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Simon Waddington

@profsimonwad.bsky.social
706 followers 205 following 170 posts

𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘧𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘎𝘦𝘯𝘦 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘺, 𝘜𝘊𝘓 𝘎𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘈𝘈𝘝, 𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪, 𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘰, 𝘮𝘙𝘕𝘈 🧬🚲

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Simon Waddington @profsimonwad.bsky.social · 28/04/2026
Well done @ucltro.bsky.social for organising a great event with a great line-up
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Reposted by Simon Waddington
UCL Translational Research Office @ucltro.bsky.social · 22/04/2026
The @UCL Advanced Therapies Symposium is now underway, #UCL2026AdvTx, bringing together @ucl.ac.uk scientists and external partners. @profsimonwad.bsky.social kicks off the event and in the photo we have Prof. Charles Knowles for his talk. UCL’s #ATMP Pipelines: bit.ly/4u00AiF
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Simon Waddington @profsimonwad.bsky.social · 08/10/2025
I was in Jerusalem on 1st September 2024. There were protests every week against Netanyahu's attempt to muzzle the legal system and we in the UK, were being warned it might be a travel danger. These are two things I saw, that I found interesting at the time @odedrechavi.bsky.social
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Simon Waddington @profsimonwad.bsky.social · 03/10/2025
Sorry all, been a bit away from social media - but very happy to show our latest, slightly massive review on neuro gene therapy. Some quite amazing co-authors who dwarf me in their amazingness. Here, as a pre-proof. Still some (quite a bit) of finessing pharmrev.aspetjournals.org/article/S003... 🧪
pharmrev.aspetjournals.org
Genetic therapies for neurological diseases
Often, gene therapy reviews concentrate upon specific therapeutic modalities – particularly either viral vector-mediated or a non-viral approach. Here, we draw together a comprehensive array of knowle...
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Simon Waddington @profsimonwad.bsky.social · 27/08/2025
fascinating article - the link to the research article is broken though - here is the working one (I hope) www.nature.com/articles/s41...
nature.com
Thioester-mediated RNA aminoacylation and peptidyl-RNA synthesis in water - Nature
Aminoacyl-thiols reacting selectively with RNA diols over amine nucleophiles and demonstration of chemically controlled formation of peptidyl-RNA in water at neutral pH suggest an important role for t...
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Simon Waddington @profsimonwad.bsky.social · 28/07/2025
I saw this about baby spiders eating their mother www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio.... It validated something I saw as a child in the north of England. I was always poking arthropods; poked this spider and the body dissolved into fleeing tiny spiders. Mum never budged again. I thought I imagined it.
theguardian.com
Mother-eating spiders ‘will chill parents to the bone’ in new David Attenborough series
African social spiders’ sinister game of ‘grandmother’s footsteps’ could be breakout moment in BBC’s Parenthood
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Simon Waddington @profsimonwad.bsky.social · 01/07/2025
And beautiful places on the way. Oh and it took ages (17ish hrs) and was really hard
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Simon Waddington @profsimonwad.bsky.social · 01/07/2025
And sunset in Ayr
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Simon Waddington @profsimonwad.bsky.social · 01/07/2025
This is sunrise in Whitley Bay
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Simon Waddington @profsimonwad.bsky.social · 01/07/2025
I cycled this a couple of weeks ago. 200 miles across the UK in one day. Thank you very much for your lovely sponsorship. It was massively inspirational to me to make it before sunset 🙏🏻
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Simon Waddington @profsimonwad.bsky.social · 13/06/2025
Yay!
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Simon Waddington @profsimonwad.bsky.social · 29/05/2025
Sorry I haven't posted much science/history/gene therapy recently - will get back on this soon. Am doing some preparation for a big cycle ride next month. And did this practice ride a week ago (ride initially mapped by Chris Ward road.cc/content/blog...). Saw so many nice places.
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Simon Waddington @profsimonwad.bsky.social · 21/05/2025
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Simon Waddington @profsimonwad.bsky.social · 21/05/2025
I had the pleasure of being at the @asgct.bsky.social in New Orleans last week - fantastic conference, as always, and a welcoming city. I won't post anything about the conference, just three photos I took of a monument facing the Mississippi River. The "Monument to the Immigrant":
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Simon Waddington @profsimonwad.bsky.social · 15/05/2025
Well done to Juan Diaz, Sonam Gurung for their awards @asgct.bsky.social 🧬 🥳🍾
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Simon Waddington @profsimonwad.bsky.social · 03/05/2025
While on a cycle yesterday I parked up and took this photo. Bluebells and fern. Calming
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Simon Waddington @profsimonwad.bsky.social · 25/04/2025
As a kid I always thought dandelion clocks were beautiful. They still are.
