Mark A. Hanson
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hansonmark.bsky.social
Mark A. Hanson
@hansonmark.bsky.social
New PI interested in #immune #evolution, host #pathogen interactions, and #ScientificPublishing @ University of Exeter, UK. He/him. 🇨🇦

Want to support my scientific publishing work? Buy me a coffee: https://ko-fi.com/insectpathogenlab/tip
Pinned
We wrote the Strain on scientific publishing to highlight the problems of time & trust. With a fantastic group of co-authors, we present The Drain of Scientific Publishing:

a 🧵 1/n

Drain: arxiv.org/abs/2511.04820
Strain: direct.mit.edu/qss/article/...
Oligopoly: direct.mit.edu/qss/article/...
Reposted by Mark A. Hanson
I'm convinced AI is our generation's radium - a discovery with genuinely useful applications in specific, controlled circumstances that we stupidly put in everything from kid's toys to toothpaste until we realised the harm far too late where future generations will ask if we were out of our minds.
VC, founder, dumbass
February 8, 2026 at 10:23 PM
Reposted by Mark A. Hanson
Reading and really liking this #openaccess paper by Ary Hoffman and @brandonscooper.bsky.social

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

Describing endosymbiont–host interactions within the parasitism–mutualism continuum
Describing endosymbiont–host interactions within the parasitism–mutualism continuum
Bacteria that live inside the cells of arthropod hosts (“endosymbionts”) are gaining increasing interest as targets for pest control and for reducing the ability of arthropod vectors to transmit anim....
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
February 8, 2026 at 1:08 AM
Reposted by Mark A. Hanson
"A recent example is the term “hologenome” that forces the genomes of the host and associated microbes into a single genomic unit. As clearly noted by others, this term and broader framework may add little more than confusion to the field (Douglas & Werren, 2016; Moran & Sloan, 2015)."
February 8, 2026 at 2:33 AM
Reposted by Mark A. Hanson
Apparently, there is still funding left in academia even though Springer Nature made $489 million profits off of it in 2024. And now they are telling researchers what great news that is.

Let me fix this for you... (inspired by arxiv.org/abs/2511.04820)
#springernature #closedscience
February 6, 2026 at 1:47 PM
Reposted by Mark A. Hanson
Incentives are skewed in research publishing. eLife looks for better ways to share and assess research and researchers by focusing on public peer reviews and eLife Assessments rather than publishing decisions.
buff.ly/WfmVvbP

Interview with Erdem Pulcu at @oxfordpsychiatry.bsky.social
February 7, 2026 at 11:01 AM
Reposted by Mark A. Hanson
Our EMBO workshop is now live. Visit us in Bath this summer for a two week workshop designed to help you study host-microbe interactions in the zebrafish, and develop the bioinformatics skills needed to analyse the complex data sets that arise from microbiomic studies.
Computational and experimental microbiomics
The critical contribution of microbiota to animal, plant and environmental health is now widely accepted. Progress has been driven by two parallel approaches: in silico analyses of large -omics data …
meetings.embo.org
February 6, 2026 at 2:51 PM
Reposted by Mark A. Hanson
@markhanson.fediscience.org.ap.brid.gy on the drain and strain of publishging: "After plan S and gold open access, journals changed their business model... Now your marketing to the authors not the readers, incentivizing volume rather than quality"

#horizondiamond2026
www.horizondiamond.nl
February 5, 2026 at 8:55 AM
Reposted by Mark A. Hanson
Ending slide from Mark Hanson's @hansonmark.bsky.social excellent talk at #horizondiamond2026 with qr to the main papers strain, drain, and PISS paper.

He also concludes "Funders can make diamond competitive".

#horizondiamond2026
February 5, 2026 at 9:33 AM
Reposted by Mark A. Hanson
Some v useful clarifications. Thanks for this summary @mjafreeman.bsky.social !
I watched much of Ian Chapman's (Head of @ukri.org) appearance this morning at @ukparliament.parliament.uk Science, Innovation and Technology Committee..

