Last Friday, we had the pleasure of attending the very first Belgian Microbiome Network Symposium in Antwerp! Huge shoutout to @ruvaur.bsky.social, Sarah Ahannach and Ludovica Marinelli for organizing this great new initiative and bringing the community together!✨

The immune systems paradox Some widespread prokaryotic immune systems are absent in eukaryotes, whereas relatively rare ones became central to eukaryotic innate immunity @audeber.bsky.social & E. Koonin hypothesize the answer is #HGT shareable link: rdcu.be/e2EmD www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Feel like doing a SynBio PhD in Spain? Check this offer, many fellowships available 👉🏻 lifehub.csic.es/synbio-cofund/

Big congrats to our colleague @krukowskihubert.bsky.social on the Nature Microbiology paper linking gut transit time and diet to CKD microbiome changes. Another step in microbiome research!🧫 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

www.nature.com/articles/s41... #microsky

Before, Big Tech algorithms decided what you saw. Now you can opt out of the 'personalised' feed or make it chronological! Ads must be transparent, and deceptive design is banned. All because of our Digital Services Act. Your digital life, your rules.

#phagesky #microsky

This poster is outside my little lab. There is nothing else like it. Please support this artist! @redpenblackpen.bsky.social

Our new book "Self-Doubt" is written by scientists for scientists. You might think you are alone when you doubt your ability or suitability for science - you aren't. We all question ourselves and carry doubt with us daily. www.amazon.co.uk/Self-Doubt-A...

Science is a tough career. We are so over-trained in scepticism we end up constantly doubting ourselves. The worst part can be thinking you are alone in your self-doubt. By sharing our common experiences, we hope our new book helps those going through a career crisis: www.cam.ac.uk/stories/camb...

Registration open for the 2026 edition of CRISPR in Action: Practice and Theory of Genome Engineering, organised by @vibtrainconf.bsky.social . Hands-on course combining theory+practice for researchers working with CRISPR technologies | Leuven 🇧🇪 | 17–21 Aug | 12 spots 🔗 Link in comments #CRISPR #VIB

It's Friday! ...and a new #MVIF program is out! 🤩 Free registration: cassyni.com/s/mvif-46 Highlights: 🇺🇸 Rebecca L. Knoll 🇯🇵 Akito Sakanaka Keynote: 🇺🇸 @simrouxvirus.bsky.social ⭐️ Talks: 🇦🇺 @jeremyjbarr.bsky.social 🇨🇦 @erikbakkeren.bsky.social 🇨🇳 Guanxiang Liang

📣 Please spread: we’re hiring a Lab Manager! It is a critical position in our new lab. As our lab moves to Barcelona and joins the @crg.eu, we’re looking for a Lab Manager to help build the lab and set the lab atmosphere. 🔗 Apply here 👉 recruitment.crg.eu/content/jobs...

. @nature.com NEWS: Sending babies to nursery completely reshapes their microbiomes “Maybe in 20 years, we will find that people still need to thank their friends at day care for the microbes they got when they were there” Nicola Segata says. www.nature.com/articles/d41...

EMBL is deeply saddened by the passing of our Interim Director General Peer Bork, a pioneering scientist who left an indelible imprint on life science research in Europe and beyond. We extend our deepest condolences to his family, friends, and colleagues. www.embl.org/news/people-...

I'll be going! Note: this GRC is in Italy, so no need to travel to the USA (as for most other GRCs), which will be a relief for many.

If you are looking to build your lab, take a listen to these interviews on @lonelypipette.bsky.social! www.buzzsprout.com/1356877/epis...

We’re excited to share the program for the 1st Symposium of the Belgian Microbiome Network 🧫🇧🇪 📅 Feb 6 | 📍 University of Antwerp 👩‍🔬👨‍🔬 Leading Belgian experts across human & planetary health 🤝 A day of science, innovation & community building 👉 Registration link in the comments

We mourn the passing of Peer Bork, EMBO Member since 2000: https://www.embl.org/news/embl-announcements/in-remembrance-of-peer-bork/

New Year’s Eve reception, lab edition. Controlled chaos. Sharp knives. Hot pans. Turns out the real hidden talent of this group is not only in the lab, it’s running a kitchen. Yes, chef. 🔥 🧑‍🔬➡️🧑‍🍳

This is very impressive

A 5★ new review of the GLP-1 drugs, what they have achieved, and where the field is headed with so many new molecules and combinations @thelancet.com thelancet.com/journals/lan...

Translational microbiomes in agriculture: microbial communities as tools to effect host and system health for improved crop production #microsky #microbiomesky | Applied and Environmental Microbiology journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...

Global warming surpassed 1.5 degrees Celsius for the past three years, meaning Earth is currently on track to breach the Paris climate agreement by the end of the decade

🇸🇪 PM Kristersson: Several officers from Swedish Armed Forces are arriving in Greenland today [per Denmark’s request]. They are part of group from several allied countries. Together, they will prepare for upcoming elements within framework of Danish exercise Operation Arctic Endurance.

