Freya Harrison
@friendlymicrobe.bsky.social
Reader (Associate Professor) in Microbiology at the University of Warwick, UK.
Biofilm, chronic infection and ancientbiotics.
https://www.youtube.com/@BreakingBiofilm
Biofilm, chronic infection and ancientbiotics.
https://www.youtube.com/@BreakingBiofilm
Pinned
It's taken 12 years and a lot of work from many fantastic people, but we have published an analysis of how our reconstruction of Bald's eyesalve kills bacteria. This was driven by @tosinorababa.bsky.social & Jess Furner-Pardoe through their PhD work #MicroSky journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/... [1/n]
“The #phage space is developing very rapidly in the UK, and it’s an exciting time to be a part of it.” #MicroSky
Sharaine works at Porton Down, in what is sometimes called our 'top secret lab'. 🔬 🧪
Go behind the scenes and find out about her work on phages - a possible alternative treatment for antibiotics. 🧫
Go behind the scenes and find out about her work on phages - a possible alternative treatment for antibiotics. 🧫
September 16, 2026 at 11:33 AM
Reposted by Freya Harrison
1/17 Submissions are now open for the 2027 Microbial Population Biology GRC! We expect this meeting to be extraordinarily oversubscribed. If you want to come, time is of the essence--apply ASAP!
June 27–July 2 • Andover, NH
www.grc.org/microbial-po...
June 27–July 2 • Andover, NH
www.grc.org/microbial-po...
September 15, 2026 at 10:40 PM
1/17 Submissions are now open for the 2027 Microbial Population Biology GRC! We expect this meeting to be extraordinarily oversubscribed. If you want to come, time is of the essence--apply ASAP!
June 27–July 2 • Andover, NH
www.grc.org/microbial-po...
June 27–July 2 • Andover, NH
www.grc.org/microbial-po...
Reposted by Freya Harrison
god, i was born in the wrong era. imagine being around in the Cambrian period. you could just evolve something simple like shell or legs that nobody had thought of before and coast on that your whole life
September 15, 2026 at 12:31 PM
god, i was born in the wrong era. imagine being around in the Cambrian period. you could just evolve something simple like shell or legs that nobody had thought of before and coast on that your whole life
Reposted by Freya Harrison
There’s still time to join us at our Publishing Fundamentals webinar—An Introduction to Peer Review on 16 September! Register now to secure your spot: https://microb.io/4wJUeEY
Publishing Fundamentals – An Introduction to Peer Review
microb.io
September 15, 2026 at 3:30 PM
There’s still time to join us at our Publishing Fundamentals webinar—An Introduction to Peer Review on 16 September! Register now to secure your spot: https://microb.io/4wJUeEY
Reposted by Freya Harrison
Ten years ago Tami, Roy, and I released a movie we made of antibiotic resistance evolving in real time. I thought maybe a couple thousand people tops would see it.
I couldn't have imagined it would be seen millions of times, and be taught from middle school through the graduate level worldwide
I couldn't have imagined it would be seen millions of times, and be taught from middle school through the graduate level worldwide
September 13, 2026 at 12:48 AM
Ten years ago Tami, Roy, and I released a movie we made of antibiotic resistance evolving in real time. I thought maybe a couple thousand people tops would see it.
I couldn't have imagined it would be seen millions of times, and be taught from middle school through the graduate level worldwide
I couldn't have imagined it would be seen millions of times, and be taught from middle school through the graduate level worldwide
Reposted by Freya Harrison
Join us during #PeerReviewWeek for a Publishing Fundamentals webinar dedicated to the peer review process. This event will take place on 16 September and is free for members; for non-members: £10. Register here: https://microb.io/4wJUeEY
September 10, 2026 at 7:00 AM
Join us during #PeerReviewWeek for a Publishing Fundamentals webinar dedicated to the peer review process. This event will take place on 16 September and is free for members; for non-members: £10. Register here: https://microb.io/4wJUeEY
Reposted by Freya Harrison
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...
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...
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...
gw4biomed.ac.uk
September 10, 2026 at 7:00 AM
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...
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...
Reposted by Freya Harrison
So (if I understand this correctly), the way AI (companies) will "solve" all the major problems in maths, biology, and medicine in the next 5 years will be by stealing and building on the ideas of researchers naive enough to think their chats with AI companies would be private.
September 8, 2026 at 2:30 PM
So (if I understand this correctly), the way AI (companies) will "solve" all the major problems in maths, biology, and medicine in the next 5 years will be by stealing and building on the ideas of researchers naive enough to think their chats with AI companies would be private.
