Zannah Salter
@zannahdu.bsky.social
Pathogen genomics, Ornithobacterium hominis, microbiome (and contamination of course!) at University of Cambridge
Pinned
Zannah Salter
@zannahdu.bsky.social
· Nov 25
In a new room, it's always nice to shout a bit about #Ornithobacterium hominis!
I'm working on this Gram neg nasopharyngeal species with colleagues in Australia, South Africa & Cambodia.
Isolates are very rare - if you spot it in your samples or metagenomes, reach out! I'd love to collaborate. 🦠🧬👀
I'm working on this Gram neg nasopharyngeal species with colleagues in Australia, South Africa & Cambodia.
Isolates are very rare - if you spot it in your samples or metagenomes, reach out! I'd love to collaborate. 🦠🧬👀
Today I learned that bluesky has a "rude" moderation filter set to hide content with coarse language by default 😂
Settings > Moderation > Advanced
I look forward to seeing more of your colourful posts now!
Settings > Moderation > Advanced
I look forward to seeing more of your colourful posts now!
November 6, 2025 at 9:09 AM
Today I learned that bluesky has a "rude" moderation filter set to hide content with coarse language by default 😂
Settings > Moderation > Advanced
I look forward to seeing more of your colourful posts now!
Settings > Moderation > Advanced
I look forward to seeing more of your colourful posts now!
I took part in a study like this, and let me tell you I was not prepared for how difficult it would be to concentrate on one thing when I'm capable of listening to 2 conversations at once and I'm NOSY
How does attention shape #AuditoryProcessing? This study shows that #attention enhances sound encoding only at the cortical level, not in #auditory periphery or #brainstem, so humans’ ability to focus on a single voice in noise relies on cortical mechanisms @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/4pY5L1f
October 7, 2025 at 9:55 PM
I took part in a study like this, and let me tell you I was not prepared for how difficult it would be to concentrate on one thing when I'm capable of listening to 2 conversations at once and I'm NOSY
Reposted by Zannah Salter
After being with the journal since its very inception, the time has come for me to step back from Microbial Genomics. This is a wonderful opportunity to have a leadership role in one of the leading journals for microbial genomics research
microbiologysociety.org/news/society...
microbiologysociety.org/news/society...
<i>Microbial Genomics </i> Deputy Editor-in-Chief: Call for Expressions of interest
microbiologysociety.org
October 7, 2025 at 8:44 AM
After being with the journal since its very inception, the time has come for me to step back from Microbial Genomics. This is a wonderful opportunity to have a leadership role in one of the leading journals for microbial genomics research
microbiologysociety.org/news/society...
microbiologysociety.org/news/society...
Reposted by Zannah Salter
Published today!
'The Kocurious case of Noodlococcus: genomic insights into Kocuria rhizophila from characterisation of a laboratory contaminant'
A labour of love in the group, led by @gemccallum.bsky.social @biostan.bsky.social @prob91.bsky.social
www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/jour...
'The Kocurious case of Noodlococcus: genomic insights into Kocuria rhizophila from characterisation of a laboratory contaminant'
A labour of love in the group, led by @gemccallum.bsky.social @biostan.bsky.social @prob91.bsky.social
www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/jour...
The Kocurious case of Noodlococcus: genomic insights into Kocuria rhizophila from characterisation of a laboratory contaminant
The laboratory contaminant strain Noodlococcus was named for its coccoid cells and unusual colony morphology, which resembled a pile of noodles. Along with laboratory characterisation and electron mic...
www.microbiologyresearch.org
October 6, 2025 at 6:46 PM
Published today!
'The Kocurious case of Noodlococcus: genomic insights into Kocuria rhizophila from characterisation of a laboratory contaminant'
A labour of love in the group, led by @gemccallum.bsky.social @biostan.bsky.social @prob91.bsky.social
www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/jour...
'The Kocurious case of Noodlococcus: genomic insights into Kocuria rhizophila from characterisation of a laboratory contaminant'
A labour of love in the group, led by @gemccallum.bsky.social @biostan.bsky.social @prob91.bsky.social
www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/jour...
Quality trolling that
We are thrilled to announce that our NEW Large Language Model will be released on 11.18.25.
October 1, 2025 at 6:09 PM
Quality trolling that
Reposted by Zannah Salter
Delighted to see our paper studying the evolution of plasmids over the last 100 years, now out! Years of work by Adrian Cazares, also Nick Thomson @sangerinstitute.bsky.social - this version much improved over the preprint. Final version should be open access, apols.
Thread 1/n
Thread 1/n
September 25, 2025 at 9:29 PM
Delighted to see our paper studying the evolution of plasmids over the last 100 years, now out! Years of work by Adrian Cazares, also Nick Thomson @sangerinstitute.bsky.social - this version much improved over the preprint. Final version should be open access, apols.
Thread 1/n
Thread 1/n
Reposted by Zannah Salter
the most important thing to remember when you see eugenicists who don’t believe that autistic people should exist rambling about “the autism epidemic” is not that they’re wrong about the “cause” (although they are absolutely wrong about it); it’s that they are eugenicists
September 23, 2025 at 5:20 PM
the most important thing to remember when you see eugenicists who don’t believe that autistic people should exist rambling about “the autism epidemic” is not that they’re wrong about the “cause” (although they are absolutely wrong about it); it’s that they are eugenicists
Reposted by Zannah Salter
I do enjoy a good WEF/Klaus Schwab conspiracy though. I met Schwab once in Davos and saw a clown squeegee his bald head. He was a good sport about it. True story.
September 17, 2025 at 3:11 PM
I do enjoy a good WEF/Klaus Schwab conspiracy though. I met Schwab once in Davos and saw a clown squeegee his bald head. He was a good sport about it. True story.
Reposted by Zannah Salter
If you are UK-based and working on any aspect of microbiomes (human, plant, insect, soil, animal, ...), please do sign up to Microbiome-Net for details of networking, funding and training opportunities.
forms.office.com/pages/respon...
forms.office.com/pages/respon...
September 13, 2025 at 6:31 AM
If you are UK-based and working on any aspect of microbiomes (human, plant, insect, soil, animal, ...), please do sign up to Microbiome-Net for details of networking, funding and training opportunities.
forms.office.com/pages/respon...
forms.office.com/pages/respon...
Reposted by Zannah Salter
In short, we need more Archaeologists again. The First Lego League squads just keep rolling in. Spread the word among Archaeologists!
I run @skypeascientist.bsky.social which matches scientists w/classrooms, libraries, etc for Q&As.
We match First Lego League teams too. This tends to wipe out one category of scientist bc so many teams sign up for the same category (this year, archaeologists). We're almost out of archaeologists.
We match First Lego League teams too. This tends to wipe out one category of scientist bc so many teams sign up for the same category (this year, archaeologists). We're almost out of archaeologists.
September 12, 2025 at 8:35 PM
In short, we need more Archaeologists again. The First Lego League squads just keep rolling in. Spread the word among Archaeologists!
Reposted by Zannah Salter
🚨 New pre-print from the lab! We performed a large-scale meta-analysis of the uncultured gut #microbiome in >10,000 metagenomes enabling us to identify a new candidate biomarker of health. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Meta-analysis of the uncultured gut microbiome across 11,115 global metagenomes reveals a new candidate biomarker of health
The human gut microbiome plays an important biological role in host health, yet over 60% of gut species remain uncultured and hence inaccessible to experimental manipulation. Here we analysed 11,115 h...
www.biorxiv.org
September 10, 2025 at 11:44 AM
🚨 New pre-print from the lab! We performed a large-scale meta-analysis of the uncultured gut #microbiome in >10,000 metagenomes enabling us to identify a new candidate biomarker of health. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Zannah Salter
Join us for Annual Conference 2026!
Abstract submission and registration are open for the UK’s largest annual gathering of microbiologists.
Held in Belfast, UK, this year’s Conference also features two-day attendance tickets.
Abstract submission and registration are open for the UK’s largest annual gathering of microbiologists.
Held in Belfast, UK, this year’s Conference also features two-day attendance tickets.
September 8, 2025 at 3:00 PM
Join us for Annual Conference 2026!
Abstract submission and registration are open for the UK’s largest annual gathering of microbiologists.
Held in Belfast, UK, this year’s Conference also features two-day attendance tickets.
Abstract submission and registration are open for the UK’s largest annual gathering of microbiologists.
Held in Belfast, UK, this year’s Conference also features two-day attendance tickets.
Reposted by Zannah Salter
New paper out in Pneumonia. More data from the carriage study in Southampton, UK looking at pneumococci in pre-PCV13 era versus early- and late-PCV13 periods. pneumonia.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.... (I also snuck in some bits on other bacteria ... just for a bit of variety)
Changes in carriage and serotype diversity of Streptococcus pneumoniae and other respiratory pathobionts in the UK between pre-PCV13 (2006-10), early-PCV13 (2010-12) and late-PCV13 (2012-23) periods -...
The ongoing burden of mortality and morbidity associated with Streptococcus pneumoniae infections requires that monitoring of carriage epidemiology continues. Here, we present data from the annual, cr...
pneumonia.biomedcentral.com
September 8, 2025 at 7:37 AM
New paper out in Pneumonia. More data from the carriage study in Southampton, UK looking at pneumococci in pre-PCV13 era versus early- and late-PCV13 periods. pneumonia.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.... (I also snuck in some bits on other bacteria ... just for a bit of variety)
Reposted by Zannah Salter
I have been online since 1997 and every day I think that is too long.
September 2, 2025 at 6:49 AM
I have been online since 1997 and every day I think that is too long.
Reposted by Zannah Salter
Excited to say we’re hiring 😊. We’re looking for a post-doc in ancient pathogen genomics to join our friendly supportive team in London at @ugiatucl.bsky.social. Start date January 2026.
www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/...
www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/...
UCL – University College London
UCL is consistently ranked as one of the top ten universities in the world (QS World University Rankings 2010-2022) and is No.2 in the UK for research power (Research Excellence Framework 2021).
www.ucl.ac.uk
September 1, 2025 at 10:09 AM
Excited to say we’re hiring 😊. We’re looking for a post-doc in ancient pathogen genomics to join our friendly supportive team in London at @ugiatucl.bsky.social. Start date January 2026.
www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/...
www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/...
Reposted by Zannah Salter
Learning how to linocut simply to illustrate my most banger bsky posts 😂
August 23, 2025 at 9:32 AM
Learning how to linocut simply to illustrate my most banger bsky posts 😂
Reposted by Zannah Salter
Anyone know what happened to hmpdacc.org?
More importantly, does anyone know how to apply for HMP participant data nowadays?
More importantly, does anyone know how to apply for HMP participant data nowadays?
August 21, 2025 at 1:57 PM
Anyone know what happened to hmpdacc.org?
More importantly, does anyone know how to apply for HMP participant data nowadays?
More importantly, does anyone know how to apply for HMP participant data nowadays?
Reposted by Zannah Salter
If you are at #ESEB2025 and want to learn more about Tasmanian Devils and/or transmissible cancers, I'll be presenting some of my work on those cute animals and their fascinating disease Friday at 11:30 in room 122+123!
a wanted poster for tasmanian devil with a cartoon character
ALT: a wanted poster for tasmanian devil with a cartoon character
media.tenor.com
August 21, 2025 at 11:00 AM
If you are at #ESEB2025 and want to learn more about Tasmanian Devils and/or transmissible cancers, I'll be presenting some of my work on those cute animals and their fascinating disease Friday at 11:30 in room 122+123!
Reposted by Zannah Salter
Closing soon. Great opportunity to do spatial transcriptomics on pre-antibiotic TB
⭐ Excellence fellowships accepting applications ⭐ for Black ECRs who have a degree from the UK. sanger.wd103.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/Wellco...
I have an amazing spatial transcriptomics project available on the world's most important pathogen, TB: www.sanger.ac.uk/wp-content/u...
Please reach out!
I have an amazing spatial transcriptomics project available on the world's most important pathogen, TB: www.sanger.ac.uk/wp-content/u...
Please reach out!
www.sanger.ac.uk
August 20, 2025 at 1:48 PM
Closing soon. Great opportunity to do spatial transcriptomics on pre-antibiotic TB
Reposted by Zannah Salter
🚨One Month Away!🚨
🎫 Don’t forget to get your tickets to @lshtm.bsky.social's Health Misinformation: UNPACKED event to learn more about #healthmisinformation and how to beat it!
