Guillaume Méric
@gmeric.bsky.social
🇪🇺 🇫🇷 🇦🇺 in 🇬🇧 (he/him) | www.mericlab.com
Human microbiome(s), pathogen ecology & host-microbe genomics
Associate Professor @uniofbath.bsky.social
Clinical Affiliate @bakerresearchau.bsky.social @cambridgebaker.bsky.social
📍Bath, UK
Human microbiome(s), pathogen ecology & host-microbe genomics
Associate Professor @uniofbath.bsky.social
Clinical Affiliate @bakerresearchau.bsky.social @cambridgebaker.bsky.social
📍Bath, UK
Reposted by Guillaume Méric
Our new paper on Insertion Sequences (IS) in #Klebsiella
- Lineages have vastly different IS loads and profiles
- An inverse relationship between IS load and metabolic capacity, in particular phosphorus use, consistent with early reductive evolution.
www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/jour...
- Lineages have vastly different IS loads and profiles
- An inverse relationship between IS load and metabolic capacity, in particular phosphorus use, consistent with early reductive evolution.
www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/jour...
Exploring the IS-capades of Klebsiella pneumoniae: insertion sequences drive metabolic loss in obscure sub-lineages
Introduction. Klebsiella pneumoniae is an opportunistic pathogen that causes a wide spectrum of infections within healthcare settings and the community. Four K. pneumoniae sub-lineages, defined using ...
www.microbiologyresearch.org
January 22, 2026 at 7:52 PM
Our new paper on Insertion Sequences (IS) in #Klebsiella
- Lineages have vastly different IS loads and profiles
- An inverse relationship between IS load and metabolic capacity, in particular phosphorus use, consistent with early reductive evolution.
www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/jour...
- Lineages have vastly different IS loads and profiles
- An inverse relationship between IS load and metabolic capacity, in particular phosphorus use, consistent with early reductive evolution.
www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/jour...
“A diverse diet, high in fibre is a sensible place to start."
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Gut check: are at-home microbiome tests a way to ‘hack your health’ or simply a waste? | Antiviral
Spruiked by online influencers as a way of gaining insight into our health, experts say at-home tests oversimplify complex factors and can cause unnecessary distress
www.theguardian.com
January 21, 2026 at 11:43 AM
“A diverse diet, high in fibre is a sensible place to start."
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Reposted by Guillaume Méric
Predicting asthma attacks up to 5 years in advance. Discovery and validation of a metabolite biomarker (sphingolipid-to-steroid ratio), via 3 large cohorts with up to 25 years of follow-up
nature.com/articles/s41...
nature.com/articles/s41...
The ratio of circulatory levels of sphingolipids to steroids predicts asthma exacerbations - Nature Communications
Asthma exacerbations remain hard to predict with routine tests. Here, the authors show that simple blood sphingolipid-to-steroid ratios predict five-year exacerbation risk and can underpin a practical...
nature.com
January 19, 2026 at 4:24 PM
Predicting asthma attacks up to 5 years in advance. Discovery and validation of a metabolite biomarker (sphingolipid-to-steroid ratio), via 3 large cohorts with up to 25 years of follow-up
nature.com/articles/s41...
nature.com/articles/s41...
Interesting phage host-range network between 23 apricot-orchard phages & 44 P. syringae strains w/ varying disease outcome. Findings include strong nestedness for phage susceptibility (i.e bacterial phylogroup>ecological origin) + interesting genomic links 🌳
journals.plos.org/plospathogen...
journals.plos.org/plospathogen...
Ecological ubiquity and phylogeny drive nestedness in phages–bacteria networks and shape the bacterial defensome
Author summary Viruses that infect bacteria, known as phages, are part of microbial communities and influence the abundance, diversity, and traits of their hosts. In an agriculture-related context, th...
journals.plos.org
January 19, 2026 at 4:10 PM
Interesting phage host-range network between 23 apricot-orchard phages & 44 P. syringae strains w/ varying disease outcome. Findings include strong nestedness for phage susceptibility (i.e bacterial phylogroup>ecological origin) + interesting genomic links 🌳
journals.plos.org/plospathogen...
journals.plos.org/plospathogen...
Nice review from @alexmsalmeida.bsky.social et al on gut microbiome & enteric infection susceptibility/severity, including focus on some recurring susceptibility associations: decrease of α-diversity+butyrate producers & Proteobacteria/Enterobacteriaceae blooms.
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
The human gut microbiome in enteric infections: from association to translation
Enteric infections remain a leading global cause of morbidity, mortality and economic loss, increasingly compounded by the rise of antimicrobial resistance. The gut microbiome — spanning bacteria, ...
www.tandfonline.com
January 19, 2026 at 4:03 PM
Nice review from @alexmsalmeida.bsky.social et al on gut microbiome & enteric infection susceptibility/severity, including focus on some recurring susceptibility associations: decrease of α-diversity+butyrate producers & Proteobacteria/Enterobacteriaceae blooms.