Reposted by Freya Harrison
🧬 Postdoc ad is now live: evolutionary genomics of Klebsiella pneumoniae phages. How do prophage depolymerases vs SGNH-esterases shape phage host range?
Krakow, Poland. Deadline 21 Sept:
mostowylab.com/job-postdoc-...
Krakow, Poland. Deadline 21 Sept:
mostowylab.com/job-postdoc-...
September 4, 2026 at 8:31 AM
🧬 Postdoc ad is now live: evolutionary genomics of Klebsiella pneumoniae phages. How do prophage depolymerases vs SGNH-esterases shape phage host range?
Krakow, Poland. Deadline 21 Sept:
mostowylab.com/job-postdoc-...
Krakow, Poland. Deadline 21 Sept:
mostowylab.com/job-postdoc-...
Reposted by Freya Harrison
Thrilled our latest paper out @natureportfolio.nature.com Nature Comms, lead author @microberamon.bsky.social, who developed P-FLO, a urine-flowing human micro-bladder model in collab with Oxford & Leicester to understand #UTI biology & treatment failure 1/4
#UTISky
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
#UTISky
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Effect of human urinary microenvironment and fluid flow on antibiotic and phage therapy efficacy against uropathogenic Escherichia coli - Nature Communications
Maset et al. show that bladder conditions strongly influence how urinary tract infections respond to antibiotics and bacteriophages, highlighting the need for more realistic lab models to improve diag...
www.nature.com
September 4, 2026 at 10:11 AM
Thrilled our latest paper out @natureportfolio.nature.com Nature Comms, lead author @microberamon.bsky.social, who developed P-FLO, a urine-flowing human micro-bladder model in collab with Oxford & Leicester to understand #UTI biology & treatment failure 1/4
#UTISky
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
#UTISky
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Freya Harrison
At this point, it might be easier to make a list of Dan Ariely papers that do not use suspect data 
An influential paper by Ariely & Wertenbroch (2002) reported two studies with tampered data.
Post 1 of 2.
datacolada.org/138
Post 1 of 2.
datacolada.org/138
[138] Artificial Deadlines (Part 1): Evidence of Fraud in an Influential Study About Procrastination
A new paper in Psychological Science (.htm) reports a failure to replicate Study 2 of Ariely and Wertenbroch’s influential article entitled, “Procrastination, Deadlines, and Performance: Self-Contr…
datacolada.org
August 31, 2026 at 4:14 PM
At this point, it might be easier to make a list of Dan Ariely papers that do not use suspect data 
It's taken 12 years and a lot of work from many fantastic people, but we have published an analysis of how our reconstruction of Bald's eyesalve kills bacteria. This was driven by @tosinorababa.bsky.social & Jess Furner-Pardoe through their PhD work #MicroSky journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/... [1/n]
September 3, 2026 at 3:09 PM
It's taken 12 years and a lot of work from many fantastic people, but we have published an analysis of how our reconstruction of Bald's eyesalve kills bacteria. This was driven by @tosinorababa.bsky.social & Jess Furner-Pardoe through their PhD work #MicroSky journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/... [1/n]
@rachelmwheatley.bsky.social and I really enjoyed putting together a special issue of Essays in Biochemistry on the social lives of bacteria. All the papers are now out, and here's our editorial :D @biochemsoc.bsky.social #MicroSky portlandpress.com/essaysbioche...
September 2, 2026 at 10:43 AM
@rachelmwheatley.bsky.social and I really enjoyed putting together a special issue of Essays in Biochemistry on the social lives of bacteria. All the papers are now out, and here's our editorial :D @biochemsoc.bsky.social #MicroSky portlandpress.com/essaysbioche...
The use of Galleria mellonella to study microbial interactions, immune responses, & substrate interactions - super, comprehensive review from Evgenia Maslova, Ciaram Staber & @ronanmccarthy.bsky.social portlandpress.com/essaysbioche... #MicroSky
September 1, 2026 at 10:41 AM
The use of Galleria mellonella to study microbial interactions, immune responses, & substrate interactions - super, comprehensive review from Evgenia Maslova, Ciaram Staber & @ronanmccarthy.bsky.social portlandpress.com/essaysbioche... #MicroSky
The social lives of bacteria as revealed through CLASI-FISH - thank you @jmarkwelch.bsky.social for this lovely review, covering the structure of bacterial communities in the human mouth, mouse gut and associated with kelp portlandpress.com/essaysbioche... #MicroSky
September 1, 2026 at 10:38 AM
The social lives of bacteria as revealed through CLASI-FISH - thank you @jmarkwelch.bsky.social for this lovely review, covering the structure of bacterial communities in the human mouth, mouse gut and associated with kelp portlandpress.com/essaysbioche... #MicroSky
Great piece from Marvin Whiteley. But it can be impossible or near-impossible to access the samples needed to benchmark models properly. I spent over a decade trying and failing to source resected CF lung, and we’re in year five of trying to access another sample type for one of our projects.
