Melanie Blokesch
@mblokesch.bsky.social
Professor of Life Sciences & Director Global Health Institute @EPFL_en. Passionate about science 🤩 Views are my own.
Pinned
Melanie Blokesch
@mblokesch.bsky.social
· May 22
West African–South American pandemic Vibrio cholerae encodes multiple distinct phage defence systems - Nature Microbiology
The West African–South American lineage of Vibrio cholerae contains multiple distinct anti-phage defence systems that provide resistance to various phage families, including vibriophage ICP1, a key pr...
www.nature.com
Exciting news!! Our latest paper is out in Nat. Microbiol. @natmicrobiol.nature.com
We show that a sub-lineage of 7th pandemic V. cholerae has acquired mobile genetic elements packed with phage defense systems—rendering it multi-phage resistant 😳 ..... 1/3
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
We show that a sub-lineage of 7th pandemic V. cholerae has acquired mobile genetic elements packed with phage defense systems—rendering it multi-phage resistant 😳 ..... 1/3
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Melanie Blokesch
Shout out to people routinely working in their 2nd or 3rd language.
Yesterday I gave a 1-hour research seminar in French. Afterwards, my brain was pretty much done for the day.
Respect to the loads of scientists who do this daily (and usually a lot more effectively than me!)
Yesterday I gave a 1-hour research seminar in French. Afterwards, my brain was pretty much done for the day.
Respect to the loads of scientists who do this daily (and usually a lot more effectively than me!)
November 7, 2025 at 10:25 PM
Shout out to people routinely working in their 2nd or 3rd language.
Yesterday I gave a 1-hour research seminar in French. Afterwards, my brain was pretty much done for the day.
Respect to the loads of scientists who do this daily (and usually a lot more effectively than me!)
Yesterday I gave a 1-hour research seminar in French. Afterwards, my brain was pretty much done for the day.
Respect to the loads of scientists who do this daily (and usually a lot more effectively than me!)
Reposted by Melanie Blokesch
How can we calibrate instruments that analyse planets outside our solar system and operate the computers of the future? With chip-based optical frequency combs. 🌌 🖥️
Learn more in the profile of Tobias Kippenberg, winner of the #MarcelBenoist Swiss Science Prize 2025.
Learn more in the profile of Tobias Kippenberg, winner of the #MarcelBenoist Swiss Science Prize 2025.
Prix scientifique Suisse Marcel Benoist 2025 - Tobias J. Kippenberg
Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.
sohub.io
November 7, 2025 at 9:31 AM
How can we calibrate instruments that analyse planets outside our solar system and operate the computers of the future? With chip-based optical frequency combs. 🌌 🖥️
Learn more in the profile of Tobias Kippenberg, winner of the #MarcelBenoist Swiss Science Prize 2025.
Learn more in the profile of Tobias Kippenberg, winner of the #MarcelBenoist Swiss Science Prize 2025.
Reposted by Melanie Blokesch
Un immense merci à nos doctorants, au comité organisateur et à nos orateurs invités @mblokesch.bsky.social, F. Mechta-Grigoriou & E. Crubezy, pour la réussite de ce superbe 10e Symposium des étudiants de l’IPBS.
Bravo à toutes et à tous !
Cap sur le 11e Symposium !
Bravo à toutes et à tous !
Cap sur le 11e Symposium !
November 5, 2025 at 2:06 PM
Un immense merci à nos doctorants, au comité organisateur et à nos orateurs invités @mblokesch.bsky.social, F. Mechta-Grigoriou & E. Crubezy, pour la réussite de ce superbe 10e Symposium des étudiants de l’IPBS.
Bravo à toutes et à tous !
Cap sur le 11e Symposium !
Bravo à toutes et à tous !
Cap sur le 11e Symposium !
Reposted by Melanie Blokesch
A huge thank you to our PhD students, the organizing committee, and our guest speakers @mblokesch.bsky.social, F. Mechta-Grigoriou & E. Crubezy for making the 10th IPBS Student Symposium such a success.
Kudos to everyone involved!
On to the 11th Symposium! 🎉
Kudos to everyone involved!
On to the 11th Symposium! 🎉
November 5, 2025 at 2:07 PM
A huge thank you to our PhD students, the organizing committee, and our guest speakers @mblokesch.bsky.social, F. Mechta-Grigoriou & E. Crubezy for making the 10th IPBS Student Symposium such a success.
Kudos to everyone involved!
On to the 11th Symposium! 🎉
Kudos to everyone involved!
