Leo Martins (he/him)
@leomrtns.bsky.social
Computational Biologist. Tenure Track Fellow in Health at the University of Liverpool. 🇧🇷🇯🇵🇪🇸🇬🇧🇨🇭
Phylogenomics and Chemometrics. Prog Rock and Post-Punk. C and Python.
@leomrtns@mstdn.science
Phylogenomics and Chemometrics. Prog Rock and Post-Punk. C and Python.
@leomrtns@mstdn.science
Reposted by Leo Martins (he/him)
Heroic work by @bluebirdsjunk.bsky.social in pulling this mammoth study together
'Staphylococcus haemolyticus Population Genomics Provides Insights into Pathogenicity and Commensalism'
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
'Staphylococcus haemolyticus Population Genomics Provides Insights into Pathogenicity and Commensalism'
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Staphylococcus haemolyticus Population Genomics Provides Insights into Pathogenicity and Commensalism
Staphylococcus haemolyticus is a common commensal bacterium but also an opportunistic pathogen, frequently implicated in bacteraemia and sepsis in preterm neonates and immunocompromised patients. Desp...
www.biorxiv.org
November 11, 2025 at 10:04 AM
Heroic work by @bluebirdsjunk.bsky.social in pulling this mammoth study together
'Staphylococcus haemolyticus Population Genomics Provides Insights into Pathogenicity and Commensalism'
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
'Staphylococcus haemolyticus Population Genomics Provides Insights into Pathogenicity and Commensalism'
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Leo Martins (he/him)
Last chance to register for Understanding and predicting microbial evolutionary dynamics 2025 in Liverpool, UK. Register today by 23:59 GMT: microb.io/MicroEvo25 #MicroEvo25
Understanding and predicting microbial evolutionary dynamics 2025
Microbes are everywhere, often forming complex and dynamic communities that are responsible for the health of humans, animals, plants, and natural ecosystems. Increasingly, we recognise that microbial...
microb.io
November 10, 2025 at 9:01 AM
Last chance to register for Understanding and predicting microbial evolutionary dynamics 2025 in Liverpool, UK. Register today by 23:59 GMT: microb.io/MicroEvo25 #MicroEvo25
Reposted by Leo Martins (he/him)
I like this obit better...
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 7:50 AM
I like this obit better...
Reposted by Leo Martins (he/him)
I wrote a review of James Watson's obituary by CSHL: liorpachter.wordpress.com/2025/11/08/r...
Review of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory’s Obituary for Dr. James Watson
James Watson, who described himself as “not a racist in a conventional way”, has died at the age of 97. Below is a review of an obituary for Dr. James Watson published by Cold Spring Ha…
liorpachter.wordpress.com
November 8, 2025 at 9:58 PM
I wrote a review of James Watson's obituary by CSHL: liorpachter.wordpress.com/2025/11/08/r...
Reposted by Leo Martins (he/him)
When people celebrate the individual genius of folks in science, they should also
mourn the collective loss of genius of folks who were actively discouraged or disadvantaged from a career in science because of the same person(s)
mourn the collective loss of genius of folks who were actively discouraged or disadvantaged from a career in science because of the same person(s)
November 7, 2025 at 11:43 PM
When people celebrate the individual genius of folks in science, they should also
mourn the collective loss of genius of folks who were actively discouraged or disadvantaged from a career in science because of the same person(s)
mourn the collective loss of genius of folks who were actively discouraged or disadvantaged from a career in science because of the same person(s)
Reposted by Leo Martins (he/him)
I've had such a crap commute this morning, that I've written to my MP and Councillor.
I'm just a bloke trying to get to work, and I want to go home to my kids at the end of the day.
Our road culture is fundamentally broken.
cc @liamthorp.bsky.social
I'm just a bloke trying to get to work, and I want to go home to my kids at the end of the day.
Our road culture is fundamentally broken.
cc @liamthorp.bsky.social
November 7, 2025 at 9:55 AM
I've had such a crap commute this morning, that I've written to my MP and Councillor.
I'm just a bloke trying to get to work, and I want to go home to my kids at the end of the day.
Our road culture is fundamentally broken.
cc @liamthorp.bsky.social
I'm just a bloke trying to get to work, and I want to go home to my kids at the end of the day.
