Reposted by fairfaxlabPwnallthethings @pwnallthethings.bsky.social · 05/09/2026T.Rexes are closer in time to smartphones than to Stegosaurus 441651
Reposted by fairfaxlabPwnallthethings @pwnallthethings.bsky.social · 05/09/2026Andromeda is so far away that every photon we see of it left Andromeda before humans existed 530016
Reposted by fairfaxlabPwnallthethings @pwnallthethings.bsky.social · 05/09/2026The Appalachian mountains are older than the North Star 649746
Reposted by fairfaxlabPwnallthethings @pwnallthethings.bsky.social · 05/09/2026Sharks have been around so long than the Sun was whole percentage points less bright when they evolved 648517
Reposted by fairfaxlabPwnallthethings @pwnallthethings.bsky.social · 05/09/2026Sharks have been on Earth for longer than Saturn has had rings 575167
Reposted by fairfaxlabBrent Toderian @brenttoderian.bsky.social · 29/08/2026“Dutch people cycle an average of 2.6km each per day. If this pattern was replicated worldwide, annual carbon emissions would drop by 686 million tonnes. This mammoth figure exceeds the entire carbon footprint of most countries, including the UK, Canada, Saudi Arabia and Australia.” @euronews.comeuronews.comCycling like the Dutch would slash the world’s carbon footprintIf everybody cycled like the Dutch, we could offset the UK or Australia’s entire carbon footprint. 741775695
Reposted by fairfaxlabScience Magazine @science.org · 13/04/2026Scientists uncover pre-treatment signatures in monocytes, myeloid cells, and T cells that predict corticosteroid resistance in patients with acute GVHD, hinting steroid resistance is an intrinsic property of immune cells. #ScienceTranslationalMedicine scim.ag/4t6Y4ar scim.agCorticosteroid resistance is predetermined by early immune response dynamics at acute graft-versus-host disease onsetSteroid-resistant acute graft-versus-host disease is set at disease onset and leads to distinct cell-to-cell cross-talk and immune trajectories. 0283
Reposted by fairfaxlabPeter MacCallum Cancer Centre @petermaccc.bsky.social · 31/03/2026Huge congrats to Professor @loisher.bsky.social who was awarded the @nhmrc.bsky.social Elizabeth Blackburn Award - recognising the nation’s top-ranked Investigator Grant application - her work securing $2.9M to advance immunotherapy in breast cancer. More: www.petermac.org/about-us/new... 062
Reposted by fairfaxlabEileen Parkes @eileenparkes.bsky.social · 05/01/2026Parkes lab pre-print alert! ‘TMEM33 deletion potentiates anti-tumor CD8⁺ T cell immunity.’ Led by mtjackson101.bsky.social. Full bluetutorial follows! 1/10 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... 12310
Reposted by fairfaxlabHunter Shain @shainlab.bsky.social · 13/12/2025Proud to share our new paper in Science Advances. We show that indoor tanning beds cause widespread mutational damage across the skin to increase melanoma risk, especially in body sites that rarely see sunlight. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... #Melanoma #SkinCancerscience.orgMolecular effects of indoor tanningThe skin cells of tanning bed users have distinct mutational features as compared to people who only experience natural sunlight. 1103
fairfaxlab @bpfairfax.bsky.social · 13/12/2025There was something different about patients receiving treatment for cancer in the pandemic. Less treatment was given, so it may have been restricted the fittest/ those who would most benefit. This may explain the Covid vaccine enhancement of ICB recently reported. www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1...medrxiv.orgDeconvolving SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccine impact on immunotherapy-related survival in a pandemicReal-world data suggest that SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccines, administered within 100 days of immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) treatment (“peri-ICI vaccination”), may improve ICI effectiveness, potentially ... 022
