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David Sünderhauf

@davvi36.bsky.social
1.2K followers 746 following 164 posts

Microbiologist at the University of Exeter: AMR🧫 | Loves plasmids & MGEs | Green Councillor on Truro City Council 🌿 | Would love to do more sci-comm in Cornwall 〓〓 | he/him Promoted by David Sünderhauf (Green Party), at 17 Great George St, Bristol BS1 5

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Reposted by David Sünderhauf
Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · 27/09/2026
Four days ago, a scientist was surprised by the news that Anthropic discovered new virus genes for making DNA. He says he’s been studying them for years—and feeding his data to Anthropic’s AI as part of his own research. Coincidence? Here’s my story. nyti.ms/3VSWayc
nyti.ms
Did Anthropic’s A.I. Really Make a Scientific Discovery on Its Own? (Gift Article)
An expert at the University of Copenhagen said his team had been sharing its research with the company’s A.I. model, Claude, and that its new finding matched their work.
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David Sünderhauf @davvi36.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Super cool to finally see this out. Check out Anna's preprint for a PAO1 isolation host stripped of defence systems and prophage 👇🏻 Congrats all! 🥳
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Thomas Ipoutcha @tomipou.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Finally out! 🎉 After 3 years of postdoc in London, here is my main work, now published in Nature Comm. (and as co-corresponding author!) Using a combination of bioinformatic and experimental approaches, we propose a model of plasmid evolution in Staphylococcus. www.nature.com/articles/s41... ⬇️ 1/4
nature.com
Mobile genetic elements drive a plasmid fusion and deletion lifecycle shaping evolution and antimicrobial resistance - Nature Communications
Plasmids drive bacterial adaptation, but how their diversity arises has remained unclear. Here, they show that in Staphylococcus aureus, mobile genetic elements repeatedly fuse and delete plasmids, re...
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David Sünderhauf @davvi36.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Have a look at Clàudia's first paper below! 👇🏻🥳 She realised some things weren't adding up when amplifying IS26-containing regions, and far too many PCRs later here we are.... DNA containing IS26 actually recombines in vitro, in the PCR tube! 🤯
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Clàudia Morros Bernaus @claudiamb98.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Very happy to share the publication of the first manuscript from my PhD! 🥳 Here, we show that PCR amplification of repetitive DNA sequences, such as AMR genes flanked by insertion sequences, can lead to the generation of artefact products that need to be interpreted cautiously. (See comments 👇)
microbiologyresearch.org
PCR analysis of insertion sequences leads to the generation of artefact amplicons
Insertion sequences (ISs) are small, self-mobilizing DNA elements widespread across prokaryotic genomes, including chromosomes and plasmids. IS elements frequently co-localize with antimicrobial resis...
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Ellinor Alseth @ellinoralseth.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
What a Friday, finally seeing this published in @cp-trendsmicrobiol.bsky.social! We hope this will be of interest to anyone working in the bacterial immune system field (or microbiology in general), and who wants an evolutionary take on it 🦠🧫 Open Access link: authors.elsevier.com/a/1nllx,L%7E...
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Meaghan Castledine @mcastd.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
🦠Fully funded PhD project with myself, Angus Buckling, Jo Lello and Phil Mitchelmore🦠 How should we design phage therapeutics for bacterial co-infections? How do interactions between pathogens affect treatment efficacy? Please get in touch if you have any Qs 💃 shorturl.at/39Xea
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David Sünderhauf @davvi36.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Please share! We are looking for a PhD student excited about gene transfer, and tackling Antimicrobial Resistance in Klebsiella pneumoniae. 🧬 More details & applications on funder website by 21st Oct 👇🏻 gw4biomed.ac.uk/developing-c...
gw4biomed.ac.uk
Developing CRISPR-Cas antimicrobials to tackle antibiotic resistance spread in Klebsiella pneumoniae - GW4 BioMed MRC DTP
Project Code IIAR27Ex van Houte Project Type Wet lab Research Theme Infection, Immunity, and Antimicrobial Resistance Project Summary Download Summary Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) poses a major thre...