On to the 11th Symposium! 🎉
Reposted by Melanie Blokesch
#DRC faces one of the worst cholera outbreaks in a decade. Since January, over 58,000 suspected cases and 1,700 deaths have been reported.
MSF calls for coordinated action to ensure the provision of medical care, drinking water and proper sanitation.
www.doctorswithoutborders.ca/democratic-r...
MSF calls for coordinated action to ensure the provision of medical care, drinking water and proper sanitation.
www.doctorswithoutborders.ca/democratic-r...
October 27, 2025 at 2:01 PM
#DRC faces one of the worst cholera outbreaks in a decade. Since January, over 58,000 suspected cases and 1,700 deaths have been reported.
MSF calls for coordinated action to ensure the provision of medical care, drinking water and proper sanitation.
www.doctorswithoutborders.ca/democratic-r...
MSF calls for coordinated action to ensure the provision of medical care, drinking water and proper sanitation.
www.doctorswithoutborders.ca/democratic-r...
Reposted by Melanie Blokesch
Cholera is spreading fast, yet it can be stopped. Why haven’t we consigned it to history? | Hakainde Hichilema and Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus
Cholera is spreading fast, yet it can be stopped. Why haven’t we consigned it to history? | Hakainde Hichilema and Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus
Vaccine production must be expanded to combat this ancient disease, especially in Africa, but a lack of political will is holding us back
www.theguardian.com
October 25, 2025 at 2:59 PM
Cholera is spreading fast, yet it can be stopped. Why haven’t we consigned it to history? | Hakainde Hichilema and Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus
Reposted by Melanie Blokesch
I’m excited to announce the launch of my lab at EPFL in Jan 2026 🎉. We’ll combine evolution & synthetic biology to study and (re)engineer bacterial communication.
I’m recruiting PhD students to start in the first semester of 2026.
Apply via EPFL PhD programs by Nov 1
drive.google.com/file/d/1cm-t...
I’m recruiting PhD students to start in the first semester of 2026.
Apply via EPFL PhD programs by Nov 1
drive.google.com/file/d/1cm-t...
October 20, 2025 at 6:14 PM
I’m excited to announce the launch of my lab at EPFL in Jan 2026 🎉. We’ll combine evolution & synthetic biology to study and (re)engineer bacterial communication.
I’m recruiting PhD students to start in the first semester of 2026.
Apply via EPFL PhD programs by Nov 1
drive.google.com/file/d/1cm-t...
I’m recruiting PhD students to start in the first semester of 2026.
Apply via EPFL PhD programs by Nov 1
drive.google.com/file/d/1cm-t...
Reposted by Melanie Blokesch
Sign up for our annual Impromptu Symposium on Nov. 21 in the Biophore @unil.bsky.social organized by Christophe Keel and Jordan Vacheron, which will explore the fascinating world of microbe–plant interactions with an exciting speaker line up!
Registration (lunch included): forms.gle/t4fC8uQV5HQF...
Registration (lunch included): forms.gle/t4fC8uQV5HQF...
October 20, 2025 at 9:36 AM
Sign up for our annual Impromptu Symposium on Nov. 21 in the Biophore @unil.bsky.social organized by Christophe Keel and Jordan Vacheron, which will explore the fascinating world of microbe–plant interactions with an exciting speaker line up!
Registration (lunch included): forms.gle/t4fC8uQV5HQF...
Registration (lunch included): forms.gle/t4fC8uQV5HQF...
Reposted by Melanie Blokesch
New online: Structure and activation mechanism of a Lamassu phage and plasmid defense system
Structure and activation mechanism of a Lamassu phage and plasmid defense system
Nature Structural & Molecular Biology, Published online: 14 October 2025; doi:10.1038/s41594-025-01677-4Li et al. show that a Lamassu defense system protects bacteria from phage infection by activating a lethal tetrameric DNA-cutting enzyme. In the absence of phages, a protein clamp holds the enzyme as an inactive monomer, preventing self-damage.
go.nature.com
October 14, 2025 at 11:15 AM
New online: Structure and activation mechanism of a Lamassu phage and plasmid defense system
Reposted by Melanie Blokesch
Happy that the final version of our Lamassu work @yli18smc.bsky.social is now out:
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Thanks again to our awesome collaborators @mblokesch.bsky.social and David and co and Mark Szczelkun and @steven-shaw.bsky.social and the DCI Lausanne @fbm-unil.bsky.social
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Thanks again to our awesome collaborators @mblokesch.bsky.social and David and co and Mark Szczelkun and @steven-shaw.bsky.social and the DCI Lausanne @fbm-unil.bsky.social
Glad to share the work of @yli18smc.bsky.social and co on Lamassu, a bacterial defense system related to Rad50/Mre11 (RM). While RM carefully trims DNA ends for repair, Lamassu chops up the host chromosome. Our study reveals how it is regulated to minimize damage, activating only during infection.
