iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Kat Holt

Denny Carter @dennycarter.bsky.social · 26/05/2026

They stole the internet’s knowledge and all the work that went into it and they want to sell it back to us for a fee. What a business model.

ALTMAN: "WE SEE A FUTURE WHERE INTELLIGENCE IS A UTILITY, LIKE ELECTRICITY OR WATER, AND PEOPLE BUY IT FROM US ON A METER.

564115643721

Reposted by Kat Holt

Patrick S. Mitchell @psmitchej.bsky.social · 25/05/2026

Thrilled to announce that the Department of Microbiology at the University of Washington, School of Medicine is hiring at the Assistant Professor level (tenure-track)! The Pacific Northwest is an awesome place to live and do science 🧪🦠. Join us! apply.interfolio.com/185622 Applications due 8/1.

apply.interfolio.com

Apply - Interfolio {{$ctrl.$state.data.pageTitle}} - Apply - Interfolio

2138125

Reposted by Kat Holt

Kristian G. Andersen @kgandersen.bsky.social · 21/05/2026

Just a shout-out to the folks over at @pathoplexus.org and, importantly, all the scientists sharing genomic data with such amazing speed. It's great to see the field having moved to a new platform, with non-transparent platforms being a thing of the past. Fantastic.

16225

Reposted by Kat Holt

Guillaume Méric @gmeric.bsky.social · 21/05/2026

🚨New preprint from the lab!🚨 Check @gazollavolpiano.bsky.social 's thread on our latest study looking at bacterial diversity and strain dynamics in the early-life respiratory microbiome 🫁🧫🧬👶 🔗 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... cc @bakerresearchau.bsky.social @uniofbath.bsky.social @lshtm.bsky.social

biorxiv.org

0144

Reposted by Kat Holt

Microbiology Society @microbiologysociety.org · 21/05/2026

⏰ Registration closing soon! Join us in Manchester for a 1-day meeting on Therapeutics & Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR). Talks, panels, ECR sessions, speed networking & a WAAW sandpit. Don’t miss out 👉 microb.io/TherAMR26

Attendees networking at the Microbiology Society conference on Therapeutics and Antimicrobial Resistance in Manchester, June 2026.

134

Reposted by Kat Holt

Camila Gazolla Volpiano, PhD @gazollavolpiano.bsky.social · 21/05/2026

New preprint! The first first-author work of my postdoc at the Baker! So, babies' airways are colonised from birth, and our group has shown that early colonisers shape respiratory health. 1/7 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

3146

Reposted by Kat Holt

LSHTM AMR Centre @lshtmamrcentre.bsky.social · 18/05/2026

A new study led by Harry Veillard, MSc student @lshtm.bsky.social, found that nurse and pharmacist prescribing could improve access to care, reduce treatment delays, and ease pressure on primary care. The study also highlights the need for training and support. Read more 👉 bit.ly/4tERrvi

034

Reposted by Kat Holt

Jake Barber @jakenbarber.bsky.social · 18/05/2026

Having just finished my MCSA Fellowship with him, I would really encourage those looking to do a postdoc in microbial adaptation to check out Alex Couces lab in Madrid. Alex is a gifted researcher, and Madrid is a wonderful city to live in :) Details in link below: evoldir.net/brian/evoldi...

evoldir.net

032

Reposted by Kat Holt

Prof Jenny Rohn @jennyrohn.bsky.social · 16/05/2026

Being a PI is an intricate juggling act that requires tough decisions – intellectual, financial, strategic. Yet we are expected to navigate these dangerous waters with very little support. The solo PI model is deeply problematic. My latest blog post #AcademicSky occamstypewriter.org/mindthegap/2...

occamstypewriter.org

In which no scientist is an island – but that’s what we signed up for | Mind the Gap

63814

Reposted by Kat Holt

Nick Loman @pathogenomenick.bsky.social · 16/05/2026

Rapid release of multiplex PCR amplicon scheme for Andes hantavirus whole genome sequencing validated on control material: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... @scalene.bsky.social @stevepullan.bsky.social @ukhsa.bsky.social output from HPRU in Public Health Genomics

biorxiv.org

15028

Reposted by Kat Holt

UK Health Security Agency @ukhsa.bsky.social · 15/05/2026

🚨🧪 Our UK Public Health Rapid Support Team has deployed a fully functioning mobile laboratory to one of the world’s most remote locations to support the hantavirus outbreak response. Read our blog post for the full story 🔗 bit.ly/4wxnlwo

People unload large equipment cases from the back of a vehicle on a roadside near an airport setting, with more cases nearby. Overlaid text reads “Lab in a bag lands in Saint Helena” and explains the challenge of transporting a full laboratory to a remote island, followed by the question “But why did we do it?”