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Will Matlock @wtmatlock.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Does an AMR gene on a plasmid diversify differently to an AMR gene on a chromosome? We are looking for a PhD student to work on this question in Bath!
gw4biomed.ac.uk
Turning up the volume: plasmid copy number and gene duplications as drivers of antimicrobial resistance evolution - GW4 BioMed MRC DTP
Project Code IIAR27Ba Matlock Project Type Wet lab Research Theme Infection, Immunity, and Antimicrobial Resistance Project Summary Download Summary Plasmids are important drivers of antimicrobial res...
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MichaelMcMurray lab @mcmurraylab.bsky.social · 22/04/2026
Doing the periodic cleaning of used plasmid miniprep columns and realized in honor of Earth Day it may be worth reminding you molecular biologists: Plasmid miniprep columns can be cleaned and reused essentially indefinitely! Just add 1 M HCl, soak overnight and wash 3x w/ water. Save $ and plastic
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David Sünderhauf @davvi36.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Presentation done ✔️ It's already been so nice to catch up with everyone, now for 3 1/2 more days of packed programme! @plasmidsociety.bsky.social #ISPB #ISPB2026
Me at the end of my presentation
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David Sünderhauf @davvi36.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
This next week of Plasmids in Berlin is going to be fun! @plasmidsociety.bsky.social #ISPB #ISPB2026
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David Sünderhauf @davvi36.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
This is such a key concept for an integrated, multilayered prokaryotic immune response 👇🏻
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Rafael Pinilla-Redondo (Rafa) @rafomics.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
1/4 Every good defence needs a backup! 🛡️⚔ Out now in @natrevmicro.nature.com our Comment on "𝗶𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗲 𝘀𝗮𝗳𝗲𝗴𝘂𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴"! 🎉 🔗 www.nature.com/articles/s41...
nature.com
Immune safeguarding as a conserved principle of antiviral defence - Nature Reviews Microbiology
All organisms defend against viral infections through active immunity mechanisms that clear the virus or population-level mechanisms that cause regulated cell death. Recent research increasingly shows...
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Britt Koskella @bkoskella.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
Postdocs and early career folks - this is a truly wonderful opportunity to spend time in Berlin, gain time to think, and expand your network! call.wiko-berlin.de/procedure/65...
call.wiko-berlin.de
Wiko Application Platform
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David Sünderhauf @davvi36.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
A pleasure to be in York for the 4th UK MGE workshop - very excited for two days of fun talks 😊
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David Sünderhauf @davvi36.bsky.social · 02/06/2026
I didn't really care about turning 30, but turns out nothing is as humbling as buying my last-ever Railcard the day before my 31st birthday.
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Paloma Rodera @palomarodera.bsky.social · 19/05/2026
New paper out! 🔈 Genomic Characterization of the RyC collection: 50 Multidrug Resistant Clinical Isolates of Escherichia coli and Klebsiella spp. 50 MDR gut isolates, 2 sequencing platforms, 4 “omes,” and 1 mission: provide a resource to decode AMR and MGE dynamics www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
biorxiv.org
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David Sünderhauf @davvi36.bsky.social · 13/05/2026
I also often think "hang on, is this defence system actually there for phage defence?" Great work both!
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Fabienne Benz @fabbenz.bsky.social · 12/05/2026
I’ve started my SNSF Ambizione Group Leader position at the University of Zurich 🧬 We will study plasmid evolution, plasmid interactions, and CRISPR-Cas systems to better understand antibiotic resistance spread. Very grateful to everyone who supported me along the way.
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Plasmid Society @plasmidsociety.bsky.social · 24/04/2026
Today Is the deadline for abstract submissions ‼️
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David Sünderhauf @davvi36.bsky.social · 08/04/2026
A fun manuscript which came out as a preprint around the same time as I published my own preprint on CRISPR-Cas - TA plasmid interactions, using the same model plasmid RP4! I loved seeing these single-cell expts which matched up with my observations. Congrats to all involved on getting this out!
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Tominaga K. (tomiken) @pacyc184.bsky.social · 08/04/2026
Molecular kinetics dictate population dynamics in CRISPR-based plasmid defense | PNAS www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.25254…
pnas.org
Molecular kinetics dictate population dynamics in CRISPR-based plasmid defense | PNAS
Understanding and manipulating the spread of mobile genetic elements represents a great challenge with potential benefits across synthetic biology,...
