Morwan Osman's Avatar

Morwan Osman

@morwan.me

Mycobacteriologist and Postdoctoral Fellow in the York Bioenergetics Lab, University Of York (@jnb-lab.bsky.social). Formerly: @pembroke1347.bsky.social & @mrclmb.bsky.social. @mcbseattle.bsky.social PhD.

545
Followers
322
Following
29
Posts
09.06.2023
Joined
Posts Following

Latest posts by Morwan Osman @morwan.me

Preview
Why developers using AI are working longer hours Studies find AI helps developers release more softwareβ€”while logging longer hours and fixing problems after the code goes live

This feels like a helpful primer for understanding AI in general. It makes programmers more efficient on the front end because they can generate more code. But it makes them less efficient afterwards because it vastly increases the amount of time they spend tweaking and fixing bugs.

03.03.2026 14:03 πŸ‘ 886 πŸ” 164 πŸ’¬ 26 πŸ“Œ 20
Preview
Discovery and development of a new oxazolidinone with reduced toxicity for the treatment of tuberculosis - Nature Medicine MK-7762 is a new oxazolidinone antitubercular agent that is structurally similar to linezolid, and demonstrated in vivo efficacy, lesion penetration and limited toxicity compared to linezolid, indicat...

Congrats Brendan, Clif, David, and team! www.nature.com/articles/s41...

20.02.2026 11:27 πŸ‘ 9 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
Estimating the global burden of viable Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection: A mathematical modelling study Alvaro Schwalb and colleagues conducted a mathematical modelling study to estimate the global burden of viable Mycobacterium tuberculosis--that which can cause disease and be transmitted--to help guid...

1/πŸ“’ In our new publication, we estimate that in 2022, 134 million people worldwide had a recent Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) infection and were at high risk of progressing to TB disease. Read the full paper in PLOS Medicine (tinyurl.com/mtbinfection). #TBSky

13.02.2026 11:39 πŸ‘ 37 πŸ” 25 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 2

Still 2 weeks left to apply for this position.

13.02.2026 15:11 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Such a fun collaboration with @mel-foulon.bsky.social from the TS lab 🀝-πŸ‘€ We combined dual RNA-Seq 🧬 and advanced imaging πŸ”¬ to uncover how intracellular compartmentalization drives niche-specific metabolic phenotypes in mycobacteria!!
Fantastic team effort ✨
#Tbsky #microsky

12.02.2026 12:00 πŸ‘ 12 πŸ” 8 πŸ’¬ 3 πŸ“Œ 0

pH-responsive substrate switching in mycobacterial Type VII ESX secretion. https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.02.04.703728v1

05.02.2026 05:16 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Cartoon representing the mycobacterial oxidative phosphorylation system, including cytochromes, NDH-2, and ATP synthase. Taken from Figure 1 of the article.

Cartoon representing the mycobacterial oxidative phosphorylation system, including cytochromes, NDH-2, and ATP synthase. Taken from Figure 1 of the article.

#Microbiology

The anti-tuberculosis drug bedaquiline targets the mycobacterial ATP synthase, but how that leads to bacterial death is unclear

Here the authors clarify how bedaquiline works

@jnblab.bsky.social @morwan.me
#TBSky #antibiotics #AMR

http://dlvr.it/TQjZ0W

02.02.2026 17:07 πŸ‘ 36 πŸ” 20 πŸ’¬ 3 πŸ“Œ 0
Some bacterial pathogens play dead to dodge antibiotics. A new test watches them closelyβ€”and helps choose drugs that finish the job. (Symbolic image: Adobe Stock)

Some bacterial pathogens play dead to dodge antibiotics. A new test watches them closelyβ€”and helps choose drugs that finish the job. (Symbolic image: Adobe Stock)

How can we tell whether an antibiotic eradicates an infection? Researchers from the @biomedizin.unibas.ch, at the @unibas.ch, present an antimicrobial single-cell microscopy-based method that measures antibiotic lethality in individual bacteria.

πŸ”— doi.org/10.1038/s415...

@natmicrobiol.nature.com

09.01.2026 10:54 πŸ‘ 8 πŸ” 7 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
A Divergent Cytochrome c in Malaria Parasites with an Anomalously Low Redox Potential Eukaryotic cytochrome (cyt) c is a highly conserved mitochondrial protein central to cellular respiration, featuring a covalently attached hexacoordinate heme whose redox potential is tuned by axial H...