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
New review on role of microbiota in prostate cancer, expliciting the "gut–prostate axis". Interesting examples of FMT/commensals modulating ADT response (therapy used to slow PC growth). Good caution+criticism on studies w/ potential caveats on low biomass/risk of FP
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
January 19, 2026 at 3:40 PM
New review on role of microbiota in prostate cancer, expliciting the "gut–prostate axis". Interesting examples of FMT/commensals modulating ADT response (therapy used to slow PC growth). Good caution+criticism on studies w/ potential caveats on low biomass/risk of FP
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Nice work from Finnish colleagues, looking at gut microbial associations from 685 pneumonia cases in 17.8y of FINRISK registry follow-up. Some limitations but butyrate-producers seem to associate with lower pneumonia risk & Clostridium_AQ innocuum with higher risk
🔗 link.springer.com/article/10.1...
🔗 link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Prospective association between the gut microbiota and incident pneumonia: a cohort study of 6419 individuals - Respiratory Research
Background Previous animal studies have identified the protective capacity of the gut microbiota against respiratory infections. Nevertheless, the prospective association between human gut microbiota ...
link.springer.com
January 19, 2026 at 3:29 PM
Nice work from Finnish colleagues, looking at gut microbial associations from 685 pneumonia cases in 17.8y of FINRISK registry follow-up. Some limitations but butyrate-producers seem to associate with lower pneumonia risk & Clostridium_AQ innocuum with higher risk
🔗 link.springer.com/article/10.1...
🔗 link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Interesting new study analysing data from wearables from subset of UKBiobank participants. Optimal combo (+9.45y lifespan vs worst tertiles) was sleep 7.2–8.0 h/d, min exercise >42 min/d, good diet quality score. Minimal changes "added" several years of life.
www.thelancet.com/journals/ecl...
www.thelancet.com/journals/ecl...
Minimum combined sleep, physical activity, and nutrition variations associated with lifeSPAN and healthSPAN improvements: a population cohort study
Modest concurrent improvements in sleep, physical activity, and diet were associated
with meaningful gains in lifespan and healthspan.
www.thelancet.com
January 19, 2026 at 2:06 PM
Interesting new study analysing data from wearables from subset of UKBiobank participants. Optimal combo (+9.45y lifespan vs worst tertiles) was sleep 7.2–8.0 h/d, min exercise >42 min/d, good diet quality score. Minimal changes "added" several years of life.
www.thelancet.com/journals/ecl...
www.thelancet.com/journals/ecl...
Reposted by Guillaume Méric
Can we ever truly understand animal languages—and even communicate with other species? Recent advances in artificial intelligence, especially large language models, have reignited the belief that this dream may soon be within reach. www.cell.com/current-biol... @odedrechavi.bsky.social
January 17, 2026 at 11:13 PM
Can we ever truly understand animal languages—and even communicate with other species? Recent advances in artificial intelligence, especially large language models, have reignited the belief that this dream may soon be within reach. www.cell.com/current-biol... @odedrechavi.bsky.social
Reposted by Guillaume Méric
very sad news. Peer Bork was one of the leaders of our field, a wonderful scientist, and he's much too young to be gone. www.embl.org/news/embl-an...
In remembrance of Peer Bork | EMBL
EMBL and its community are deeply saddened by the death of Peer Bork, the organisation’s Interim Director General.
www.embl.org
January 16, 2026 at 6:33 PM
very sad news. Peer Bork was one of the leaders of our field, a wonderful scientist, and he's much too young to be gone. www.embl.org/news/embl-an...
Cool work! Mining 7 ancient (1-2ky) human coprolite metagenomes for ORFs with AMP potential: 160 peptide candidates > 40 synthesised > 36 active at <100 µM in vitro with ~2/3 being Segatella copri–derived
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Identification of antimicrobial peptides from ancient gut microbiomes - Nature Communications
Here, the authors develop AMPLiT a tool for screening antimicrobial peptides in metagenomic datasets, and apply it to human coprolite metagenomes, finding that Segatella copri, an ancient prevalent hu...
www.nature.com
January 15, 2026 at 2:08 PM
Cool work! Mining 7 ancient (1-2ky) human coprolite metagenomes for ORFs with AMP potential: 160 peptide candidates > 40 synthesised > 36 active at <100 µM in vitro with ~2/3 being Segatella copri–derived
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Guillaume Méric
We've got ISSUES. Literally.