Reposted by fairfaxlabSimon Richardson @simonrichardson.bsky.social · 24/11/2025Brian Huntly and I are looking to recruit a postdoc to investigate a promising novel therapeutic target in B-ALL @scicambridge.bsky.social. This new CRUK-funded project will involve collaboration with Prof Sir Steve Jackson's group @cruk-ci.bsky.social and the CRUK Functional Genomics centre.cam.ac.ukResearch Associate (Huntly Lab - Fixed Term)We are seeking a postdoctoral Research Associate to work on an exciting new multi-disciplinary project studying B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (B-ALL). The project is a collaboration between Dr 068
Reposted by fairfaxlabMark Chadbourn @chadbourn.bsky.social · 16/11/2025The murder rate in London is now the lowest in decades, perhaps centuries. (The Times) 29755265
Reposted by fairfaxlabSimon Fisher @profsimonfisher.bsky.social · 13/11/2025“Critically assessing the literature, we found it beset by conceptual & methodological flaws & limitations, undermining claims that the gut microbiome is causally involved in etiology/pathophysiology of autism” Crucial PSA from @wiringthebrain.bsky.social @statsepi.bsky.social @deevybee.bsky.social🧪cell.comConceptual and methodological flaws undermine claims of a link between the gut microbiome and autismClaims that the gut microbiome causally contributes to autism regularly appear in the scientific literature and popular press. Mitchell et al. critically examine influential studies underpinning these... 12813
Reposted by fairfaxlabMRC Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine @imm.ox.ac.uk · 13/11/2025#WIMMReads: New @nature.com study, led by the Simmons & Antanaviciute Groups, used advanced single-cell and spatial analysis techniques to map the cells that drive #Crohn's fistulas - paving the way for targeted treatments 🧪 Learn more 👇 @rdm.ox.ac.uk @medsci.ox.ac.uk @ox.ac.ukimm.ox.ac.ukOxford scientists map the cells that drive Crohn’s disease fistulasResearchers at the MRC Translational Immune Discovery Unit have identified how rare populations of abnormal cells drive the formation and persistence of fistulas - painful, tunnel-like tracts that dev... 145
fairfaxlab @bpfairfax.bsky.social · 09/11/2025This is a very interesting study that implicates CMV seropositivity with enhanced spike-specific T cell immunity post covid vaccination. www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1...medrxiv.orgImpact of CMV Infection and Cancer Treatment on Vaccine Efficacy in Oncology PatientsCytomegalovirus (CMV) infection leaves lasting effects on the immune system, particularly shaping T-cell populations. In patients with advanced cancer, persistent CMV exposure may influence vaccine re... 031
Reposted by fairfaxlabMRC Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine @imm.ox.ac.uk · 06/11/2025#WIMMReads: Oxford scientists, led by James Davies at the MRC WIMM, have captured the genome’s structure in unprecedented detail. 🧪 Read the full story below 👇 @ox.ac.uk @davieslab.bsky.social @jojdavies.bsky.social @medsci.ox.ac.uk 2133
fairfaxlab @bpfairfax.bsky.social · 06/11/2025Great to see our review of the immunomodulatory role of cytomegalovirus and the relationship with cancer and immune checkpoint blockade treatment published as an open access article in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society: royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...royalsocietypublishing.orgThe immunomodulatory role of human cytomegalovirus in cancer in the era of checkpoint immunotherapy | Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological SciencesThis review discusses the role of chronic human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) infection in patients receiving immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) treatment against different malignancies, with an especial focus on malignant melanoma. We briefly outline the impact ... 162
fairfaxlab @bpfairfax.bsky.social · 04/11/2025www.science.org/doi/abs/10.1...science.orgComprehensive analysis of microbial content in whole-genome sequencing samples from The Cancer Genome Atlas projectAn analysis of TCGA whole-genome sequencing samples yields a comprehensive resource for investigating the role of microbes in cancer. 000
Reposted by fairfaxlabHatem Abouguendia @hatem-abouguendia.bsky.social · 23/04/2025CMV co-evolved with human. It is a master regulator of immunity and knows about our biology more than we do. 031