October 14, 2025 at 9:28 AM
Happy that the final version of our Lamassu work @yli18smc.bsky.social is now out:
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Thanks again to our awesome collaborators @mblokesch.bsky.social and David and co and Mark Szczelkun and @steven-shaw.bsky.social and the DCI Lausanne @fbm-unil.bsky.social
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Thanks again to our awesome collaborators @mblokesch.bsky.social and David and co and Mark Szczelkun and @steven-shaw.bsky.social and the DCI Lausanne @fbm-unil.bsky.social
Reposted by Melanie Blokesch
WHO reports 1 in 6 bacterial infections worldwide are antibiotic-resistant, with resistance rising sharply since 2018. Gram-negative bacteria like E. coli and K. pneumoniae pose the biggest threat. Action on #AMR surveillance and responsible antibiotic use is needed.
www.who.int/news/item/13...
www.who.int/news/item/13...
WHO warns of widespread resistance to common antibiotics worldwide
One in six laboratory-confirmed bacterial infections causing common infections in people worldwide in 2023 were resistant to antibiotic treatments, according to a new World Health Organization (WHO) r...
www.who.int
October 13, 2025 at 11:09 AM
WHO reports 1 in 6 bacterial infections worldwide are antibiotic-resistant, with resistance rising sharply since 2018. Gram-negative bacteria like E. coli and K. pneumoniae pose the biggest threat. Action on #AMR surveillance and responsible antibiotic use is needed.
www.who.int/news/item/13...
www.who.int/news/item/13...
Reposted by Melanie Blokesch
Phages evolve fast, or do they?
In oysters, some stay identical for years.
With >1,200 phages & 600 Vibrio genomes, we reveal long-term stability and new mobile elements.
Proud of this collaborative work across our teams (Roscoff-UdeM and @epcrocha.bsky.social www.biorxiv.org/cgi/content/...
In oysters, some stay identical for years.
With >1,200 phages & 600 Vibrio genomes, we reveal long-term stability and new mobile elements.
Proud of this collaborative work across our teams (Roscoff-UdeM and @epcrocha.bsky.social www.biorxiv.org/cgi/content/...
Ecological constraints foster both extreme viral-host lineage stability and mobile element diversity in a marine community
Phages are typically viewed as very rapidly evolving biological entities. Little is known, however, about whether and how phages can establish long-term genetic stability. We addressed this eco-evolut...
www.biorxiv.org
October 12, 2025 at 9:16 PM
Phages evolve fast, or do they?
In oysters, some stay identical for years.
With >1,200 phages & 600 Vibrio genomes, we reveal long-term stability and new mobile elements.
Proud of this collaborative work across our teams (Roscoff-UdeM and @epcrocha.bsky.social www.biorxiv.org/cgi/content/...
In oysters, some stay identical for years.
With >1,200 phages & 600 Vibrio genomes, we reveal long-term stability and new mobile elements.
Proud of this collaborative work across our teams (Roscoff-UdeM and @epcrocha.bsky.social www.biorxiv.org/cgi/content/...
Reposted by Melanie Blokesch
How do SMC complexes load onto DNA to get ready for loop extrusion?
@roisnehamelinf.bsky.social & co discovered that Wadjet, an SMC complex involved in bacterial DNA immunity, performs some impressive molecular gymnastics 🤸♂️🤸♂️🤸♂️.
Check out the new paper: www.cell.com/molecular-ce...
@roisnehamelinf.bsky.social & co discovered that Wadjet, an SMC complex involved in bacterial DNA immunity, performs some impressive molecular gymnastics 🤸♂️🤸♂️🤸♂️.
Check out the new paper: www.cell.com/molecular-ce...
October 9, 2025 at 2:43 PM
How do SMC complexes load onto DNA to get ready for loop extrusion?
@roisnehamelinf.bsky.social & co discovered that Wadjet, an SMC complex involved in bacterial DNA immunity, performs some impressive molecular gymnastics 🤸♂️🤸♂️🤸♂️.
Check out the new paper: www.cell.com/molecular-ce...
@roisnehamelinf.bsky.social & co discovered that Wadjet, an SMC complex involved in bacterial DNA immunity, performs some impressive molecular gymnastics 🤸♂️🤸♂️🤸♂️.
Check out the new paper: www.cell.com/molecular-ce...
