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Alan McNally

@alanmcn1.bsky.social
6.6K followers 653 following 2.4K posts

Head of the School of Infection, Inflammation & Immunology @ Uni Birmingham. Proud Scot. Oversaw a few Covid PCR tests

PostsRepliesMedia
Alan McNally @alanmcn1.bsky.social · 25m
I can’t help but feel the current Man City situation has our prime minister with slightly sweaty palms………..
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NewsThump @newsthump.com · 5h
NEWS! Nigel Farage insists police declare terrorist incident after car backfires outside mosque newsthump.com/2026/09/30/n...
newsthump.com
Nigel Farage insists police declare terrorist incident after car backfires outside mosque
Nigel Farage has demanded police declare a terrorist incident after a car backfired outside a mosque, despite officers establishing that the noise came from a car backfiring outside a mosque.
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NewsThump @newsthump.com · 6h
NEWS! ‘Sheikh Mansour Airlines’ is a completely legitimate sponsor, insists Man City newsthump.com/2026/09/30/s...
newsthump.com
‘Sheikh Mansour Airlines’ is a completely legitimate sponsor, insists Man City
Manchester City have told football authorities that ‘Sheikh Mansour Airlines’ is a completely legitimate shirt sponsor, it has been revealed.
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Anon Opin @anonopin.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Most stand up comedians get shitter as the become more popular. This is because they lose touch with everyday life as get richer and further up their own arse. The only exceptions to this are Billy Connolly and Tommy Tiernan.
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Willem van Schaik @wvschaik.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Steve Busby's scientific family. An impressive career achievement.
Group photo of Busby lab alumni
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Fiona J Whelan @whelanfj.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
So proud of UoM & @mermanchester.bsky.social ECRs for putting together this amazing day of microbiology. Fully ECR conceptualized, organized, and led - brilliant!
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Douglas Cheape @douglascheape.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
This, to me, doesn't look like the kind of thing you want to encourage your dog to go for.
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Nick Loman @pathogenomenick.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Celebrating 40 years of Steve Busby’s exceptional research career today @imibirmingham.bsky.social
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Alan McNally @alanmcn1.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
The woman on this train noisily slurping from a travel mug whilst listening to music on her phone speaker could very possibly become my first murder victim.
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fesshole 🧻 @fesshole.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Daughter has given up horse riding. Couldn't be happier. It's not just the cost, it's the stench of those massive dead-eyed bastards. Three years of Wednesday evenings spent breathing in pissy shitey horse vapour is over. I've grown to hate horses.
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Simonetta Gribaldo @sgribaldo.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Interested in #archaea, #methane, #cell-envelopes? New paper out @nature.com ! We discovered an enzyme that specifically cleaves the cell wall of methanogens, revealing a new chemical structure of archaeal peptidoglycan, 50 yrs after its first description www.nature.com/articles/s41... #MicroSky 🧵👇
nature.com
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SlenderSherbet @slendersherbet.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
"You look like you need a hug" Me:
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Alan McNally @alanmcn1.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
I am assuming the latest thing I have AI to thank for is the inundation of obviously auto generated PhD queries I am getting. Gone from a couple a week to around 5 per day.
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Ursula Hofer @hoferu.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Many thanks for all the support from the scientific community 💚💜💙
nuj.org.uk
Scientific community backs workers at The Lancet going on strike
More than 120 members of the scientific community around the world have signed an open letter expressing solidarity with workers at The Lancet as they prepare to take strike action.
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Robert Insall @robinsall.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Headline OK. Not a fan of the actual justifications.
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Alan McNally @alanmcn1.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
OMG. Am I agreeing with a Tory…….
