Alan W. Walker | Lightnews

Alan Walker

@faecalmatters.bsky.social

1.2K followers 350 following 19 posts

Professor of gut microbiology. Allegedly grumpy, but actually just Scottish. Messages/rants are my own views, not the University's, obviously.

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Biology 50%

Public Health 11%

Posts Replies Media Videos

Reposted by John Kennedy, Alan W. Walker

Pat Schloss @patschloss.bsky.social · 20d

I still contend that >90% of the benefit of writing a review isn't the audience. It's for the author going through the literature, finding gaps in knowledge, learning how experiments are done, etc. It really isn't about writing a review. It's about doing the review yourself. AI can't do that for you

Reposted by Alan W. Walker

Christoph Kaleta @kaletalab.bsky.social · Sep 22

Excellent article on quantitative production of fermentation products by the microbiota. Key takeaway: microbial fermentation products may be more important in mice than humans, amplifying microbiome effects in mice. www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...

Quantifying the varying harvest of fermentation products from the human gut microbiota

Fermentation products are the most abundant gut microbial metabolites absorbed by the host, with important dose-dependent consequences for health. In this study, we present a systems-level analysis in...

www.cell.com

Reposted by Andrew Millard, Alan W. Walker

Professor Lesley Hoyles @bugsinyourguts.bsky.social · Sep 13

If you are UK-based and working on any aspect of microbiomes (human, plant, insect, soil, animal, ...), please do sign up to Microbiome-Net for details of networking, funding and training opportunities.

forms.office.com/pages/respon...

Reposted by Simon Roux, Alan W. Walker

Sean Gibbons 🦠💩 @gibbological.bsky.social · Sep 12

The landscape of microbial associations in human cancer www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

TLDR -- most cancers do not have microbiomes...but a few do have consistent microbe associations (i.e., colorectal and oral cancers). Make sense!

The landscape of microbial associations in human cancer

Differences between cancer types, infectious disease, and potential prognostic markers are uncovered by studying microbes within cancer DNA.

www.science.org

Reposted by Alan W. Walker

Noah Fierer @noahfierer.bsky.social · Jun 21

Hope this is useful - consensus statement "Guidelines for preventing and reporting contamination in low-biomass microbiome studies" rdcu.be/er3Io

Guidelines for preventing and reporting contamination in low-biomass microbiome studies

Nature Microbiology - In this Consensus Statement, the authors outline strategies for processing, analysing and interpreting low-biomass microbiome samples, and provide recommendations to minimize...

rdcu.be

Alan Walker @faecalmatters.bsky.social · May 25

Been a hell of a weekend 😍

Alan Walker @faecalmatters.bsky.social · May 25

A miracle I survived 😂

Alan Walker @faecalmatters.bsky.social · May 2

Named after 2014 to 2021 Aberdeen FC journeyman Ash Taylor, presumably? A niche choice 👍

Alan Walker @faecalmatters.bsky.social · May 2

BOOOOOO!

Alan Walker @faecalmatters.bsky.social · Apr 21

Yeah, it's a bit Elon Musk-y too.

Alan Walker @faecalmatters.bsky.social · Apr 21

Only Alan and I understand this 😄

Alan Walker @faecalmatters.bsky.social · Apr 21

Call your cat "Rambo", in honour of @alanmcn1.bsky.social

Alan Walker @faecalmatters.bsky.social · Apr 21

He's an Aberdeen legend, his pre-retirement wind down at Man Utd is irrelevant.

Alan Walker @faecalmatters.bsky.social · Apr 21

Fergie 😜

Alan Walker @faecalmatters.bsky.social · Mar 28

As mullets and moustaches have proven, even ridiculous abominations can come back in trend again 😄

Alan Walker @faecalmatters.bsky.social · Mar 27

It is an asset sometimes though 😜

Reposted by William G. Wade, Alan W. Walker

Nature Microbiology @natmicrobiol.nature.com · Feb 4

EDITORIAL: Ensuring rigour of low-biomass microbiome research

Read it here: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

#microsky #microbiomesky 🧪

Ensuring rigour of low-biomass microbiome research - Nature Microbiology

Determining whether human organs house a resident microbiome is challenging and the findings can be controversial. However, forging collaborations and careful study design can help overcome these issu...

www.nature.com

Reposted by Alan W. Walker

Onisillos @onisillos.bsky.social · Jan 30

Our latest editorial is now online, in advance of our February issue that will be available next week.

Brain microbiome: is it all in our heads?

www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

Brain microbiome: is it all in our heads?

