Freya Harrison
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friendlymicrobe.bsky.social
Freya Harrison
@friendlymicrobe.bsky.social
Reader (Associate Professor) in Microbiology at the University of Warwick, UK.
Biofilm, chronic infection and ancientbiotics.
Pinned
The lab now has a YouTube channel to collate videos of the team talking science: www.youtube.com/@BreakingBio...
Harrison Lab @ University of Warwick, UK
We are a team of microbiologists working at the University of Warwick, UK.
www.youtube.com
Low doses of tEDTA kill P. aeruginosa in models of chronic wound and CF lung #biofilm, but not in a model of endotracheal tube colonisation: preprint from a project led by @tosinorababa.bsky.social and implemented by a crack team of PhD students! #MicroSky www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Low concentrations of tetrasodium EDTA cause significant killing of biofilm-associated P. aeruginosa in high validity models of chronic wound and CF lung infections but not in a model of endotracheal tube colonisation
Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a pathogen notorious for its antimicrobial resistance and is currently classified as a high-priority pathogen for which new drugs are needed. Tetrasodium EDTA (tEDTA) is one of the new antimicrobial compounds that have been shown to have good antibacterial and antibiofilm efficacy against P. aeruginosa. Due to the diversity and highly drug-tolerant nature of P. aeruginosa biofilms in different infection environments, it is important to carry out pre-clinical testing of new antibiofilm agents against this pathogen in media and models that accurately mimic diverse infection environments. In this study, we used different high validity media and biofilm models that mimic chronic wounds, endotracheal tubes, and cystic fibrosis lung infections to assess the efficacy of tEDTA against P. aeruginosa biofilms. We report that different infection environments influence the susceptibility of both planktonic and biofilm forms of P. aeruginosa to tEDTA. The highest tolerance to tEDTA was observed in the media and biofilm model that mimics the endotracheal tube environment. In conclusion, we show that although different infection environments influence the efficacy of tEDTA against P. aeruginosa biofilms, it has good potential for use as an alternative antimicrobial in treating P. aeruginosa-associated biofilm infections. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest.
www.biorxiv.org
November 10, 2025 at 10:21 AM
What Rosalind Franklin truly contributed to the discovery of DNA’s structure. A really informative article, perfect for a weekend coffee read. www.nature.com/articles/d41...
What Rosalind Franklin truly contributed to the discovery of DNA’s structure
Franklin was no victim in how the DNA double helix was solved. An overlooked letter and an unpublished news article, both written in 1953, reveal that she was an equal player.
www.nature.com
November 8, 2025 at 9:21 AM
Help, #MicroSky! We bought the Ausubel PA14NR transposon library, but half of the stock plates disappeared from a shared -80 and we've been unable to trace them 😭 Would anyone in the UK be willing to give us copies of these stocks please? I can supply proof purchase. And my eternal thanks.
November 3, 2025 at 3:24 PM
Reposted by Freya Harrison
Looking for a PhD? 🚀 MIBTP projects are out lots to explore!
🔬 #Bacteria#AMR#Interdisciplinary • FUN!
My projects explore how Gram-negative bacteria build and maintain their three-layered cell envelope, using cryo-EM, fluorescence microscopy and biochemistry.
warwick.ac.uk/fac/cross_fa...
Dr Melissa Webby
Dr Melissa Webby
warwick.ac.uk
October 23, 2025 at 5:56 PM
On Sunday, Wantage will celebrate its most legendary figure – King Alfred the Great. I'll be there with plenty of other nerds, displaying the history and material culture of Wessex in Alfred's time. Full info at wantagetowncouncil.gov.uk/alfredfest-2...
October 21, 2025 at 3:16 PM
Join us in Birmingham for the annual BSAC #AntibioticResistance & Mechanisms workshop - excellent talks and it’s designed to make conversation & networking between attendees easy #MicroSky bsac.org.uk/antibiotic-r...
Antibiotic Resistance and Mechanisms (ARM) Workshop for Researchers 2025 - The British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy
bsac.org.uk
October 21, 2025 at 7:59 AM
Reposted by Freya Harrison
The Louvre thieves should just say they're using the pieces to train their AI algorithm and it should all be good
October 20, 2025 at 12:27 PM
Reposted by Freya Harrison
Police just detained two protesters.