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Nonia Pariente @npariente.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
😎 paper alert Can viral infections reactivate dormant cancer cells? How does inflammation triggered by pathogens (or other stresses) intersect with anticancer immunity? Rincon, de Gregori and cols discuss the processes at this important interface 🧪 ⬇️
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David Bikard @dbikard.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
New paper from the lab, out in Nature Microbiology. We ran CRISPRi screens to ask what genes E. coli needs in order to live in a gut and what this can tell us about the gut environment itself. doi.org/10.1038/s41564-026-02471-8
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Alan McNally @alanmcn1.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
There goes the Bears’ season
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Aparna Nair @disabilitystor1.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
if you are reviewing an unpublished manuscript and you have the sheer unmitigated audacity, cheek, gall and laziness to upload it into an LLM to generate a review, let me tell you, you should be shunned and tarred and feathered
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John O’Shea @politicalhackuk.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Ratcliffe promised to build his Defender copy in S Wales, but patriotically preferred to build it in France. He patriotically migrated to Monaco so he doesn’t pay too much tax in the country that generated that wealth. But his views on what matters in the UK hit the headlines.
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Adam_Y @modernistpunk.com · 19/09/2026
My liege...
A screen grab of the BBC with the subtitles "the duke and duchess of sausage" and a picture of harry and Megan.
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Nick from Toy-Fu @toyfu332.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Ian Hislop from @privateeyenews.bsky.social pointed out that during WW2 the RNLI rescued German and Italian crews, because their remit is the preservation of human life. They rescued people who were actively at war with our country, and they didn't face this level of hostility. This shit must stop!
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Anon Opin @anonopin.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Social media has been awash with right-wing bots for a decade+. It's never left-wing bots. Bots made Brexit happen, got Trump elected, and Farage noticed. No-one has investigated who is paying for them. Social Media platforms don't want to admit half their active users are fake.
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Alan McNally @alanmcn1.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
F. U. C. K. W. I. T.
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Viz Comic @vizcomic.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
subscriptions >>> shop.viz.co.uk/viz358bs
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Jesse Shapiro @bjesseshapiro.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
French TGV 🚆 folks are heroes. After delays caused by the Deutchbahn, the heroic and classy French have rebooked me in 1st class so I can (hopefully) make it home tonight. Merci ! 🇫🇷 🫡
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Dave Baltrus 🦦 @surtlab.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Listening to a podcast yesterday where one of the positive takeaways about AI is that “maybe with AI we could learn how to stop the next pandemic” and…. The answer is masks and social distancing and mRNA vaccines. You don’t need AI to tell you that, you just need people to empathize
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Thibaut Brunet @thibautbrunet.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
It had been theoretically predicted that the expansion of the Nature family of journals would inevitably lead to oxymoronic titles in the long run if left unchecked. This prediction has just been experimentally confirmed
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MadScientist @mads100tist.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
You know what's also interactive? Reading the paper. Talk to your colleagues about the paper you just read. Tell them why you loved it. Tell them why you hated it. And even better: invite the authors to talk about their paper 🧪
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David Cleary @bacterioskeptic.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Senior Bioinformatician role at UKHSA Porton tinyurl.com/vwfpza8a
tinyurl.com
Senior Bioinformatician at UK Health Security Agency — Porton, England, United Kingdom | LinkedIn Jobs
Apply for Senior Bioinformatician at UK Health Security Agency in Porton, England, United Kingdom. Full-time Mid-Senior level role. See responsibilities, qualifications, and similar jobs on LinkedIn.
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Alan McNally @alanmcn1.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
I just love this www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formul...
bbc.co.uk
Max vs 100: Verstappen overtakes 100 amateur karters in just 14 laps
Four-time F1 world champion Max Verstappen passes 100 amateur drivers in just 14 laps in an exhibition go-kart race at Silverstone.
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Lizzie Dearden @lizziedearden.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
While Piddington dominates the news, at Leicester Crown Court this man was sentenced today Ivan Jennings, a former Conservative councillor, called for terror attacks on small boat migrants and Muslims and shared target ideas, telling fellow white supremacists to kill as many “subhumans” as possible
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Vaughn Cooper @vscooper.micropopbio.org · 16/09/2026
Authors!🚨 While you scramble for scarce $ 🤔 “Springer Nature reports revenue growth of 6.2%..and adjusted operating profit growth of 7.7%. They reported even more stunning submission growth of 30% and published article growth of 13%.” Publishing in society journals helps YOU not them👇🏻. Pass it on.
static.klipy.com
Man Lying on a Pile of Money
ALT: Man Lying on a Pile of Money
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Mr Socko @laotianrockrat.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Ed Sheeran's agent: Ok fuck me that was a wild few days. Still we should be over the worst of it now...