In-person tickets are now sold out, but online tickets are still available. 👇
🎫 Don’t forget to get your tickets to @lshtm.bsky.social's Health Misinformation: UNPACKED event to learn more about #healthmisinformation and how to beat it!
In-person tickets are now sold out, but online tickets are still available. 👇
🗣️Health Misinformation UNPACKED- FULL PROGRAMME:
Discover who'll be speaking at our flagship event on health #misinformation 15 Sept 2025. Join us to hear about concepts, challenges & potential solutions.
Details/book your ticket👇
www.lshtm.ac.uk/newsevents/e...
Discover who'll be speaking at our flagship event on health #misinformation 15 Sept 2025. Join us to hear about concepts, challenges & potential solutions.
Details/book your ticket👇
www.lshtm.ac.uk/newsevents/e...
August 18, 2025 at 8:51 AM
🚨One Month Away!🚨
🎫 Don’t forget to get your tickets to @lshtm.bsky.social's Health Misinformation: UNPACKED event to learn more about #healthmisinformation and how to beat it!
In-person tickets are now sold out, but online tickets are still available. 👇
🎫 Don’t forget to get your tickets to @lshtm.bsky.social's Health Misinformation: UNPACKED event to learn more about #healthmisinformation and how to beat it!
In-person tickets are now sold out, but online tickets are still available. 👇
Reposted by Zannah Salter
This isn’t a seat of learning. It’s an apprenticeship centre.
In which a Yale prof calls for jettisoning humanities to make way for science-only universities.
“scientists… are being punished for the sins of [humanities scholars] because we all live under one roof. I cannot see a compelling reason for our continued cohabitation.”
“scientists… are being punished for the sins of [humanities scholars] because we all live under one roof. I cannot see a compelling reason for our continued cohabitation.”
Unyoke the Sciences From the Humanities
Arts and sciences typically cohabitate. Should they?
thedispatch.com
August 13, 2025 at 6:57 PM
This isn’t a seat of learning. It’s an apprenticeship centre.
I frequently meet ppl who tell me about medieval German, or fen art, or alchemy, muons, human language processing, or extremely specific sorts of religious scholarship. Occasionally inventors of extraordinary things. I love how all these diverse specialties can be in one place (a university canteen)
a university is not for generating profit, it provides cultural enrichment via weird little gremlin people who love visigoths or haikus, and very occasionally a scientist who figures out faster than light travel
August 12, 2025 at 12:35 PM
I frequently meet ppl who tell me about medieval German, or fen art, or alchemy, muons, human language processing, or extremely specific sorts of religious scholarship. Occasionally inventors of extraordinary things. I love how all these diverse specialties can be in one place (a university canteen)
Bluesky wants me to verify my age by giving my credit card details and biometrics to the Fortnite guys? Mate I registered this email address 25 years ago is that not enough for you
July 25, 2025 at 2:42 PM
Bluesky wants me to verify my age by giving my credit card details and biometrics to the Fortnite guys? Mate I registered this email address 25 years ago is that not enough for you
Reposted by Zannah Salter
About 18 months ago we held a @microbiologysociety.org meeting in Glasgow to discuss the thorny topic of #microbial #taxonomy and #nomenclature - and now you can read what we talked about :D
#microbiology #controversy
doi.org/10.1099/ijse...
#microbiology #controversy
doi.org/10.1099/ijse...
‘What’s in a name? Fit-for-purpose bacterial nomenclature’: meeting report
Rapid and economical DNA sequencing has resulted in a revolution in phylogenomics. The impact of changes in nomenclature can be perceived as an absolute necessity of scientific rigour, coupled with th...
doi.org
July 23, 2025 at 4:51 PM
About 18 months ago we held a @microbiologysociety.org meeting in Glasgow to discuss the thorny topic of #microbial #taxonomy and #nomenclature - and now you can read what we talked about :D
#microbiology #controversy
doi.org/10.1099/ijse...
#microbiology #controversy
doi.org/10.1099/ijse...