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Simon Waddington @profsimonwad.bsky.social · 20/04/2025
I think I've seen this colour after drinking it...
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Simon Waddington @profsimonwad.bsky.social · 14/04/2025
A new paper hitting the press: Gene therapy for AIPL-1 retinal dystrophy. Almost all kids with this can only perceive light, at best. Getting early will help with vision also neurodevelopment and psychosocial aspects. 🧬 ⭐ 👁 www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
thelancet.com
Gene therapy in children with AIPL1-associated severe retinal dystrophy: an open-label, first-in-human interventional study
Our findings indicate that young children with AIPL1-related retinal dystrophy benefited substantially from subretinal administration of rAAV8.hRKp.AIPL1, with improved visual acuity and functional vi...
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Simon Waddington @profsimonwad.bsky.social · 10/04/2025
Fascinating and comprehensive review just out, exploring the concept of fetal gene therapy for spinal muscular atrophy academic.oup.com/brain/advanc...
academic.oup.com
In utero therapy for spinal muscular atrophy: closer to clinical translation
In type 1 spinal muscular atrophy, pathological changes begin during prenatal development, which means that a complete cure is unlikely even with early pos
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Simon Waddington @profsimonwad.bsky.social · 10/04/2025
Brilliant conference and well done to all the @ucltro.bsky.social who did a magnificent job!
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Reposted by Simon Waddington
UCL Translational Research Office @ucltro.bsky.social · 09/04/2025
🧬The first @ucl.ac.uk Advanced Therapies Symposium is now underway, #UCL2025AdvTx, bringing together UCL scientists and external partners. @profsimonwad.bsky.social kicks off the event and in the photo we have Prof. Stephanie Schorge for her talk. UCL’s #ATMP Pipelines bit.ly/42dlq1F
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Simon Waddington @profsimonwad.bsky.social · 27/03/2025
There are magnets beneath and on top of the bags so the pairs just hold the plastic together to limit their range of motion
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Reposted by Simon Waddington
Rob Watts (RobWords) @robwords.com · 26/03/2025
Just been laughing my head off at this alternative phonetic alphabet (Alpha, Bravo, Charlie etc.). You can play around with it here: web.cs.dal.ca/~jamie/Words...
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Simon Waddington @profsimonwad.bsky.social · 26/03/2025
😂 so good. Gosh I'm so glad you're in my world (with your content, and your directions to other content)
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Simon Waddington @profsimonwad.bsky.social · 26/03/2025
The magnets were there to limit the amount of kicking. The fetal sheep were kicking the bags, and Alan and team surmised that this was fictive running training. So they had to put the magnets in place to make sure they didn't breach the bags.
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Simon Waddington @profsimonwad.bsky.social · 26/03/2025
Seems harsh to have Alan Flake's sheep-in-a-bag as a bodyoid. Those were real brainful sheeplings!
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Simon Waddington @profsimonwad.bsky.social · 26/03/2025
@florianmerkle.bsky.social has BSGCT got a Bluesky account?
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Simon Waddington @profsimonwad.bsky.social · 02/03/2025
Just spotted this might help some folk: bsky.app/profile/altm...
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Simon Waddington @profsimonwad.bsky.social · 02/03/2025
Still behaving on this side of the pond
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Simon Waddington @profsimonwad.bsky.social · 09/02/2025
Whatever your alt text just said it was (sorry, I don't watch much telly)
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Simon Waddington @profsimonwad.bsky.social · 08/02/2025
@robwords.bsky.social 👇🏻
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Thiago Carvalho @cyrilpedia.bsky.social · 07/02/2025
'What comes next? As far as I know, there are no examples of modern nations turning their backs on medical science. But there’s every reason to expect the consequences to be ghastly.' @pkrugman.bsky.social paulkrugman.substack.com/p/rfk-jr-and...
paulkrugman.substack.com
RFK Jr. and the MAGA Death Trip
The war on science is turning deadly
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Simon Waddington @profsimonwad.bsky.social · 07/02/2025
Did we listen? No, we didn't @richardsever.bsky.social @helencooksley.bsky.social
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Simon Waddington @profsimonwad.bsky.social · 06/02/2025
For a moment I thought that was a picture of Abba
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Simon Waddington @profsimonwad.bsky.social · 03/02/2025
New paper out now - ascending infection during pregnancy results in neonatal morbidity - brain, lung, gut pathology - unique model of human newborn morbidity following infection-associated preterm birth @ucl-ifwh.bsky.social @dmacintyre.bsky.social ajp.amjpathol.org/article/S000...
ajp.amjpathol.org
Ascending vaginal infection in mice induces preterm birth and neonatal morbidity
Preterm birth (PTB; delivery <37 weeks), the main cause of neonatal death worldwide, can lead to adverse neurodevelopmental outcomes, as well as lung and gut pathology. PTB can be associated with asce...
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Simon Waddington @profsimonwad.bsky.social · 29/01/2025
Goodbye Mum. Rest in peace 🧡 Anne Maureen Waddington. 28.03.1931-10.01.2025
Picture of Simon Waddington as a child and his mother, Anne Maureen Waddington. Year around 1975. His mum is holding a flower for him to look at
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Dr Elodie Chabrol @eloscicomm.bsky.social · 22/01/2025
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Simon Waddington @profsimonwad.bsky.social · 22/01/2025
When scoping labs, speak to current and especially past members to hear their experiences. Check out the publications. If the PI is always last author then they aren't nurturing and growing their team enough
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Simon Waddington @profsimonwad.bsky.social · 18/01/2025
Now live - our review of neurodegeneration in lysosomal storage disease - comparing and contrasting disease mechanisms; emerging evidence of unifying convergence @jimd-editors.bsky.social @ucl-ifwh.bsky.social onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Unifying biology of neurodegeneration in lysosomal storage diseases
There are currently at least 70 characterised lysosomal storage diseases (LSD) resultant from inherited single-gene defects. Of these, at least 30 present with central nervous system (CNS) neurodegen...
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Reposted by Simon Waddington
Professor Kevin Mills @profkevinmills.bsky.social · 10/01/2025
This is our company, we have partnered and embedded ourselves into the world famous National Hospital for Neurology at Queen's Square. This is the quickest way to get our test for Parkinson's disease into the NHS. This is massive. www.uclh.nhs.uk/news/nhs-pat...
uclh.nhs.uk
NHS patients to benefit from state-of-the-art diagnostic tests for Parkinson’s & Mitochondrial diseases, resulting from a UK-first partnership : University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trus...
Next generation testing, artificial intelligence, advanced mass spectrometry and machine learning is about to be used for diagnostics in the U.K. thanks to a new partnership between UCLH and Guilford ...
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Simon Waddington @profsimonwad.bsky.social · 09/01/2025
There was a huge amount of insitutional sexism then, even more so than now. If you have the time and inclination check out Angela Creager & Gregory Morgan's article on her which gives a lot more nuance to the story www.academia.edu/302725/After...
academia.edu
After the Double Helix
After the Double Helix
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Simon Waddington @profsimonwad.bsky.social · 09/01/2025
And James Watson appears to have been quite the a-hole in many ways, including what he wrote about her. But even he credited her for her contributions. She became good friends with the Cricks. John Bernal and Aaron Klug tried their best to ensure she was credited.
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Simon Waddington @profsimonwad.bsky.social · 09/01/2025
Yes...but it's more complex. I think the Nobel Prize committee should have awarded her the joint prize. By the time they awarded the prize for DNA, she'd died of ovarian cancer. Today, awards can't be given posthumously but back then it wasn't a rule - it just wasn't usually done.
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Simon Waddington @profsimonwad.bsky.social · 08/01/2025
Here are some brain cells as a welcome present for you 🧬🧪🧠
Photomicrograph of neurons (top) and astrocytes (bottom)
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Simon Waddington @profsimonwad.bsky.social · 08/01/2025
Welcome @uclqsion.bsky.social! Lovely to have you in the nice blue place
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Simon Waddington @profsimonwad.bsky.social · 08/01/2025
Finally, I learned that, on her gravestone, her contributions to virology were recognised. Buried in Willesden Jewish Cemetery, 3 miles from my house. So on a chilly morning today, 8th January I went there and took this picture. Each stone placed by someone showing her honour and respect.
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Simon Waddington @profsimonwad.bsky.social · 08/01/2025
Here is a nice interview with Franklin’s younger sister, Jenifer Glynn www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8z_... and a really good article "After the double helix" by Angela Creager and Gregory Morgan: www.academia.edu/302725/After...
youtube.com
My sister Rosalind Franklin
YouTube video by Royal Society Of Chemistry
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Simon Waddington @profsimonwad.bsky.social · 08/01/2025
So much more to learn about Rosalind Franklin than the oversimplification that Watson and Crick stole the Nobel Prize from her, doing her a disservice: that up to her death aged 37 she was a formidable force in genetics and structural biology and her work was fundamental to two Nobel prizes.
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Simon Waddington @profsimonwad.bsky.social · 08/01/2025
L to R: Anne Cullis, Francis Crick, Donald Caspar, Aaron Klug, Rosalind Franklin, Odile Crick, and John Kendrew April 1956, Madrid, International Union of Crystallography Creager ANH, Morgan GJ. After the Double Helix. Isis. 2008;99(2):239-72. (photo by Caspar)
Left to Right: Anne Cullis, Francis Crick, Donald Caspar, Aaron Klug, Rosalind Franklin, Odile Crick, and John Kendrew
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