Dorian McILROY
dmcilroy.bsky.social
Dorian McILROY
@dmcilroy.bsky.social
Virology lecturer at Nantes University. Interested in polyomaviruses, particularly capsid interactions with antibodies and host receptors.
Reposted by Dorian McILROY
if you want 100% nonfictional stories from measles patients and their families, follow voices for vaccines! more: voicesforvaccines.org/resources/blog/
February 15, 2026 at 6:45 PM
Reposted by Dorian McILROY
This ruling shows that proscribing Palestine Action was a grave misuse of terrorism laws.

Labour must accept its mistake, drop its appeal and stop wasting taxpayers' money suppressing civil liberties.

Degrading counter-terror powers is a genuine threat to national security.
February 13, 2026 at 2:31 PM
Reposted by Dorian McILROY
THIS IS HOW A CHILD DIES OF MEASLES

www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
This Is How a Child Dies of Measles
When your family becomes a data point in an outbreak
www.theatlantic.com
February 13, 2026 at 3:08 PM
Reposted by Dorian McILROY
Please share: I am recruiting a PhD student to join my lab in Oslo!

For this project, we will investigate the role of striatal interneurons during action selection, using a combination of behavior, in vivo voltage imaging, and slice ephys.

www.jobbnorge.no/en/available...

#NeuroJobs #NeuroSkyence
February 13, 2026 at 2:34 PM
Reposted by Dorian McILROY
murder you commit with the machinery of bureaucracy is still murder. someone needs to end up on a pike over USAID. preferably their last name is musk.
HORRIFYING -
Dismantling USAID & cancelling >80% of aid caused ~750,000 deaths by mid-2025

🧸Most were children
⌛️ Many died within the first year

😰 Preventable deaths were mainly from:
- HIV, TB, malaria
- Maternal & fetal deaths
- Malnutrition

news.westernu.ca/2026/01/u-s-...
Expert insight: U.S. withdrawal from WHO could affect global health - Western News
History professor Mitchell L. Hammond explains how the U.S. withdrawal from the World Health Organization could affect global health and disease threats.
news.westernu.ca
February 10, 2026 at 10:33 PM
Some antibodies against Adenovirus pVII cross-react to platelet protein PF4, and the pathogenic autoantibodies all carry light chain K31E or K31D somatic hypermutation. So only individuals who expand one particular clonotype, and one specific SHM, during their response to AdV infection were at risk.
Five years after the rollout of Covid-19 vaccines started, it seems the mystery of why the Astra-Zeneca and J&J vaccines led to a rare but deadly side effect of unusual blood clots and bleeding has finally been solved. 

It's a fascinating case of molecular mimicry that may help make vaccine safer.🧪
Rare, dangerous side effects of some COVID-19 vaccines explained
“Groundbreaking” study uncovers why adenovirus-based shots caused life-threatening blood clots and bleeding in some people
www.science.org
February 12, 2026 at 7:43 AM
Preprint is up on MedRxiv
www.medrxiv.org/content/10.6...
Thesis project of fantastic doctoral student, and hospital virologist, Sarah Marchand.
OK, so why is this interesting/new?
🧵for antiviral antibody geeks.
Using LIBRA-seq to map the BK-polyomavirus specific B-cell response in kidney transplant recipients
BK polyomavirus (BKPyV) is a major complication in kidney transplant recipients (KTR), for whom no specific antiviral therapy is available. Modulation of immunosuppressive therapy results in virus cle...
www.medrxiv.org
February 10, 2026 at 9:30 AM
Reposted by Dorian McILROY
Coffee and improved cognition, reduced dementia
>130,000 people followed 37 years
Benefit seen only with caffeinated coffee or tea and most pronounced ~2 cups/day
@jama.com ☕️☕️https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2844764
February 9, 2026 at 4:01 PM
Reposted by Dorian McILROY
Two active cases of tuberculosis and 18 cases of COVID-19 have been identified at a massive immigration detention center in El Paso, according to the local Democratic member of Congress.

www.texastribune.org/2026/02/07/i...
Two tuberculosis cases detected at Camp East Montana ICE facility
Eighteen cases of COVID-19 were also identified. U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar on Friday visited the 5,000-bed tent facility on the Fort Bliss Army base and said she saw many "chronic issues."
www.texastribune.org
February 7, 2026 at 8:54 PM
Reposted by Dorian McILROY
Preprint reveals that centuries-/millennia-old Adelie penguin mummies preserve near-complete RNA virus genomes, enabling the study of long-term #RNA #virus #evolution in Antarctic remains.🧬❄️
📄 https://doi.org/10.64898/2025.12.17.693957
👤 EVBC: C. Lauber, M. A. Suchard, P. Lemey, S. Calvignac-Spencer
RNA virus genomes from centuries- to millennia-old Adélie penguin mummies
Direct studies of long-term RNA virus evolution are largely limited to chemically-fixed specimens from natural history and pathology museums collected over the past two centuries. Detecting genomic traces of RNA viruses in older, buried remains is generally considered highly unlikely. The cold, dry conditions of Antarctica may represent an exception. Under such circumstances, natural mummification of penguins and seals—animals that form large colonies where RNA viruses circulate—is common and may facilitate the recovery of RNA virus genomes. Here, we show that Adélie penguin ( Pygoscelis adeliae ) mummies, ranging in age from recent to nearly two millennia, indeed contain fragments of such ancient viral genomes. Metatranscriptomic analyses yielded near-complete genome sequences of a picornavirus ( Megrivirus epengu ) and a rotavirus D ( Rotavirus deltagastroenteritidis ) from relatively recent specimens. We further retrieved rotavirus D sequences from a 280-year-old individual and a near-complete rotavirus G ( Rotavirus gammagastroenteritidis ) genome from a 1900-year-old one. These findings pave the way to direct studies of RNA virus evolution across millennia. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest. Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation), Transregio Collaborative Research Centre 410 “WETSCAPES2.0”, Project-ID 531801029 – TRR 410 National Science Foundation, ANT 1443386, OPP 9909274 US National Institutes of Health, R01 AI153044 Research Foundation - Flanders (‘Fonds voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek - Vlaanderen’, G0D5117N, G0B9317N, G051322N Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation), Germany's Excellence Strategy - EXC 2155 - project number 390874280 Helmholtz Association’s Initiative and Network Fund, KA1-Co-02 “CoViPa”
doi.org
February 7, 2026 at 10:57 AM
Reposted by Dorian McILROY
Melania: The Movie