We scraped >100k special issues & over 1 million articles to bring you a PISS-poor paper. We quantify just how many excess papers are published by guest editors abusing special issues to boost their CVs. How bad is it & what can we do?
arxiv.org/abs/2601.07563
A 🧵 1/n
We scraped >100k special issues & over 1 million articles to bring you a PISS-poor paper. We quantify just how many excess papers are published by guest editors abusing special issues to boost their CVs. How bad is it & what can we do?
arxiv.org/abs/2601.07563
A 🧵 1/n
January 13, 2026 at 8:27 AM
We've got ISSUES. Literally.
We scraped >100k special issues & over 1 million articles to bring you a PISS-poor paper. We quantify just how many excess papers are published by guest editors abusing special issues to boost their CVs. How bad is it & what can we do?
arxiv.org/abs/2601.07563
A 🧵 1/n
We scraped >100k special issues & over 1 million articles to bring you a PISS-poor paper. We quantify just how many excess papers are published by guest editors abusing special issues to boost their CVs. How bad is it & what can we do?
arxiv.org/abs/2601.07563
A 🧵 1/n
Reading about bacteria in the atmospheric water cycle is always fun. In this review, authors think about the possible selective pressures on bacteria in the atmosphere after aerosolization.
enviromicro-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
enviromicro-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
January 11, 2026 at 5:12 PM
Reading about bacteria in the atmospheric water cycle is always fun. In this review, authors think about the possible selective pressures on bacteria in the atmosphere after aerosolization.
enviromicro-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
enviromicro-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Interesting new meta-analysis in the Lancet Microbe, outlining phages as signatures or drivers of microbiome dysbiosis.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
January 11, 2026 at 5:08 PM
Interesting new meta-analysis in the Lancet Microbe, outlining phages as signatures or drivers of microbiome dysbiosis.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Autobrewery syndrome is a rare disorder of alcohol intoxication due to gut microbial ethanol production. Using an observational ABS cohort (n=22), authors suggest mechanism/therapy signals, with an FMT attempt on 1 patient showing symptom improvement.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
January 11, 2026 at 5:01 PM
Autobrewery syndrome is a rare disorder of alcohol intoxication due to gut microbial ethanol production. Using an observational ABS cohort (n=22), authors suggest mechanism/therapy signals, with an FMT attempt on 1 patient showing symptom improvement.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Anelloviruses are considered to be "commensal" viruses with no obvious disease links. Here, authors describe an ubiquitous & diverse anellovirome in infants with FUT2 secretors having ↑ viral abundance but no associations w/ atopic disease (minor w/ allergic rhinitis)
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
January 11, 2026 at 4:54 PM
Anelloviruses are considered to be "commensal" viruses with no obvious disease links. Here, authors describe an ubiquitous & diverse anellovirome in infants with FUT2 secretors having ↑ viral abundance but no associations w/ atopic disease (minor w/ allergic rhinitis)
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Interesting review on sub-MIC antibiotic exposures from food/environment on the gut microbiome/resistome with suggested mechanisms impacting it. Interesting comments on methods/approaches + current regulatory framework too.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
January 11, 2026 at 4:42 PM
Interesting review on sub-MIC antibiotic exposures from food/environment on the gut microbiome/resistome with suggested mechanisms impacting it. Interesting comments on methods/approaches + current regulatory framework too.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Interesting! 152 mother-infant dyads from rural Burkina Faso; MISAME-III subset) with longitudinal metagenomics+milk 16S+HMOs/nutrients/metabolomics.
Infant gut <2mo = 3 clusters ("Escherichia"/"Bifidobacterium"/diverse+pathogen-prevalent) + links with milk HMOs
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Infant gut <2mo = 3 clusters ("Escherichia"/"Bifidobacterium"/diverse+pathogen-prevalent) + links with milk HMOs
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
January 11, 2026 at 4:37 PM
Interesting! 152 mother-infant dyads from rural Burkina Faso; MISAME-III subset) with longitudinal metagenomics+milk 16S+HMOs/nutrients/metabolomics.
Infant gut <2mo = 3 clusters ("Escherichia"/"Bifidobacterium"/diverse+pathogen-prevalent) + links with milk HMOs
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Infant gut <2mo = 3 clusters ("Escherichia"/"Bifidobacterium"/diverse+pathogen-prevalent) + links with milk HMOs
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Interesting commentary on the elimiation of viral hepatitis in England: HBV/HCV mortality targets exceeded, HBV vertical transmission elimination achieved. However still many chronic HBV cases, no national registry & disinvestment in harm-reduction approaches.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Towards the endgame: achieving elimination of viral hepatitis in England
www.sciencedirect.com
January 11, 2026 at 4:30 PM
Interesting commentary on the elimiation of viral hepatitis in England: HBV/HCV mortality targets exceeded, HBV vertical transmission elimination achieved. However still many chronic HBV cases, no national registry & disinvestment in harm-reduction approaches.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
The microbial keystone concept is a very cool topic in microbiome ecology. This review summarises mechanisms, prediction methods and implications, with "keystoneness" being highly context/time dependent + new methods approaches suggested. Very nice read!
