Professor Lesley Hoyles
@bugsinyourguts.bsky.social
And all this science I don't understand, it's just my job five days a week.
Professor of Microbiome and Systems Biology @ Nottingham Trent University. 🏳️🌈
Working predominantly on the human gut microbiota.
All views my own.
Professor of Microbiome and Systems Biology @ Nottingham Trent University. 🏳️🌈
Working predominantly on the human gut microbiota.
All views my own.
Reposted by Professor Lesley Hoyles
Exciting news! I have two positions open in my lab at the UoManchester: one PDRA and one Research Tech.
Join our team to study evolutionary mycology and help us understand antifungal resistance in fungal pathogens. A fantastic opportunity to join the brilliant Manchester Fungal Infection Group!
Join our team to study evolutionary mycology and help us understand antifungal resistance in fungal pathogens. A fantastic opportunity to join the brilliant Manchester Fungal Infection Group!
November 5, 2025 at 3:35 PM
Exciting news! I have two positions open in my lab at the UoManchester: one PDRA and one Research Tech.
Join our team to study evolutionary mycology and help us understand antifungal resistance in fungal pathogens. A fantastic opportunity to join the brilliant Manchester Fungal Infection Group!
Join our team to study evolutionary mycology and help us understand antifungal resistance in fungal pathogens. A fantastic opportunity to join the brilliant Manchester Fungal Infection Group!
Reposted by Professor Lesley Hoyles
Know metagenomics and could spare 2 mins? I'm applying for funding to build a visual repository for metagenomic classification data (not sequence data). To support the application, I have a short 2 minute survey and it would be a big help if you could fill it in: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
Metagenomic classification survey
Background: We're seeking the views of researchers on the possibility of a repository for metagenomic classification data, which we're hoping to build. The rationale is that people are familiar with t...
docs.google.com
November 10, 2025 at 6:24 PM
Know metagenomics and could spare 2 mins? I'm applying for funding to build a visual repository for metagenomic classification data (not sequence data). To support the application, I have a short 2 minute survey and it would be a big help if you could fill it in: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
Reposted by Professor Lesley Hoyles
1 week left to apply for a postdoc position in beautiful Switzerland doing awesome mucosal immunology. See below for details! Please re-post to spread the word!
We have an opening for a postdoctoral researcher in my group at the Botnar Institute for Immune Engineering in Basel, Switzerland. The project is aimed at developing novel mucosal adjuvants for application in oral vaccines. Deadline to apply 16.11.25! Please re-post 🔬🧬
join.com/companies/im...
join.com/companies/im...
Botnar Institute of Immune Engineering - BIIE (Zürich): Postdoctoral Researcher (100%): Mechanisms of action of mucosal adjuvants
Botnar Institute of Immune Engineering - BIIE has a job opening for Postdoctoral Researcher (100%): Mechanisms of action of mucosal adjuvants in Zürich (published: 30.10.2025). Apply now or check the ...
join.com
November 9, 2025 at 10:41 PM
1 week left to apply for a postdoc position in beautiful Switzerland doing awesome mucosal immunology. See below for details! Please re-post to spread the word!
Reposted by Professor Lesley Hoyles
Check out our new paper:
🔗 www.cell.com/structure/fu...
We explored how sulfate-reducing bacteria import isethionate, a sulfur-containing molecule found in the environment and produced by microbes in the human gut. We captured a structure of the IseQM TRAP transporter in a substrate-bound state.
🔗 www.cell.com/structure/fu...
We explored how sulfate-reducing bacteria import isethionate, a sulfur-containing molecule found in the environment and produced by microbes in the human gut. We captured a structure of the IseQM TRAP transporter in a substrate-bound state.
Structural basis of isethionate transport by a TRAP transporter from a sulfate-reducing bacterium
Newton-Vesty et al. used a megabody fiducial to determine the cryo-EM structure of
an isethionate TRAP transporter, revealing the substrate and Na+-binding sites. Transport
is dependent on Na+ and the...
www.cell.com
November 9, 2025 at 8:45 PM
Check out our new paper:
🔗 www.cell.com/structure/fu...
