Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Andrew Rambaut @arambaut.bsky.social · 11h

I would imagine that EIT plans to offer this as a service to public health labs globally a bit like Microsoft has got their claws into just about every institution. So this is probably going to be Teams but for pathogen genomics. With everything that sentence implies.

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Andrew Rambaut @arambaut.bsky.social · 11h

And as you say, that is before we get to the point where people have to decided whether to upload it all to the next mad billionaire’s weekend project.

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Andrew Rambaut @arambaut.bsky.social · 11h

The EIT thing keeps banging on about ‘always on’ which kind of misses the point that it is the surveillance network, sample collection, testing infrastructure that needs to be ‘always on’.

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Andrew Rambaut @arambaut.bsky.social · 12h

Or the UKHSA for just one bit of the UK

Andrew Rambaut @arambaut.bsky.social · 16h

Seems to be name convergence in Global Pathogen Analysis internet things: You can have GPAS (service) or GPAP (platform): eit-pathogena.com or www.dtu.dk/english/news...

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Andrew Rambaut @arambaut.bsky.social · 1d

Custom in-house pipeline

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Reposted by Andrew Rambaut

Steve Brusatte @stevebrusatte.bsky.social · 4d

Seems like Bobby Kennedy Jr misunderstands placental mammal reproduction. Go figure.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 4d

RFK Jr: "Somebody showed me a TikTok video of a pregnant woman at 8 months pregnant -- she's an associate professor at the Columbia Medical School -- and she is saying 'F Trump' and gobbling Tylenol with her baby in her placenta. The level of Trump Derangement Syndrome is now a pathology."

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Andrew Rambaut @arambaut.bsky.social · 6d

It is almost a classic reply-guy reply. If this as the other place it would have been instant!

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Andrew Rambaut @arambaut.bsky.social · 7d

Cue replies saying "Actually Frankenstein was the creator not the recombinant person monster"

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Andrew Rambaut @arambaut.bsky.social · 24d

Damn, I forgot to put "Never going to give you up" on it. You all clicked it right?

Andrew Rambaut @arambaut.bsky.social · 24d

I just registered the domain Pathogenomenick.ai - do you want it?

Pathogenomenick.ai

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Reposted by Andrew Rambaut

Nick Loman @pathogenomenick.bsky.social · 24d

Terrific new feature presented by @theo.io on @pathoplexus.org called SeqSets for generating DOIs for sequence subsets used in publications, that can then be tracked for impact via CrossRef that will allow data generators to track impact! #IMMEMXiV

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Andrew Rambaut @arambaut.bsky.social · 29d

Wonderful picture. Same nights, exactly the same location, different scale - a zoom in on the orange rectangle -

Picture of the milky way above a rock in Southern Spain with a small orange rectangle highlighting the location of the Cygnus Loop or Veil Nebula.

A long exposure picture of the Cygnus Loop or Veil Nebula taken over 5 nights in Southern Spain. 325mm telescope.

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Reposted by Andrew Rambaut

Pathoplexus @pathoplexus.org · Sep 10

Amid the concerning news of a new Ebola Zaire outbreak in DRC, teams on the ground have already managed to sample, sequence, and share data. This rapid turnaround is a testament to their commitment and capacity to respond.

Read more: virological.org/t/the-16th-e...

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The 16th Ebola Virus Disease Outbreak in Bulape Health Zone, Kasai, Democratic Republic of the Congo: A new spillover event from an unknown reservoir host

Background The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is currently facing concurrent outbreaks including mpox, cholera and malaria (1-4). The Ministry of Public Health, DRC has declared the 16th Ebola...

virological.org

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Reposted by Andrew Rambaut

Flo Débarre @flodebarre.bsky.social · Sep 8

@zachhensel.bsky.social and I have a new paper on the origin of SARS-CoV-2! 🧪

There are a lot of reviews on the topic already, so we tried to do something different: characterize "lab leak" scenarios, and directly address those on SARS-CoV-2's furin cleavage site.▫️1/9

doi.org/10.5802/crbi...

doi.org

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Andrew Rambaut @arambaut.bsky.social · Sep 7

Also a character in this bizarre story: www.computerweekly.com/news/3665534...

Top science journal faced secret attacks from Covid conspiracy theory group | Computer Weekly

One of the world’s most prestigious general science journals, was the target of a two-year long sustained and virulent secret attack by a conspiratorial group of extreme Brexit lobbyists with high-lev...

www.computerweekly.com

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Reposted by Andrew Rambaut

Jason Rasgon @vectorgen.bsky.social · Sep 3

Go home Evolution you're drunk

Nature @nature.com · Sep 3

A common type of ant in Europe breaks a fundamental rule in biology: its queens can produce male offspring that are a whole different species

go.nature.com/4mOb5T9

‘Almost unimaginable’: these ants are different species but share a mother

Ant queens of one species clone ants of another to create hybrid workers that do their bidding.

go.nature.com

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Andrew Rambaut @arambaut.bsky.social · Sep 1

Certainly a dangerous new strain of cat - as big as a tree.

Reposted by Andrew Rambaut

Pathoplexus @pathoplexus.org · Aug 27

🎉 New in August: Measles virus joins Pathoplexus!

Following strong community support, we added MeV data submission (with Open & Restricted-Use options, as always) and powerful search & data access for MeV
pathoplexus.org/measles/search

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A screenshot of the Pathoplexus homepage, now showing Measles among the other pathogens supported.

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Reposted by Andrew Rambaut

Pathoplexus @pathoplexus.org · Aug 27

🗓 Pathoplexus turns ONE! 🎂🎉

In the past year we’ve grown from 4 pathogens to a truly global, community-driven platform for transparent, equitable & impactful pathogen sequence sharing.
📰 Read the full update: pathoplexus.org/news/2025-08...

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Reposted by Andrew Rambaut

European Virus Bioinformatics Center @evbc.bsky.social · Aug 25

BEAST X accelerates Bayesian phylogenetic and phylodynamic inference with enhanced scalability and geo spread modeling.
#BEASTX #Phylodynamics #VirusEvolution
👤EVBC: Philippe Lemey
🔗

BEAST X for Bayesian phylogenetic, phylogeographic and phylodynamic inference - Nature Methods

BEAST X advances Bayesian phylogenetic, phylogeographic and phylodynamic analysis by incorporating a broad range of complex models and leveraging advanced algorithms and techniques to boost statistical inference.

doi.org

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Andrew Rambaut @arambaut.bsky.social · Aug 25

I wonder if they even told the first reviewer? I would have been livid to know my review had been thrown out.

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Andrew Rambaut @arambaut.bsky.social · Aug 25

Also it is wasting the first reviewer's donated time and work.

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Andrew Rambaut @arambaut.bsky.social · Aug 14

Isn't he just saying how bleak he thinks LA is?

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Kristian G. Andersen @kgandersen.bsky.social · Aug 13

Not to belabor a "I told you so", but it's been clear for years that the whole "lab leak" discourse has absolutely nothing to do with a potential lab leak and everything to do with a broader anti-science agenda.

I really, and truly, hope more scientists will realize this and take corrective action.

Greg Folkers @gregfolkers.bsky.social · Aug 13

Atlantic: Why RFK Jr.’s Anti-Vaccine Campaign Is Working

The Trump administration’s COVID-revenge campaign has laid the groundwork for Kennedy’s larger agenda.

by Katherin J. Wu

bit.ly/4mfxk3S

Why RFK Jr.’s Anti-Vaccine Campaign Is Working

The Trump administration’s COVID-revenge campaign has laid the groundwork for Kennedy’s larger agenda.

bit.ly

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