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
January 11, 2026 at 4:25 PM
The microbial keystone concept is a very cool topic in microbiome ecology. This review summarises mechanisms, prediction methods and implications, with "keystoneness" being highly context/time dependent + new methods approaches suggested. Very nice read!
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Interesting review on microbiome & cancer risk + treatment response. Addressing multiple topics in there, with also an interesting part on microbiome disruption being linked to ↓ drug efficacy across multiple cancer therapies (chemo/immuno) + tumour types
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
January 11, 2026 at 4:21 PM
Interesting review on microbiome & cancer risk + treatment response. Addressing multiple topics in there, with also an interesting part on microbiome disruption being linked to ↓ drug efficacy across multiple cancer therapies (chemo/immuno) + tumour types
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Guillaume Méric
Only in Shenzhen: Science Nature coffee bar. If you’ve published in @science.org or @nature.com, they give you coffee for free. 100% real!
January 10, 2026 at 10:43 AM
Only in Shenzhen: Science Nature coffee bar. If you’ve published in @science.org or @nature.com, they give you coffee for free. 100% real!
Reposted by Guillaume Méric
🎉 Congratulations to @pcapi.bsky.social and @alice-risely.bsky.social, the winners of the 2025 JAB review award for the best mini-review by early career researchers! 🏆
Winning article: vist.ly/4iq5m
#ornithology #birds #award #review #microbiome #migration
Winning article: vist.ly/4iq5m
#ornithology #birds #award #review #microbiome #migration
December 16, 2025 at 12:28 PM
🎉 Congratulations to @pcapi.bsky.social and @alice-risely.bsky.social, the winners of the 2025 JAB review award for the best mini-review by early career researchers! 🏆
Winning article: vist.ly/4iq5m
#ornithology #birds #award #review #microbiome #migration
Winning article: vist.ly/4iq5m
#ornithology #birds #award #review #microbiome #migration
Reposted by Guillaume Méric
"Higher intake of high-fat cheese and high-fat cream was associated with a lower risk of all-cause dementia."
Results of a 25-year prospective study of ~27,000 participants.
The purported benefit was not linked to APOE4 carriers or low-fat cheese intake
www.neurology.org/doi/full/10....
Results of a 25-year prospective study of ~27,000 participants.
The purported benefit was not linked to APOE4 carriers or low-fat cheese intake
www.neurology.org/doi/full/10....
December 17, 2025 at 10:05 PM
"Higher intake of high-fat cheese and high-fat cream was associated with a lower risk of all-cause dementia."
Results of a 25-year prospective study of ~27,000 participants.
The purported benefit was not linked to APOE4 carriers or low-fat cheese intake
www.neurology.org/doi/full/10....
Results of a 25-year prospective study of ~27,000 participants.
The purported benefit was not linked to APOE4 carriers or low-fat cheese intake
www.neurology.org/doi/full/10....
Reposted by Guillaume Méric
Flu is surging. What can we do about it?
Layered protections—vaccination, isolation with liveable sick pay, and clean air—enabled by government and institutions.
BMJ Opinion by Stephen Reicher, @martinmckee.bsky.social & @profstevegriffin.bsky.social
www.bmj.com/content/391/...
Layered protections—vaccination, isolation with liveable sick pay, and clean air—enabled by government and institutions.
BMJ Opinion by Stephen Reicher, @martinmckee.bsky.social & @profstevegriffin.bsky.social
www.bmj.com/content/391/...
Vaccinate, isolate, ventilate: will we finally learn the lessons from covid this flu season?
With flu surging again, Stephen Reicher and colleagues draw on the experience of covid-19 to argue that predictable winter pressures demand more than individual responsibility, they also require syste...
www.bmj.com
December 16, 2025 at 12:17 PM
Flu is surging. What can we do about it?
Layered protections—vaccination, isolation with liveable sick pay, and clean air—enabled by government and institutions.
BMJ Opinion by Stephen Reicher, @martinmckee.bsky.social & @profstevegriffin.bsky.social
www.bmj.com/content/391/...
Layered protections—vaccination, isolation with liveable sick pay, and clean air—enabled by government and institutions.
BMJ Opinion by Stephen Reicher, @martinmckee.bsky.social & @profstevegriffin.bsky.social
www.bmj.com/content/391/...