Our annual collection of exceptional papers in cell biology is here! These articles advance our understanding of the structures and processes at the core of diverse living systems and human disease. www.life-science-alliance.org/content/cell...

Congratulations to the new Dr @bexx-menday.bsky.social! And huge thanks to fantastic examiners Peter Rosenthal and Ellie Harrison

Our paper with @robfagan.bsky.social @jasonwils.bsky.social and Louis-Charles Fortier on #phage has been included in this year's LSA special collection. www.life-science-alliance.org/content/cell...

The ecological roles of bacterial #immune systems are poorly understood. Rafael Custodio @ellinoralseth.bsky.social @brockhurstlab.bsky.social @brownlab.bsky.social & Edze Westra explore how mobile genetic elements and bacterial defenses shape #microbiome structure and function 🧪

There's just over 2 weeks left to apply for a fully funded PhD studentship with us working on C. difficile vancomycin resistance. Two more studentships - linked in the thread below - close in early January

70 teaspoons placed in tearooms around the institute & observed weekly over 5 months. 80% of spoons disappeared; spoon halflife~81 days. Communal room halflife lower than in specific labs. 250 spoons annually required to maintain 70 spoon population. pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...

Thrilled to present the findings from my 2025 #SUREscheme project - 'Investigating the influence of latent bacteriophages on healthcare-associated C. difficile lysogens' - at the showcase yesterday evening. Huge thanks to @funnirudh.bsky.social and @robfagan.bsky.social for making this possible!

Nottingham university to close its Microbiology course ☹️

By studying the process through which a soil bacterium naturally produces a well-known drug, scientists have discovered a powerful antibiotic that could help to fight drug-resistant infections go.nature.com/4oQ8bxO

Chris Russo and Anastasiia Gusach have developed a new method to prepare #cryoEM samples that avoids protein damage during freezing Read more: www2.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk/a-new-method... #LMBResearch

Structural basis of multitasking by the apicoplast DNA polymerase from Plasmodium falciparum pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41099714/ #cryoem

Beautiful CryoEM work by our University of Sheffield colleagues @molmicrosheffield.bsky.social Structural basis of multitasking by the apicoplast DNA polymerase from Plasmodium falciparum url: academic.oup.com/nar/article/...

It is with great sadness that we share the news of the death of our founder, colleague, mentor and friend, Professor Sir John Gurdon. His vision and dedication will continue to inspire generations of scientists. 🔗 www.gurdon.cam.ac.uk/nobel-laurea...

Antimicrobial resistance is projected to cause 39 million deaths worldwide over the next 25 years go.nature.com/42x5KHD

I just signed this. Please consider do so as well. alumni.controlshift.app/petitions/tr...

Long-standing institutions are ill-equipped to cope with modern financial and political challenges go.nature.com/46xZrVl

Things today's White House autism announcement did not do: -Discuss strategies to increase supports and services for autistic people/families -Highlight why autistic people and families deserve respect, not pity or fear -Endorse one speck of autism research that is not dangerous pseudoscience

Half a million people die from Strep A each year globally. Now, for the first time, Scientists have discovered how some children develop natural immunity to a bacterial infection, a vital breakthrough which could help develop vaccines. Read more: sheffield.ac.uk/news/breakth...

We are looking to recruit a tenure track group leader in the field of Chemical/Synthetic Biology (in the broadest sense) to lead a research program within the Division of Protein & Nucleic Acid Chemistry ( www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DNW809/r... ) at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology (LMB).

Quantum mechanics is one of the most successful theories in science — and makes much of modern life possible go.nature.com/4mjXRg3

Please share! 🦠 Workshop on Phage Therapy in Liverpool on 25th November organised by Stineke van Houte, @jojofoth.bsky.social, @brockhurstlab.bsky.social, & Edze Westra. Limited FREE tickets & more info here: sites.exeter.ac.uk/vanhoutelab/... #MicroSky

LMB Director Jan Löwe welcomes UK Global Talent Fund announcement: "Global talent has always driven LMB breakthroughs. We welcome efforts to remove barriers for researchers wishing to relocate - diverse minds fuel innovation and helps us stay globally competitive." tinyurl.com/3wahmr27 #LMBinthenews

One free-wheeling 1930s cafe nurtured mathematical ideas including the theory of the nuclear bomb go.nature.com/3GQIqgg

We’re hiring a postdoc! 🔬 Join us in Bristol, UK to study in situ structural immunology using cryoFIB-SEM + cryoET on our new Hydra Bio system. ERC-funded, 3 years, studying phagocytosis to develop new immunotherapeutics. Closing 29 July 2025. Info + apply: www.bristol.ac.uk/jobs/find/de...