Building better microbial infection models: a call to do the “field” experiments | mBio journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...
#microsky
#microsky
Building better microbial infection models: a call to do the “field” experiments | mBio
Microbiologists rely on experimental models. This is true whether we study microbes
in the soil or the ocean, biofilms on medical devices, or microbial communities in
and on the human body. Since natu...
journals.asm.org
August 30, 2026 at 12:39 PM
Great piece from Marvin Whiteley. But it can be impossible or near-impossible to access the samples needed to benchmark models properly. I spent over a decade trying and failing to source resected CF lung, and we’re in year five of trying to access another sample type for one of our projects.
Reposted by Freya Harrison
Cool study – #Mtb is notoriously slow growing, but inside macrophages, a subpopulation replicates fast and in doing so, actually evade #antibiotics better than the slow-growers - which is counter-intuitive (multiple theories discussed)
#MicroSky #Tuberculosis #Tb
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
#MicroSky #Tuberculosis #Tb
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Fast-growing intracellular Mycobacterium tuberculosis populations evade antibiotic treatment - Nature Communications
The slow growth displayed by Mycobacterium tuberculosis has been historically associated with pathogen’s persistence and drug tolerance. Unexpectedly, here the authors identify a rare subpopulation of...
www.nature.com
August 29, 2026 at 7:44 AM
Cool study – #Mtb is notoriously slow growing, but inside macrophages, a subpopulation replicates fast and in doing so, actually evade #antibiotics better than the slow-growers - which is counter-intuitive (multiple theories discussed)
#MicroSky #Tuberculosis #Tb
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
#MicroSky #Tuberculosis #Tb
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
The ten artists I’ve enjoyed seeing live the most, in no particular order and from various phases of life:
Blind Guardian
VNV Nation
Rachel Stamp
Apocalyptica
AntiProduct
Public Service Broadcasting
Sisters of Mercy
Manic Street Preachers
Epica
Pulp
Blind Guardian
VNV Nation
Rachel Stamp
Apocalyptica
AntiProduct
Public Service Broadcasting
Sisters of Mercy
Manic Street Preachers
Epica
Pulp
I can do a supplementary punk/new wave one just from undergraduate days. All paid for with a student grant…
The Clash
The Ramones
Buzzcocks
The Jam
Stiff Little Fingers
Gang of Four
Specials
Monochrome Set
XTC
Siouxie & The Banshees
The Clash
The Ramones
Buzzcocks
The Jam
Stiff Little Fingers
Gang of Four
Specials
Monochrome Set
XTC
Siouxie & The Banshees
I think we’ve had this before, but go on…
Introduce yourself with 10 acts I've seen live
Peter Gabriel
Joy Division
The Fall
Talking Heads
Kraftwerk
The Smiths
Happy Mondays
King Crimson
Temples
Gazelle Twin
Introduce yourself with 10 acts I've seen live
Peter Gabriel
Joy Division
The Fall
Talking Heads
Kraftwerk
The Smiths
Happy Mondays
King Crimson
Temples
Gazelle Twin
August 30, 2026 at 12:31 PM
The ten artists I’ve enjoyed seeing live the most, in no particular order and from various phases of life:
Blind Guardian
VNV Nation
Rachel Stamp
Apocalyptica
AntiProduct
Public Service Broadcasting
Sisters of Mercy
Manic Street Preachers
Epica
Pulp
Blind Guardian
VNV Nation
Rachel Stamp
Apocalyptica
AntiProduct
Public Service Broadcasting
Sisters of Mercy
Manic Street Preachers
Epica
Pulp
The possibility that accidental or unofficial releases of big cats led to self-sustaining populations in the UK countryside has been contentious. @warwicklifesci.bsky.social’s Robin Allaby is one of the people who’s been assessing the evidence, using DNA: www.discoverwildlife.com/animal-facts...
