Gytis Dudas

This is so cool:

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Discovery of a Genetic Toxin-Antidote System in Vertebrates

hat tip to @asaflevylab.bsky.social

Not all bat viruses spread the same way 🦇

A new study from @averyholmes.bsky.social & colleagues looked at six viruses in vampire bats in Peru & found contrasting patterns of circulation.

Some reflect bat movement, others were influenced by human activity.

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

📢 Registration for ViBioM 2026 is now open!
Join us in Vilnius this May for ViBioM 2026 and connect with researchers working at the intersection of virology and bioinformatics.
🗓️ Registration deadline: 30 April
🔗 evbc.uni-jena.de/events/vibio...
#ViBioM2026 #virology #bioinformatics

⏰Abstract submission for #ViBioM2026 is open until midnight tonight (00:00 CET) - Don't miss your chance to present a talk at the International Virus Bioinformatics Meeting! 🎤🦠🧬💻
👉 evbc.uni-jena.de/events/vibio...
#virology #bioinformatics

I love delicious figures!

These show changes in the relationship between symptom onset and viral load over time among SARS-CoV-2 variants (Fig.3) and the impact of vaccination on peak (lower) and length (shorter) of infectious virus or viral genetic material produced over time (Fig.4)

So I pleased to announce the conceptual spawn of FigTree: PearTree (acronym still to be finalised). If you want to dive right in it is hosted as a web app here: artic-network.github.io/peartree (click the “Example...” button for immediate candy and then click every button you can find).

The last part abt how measles disrupts immunity vs other infections is, imo, underappreciated (& mechanism was recently clarified). It's part of why measles vaccination was seen to help beyond just reducing measles complications - not getting measles reduces severity of subsequent infections too.

Structure and mechanism of antiphage retron Eco2 Nature Structural & Molecular Biology - This study shows how the bacterial retron Eco2 defends against viruses. Phage nucleases trigger activation of Eco2, which cuts RNAs, shuts down protein...

1/6) Hot off the press @natsmb.nature.com 🔥! Jasnauskaite et al. reveal how the minimal bacterial retron Eco2 defends against #phage 🛡️. Phage nucleases trigger Eco2, which cuts RNA, shuts down protein production and stops phage replication 🦠🚫. #phagesky #immunity #microbiology #cryo-em rdcu.be/e4AyH

Structure and mechanism of antiphage retron Eco2 - Nature Structural & Molecular Biology This study shows how the bacterial retron Eco2 defends against viruses. Phage nucleases trigger activation of Eco2, which cuts RNAs, shuts down protein production and stops phage replication.

Now that @mftorresj.bsky.social & I are based at VU Life Sciences Center (one of the birthplaces of CRISPR tech) our publication portfolio gets extra diverse thanks to our phylogenetics & data vis skills. Here's one collaboration with @patrick-pausch.bsky.social:
doi.org/10.1038/s415...

Something very different and cool for my lab. Sequencing a 4.4mb TB genome using the Artic-style PCR amplicon method with >5128 primers in two reactions 🤯

Enables culture-free WGS for TB!

journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...

SFI External Professor Santiago Elena elected to the American Academy of Microbiology SFI External Professor Santiago Elena has been elected as a fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology, joining 62 other fellows in the class of 2026, each selected for their contributions in the ...

SFI’s Santiago Elena has been elected a fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology.

He joins 62 fellows in the 2026 class. His work explores how RNA viruses adapt to hosts and manipulate cellular resources. Since joining SFI in 2008, he has organized several working groups on virus evolution.

What Measles Did to My Family My mom always told me that measles was what made my sister sick. I was 8 when she finally explained the whole thing.

The return of measles will mean the return of SSPE.

If you don't know what that is, read this. www.voicesforvaccines.org/what-measles...

How did life arise from simple chemical building blocks?

New #LMBResearch led by @edogia.bsky.social in @philholliger.bsky.social group has identified a small self-replicating ribozyme that could be the answer.

Read more: mrclmb.ac.uk/news-events/...

Controversial Danish vaccine research group faces new allegations Researchers say they couldn’t find complete data for 10 trials that together enrolled tens of thousands of children in Guinea-Bissau

Have I ever mentioned how surreal it is to be an Editor-in-Chief of a journal called Vaccine right now?

www.science.org/content/arti...

It’s pretty wild, at least by typical academic journal editorial office standards.

A woman by a flipchart during a course. Text highlighting the EMBO Lab Leadership for #Postdocs course on 10 - 12 March 2026 in Leimen, Germany still has places available

Take time to focus on your interpersonal skills, discover tools to support your development and tune up your interpersonal and communication skills at the @embo.org Lab Leadership course for #Postdocs: 10 - 12 March 2026. Places still available: www.embolableadership.org/course/embol... #EMBOLabLead

University of Helsinki to recruit top international researchers with €10 million in funding from the Research Council of Finland | University of Helsinki The University is strengthening its research in environmental policy, international law, sustainable fisheries and aquaculture, and zoonotic virology through new international recruitments.