The National Student Survey results are in and we're proud to say that we're top of the Russell Group for the third year in a row! And our Student's Union has been ranked number 1 once again. A testament to the hard work of our brilliant University community 👏🎉 sheffield.ac.uk/news/sheffie...

journals.plos.org/plosgenetics... It was fun to have contributed to this nice work from @crodrigueslab.bsky.social

Checkout the latest paper from our lab in PLOS Genetics: dx.plos.org/10.1371/jour... Thanks to our wonderful collaborators, @sgribaldo.bsky.social, @cavalab.bsky.social, @perbullough.bsky.social and Cecile Morlot.

Flagellar switch inverted repeats impact heterogeneity in flagellar gene expression and thus C. difficile RT027/MLST1 virulence www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

June Almeida: The Woman Who First Identified Coronaviruses voxmeditantis.com/2025/06/27/j... #WomenInSTEM #STEM #Virology #Coronaviruses #Discovery

Paper alert: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...? Proud that we brought together researchers, clinicians and patient/carers to convey our point that it is important to bring novel treatments for bacterial pathogens to patients *also* if they are not on the WHO Bacterial Priority Pathogen list.

The QS World University Rankings 2026 have just been released and we’ve placed 92nd within the World Top 100! Huge congratulations and thanks to everyone in the University of Sheffield community for this achievement; from staff and students to alumni, supporters and friends around the world!

"Vaccination is our only way out, but we need political will, funding, and public cooperation." A new World Report from Samaan Lateef highlights the urgent need for action against the measles outbreak in Afghanistan: tinyurl.com/2dcaenp8

The most viruslike microbe to date was discovered by accident when researchers sequenced the DNA inside this tiny ocean critter. That story and more of the best from @science.org and science in this edition of #ScienceAdviser: www.science.org/content/arti... 🧪

Edited by Tom Burnley, Paula da Fonseca, Vicki Gold and Stephen Muench, this Structural Biology – Acta Cryst. D virtual issue collects articles from the 2023 CCP-EM Spring Symposium, showcasing recent advances in cryo-EM and structural biology methods. tinyurl.com/22evpux5

Thank you to all participants for making the 2nd #3CdF such a fantastic event! See you next year for the next one! #microsky 🧪 #Cdiff

Now engineering phages with Anirudh Jakhmola from @robfagan.bsky.social lab at @sheffielduni.bsky.social #3cdf

Cryogenic electron microscopy showed for the first time that large RNA complexes can assemble without the help of proteins, expanding our understanding of RNA folding and function. www6.slac.stanford.e...

Curious about current concepts and new approaches to #Microbiology research? This @embl.org symposium will discuss topics such as microbiomes, bacterial systems biology, and more. Virtual registration open until June 10. Learn more: plos.io/4jtR0zI #EESMicrobiology

E. coli prophages encode an arsenal of defense systems to protect against temperate phages: Cell Host & Microbe www.cell.com/cell-host-mi...

Phage people: Rich Losick and I are combing the world looking for T4 rIIB mutant FC0 (also known as P13). FC0 was the starting point for Francis Crick's beautiful 1961 paper on the triplet nature of the genetic code. We want to sequence it. Anyone have it in an ancient stock collection?

Can phage treat infection AND vaccinate? We found that phage treatment protects mice against re-infection by the same pathogen. Out today in PNAS. @tailor-labs.bsky.social www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Pleased to share my very general review of Photosynthesis now published in Nature Reviews Mol Cell Biol 🌞🌱 rdcu.be/em1lz Hopefully a useful primer for Postgrad and undergrad students

This is so exciting! The German National Library of Medicine @zbmed.bsky.social just had its first open meeting on the plan for an open & independent PubMed safety net. Here's my write-up @plos.org on the meeting & how institutions & others can help absolutelymaybe.plos.org/2025/05/14/g... #MedLibs

It's great to see NSMB following the lead of IUCr journals like Structural Biology (@actacrystd.iucr.org) and Structural Biology Communications (@actacrystf.iucr.org). Reviewers find it much easier if they don't actually have to ask for the experimental data! Here's hoping other journals follow.

New Faraday Fellowships for international applicants moving to the UK Up to £4 million per researcher over 5-10 years Fast-track option for mid-career researchers looking to relocate to the UK

Important: if a bug does not make the WHO's priority list, this does not mean it is not relevant. We present arguments why investment in R&D for surveillance, control and treatment of C. difficile (CDI) is of critical importance: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...