People at an airport stand beside multiple large black flight cases and luggage trolleys, preparing equipment for travel. Overlaid text explains that the government of Saint Helena requested help during the hantavirus outbreak and that UK-PHRST responded within 24 hours, with a prompt asking “Who are UK-PHRST?”

Three team members stand outdoors for a group photo in front of buildings and trees. Overlaid text explains that the UK Public Health Rapid Support Team responds quickly to outbreaks worldwide and introduces team members, including two microbiologists and an infection prevention and control expert, with a prompt asking “What’s the impact?”

A portable glovebox laboratory setup sits on a wooden desk in a clinical room. The unit has sealed arm ports, ventilation tubes, and protective gloves nearby, alongside control equipment and testing supplies. Overlaid text explains that deploying the team helps train laboratory and healthcare staff to manage hantavirus safely and reduce community spread, followed by “That is what rapid response looks like.”

1237

Reposted by Kat Holt

Adam Kucharski @adamjkucharski.bsky.social · 15/05/2026

Yes! Now do it for other pre-print servers, grant applications, social media posts and wedding speeches.

1177

Reposted by Kat Holt

Mel Andrews @bayesianboy.bsky.social · 15/05/2026

Finally, some good news for once. ArXiV will no longer tolerate hallucinated content in submitted works, with real, enforceable consequences.

27511

Reposted by Kat Holt

Abid Hussain @amh10.bsky.social · 15/05/2026

@katholt.bsky.social gives the keynote @target-amr.bsky.social speech on interpretive standards for AMR genotypes #TARGetAMR26

132

Kat Holt @katholt.bsky.social · 13/05/2026

To anyone who works in the biomedical research space, and knows the ethical & regulatory hoops that REAL healthcare guidance & decision-support tools have to (rightly!) go through before being unleashed, this is just so bizarre. It can NOT be a fix-by-lawsuit situation, it MUST be regulated.

221

Reposted by Kat Holt

Pathoplexus @pathoplexus.org · 11/05/2026

Since launching support for the Andes virus species of hantavirus two days ago, we have already received submissions from four countries' sequencing teams. This is a testament to the rapid response of researchers, sharing real-time data. Read more in our news post: pathoplexus.org/news/2026-05...

pathoplexus.org

Pathoplexus | Andes virus: supporting response to the current hantavirus outbreak

Pathoplexus is a new, open-source database dedicated to the efficient sharing of human viral pathogen genomic data, fostering global collaboration and public health response.

09734

Reposted by Kat Holt

Jacopo Bertolotti @jacopobertolotti.com · 11/05/2026

How much do you want to bet that the second Meta agrees to pay Elsevier, all the complaints about integrity and intellectual property will vanish? Bet number 2: of all the money Meta will pay Elsevier, exactly 0% will go to the authors of the papers.

1344

Reposted by Kat Holt

the Mountain Goats @themountaingoats.bsky.social · 11/05/2026

the severe misread of youth by ai prophets is that at 22 you’re starving for agency. all your life you’ve waited to call your own shots. the idea that what you get instead is “tell the machine to draw a horse” is inherently offensive

374804977

Reposted by Kat Holt

Pathoplexus @pathoplexus.org · 09/05/2026

1/ 🚀 Pathoplexus now supports the Andes variant of Hantavirus (ANDV). ANDV is the variant identified in the recent MV Hondius cases, & the Hantavirus variant previously identified as having occasional human-to-human transmission. pathoplexus.org/andv #hantavirus #hondius

18339

Reposted by Kat Holt

Emma Mitchell @silverpebble2.bsky.social · 07/05/2026

If your brain is struggling due to anxiety,sadness,the way others have behaved,ADHD, autism,burnout,chronic illness &/or because the world’s too full of grimness then hi,me too. Research shows my photo’ll provide relief for your thoughts-pause & zoom into the details-& keep going, you’re not alone 🌿

Flower picked from my garden in May arranged in rainbow colour order on a black chipped enamel background

15617155

Reposted by Kat Holt

Dylan Reeve @dylanreeve.com · 07/05/2026

This is such a stupidly good experiment. I've generally seen analysis of a limited dataset to be one of the strongest non-coding use cases for LLMs — and I think that is probably still true — but this makes it clear that how much you can expect from that analysis is potentially very limited.

11910

Kat Holt @katholt.bsky.social · 05/05/2026

If you can’t write a grant proposal without AI, why should you be awarded a grant? Why should anyone believe you are capable to execute the work, if you can’t even write the proposal yourself? Should funders just skip a step and run their own AI research agents? (you know it’s coming)

2161

Reposted by Kat Holt

Kai Kupferschmidt @kakape.bsky.social · 05/05/2026

I've spent yesterday and today talking to researchers across the globe trying to understand the hantavirus outbreak aboard the cruise ship MV Hondius. My story in @science.org is here (and some threaded thoughts coming): www.science.org/content/arti... 🧪 #IDsky

science.org

Cruise ship’s hantavirus outbreak puts researchers in uncharted territory

Questions about the culprit virus and its route of spread remain as health officials make plans for stranded passengers

21815438

Reposted by Kat Holt

Zen Faulkes @doctorzen.net · 05/05/2026

You can make a long, LONG list of technologies that were supposed to make stupid brick and mortar institutions of higher education obsolete. Printed books. Radio. Television. Personal computers. CD-ROMs. The Internet. MOOCs. Write the story once, and you can re-use it every five years!

Will A.I. make college obsolete? Americans already distrust institutions, including academia. More and more people may decide that its stamp of approval isn't worth the cost.

12213

Reposted by Kat Holt

Prof Jenny Rohn @jennyrohn.bsky.social · 05/05/2026

😱 Take-home message: hospital sinks are perfectly safe if you don’t run the taps! #IDSky

096

Reposted by Kat Holt

Alice Roberts @profaliceroberts.bsky.social · 04/05/2026

An interesting essay by educationalist Will Ellis - raising serious concerns about AI, with studies showing that cognitive engagement shrinks in direct proportion to the degree of AI assistance - with adolescent brains particularly vulnerable: reclaimchildhoodmedia.substack.com/p/the-cost-o...

reclaimchildhoodmedia.substack.com

The Cost of No Friction

Adolescence happens once.

1324199

Kat Holt @katholt.bsky.social · 01/05/2026

For no particular reason this week… If you want to know how close we came to having the human genome sequence behind a paywall, & the very concept of using gene sequences to benefit health (e.g. as diagnostic or drug targets) locked up behind patents, read this: www.worldofbooks.com/en-gb/produc...

worldofbooks.com

The Common Thread

John Sulston was director of the Sanger Centre in Cambridge from 1993 to 2000. There he led the British arm of the international team selected to map the entire human DNA sequence, a feat that was pul...

0122

Reposted by Kat Holt

Duncan MacCannell @drm.bsky.social · 01/05/2026

Nice summary of MTB surveillance in the United States and detection/response to large outbreaks. The US sees almost 10k domestic cases each year, and a number of large outbreaks or clusters. AMD Platform is the bioinformatic engine that drives this genomic surveillance. www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes...

cdc.gov

Large Tuberculosis Outbreaks — United States, 2017–2023

This report describes 50 large tuberculosis outbreaks in 23 states during 2017–2023.

1138

Reposted by Kat Holt

Michael Brockhurst @brockhurstlab.bsky.social · 01/05/2026

Why does antibiotic resistance evolution vary between patients? Come to @officialuom.bsky.social @mermanchester.bsky.social to help us find out! 2.5 year @wellcometrust.bsky.social postdoc position in experimental evolution Closing 15 May. Apply here: www.jobs.manchester.ac.uk/Job/JobDetai...

jobs.manchester.ac.uk

Research Associate in Microbial Evolution:Oxford Road

03342

Reposted by Kat Holt

Michael Brockhurst @brockhurstlab.bsky.social · 01/05/2026

Join us! @wellcometrust.bsky.social postdoc position using experimental evolution to understand real-world resistance dynamics. See preprint for the 🤯 strain collection we will be working with www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... Closing 15 May. Apply: www.jobs.manchester.ac.uk/Job/JobDetai... #mevosky

biorxiv.org

02626

Reposted by Kat Holt

Robert Petit @rpetit3.bsky.social · 30/04/2026

Howdy! Happy to announce that Bactopia v4 is finally out! 🥳 This release supports the latest from @seqera.io Nextflow v26 (strict syntax, static types, and records! oh my!) It also open's the doors to start doing some fun things with Bactopia. To learn more, check out: bactopia.io/blog/bactopi...

bactopia.io

Bactopia v4 Updates and Improvements | Bactopia

Learn about the new features and improvements in Bactopia version 4.

12410

Reposted by Kat Holt

Rafal Mostowy @rafalmostowy.bsky.social · 29/04/2026

🎉 New in @plosbiology.org: Temperate phages of Klebsiella pneumoniae show capsule-driven host tropism — but how? The working assumption was depolymerases: enzymes that chew through the bacterial sugar capsule. Turns out that's not the whole story. 🧵 journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...