Twitter post by that cunt Stephen Yaxley-Lennon expressing solidarity with Ed Sheeran (not reposting the exact text because fuck whatever he has to say)
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Claus Wilke @clauswilke.com · 16/09/2026
Honestly I'm so confused about how things now work at eLife I'm not even considering them anymore as an option. Never underestimate customer confusion as a reason for a failing business model.
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Ian Martin @ianmartin.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Going to put the theory of cosmic manifestation to the test tonight by putting a note under my pillow saying "please make Trump burst". If he remains unburst this time tomorrow, cosmic manifestation is bollocks, I'll move on to pagan curse.
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Alan McNally @alanmcn1.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Paid up and Registered for @microbiologysociety.org 2027 annual meeting in Birmingham. I am obviously biased but a good looking program with interest for everyone.
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Julian Parkhill @julianparkhill.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
This will be an amazing opportunity for the right person. The Department of Veterinary Medicine in Cambridge is recruiting for an established chair who will also be our Head of Department. Your research can be in any area of veterinary science. Please circulate. www.cam.ac.uk/jobs/profess...
cam.ac.uk
Professorship of Veterinary Science
The Board of Electors to the Professorship of Veterinary Science invite applications for this Professorship from persons whose work is connected with veterinary science (ideally in research aligned wi...
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Onisillos @onisillos.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
"Most researchers who study the issue now consider there to be only two domains of life on the planet; eukaryotes are but a branch of archaea and everything else is bacteria." www.nature.com/articles/d41...
nature.com
These bizarre, much-coveted microbes are revealing the origins of complex life
Researchers are racing to culture a menagerie of exotic organisms and finding lots of surprises along the way.
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Microbiology Society @microbiologysociety.org · 16/09/2026
Save the date! Annual Conference 2027 will take place 12–15 April 2027 at ICC Birmingham. Registration is now open, find out more and register: microb.io/Microbio27Register #Microbio27 ✍️
Group of young professionals sitting around a table, promoting registration for the 2027 Annual Conference focused on microbiology networking and research.
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Anon Opin @anonopin.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
I agree that Nige needs better state protection. Let's go all out on that, witness protection level: a new name; a secret location, ideally abroad; daylight curfew; no online presence. That ought to be the right level of safe, for him and us
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SlenderSherbet @slendersherbet.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
When someone tells you something for the fifth time and you still don't get it.
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Ursula Hofer @hoferu.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Personal note: UK Lancet editors are taking part in industrial action. I am working to rule atm, only contracted hours. I'm very sorry if there are any delays! Cat, in support, not working at all (as always). Maybe I should join the cat union...
Fluffy tabby cat in shrimp position, sleeping on a bed, covering his eyes with one paw
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Alan McNally @alanmcn1.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
Dementia is the most brutal of things.
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Alan McNally @alanmcn1.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
NFL Sunday!!!!!!!!!!
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NewsThump @newsthump.com · 13/09/2026
NEWS! Anthropic boss to slow down AI development after naked Austrian man steals his clothes, his boots and his motorcycle buff.ly/ZRDzWt5
newsthump.com
Anthropic boss to slow down AI development after naked Austrian man steals his clothes, his boots and his motorcycle
Anthropic boss Dario Amodei has called for a slower pace in the development of artificial intelligence after a naked man with an Austrian accent stole his clothes, his boots and his motorcycle.
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Damian Shields @damianshields.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
The old Craignish pier and waiting room #Craignish #Ardfern #Argyll #Scotland www.damianshields.com
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Tom Roberts @tpgroberts.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
Unusual remark for an orange man
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Alexis Stamatakis @stamatak.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
The RAxML-NG v2.0 preprint is out: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... v2.0 features integrated model testing, fast branch support metrics, automatic parallelization, phylogenetic difficulty prediction, genotype evolution models, to name but the most important features. And it is A LOT FASTER of course
biorxiv.org
RAxML-NG 2: Automatic model selection, novel tree search heuristics, and fast branch support metrics
RAxML-NG is a widely used tool for maximum likelihood based phylogenetic inference. In the seven years since the last RAxML-NG publication, we have continuously improved and extended the code. Here, w...
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