Reposted by Melanie Blokesch
Check it out! A proper team effort from past and present group members and a great collaboration with @sergemostowylab.bsky.social
The Staphylococcus aureus LXG-domain toxins EsxX and SAR0287 do not promote virulence in a zebrafish larval infection model https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.10.04.680436v1
October 5, 2025 at 8:11 AM
Check it out! A proper team effort from past and present group members and a great collaboration with @sergemostowylab.bsky.social
3rd lab meeting I’m presenting at this year! After two during my sabbatical on my experiments (Helaine & Mekalanos labs), today finally in MY OWN lab 🎉
So much fun to share new work done w/ fantastic technicians Laurie, Sandrine, Loriane & bioinformatician Alexandre.
Bonus: cake served by the lab 🍰
So much fun to share new work done w/ fantastic technicians Laurie, Sandrine, Loriane & bioinformatician Alexandre.
Bonus: cake served by the lab 🍰
October 2, 2025 at 12:34 PM
3rd lab meeting I’m presenting at this year! After two during my sabbatical on my experiments (Helaine & Mekalanos labs), today finally in MY OWN lab 🎉
So much fun to share new work done w/ fantastic technicians Laurie, Sandrine, Loriane & bioinformatician Alexandre.
Bonus: cake served by the lab 🍰
So much fun to share new work done w/ fantastic technicians Laurie, Sandrine, Loriane & bioinformatician Alexandre.
Bonus: cake served by the lab 🍰
What an amazing accomplishment of my colleague/lab neighbor Andrea Ablasser & her team => Citation Laureate on their incredible work on the cGAS-STING pathway together w/ Zhijian ‘James’ Chen & Glen Barber. Big congrats 🥳!!
clarivate.com/citation-lau...
clarivate.com/citation-lau...
2025 Citation Laureates in Physiology or Medicine | Nobel-Class Researchers | Clarivate
Explore the 2025 Citation Laureates in Physiology or Medicine — Nobel-class researchers recognized for groundbreaking discoveries that have advanced human health and biomedical science.
clarivate.com
September 27, 2025 at 11:03 AM
What an amazing accomplishment of my colleague/lab neighbor Andrea Ablasser & her team => Citation Laureate on their incredible work on the cGAS-STING pathway together w/ Zhijian ‘James’ Chen & Glen Barber. Big congrats 🥳!!
clarivate.com/citation-lau...
clarivate.com/citation-lau...
Reposted by Melanie Blokesch
Call for a tenure-track position at our Department of Plant Molecular Biology in Lausanne! We are searching for promising early-career researchers in the broad field of plant-organismal interactions. Deadline: November 30, 2025 - Please re-post!
career5.successfactors.eu/career?caree...
career5.successfactors.eu/career?caree...
Career Opportunities: DBMV: Tenure Track Assistant Professor towards Associate Professor in the field of Plant-organism (22484)
career5.successfactors.eu
September 17, 2025 at 3:01 PM
Call for a tenure-track position at our Department of Plant Molecular Biology in Lausanne! We are searching for promising early-career researchers in the broad field of plant-organismal interactions. Deadline: November 30, 2025 - Please re-post!
career5.successfactors.eu/career?caree...
career5.successfactors.eu/career?caree...
Reposted by Melanie Blokesch
Looking for a new approach to studying or eliminating phages? Check out our study introducing anti-phage ASOs (antisense oligos) out in @Nature today. nature.com/articles/s4158…
September 10, 2025 at 3:40 PM
Looking for a new approach to studying or eliminating phages? Check out our study introducing anti-phage ASOs (antisense oligos) out in @Nature today. nature.com/articles/s4158…
Reposted by Melanie Blokesch
Thrilled to share our two latest papers with the @tcostalab.bsky.social
lab! In the first, we uncover a new mechanism of satellite transfer: cf-PICIs hijack tails from diverse phages to spread across species.
@imperialcollegeldn.bsky.social
www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...
lab! In the first, we uncover a new mechanism of satellite transfer: cf-PICIs hijack tails from diverse phages to spread across species.
@imperialcollegeldn.bsky.social
www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...
Chimeric infective particles expand species boundaries in phage-inducible chromosomal island mobilization
Capsid-forming PICIs (cf-PICIs) produce their own capsids and exploit phage tails
from unrelated species to transfer their DNA across bacterial hosts. This tail piracy
enables broad dissemination and ...
www.cell.com
September 9, 2025 at 5:05 PM
Thrilled to share our two latest papers with the @tcostalab.bsky.social
lab! In the first, we uncover a new mechanism of satellite transfer: cf-PICIs hijack tails from diverse phages to spread across species.