Happy to share a new preprint exploring the unusual biochemistry of a "weirdly" diverged cytochrome c in malaria parasites that exemplifies a lineage common to many apicomplexan parasites. @uofubiochem.bsky.social @uuhsresearch.bsky.social @uofutahcihd.bsky.social
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

26.12.2025 16:37 πŸ‘ 17 πŸ” 9 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
microphone, pop filter, and interface 
Never Used Podcast Equipment

microphone, pop filter, and interface Never Used Podcast Equipment

did it in four words hemmingway

09.12.2025 22:15 πŸ‘ 4014 πŸ” 846 πŸ’¬ 23 πŸ“Œ 18
Preview
UC Berkeley suspends lecturer Peyrin Kao for pro-Palestinian speech in the classroom UC Berkeley administration has suspended lecturer Peyrin Kao for the spring 2026 semester without pay for pro-Palestinian speech.

www.dailycal.org/news/campus/...

09.12.2025 00:28 πŸ‘ 186 πŸ” 113 πŸ’¬ 3 πŸ“Œ 0

I can’t believe a technical solution to a complex social problem didn’t work. Ah well, nevertheless

07.12.2025 21:26 πŸ‘ 1090 πŸ” 158 πŸ’¬ 26 πŸ“Œ 4
Preview
Essential redundancies fuel Mycobacterium tuberculosis adaptation to the host Redundancy in biology is, at a glance, counterintuitive because if the function of two gene products completely overlaps then, throughout the course of evolution, one of the genes will likely accumula...

Mycobacterium tuberculosis is an outlier in many ways. One of them is keeping a high degree of functional redundancy despite its obligate pathogen lifestyle. In this review, we reflect on the biological meaning of M. tuberculosis functional redundancies.

journals.plos.org/plospathogen...

07.12.2025 12:07 πŸ‘ 35 πŸ” 14 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 1
Post image

1/ A year ago, a 71-year-old Louisiana man died from H5N1, marking the first avian flu death in the US. Now we report in @jem.org that the cause of his death is rogue autoantibodies neutralizing type I IFN (AutoAb-IFN). doi.org/10.1084/jem....

05.12.2025 18:58 πŸ‘ 15 πŸ” 10 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 1

Hey friends. I’m looking for a postdoc interested in studying host-pathogen interactions and immunology of tuberculosis. Send me some good people! We have a great group here! Email me joanne@pitt.edu. Thanks!

04.12.2025 17:12 πŸ‘ 25 πŸ” 30 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 1

If you or someone you know is looking for a post-doctoral position working on mycobacterial envelope biology, please get in touch. I am recruiting here at the University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario, Canada.

02.12.2025 15:21 πŸ‘ 20 πŸ” 33 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 2

Now properly published at @natcomms.nature.com with few additional experiments incl. demonstration of Daptomycin's ability to depolarise non-growing cells.
See the original preprint-thread for a summary of our findings.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
#microsky

24.11.2025 20:20 πŸ‘ 78 πŸ” 28 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 2

Are you looking for female speakers in CryoEM for seminars and conferences? Are you a woman in CryoEM and not yet on the β€šwoman in CryoEMβ€˜ list? Find your speakers and add/update name and affiliation! docs.google.com/spreadsheets...

18.11.2025 10:18 πŸ‘ 52 πŸ” 40 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
Hydrophilic metformin and hydrophobic biguanides inhibit mitochondrial complex I by distinct mechanisms - Nature Structural & Molecular Biology He, Teng and Yang et al. report how metformin, the widely used antidiabetic drug, inhibit its target, the respiratory complex I, through a distinct state-dependent, inhibitor trapping mechanism, thus ...

How does the well tolerated anti-hyperglycemic drug #metformin inhibit mitochondrial complex I?
In our new paper, we use structures, MD and kinetics to show that metformin inhibits by a distinct mechanism that more hydrophobic, less well tolerated, biguanides.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

10.11.2025 18:35 πŸ‘ 17 πŸ” 10 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 1
Redirecting

The diderm cell envelope is not a stack of layers but a unified scaffold of Inner Membrane–Peptidoglycan–Outer Membrane.
We discuss how tethering the OM to the PG in E. coli preserves integrity β€” and extend the concept across diderm bacteria.
Curr Opin Microbiol: doi.org/10.1016/j.mi...
#microsky πŸ”¬

13.11.2025 12:17 πŸ‘ 33 πŸ” 19 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
Assembly, architecture and functional roles of microbial surface layers - Nature Reviews Microbiology Surface layers (S-layers) are ubiquitous protein assemblies that coat prokaryotic cells, with their functional roles increasingly coming into focus. In this Review, Isbilir and colleagues discuss rece...