We explored how sulfate-reducing bacteria import isethionate, a sulfur-containing molecule found in the environment and produced by microbes in the human gut. We captured a structure of the IseQM TRAP transporter in a substrate-bound state.
🔗 www.cell.com/structure/fu...
We explored how sulfate-reducing bacteria import isethionate, a sulfur-containing molecule found in the environment and produced by microbes in the human gut. We captured a structure of the IseQM TRAP transporter in a substrate-bound state.
Reposted by Professor Lesley Hoyles
This is a model of obituary writing. Fair, honest, and unhesitating.
Watson comes off as historically significant—which he was—and as someone for whom the fading of that significance unveiled fundamental flaws of character and thought.
Great work by Begley. h/t @silvermansecurity.bsky.social
Watson comes off as historically significant—which he was—and as someone for whom the fading of that significance unveiled fundamental flaws of character and thought.
Great work by Begley. h/t @silvermansecurity.bsky.social
A Sharon Begley byline, almost 5 years after her death.
Upon hearing the news James Watson had died, a STAT reporter said in our Slack, "I wish I could read what Sharon would have written."
Incredible news: Sharon in fact did pre-write a Watson obit. And it is masterful and excoriating.
🧪🧬🧫
Upon hearing the news James Watson had died, a STAT reporter said in our Slack, "I wish I could read what Sharon would have written."
Incredible news: Sharon in fact did pre-write a Watson obit. And it is masterful and excoriating.
🧪🧬🧫
James Watson, dead at 97, was a scientific legend and a pariah among his peers
James Watson, the co-discoverer of the structure of DNA who died Thursday at 97, was a scientific legend and a pariah among his peers.
www.statnews.com
November 9, 2025 at 5:27 AM
This is a model of obituary writing. Fair, honest, and unhesitating.
Watson comes off as historically significant—which he was—and as someone for whom the fading of that significance unveiled fundamental flaws of character and thought.
Great work by Begley. h/t @silvermansecurity.bsky.social
Watson comes off as historically significant—which he was—and as someone for whom the fading of that significance unveiled fundamental flaws of character and thought.
Great work by Begley. h/t @silvermansecurity.bsky.social
Reposted by Professor Lesley Hoyles
What Rosalind Franklin truly contributed to the discovery of DNA’s structure. A really informative article, perfect for a weekend coffee read. www.nature.com/articles/d41...
What Rosalind Franklin truly contributed to the discovery of DNA’s structure
Franklin was no victim in how the DNA double helix was solved. An overlooked letter and an unpublished news article, both written in 1953, reveal that she was an equal player.
www.nature.com
November 8, 2025 at 9:21 AM
What Rosalind Franklin truly contributed to the discovery of DNA’s structure. A really informative article, perfect for a weekend coffee read. www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Reposted by Professor Lesley Hoyles
Rosalind Franklin
Leaving her notes in a pile
That she keeps by the door
Who is it for?
Awful James Watson
Stealing the credit
And snaffling all the awards
Misogynist bore
Leaving her notes in a pile
That she keeps by the door
Who is it for?
Awful James Watson
Stealing the credit
And snaffling all the awards
Misogynist bore
November 7, 2025 at 10:45 PM
Rosalind Franklin
Leaving her notes in a pile
That she keeps by the door
Who is it for?
Awful James Watson
Stealing the credit
And snaffling all the awards
Misogynist bore
Leaving her notes in a pile
That she keeps by the door
Who is it for?
Awful James Watson
Stealing the credit
And snaffling all the awards
Misogynist bore
Reposted by Professor Lesley Hoyles
Important report critiquing how uk has been or not been supporting scaling up science innovations. Notably also scathing about vast costs for visas for researchers too- hope this will be noted and acted upon🧪
U.K. science sector is ‘bleeding to death,’ lawmakers say in report
House of Lords committee urges government to stem exodus of science and technology companies
www.science.org
November 6, 2025 at 8:12 AM
Important report critiquing how uk has been or not been supporting scaling up science innovations. Notably also scathing about vast costs for visas for researchers too- hope this will be noted and acted upon🧪
Reposted by Professor Lesley Hoyles
A Novel Technique to Characterize Klebsiella pneumoniae Populations Indicates that Mono-Colonization is Associated with Risk of Infection https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.11.05.686704v1
November 6, 2025 at 3:17 AM
A Novel Technique to Characterize Klebsiella pneumoniae Populations Indicates that Mono-Colonization is Associated with Risk of Infection https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.11.05.686704v1
So happy to share this! Bacteriocins were first discovered over 100 years ago, but what do they actually do? We look at >1000 bacteriocin plasmids and find links to virulence and antimicrobial resistance, and frequent bacteriocin sharing in Enterobacteriaceae.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Bacterial warfare is associated with virulence and antimicrobial resistance - Nature Communications
Bacteria employ a range of competition systems that deliver toxins to inhibit competing strains. This study shows that these systems are particularly important for the ecology of virulent and antibiot...
