Ben Temperton
@btemperton.bsky.social
Associate Professor of Microbiology at the University of Exeter. Proudly Canadian.
Reposted by Ben Temperton
How do we fix this mess?
September 16, 2025 at 6:34 AM
How do we fix this mess?
Reposted by Ben Temperton
Labour's cowardice in the face of extremism iandunt.substack.com/p/labours-co...
August 29, 2025 at 10:44 AM
Labour's cowardice in the face of extremism iandunt.substack.com/p/labours-co...
Reposted by Ben Temperton
We are recruiting 2 postdocs to work on bacterial motility using a combination of cryoEM, FLM and MD. An exciting collaboration with Kirsty Wan @micromotility.bsky.social Wolfram Moebius @wolframmoebius.bsky.social and Daniel Kattnig. Please see links in the thread below!
August 28, 2025 at 9:13 AM
We are recruiting 2 postdocs to work on bacterial motility using a combination of cryoEM, FLM and MD. An exciting collaboration with Kirsty Wan @micromotility.bsky.social Wolfram Moebius @wolframmoebius.bsky.social and Daniel Kattnig. Please see links in the thread below!
Reposted by Ben Temperton
Please share! 🦠
Workshop on Phage Therapy in Liverpool on 25th November organised by Stineke van Houte, @jojofoth.bsky.social, @brockhurstlab.bsky.social, & Edze Westra.
Limited FREE tickets & more info here: sites.exeter.ac.uk/vanhoutelab/...
#MicroSky
Workshop on Phage Therapy in Liverpool on 25th November organised by Stineke van Houte, @jojofoth.bsky.social, @brockhurstlab.bsky.social, & Edze Westra.
Limited FREE tickets & more info here: sites.exeter.ac.uk/vanhoutelab/...
#MicroSky
July 22, 2025 at 7:03 PM
Please share! 🦠
Workshop on Phage Therapy in Liverpool on 25th November organised by Stineke van Houte, @jojofoth.bsky.social, @brockhurstlab.bsky.social, & Edze Westra.
Limited FREE tickets & more info here: sites.exeter.ac.uk/vanhoutelab/...
#MicroSky
Workshop on Phage Therapy in Liverpool on 25th November organised by Stineke van Houte, @jojofoth.bsky.social, @brockhurstlab.bsky.social, & Edze Westra.
Limited FREE tickets & more info here: sites.exeter.ac.uk/vanhoutelab/...
#MicroSky
Reposted by Ben Temperton
🌟 Exciting news! We’re launching three fully-funded postdoc positions for "New Horizons for Synthetic Phages”
Join us in tackling antimicrobial resistance with cutting-edge synthetic biology + AI bioinformatics. Based at Flinders Uni in vibrant Adelaide.
👇 Read on for details!
#Phage
Join us in tackling antimicrobial resistance with cutting-edge synthetic biology + AI bioinformatics. Based at Flinders Uni in vibrant Adelaide.
👇 Read on for details!
#Phage
July 25, 2025 at 8:15 AM
🌟 Exciting news! We’re launching three fully-funded postdoc positions for "New Horizons for Synthetic Phages”
Join us in tackling antimicrobial resistance with cutting-edge synthetic biology + AI bioinformatics. Based at Flinders Uni in vibrant Adelaide.
👇 Read on for details!
#Phage
Join us in tackling antimicrobial resistance with cutting-edge synthetic biology + AI bioinformatics. Based at Flinders Uni in vibrant Adelaide.
👇 Read on for details!
#Phage
Reposted by Ben Temperton
How do macrophages influence the evolution of phage resistance?
We show that macrophages reduce the efficacy of a bacteriophage cocktail 🦠, resulting in greater bacteria population densities which, in-turn, facilitate greater rates of phage resistance.
Pre-print 👇
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
We show that macrophages reduce the efficacy of a bacteriophage cocktail 🦠, resulting in greater bacteria population densities which, in-turn, facilitate greater rates of phage resistance.
Pre-print 👇
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Antagonism between bacteriophages and macrophages decreases efficacy of a bacteriophage cocktail and increases bacteriophage resistance
Phage therapy, the use of viruses that infect bacteria (bacteriophages), is a promising complement to antibiotics during the antimicrobial resistance crisis, but treatment success is very variable. Ev...
www.biorxiv.org
July 10, 2025 at 9:39 AM
How do macrophages influence the evolution of phage resistance?
We show that macrophages reduce the efficacy of a bacteriophage cocktail 🦠, resulting in greater bacteria population densities which, in-turn, facilitate greater rates of phage resistance.
Pre-print 👇
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
We show that macrophages reduce the efficacy of a bacteriophage cocktail 🦠, resulting in greater bacteria population densities which, in-turn, facilitate greater rates of phage resistance.
Pre-print 👇
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
you'd think given the UK is led by a lawyer, we would have more respect for international law.
June 23, 2025 at 1:12 PM
you'd think given the UK is led by a lawyer, we would have more respect for international law.
At long last, the MHRA have released their much promised guidance document for phage therapeutics in the UK: assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/683ed3...
