The singular job of all known ribosomes: synthesizing protein. Enter the malaria parasite. In our new work, we show that Plasmodium evolved an entire new kind that does just the opposite - inhibit mRNA translation.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
We’re recruiting postdocs! Join our Emerging Fields consortium to explore ribosome biology and translational control in pediatric cancers. My lab combines high-resolution Ribo-seq with unbiased genetic screens to uncover novel regulatory mechanisms.
Deadline: 15 Nov 2026
lnkd.in/dmKJ7zbb
We are recruiting! Excited by ribosomes, translation, cryoEM and maybe malaria parasites? Then we have a fully funded, 3-year PhD position at the Institut Pasteur in Paris waiting for you.
All info here:
research.pasteur.fr/en/job/phd-p...
⏰ Deadline: November 6, 2026
There are places we expect #malaria transmission. Germany isn't one of them.
Cases have appeared near Frankfurt Airport. As temps rise, transmission conditions are changing.
A reminder that reducing malaria everywhere strengthens global health security. bit.ly/3VVJBSL
I am excited to share that I will start my group @embl.org in Grenoble in February 2027, where we will investigate host-pathogen interactions using in situ cryo electron microscopy🦠❄️🔬! I am recruiting PhD students through the current open call of the EMBL PhD Program: www.embl.org/about/info/e...
🚨 New preprint alert! 🚨
Choanoflagellates reorganize their global cytoskeletal architecture within seconds to explore confined microspaces. This is the main PhD work of the amazing @maitefreired.bsky.socialwww.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
A tread 🧵⬇️
Very happy to see our paper finally out in @natcomms.nature.com! 🎉
We uncover a role for lysine methylation in controlling parasite movement: methyltransferases act directly at the apical cytoskeletal machinery to coordinate actin assembly and force generation, enabling motility and invasion.
The singular job of all known ribosomes: synthesizing protein. Enter the malaria parasite. In our new work, we show that Plasmodium evolved an entire new kind that does just the opposite - inhibit mRNA translation.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
There is so much more in there and many questions are now ready to be tackled. Thanks to @pasteur.fr for the amazing environment and hosting us and @erc.europa.eu for the support. Come see us at #EESRNA!
The singular job of all known ribosomes: synthesizing protein. Enter the malaria parasite. In our new work, we show that Plasmodium evolved an entire new kind that does just the opposite - inhibit mRNA translation.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
This repressive ribosome is encoded by a variant ribosomal RNA with a super divergent structure and make-up to ensure the parasite gets its proteome ready just in time to transmit from a human to the mosquito vector 🦟 🦠🧬
No, these images are not AI-generated, not even photoshopped. They do look artificial because there is something artificial about them: the extra 150 ppm of CO2 resulting from human activity, which has irretrievably transformed the world.
Our work on the symbiont-containing organelle that supports coral reefs is published today. Also, new genetic tools to study symbiosis in both corals and Aiptasia. Great work by Shumpei Maruyama, Cat Henderson, and the rest of the fantastic team. #SymbioSkywww.cell.com/cell/abstrac...
How did farming reach the Southern Andes? Through migration or cultural transmission? Our new paper in @nature.com combines ancient DNA, isotopes, archaeology & paleoclimate to reconstruct 2,000+ years of history in Uspallata, Mendoza.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
A Thread🧵 (1/25+)
We recently deployed our favorite “lab in a suitcase” dynamic duo of #BentoLab and ONT #MinION to conduct real-time, in country multiplexed modular malaria amplicon sequencing by #MAD4HatTeR to inform public health policy decisions in Chad! #DecentralizedGenomicSurveillance
Do you want to join a community working to reduce the devastating toll of #malaria by pushing forward new ideas, innovations, and strategies? 🦟 🧬
Registration is now open for #EMBLMalaria: https://s.embl.org/bmp26-01-bl
✍️ Submit your abstract by 18 Feb
🗓️ 27 – 29 May 2026
#BioMalPar
Congratulations to the new cohort of 28 EMBO Young Investigators! They are joining an international network of more than 800 life scientists – Welcome!
Read the press release here:
https://www.embo.org/press-releases/twenty-eight-group-leaders-become-embo-young-investigators/
Just uploaded our new preprint to @ecoevorxiv.bsky.social
Multinucleate life really is everywhere...from deep sea forams to slime molds, intracellular parasites, and beyond. 🚀
We explore how scaling, ecology, & evolution intersect when many nuclei share a single cytoplasm.
doi.org/10.32942/X2M...
Our attempt to give multinucleate cells the spotlight they deserve (seriously, they’re everywhere), led by the fearless @mrosjac.bsky.social and with @Markus Ganter
doi.org/10.32942/X2M...
We’d love your feedback while this goes through the peer review process!
#MicroEvoSky#ProtistsonSky 🧪🌏
Pre-print alert 🚨
We answer a longstanding question in the field. Do immune cells cause cerebral malaria?
The answer is YES!!!! And independently of P. falciparum accumulation in the brain.
www.biorxiv.org/cgi/content/...
Beautiful beasts: excited to see our first volume electron microscopy study on malaria parasites published: advanced.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/... revealing new insights into Plasmodium ookinete development. Thanks for great EMBL-Umea-Heidelberg collaboration.
🎓 Applications for Institut Pasteur's PhD programs open Sept 1-Oct 20, 2025 for October 2026 entry.
Apply to up to 4 projects across 6 programs: PPU, PPU-IMAGINE @institutimagine.bsky.social, PPU-@ox.ac.uk, PPU-EID @upcite.bsky.social & more 🧬
Register now ✍️ www.pasteur.fr/en/education...
We are happy to show one ourt first exciting papers. We have developed a blood-brain barrier model to study the disruptive effects caused by the malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum.
First, congratulations to the fearless @liviapiatti.bsky.social and @alinabatzi.bsky.socialrdcu.be/ezBl7
A 2-year postdoc position in my lab, under the supervision of P-Alex Kaminski, on Z-DNA phages and the benefit given by ZTGC DNA and the replication machinery, with attempt to create a Z based minireplicon
research.pasteur.fr/en/job/a-two...
📣 I'm recruiting a postdoc researcher to join my team for a project on mosquito-specific viruses and host interactions. Peep the job description & how to apply below. Perfect for soon-to-be or recent PhD graduates in mosquito vector biology 🦟 or arbovirology 🦠
🗓️ Application deadline 31 August 2025
Preprint Alert 🚨 Check out the latest piece of work from the @kirkdeitsch.bsky.social lab, where we characterized the sophisticated molecular layers controlling var2csa expression and antigenic variation in P. falciparum
The molecular basis of coordinated antigen switching enabling chronic infection by human malaria parasites https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.07.16.665170v1
Pre-print alert 🚨: We have developed 2D and 3D stable iPSC endothelial-differentiation models through dox inducible ETS expression. We demonstrate endothelial identity and used these models for studying malaria pathogenesis research. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
June was a productive month: brought two things into this world, both of which were great collaborative efforts and about nine months in the making. Check out where we map P. falciparum genome architecture at high resolution with Micro-C here:
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
OUT NOW: High resolution map of the Plasmodium falciparum genome reveals MORC/ApiAP2-mediated links between distant, functionally related genes
@jessmbryant.bsky.socialsky.social@singh-parul.bsky.social@ju-couble.bsky.social #MicroSkywww.nature.com/articles/s41...
Awesome malaria study out now in Nature Microbiology:
An atypical Arp2/3 complex is required for Plasmodium DNA segregation and malaria transmission
By Franziska Hentzschel, Matthias Marti, Freddy Frischknecht & colleagues!
@freddyfrischknecht.bsky.socialwww.nature.com/articles/s41...
📢 Big Announcement: Registration & abstract submission open for EMBO Workshop "Host-Parasite Relationship: From Mechanisms to Control Strategies" organized by ParaFrap @parafrap.bsky.social@embo.org
🗓️ 5-8 Oct 2025 - Les Embiez Island-France
🔚Deadline: 15 Jul 2025 meetings.embo.org/event/25-hos...
That’s a wrap on #EMBLMalaria ! 🦟🎉
From game-changing ideas to brilliant conversations, we’re heading home inspired and energised.
Huge shoutout to everyone who joined us, and big congrats to the 10 amazing poster prize winners 🏆👏
Stay tuned for 2026 dates and more info on the awarded posters!
Very happy to congratulate @fra-florini.bsky.social and Joe Visone for the publication of their recent work on antigenic variation by malaria parasites: rdcu.be/emjbn and an earlier version here: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1.... Francesca will present some of this work next week at BioMalPar 2025.
Parasites need mitochondrial respiration to infect and spread. Effective anti-malaria and ani-toxoplasmosis drugs target respiratory complexes (e.g. atovaquone)!
But how do the parasite complexes work and how do drugs inhibit them?
Read Andrew Maclean and Alex Mühleip phenomenal work on this! 👇
Happy to share our latest paper. Result of a great collaboration between @sheinerlab.bsky.social@oninopantsu.bsky.social and Alexander Mühleip’s new group.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
The KnuepferLab is hiring!
Our team is looking for a highly motivated, experienced molecular parasitologist to expand our group as a postdoctoral researcher at the RVC.
Follow either link below for more information on the project and the job offer:
lnkd.in/eprgmaE9www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DMY962/p...
Looking forward to joining @lshtm-malaria.bsky.social’s #WorldMalariaDay event to reflect on what’s next for malaria research and how we can continue to drive change.
Details here www.lshtm.ac.uk/newsevents/e... | LSHTM
#Malaria#GlobalHealth#WorldMalariaDay
From Data to Insight – A Practical Introduction to Interpreting Malaria Genetics for Surveillance, a free, self-paced online course offered by the PlasmoGenEpi network and developed with funding from the Gates Foundation.
🔗plasmogenepi.org/OnlineCourse
The VEuPathDB survey asked users to estimate the impact on their lab's productivity (from 0-100) if VEuPathDB resources were to disappear altogether. We also asked them to describe the impact. ✏️The infographic lists a few key themes that emerged from nearly 1500 comments!
📅 Save the Date! The EMBO Workshop "Host-Parasite Relationship: From Mechanisms to Control Strategies" organized by @ParaFrap will take place on October 5-8, 2025, at Les Embiez Island. Stay updated on registration opening —enter your email here: coming-soon.embo.org/w25-83#Science#Parasite