Malcolm White
@mfwhite2.bsky.social
Molecular microbiologist at the University of St Andrews, Scotland. My scientific interests include: CRISPR, antiviral defence, cyclic nucleotide signalling, archaea, nucleases.
Reposted by Malcolm White
#microsky #phagesky
The 3rd (? Lost track!) manuscript on a CRISPR/anti-CRISPR -based transposon tool to study gene essentiality in #phages
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
The 3rd (? Lost track!) manuscript on a CRISPR/anti-CRISPR -based transposon tool to study gene essentiality in #phages
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
High-throughput transposon mutagenesis defines the essential genome of diverse phages
Phages are important drivers of bacterial evolution with therapeutic potential as antimicrobials. However, gaps in our understanding of phages and our inability to rapidly engineer them with new genet...
www.biorxiv.org
December 21, 2025 at 5:01 AM
#microsky #phagesky
The 3rd (? Lost track!) manuscript on a CRISPR/anti-CRISPR -based transposon tool to study gene essentiality in #phages
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
The 3rd (? Lost track!) manuscript on a CRISPR/anti-CRISPR -based transposon tool to study gene essentiality in #phages
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Stacey and Jodi both completed their PhDs in 2008 - it was great to catch up
A visit from some alumni from a very long time ago. Great to see Stacey and Jodi @mfwhite2.bsky.social
December 18, 2025 at 10:51 AM
Stacey and Jodi both completed their PhDs in 2008 - it was great to catch up
Looking forward to this meeting - will be great to catch up with old friends and hear about all the exciting new science in the archaea field!
Calling all archaeal enthusiasts! 🔬🔥 From molecular machines to microbial communities, Archaea never fail to surprise us!
We are excited to announce the 2026 EMBO Workshop on the Molecular Biology of Archaea, 6–10 July in Cambridge, UK!
Sign up here: meetings.embo.org/event/26-arc...
#ArchaeaSky
We are excited to announce the 2026 EMBO Workshop on the Molecular Biology of Archaea, 6–10 July in Cambridge, UK!
Sign up here: meetings.embo.org/event/26-arc...
#ArchaeaSky
December 16, 2025 at 4:51 PM
Looking forward to this meeting - will be great to catch up with old friends and hear about all the exciting new science in the archaea field!
Reposted by Malcolm White
Many thanks to @rutgerbregman.com for shining a light of moral purpose amid the encroaching darkness in four thought-provoking lectures. www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand...
BBC Sounds - The Reith Lectures - Available Episodes
Listen to the latest episodes of The Reith Lectures on BBC Sounds.
www.bbc.co.uk
December 16, 2025 at 11:55 AM
Many thanks to @rutgerbregman.com for shining a light of moral purpose amid the encroaching darkness in four thought-provoking lectures. www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand...
Reposted by Malcolm White
Reposted by Malcolm White
Our story on plasmid streamlining is now published in PLoS Biology! With @andrewmatthews.bsky.social and @sonjalehtinen.bsky.social
#MicroSky #Mevosky
journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...
#MicroSky #Mevosky
journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...
Plasmid streamlining drives the extinction of antibiotic resistance plasmids under selection for horizontal transmission
Conjugative plasmids play an important role in the spread of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) genes among pathogenic bacteria. This study shows that AMR loss in evolving populations is associated with t...
journals.plos.org
December 12, 2025 at 12:09 PM
Our story on plasmid streamlining is now published in PLoS Biology! With @andrewmatthews.bsky.social and @sonjalehtinen.bsky.social
#MicroSky #Mevosky
journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...
#MicroSky #Mevosky
journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...
Because freedom of speech is curtailed in Europe 🤔
Tourists may have to provide social media history to enter US
The Trump administration is considering whether to introduce harsher restrictions for travellers obtaining an Esta ⬇️
The Trump administration is considering whether to introduce harsher restrictions for travellers obtaining an Esta ⬇️
Tourists may have to provide social media history to enter US
The Trump administration is considering whether to introduce harsher restrictions for travellers obtaining an Esta
www.thetimes.com
December 10, 2025 at 4:44 PM
Because freedom of speech is curtailed in Europe 🤔
Reposted by Malcolm White
The top 10 people of 2025 @nature.com who shaped science.
Recognizes Dr. Susan Monarez, the CDC Director who was "fired for holding the line on scientific integrity"
www.nature.com/immersive/d4...
Recognizes Dr. Susan Monarez, the CDC Director who was "fired for holding the line on scientific integrity"
www.nature.com/immersive/d4...
December 8, 2025 at 5:05 PM
The top 10 people of 2025 @nature.com who shaped science.
Recognizes Dr. Susan Monarez, the CDC Director who was "fired for holding the line on scientific integrity"
www.nature.com/immersive/d4...
Recognizes Dr. Susan Monarez, the CDC Director who was "fired for holding the line on scientific integrity"
www.nature.com/immersive/d4...
AI protein design marches on - very cool.
✨New preprint!
🧵1/4 Excited to share our work on AI-guided design of minimal RNA-guided nucleases. Amazing work by @petrskopintsev.bsky.social @isabelesain.bsky.social @evandeturk.bsky.social et al!
Multi-lab collaboration @banfieldlab.bsky.social @jhdcate.bsky.social @jacobsenucla.bsky.social🧬
🔗👇
🧵1/4 Excited to share our work on AI-guided design of minimal RNA-guided nucleases. Amazing work by @petrskopintsev.bsky.social @isabelesain.bsky.social @evandeturk.bsky.social et al!
Multi-lab collaboration @banfieldlab.bsky.social @jhdcate.bsky.social @jacobsenucla.bsky.social🧬
🔗👇
December 9, 2025 at 9:25 AM
AI protein design marches on - very cool.
Diversity is a good thing - can we still say that?
December 9, 2025 at 9:21 AM
Diversity is a good thing - can we still say that?
yet more depressing craziness
www.npr.org/2025/12/04/n...
Fact checkers need not apply for a visa. "The State Department is instructing its staff to reject visa applications from people who worked on fact-checking, content moderation or other activities the Trump administration considers "censorship" of Americans' speech."
Fact checkers need not apply for a visa. "The State Department is instructing its staff to reject visa applications from people who worked on fact-checking, content moderation or other activities the Trump administration considers "censorship" of Americans' speech."
State Department to deny visas to fact checkers and others, citing 'censorship'
The order is focused on applicants for H-1B visas, which are frequently used by tech companies and is part of a campaign by the Trump administration against online content moderation.
www.npr.org
December 8, 2025 at 4:04 PM
yet more depressing craziness
Reposted by Malcolm White
Phages are full of genes of unknown function that are likely adaptive in specific conditions.
New preprint: Phage TnSeq identifies essential genes rapidly and knocks all non-essentials. We would like to send a pool of phiKZ mutants to anyone wanting it! Reach out
tinyurl.com/bdcfrejh
New preprint: Phage TnSeq identifies essential genes rapidly and knocks all non-essentials. We would like to send a pool of phiKZ mutants to anyone wanting it! Reach out
tinyurl.com/bdcfrejh
December 8, 2025 at 3:04 PM
Phages are full of genes of unknown function that are likely adaptive in specific conditions.
New preprint: Phage TnSeq identifies essential genes rapidly and knocks all non-essentials. We would like to send a pool of phiKZ mutants to anyone wanting it! Reach out
tinyurl.com/bdcfrejh
New preprint: Phage TnSeq identifies essential genes rapidly and knocks all non-essentials. We would like to send a pool of phiKZ mutants to anyone wanting it! Reach out
tinyurl.com/bdcfrejh
Fascinating, take a look at the thread
Thrilled to share that my postdoc research is published today in @science.org! We found that DNA repair uses cohesin complexes to build new chromatin loops that guide the homology search and boost accurate repair! 1/n
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Cohesin drives chromatin scanning during the RAD51-mediated homology search
Cohesin folds genomes into chromatin loops, the roles of which are under debate. We found that double-strand breaks (DSBs) induce de novo formation of chromatin loops in human cells, with the loop bas...
www.science.org
December 5, 2025 at 6:42 AM
Fascinating, take a look at the thread
A great opportunity for aspiring PhD students
📢 We have multiple open PhD positions to study bacterial immune systems using cutting-edge cryo-EM, microbiology, and biochemistry in our group! Join us and uncover how bacterial defenses eliminate predators and engineer next-gen biotech tools.
🔥 Apply by Jan 8, 2026
Details: phd.pages.ista.ac.at
🔥 Apply by Jan 8, 2026
Details: phd.pages.ista.ac.at
phd.pages.ista.ac.at
December 2, 2025 at 9:58 AM
A great opportunity for aspiring PhD students
THE conference of 2026. Very glad to hear there's a zoom option, as I ain't setting foot in the USA in the next 3 years.
A New-York edition of the Symposium of Immune Sytems of Bacteria.
So looking forward to this. Fantastic science and energy in perspective and well New-York 🤩🧫🗽.
So looking forward to this. Fantastic science and energy in perspective and well New-York 🤩🧫🗽.
Check this out for the 2026 SISB (phage defense) meeting in NYC. Mark your calendar! (and note the Zoom option, if needed)
sisb2026.rockefeller.edu
sisb2026.rockefeller.edu
December 2, 2025 at 9:54 AM
THE conference of 2026. Very glad to hear there's a zoom option, as I ain't setting foot in the USA in the next 3 years.
Reposted by Malcolm White
Our SPARHA story is out in Nature Communications!
doi.org/10.1038/s414...
We investigated a new short pAgo-HNH defense system, showing that it assembles into filaments degrading cellular DNA, inducing abortive infection, resolved their structure, and uncovered the activation mechanism 🧵
doi.org/10.1038/s414...
We investigated a new short pAgo-HNH defense system, showing that it assembles into filaments degrading cellular DNA, inducing abortive infection, resolved their structure, and uncovered the activation mechanism 🧵
December 1, 2025 at 8:38 AM
Our SPARHA story is out in Nature Communications!
doi.org/10.1038/s414...
We investigated a new short pAgo-HNH defense system, showing that it assembles into filaments degrading cellular DNA, inducing abortive infection, resolved their structure, and uncovered the activation mechanism 🧵
doi.org/10.1038/s414...
We investigated a new short pAgo-HNH defense system, showing that it assembles into filaments degrading cellular DNA, inducing abortive infection, resolved their structure, and uncovered the activation mechanism 🧵
Reposted by Malcolm White
@alekseiagapov.bsky.social presenting our data at #MicroEvo25! Always good to see a few new phage defences discovered😉
November 27, 2025 at 9:14 AM
Reposted by Malcolm White
Come join us! Soon I will be advertising a postdoc vacancy in my group as part of my @erc.europa.eu AdG project 'DARK ROOTS'. Focus of the project will be on phylo- and metagenomic mining of novel prokaryotic lineages. I will soon post a link here - stay tuned, and please repost! #asgardarchaea
a man walking in a field with an umbrella
ALT: a man walking in a field with an umbrella
media.tenor.com
November 26, 2025 at 3:39 PM
Come join us! Soon I will be advertising a postdoc vacancy in my group as part of my @erc.europa.eu AdG project 'DARK ROOTS'. Focus of the project will be on phylo- and metagenomic mining of novel prokaryotic lineages. I will soon post a link here - stay tuned, and please repost! #asgardarchaea
Reposted by Malcolm White
My lab is hiring postdocs! We combine AI, protein structure prediction and comparison, and high-throughput virology to study the virus-host conflict.
You can read more about my lab's research here: jasonnomburg.com/research/
Apply here to join us in lovely Vienna! aithyra.onlyfy.jobs/job/0khkxp82
You can read more about my lab's research here: jasonnomburg.com/research/
Apply here to join us in lovely Vienna! aithyra.onlyfy.jobs/job/0khkxp82
The Starting Principal Investigators at #AITHYRA the Research Institute for Biomedical Artificial Intelligence of the OeAW in Vienna invite outstanding candidates to apply for postdoctoral positions in the field of AI/ML & Life Sciences.
www.oeaw.ac.at/aithyra/post...
Please apply by 20 Nov 2025!
www.oeaw.ac.at/aithyra/post...
Please apply by 20 Nov 2025!