www.nature.com
November 5, 2025 at 8:59 AM
Reposted by Professor Lesley Hoyles
I was one of the Editorial Board Members at @gigascience.bsky.social who resigned from the Editorial Board.
🧪 🔓
⬇️
retractionwatch.com/2025/11/03/d...
🧪 🔓
⬇️
retractionwatch.com/2025/11/03/d...
Dozens of board members resign from big-data journal after mass staff firings
More than three-fifths of the editorial board of a biomedical sciences journal resigned after the publication’s operations moved from Hong Kong to Shenzhen, China, and the editors and software team…
retractionwatch.com
November 4, 2025 at 3:46 PM
I was one of the Editorial Board Members at @gigascience.bsky.social who resigned from the Editorial Board.
🧪 🔓
⬇️
retractionwatch.com/2025/11/03/d...
🧪 🔓
⬇️
retractionwatch.com/2025/11/03/d...
Reposted by Professor Lesley Hoyles
I cannot agree more! The cost of making all vaccines free will be completely offset by lives saved and all the morbidity & hospical costs averted
Why All Vaccines Should Be Free
@crof.bsky.social
thetyee.ca/Analysis/202...
Why All Vaccines Should Be Free
@crof.bsky.social
thetyee.ca/Analysis/202...
Why All Vaccines Should Be Free | The Tyee
COVID-19 normalized vaccination for adults, and we should go further to protect people from shingles and RSV.
thetyee.ca
November 3, 2025 at 1:59 AM
I cannot agree more! The cost of making all vaccines free will be completely offset by lives saved and all the morbidity & hospical costs averted
Why All Vaccines Should Be Free
@crof.bsky.social
thetyee.ca/Analysis/202...
Why All Vaccines Should Be Free
@crof.bsky.social
thetyee.ca/Analysis/202...
Reposted by Professor Lesley Hoyles
Help, #MicroSky! We bought the Ausubel PA14NR transposon library, but half of the stock plates disappeared from a shared -80 and we've been unable to trace them 😭 Would anyone in the UK be willing to give us copies of these stocks please? I can supply proof purchase. And my eternal thanks.
November 3, 2025 at 3:24 PM
Help, #MicroSky! We bought the Ausubel PA14NR transposon library, but half of the stock plates disappeared from a shared -80 and we've been unable to trace them 😭 Would anyone in the UK be willing to give us copies of these stocks please? I can supply proof purchase. And my eternal thanks.
Reposted by Professor Lesley Hoyles
Reposted by Professor Lesley Hoyles
🚨 Fully funded PhD studentships 🚨
We have three fully funded PhD studentships available for Oct 26 start. Funded by the MRC DiMeN programme & the BBSRC Yorkshire Biosciences DTP. Details below as they are advertised. Contact me here or via email for more details or to discuss an application
We have three fully funded PhD studentships available for Oct 26 start. Funded by the MRC DiMeN programme & the BBSRC Yorkshire Biosciences DTP. Details below as they are advertised. Contact me here or via email for more details or to discuss an application
Clostridial Cell Biology Group
We are the Clostridial Cell Biology Group at the University of Sheffield. We study all aspects of cell biology, including the architecture and biogenesis of surface structures on both vegetative cells...
sites.google.com
October 31, 2025 at 3:44 PM
🚨 Fully funded PhD studentships 🚨
We have three fully funded PhD studentships available for Oct 26 start. Funded by the MRC DiMeN programme & the BBSRC Yorkshire Biosciences DTP. Details below as they are advertised. Contact me here or via email for more details or to discuss an application
We have three fully funded PhD studentships available for Oct 26 start. Funded by the MRC DiMeN programme & the BBSRC Yorkshire Biosciences DTP. Details below as they are advertised. Contact me here or via email for more details or to discuss an application
Saddened to learn of the death of Jean Paul Euzéby. A very nice man, and the founder of the List of Prokaryotic names with Standing in Nomenclature, which DSMZ now curates.