One dressed as the Statue of the Liberty.
October 17, 2025 at 3:21 PM
Want to know more about what I and a few thousand others do at the weekend? The leader of The Vikings! reenactment society and her husband were on Channel 4 Sunday Brunch this morning. Their piece start approx. 28 mins in www.channel4.com/programmes/s... ⚔️ www.instagram.com/p/DP_HxhiiP0...
sundaybrunchc4 on Instagram: "This week we are joined by members of The Vikings: Early reenactment members, Cathy & Paul Murphy. @thevikingsuk Paul is a society …"
This week we are joined by members of The Vikings: Early reenactment members, Cathy & Paul Murphy. @thevikingsuk Paul is a society elder, and Cathy is a High Council Jarl and the ‘Konungr’, which is the leader of the society.  Both Cathy & Paul are a part of the oldest and largest Dark Age re-enactment society in the UK. The society is known for its high standard of presentation, historical accuracy, and attention to detail. They offer arena displays of hand-to-hand combat, with the larger battles involving well over three hundred warriors, bow and sling hunting demonstrations, walks through history through their tented encampments, and demos of crafting skills.#SundayBrunch #TheVikingsUKView all comments
www.instagram.com
October 19, 2025 at 12:41 PM
PhD opportunity in my lab: exploring how commensals and pathogens build biofilm communities on endotracheal (ventilator) tubes. Microbial ecology, medical microbiology and fancy imaging! Co-supervised with the fabulous Saskia Bakker and Jeremy Webb warwick.ac.uk/fac/cross_fa... #MicroSky
Dr Freya Harrison
Dr Freya Harrison
warwick.ac.uk
October 15, 2025 at 8:09 PM
Reposted by Freya Harrison
PhD project claxon!!

Interested in phage functional metagenomics? Want to learn how to program a robot?

Apply for a fully funded MIBTP PhD with myself, Rich Puxty, and @friendlymicrobe.bsky.social here at Warwick, working on viral anti-biofilm gene discovery.
Apply here:
tinyurl.com/phagegenomics
October 14, 2025 at 3:06 PM
78% of buildings destroyed or damaged.
61 million tonnes of debris.
97% of tree crops and 82% of annual crops destroyed.
October 12, 2025 at 11:07 AM
Could drones deliver defibrillators to patients in cardiac arrest? warwick.ac.uk/news/pressre...
Drones could soon respond to cardiac arrests
warwick.ac.uk
October 8, 2025 at 2:50 PM
@aaroncurtismicro.bsky.social adapted our ex-vivo pig lung infection model to conduct dual host-pathogen proteomics in response to Aspergillus infection - he’s a finalist in @microbiologysociety.org young microbiologist of the year #MicroSky www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/...
October 7, 2025 at 3:23 PM
Very nice talk from @emmanuelkuffo15.bsky.social speaking about his hunt for Strep. suis phage at the @microbiologysociety.org young microbiologist of the year finals - and there's a pre-print up! #MicroSky
The original plan was to isolate >50 phage-host combos (I naively thought this would be the straightforward bit of the project—it wasn’t). Eventually we got 2 phages tripling the number of genome-sequenced, in vitro characterised Strep. suis phages! Read about Bonnie & Clyde👇🏿
October 7, 2025 at 2:56 PM
🚨PhD Opportunity Alert🚨 Join me, @suzieh.bsky.social and @walllabuoglasgow.bsky.social to investigate how environment shapes anti-phage defences & prophage–prophage conflict in Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
Apply here:
www.gla.ac.uk/postgraduate...
October 7, 2025 at 2:54 PM
The vaginal microbiome is super interesting - is there another body site where a healthy microbiome = a low-diversity microbiome? @phoebecrossley.bsky.social talk about her research at @microbiologysociety.org young microbiologist of the year finals microbiologysociety.org/blog/meet-ea... #MicroSky
Meet Early Career Microbiologist of the Year talk finalist: Phoebe Crossley
This year, the Microbiology Society is awarding&nbsp;<a href="https://microbiologysociety.org/grants-prizes/all-prizes-and-competitions-/early-career-microbiologist-year.html?_gl=1*1t02973*_up*MQ..*_g...
microbiologysociety.org
October 7, 2025 at 2:45 PM
October 4, 2025 at 9:00 PM
Reposted by Freya Harrison
I have an MRC-funded PhD project available (www.exeter.ac.uk/study/fundin...) on how warming will change the problem of AMR. Join a small and friendly group (padpadpadpad.netlify.app/about) in (sometimes) sunny Cornwall. 🧪🦠 #microsky

Please share the ad below with anyone who may be interested.
September 16, 2025 at 8:08 AM
Reposted by Freya Harrison
Spooky season approaches, so I'm going to repost some of my Halloween comics from years past.
September 29, 2025 at 3:21 PM
We are ready for Caturday.
September 26, 2025 at 9:16 PM
Reposted by Freya Harrison
⏰ Closing soon! We’re looking for a Metagenomics Research Scientist to join the Laboratory of Dr Falk Hildebrand to study diet impact on the gastrointestinal microbiome.

💷 £37,500 - £42,000
🗓️ Apply by 30 September 2025
➡️ buff.ly/5gJxZIP
September 26, 2025 at 12:03 PM
When your PhD student sends you a request for help with an error message and you get a sneak preview of a very nice biofilm they've grown 💜 @c-cornbill.bsky.social #MicroSky
September 25, 2025 at 3:31 PM
A colleague received proofs of an accepted manuscript, and the "proofing process" clearly involved running the text through ChatGPT. Their voice has been erased, and errors introduced. This is from a supposedly reputable publisher. Anyone else been put through this particular form of hell? #MicroSky
September 24, 2025 at 12:19 PM