The University of Helsinki is strengthening its research in environmental policy, international law, sustainable fisheries and aquaculture, and zoonotic virology through new international recruitments.
www.helsinki.fi/en/news/univ...

📢Join us for the next ECR #Viromics Webinar
"How viral evolution is shaped during long-term infections of immune-compromised hosts"
‍🎙️Jonas Fuchs, University Hospital Freiburg, Germany
🗓️11 Feb 2026, 4 PM CET
📍Online/Zoom (register for login details)
👉 evbc.uni-jena.de/events/ecr-v...

Our paper on the mysterious Devonian organism Prototaxites has now finally been published! See the paper here (www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...) and our explainer thread below!
Prototaxites reconstruction by Matt Humpage

Really excited our paper about how H5N1 rapidly adapted to cattle (and how these adaptations also increased its ability to infect cells from the human respiratory tract) is now published! www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Our paper on the Genomic Epidemiology of DENV2/3 in Colombia and the Americas is finally out @cp-cellreports.bsky.social, check it out: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Big thanks to my collaborators @lambod50.bsky.social, @viralverity.bsky.social, @nathangrubaugh.bsky.social, and many others!

Global solidarity in genomic surveillance improves early detection of acute respiratory virus threats. "Importantly, these benefits cannot be attained by siloed expansion in countries that already possess strong capacity." Well done to the team! www.nature.com/articles/s41...

The Story behind the Science: Preprints of pandemic potential—how bioRxiv and medRxiv brought preprints to the life sciences | mBio When we launched medRxiv in mid-2019, we never could have anticipated that just a few months later, New York would be at the epicenter of a rapidly escalating global pandemic, and we would be handling...

Terrific origin story, history, and future of bioRxiv and medRxiv by @richardsever.bsky.social in @mbio.bsky.social

journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...

Controversial US study on hepatitis B vaccines in Africa is cancelled $1.6m project drew outrage over ethical questions about withholding vaccines proven to prevent disease

✨Africa CDC shuts down RFK's attempt to conduct a Tuskegee-like vaccine trial on children in Guinea-Bissau.

The study exploited “the scarcity of a proven beneficial vaccine in a context where that vaccine is needed,” said Boghuma Titanji.

@melodyschreiber.com www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

It's the best I could find, unfortunately 😅 Will you join?

Remember? RNA virus journal club is already this Thursday! 🤩
Join us and join our (RdRp summit) slack (link in the comment):

calendar.app.google/K2fwcsL78K1E...

RNA Virus Journal ClubJoin Zoom Meeting us02web.zoom.us/j/8109697228...
Meeting ID: 810 9697 2281
Passcode: 174610

Come join my group as a postdoc on a fun wildepi.ca project looking at the evolution of endemic alpha- and betacoronaviruses in Canadian wildlife. Computational work will inform concurrent experimental work in the @banerjeelab.ca and @smubareka.bsky.social groups!

bioinformatics.ca/jobs/postdoc...

Welcome! You are invited to join a meeting: Genomic Surveillance & Pathogen Data Sharing: A New Era for Scientific Diplomacy. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the... Welcome! You are invited to join a meeting: Genomic Surveillance & Pathogen Data Sharing: A New Era for Scientific Diplomacy. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the...

Very much looking forward to my fireside chat with @syramadad.bsky.social next Thursday at 1pm PST at the Belfer Center @harvardkennedy.bsky.social on "Genomic Surveillance & Pathogen Data Sharing: A New Era for Scientific Diplomacy".

Virtual, so come join us!

harvard.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

Check out our new print that combines dense sequencing and phylodynamics to uncover a bunch of 😎 things about an understudied virus.

- Doesn't evolve for 10 months a year ✅
- Uses some mossies for maintenance, others for spread ✅
- Established in Northeast for ~300 years ✅

Evolutionary history of Jamestown Canyon virus disentangles complex multi-vector ecology Jamestown Canyon virus (JCV) is a re-emerging mosquito-borne virus of increasing concern in North America. It has been historically understudied, leading to significant gaps in our understanding of it...

🦟📄 New preprint! Our first large-scale phylodynamic study of Jamestown Canyon virus (JCV) reveals how mosquito ecology shapes the evolution, persistence, and spread of this understudied arbovirus in North America.

Read it here! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Unravelling the epidemiological and dispersal dynamics of the 2024-2025 chikungunya virus outbreak on Reunion island Reunion island just experienced a massive chikungunya virus outbreak in 2024-2025, with more than 54,000 confirmed cases. This is the second major chikungunya outbreak on the island, following the fir...

I am very glad to share the preprint for our latest study on the 2024-2025 chikungunya virus outbreak on Réunion island, with primary data produced thanks to the massive efforts performed by Marie-C Jaffar and Etienne Frumence and analyses led by Simon Dellicour. www.medrxiv.org/content/10.6...