Reposted by fairfaxlabSarah Briggs @sarahbriggs.bsky.social · 24/04/2025Super paper from some super talented colleagues… CMV positivity related to better outcomes and lower toxicity with PD1 blockade, and potential protection from MM development. Lots of interesting avenues to follow and very relevant to treatment stratification 👏 053
Reposted by fairfaxlabPauline Funchain @funchainmd.bsky.social · 24/04/2025Related to lively discussion @brownmedicine.bsky.social this morning about the interplay of environment, genetics and immunotherapy - here CMV seropositivity associated with much lower G3 toxicity of colon, lung, muscle, higher in skin. Very intriguing irAE data from @bpfairfax.bsky.social 🤓 041
Reposted by fairfaxlabMRC Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine @imm.ox.ac.uk · 30/10/2025#WIMMReads Fairfax Group ( @bpfairfax.bsky.social ) map how genetic variation shapes monocyte gene expression and splicing across immune contexts 🧪 Read more 👇 doi.org/10.1038/s414... #Genomics #Immunology #Transcriptomicsdoi.orgGenetic determinants of monocyte splicing are enriched for disease susceptibility loci - Nature CommunicationsOur understanding of variation in monocyte context-specific splicing and transcript usage is limited. Here, the authors find genetic variants that affect gene splicing in monocytes in specific co... 165
Reposted by fairfaxlabNIHR Biomedical Research Centre: Oxford @oxfordbrc.bsky.social · 06/10/2025Why are more younger adults having strokes? Come along to our next free public talk on Tues 4 Nov 6pm to hear researcher Linxin Li discuss what is driving the recent increase and how we tackle it oxfordbrc.nihr.ac.uk/brc-event/fr... @ouhospitals.bsky.social @medsci.ox.ac.uk @ndcnoxford.bsky.socialoxfordbrc.nihr.ac.ukFREE Public Talk – Why are more younger people having strokes? | NIHR Oxford Biomedical Research Centre 013
Reposted by fairfaxlabSimon Buczacki @sibucz.bsky.social · 06/10/2025New CRUK Post-doc position in our group. #mutationalorder #multiomics #cancer. my.corehr.com/pls/uoxrecru...my.corehr.comJob Details 046
fairfaxlab @bpfairfax.bsky.social · 05/10/2025Interesting paper from Becki Lee and colleagues: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...biorxiv.orgSplenic granulopoiesis and S100A9 drive resistance to checkpoint inhibitors conferred by liver metastasesHere, we investigate why liver metastases reduce the efficacy of immune checkpoint inhibitors (CPI). The poor prognosis of patients with liver metastases is associated with a systemic increase in neut... 000
Reposted by fairfaxlabUniversity of Oxford Department of Oncology @oncology.ox.ac.uk · 03/10/2025New findings in @natcomms.nature.com demonstrate the impact of allelic variation on monocyte context-specific splicing. @bpfairfax.bsky.social & colleagues show that many risk polymorphisms lead to differential gene splicing. ➡️Reveals putative mechanisms of diverse disease risk alleles inc. cancernature.comGenetic determinants of monocyte splicing are enriched for disease susceptibility loci - Nature CommunicationsOur understanding of variation in monocyte context-specific splicing and transcript usage is limited. Here, the authors find genetic variants that affect gene splicing in monocytes in specific contexts, including several diseases, and in response to stimulants. 052
Reposted by fairfaxlabJulius Brennecke @juliusbrennecke.bsky.social · 17/09/2025PIWI clade Argonautes are essential for transposon silencing. Without them, animals are sterile due to massive transposon activity. But how does piRNA-guided target interaction translate into silencing? PhD student Júlia Portell Montserrat has an intriguing answer www.cell.com/molecular-ce... 28941
Reposted by fairfaxlabYang Luo @y-luo.bsky.social · 28/07/2025 📣First paper from the lab is out in @science.org! 📣https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adu3461 It’s well known that HLA shapes the TCR repertoire — but how does this change under immune checkpoint blockade (ICB)?science.orgDefining the genetic determinants of CD8+ T cell receptor repertoire in the context of immune checkpoint blockadeImmune checkpoint blockade influences the genetically determined relationship between TCR repertoire and HLA alleles in cancer. 44111
Reposted by fairfaxlabEvgeny Kvon @evgenykvon.bsky.social · 02/07/2025Our paper describing the Range Extender element which is required and sufficient for long-range enhancer activation at the Shh locus is now available at @nature.com. Congrats to @gracebower.bsky.social who led the study. Below is a brief summary of the main findings www.nature.com/articles/s41... 1/nature.comRange extender mediates long-distance enhancer activity - NatureThe REX element is associated with long-range enhancer–promoter interactions. 1018791
Reposted by fairfaxlabNick Kapur @nickkapur.bsky.social · 02/07/2025It's hard to avoid recalling this passage from the English historian Tony Judt: 5331631050
Reposted by fairfaxlabEric Topol @erictopol.bsky.social · 02/07/2025"The diminution and marginalization of science are thus central parts of the erosion of democracy itself." www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...science.orgWill we habituate to the decline of democracy?The recent attack on science in the US is not only undermining knowledge; it is also undermining democracy. In a healthy democracy, public policy is guided by evidence, and truth is the shared foundat... 119563
Reposted by fairfaxlabmax tani @maxtani.bsky.social · 25/06/2025amazing q&a with paul krugman 1524477842
Reposted by fairfaxlabPetter Brodin @petterbrodin.bsky.social · 25/06/2025No evidence for neutralizing IL1RN autoantibodies in our cohorts of MIS-C, SARS-CoV2 pneumonia or vaccine-induced myocarditis. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... Great work by Anish Behere in Nils Landegren lab, Uppsala universityonlinelibrary.wiley.comEvaluating IL1RA‐Autoantibodies Across SARS‐CoV‐2‐Related DiseasesClick on the article title to read more. 0185
Reposted by fairfaxlabThe Washington Post @washingtonpost.com · 16/06/2025Black people who are diagnosed with melanoma are about five times as likely as White people to die within five years. Find out how and where to look for the disease.washingtonpost.comToo often, Black patients get late diagnoses of deadly skin cancerFor Black people, surviving skin cancer begins with knowing what to look for — and where to look. 1214948
Reposted by fairfaxlabMike Inouye @mikeinouye.bsky.social · 16/06/2025Your Brain on ChatGPT: Accumulation of Cognitive Debt when Using an AI Assistant for Essay Writing Task arxiv.org/abs/2506.08872 h\t @gmeric.bsky.social 163
Reposted by fairfaxlabSimon Richardson @simonrichardson.bsky.social · 20/05/2025Delighted that our work describing a potential novel treatment approach for B-cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia is published today in @natcomms.nature.com. 🧵 www.nature.com/articles/s41...nature.comCREBBP inactivation sensitizes B cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia to ferroptotic cell death upon BCL2 inhibition - Nature CommunicationsCREBBP mutations in B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL) are linked to poor prognosis and chemoresistance. Here, the authors show that genetic or pharmacological inactivation of CREBBP sensitiz... 3209
Reposted by fairfaxlabPradeep Natarajan @pnatarajanmd.bsky.social · 23/04/2025Very excited to share our preprint led by M. Levin @skoyama.bsky.social J. Woerner & with S. Damrauer assessing genome-wide pleiotropy of >1,000 clinical traits across ~1.7M individuals with nearly 30K locus-trait associations! www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1... @medrxivpreprint.bsky.social 34427
Reposted by fairfaxlabVijay G. Sankaran @bloodgenes.bsky.social · 04/06/2025Delighted to have our work on Polygenic Modifiers of #TelomereBiologyDisorders, led by Michael Poeschla, @sashagusevposts.bsky.social, @mitchiela.bsky.social, @sharonsavage.bsky.social, @tummalalab.bsky.social, + co, published in @jclinical-invest.bsky.social today: www.jci.org/articles/vie... 13212
Reposted by fairfaxlabMike Inouye @mikeinouye.bsky.social · 07/05/2025📣📣 Thrilled to see this cool work finally out in the wild! "Genome-wide analyses of variance in blood cell phenotypes provide new insights into complex trait biology & prediction" www.nature.com/articles/s41... Loads of cool findings including MR for alcohol usage -> increased variance in BC traits 03114