@imperialcollegeldn.bsky.social
www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...
lab! In the first, we uncover a new mechanism of satellite transfer: cf-PICIs hijack tails from diverse phages to spread across species.
@imperialcollegeldn.bsky.social
www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...
Reposted by Melanie Blokesch
The ecology and evolution of bacterial immune systems'.
#phage #phagesky
A bunch of interesting reviews
royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
#phage #phagesky
A bunch of interesting reviews
royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
Preface: the ecology and evolution of bacterial immune systems | Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
Can't sign in? Forgot your password?
royalsocietypublishing.org
September 8, 2025 at 6:29 AM
The ecology and evolution of bacterial immune systems'.
#phage #phagesky
A bunch of interesting reviews
royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
#phage #phagesky
A bunch of interesting reviews
royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
Reposted by Melanie Blokesch
Some good stuff in here 😊
A new theme issue of #PhilTransB examines the evolutionary history of bacterial immune systems, their modes of action, and the patterns how different bacterial immune systems are distributed across different ecosystems. Read: buff.ly/Z4qdxY1
September 6, 2025 at 8:13 PM
Some good stuff in here 😊
Reposted by Melanie Blokesch
A new theme issue of #PhilTransB examines the evolutionary history of bacterial immune systems, their modes of action, and the patterns how different bacterial immune systems are distributed across different ecosystems. Read: buff.ly/Z4qdxY1
September 5, 2025 at 4:01 PM
A new theme issue of #PhilTransB examines the evolutionary history of bacterial immune systems, their modes of action, and the patterns how different bacterial immune systems are distributed across different ecosystems. Read: buff.ly/Z4qdxY1
Excited to share my latest review, now published in the Royal Society theme issue on ‘The ecology and evolution of bacterial immune systems' (available OA):
Defence systems encoded by core genomic islands of seventh pandemic Vibrio cholerae royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
Defence systems encoded by core genomic islands of seventh pandemic Vibrio cholerae royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
Defence systems encoded by core genomic islands of seventh pandemic Vibrio cholerae | Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
Vibrio cholerae, the causative agent of cholera, has triggered seven pandemics, with the seventh pandemic emerging in 1961. The success of seventh pandemic El Tor (7PET) V. cholerae as a human pathogen is linked to its acquisition of mobile genetic ...
royalsocietypublishing.org
September 6, 2025 at 1:02 PM
Excited to share my latest review, now published in the Royal Society theme issue on ‘The ecology and evolution of bacterial immune systems' (available OA):
Defence systems encoded by core genomic islands of seventh pandemic Vibrio cholerae royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
Defence systems encoded by core genomic islands of seventh pandemic Vibrio cholerae royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
Reposted by Melanie Blokesch
Lineage-specific defence systems of pandemic Vibrio cholerae
Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B by @mblokesch.bsky.social and Kim Seed
royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B by @mblokesch.bsky.social and Kim Seed
royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
Lineage-specific defence systems of pandemic Vibrio cholerae | Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
Cholera remains a significant global health burden. The causative agent responsible
for the ongoing cholera pandemic, which began in 1961, is the seventh pandemic El
Tor (7PET) lineage of Vibrio chole...
royalsocietypublishing.org
September 5, 2025 at 10:19 AM
Lineage-specific defence systems of pandemic Vibrio cholerae
Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B by @mblokesch.bsky.social and Kim Seed
royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B by @mblokesch.bsky.social and Kim Seed
royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
Reposted by Melanie Blokesch
Our Wadjet-II paper by @roisnehamelinf.bsky.social is out in polished form: www.cell.com/structure/fu...
With a great preview by @kevincorbett.bsky.social & @amardeeep.bsky.social highlighting the potential of Wadjets:
Wadjet—Keeping a watchful eye on circular DNA.
www.cell.com/structure/fu...
With a great preview by @kevincorbett.bsky.social & @amardeeep.bsky.social highlighting the potential of Wadjets:
Wadjet—Keeping a watchful eye on circular DNA.
www.cell.com/structure/fu...
September 5, 2025 at 6:29 AM
Our Wadjet-II paper by @roisnehamelinf.bsky.social is out in polished form: www.cell.com/structure/fu...
With a great preview by @kevincorbett.bsky.social & @amardeeep.bsky.social highlighting the potential of Wadjets:
Wadjet—Keeping a watchful eye on circular DNA.
www.cell.com/structure/fu...
With a great preview by @kevincorbett.bsky.social & @amardeeep.bsky.social highlighting the potential of Wadjets:
Wadjet—Keeping a watchful eye on circular DNA.
www.cell.com/structure/fu...