Our road culture is fundamentally broken.
cc @liamthorp.bsky.social
Make phrenology great again
bro are you fucking kidding me
November 6, 2025 at 7:25 PM
Make phrenology great again
Reposted by Leo Martins (he/him)
Well, this is bloody depressing. www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
NHS staff bearing brunt as ‘ugly’ racism of 70s and 80s returns, says Streeting
Exclusive: Health secretary and NHS England chief warn of winter pressures and rising levels of abuse
www.theguardian.com
November 5, 2025 at 10:15 AM
Well, this is bloody depressing. www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
Reposted by Leo Martins (he/him)
Interesting that there has been absolutely no communication with submitters/users of the system, and no statements from the scientific governance or compliance boards on what would seem to be a fairly significant change to GISAID data access policy and platform operations. gisaid.org/about-us/gov...
October 17, 2025 at 7:07 PM
Interesting that there has been absolutely no communication with submitters/users of the system, and no statements from the scientific governance or compliance boards on what would seem to be a fairly significant change to GISAID data access policy and platform operations. gisaid.org/about-us/gov...
Reposted by Leo Martins (he/him)
It's an incredibly sad day. Horrifying.
However, I've been a human rights advocate for 20 years. And it is the first time a lot of different usually pro-police sectors of society finally speak up against an operation.
I hope we can mobilize the society to change this situation.+
However, I've been a human rights advocate for 20 years. And it is the first time a lot of different usually pro-police sectors of society finally speak up against an operation.
I hope we can mobilize the society to change this situation.+
October 30, 2025 at 12:26 AM
It's an incredibly sad day. Horrifying.
However, I've been a human rights advocate for 20 years. And it is the first time a lot of different usually pro-police sectors of society finally speak up against an operation.
I hope we can mobilize the society to change this situation.+
However, I've been a human rights advocate for 20 years. And it is the first time a lot of different usually pro-police sectors of society finally speak up against an operation.
I hope we can mobilize the society to change this situation.+
Reposted by Leo Martins (he/him)
Here in the uk, the government has found that £1 of spending on R&D results in £8 of benefit: www.gov.uk/government/p...
The value of public R&D
www.gov.uk
October 30, 2025 at 10:53 PM
Here in the uk, the government has found that £1 of spending on R&D results in £8 of benefit: www.gov.uk/government/p...
Reposted by Leo Martins (he/him)
I also talk about de-extinction in this paper & the need to have some name to call the organisms. Like many people, I know that the Colossal "Dire Wolves" are not the descendants of the extinct wolves they are named after. But they are *something*, so we need to have a name for them.
I've often wondered about what we should call organisms whose similarity might be due to acquired genetic material. It got a little complicated, but I made a stab at it here
Classifying Convergences in the Light of Horizontal Gene Transfer: Epaktovars and Xenotypes academic.oup.com/mbe/article/...
Classifying Convergences in the Light of Horizontal Gene Transfer: Epaktovars and Xenotypes academic.oup.com/mbe/article/...
Classifying Convergences in the Light of Horizontal Gene Transfer: Epaktovars and Xenotypes
Abstract. The classification of living systems presents significant challenges due to the prevalence of gene transfer between genomes. Traditional taxonomi
academic.oup.com
October 30, 2025 at 11:36 AM
I also talk about de-extinction in this paper & the need to have some name to call the organisms. Like many people, I know that the Colossal "Dire Wolves" are not the descendants of the extinct wolves they are named after. But they are *something*, so we need to have a name for them.
Reposted by Leo Martins (he/him)
📜 The government is proposing to enable pharmacists to have flexibility when dispensing medicines under certain conditions.
💭 Got thoughts? Complete our survey by 2 November - microb.io/4hqSVVD
💭 Got thoughts? Complete our survey by 2 November - microb.io/4hqSVVD
October 29, 2025 at 2:05 PM
📜 The government is proposing to enable pharmacists to have flexibility when dispensing medicines under certain conditions.
💭 Got thoughts? Complete our survey by 2 November - microb.io/4hqSVVD
💭 Got thoughts? Complete our survey by 2 November - microb.io/4hqSVVD
Reposted by Leo Martins (he/him)
From @torstenseemann.bsky.social at @pha4ge.bsky.social Conference; "We are stealing from research money to support public health."
We need dedicated funding for maintaining & supporting public health infrastructure & pipelines. Not just startup, not just in pandemics.