Assembly, architecture and functional roles of microbial surface layers www.nature.com/articles/s41... #jcampubs

13.11.2025 19:44 πŸ‘ 20 πŸ” 5 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

The panic that kicks in at 2pm every day when I realize it gets dark in two hours

12.11.2025 22:07 πŸ‘ 826 πŸ” 50 πŸ’¬ 15 πŸ“Œ 5
Preview
mRNA-based tuberculosis vaccines BNT164a1 and BNT164b1 are immunogenic, well-tolerated and efficacious in rodent models We designed and preclinically tested two mRNA-LNP-based vaccine candidates to protect against tuberculosis (TB). BNT164a1 and BNT164b1 encode the same eight Mycobacterium tuberculosis ( Mtb ) antigens...

I presented our preclinical work on the BNT164 #Tuberculosis candidates. This work is now also available as a preprint!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

12.11.2025 12:54 πŸ‘ 7 πŸ” 3 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Still from news coverage of the exploding whale, showing an enormous explosion on a beach

Still from news coverage of the exploding whale, showing an enormous explosion on a beach

It’s 12 November, so it’s time to mark the 55th anniversary of the exploding whale of Oregon, an attempt to clear a cetacean carcass from a beach which prompted one reporter to say β€œThe blast blasted blubber beyond all believable bounds”

12.11.2025 09:58 πŸ‘ 546 πŸ” 195 πŸ’¬ 12 πŸ“Œ 83

Exciting news! I have two positions open in my lab at the UoManchester: one PDRA and one Research Tech.
Join our team to study evolutionary mycology and help us understand antifungal resistance in fungal pathogens. A fantastic opportunity to join the brilliant Manchester Fungal Infection Group!

05.11.2025 15:35 πŸ‘ 18 πŸ” 33 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 0
Join the LMB's PhD programme!
Applications now open for October 2026
Deadline 2nd December 2025

Join the LMB's PhD programme! Applications now open for October 2026 Deadline 2nd December 2025

Considering the LMB for your PhD?
We’ve got over 25 projects available, covering a wide array of topics. Check them out here: www2.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk/students/int...
Apply by 2nd DEC for Autumn 2026 admission.

10.11.2025 14:03 πŸ‘ 7 πŸ” 9 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 1
Archaeal cells whose DNA has been stained with a blue dye. Zoomed-in images of mutant cells that display chromosome segregation defects.

Archaeal cells whose DNA has been stained with a blue dye. Zoomed-in images of mutant cells that display chromosome segregation defects.

High-resolution images of DNA-protein complexes obtained with atomic force microscopy. Upon binding, the protein bridges distant sites, forming loops.

High-resolution images of DNA-protein complexes obtained with atomic force microscopy. Upon binding, the protein bridges distant sites, forming loops.

πŸ“’ Interested in #chromosomes 🧬 & #archaea thriving at the edge of life? PhD project in York,UK on how archaea pass on their genome to daughter cells.Friendly supervisors: me, @steve-quinn-lab.bsky.social & @georgerheath.bsky.social

www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
πŸ“… January 7, 2026
Please RPπŸ™thx!

09.11.2025 17:20 πŸ‘ 37 πŸ” 33 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
Genetic population structure of Haemophilus influenzae at local and global scales - Nature Microbiology Large-scale sequencing and population genomic analyses reveal frequent transmission, a highly admixed global population structure and evidence of pervasive negative selection in Haemophilus influenzae...

A great collaboration with Jukka Corander and colleagues, to define the population structure of this important global pathogen

A first step towards identifying candidate antigens for new improved vaccines...

@tropicalmedicine.ox.ac.uk @wellcometrust.bsky.social

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

01.11.2025 10:17 πŸ‘ 5 πŸ” 5 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
MRC DiMeN Doctoral Training Partnership: Structural and Functional Analysis of Drug Resistance in Tuberculosis via a Novel MmpL3 Binding Site at Newcastle University on FindAPhD.com PhD Project - MRC DiMeN Doctoral Training Partnership: Structural and Functional Analysis of Drug Resistance in Tuberculosis via a Novel MmpL3 Binding Site at Newcastle University, listed on FindAPhD....

PhD opportunity with me and @kshbeckham.bsky.social

www.findaphd.com/phds/project...

31.10.2025 11:13 πŸ‘ 10 πŸ” 10 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 1
Preview
MRC DiMeN Doctoral Training Partnership: Resensitisation of antibiotic-tolerant Staphylococcus aureus small colony variants at Newcastle University on FindAPhD.com PhD Project - MRC DiMeN Doctoral Training Partnership: Resensitisation of antibiotic-tolerant Staphylococcus aureus small colony variants at Newcastle University, listed on FindAPhD.com

Looking for an AMR-themed PhD project? Join us to investigate antibiotic tolerance in Staphylococcus aureus through a fully funded MRC DTP PhD studentship starting in September 2026.

This project is close collaboration with @kateduncan.bsky.social and @mycobacterium-ncl.bsky.social.

01.11.2025 11:11 πŸ‘ 13 πŸ” 14 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 0