2025 was the third warmest year on record, following the unprecedented temperatures in 2023 and 2024. The past year saw a series of extreme weather events across the globe, including heatwaves and severe storms in Europe, North America, and Asia. More info: link.europa.eu/Djw69t

Benefit Transfer Loops Turn Cheating into a Scaffold for Microbial Diversity doi.org/10.1101/2023...

New online! The hidden tempo of ecological communities

We’re starting the new year fresh with a brand-new website. Take a look and let us know what you think: www.sniprbiome.com

Good summary of lack of evidence and potential for harm of components of the recommended diet www.technologyreview.com/2026/01/08/1... by @jesshamzelou.bsky.social

✨⁣ 𝗠𝗲𝗲𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 2025 𝗘𝘂𝗦𝘆𝗻𝗕𝗶𝗼𝗦 𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗲!⁣ ⁣ We are thrilled to introduce our team of passionate scientists dedicated to advancing #SyntheticBiology across Europe! 👇Get to know them: www.linkedin.com/posts/eusynb... @gnevot.xyz @jose-e.bsky.social #SynBio #EUSynBioS

Here is our first publication of 2026 which is the first article of a special issue that mark the journal 40 anniversary - happy new year to all the #yeast community

These institutions are retraction hotspots go.nature.com/4rVb56y

A new community-driven lab handbook for reducing conflict and creating more positive and equitable work environments gets strong support from a survey of 200 researchers. buff.ly/K7CGFLV

Great mix of talks from across all @viblifesciences.bsky.social research areas at our first-ever #VIBAIScienceDay. Sharing another mini photo dump while we digest lunch and gear up for more science this afternoon.

I really enjoyed being on the Called to Science podcast to talk about my journey as a scientist 🧑🏽‍🔬🧬 We discussed my passion for microbes, moving across countries, microbiology & sustainability (incl. HealthFerm), and finding purpose in science. 🎧 link below👇🏽 #Microbiology #SciencePodcast

BREAKING: The Nobel Prize in Chemistry has been awarded to Susumu Kitagawa, Richard Robson and Omar M. Yaghi “for the development of metal-organic frameworks” Stay tuned for more. #NobelPrize

Another great day at #UEGWeek 2025! 🎉Congratulations to our colleague Jorge Vazquez Castellanos for presenting his exciting work on microbial dysbiosis, inflammation, and the gut–brain axis in IBS at the United European Gastroenterology Week in Berlin🇩🇪 @myueg.bsky.social @vibmicrobes.bsky.social

GTDB release 10 based on RefSeq 226 (R10-RS226) is live at gtdb.ecogenomic.org. This release covers 732,475 genomes (22% increase) and has 143,6141 species clusters (37% increase). Release notes at: forum.gtdb.ecogenomic.org/t/announcing.... Release statistics at: gtdb.ecogenomic.org/stats/r226.

Early-career researchers: want to run your own lab? 🌟Max Planck Research Groups offer 6+ years, up to €2.7M in funding, open-topic freedom, team support & tenure-track opportunities. Intrigued? 😃Apply by Oct 14, 2025! www.mpg.de/max-planck-r...

Exams = stress. 📚 Our new study shows that a probiotic strain (L. rhamnosus CNCM I-3690) modulated the gut microbiome during academic stress, with ties to lower anxiety. 🔗 Vázquez-Castellanos et al. doi.org/10.1038/s415...

Bacteria expressing an anti-tumor cytokine act as a potent cancer immunotherapy go.nature.com/4ettzUR rdcu.be/eBeA1

R.I.P. 🪦 Tesla @Mexico City

Ready to lead pioneering research that bridges systems-level investigations of biological systems to molecular mechanism? The EMBL Molecular Systems Biology Unit in Heidelberg is hiring a Group Leader!

Eco-evolutionary robustness of wild bacterial communities to experimental perturbation #ISMEJournal by @duhitasant.bsky.social et al from @timbarra.bsky.social with Tom Bell, @kayla-king.bsky.social academic.oup.com/ismej/advanc...

@skamrad.bsky.social @kiranrpatil.bsky.social show xenobiotics impact growth of gut bacteria and their metabolic homeostasis by affecting amine metabolism ➡️ www.embopress.org/doi/full/10....

The paper is definitely worth a read—and if you're curious for a glimpse behind the scenes of how the story developed, don’t miss this short blog post by Anne and Jacobo. communities.springernature.com/posts/silent...

Finally online! Our latest research is out @nature.com: We show that non-antibiotic drugs can disrupt colonization resistance, raising the risk of enteric infections. rdcu.be/ewwrG

Great timing a couple of weeks ago where I got to present our work on the discovery of new phage DNA modifications and their implications for phage defence at #EESMicrobiology one hour after the paper came out in @cp-cellhostmicrobe.bsky.social! Fantastic conference!