaping up to be one of the top conferences on microbiome editing!!

Such a privilege to share the Phage Foundry (phagefoundry.org) team’s work at the inaugural GRC meeting on Microbiome Editing 🎉🎊.

@francoisrousset.bsky.social, chercheur en microbiologie au @ciri-lyon.bsky.social est lauréat du Prix Paoletti 2025. 👋 @cnrs-rhoneauvergne.bsky.social buff.ly/o9MCTni

Live microscopy to 'phollow' phage outbreaks 🔬✳️ www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Microbes weaponizing secondary metabolites to make rivals vulnerable to phage attack 🧪🦠 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Our new paper on DusB’s role in redox metabolism in V. cholerae is now out in @narjournal.bsky.social linking tRNAmodif enzymes and metabolic adaptation. Beyond RNA modification: a tRNA-modifying enzyme shaping oxidative stress resilience and metabolism in V. cholerae #rnasky #rnabiology 😊🦠💫

The EMBO Gold Medal 2025 was awarded to Tanmay Bharat and David Bikard: https://www.embo.org/press-releases/embo-gold-medal-2025-awarded-to-tanmay-bharat-and-david-bikard/ 🧪 At #CellBio2025, the EMBO Gold Medal was handed over to David Bikard in recognition of his pioneering work on #GeneEditing.

✨New preprint! 🧵1/4 Excited to share our work on AI-guided design of minimal RNA-guided nucleases. Amazing work by @petrskopintsev.bsky.social @isabelesain.bsky.social @evandeturk.bsky.social et al! Multi-lab collaboration @banfieldlab.bsky.social @jhdcate.bsky.social @jacobsenucla.bsky.social🧬 🔗👇

🧬🛡️How are new immune mechanisms created? We show how Lamassu antiphage system, originated from a DNA-repair complex and evolved into a compact and modular immune machine, wt Dinshaw Patel lab in @pnas.org. 👏 @matthieu-haudiquet.bsky.social, Arpita Chakravarti & all authors! doi.org/10.1073/pnas...

🚀New preprint from our lab! I am very excited to finally share what has been the main focus of my PhD for the past almost 3 years! It is about viral dark matter and a powerful tool we built to shed light on it. 🧬💡 Continue reading (🧵)

🚨Preprint alert - this is a big one! We transfer the revolutionary power of TnSeq to bacteriophages. Our HIDEN-SEQ links the "dark matter" genes of your favorite phage to any selectable phenotype, guiding the path from fun observations to molecular mechanisms. A thread 1/8

#NewResearch A bile acid-bound structure of toxin TcdB revealed the mechanism of inhibition and guided the design of a synthetic bile acid that alleviated C. difficile infection in mice. #MicroSky 🦠💊 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Our new paper is out in @narjournal.bsky.social We show that natural transformation enables bacteria to shuffle integron cassettes, boosting their phenotypic diversity. academic.oup.com/nar/article/... 1/5

#microsky #phagesky Predicting host- #phage interactions from genomics. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Don't forget to register for the first Microbiome Editing GRC: www.grc.org/microbiome-e... We have an exciting lineup of speakers!

We are hiring PhD & Postdocs in this space so please reach out if interested. Also check out the Gordon Research Conference on Microbiome Editing in Jan 11-16, 2026. www.grc.org/microbiome-e...

Our nuclease-protease story is out! We explored a fascinating case of coevolution and modularity in prokaryotic immune systems: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... Thanks to wonderful coauthors/collaborators/friends, the whole @doudna-lab.bsky.social and everyone at @innovativegenomics.bsky.social

Assembly, architecture and functional roles of microbial surface layers Review article published in @natrevmicro.nature.com with @bupbuse.bsky.social, Andriko von Kügelgen and @vikramalva.bsky.social. S-layers are everywhere! www.nature.com/articles/s41...

also, an excellent perspective by @dbikard.bsky.social summarizing the work! 🙏 www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Very excited to share our latest work in Science on metagenomic editing (MetaEdit) of the gut microbiome in vivo & directly modifying unculturable immune-modulatory SFB bug in the small intestine. 🦠🧬🛠️ www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

@sacrozhangt.bsky.social and I wrote a commentary on Jordi van Gestel and Carol Gross's latest paper, check it out! www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/... Sadly, the Editors at PNAS rejected our initial introduction, which was a David Attenborough style voice over of the microbial Serengeti (included below)

#microsky #phagesky filamentous #phage www.cell.com/current-biol...

🚨New preprint out! We present a foundational genomic resource of human gut microbiome viruses. It delivers high-quality, deeply curated data spanning taxonomy, predicted hosts, structures, and functions, providing a reference for gut virome research. (1/8) www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Very interesting strategy to sense infection!

#mycrosky #synbio www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

#phagesky #phage #microsky www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...