Ruth Williams

The amount I depend on my PhD for science writing is vastly outweighed by the amount I depend on Wikipedia. #lifeinthefactslane

Directed Blast: Axolotl limb regeneration study reveals how the process is driven by cells with different positional identities 📷 Sakiya Yamamoto et al @okayama_uni in @eLife ➡️ bpod.org.uk/archive/2026/2… with @DrJohnAnkers

Dendritic cells are guided from tissue into lymph vessels for carriage to the lymph nodes by a gradient of chemokine C–C motif ligand 21 📷 Victor Collado-Diaz, Maria-Nefeli Christakopoulou & Philipp Schineis et al, ETH Zurich in @JCellBiol ➡️ bpod.org.uk/archive/2026/2…

Leaf it Out: Nanofilm 'imprint' analysed by mass spec – a new approach for detailed 'imaging' of chemicals and biomarkers 📷 Yizhu Xu & Xinzhou Wu et al, South China Agricultural University in @ScienceAdvances ➡️ bpod.org.uk/archive/2026/2… with @DrJohnAnkers

Epidermal rete ridges correlate with less hairy skin but what's the relationship? This study details how rete ridges aren't directly coupled to hair development @LeicaMicro microscopy 📷 Sean M. Thompson et al @WSUPullman in @Nature ➡️ bpod.org.uk/archive/2026/2…

Why do some mammals grow dense fur while others don’t? A new study shows how epidermal rete ridges form after birth and are not linked to hair development. Image captured with a Leica Microsystems microscope. fcld.ly/1aanyoi @BPoD_s @BiochemOxford

NEK7 protein–'traffic warden' in liver cells keeping energy flowing in the right direction, warding off fibrosis-causing oxidation 📷 Zhenzhen Sun & Le Sun et al Children’s Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, in @NatureComms ➡️ bpod.org.uk/archive/2026/2… @AntDLewis

Mechanisms to overcome instability in early embryo cell division differ in zebrafish & fruit flies: species-specific mechanisms orchestrated by cytoskeletal microtubules in both 📹 Melissa Rinaldin et al, TU Dresden in @Nature ➡️ bpod.org.uk/archive/2026/2…

Fruit fly study finds enzymes Hip14 & Patsas limit lysosome formation & fusion so protecting against Huntington's disease-like symptoms 📷 Győző Szenci et al, Eötvös Loránd University, in @PLOSGenetics ➡️ bpod.org.uk/archive/2026/3… with @AntDLewis

Human liver tissue with & without fibrosis reconstructed at cell level in 3D - insights for understanding liver disease & how to treat it 📹 Wesley B. Fabyan & Chelsea L. Fortin et al @kellystevenslab @UW in @ScienceAdvances ➡️ bpod.org.uk/archive/2026/3…

Evolving towards antibiotic resistance bacteria pass DNA sequences between each other via protrusions called pili which also enhance biofilm formation 📷 James B. Winans et al Carey Nadell lab, @dartmouth in @CurrentBiology ➡️ bpod.org.uk/archive/2026/3… with @rooph

Fuel Line: Transfer of mitochondria from glia to adjacent sensory neurons in dorsal root ganglia – protects against nerve degeneration & pain 📷 Jing Xu et al @Duke_Anesthesia @DukeHealth in @Nature ➡️ bpod.org.uk/archive/2026/3…

Dastardly Duo: Interaction between candida fungus & some strains of bacterium E.faecalis makes infections more damaging 📷 Mario Kapitan et al Ilse D. Jacobsen Lab, Leibniz-HKI in @PNASNews ➡️ bpod.org.uk/archive/2026/3… with @rooph

Mouse life-time brain-wide map of myelin-producing cells and myelin density in health and disease 📹 Yu Kang T. Xu, Abigail Bush & Ephraim Musheyev et al @HopkinsMedicine in @CellCellPress ➡️ bpod.org.uk/archive/2026/3…

Sensory neurons play a key role in type 2 immunity – the response to parasites and in allergy 📷 re paper by @wenzhang1120 & @immunologyliz et al Artis Lab @WeillCornellGS published in @Nature ➡️ bpod.org.uk/archive/2026/2… with @rooph

To be released next April, not Fall. This is the 14-month countdown!!

Huzzah! FLIFF, my debut fiction picture book, is preparing for takeoff! #FLIFF #picturebook #kidlitart #author

Details of how the bacteria-killing viruses bacteriophages are built - progress towards their wider medical usage 📷 @JamesBeanBio et al @mihnea_bostina University of Otaga, NZ @HiCryoEM @OISTedu, in @ScienceAdvances ➡️ bpod.org.uk/archive/2025/1… with @rooph

Conducting Labour: Proteins PIEZO1 & PIEZO2 of womb tissue & its neurons, translate mechanical forces into contractions in labour 📷 Yunxiao Zhang et al Patapoutian lab @scrippsresearch in @ScienceMagazine ➡️ bpod.org.uk/archive/2025/1… with @rooph

Healing of injured blood vessels is driven by gap junction protein connexin 43 at the wound edge 📷 Meghan W. Sedovy et al @ScottRJ_VT lab @FralinBiomed in @ajpheartcirc ➡️ bpod.org.uk/archive/2025/1… with @rooph

New approach using CAR T-cell therapy to stimulate intestine cell growth and repair 📷 Onur Eskiocak, Joseph Gewolb, Vyom Shah, James A. Rouse, Saria Chowdhury et al @corina_amor_MD @beyazlab @CSHL in @NatureAging ➡️ bpod.org.uk/archive/2025/1… with @rooph