Early impression is it's either as hard as it was to access phage therapeutics, or they've closed the door on the one route we did have.
Early impression is it's either as hard as it was to access phage therapeutics, or they've closed the door on the one route we did have.
assets.publishing.service.gov.uk
June 4, 2025 at 7:44 PM
At long last, the MHRA have released their much promised guidance document for phage therapeutics in the UK: assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/683ed3...
Early impression is it's either as hard as it was to access phage therapeutics, or they've closed the door on the one route we did have.
Early impression is it's either as hard as it was to access phage therapeutics, or they've closed the door on the one route we did have.
Reposted by Ben Temperton
If you want to improve promiscuity and yield of Pseudomonas aeruginosa for production of phages, start by taking out its restriction modification system: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Eliminating the type I restriction endonuclease from Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 for optimised phage isolation
Phage therapy is a promising treatment for multidrug-resistant bacterial infections. Due to their high host specificity, phages must be matched to the target clinical strains. Efficiently identifying ...
www.biorxiv.org
May 31, 2025 at 9:13 AM
If you want to improve promiscuity and yield of Pseudomonas aeruginosa for production of phages, start by taking out its restriction modification system: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Ben Temperton
When will Starmer learn that no matter how good his Nigel Farage impression gets, it won't save him from wipeout at the hands of Reform? Here's another idea - how about doing the work that's needed to actually make people's lives better? 🧵
May 12, 2025 at 10:19 AM
When will Starmer learn that no matter how good his Nigel Farage impression gets, it won't save him from wipeout at the hands of Reform? Here's another idea - how about doing the work that's needed to actually make people's lives better? 🧵
Reposted by Ben Temperton
TANK vs TESLA
"We've crushed fascism before and we'll crush it again"
- WW2 veteran Ken, 98, in the tank
"We've crushed fascism before and we'll crush it again"
- WW2 veteran Ken, 98, in the tank
May 7, 2025 at 4:46 PM
TANK vs TESLA
"We've crushed fascism before and we'll crush it again"
- WW2 veteran Ken, 98, in the tank
"We've crushed fascism before and we'll crush it again"
- WW2 veteran Ken, 98, in the tank
Reposted by Ben Temperton
I hope we deserve this beautiful piece by Journalist Victor Kravchuk, writing from the Ukraine:
#cdnpolitics #canadasky
#cdnpolitics #canadasky
May 3, 2025 at 2:30 AM
I hope we deserve this beautiful piece by Journalist Victor Kravchuk, writing from the Ukraine:
#cdnpolitics #canadasky
#cdnpolitics #canadasky
Great paper out by Ben Chan, Jon Koff and co at Yale highlighting compassionate use of phage therapy in nine patients with CF with multi-drug resistant strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Personalized inhaled bacteriophage therapy for treatment of multidrug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa in cystic fibrosis - Nature Medicine
A novel personalized phage therapy strategy that selects phages for a predicted evolutionary trade-off may represent a viable alternative approach for the treatment of antimicrobial-resistant bacteria...
www.nature.com
May 1, 2025 at 2:29 PM
Great paper out by Ben Chan, Jon Koff and co at Yale highlighting compassionate use of phage therapy in nine patients with CF with multi-drug resistant strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Ben Temperton
A phage therapy using naturally occurring bacteryophages that not only kill but also selects for less resistant bacteria, shows promise in Cystic Fibrosis patients infected with drug resistant Pseudomonas. Kudos Dr. Chen, Stanley, Turner and Koff!!!
#ScienceMatters
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
#ScienceMatters
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Personalized inhaled bacteriophage therapy for treatment of multidrug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa in cystic fibrosis - Nature Medicine
A novel personalized phage therapy strategy that selects phages for a predicted evolutionary trade-off may represent a viable alternative approach for the treatment of antimicrobial-resistant bacteria...
www.nature.com
April 30, 2025 at 12:53 AM
A phage therapy using naturally occurring bacteryophages that not only kill but also selects for less resistant bacteria, shows promise in Cystic Fibrosis patients infected with drug resistant Pseudomonas. Kudos Dr. Chen, Stanley, Turner and Koff!!!
#ScienceMatters
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
#ScienceMatters
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Ben Temperton
Outdated approval model slows access to phage therapy, which doesn’t fit the "one-size-fits-all" drug process. We need flexible guidelines to be prepared to deploy phages when we need them.
#AMR
#InfectiousDisease
www.independent.org/article/2025...
#AMR
#InfectiousDisease
www.independent.org/article/2025...
FDA Regulation in the Age of Superbugs: News Article – Independent Institute
In a 2014 report, a committee formed to study antimicrobial resistance warned that superbugs would soon kill more people every year than cancer. These
www.independent.org
April 30, 2025 at 4:19 AM
Outdated approval model slows access to phage therapy, which doesn’t fit the "one-size-fits-all" drug process. We need flexible guidelines to be prepared to deploy phages when we need them.
#AMR
#InfectiousDisease
www.independent.org/article/2025...