A few points and new information that bioscientists may find interesting...

A 🧵
February 3, 2026 at 6:09 PM
Well said!
'to treat peer review as a throughput problem is to misunderstand what is at stake. Review is not simply a production stage in the research pipeline; it is one of the few remaining spaces where the scientific community talks to itself.' 1/3
AI is not a peer, so it can’t do peer review
If we still believe that science is a vocation grounded in argument, curiosity and care, we can’t delegate judgement to machines, says Akhil Bhardwaj
www.timeshighereducation.com
February 4, 2026 at 7:17 AM
Reposted by Mark A. Hanson
Could not find all organisers on here, but thanks to @wimpouw.bsky.social @bregtlameris.bsky.social Laurens Kemp, Jos Baeten, Elisabeth Elbers, and Mihaela Cimpian!
All set for New Horizons 💎 #OpenAccess in Nijmegen! Thank you to the organisers for the opportunity to speak on the Strain, Stain, & Drain of scientific publishing.

Looking forward to great conversations on moving #ScientificPublishing forward!

bit.ly/StrainQSS
www.horizondiamond.nl#schedule
February 2, 2026 at 11:08 PM
Some v useful clarifications. Thanks for this summary @mjafreeman.bsky.social !
I watched much of Ian Chapman's (Head of @ukri.org) appearance this morning at @ukparliament.parliament.uk Science, Innovation and Technology Committee..

A few points and new information that bioscientists may find interesting...

A 🧵
February 3, 2026 at 6:09 PM
Reposted by Mark A. Hanson
I watched much of Ian Chapman's (Head of @ukri.org) appearance this morning at @ukparliament.parliament.uk Science, Innovation and Technology Committee..

A few points and new information that bioscientists may find interesting...

A 🧵
February 3, 2026 at 1:57 PM
Reposted by Mark A. Hanson
The conference on reform in scholarly publishing happening this Thursday and Friday in Nijmegen!

For those on Bluesky lets use this tag: #horizondiamond2026

www.horizondiamond.nl

Were approaching a full house, but last-minute sign ups are welcomed.

#publishing #science #research
February 3, 2026 at 8:30 AM
Reposted by Mark A. Hanson
Our lab has a new review on beta-hairpin antimicrobial peptide diversity out in @pubs.acs.org as part of the special issue celebrating Robert E. W. Hancock. Please have a look and share!

pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...
β-Hairpin Antimicrobial Peptides: Class Diversity and Sequence Analysis
Interest in antimicrobial peptides has increased dramatically over the last few decades as researchers continue to explore their potential as alternatives to small molecules, as well as their applicat...
pubs.acs.org
February 2, 2026 at 6:49 PM
Could not find all organisers on here, but thanks to @wimpouw.bsky.social @bregtlameris.bsky.social Laurens Kemp, Jos Baeten, Elisabeth Elbers, and Mihaela Cimpian!
All set for New Horizons 💎 #OpenAccess in Nijmegen! Thank you to the organisers for the opportunity to speak on the Strain, Stain, & Drain of scientific publishing.

Looking forward to great conversations on moving #ScientificPublishing forward!

bit.ly/StrainQSS
www.horizondiamond.nl#schedule
February 2, 2026 at 11:08 PM
All set for New Horizons 💎 #OpenAccess in Nijmegen! Thank you to the organisers for the opportunity to speak on the Strain, Stain, & Drain of scientific publishing.

Looking forward to great conversations on moving #ScientificPublishing forward!

bit.ly/StrainQSS
www.horizondiamond.nl#schedule
February 2, 2026 at 11:04 PM
Reposted by Mark A. Hanson
1 budget for 26-30 is rising 🎉
2 quota for basic research stable 🙂

BUT

3 we're slashing success rate for currently assessed grants 🫠
4 next call hopefully in Apri 2027 (with £s for lucky few going out months later, suppose) 💀

How does this make us more competitive?

www.ukri.org/news/open-le...
Open letter from Ian Chapman to research and innovation community
UKRI Chief Executive outlines changes to UKRI investment approach, addressing concerns about research funding and the financial position of STFC.
www.ukri.org
February 2, 2026 at 8:49 AM
Reposted by Mark A. Hanson
The pause of response mode funding will have a huge impact on ECRs who are not yet fellowship ready.When researchers leave academia they rarely return. Clarity on when RM will reopen is urgently needed & transitions to the new model need to avoid investment gaps that disproportionally affect ECRs
Open letter to the R&I community by @ukri.org CEO Ian Chapman:
www.ukri.org/news/open-le...

Reassuring to know that curiosity-driven research is protected over 4y *but* does not address concerns regarding the huge impact of the current pauses at MRC, BBSRC, EPSRC #UKsciencefundingcrisis
Open letter from Ian Chapman to research and innovation community
UKRI Chief Executive outlines changes to UKRI investment approach, addressing concerns about research funding and the financial position of STFC.
www.ukri.org
February 1, 2026 at 6:31 PM
Reposted by Mark A. Hanson
Some initial reactions to the 'published on a Sunday afternoon' letter from the CEO of UKRI. 🧵

www.ukri.org/news/open-le...
February 1, 2026 at 8:47 PM
Reposted by Mark A. Hanson
Excited to share a new piece of work in @embojournal.org

Parasitoid wasps hijack a bacterial gene that governs venoms against host. Coauthors include @rokaslab.bsky.social and others.

Read more from: link.springer.com/article/10.1...
A bacterial gene acquired by parasitoid wasps contributes to venom secretion against host defence - The EMBO Journal
Horizontal gene transfer (HGT) is an important source of gene innovation in prokaryotic and eukaryotic organisms. Several genes acquired by hosts of parasitoid wasps via HGT have been reported to prot...
link.springer.com
January 29, 2026 at 12:00 AM
Reposted by Mark A. Hanson
Today, we're sharing an open letter from our Chief Executive, Professor Sir Ian Chapman, outlining changes to UKRI investment approach, and addressing concerns about research funding and the financial position of STFC. Read his letter here: www.ukri.org/news/open-le...
Open letter from Ian Chapman to research and innovation community
UKRI Chief Executive outlines changes to UKRI investment approach, addressing concerns about research funding and the financial position of STFC.
www.ukri.org
February 1, 2026 at 5:16 PM
Reposted by Mark A. Hanson
At a time when the UK should be capitalising on its global reputation as a great place to do science, this is an enormous own goal. I am so sorry for all those who jobs are going to be impacted.
Both MRC and BBSRC responsive modes now withdrawn until further notice. Existing applications unlikely to succeed (late 2025 round expecting 1-5% success rate).

Listen, I get that UKRI wants to pivot. But killing both at once is devastating.

Let's hope at least one opens by summer... #AcademicSky
MRC instructs grant review boards to slash funding rates - Research Professional News
Boards asked to recommend just three applications for funding, as BBSRC also suspends calls
www.researchprofessionalnews.com
February 1, 2026 at 2:07 PM
Reposted by Mark A. Hanson
This is an absolute outrage that should be discussed as widely as possible. I expect that this failing government will try and use the MRC to divert funding from academic research into commercial enterprises, killing UK research in the process.
Both MRC and BBSRC responsive modes now withdrawn until further notice. Existing applications unlikely to succeed (late 2025 round expecting 1-5% success rate).

Listen, I get that UKRI wants to pivot. But killing both at once is devastating.

Let's hope at least one opens by summer... #AcademicSky
MRC instructs grant review boards to slash funding rates - Research Professional News
Boards asked to recommend just three applications for funding, as BBSRC also suspends calls
www.researchprofessionalnews.com
February 1, 2026 at 4:10 PM