We need dedicated funding for maintaining & supporting public health infrastructure & pipelines. Not just startup, not just in pandemics.
October 28, 2025 at 8:52 AM
From @torstenseemann.bsky.social at @pha4ge.bsky.social Conference; "We are stealing from research money to support public health."
We need dedicated funding for maintaining & supporting public health infrastructure & pipelines. Not just startup, not just in pandemics.
We need dedicated funding for maintaining & supporting public health infrastructure & pipelines. Not just startup, not just in pandemics.
*cries in bioinformatician*
*cries in data generator*
*cries in multidisciplinary collaborator*
*cries in data generator*
*cries in multidisciplinary collaborator*
🧪For those of us who do complex collaborations with multiple corresponding authors this is terrible . I suspect it will also hit female authors disproportionately as they tend to have more collaborations across fields…https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-03281-4
Google Scholar tool gives extra credit to first and last authors
Researchers welcome the initiative, but say it doesn’t go far enough to capture the nuance of researcher productivity and impact.
www.nature.com
October 26, 2025 at 2:02 PM
*cries in bioinformatician*
*cries in data generator*
*cries in multidisciplinary collaborator*
*cries in data generator*
*cries in multidisciplinary collaborator*
meanwhile I don't have access to DMs on bluesky, or to Vimeo videos (including from @microbiologysociety.org) because I don't want to send personal info to the 3rd party companies.
I hope everybody is feeling safer already.
I hope everybody is feeling safer already.
As 4chan’s lawyers told me: “4chan will pay the fine when pigs fly. If you see any porcine aviators in the skies above London that will be your cue to assume 4chan has cut Ofcom a check.”
observer.co.uk/news/busines...
observer.co.uk/news/busines...
Messageboard 4chan refuses to pay fine over ‘free speech’
The US messageboard is openly defying British regulators and refusing to comply with the Online Safety Act
observer.co.uk
October 26, 2025 at 1:55 PM
meanwhile I don't have access to DMs on bluesky, or to Vimeo videos (including from @microbiologysociety.org) because I don't want to send personal info to the 3rd party companies.
I hope everybody is feeling safer already.
I hope everybody is feeling safer already.
Reposted by Leo Martins (he/him)
Thread on the intellectual landscape around LLMs 👇
I love progress and am happy to see investment in it—but wonder if the amounts currently going into genAI are a missed opportunity to invest in more mundane "data plumbing" and digitalisation. Which could eventually have higher societal benefits.
I love progress and am happy to see investment in it—but wonder if the amounts currently going into genAI are a missed opportunity to invest in more mundane "data plumbing" and digitalisation. Which could eventually have higher societal benefits.
I am genuinely impressed by large language models - they can absorb disparate components of text into some consolidated view, they can produce extremely good language and - with the right model - translate pretty well between languages and they are an excellent text based UI for humans to use. But..
October 26, 2025 at 8:30 AM
Thread on the intellectual landscape around LLMs 👇
I love progress and am happy to see investment in it—but wonder if the amounts currently going into genAI are a missed opportunity to invest in more mundane "data plumbing" and digitalisation. Which could eventually have higher societal benefits.
I love progress and am happy to see investment in it—but wonder if the amounts currently going into genAI are a missed opportunity to invest in more mundane "data plumbing" and digitalisation. Which could eventually have higher societal benefits.
Reposted by Leo Martins (he/him)
Our lab has published a couple of major papers in the past few months, which I would like to highlight in this thread! 🧵
October 23, 2025 at 6:10 AM
Our lab has published a couple of major papers in the past few months, which I would like to highlight in this thread! 🧵
Reposted by Leo Martins (he/him)
Fully funded PhD opportunity in my team @lshtm.bsky.social and @uofglasgow.bsky.social with @PilgrimsEurope @LIDo_DTP investigating pig health and reducing susceptibility to zoonotic bacteria, viruses and parasite colonisation 👩🏾🔬👨🔬👨🏿💻👨🏼💻🦠🧪☕️💻🐷
www.lido-dtp.ac.uk/apply/apply-...
www.lido-dtp.ac.uk/apply/apply-...