#AMR
#InfectiousDisease
www.independent.org/article/2025...
Reposted by Ben Temperton
Remy Chait's super-cool paper on phage lasers is now up on Biorxiv. A beautiful collaboration between modelling and experimental work, driven by passionate curiosity about unusual features Remy observed on some spot assays.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Stable coexistence and transport of lytic phage infections with migrating bacterial hosts
Bacteriophages (phages), viruses that exclusively infect bacterial hosts, are the most abundant living entities across diverse environments, coexisting with their bacterial hosts at densities exceedin...
www.biorxiv.org
April 29, 2025 at 1:22 PM
Remy Chait's super-cool paper on phage lasers is now up on Biorxiv. A beautiful collaboration between modelling and experimental work, driven by passionate curiosity about unusual features Remy observed on some spot assays.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Sadly not surprising. Let's accelerate access to phages that will help protect our existing arsenal of antimicrobials and buy us some time to develop new ones.
A new study published by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) shows that some bacteria have already become resistant to one of the newest #antibiotics introduced to the NHS.
Resistance emerges to newest antibiotic
A new study published by UKHSA shows some bacteria have already become resistant to one of the newest antibiotics introduced to the NHS.
www.gov.uk
April 29, 2025 at 1:25 PM
Sadly not surprising. Let's accelerate access to phages that will help protect our existing arsenal of antimicrobials and buy us some time to develop new ones.
How to boost your citations to insane levels: forbetterscience.com/2025/04/15/a...
An unethical guide to 100.000 citations
“”A number of leading researchers have published their research contributions at this Journal among them Zhanhu Guo, Zhanhu Guo, Zhanhu Guo,….”
forbetterscience.com
April 29, 2025 at 9:18 AM
How to boost your citations to insane levels: forbetterscience.com/2025/04/15/a...
Bravo Mark Carney. Maintenant vient le plus dur : montrer au monde que la politique progressiste peut servir les intérêts du peuple en s’attaquant aux inégalités qui alimentent le populisme.
April 29, 2025 at 8:06 AM
Bravo Mark Carney. Maintenant vient le plus dur : montrer au monde que la politique progressiste peut servir les intérêts du peuple en s’attaquant aux inégalités qui alimentent le populisme.
I'm starting to wonder whether economics and astrology have roughly the same degree of evidence to support decision making.
April 8, 2025 at 3:43 PM
I'm starting to wonder whether economics and astrology have roughly the same degree of evidence to support decision making.
I don't know how I missed this story:
scienceintegritydigest.com/2024/02/15/t...
scienceintegritydigest.com/2024/02/15/t...
The rat with the big balls and the enormous penis – how Frontiers published a paper with botched AI-generated images
A review article with some obviously fake and non-scientific illustrations created by Artificial Intelligence (AI) was the talk on X (Twitter) today. The figures in the paper were generated by the …
scienceintegritydigest.com
April 3, 2025 at 8:02 AM
I don't know how I missed this story:
scienceintegritydigest.com/2024/02/15/t...
scienceintegritydigest.com/2024/02/15/t...
PM Starmer offers “peace in our time” tax cuts to megarich US tech companies, while cutting benefits to UK’s poorest to balance the books. Do. Better. Labour. This is not what we voted for.
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Starmer offers big US tech firms tax cuts in return for lower Trump tariffs
Exclusive: UK willing to placate Trump with lower digital services tax rate also encompassing non-US companies
www.theguardian.com
April 2, 2025 at 5:19 AM
PM Starmer offers “peace in our time” tax cuts to megarich US tech companies, while cutting benefits to UK’s poorest to balance the books. Do. Better. Labour. This is not what we voted for.
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
In 2023-2024, 122.6 million people were forcibly displaced. That's 1 in 67 of every person on Earth. www.unhcr.org/about-unhcr/...
Figures at a glance | UNHCR
At least 122.6 million people were forcibly displaced at the end of June 2024. View the latest statistics and graphs of the number of refugees and other people forced to flee.
www.unhcr.org
March 31, 2025 at 3:28 PM
In 2023-2024, 122.6 million people were forcibly displaced. That's 1 in 67 of every person on Earth. www.unhcr.org/about-unhcr/...
Reposted by Ben Temperton
We took over the giant screen at Farage’s big rally in Birmingham
March 28, 2025 at 9:50 PM
We took over the giant screen at Farage’s big rally in Birmingham
Seems Keir Starmer channels his Neville Chamberlain more every day. Democracy, science and the Rule of Law is under attack because of Trump. Appeasement never works. It's time to develop a spine and stand with our allies. #ElbowsUp.
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Keir Starmer says he ‘likes and respects’ Donald Trump
PM agrees with US president that Europe must bear greater burden for its collective self-defence
www.theguardian.com
March 24, 2025 at 10:28 AM
Seems Keir Starmer channels his Neville Chamberlain more every day. Democracy, science and the Rule of Law is under attack because of Trump. Appeasement never works. It's time to develop a spine and stand with our allies. #ElbowsUp.
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...