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Tatiana Dimitriu @tatianadimitriu.bsky.social · 02/04/2026
And the preprint is out! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... We compared plasmid conjugation in liquid and on solid across 13 AMR plasmids with different types of conjugative pili.
biorxiv.org
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Rachel M. Wheatley @rachelmwheatley.bsky.social · 30/03/2026
🔊 Looking for a Research Assistant in Bacterial Evolution to join my lab 🦠 🥼Main duties: Research (AMR + microbiome) + lab assistance. ⏲️ Post duration: 30 months 🗓️ Closing date for applications: 20th April 2026 💰 Salary: ~£35k Details and how to apply: tinyurl.com/2a3v66y7 Please share!
lnkd.in
LinkedIn
This link will take you to a page that’s not on LinkedIn
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David Sünderhauf @davvi36.bsky.social · 30/03/2026
This, and the scene where he touches his face *while wearing gloves* really ruins the rewatchability for me.
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Simon Fisher @profsimonfisher.bsky.social · 29/03/2026
Project Hail Mary is a beautiful brilliant film. But molecular biologists be warned there's a deeply disturbing scene midway through when Ryan Gosling's scientist places two eppendorfs directly next to each other in an otherwise empty unbalanced microcentrifuge & sets it spinning with wild abandon.
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Olaya Rendueles @olayarendueles.bsky.social · 26/03/2026
So happy to see this finally published in @plosbiology.org! This is the first chapter of @julielebris.bsky.social PhD thesis demonstrating how capsules are exchanged by plug-and-play dynamics w/ @epcrocha.bsky.social #microsky @klebclub.bsky.social Link below- Check out her 🧵 for more details!
doi.org
Plug-and-play evolution of the Klebsiella pneumoniae capsule locus enables serotype exchange across genetic backgrounds
How complex multi-gene systems evolve across genetic backgrounds without disruptive epistasis remains unclear, particularly in highly exchangeable loci such as the capsule of Klebsiella pneumoniae. Th...
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Joseph Guhlin @josephguhlin.bsky.social · 24/03/2026
Coconuts
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MGE Workshop @mgeworkshop.bsky.social · 20/03/2026
It is a pleasure to announce the 4th UK MGE workshop will be in York on 23rd-24th June 2026! Registration is free and we are actively looking for contributors. Interested? If so, please register via the website and select the talk option www.ukmgeworkshop.org We look forward to seeing you in York!
ukmgeworkshop.org
MGE-UK-4
We are thrilled to invite you to the fourth edition of the MGE UK Workshop, hosted this year in the historic City of York. Mobile Genetic Elements (MGEs) are the ultimate architects of biology. MGEs i...
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David Sünderhauf @davvi36.bsky.social · 18/03/2026
inspired by this morning's inbox
meme saying "got an invitation to submit to an actually relevant journal". unfortunately "it's mdpi"
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Jorge Sastre Domínguez @jorgesastred.bsky.social · 13/03/2026
Glad to see our latest work out in Nature Microbiology!! Extremely grateful to everyone involved in the project. Check it out!! 👇🏻👇🏻
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Alvaro San Millan @sanmillan.bsky.social · 13/03/2026
Final version of our last paper is out! www.nature.com/articles/s41...
nature.com
Plasmids promote antimicrobial resistance through insertion sequence-mediated gene inactivation - Nature Microbiology
Inactivation of chromosomal genes through plasmid-encoded IS elements is an extended mechanism of antimicrobial resistance evolution in bacteria.
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Zack Polanski @zackpolanski.bsky.social · 05/03/2026
Dear Shabana, Let's clear some things up around migration and remember we're talking about people's lives.
Dear Shabana,
I notice today that you referred to me in your speech on immigration at the IPPR think tank.
You said: “A party leader should not be on the beaches of France encouraging people to
make a perilous crossing on small boats.”
I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised especially after the hateful Labour campaign in Gorton
and Denton, but this is just the latest in a string of lies peddled by a discredited Government
who intentionally fan the flames of racism and division.