Black leopards are quietly thriving in the British countryside – here’s the whole incredible story | Discover Wildlife
Sightings and DNA tests suggest that large cats such as black leopards are quietly naturalising in Britain. Here’s the whole story.
www.discoverwildlife.com
August 23, 2026 at 10:01 AM
The possibility that accidental or unofficial releases of big cats led to self-sustaining populations in the UK countryside has been contentious. @warwicklifesci.bsky.social’s Robin Allaby is one of the people who’s been assessing the evidence, using DNA: www.discoverwildlife.com/animal-facts...
Reposted by Freya Harrison
HIRING MICROBIOLOGIST: effective start asap! The PDRA/PDRF (per xp) will investigate the interactions of bumblebee antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) with the gut microbiota & more.
Our work has shown AMPs have striking specificity for ecological microbes.
careers.exeter.ac.uk/vacancies/13... 1/2
Our work has shown AMPs have striking specificity for ecological microbes.
careers.exeter.ac.uk/vacancies/13... 1/2
Postdoctoral Researcher Associate or Fellow in Cornwall | University of Exeter
View details and apply for this Postdoctoral Researcher Associate or Fellow vacancy in Cornwall. Postdoctoral Research Associate / Fellow
This job is part of an Advanced Research + Inventio...
careers.exeter.ac.uk
August 14, 2026 at 8:28 AM
HIRING MICROBIOLOGIST: effective start asap! The PDRA/PDRF (per xp) will investigate the interactions of bumblebee antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) with the gut microbiota & more.
Our work has shown AMPs have striking specificity for ecological microbes.
careers.exeter.ac.uk/vacancies/13... 1/2
Our work has shown AMPs have striking specificity for ecological microbes.
careers.exeter.ac.uk/vacancies/13... 1/2
Whatever Arday and his employers did or didn’t do, the person pushing the story is an open white supremacist (full video available in the linked thread).
In the wake of Arday's death, Nathan Cofnas (who led the X mob against him) states his motivation. Beyond whistleblowing, he states that after a 'revolution' removes professors like Arday, it will open opportunities for him to become 'head of the department of eugenics and race science at Harvard'.
August 15, 2026 at 10:37 AM
Whatever Arday and his employers did or didn’t do, the person pushing the story is an open white supremacist (full video available in the linked thread).
Looking forward to reading this! #MicroSky
New preprint of our work on effects of intra-strain diversity of Pseudomonas on modulating host response is out! Some variants of concern, flip the switch in host responses!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
www.biorxiv.org
August 13, 2026 at 6:01 PM
Looking forward to reading this! #MicroSky
We have some impressive undergrad students at @uni-of-warwick.bsky.social @warwicklifesci.bsky.social 💜 Access, equity, and ambition: rethinking early careers in the life sciences portlandpress.com/biochemist/a...
Access, equity, and ambition: rethinking early careers in the life sciences
Abstract. For many students eager to pursue a career within the life sciences, the transition from education to employment is marked by uncertainty and fragmentation. This comes as a result of a lack ...
portlandpress.com
August 13, 2026 at 4:19 PM
We have some impressive undergrad students at @uni-of-warwick.bsky.social @warwicklifesci.bsky.social 💜 Access, equity, and ambition: rethinking early careers in the life sciences portlandpress.com/biochemist/a...
Reposted by Freya Harrison
bioRxiv/medRxiv have been dealing with endless bot attacks recently (plus usual DDOS stuff, etc). Tricky to address without impacting genuine users - many of you affected. Apologies. We're working with our hosting service on solutions & think we're getting there [he shouts in his Red Queen costume].
August 13, 2026 at 3:02 PM
bioRxiv/medRxiv have been dealing with endless bot attacks recently (plus usual DDOS stuff, etc). Tricky to address without impacting genuine users - many of you affected. Apologies. We're working with our hosting service on solutions & think we're getting there [he shouts in his Red Queen costume].
Preprint from @tosinorababa.bsky.social and a crack team he assembled to explore the mechanism of action of tEDTA against P. aeruginosa #MicroSky
Tetrasodium EDTA disrupts Pseudomonas aeruginosa membrane integrity, shows suppressed resistance evolution and reduced cytotoxicity compared to meropenem https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.08.11.744140v1
August 12, 2026 at 3:26 PM
Preprint from @tosinorababa.bsky.social and a crack team he assembled to explore the mechanism of action of tEDTA against P. aeruginosa #MicroSky