OPTIMISING PIG HEALTH AND PERFORMANCE TO REDUCE SUSCEPTIBILTY TO ZOONOTIC BACTERIA, VIRUSES AND PARASITE COLONISATION | LIDo DTP
Healthy livestock are essential for economic stability, food security, and public health. As the global population nears 9 billion by 2050, pork is expected to remain a key source of animal protein. I...
www.lido-dtp.ac.uk
October 21, 2025 at 5:44 PM
Fully funded PhD opportunity in my team @lshtm.bsky.social and @uofglasgow.bsky.social with @PilgrimsEurope @LIDo_DTP investigating pig health and reducing susceptibility to zoonotic bacteria, viruses and parasite colonisation 👩🏾🔬👨🔬👨🏿💻👨🏼💻🦠🧪☕️💻🐷
www.lido-dtp.ac.uk/apply/apply-...
www.lido-dtp.ac.uk/apply/apply-...
Reposted by Leo Martins (he/him)
This is disastrous on multiple levels. We already have a high level of mistrust & people opting out of sharing will hit medical research so hard. I’d also hesitate to encourage people to share their protected characteristics data to monitor equality & diversity because of the plausibility of misuse.
US spy-tech giant Palantir is moving into our NHS to handle patient data, the same company with a troubling record of surveillance and deportations.
Our Tech and Data Lead, Duncan, spoke at Hackney Town Hall as Homerton Hospital considers adopting Palantir software.
What do you think?
Our Tech and Data Lead, Duncan, spoke at Hackney Town Hall as Homerton Hospital considers adopting Palantir software.
What do you think?
October 18, 2025 at 8:49 AM
This is disastrous on multiple levels. We already have a high level of mistrust & people opting out of sharing will hit medical research so hard. I’d also hesitate to encourage people to share their protected characteristics data to monitor equality & diversity because of the plausibility of misuse.
With the news regarding GISAID and a few papers creeping in, this is your periodic reminder that being "freely" or "publicly" available does not make your data Open Access.
"Open Access Web Platform" is a misnomer. All the web sites I can access are accessible, it does not mean they are Open!
"Open Access Web Platform" is a misnomer. All the web sites I can access are accessible, it does not mean they are Open!
October 18, 2025 at 10:13 AM
With the news regarding GISAID and a few papers creeping in, this is your periodic reminder that being "freely" or "publicly" available does not make your data Open Access.
"Open Access Web Platform" is a misnomer. All the web sites I can access are accessible, it does not mean they are Open!
"Open Access Web Platform" is a misnomer. All the web sites I can access are accessible, it does not mean they are Open!
Reposted by Leo Martins (he/him)
I built a free tool to try to embarrass British police into doing their job cctv.numpad.io. More info here: onodi.co/bisect/
October 17, 2025 at 10:19 AM
I built a free tool to try to embarrass British police into doing their job cctv.numpad.io. More info here: onodi.co/bisect/
Reposted by Leo Martins (he/him)
Reposted by Leo Martins (he/him)
“the manosphere generates its own untested and speculative evolutionary hypotheses, or “just-so stories”, about men, women, and society…
..we reflect on implications for evolutionary scholars and for the field as a whole, in terms of ethics and public image”
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
..we reflect on implications for evolutionary scholars and for the field as a whole, in terms of ethics and public image”
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
A Hundred and Two Just-So Stories: Exploring the Lay Evolutionary Hypotheses of the Manosphere | Evolutionary Human Sciences | Cambridge Core
A Hundred and Two Just-So Stories: Exploring the Lay Evolutionary Hypotheses of the Manosphere
www.cambridge.org
October 12, 2025 at 9:08 AM
“the manosphere generates its own untested and speculative evolutionary hypotheses, or “just-so stories”, about men, women, and society…
..we reflect on implications for evolutionary scholars and for the field as a whole, in terms of ethics and public image”
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
..we reflect on implications for evolutionary scholars and for the field as a whole, in terms of ethics and public image”
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
this week I saw several of these half-masted Union Flags. What a nice gesture to mourn the passing of Dame Jane Goodall.
www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpo...
www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpo...
Liverpool street lined with Union Flags
We spoke to a range of people living and working around Park Road to find out how they feel about the sudden arrival of flags in the bustling city road
www.liverpoolecho.co.uk
October 12, 2025 at 12:47 PM
this week I saw several of these half-masted Union Flags. What a nice gesture to mourn the passing of Dame Jane Goodall.
www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpo...
www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpo...