Reposted by Lucas BoeckVPD Heart & Lung Research Institute @vpd-hlri.bsky.social · 09/02/2026🎥 Professor @andresfloto.bsky.social on new funding from: @wellcometrust.bsky.social @gatesfoundation.bsky.social @novonordisk.bsky.social and how VPD-HLRI research is helping reshape antibiotic discovery in the fight against antimicrobial resistance. Read more: 🔗 bit.ly/4rJy6c2 0104
Reposted by Lucas BoeckUniversity of Basel @unibas.ch · 27/01/2026A low-carb diet is considered a promising weight-loss solution. But does it really help to reach your dream weight? In a fact check for #UniNova, endocrinologist PD Dr. Eleonora Seelig explains that food quality matters more than cutting out carbohydrates.unibas.chDo carbohydrates make you fat?Don’t eat carbohydrates after 6 p.m., or cut them out altogether: A low-carb diet is considered a promising weight-loss solution. But do you really have to deny yourself pasta and bread if you want to... 142
Reposted by Lucas BoeckNature Portfolio @natureportfolio.nature.com · 17/01/2026A paper in Nature Microbiology presents Antimicrobial Single-Cell Testing, a large-scale live-cell imaging approach that quantifies bacterial killing in real time at single-cell resolution, which can predict treatment outcomes. go.nature.com/3Nwnez8 #microsky 🧪 32012
Lucas Boeck @lucboeck.bsky.social · 12/01/20269/ This work is not the end of our journey. It’s the start. If you find it interesting and would like to discuss, collaborate, support or work with us, please reach out. #Tuberculosis #NTM #AMR #SingleCell 000
Lucas Boeck @lucboeck.bsky.social · 12/01/20268/ Huge thanks to the co-first authors (Alexander Jovanovic, Frederick Bright and Ahmad Sadeghi), collaborators, and funders (SNSF, Cloëtta Foundation, Bangerter-Rhyner Foundation, Goldschmidt-Jacobson Foundation, Helmut-Horten Foundation, and the Swiss Society for Pneumology). 110
Lucas Boeck @lucboeck.bsky.social · 12/01/20267/ Take-home: antibiotic efficacy isn’t just about inhibiting growth, but also about killing bacteria in the right physiological state. Single-cell killing measurements predict in vivo outcomes, uncover new biology, and enable improved drug discovery, regimen design, and personalised diagnostics. 120
Lucas Boeck @lucboeck.bsky.social · 12/01/20266/ Can ASCT help tailor treatments to individual patients? Strain-specific M. abscessus killing dynamics for amikacin, cefoxitin and imipenem were associated with individual patient outcomes, whereas most MICs were not. 100
Lucas Boeck @lucboeck.bsky.social · 12/01/20265/ Can ASCT uncover new bacterial biology? By combining ASCT with whole-genome sequencing and GWAS, we identified a phage protein strongly linked to M. abscessus killing (of drugs targeting protein synthesis only). We experimentally validated this effect using gene knockout and complementation. 110
Lucas Boeck @lucboeck.bsky.social · 12/01/20264/ Is killing also shaped by the bacterium? Assessing >400 clinical isolates of Mycobacterium abscessus, we observed highly variable killing dynamics. These differences were distinct from drug resistance, yet largely driven by bacterial genetics. 110
Lucas Boeck @lucboeck.bsky.social · 12/01/20263/ Can ASCT guide drug development? Testing 65 drug regimens in Mycobacterium tuberculosis, we found that killing under starvation conditions (but not in nutrient-rich media) predicted infection outcomes in mice and humans. MICs did not. 100
Lucas Boeck @lucboeck.bsky.social · 12/01/20262/ To address this, we developed Antimicrobial Single-Cell Testing (ASCT): a high-throughput live-cell imaging approach that measures bacterial death in real time at single-cell resolution. Using ASCT, we tracked >140 million individual bacteria, for up to 7 days, across >20,000 conditions. 100
Lucas Boeck @lucboeck.bsky.social · 12/01/20261/ Most antibiotic tests measure bacterial growth inhibition, not bacterial death. This often fails to predict treatment outcomes, especially in mycobacterial infections, where therapy is long, requires multiple antibiotics and is frequently unsuccessful (e.g. M. abscessus). 100
Lucas Boeck @lucboeck.bsky.social · 12/01/2026Our first lab paper is out. Large-scale testing of antimicrobial lethality at single-cell resolution predicts mycobacterial infection outcomes. From single cells to patients, across tuberculosis and M. abscessus. 👉 doi.org/10.1038/s415... 👇 Threaddoi.orgClient Challenge 1197
Reposted by Lucas BoeckUniversity of Basel @unibas.ch · 09/01/2026Some bacterial pathogens play dead to dodge antibiotics. A new test watches them closely—and helps choose drugs that finish the job. #AntibioticTolerance @biomedizin.unibas.ch @lucboeck.bsky.socialunibas.chNew test shows which antibiotics actually workResearchers at the University of Basel present a new test that measures how effectively antibiotics kill bacteria and helps predict treatment outcomes 041
Reposted by Lucas BoeckDepartment of Biomedicine🔬🧪 @biomedizin.unibas.ch · 09/01/2026How can we tell whether an antibiotic eradicates an infection? Researchers from the @biomedizin.unibas.ch, at the @unibas.ch, present an antimicrobial single-cell microscopy-based method that measures antibiotic lethality in individual bacteria. 🔗 doi.org/10.1038/s415... @natmicrobiol.nature.com 097
Reposted by Lucas BoeckTypas Lab @typaslab.bsky.social · 23/06/2025Excited for New Approaches and Concepts in Microbiology 2025 with sessions on Bacterial systems biology, Bacterial cell biology & protein machines, Microbiomes, Environment & evolution, Pathogenesis & phage, Antibiotic discovery, mechanisms, and resistance. #EESMicrobiology 15617
Reposted by Lucas BoeckBiozentrum, University of Basel @biozentrum.unibas.ch · 04/04/2025In the fight against bacterial pathogens, researchers are combining vaccination with targeted colonization of the intestine by harmless microorganisms. This approach could potentially mark a turning point in the antibiotics crisis. www.biozentrum.unibas.ch/news/detail/...biozentrum.unibas.chNew vaccine concept tackles harmful bacteria in the intestineIn the fight against bacterial pathogens, researchers are combining vaccination with targeted colonization of the intestine by harmless microorganisms. This approach could potentially mark a turning p... 0115
Reposted by Lucas BoeckAaron Weimann @aweimann.bsky.social · 27/03/2025Exciting PhD studentship opportunity in @andresfloto.bsky.social lab on understanding chemical permeability to advance antibiotic drug discovery www.jobs.cam.ac.uk/job/50800/. Combines experimental approaches with in silico screening and generative AI.jobs.cam.ac.ukPhD Studentship - Understanding chemical permeability and metabolism in gram-negative organisms - Job Opportunities - University of CambridgePhD Studentship - Understanding chemical permeability and metabolism in gram-negative organisms in the Department of Medicine at the University of Cambridge. 032
Reposted by Lucas BoeckMax Gutierrez @maxgg.bsky.social · 27/03/2025Happy to share the latest work from the lab @crick.ac.uk. Outstanding work from Di Chen and Tony Fearns showing the link between Mtb membrane damage, calcium leakage and ATG8/LC3 lipidation in macrophages. Congratulations Di and Tony! www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...science.orgMycobacterium tuberculosis phagosome Ca2+ leakage triggers multimembrane ATG8/LC3 lipidation to restrict damage in human macrophagesCa2+ leakage triggers LC3 lipidation on multimembrane as Mtb phagosome damage response, independent of autophagy. 89230
Reposted by Lucas BoeckBiozentrum, University of Basel @biozentrum.unibas.ch · 20/03/2025Apply now for our international Master of Science in Physics of Life @biozentrum.unibas.ch @unibasel.ch! Scholarships available. More information: www.biozentrum.unibas.ch/education/de... #Master #Students #Research #Physics #Mathematics #ComputerScience #Engineering #Basel #Switzerland 03219
Reposted by Lucas BoeckTom Yates @tomayates.bsky.social · 15/03/2025NEW COMMENT! TB trials with purely microbiological primary endpoints give greater weight to outcomes that matter most, generalise better to non trial settings, are less biased if regimens differ in duration, and are often better powered #IDSky @catherineberry.bsky.social @sgschumacher.bsky.social 32010
Reposted by Lucas BoeckMax Gutierrez @maxgg.bsky.social · 23/02/2025Host and pathogen aficionados: Join us in Blois!- registration deadline 1st March- Please RP- meetings.embo.org/event/24-hos...meetings.embo.orgCell biology of host-pathogen interactionsMicrobial infections lead to drastic changes in the architecture and metabolism of the host cell. The inaugural FEBS EMBO Cell Biology of Host-Pathogen Interaction Advanced Course explores the mechan… 02214
Reposted by Lucas BoeckNicole Wheeler @nwheeler443.bsky.social · 18/02/2025New paper, discussing open problems in bacterial phenotype prediction with ML: arxiv.org/abs/2502.07749arxiv.orgWhole-Genome Phenotype Prediction with Machine Learning: Open Problems in Bacterial GenomicsHow can we identify causal genetic mechanisms that govern bacterial traits? Initial efforts entrusting machine learning models to handle the task of predicting phenotype from genotype return high accu... 0189
Reposted by Lucas BoeckUniversity of Basel @unibas.ch · 28/01/2025Researchers at the University of Basel have developed a method to test the mode of action of 1,500+ substances on cells at once, uncovering hidden drug mechanisms and potential new uses - paving the way for repurposing drugs.unibas.chTesting the effect of thousands of compounds on cellular metabolismResearchers at the University of Basel are able to test the effects of more than 1,500 compounds on cell metabolism in parallel. Their analysis also led to the discovery of previously unknown mechanis... 0114
Reposted by Lucas BoeckKnut Drescher @knutdrescher.bsky.social · 06/01/2025We found that many bacterial species use exogenous peptidoglycan fragments - released by lysis of neighboring cells - as a general danger signal, triggering a danger response that protects bacteria against many dangers: biofilm formation. Details here 👇 www.nature.com/articles/s41...nature.comBacteria use exogenous peptidoglycan as a danger signal to trigger biofilm formation - Nature MicrobiologyPeptidoglycan released by neighbouring kin or non-kin cell lysis induces physiological changes that protect from a range of stresses, including phage predation. 014256
Reposted by Lucas BoeckGabriele Pollara @gpollara.bsky.social · 05/01/2025⚠️ Bit of an alarm bell to MDR-TB regimen BPaL/M - resistance to constituent antibiotics developing and transmission of such strains already occurring #TBSky #IDSky @nejm.org www.nejm.org/doi/10.1056/...nejm.orgTransmission as a Key Driver of Resistance to the New Tuberculosis Drugs | NEJMWhole-genome sequencing was used to show that resistance to newer antituberculosis drugs is present in at least 27 countries and that up to a quarter of this resistance may be due to person-to-... 63918
Lucas Boeck @lucboeck.bsky.social · 02/01/2025Indeed a very beautiful start into 2025 - congrats ! 010
Lucas Boeck @lucboeck.bsky.social · 21/12/2024completely agree! very much looking forward to learn from cancer; potentially a 2025 science highlight in the field(s) 010
Lucas Boeck @lucboeck.bsky.social · 17/12/2024... after almost 4000 citations 🙄; many of which probably saying it was wrong, but citation is citation 040