In their September 2018 Editorial, The Lancet Infectious Diseases discussed the over-reaching inferences leading to suggestions of a placental microbiome, and touched on how the same extrapolations we...

www.thelancet.com

Alan Walker @faecalmatters.bsky.social · Jan 27

If this could be circulated to all of my recent grant funding panels, that would be great 😄

Lauren Radlinski @laurenradlinski.bsky.social · Jan 23

Microbiome science needs more microbiologists- A new commentary authored by myself and @abaumler.bsky.social www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Microbiome science needs more microbiologists - Nature Microbiology

Microbiome science is a multi-disciplinary field, but classical microbiologists are needed to ensure advances are grounded in our understanding of basic microbiological concepts.

www.nature.com

Reposted by Andreas J. Bäumler, Alan W. Walker

Lauren Radlinski @laurenradlinski.bsky.social · Jan 23

Microbiome science needs more microbiologists- A new commentary authored by myself and @abaumler.bsky.social www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Microbiome science needs more microbiologists - Nature Microbiology

Microbiome science is a multi-disciplinary field, but classical microbiologists are needed to ensure advances are grounded in our understanding of basic microbiological concepts.

www.nature.com

Reposted by Julian Parkhill, Alan W. Walker

Josie Bryant @josiebryant.bsky.social · Dec 11

Frustrating - I reviewed a paper that was highly problematic, mainly in scientific rigour undermining most of the conclusions, so I recommend Reject. However the editor decides to Revise presumably due to the more positive comments from reviewer 2... /1

Reposted by Alan W. Walker

Sheppard Lab @sheppardlab.bsky.social · Dec 6

Interested in being and editor for the journal 'Microbial Genomics' @MicrobioSoc :
microbiologysociety.org/news/society...?

<i>Microbial Genomics</i> Editor and Editors: call for expressions of interest

microbiologysociety.org

Reposted by Alan W. Walker

Leibniz Institute DSMZ @leibniz-dsmz.bsky.social · Dec 5

To honour Abigail A. Salyers (1942-2013), who is considered as the mother of microbiome research, DSMZ researchers named the strain Streptomyces salyersiae (DSM 41770) after her.

#WomenInScience #antibiotics #antibioticresistance #microbiome #microbiology

Alan Walker @faecalmatters.bsky.social · Dec 2

Just a thought, but perhaps it's because these butyrate producers consume acetate for growth?

A certain degree of innate acid tolerance is therefore required?

Alan Walker @faecalmatters.bsky.social · Dec 1

In case it's of interest, we did do some work with cultures nearly two decades ago:

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16000778/

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19397676/

Bacteroides appear not to grow as well at pH 5.5 compared to butyrate producing Firmicutes.

pH and peptide supply can radically alter bacterial populations and short-chain fatty acid ratios within microbial communities from the human colon - PubMed

The effects of changes in the gut environment upon the human colonic microbiota are poorly understood. The response of human fecal microbial communities from two donors to alterations in pH (5.5 or 6....

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Reposted by Alan W. Walker

mara lawniczak @marakat.bsky.social · Nov 25

last couple days to apply (for free! from anywhere in the world!) to the Sanger 2025 PhD Programme — Deadline: 28th November 2024 (09:00 GMT)

For more info, visit www.sanger.ac.uk/about/study/...

Reposted by Alan W. Walker

Bork Group at EMBL Heidelberg @borklab.bsky.social · Nov 13

Hot off the press: "Fecal microbial load is a major determinant of gut microbiome variation and a confounder for disease associations" www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

See below for @suguru-nishijima.bsky.social 's thread on the preprint!

#microsky #microbiome

Alan Walker @faecalmatters.bsky.social · Nov 12

Paperboy, turnstile operator, shelf stacker, pipe grinder, pet shop boy, rose breeder, field hand, warehouse dispatcher, and medical laboratory scientific officer (trainee). And I gave it all up for a life of studying poop. It's a strange universe.

Paul Gardner @ppgardne.bsky.social · Nov 12

Introduce yourself with some jobs you have done apart from what you do now:

- Farm hand (fencing, thistle cutting, scrub cutting, mustering)
- Forestry work (pruning, donkey)
- Crutching

Tess Neal @tessneal.bsky.social · Nov 12

Introduce yourself with some jobs you have done apart from what you do now:

- Mental health tech at a forensic hospital
- Detox center intake worker
- Waitress for many years
- Shoe sales
- Office support (filing)

Reposted by Alan W. Walker

Paul Gardner @ppgardne.bsky.social · Nov 12

Introduce yourself with some jobs you have done apart from what you do now:

- Farm hand (fencing, thistle cutting, scrub cutting, mustering)
- Forestry work (pruning, donkey)
- Crutching

Tess Neal @tessneal.bsky.social · Nov 12

BootlegPotato @bootlegpotato.bsky.social · Nov 10

Introduce yourself with some jobs you have done apart from what you do now:

- Fast food burger flipper on 3 different occasions.
- Electronic recycling (beating computers with hammers until recyclable bits fall off)
- TCBY (frozen yogurt shop)
- A lot of IT jobs

Reposted by Alan W. Walker

Nick Loman @pathogenomenick.bsky.social · Nov 11

After editing, this very short letter to New Scientist is even shorter now. But I think it gets the point across! @faecalmatters.bsky.social

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