Farncombe
Phage
A McMaster University Research Group
How bacterial viruses (phages) shape the gut microbiome
Photo credit: Martin Lipman (NSERC)
A McMaster University Research Group
Photo credit: Martin Lipman (NSERC)
Our latest paper is out in mBio today! If you've induced phages, you may have wondered if you can do the 'opposite' - block entry into lysogeny. You can, using protein synthesis inhibitors! Better still, this yields a potent synergy, functionally turning a temperate phage into a virulent one. This was a lot of work, spanning two parental leaves (not both for the same person), and a big group effort to push it over the finish line - but it came together beautifully.
Turns out, last week’s award-winning talk was just the warm up, as Jordan gave a masterful talk at today’s RIP. Sometimes, getting the trainees to ask questions and engage is like pulling teeth… but here, the engagement was so obvious from the (many) questions. Bravo!
The last 7 days has had almost too much to recount - I didn’t want to flood the site with news updates. Our Boot Camp (The Tenth!) training our own incoming undergrads, as well as trainees from two other labs. Three superb talks at the FHS plenary, with Rabia, Gayatri and Jordan knocking it out of the park…. and Jordan, in particular, being recognized and winning an award for his PechaKucha format talk (pictured here, in the showcase at the award ceremony). Congratulations! There’s a not insignificant prize money….
What’s the smell? Well, “Meadows & Rain” apparently - it says so on the bottle. Just before launching into another instance of the boot camp, pulling everyone in for a concerted cleanup effort. And, as always, it pays off.
Et de deux! Félix (Seen here presenting the spoils of his PhD - Warhammer, Phage-Planters, and eDNA. Oh, and a Thesis, I suppose) just had a masterful defence… and there goes the last of the lab's starting cohort. *sniff*. Plenty more photos of the event after the jump.
No, I don’t mean the blows, I mean the ‘greatest hits’ - yet another talk where one of ours (Christine) put on a masterful performance. And the line about recognizing a dead end when you see one? Chef’s kiss! You had to be there, of course.
Today, we celebrated Amany’s defence - the first out of the Hynes lab. A great defence with plenty family present, a trip to the Pheonix to sign ‘The Book’, and, after sundown, we ate, we drank, and were merry. Oh, and a warhammer.
One of the last of her cohort to have to give 3 BBS seminars - as they’ve changed the rules around MSc-to-PhD transfers, Rabia finished off strong, of course. At least, so I’m told - I was away (again), but Christine assures me this was “queen behaviour” - whatever that means.
Things haven’t really quieted down, but right now I’m in SoCal, at the lab’s first ever Gordon Conference. It’s a subject area out of my comfort zone - highlighting some gaps in knowledge - and this has been a lovely experience, and a delight to be challenged intellectually in new ways. Gave an invited talk yesterday, and… and I think I nailed it, if I say so myself. How’s this for an opener:
"Since most of you do not know me, and I still don't know most of you, I'm going to try and win over your trust by telling you all in advance that I'm going to lie to you three times in this talk"
Closing off one hell of a week for the lab (5 website entries in a week? And that doesn’t cover it all), Rabia gave the Bordeleau Memorial Scholarship talk at the end of this year’s BBSRS symposium. She was brilliant, of course, getting a chance to showcase some of her newest data, and it definitely hit me that this story is… well, PhD defense ready.
Another facet of the BBSRS - in addition to Jordan’s great poster - was that this was the first time I was in this room since the BBSRS in 2020, days before the pandemic. And it felt a little like the world had fast-forwarded - the background the same, but so many of the people changed - as is usual, of course, for academia - but 4 years hit me all at once.
With an increasing number of phage researchers across Canada, I set up this network to ensure that we interact and share resources. Furthermore, to suport our trainees through the COVID-19 conference cancellations, we are hosting a series of summer symposia.
A member since he first helped host the annual conference in 2008, this society was a formative influence on Dr. Hynes. He still attends the annual conference without fail, and encourages aspiring microbiologists to attend and benefit from it as he has.