When I went to Calais, I was not there to encourage people to travel to the UK. I was there
to see at first hand the suffering your Government and successive Governments have done
in demonising migrants in a pathetic bid to pander to the base instincts of Reform and the
flawed strategy of Morgan McSweeney.
As you will know, if you even bothered to research my visit instead of taking Reform talking
points, I was there to witness the brutality of families living in tents in freezing temperatures. I
filled water tanks and picked up litter.
What that visit did do is confirm my belief that if we are to smash the boat gangs and stop
the boats, we need to offer safer and managed routes for migrants to come to this country.
Showing compassion as a politician is not a crime. In fact, we need to see much more of it.
It reminded me of a young MP who in October 2015 spent three days in Lesbos helping
migrants fleeing war-torn Syria. She posted videos on X, talked about handing out water and
croissants to refugees and food parcels.
When she returned to the UK, she wrote a very moving piece in the New Statesman. She
said “we have to work with our European partners and create new, safe, and legal routes for
refugees to get to Europe. We cannot abandon them to their fate, left as prey for smugglers
whilst risking death on the seas.”
She said “maybe we can make ourselves feel better by saying no-one is making them get on
the boats. And again, the Home Secretary is not entirely wrong when …
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Jorge Moura de Sousa @jmouradesousa.bsky.social · 02/03/2026
➡️ preprint from the lab! Bacteria have loads of antiviral defences in their mobile genetic elements (MGEs). So when MGEs move between bacteria, the defences move with them, generating a fast turnover of defences in bacteria. But what about the antiviral defence turnover in the MGEs themselves? 🤔 🧵👇
biorxiv.org
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The Green Party of England & Wales @greenparty.org.uk · 01/03/2026
🚨 BREAKING 🚨 The Green Party has over 200,000 members. More members, more councillors, more MPs. The Green Party just keep growing. Join us ⤵️
HOPE IS HERE

200K
GREEN PARTY
MEMBERS

Green Party
Promoted by Chris Williams on behalf of The Green Party, both at PO Box 78066, London SE169GQ
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Anne Chevallereau @annechevallereau.bsky.social · 27/02/2026
📢 Opportunity to apply for a PhD fellowship to join our group and work on MGE-MGE interactions and phage defence systems! @mmsb-lyon.bsky.social See informations about eligibility and research project on this web page: graduate-plus.fr/immunology-v... Contact me if you are interested !
graduate-plus.fr
2026 PhD – bourse d’excellence IVID – Graduate Plus
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Carla Denyer @carladenyer.bsky.social · 27/02/2026
This election was a choice between hope and hate, and the people of Gorton and Denton chose hope 💚 🎉 Huge congratulations to the Honourable Member for Gorton and Denton! And to everyone who helped make this happen 👏 I can't wait to see you on Monday, Hannah, and give you the biggest, proudest hug
Screenshot of bar graph showing election results in Gorton and Denton:
Hannah Spencer (Green): 14,980 
Matt Goodwin (Reform UK): 10,578 
Angliki Stogia (Labour): 9,364 
Charlotte Cadden (Conservative): 706 
Jackie Pearcy (Liberal Democrats): 653

From this article: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cp8rjk02r0jt
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Pedro Dorado-Morales @doradomoralesp.bsky.social · 26/02/2026
New preprint out on bioRxiv! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... Can conjugative plasmids be used to control plasmid and pathogen spread? Follow me down the rabbit hole that led to this story 🧵
biorxiv.org
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Bram van Dijk 🏳️‍🌈 @bramvandijk.bsky.social · 25/02/2026
In case you missed it: our review titled "Spatial structure: shaping the ecology and evolution of microbial communities" is out! 🚨 Let me hit you with some highlights on why spatial structure matters. (and why you should care!) Sharing is appreciated 🙏 🧵👇 doi.org/10.1093/fems...
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David Sünderhauf @davvi36.bsky.social · 23/02/2026
I also decided to give it a go to write this up in a way that's accessible without a strict scientific background: davvi36.wordpress.com/2026/02/20/p...
davvi36.wordpress.com
Plasmid Competition!
