Stuart Thompson
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drstuartthompson.bsky.social
Stuart Thompson
@drstuartthompson.bsky.social
85 followers 100 following 2 posts
I am a plant scientist and biochemistry lecturer at the University of Westminster. I will sometimes use this account to share reading for the students I teach.
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drstuartthompson.bsky.social
c.org/HpXcjtqLxs
Reconsider the potential suspension of Plant Biology Courses at UoN
Can you spare a minute to help this campaign?
c.org
November 10, 2025 at 1:09 PM
Reposted by Stuart Thompson
cam.ac.uk
Do you know a Year 12 student from a Black African, Caribbean or mixed race background who is thinking about applying to Cambridge?

Target Oxbridge is a free mentoring programme that has helped over 500 students to secure Oxbridge offers.

Apply at targetoxbridge.app.candidx.io/roles before 23 Nov.
October 30, 2025 at 9:09 AM
Reposted by Stuart Thompson
annaalexandrova.bsky.social
A permanent post in my department. Closing date Dec 14th 2025, interviews in March. Please spread #histsci
Assistant Professor in History of Knowledge Pre-1400
Applications are invited for the position of Assistant Professor in History of Knowledge Pre-1400, in the Department of History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Cambridge. Please note
www.cam.ac.uk
October 30, 2025 at 10:07 AM
Reposted by Stuart Thompson
toheitka.bsky.social
We are looking for a colleague to join us at RWTH Aachen University:

🌱 Full Professor in Stress Resilience of Plants (W3 tenured)

📌What are we looking for? Someone working with us strategically at the interface of plant biology/ physiology/ resilience

#academicjobs #facultyjobs #PlantJobs

1/4
Job posting. We look for a Full Professor (W3) of Stress Resilience of Plants at the RWTH Aachen.
October 30, 2025 at 12:03 PM
Reposted by Stuart Thompson
natureportfolio.nature.com
Up to 59% of Antarctic ice shelves may be at risk of disappearing under high-emission scenarios by 2300, according to an analysis of the effect of ocean warming in Nature. This could result in up to 10 m of global sea-level rise. go.nature.com/47Ag4k1 🌊 🧪
This is figure 1, which is a schematic of the processes that contribute to the Antarctic ice-shelf mass balance.
October 30, 2025 at 1:18 PM
Reposted by Stuart Thompson
psb-vib.bsky.social
PAPER from @hildenelissen.bsky.social
laurenspauwels.bsky.social Laurens Pauwels @laurenspauwels.bsky.social · Oct 29
🌱 Our latest: in Plant Biotech J we study transgenerational #CRISPR editing in #maize🌽 using a split Cas9/gRNA system, highlighting importance of event quality & choice of promoters. 👏 Christian Lorenzo, Dirk Inzé and Hilde Nelissen @fbwugent.bsky.social @psb-vib.bsky.social doi.org/10.1111/pbi....
October 30, 2025 at 2:09 PM
Reposted by Stuart Thompson
sfrre-ecr.bsky.social
🚨 Deadline TOMORROW!
PhD in redox biology? Submit your abstract for the 3rd PhD Symposium “Redox Relay Race”!
🎤 5-min flash talk
🏆 Win free SFRR-E 2026 registration!
📝 Submit your abstract
👉 intranet.sfrr-europe.org → “Call for PhD Symposium”
#SFRRE #PhDSymposium #RedoxBiology
October 30, 2025 at 2:08 PM
Reposted by Stuart Thompson
lukeleckie.bsky.social
New in @science.org, a paper from my PhD showing that ant groups fight epidemics by modifying the structure of their nests, giving them “architectural immunity”!
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Architectural immunity: Ants alter their nest networks to prevent epidemics
In animal groups, spatial structure shapes social interaction patterns, thereby influencing the transmission of infectious diseases. Active modifications to the spatial environment could therefore be ...
www.science.org
October 16, 2025 at 6:07 PM
Reposted by Stuart Thompson
plosbiology.org
#Intercropping & #CropRotation are ancient #agricultural practices that increase yield & #DiseaseResistance in #crops. This Essay discusses the role of plant-derived metabolites & microbes in these systems and how they can contribute to #SustainableAgriculture @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/4op7k6W
Three sisters intercropping system. Maize (blue), beans (red), and squash (yellow) are grown together. Factors making the system more robust and higher yielding than monocropping are listed in boxes.
October 17, 2025 at 4:40 PM
Reposted by Stuart Thompson
docdellaire.bsky.social
Another good example is RNAi and transvection phenomenon in plants… eg - argonaut and most of the RISC complex was identified in plants. But plant research didn’t feature prominently in the Nobel for RNAi www.nature.com/articles/443...
RNAi Nobel ignores vital groundwork on plants - Nature
Nature - RNAi Nobel ignores vital groundwork on plants
www.nature.com
October 16, 2025 at 8:45 PM
Reposted by Stuart Thompson
liadmudrik.bsky.social
Please RT! 🙏🙏🙏
1/3 How do you correct for multiple comparisons? Do you take into account *all* comparisons that can render the paper publishable? Most of us don’t. In this NHB piece, Yoav Benjamini, Yoav Zeevi and I argue that it’s time to change our practices >>
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Correction for multiple comparisons should be ubiquitous - Nature Human Behaviour
Nature Human Behaviour - Correction for multiple comparisons should be ubiquitous
www.nature.com
October 16, 2025 at 5:28 PM
Reposted by Stuart Thompson
gracefuluniverse.bsky.social
#publichealth #geriatrics #health #microbiome #mentalhealth #MDD #primaryhealthcare #biomarkers #SCFAs #neurology #dietetics #biosensors #gastroenterology