The LPSN is a hugely important resource to taxonomists that only exists because of Jean's dedication.
The LPSN is a hugely important resource to taxonomists that only exists because of Jean's dedication.
LPSN - List of Prokaryotic names with Standing in Nomenclature
lpsn.dsmz.de
November 3, 2025 at 4:57 PM
Saddened to learn of the death of Jean Paul Euzéby. A very nice man, and the founder of the List of Prokaryotic names with Standing in Nomenclature, which DSMZ now curates.
The LPSN is a hugely important resource to taxonomists that only exists because of Jean's dedication.
The LPSN is a hugely important resource to taxonomists that only exists because of Jean's dedication.
Reposted by Professor Lesley Hoyles
This is terrible
Vaccinations to prevent cervical cancer have plummeted in Britain
www.economist.com/britain/2025...
Vaccinations to prevent cervical cancer have plummeted in Britain
www.economist.com/britain/2025...
Vaccinations to prevent cervical cancer have plummeted in Britain
Blame declining confidence, a lack of convenience and rising complacency
www.economist.com
November 1, 2025 at 2:10 AM
This is terrible
Vaccinations to prevent cervical cancer have plummeted in Britain
www.economist.com/britain/2025...
Vaccinations to prevent cervical cancer have plummeted in Britain
www.economist.com/britain/2025...
Reposted by Professor Lesley Hoyles
Looking for an AMR-themed PhD project? Join us to investigate antibiotic tolerance in Staphylococcus aureus through a fully funded MRC DTP PhD studentship starting in September 2026.
This project is close collaboration with @kateduncan.bsky.social and @mycobacterium-ncl.bsky.social.
This project is close collaboration with @kateduncan.bsky.social and @mycobacterium-ncl.bsky.social.
MRC DiMeN Doctoral Training Partnership: Resensitisation of antibiotic-tolerant Staphylococcus aureus small colony variants at Newcastle University on FindAPhD.com
PhD Project - MRC DiMeN Doctoral Training Partnership: Resensitisation of antibiotic-tolerant Staphylococcus aureus small colony variants at Newcastle University, listed on FindAPhD.com
www.findaphd.com
November 1, 2025 at 11:11 AM
Looking for an AMR-themed PhD project? Join us to investigate antibiotic tolerance in Staphylococcus aureus through a fully funded MRC DTP PhD studentship starting in September 2026.
This project is close collaboration with @kateduncan.bsky.social and @mycobacterium-ncl.bsky.social.
This project is close collaboration with @kateduncan.bsky.social and @mycobacterium-ncl.bsky.social.
Reposted by Professor Lesley Hoyles
The average nucleotide identity (ANI) underpins how we map microbial diversity, compare species, and connect genomes to ecology.
I wrote a short piece reflecting on the discovery and significance of this metric (and really enjoyed digging into the context and story behind it!) #microsky 🧬
I wrote a short piece reflecting on the discovery and significance of this metric (and really enjoyed digging into the context and story behind it!) #microsky 🧬
Average nucleotide identity — the backbone of modern ecological genomics - Nature Reviews Genetics
In this Journal Club, Luis Orellana recalls a 2005 publication by Konstantinidis and Tiedje that introduced average nucleotide identity as a sequence-based metric to determine the relatedness between ...
www.nature.com
October 30, 2025 at 9:11 PM
The average nucleotide identity (ANI) underpins how we map microbial diversity, compare species, and connect genomes to ecology.
I wrote a short piece reflecting on the discovery and significance of this metric (and really enjoyed digging into the context and story behind it!) #microsky 🧬
I wrote a short piece reflecting on the discovery and significance of this metric (and really enjoyed digging into the context and story behind it!) #microsky 🧬
Reposted by Professor Lesley Hoyles
Genuinely delighted to download a PhD thesis from a university repository where the author has neglected to remove the words "BITCH THIS IS YOUR THESIS" from the filename.