October 20, 2025 at 1:03 PM
My lab is hiring postdocs! We combine AI, protein structure prediction and comparison, and high-throughput virology to study the virus-host conflict.
You can read more about my lab's research here: jasonnomburg.com/research/
Apply here to join us in lovely Vienna! aithyra.onlyfy.jobs/job/0khkxp82
You can read more about my lab's research here: jasonnomburg.com/research/
Apply here to join us in lovely Vienna! aithyra.onlyfy.jobs/job/0khkxp82
Hot, but very cool!
Introducing ** Incendiamoeba **, a eukaryote that can live at temperatures well beyond what we thought possible. 63C!!
Read @hbrappap.bsky.social thread to see what we’ve already started to learn from this amazing organism!
doi.org/10.1101/2025...
#MicroSky #protistsonsky 🧪 #evobio
Read @hbrappap.bsky.social thread to see what we’ve already started to learn from this amazing organism!
doi.org/10.1101/2025...
#MicroSky #protistsonsky 🧪 #evobio
So happy to announce our new preprint, “A geothermal amoeba sets a new upper temperature limit for eukaryotes.” We cultured a novel amoeba from Lassen Volcanic NP (CA, USA) that divides at 63°C (145°F) 🔥 - a new record for euk growth!
#protistsonsky 🧵
#protistsonsky 🧵
November 26, 2025 at 6:44 AM
Hot, but very cool!
Reposted by Malcolm White
Now online at @cp-cellhostmicrobe.bsky.social from co-first authors @erinedoherty.bsky.social & @jnoms.bsky.social
Work I co-led with @jnoms.bsky.social is now online at
@cp-cellhostmicrobe.bsky.social ! We revealed a previously unrealized diversity of viral immune-evasion proteins that selectively destroy different cyclic nucleotide signals used in bacterial immunity.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
@cp-cellhostmicrobe.bsky.social ! We revealed a previously unrealized diversity of viral immune-evasion proteins that selectively destroy different cyclic nucleotide signals used in bacterial immunity.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Divergent viral phosphodiesterases for immune signaling evasion
Cyclic dinucleotides (CDNs) and other short oligonucleotides play fundamental roles in immune system activation in organisms ranging from bacteria to …
www.sciencedirect.com
November 25, 2025 at 9:14 PM
Now online at @cp-cellhostmicrobe.bsky.social from co-first authors @erinedoherty.bsky.social & @jnoms.bsky.social
Reposted by Malcolm White
Reposted by Malcolm White
Hot off the press! Our latest paper led by @fernpizza.bsky.social, understanding how plasmids evolve inside cells. These small, self-replicating DNA circles live inside bacteria and carry antibiotic resistance genes, but also compete with one another to replicate. 1/
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Intracellular competition shapes plasmid population dynamics
From populations of multicellular organisms to selfish genetic elements, conflicts between levels of biological organization are central to evolution. Plasmids are extrachromosomal, self-replicating g...
www.science.org
November 20, 2025 at 9:42 PM
Hot off the press! Our latest paper led by @fernpizza.bsky.social, understanding how plasmids evolve inside cells. These small, self-replicating DNA circles live inside bacteria and carry antibiotic resistance genes, but also compete with one another to replicate. 1/
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Reposted by Malcolm White
🚨Preprint alert - this is a big one! We transfer the revolutionary power of TnSeq to bacteriophages.
Our HIDEN-SEQ links the "dark matter" genes of your favorite phage to any selectable phenotype, guiding the path from fun observations to molecular mechanisms.
A thread 1/8
Our HIDEN-SEQ links the "dark matter" genes of your favorite phage to any selectable phenotype, guiding the path from fun observations to molecular mechanisms.
A thread 1/8
November 20, 2025 at 8:40 PM
🚨Preprint alert - this is a big one! We transfer the revolutionary power of TnSeq to bacteriophages.
Our HIDEN-SEQ links the "dark matter" genes of your favorite phage to any selectable phenotype, guiding the path from fun observations to molecular mechanisms.
A thread 1/8
Our HIDEN-SEQ links the "dark matter" genes of your favorite phage to any selectable phenotype, guiding the path from fun observations to molecular mechanisms.
A thread 1/8