Higher plasma butyrate (produced by gut microbiota)
predicts remission from depression within 6 months.
.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Circulating short chain fatty acids are associated with depression severity and predict remission from major depressive disorder
Short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) have been shown to improve depression-like behavior in animal models. However, their predictive value for depression o…
www.sciencedirect.com
October 18, 2025 at 9:50 AM
Reposted by Stuart Thompson
nature.com
CRISPR-based tools can’t easily access the DNA in mitochondria, but researchers are finding other ways in

go.nature.com/46WbLQL
Faulty mitochondria cause deadly diseases: fixing them is about to get a lot easier
Nature - CRISPR-based tools can’t easily access the DNA in these organelles, but researchers are finding other ways in.
go.nature.com
October 19, 2025 at 11:49 AM
Reposted by Stuart Thompson
plantspeopleplanet.bsky.social
.@cmarin.bsky.social and 127 co-authors present a global call to strengthen national #SoilBiodiversity action, in an #OpenLetter to policymakers at 27th meeting of the @unbiodiversity.bsky.social SBSTTA taking place in Panamá City this week.

📖 nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

#SBSTTA27
A quote from the article. Text reads: "The decline of soil biodiversity has visible and growing consequences. The science is clear, the frameworks exist, and the need for action is urgent."
October 20, 2025 at 12:27 PM
Reposted by Stuart Thompson
pnas.org
Climate modeling suggests that if the Earth warms by 3 °C by the late 21st century, hurricane-induced power outages will increase significantly in northern Florida, Georgia, the mid-Atlantic, and the North Atlantic coast. In PNAS: https://ow.ly/Lu7I50Xgj05
Projected changes in the annual proportion of the population experiencing power outages per census tract, calculated as the difference in power outage rates between the hindcast period (1995–2014) and the late century period (2071–2100) considering a 3 °C of warming scenario.
October 22, 2025 at 7:00 PM
Reposted by Stuart Thompson
jxbotany.bsky.social
🍇🌱 RESEARCH 🌱🍇

Botrytis cinerea infection is promoted by chitotetraose treatment, which has a role as a negative regulator of grapevine immunity, inhibiting MAPK phosphorylation and defense-related gene expression in roots & leaves - Marzari et al.

