🚨 New Web Resource Alert! 🚨 We're delighted to share Viro3D a database of >85000 viral protein structure predictions from >4400 human & animal viruses. 🔗 viro3d.cvr.gla.ac.uk 📄 www.embopress.org/doi/full/10.... @molsystbiol.org @cvrinfo.bsky.social @uofgmvls.bsky.social #Virology #AlphaFold 🧪 🦠

🌊 Coronaviruses likely acquired their spike proteins from aquatic herpesviruses. 4/5

🔍 Searches against structural network are extremely sensitive and allow to recover more RdRps than iterative profile-based searches. 3/5

🦠 The diversity of viral proteins can be reduced to 19,000 structural clusters. A structure-similarity network captures relationships between them. 2/5

Viro3D paper is out! We predicted 85,000 protein structures from human & animal viruses. 1/5 🧵 📑 Paper doi.org/10.1038/s443... 🔭 Explore virosphere viro3d.cvr.gla.ac.uk

Great to have this one published @cp-cellreports.bsky.social !! Some sarbecoviruses can use more ACE2 orthologs than others. The reason? A few sites in the RBD modulating the receptor usage of these viruses throughout their evolution! Worth a read 👇👇👇 www.cell.com/cell-reports...

@zachhensel.bsky.social and I have a new paper on the origin of SARS-CoV-2! 🧪 There are a lot of reviews on the topic already, so we tried to do something different: characterize "lab leak" scenarios, and directly address those on SARS-CoV-2's furin cleavage site.▫️1/9 doi.org/10.5802/crbi...

Mosquito-borne viruses surge in a warming Europe | Science | AAAS www.science.org/content/arti...

Really excited to have been a small part of this work investigating sarbecovirus host range, receptor usage and antigenicity! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.09.03.673949v1

A common type of ant in Europe breaks a fundamental rule in biology: its queens can produce male offspring that are a whole different species go.nature.com/4mOb5T9

Experimental infections reveal unexceptional viral tolerance in bats https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.08.28.672855v1

🚨1000 authoritarian actions. 7 months🚨 I've been tracking Trump's authoritarian actions. From dismantling democratic institutions to militarising immigration enforcement, Trump is reshaping America. In my new post I highlight key authoriarian attacks christinapagel.substack.com/p/grand-desi... 1/2

📢 VACANCY | Research Assistant/Associate - Data Analysis Support @drtoniho.bsky.social & @louisapollock.bsky.social's Pfizer-funded research project focused on effectiveness of maternal #RSV vaccination in infants in Scotland. More: bit.ly/CVR-WorkWithUs Apply: gla.ac.uk/explore/jobs/ Ref 180274

Excited to share our work at the interface of virology and AI at two upcoming events! Will present Viro3D (our virus structure database: viro3d.cvr.gla.ac.uk), recent Nature paper on Flaviviruses (www.nature.com/articles/s41...), plus brand new work. #Virology #AI #Research

That's right. Gift link www.nytimes.com/2025/08/18/o...

Biologists, virologists, evolutionary biologist, and public health experts have much to learn from climate scientists on tackling misinformation. This is the model to follow and the culture to foster:

📢 Calling all Postgrad Virologists! 🦠 Postgraduate Virologists Network are hosting their first conference for virology students, by virology students. 📍 @uofglasgow.bsky.social 📆 8-9 September Register and submit an abstract: www.postgradvirologistsnetwork.co.uk/2025-meeting

Come work with us👇

Research from USDA points to viruses spread by pesticide-resistant mites, indicating a worrying trend. Learn more on #NationalHoneyBeeDay: https://scim.ag/45zlFpJ

Check out our latest preprint led by Jumpei Ito and @shusukekawakubo.bsky.social !! PLANT 🌱 a protein language model for predicting antigenic cartography! PLANT takes HAs and predicts antigenic map coordinates, allowing for a deep dive into flu antigenic evolution! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

This week @science.org examines the wonders of the immune system! From molecular defences that co-evolved with pathogens to specialised cells that are intricately linked with physiology, the immune system is attuned to biological sex and different stages of life.

📰 DEFRA avian influenza update on 06 Aug 2025 #IDEpi #OneHealth 🧪 🐔 HPAI H5N1 confirmed in commercial poultry at premises near Attleborough, Norfolk. 📊 74 confirmed HPAI H5N1 cases in poultry & other captive birds in UK from 04 Nov 2024. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 England: 65 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Scotland: 3 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Wales: 2 🇬🇧 Northern Ireland: 4

In the arms race between viruses and their hosts, viruses have found a dependable ally..

RFK and other leaders have gotten popular by spreading false rumors about mRNA vaccines. It's not surprising to see them follow through, now cancelling $500m in mRNA vax contracts. Misinformation has real-life consequences. ICYMI my last piece: kffhealthnews.org/news/article...