Reposted by fairfaxlabBen Goldacre @bengoldacre.bsky.social · 07/05/2025The amount of single use plastic passing through my house is insane. It's mostly food. I don't know how we all got used to this, and fighting it alone seems pointless. We fritter the years away, in politics world, on just getting by. I'd love to see big energetic policy moves to fix big things well. 1015123
Reposted by fairfaxlabWillem van Schaik @wvschaik.bsky.social · 06/05/2025'Of course Britain could restrict international student numbers. We could halve the number, and make ourselves £10bn poorer every year, concentrated in Labour held seats.' timleunig.substack.com/p/internatio...timleunig.substack.comInternational university studentsLet’s not shoot ourselves in the foot again. 043
Reposted by fairfaxlabSimon Fisher @profsimonfisher.bsky.social · 02/05/2025Remember when you first learned about genetics at school? All those fascinating examples of human traits that are each apparently determined by just a single gene? Time to check in on some of your favourites to see how they’re doing. 🧬🧵🧪 1/n 521343621
Reposted by fairfaxlabSimon Fisher @profsimonfisher.bsky.social · 02/05/2025I could go on with more examples but instead here’s a message to take home. If you’re curious how your genome helps make you unique, don’t expect neat & tidy answers. Indeed, the richness of this tapestry is one of the reasons why human genetics is such a dynamic & exciting field of science. 11/n 🧬🧪 1231537
Reposted by fairfaxlabUlrike Harjes @ulrikeharjes.bsky.social · 05/05/2025To celebrate our 30th anniversary, Nature Medicine has commissioned 'Turning points' articles, in which researchers discuss the impact of their scientific discovery that was published around 30 yrs ago. Read this one: PD-L1 and the dawn of modern cancer immunotherapy www.nature.com/articles/s41...nature.comPD-L1 and the dawn of modern cancer immunotherapy - Nature MedicineLieping Chen describes how his discoveries with PD-L1 yielded life-saving treatments for several cancers. 051
Reposted by fairfaxlabDr. Glaucomflecken @glaucomflecken.bsky.social · 05/05/2025Just passing along some friendly advice on how to approach potential changes to the Australian health care system @drruthmitchell.bsky.social 9987522102
Reposted by fairfaxlabSaganism @sagan.bsky.social · 01/05/202540 Years ago Carl Sagan knew about Climate change and he was so aware of it's impact on Nature more than us we do right now. 348123783004
Reposted by fairfaxlabPaul Pharoah @paulpharoah.bsky.social · 29/04/2025I've commented on this before. There's been a lot of interest in the rising incidence of colo-rectal cancer in young adults in many countries. This figure is a plot of incidence and mortality rates in England over time relative to a baseline rate in 1974. I last showed it with data to 2021. 1/n 1157
Reposted by fairfaxlabPaul Pharoah @paulpharoah.bsky.social · 29/04/2025... cause that became more prevalent and is now waning. Infection seems to be a good candidate for something that changes over time in this way. Colibactin producing E Coli one possibility. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40267983/ 3/3pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.govGeographic and age variations in mutational processes in colorectal cancer - PubMedColorectal cancer incidence rates vary geographically and have changed over time<sup>1</sup>. Notably, in the past two decades, the incidence of early-onset colorectal cancer, affecting individuals un... 131
Reposted by fairfaxlabEric Topol @erictopol.bsky.social · 30/04/2025To restore the gut microbiome after antibiotics, the right diet (rich in carbohydrates, low in fat) was a better approach than fecal microbial transplants (in the experimental model) www.nature.com/articles/s41... www.nature.com/articles/d41...nature.comDiet outperforms microbial transplant to drive microbiome recovery in mice - NatureExperiments in mouse models show that proper recovery of the intestinal microbiota following depletion, with or without faecal microbiota transplant therapy, is dependent on syntrophic interactions th... 630171