October 30, 2025 at 8:21 AM
Genuinely delighted to download a PhD thesis from a university repository where the author has neglected to remove the words "BITCH THIS IS YOUR THESIS" from the filename.
Reposted by Professor Lesley Hoyles
I can't wait for the day that I see a paper entitled "One health papers on AMR are a major source of AMR"
October 29, 2025 at 9:58 PM
I can't wait for the day that I see a paper entitled "One health papers on AMR are a major source of AMR"
Reposted by Professor Lesley Hoyles
Please RT. Post-doc opportunity alert! 💥 closing 10th December.. Come join our team (www.thelowlab.org) at Imperial, London, working on the structure and mechanism of bacterial secretion systems.
For more details and to apply please see
www.imperial.ac.uk/jobs/search-...
For more details and to apply please see
www.imperial.ac.uk/jobs/search-...
October 29, 2025 at 5:11 PM
Please RT. Post-doc opportunity alert! 💥 closing 10th December.. Come join our team (www.thelowlab.org) at Imperial, London, working on the structure and mechanism of bacterial secretion systems.
For more details and to apply please see
www.imperial.ac.uk/jobs/search-...
For more details and to apply please see
www.imperial.ac.uk/jobs/search-...
Reposted by Professor Lesley Hoyles
When people learn with ChatGPT instead of following their own searches, they end up knowing less, caring less, and producing worse advice, even when the facts are the same.
Friction is an essential ingredient for learning! Convenience makes us shallow.
academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/ar...
Friction is an essential ingredient for learning! Convenience makes us shallow.
academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/ar...
Experimental evidence of the effects of large language models versus web search on depth of learning
Abstract. The effects of using large language models (LLMs) versus traditional web search on depth of learning are explored. A theory is proposed that when
academic.oup.com
October 28, 2025 at 3:14 PM
When people learn with ChatGPT instead of following their own searches, they end up knowing less, caring less, and producing worse advice, even when the facts are the same.
Friction is an essential ingredient for learning! Convenience makes us shallow.
academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/ar...
Friction is an essential ingredient for learning! Convenience makes us shallow.
academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/ar...
Reposted by Professor Lesley Hoyles
New pre-print: Plasmid dependent phage effectively eliminate AMR bacteria and block plasmid transmission in the chicken gut microbiome
Fun collaboration with Tao He lab (JAAS) and @brockhurstlab.bsky.social lab (Manchester)
#phagesky#microsky
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Fun collaboration with Tao He lab (JAAS) and @brockhurstlab.bsky.social lab (Manchester)
#phagesky#microsky
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Plasmid dependent phage eliminate pathogenic bacteria and antibiotic resistance plasmids from the chicken gut microbiome
Conjugative plasmids are a key reservoir of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in commensal and pathogenic bacteria within the gut microbiome. Plasmid-dependent phage (PDPs) are a promising therapeutic op...
www.biorxiv.org
October 27, 2025 at 8:19 AM
New pre-print: Plasmid dependent phage effectively eliminate AMR bacteria and block plasmid transmission in the chicken gut microbiome
Fun collaboration with Tao He lab (JAAS) and @brockhurstlab.bsky.social lab (Manchester)
#phagesky#microsky
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Fun collaboration with Tao He lab (JAAS) and @brockhurstlab.bsky.social lab (Manchester)
#phagesky#microsky
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Professor Lesley Hoyles
We selected the laziest mouse at each round to inoculate the next batch of germfree mice: over rounds of selection and passaging, behavior shifted without changes to the mouse genome: rdcu.be/eM3rO
🦠🧫
🦠🧫
Selection and transmission of the gut microbiome alone can shift mammalian behavior
Nature Communications - Here, the authors present evidence that the gut microbiome alone, without changes in the host genome, can shape how animals respond to selection, identifying a bacterium and...
rdcu.be
October 28, 2025 at 7:51 AM
We selected the laziest mouse at each round to inoculate the next batch of germfree mice: over rounds of selection and passaging, behavior shifted without changes to the mouse genome: rdcu.be/eM3rO
🦠🧫
🦠🧫