From the new Private Eye, out now.
February 6, 2026 at 5:34 PM
Reposted by Dorian McILROY
There have been increasingly shrill accusations against the EU over its digital legislation, based on accusations of "censorship" by defenders of "free speech" -- including, so it appears, the right to peddle an AI app that seemingly produces child sexual abuse material (CSAM).
1/9
February 5, 2026 at 7:21 PM
Reposted by Dorian McILROY
Amazing findings in geometry-based immune activation! Two bacterial defence systems detect phage-encoded ring oligomers, assemble high-order molecular complexes, and trigger abortive infection.

www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
February 4, 2026 at 6:25 PM
Reposted by Dorian McILROY
The reason we pasteurize milk is because it prevents this kind of awful, needless death
“Health officials in New Mexico are warning against consuming raw dairy products after a newborn baby in the state died from a listeria infection that they say was likely contracted when the baby's mother drank raw milk during pregnancy.” @jackiantonovich.bsky.social
New Mexico warns against consuming raw milk after newborn dies from listeria
While the New Mexico Department of Health said it cannot pinpoint the baby's exact cause of death, officials believe it could have been linked to the mother drinking raw milk during pregnancy.
www.nbcnews.com
February 4, 2026 at 2:24 AM
Fantastic - one more thing that finally makes sense! I always have trouble teaching phototrophy (cos it's a long way from my specialisation). This paper makes things comprehensible, not just a list of stuff to memorize.
New paper out! Here's a puzzle: phototrophy, the ability to use light for energy, is one of life's great innovations. It evolved early and transformed the biosphere. But it evolved 2x. Why not just once, why not more? Our work suggests the answer is priority effects.

www.nature.com/articles/s44...
Priority effects inhibit the repeated evolution of phototrophy - npj Complexity
npj Complexity - Priority effects inhibit the repeated evolution of phototrophy
www.nature.com
February 4, 2026 at 6:14 AM
Reposted by Dorian McILROY
And so it begins….
February 2, 2026 at 8:12 PM
Reposted by Dorian McILROY
This is finally out.

Very short take home. All the variation in spike that produced the immune escape characteristics of Omicron can occur in one single persistently infected individual over the period of a year.

This is why persistent infections matter

www.cell.com/cell-reports...
Antibody escape drives emergence of diverse spike haplotypes resembling variants of concern in persistent SARS-CoV-2 infections
Snell et al. develop sequencing methodology to identify full-length spike haplotypes and show that persistent SARS-CoV-2 infections drive divergent haplotype emergence, accelerating viral evolution an...
www.cell.com
February 2, 2026 at 4:09 PM
Most people in Europe / N. America can cut down meat consumption significantly, and would probably be healthier for it, too.
February 2, 2026 at 3:19 PM
Reposted by Dorian McILROY
February 2, 2026 at 12:51 AM
When typhus breaks out, ICE will have copied their role models to perfection.
Large group of people, likely malnutritioned and exhausted, thus immunocompromised. Infectious disease thrive in these conditions. I hope these people will get the care they need.
ICE now confirming that there is a measles outbreak at the Texas concentration camp where young Liam was held.
February 2, 2026 at 5:57 AM
Reposted by Dorian McILROY
You know public health systems worked as intended when outbreaks of preventable disease don’t make headlines every week.

🧪
@kevinfenton
February 2, 2026 at 3:53 AM
Reposted by Dorian McILROY
There's a longing for the way US science was

Thing is, US science supported Nathan Wolfe

We don't need everything the way it was

Wolfe was a litmus test. Many of us told everyone we could about him - and sounded crazy. Others saw him as a virology hero

So let's talk about Mohammed Sesay
1/n
January 31, 2026 at 3:03 AM
Reposted by Dorian McILROY
William Herbert Foege .... you should know him: one of the foremost persons responsible for eradicating smallpox. He died yesterday, January 24, 2026 ..... the day the USA pulled out of the WHO. It is all so terrible sad and stupid.

www.nytimes.com/2026...
1/3
William H. Foege, Key Figure in the Eradication of Smallpox, Dies at 89
His containment strategy helped wipe out the disease in the 1970s, one of the world’s greatest public health triumphs. He also led the C.D.C. and promoted childhood vaccination worldwide.
www.nytimes.com
January 25, 2026 at 4:40 PM
I hope they improve Impress. It's got better, but is still a bit clunky.
Our next major release is just around the corner! #LibreOffice 26.2 will be released in February, with many new features and improvements, thanks to our worldwide community. Help to test it, before the final release: qa.blog.documentfoundation.org/2026/01/20/l...
January 28, 2026 at 3:00 PM
Reposted by Dorian McILROY
These peptides have not been shown to cure or treat anything. Safety hasn't been established. Yet, many of the people taking stacks of them, injecting into their bloodstream, are the same ones who are against vaccines. nymag.com/intelligence...
January 27, 2026 at 5:04 PM