iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Sam J Wilson

@samjwilsonphd.bsky.social

331 followers 403 following 57 posts

Virologist. Professor. Cambridge, UK www.immunology.cam.ac.uk/staff/prof… tinyurl.com/samjwilsonscholar

Posts Replies Media

Sam J Wilson @samjwilsonphd.bsky.social · 11/02/2026

🤔

120 0

Sam J Wilson @samjwilsonphd.bsky.social · 12/12/2025

Interesting to see that most UK frontline healthcare workers don't get the flu jab that the Health Secretary is urging people to get..... www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

010 0

Sam J Wilson @samjwilsonphd.bsky.social · 05/12/2025

I’m stoked to share the Wilson/Rihn (@lab-rihn-th.bsky.social) lab JCBC festive wreath entry for 2025. So impressed by the origami skills in the lab…..

051 0

Sam J Wilson @samjwilsonphd.bsky.social · 27/11/2025

Interestingly, the 1918, 1957 and 1968 pandemic viruses all had an avian-origin PB1 that enabled efficient replication at febrile temperatures. I think this is one reason these pandemics caused so much severe disease.

1141 0

Sam J Wilson @samjwilsonphd.bsky.social · 27/11/2025

We genetically isolated temperature sensitive replication by making point mutants in PB1. This allowed us to test 2 nearly identical viruses (one temp sensitive and the other temp resistant) in mice with a simulated fever (note that the mock traces are duplicated for clarity).

160 0

Sam J Wilson @samjwilsonphd.bsky.social · 27/11/2025

It is known that avian influenza A viruses replicate more effectively at fever-range temperatures than mammalian-adapted viruses. We found that avian-origin PB1 proteins predominantly confer fever-resistant replication.

1100 0

Sam J Wilson @samjwilsonphd.bsky.social · 27/11/2025

Firstly thanks to all the authors who contributed to this project. A special shout out to Matt Turnbull who led this study and Yingxue Wang who took it over in Cambridge). (Origami from Zhuonan Li)

An orange origami chicken symbolising high body temperature (courtesy of Zhuonan Li)

1101 0

Sam J Wilson @samjwilsonphd.bsky.social · 26/11/2025

Hi Bluesky! I’m a molecular virologist studying how innate immune defences restrict cross-species transmission and shape disease severity. I just joined, so reposts appreciated to help me reconnect with virology, immunology, and host–pathogen interaction folks. (whiteboard art from Zhuonan Li)

32012 0