54819

Reposted by Kat Holt

Jonathan Jacobs @bioinformer.bsky.social · 28/04/2026

When life imitates art

1103

Reposted by Kat Holt

Erkison Odih @erkison.bsky.social · 27/04/2026

Excited to finally share our new preprint on bioRxiv describing Verticall (github.com/rrwick/Verti...), a robust & efficient tool for building recombination-free bacterial phylogenies. Huge thanks to @rrwick.bsky.social & @katholt.bsky.social for this incredible work! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

biorxiv.org

0259

Reposted by Kat Holt

Microbiology Society @microbiologysociety.org · 26/04/2026

📢Extended deadline, now 27 April 2026. Got thoughts on artificial intelligence (AI) in microbiology—good, bad or undecided? We want to hear from you! Take part in the survey; you can find the link in the bio. #AI #artificialintelligence

Hand holding a pen with AI network graphics, inviting microbiology community to participate in a new AI survey.

134

Reposted by Kat Holt

Kim Walker @drwalkermsbanta.bsky.social · 20/04/2026

A must-read for anyone interested in #Klebsiella or metal acquisition!

063

Kat Holt @katholt.bsky.social · 24/04/2026

As an ECR without kids I was at networking dinners when senior women bemoaned female academics ‘making a fuss’ about meetings outside of 9-3, or having to leave & pick up their kids when school called. This was something one should just ‘sort out’ & not expect accommodations for, just tiresome.

181

Reposted by Kat Holt

LSHTM AMR Centre @lshtmamrcentre.bsky.social · 24/04/2026

How’s your Friday going? We’re wrapping up the week by welcoming new leadership at our AMR Centre😍 Excited for what’s ahead in the fight against antimicrobial resistance 👇 www.lshtm.ac.uk/research/cen... @rebeccaglover.bsky.social, @ayodejimatuluko.bsky.social, @lshtm.bsky.social

lshtm.ac.uk

AMR Centre announces new leadership positions | LSHTM

082

Reposted by Kat Holt

Ben Vezina @bananabenana.bsky.social · 24/04/2026

New rapid, colorimetric #carbapenemase diagnostic method that's cheap and smart. 1) Take potential CPE and incubate with imipenem disk 2) Take disk and incubate with known carb sensitive isolate 3) Add resazurin as a live/dead indicator #AMR #IDSky journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...

173

Reposted by Kat Holt

Fiona @lucidwhim.bsky.social · 24/04/2026

@reecedinsdale.bsky.social Good morning Reece. Here is a timely reminder for all -

14232136

Reposted by Kat Holt

Kate Baker @ksbakes.bsky.social · 21/04/2026

@yekwah.bsky.social launches FlexIt: the S. flexneri genotyping scheme at @shigellameeting.bsky.social 🎉

1234

Reposted by Kat Holt

Freya Harrison @friendlymicrobe.bsky.social · 20/04/2026

My super department @warwicklifesci.bsky.social is hiring 6 assistant profs in the wake of recent retirements. We're looking for people in microbiology/infection, cellular disease / immunity; environmental biology; and plant/crop science. #MicroSky warwick-careers.tal.net/vx/lang-en-G...

warwick-careers.tal.net

Assistant Professor x6 (111522-0426) - University of Warwick

Title: Assistant Professor x6 (111522-0426). Application Deadline: . Position Type: Permanent

25279

Reposted by Kat Holt

Bad Hand Books @badhandbooks.bsky.social · 19/04/2026

When you use AI to do your writing, you are telling your audience: “I deserve your attention, but you do not deserve my effort.”

1333381091

Reposted by Kat Holt

Iris van Rooij 💭 @irisvanrooij.bsky.social · 09/04/2026

I believe the frame that minoritized scholars are helped by unethical tech is a trap to avoid. We better fight the system of inequities ourselves & not buy into industry frames trying to sell their discriminatory, polluting, and exploitative tech as "inclusion". bsky.app/profile/iris...

423762

Reposted by Kat Holt

Iris van Rooij 💭 @irisvanrooij.bsky.social · 09/04/2026

“Feel free to adapt and reuse. No attribution needed (…) If you make an adaption that you also want to share, I’d love to know about it, too.” irisvanrooijcogsci.com/2026/04/08/r...

irisvanrooijcogsci.com

Refusal to Review

I wrote the below email, when invited to review a paper that was partially processed by ChatGPT. As I imagine the email could be useful inspiration for others, I decided to make it available. Feel …

9478194