What happens when you combine all that is known about a large protein with almost 2000 residues with Alphafold2, new experiments, and in-depth structural bioinformatics? www.life-science-alliance.org/content/9/4/...

Are you looking for an interdisciplinary PhD? I have a 4 year PhD opportunity in my group to work on devising enzymatic route to oligonucleotide synthesis - combines protein engineering, directed evolution & X-ray crystallography at York with nucleotide chemistry at MIB, University of Manchester.

Having made the transition from primarily X-ray crystallography to cryoEM, this resource would have been invaluable.

What’s holding back clinical use of phage therapy in the UK? Our workshop last year brought together international experts, biotech and regulators to find out Meeting Report out now in Nature Microbiology with our take on the challenges and opportunities facing the UK phage therapy sector

Cryo-EM structures of bacteriophage T4 portal-neck assembly intermediates reveal a viral genome retention mechanism pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41654509/ #cryoem

It was great to play a part in this study, using all of the work on alphaproteobacterial GTAs to help inform and identify key tell-tale patterns of GTAs in the human gut microbiome. I'm sure there will be many great followup studies on these fascinating particles. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

These are the life-blood of science. All that lab knowledge lost, careers ended. All the investment in their training to this point lost to academic research. That's the human cost of UKRI's "review period to develop implementation"

I know what they're getting at with the "could put jobs at risk" but can we focus on the immediate impact? Each suspended round at MRC and BBSRC means about 80 fewer postdoc jobs and the retrospective cuts at MRC add another 30 or so

We need to be shouting about the effects of this on junior researchers from the roofs, writing to our MPs. We are risking a "missing generation" of researchers.

Would have been good to have added an apology for the lack of comms so far this year, particularly for those that submitted grants to UKRI applicant-led funding streams in Sept 2025, as these are highly unlikely to be funded (www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-r...)

I am sorry. We all knew the three buckets were coming. We are all prepared for a shift in priority. But this message does nothing for all the UK scientists dependent on project grant funding. It doesn’t actually give any information www.ukri.org/news/open-le...

Finally comms from UKRI - on a Sunday evening. No mention of the hundreds of ECRs who will see their careers ended by these decisions and notably no explanation for MRC retrospectively applying cuts and wasting all the work that went into writing, reviewing and scoring applications - £millions

Dr Sir Ian If this statement is supposed to reassure that everything is under control, you are sadly very wrong. Strategic change needs managing to take the community with you, what’s happening now with MRC, BBSRC, STFC etc looks like panic & smells of desperation. Do better

At a time when the UK should be capitalising on its global reputation as a great place to do science, this is an enormous own goal. I am so sorry for all those who jobs are going to be impacted.

Leaks everywhere and finally we get an official statement, one that somehow manages to say a lot while; No timelines. No clarity. No acknowledgement of impact on ECRs whose careers depend UKRI funding. “Later this year” isn’t a plan. And the sector deserves better than reassurance without detail.

Startling that this is being broadcast in the absence of any public communications by @ukri.org The academic community has a right to expect to be told first hand what is happening with response mode funding and what the immediate future looks like www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-r...

Quite timely that Sir Ian Chapman, UKRI CEO, will be in front of the House of Commons Science, Innovation and Technology Committee on Tuesday next week… 👀

Dear colleagues in science - it is time to stop normalising the emerging fascism of the US by attending conferences there as though everything is fine.

This is an official White House post. The ignorance of this administration knows no bounds. Which continent to they think they are on?

Three UK research-intensive universities have revealed they will not be renewing subscriptions to Elsevier journals amid concerns over the cost of a nationally agreed deal, reports @jgro-the.bsky.social #academicsky https://ow.ly/Aaw750Y0I1u

Just watching live transcripts of Trump's Davos speech. BBC verify is having to work to maximum capacity to keep up with his verbal diarrhoea of lies.

An open letter organized by US-based researchers working in Greenland opposes any takeover of the territory go.nature.com/3YBbU7d

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...