"Its political leadership has shredded the NIH playbook so thoroughly [.] that even at current funding levels they are unable to perform their core work of.." It's not just budgets. Severe damage has already been done and continues to be done. www.theatlantic.com/health/archi...

How does Epstein- Barr virus induce multiple sclerosis? The infection leads to B cells that get into the brain, attracting pro-inflammatory T cells (mouse model) www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Remodelling of the tick cell RNA- binding proteome after bunyavirus infection! Great work led by Alex Wilson and @brennanlab.bsky.social - thanks for including me! journals.plos.org/plospathogen...

Very interesting study published in nature this week. Using a murine model the authors show that respiratory viral infections like flu & COVID-19 do more than inflame airways, they may awaken dormant breast cancer cells in the lung. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Happy August. Here is a little surprise for everybody: The english version of my book is finally available. You can get it on Amazon. You can also read and listen to it on my blog, where I will release the book as freely accessible serialized novel. 1/ www.protagonist-science.com/p/lab-leak-f...

It's important to repeat this, as the lab leak nonsense has been a driving force of the attacks on science, the current state of the US, etc. 👇👇

You’ve been badly misled over COVID origins theconversation.com/how-conspira...

🚨Our study on characterising the within-host SARS-CoV-2 evolution during persistent infections is now out in @lancetmicrobe.bsky.social! 👉 www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

SFTSV is a deadly tick-borne virus. In this study, Petit et al. used a multi-omics approach to reveal antiviral responses in SFTSV-infected tick cells @virotick.bsky.social @brennanlab.bsky.social @cvrinfo.bsky.social @uniofsurrey.bsky.social

We’re proud to announce the appointment of Professor Deborah Williamson @uniofstandrews.bsky.social and Professor Emma Thomson‪ @uofglasgow.bsky.social as inaugural Co-Directors of the National Scottish Pandemic Sciences Partnership. Find out more 🔽 publichealthscotland.scot/news/2025/ju... #NSPSP

📢 EVENT | 27th Glasgow Virology Workshop Join us for a day of interesting talks & discussions. Speakers: Adam Bailey, Louis Lambrechts, Kirsty Roy, Judy Breuer, Sheila Graham, Juan Reguera & a selection of students. 📆 Fri 5th Sept 2025 🔗 Register: gla.ac.uk/research/az/...

We (with Clement Coclet, not on Bsky) had the chance to work on a broad "state of viromics" review. We tried to use this to give an overview of how the field changed over the last ~ 15 years, and also what we think are some of the major remaining challenges. Full-text access at -> rdcu.be/excHt

This is really cool but also a cautionary tale about zooanthroponotic transmission at the interface between human and animals. Without surveillance, viruses can hop back and forth and evolve in unpredictable ways

This is quite late but our lab has a preprint out about a SARS-CoV-2 situation we had in mink in Lithuania back in 2021. It's a doozy with re-emergence of extinct lineages, a country-wide test of all mink farms in Lithuania & some interesting dynamics in mink. www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1... 1/5🧵

Host protein ARF1 is a proviral factor for SARS-CoV-2 and a candidate broad-spectrum therapeutic target www.nature.com/articles/s41...

I am paw-sitively thrilled to say that out latest work is out in Nature today! #Virology #Genomics #Coronavirus #AnimalHealth #InfectiousDisease #Sequencing #FIP #FCoV23 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

How did the pandemic start? I have avoided publicly commenting on this for 5 years. Here's my take as someone who has no stake at all in the game. gidmk.substack.com/p/pandemic-r...

Head of Surveillance Science job at the Sanger, might be of interest to many sanger.wd103.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/Wellco...

BEAST X v10.5.0 finally released – you can't just do beta releases forever. github.com/beast-dev/be... Details and instructions for installing on the BEAST website: beast.community

Delighted that our Research Briefing on our paper on the origins of the Clade IIb Mpox outbreak and the continued emergence risk in West Africa is out! www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Quick thread on the WHO's SAGO report on the origins of COVID-19, highlighting key points and even *new* data. Their summary is that a zoonotic origin of COVID-19 is best supported by available data. This is consistent with most scientific reviews and statements in the rest of the literature.

SAGO Report is out: 1️⃣ No new data in report 2️⃣ Not bioweapon, man-made, or engineered 3️⃣ All scientific evidence points to zoonosis 4️⃣ No evidence for lab leak 5️⃣ New evidence could swing the conclusion In other words, what we concluded in April, 2020. Five years later. share.google/4I8ac1DJMZOM...

"The weight of available evidence reviewed by SAGO suggests zoonotic spillover of SARS-CoV-2 into the human population, either directly from bats or through an intermediate host." They do hedge their bets, but ultimately there is only evidence to support one hypothesis www.who.int/publications...

Wow!

“This is one of the most exciting recent advances for influenza prevention." www.science.org/content/arti...

I’m so excited to finally have this work published. Fantastic work from @julienmelade.bsky.social culturing a virus identified through metagenomic virus discovery methods