🔗 doi.org/10.1093/jxb/...
#PlantScience 🧪
Botrytis cinerea infection is promoted by chitotetraose treatment, which plays a role as a negative regulator of grapevine immunity, inhibiting MAPK phosphorylation and defense-related gene expression in both roots and leaves.
October 25, 2025 at 4:05 PM
Reposted by Stuart Thompson
plosbiology.org
Bacteria rely on retrons for #phage defense, but most known systems come from clinical or lab strains. @seth-shipman.bsky.social &co identify diverse #retrons from environmental #bacteria, uncovering their defense mechanisms & using them as #GenomeEditing tools @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/4oDqRAF
Isolation of retron-bearing hosts from environmental samples. Top: Schematic of the isolation of bacteria from soil and water samples and identification of possible retron-bearing hosts using PAGE analysis (from left). Retron RT-DNA bands from PAGE analyses. Overview of sampling, screening of colonies, and identification of retron hosts. Hosts displaying an RT-DNA band were subjected to whole-genome sequencing. RT-DNA was subjected to unbiased adapter addition and sequencing. Bottom: Top left panel: Schematic of canonical retron operon with components annotated, effector in pink, noncoding RNA (ncRNA) in orange, and reverse transcriptase in purple. Other seven panels: Seven putative retron operons, identifying the retron type, host species, and predicted two-dimensional structure of the ncRNA. For retrons where RT-DNA sequencing is available, sequencing coverage is plotted onto ncRNA in an orange heatmap (heatmap legend indicated number of sequencing reads mapped). Gene abbreviations: NDT (nucleoside deoxyribosyltransferase-like); PRTase (phosphoribosyltransferase); WH (winged helix-turn-helix DNA binding); HTH (helix-turn-helix domain containing); HipA (HipA-like); DUF (DUF3037 domain-containing protein).
October 27, 2025 at 8:58 AM
Reposted by Stuart Thompson
plantophagy.bsky.social
Really cool work by the @dodonova-sveta.bsky.social lab @embl.org www.cell.com/molecular-ce... #archea #evochromo
Cryo-EM reveals open and closed Asgard chromatin assemblies
Ranawat et al. show the cryo-EM structures of Asgard archaeal chromatin assemblies, revealing that the histone HHoB assembles into both compact closed and extended open hypernucleosomes. The closed co...
www.cell.com
October 28, 2025 at 5:05 PM
Reposted by Stuart Thompson
drjoehanson.bsky.social
When people learn with ChatGPT instead of following their own searches, they end up knowing less, caring less, and producing worse advice, even when the facts are the same.

Friction is an essential ingredient for learning! Convenience makes us shallow.

academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/ar...
Experimental evidence of the effects of large language models versus web search on depth of learning
Abstract. The effects of using large language models (LLMs) versus traditional web search on depth of learning are explored. A theory is proposed that when
academic.oup.com
October 28, 2025 at 3:14 PM
Reposted by Stuart Thompson
newphyt.bsky.social
✨ Paper spotlight ✨

Mycelial Dynamics in Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi
nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

(🧵 1/5) Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi form vast underground hyphal networks that support plant life.
Fig. 2 Phylogenetically distinct structures produced by the arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungal mycelium.
October 30, 2025 at 12:11 AM
Reposted by Stuart Thompson
newphyt.bsky.social
✨ Paper spotlight ✨

(🧵 1/6) Opportunities for Improving Intrinsic Water Use Efficiency in C₄ Plants Under Climate Change
nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Fig. 3 Impact of leaf width in a grass leaf on leaf anatomy and boundary layer (Schuepp, 1993; Pan et al., 2022).
October 31, 2025 at 12:11 AM
Reposted by Stuart Thompson
naomioreskes.bsky.social
If anyone invokes Adam Smith to justify de-regulation, they are just wrong.

Climate Change, Regulation and Health www.nytimes.com/2025/08/13/o...
Opinion | Climate Change, Regulation and Health
www.nytimes.com
August 14, 2025 at 1:39 PM
Reposted by Stuart Thompson
naomioreskes.bsky.social
Our latest:

undark.org/2025/08/15/o...
The Impact of a Ghostwritten Paper on the Fate of Glyphosate
Opinion | A downsized EPA faces a deadline to review the herbicide’s safety without much of its in-house expertise.
undark.org
August 16, 2025 at 9:33 PM
Reposted by Stuart Thompson
naomioreskes.bsky.social
Congrats to @soniaseneviratne.bsky.social and colleagues for this important new paper
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Systematic attribution of heatwaves to the emissions of carbon majors - Nature
Climate change made 213 historical heatwaves reported over 2000–2023 more likely and more intense, to which each of the 180 carbon majors (fossil fuel and cement producers) substantially contributed.
www.nature.com
September 10, 2025 at 8:40 PM