This blog post describes my recently published PLOS Biology paper – hopefully in an accessible format. It’s finally out and published in PLOS Biology: CRISPR-Cas is beneficial in plasmi…
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Rafael Pinilla-Redondo (Rafa) @rafomics.bsky.social · 21/02/2026
To CRISPR or not to CRISPR?🥀 That’s a question plasmids face during competition 🧬⚔️ @davvi36.bsky.social et al. shows it depends on whether targeted plasmids have TAs! ⚖️ Fun to be part of this story w/ @leightonpayne.bsky.social Thanks for pulling us in!
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Will Matlock @wtmatlock.bsky.social · 20/02/2026
🚨 New preprint 🚨 How promiscuous really are conjugative plasmids, and what does that mean for plasmid co-occurrence? A pleasure to collaborate with @craigmaclean.bsky.social on the first paper of my fellowship! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
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David Sünderhauf @davvi36.bsky.social · 20/02/2026
Out now in @plosbiology.org : our big joint effort on the role of #CRISPR in plasmid competition. Read on for a really fun (I’m biased ok) analysis of how a defence system has new selective pressures when it’s mobile journals.plos.org/plosbiology/... 1/6
Two cartoon images of children with plasmids for faces about to fight. Commentators are saying "Plasmid-borne CRISPR-Cas systems provide significant defensive benefits" and "Yes, but toxin-antitoxin systems on competitor plasmids constrain the offensive CRISPR-Cas benefit"
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PLOS Biology @plosbiology.org · 20/02/2026
Plasmids use immune systems like #CRISPR-Cas to compete with other #plasmids, but do these systems confer an advantage? @davvi36.bsky.social &co show that CRISPR-Cas benefits resident plasmids but is constrained by toxin-antitoxin systems after horizontal transfer @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/4qNbdDt
Mathematical modeling predicts that CRISPR-Cas has a greater potential to benefit its plasmid in defence than in offense. Structure of the mathematical model when a CRISPR-Cas plasmid is the resident (left) or the invader plasmid (right). The authors consider seven distinct cell types: C (CRISPR-Cas bearing) and T (TA-bearing) plasmids reside in host cells; CT denotes a C cell that has been invaded by a T plasmid and vice versa; Cr* and Ci* cells have undergone segregational loss of a T plasmid, and the fate of PSK is not yet resolved; PSK cells are dead cells after post-segregational killing. When the plasmids co-reside, they are subject to basic biological parameter s (segregational loss). CRISPR-Cas and TA alter parameter s by their own modes of action x and y, respectively. Parameter f describes the positive effect PSK cells have on growth of nearby cells, where fr describes the benefit to cells containing the previously resident plasmid. All parameters adopt distinct values when their respective plasmids are resident (r) or invasive (i).
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David Sünderhauf @davvi36.bsky.social · 06/02/2026
Love it when you stumble across a random 1995 paper that could just as well be a 2026 preprint. www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/jour...
Title: "Can phage defence maintain colicin plasmids in Escherichia coli?"highlighted section "Since phage defence mechanisms have been found in a wide range of plasmids, it is conceivable that many plasmids, including 'cryptic' ones (those that lack a readily identifiable function), encode phage defence mechanisms. Here, we examine the effects of 16 characterized Col plasmids on phage infection."
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Willem van Schaik @wvschaik.bsky.social · 30/01/2026
Wow. Journals like this should be immediately removed from the Clarivate database.
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Tabea Elsener @tabeaelsener.bsky.social · 13/01/2026
Neisseria gonorrhoeae carries an unusually large number of restriction–modification systems (up to 16!), many of which are phase-variable. How does this affect plasmid transmission in gonococci? doi.org/10.64898/202...
doi.org
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David Bikard @dbikard.bsky.social · 28/01/2026
🚨 Hiring Alert! 🚨My lab at Institut Pasteur is recruiting several Postdocs! We have exciting open projects in: 🦠 Synthetic Biology and🛡️ Bacterial Immunity. Come do great science with us in the middle of Paris! 🇫🇷🥐 research.pasteur.fr/en/job/postd...
research.pasteur.fr
Postdoctoral position - Synthetic Biology / Bacterial Immunity - Research
The Bikard lab at Institut Pasteur in Paris is seeking to hire postdoctoral researchers. We are investigating bacteria / bacteriophages interactions, and the genetic innovation that happens at this in...
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