Alexander Harms
@aharms485
Bacteriophages, dormant bacteria, and bacterial immunity. Assistant Professor of Molecular Phage Biology at ETH Zürich.
Summer trip with the group and local colleagues across Lake Zürich - great fun together on the boats and in the water! ☀️🏖🌊
The tradition of naming phage systems after ancient deities has the side effect that one cannot evade them even outside of microbiology journals... 🧬🛡☕️
Last days in the lab for our friend Vincent Somerville @vincentsomerville.bsky.social before he starts his own operation as junior group leader with Nicholas Bokulich in our institute - watch out for great work on microbes and phages in fermenting foods! 🧀🦠🧬
Just traveling back from a meeting in Bristol - beautiful city and great people! 🇬🇧🧳🧬
New favorite mug - beautiful T4 phage infection design by James Hodgkinson-Bean / @virionapparel.bsky.social 😊☕️🧬
Great new group poster representing us on the building's main floor! 🧬🦾🔍 Poster composed by Julia Egido @egidosquared.bsky.social with Sophia Zimmermann 🙏🏼
New phages from school workshops are coming to the lab! Yasmina Stolber in our group works with Enea @phagemuffin.bsky.social to phenotype and sequence them - but it's crazy how much the phenotyping and experience already allow us to deduce their taxonomic classification 🧫🧬😎.
Highlight of each workshop at schools are newly isolated phages - and discussions why most plaques exclude each other when they touch. Phage-induced phenotypic resistance! 🧫🧬🛡
The "Research Day" at our department D-HEST is always caleidoscope of exciting science from food over health to medicine. Phage biotechnology was well represented with Dorentina @humollidorentina.bsky.social and Enea @phagemuffin.bsky.social from our group and the lab of Martin Loessner. 🧫🧬🍻
After some divine wine and cheese with the group of Laurent Debarbieux I feel we need to seriously ramp up our apero game in Zürich 🍷🧀💖
Fantastic visit to Paris for a talk at Institut Pasteur and some time off with the family - it's great whenever this combination works out 🧬🍹🗼
Full house and great party yesterday at the debut concert of "Minor Revisions", the student band of our local microbiology + immunology PhD program. The kids are alright 😎🍻🎸
After some intense weeks, a few warm, green days in Engadin with the family were perfect to recharge 🏔️☀️🥾
Some phages are named after gods or rivers, this one was named by journalist Thilo Mischke @thilomischke.bsky.social after his grandma ("Oma Karin") while filming in our lab. It's a cool phage that should be temperate but became virulent due to a transposon at its lysogeny control! ⛓️💥💪🏼
Good morning from Kandersteg - board retreat of the Swiss Society for Microbiology 🏞🦠🧬
Beautiful time in Neuchatel today at a science communication workshop for the doctoral school of Swiss-French universities (CUSO) 🌊☀️🧬
Back to the Future with an amazing live orchestra at Basel’s film music festival 🎻⏰⚡️
#sciencetravel going local for once, but no less exciting: visiting @eawag.bsky.social for discussions and a talk on this perfect day! ☀️💧🧬
Black Forest no longer visible from the roof terrace thanks to Basel's growing biomedical skyline, but the barbecue remains unaffected. 🏢🔥🌭
Commuting im Switzerland means that even reviewer #2 can't ruin your day... 🚆🏞
Fantastic trip to Belfast for a talk at the annual conference of @microbiologysociety.org - great chance to meet old & new friends and to explore a beautiful city!
Fantastic snow excursion of the lab together with our friends in Martin Loessner's group 🏔😁☀️
Many thanks to you and @annechevallereau.bsky.social for hosting me in Lyon - great company, great discussions, and a great city! 🇫🇷🧬🚀
4am today - Morgestraich! Lights out, lanterns on: Basler Fasnacht begins. 🎭🥁🌠
Another cross-country trip (for a doctoral defense) - quiet office time with a view! 🚆🌊❄️
Reality check at the food microbiology practical course - molds from a sample of dried herbs... 🧫🍂 @contamclub.bsky.social