Francois Balloux

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Francois Balloux
Balloux-pic.png
Education University of Lausanne
Scientific career
Fields
Institutions
Thesis Gene Flow in Natural Populations: From Panmixia to Speciation  (2000)
Website www.ucl.ac.uk/biosciences/people/francois-balloux

Francois Balloux is the director of the UCL Genetics Institute, [1] and a professor of computational biology at University College London. [2]

Contents

Early life and education

Balloux earned a master's degree in 1996 and a doctorate in 2000 from the University of Lausanne. He then completed postdoctoral research at the University of Edinburgh. [2]

Career

Balloux was an assistant professor at the University of Cambridge, between 2002 and 2007, before taking a position as an associate professor in infectious disease epidemiology at Imperial College London. In 2012, Balloux became a full professor at University College London. [2]

Research

Balloux's research lies at the interface of genomics, epidemiology, evolution and ecology. The main focus of his work is on the reconstruction of disease outbreaks and epidemics of human and wildlife pathogens, [3] [4] [5] and the emergence of antimicrobial resistance. [6] [7] [8] He has also engaged in research on the emergence and spread of drug resistance in tuberculosis, [9] [10] and Gram-negative bacteria, [11] [12] and the distribution of zoonotic pathogens in vertebrates. [13]

Balloux participated in curating a dataset of SARS-CoV-2 genetic samples early on in the pandemic. [14]

Related Research Articles

An antidote is a substance that can counteract a form of poisoning. The term ultimately derives from the Greek term φάρμακον ἀντίδοτον (pharmakon antidoton), "(medicine) given as a remedy". Antidotes for anticoagulants are sometimes referred to as reversal agents.

<i>Mycobacterium tuberculosis</i> Species of pathogenic bacteria that causes tuberculosis

Mycobacterium tuberculosis, also known as Koch's bacillus, is a species of pathogenic bacteria in the family Mycobacteriaceae and the causative agent of tuberculosis. First discovered in 1882 by Robert Koch, M. tuberculosis has an unusual, waxy coating on its cell surface primarily due to the presence of mycolic acid. This coating makes the cells impervious to Gram staining, and as a result, M. tuberculosis can appear weakly Gram-positive. Acid-fast stains such as Ziehl–Neelsen, or fluorescent stains such as auramine are used instead to identify M. tuberculosis with a microscope. The physiology of M. tuberculosis is highly aerobic and requires high levels of oxygen. Primarily a pathogen of the mammalian respiratory system, it infects the lungs. The most frequently used diagnostic methods for tuberculosis are the tuberculin skin test, acid-fast stain, culture, and polymerase chain reaction.

The D1-like receptors are a subfamily of dopamine receptors that bind the endogenous neurotransmitter dopamine. The D1-like subfamily consists of two G protein–coupled receptors that are coupled to Gs and mediate excitatory neurotransmission, of which include D1 and D5. For more information, please see the respective main articles of the individual subtypes:

LEAFY is a plant gene that causes groups of undifferentiated cells called meristems to develop into flowers instead of leaves with associated shoots.

Diadenosine tetraphosphate or Ap4A is a putative alarmone, ubiquitous in nature being common to everything from bacteria to humans. It is made up of two adenosines joined together by a 5′-5′ linked chain of four phosphates. Adenosine polyphosphates are capable of inducing multiple physiological effects.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bacteroidales-1 RNA motif</span>

The Bacteroidales-1 RNA motif is a conserved RNA structure identified by bioinformatics. It has been identified only in bacteria within the order (biology) Bacteroidales. Its presumed length is marked by a promoter on one end that conforms to an alternate consensus sequence that is common in the phylum Bacteroidota, and its 3′ end is indicated by predicted transcription terminators. It is often located downstream of a gene that encodes the L20 ribosomal subunit, although it is unclear whether there is a functional reason underlying this apparent association.

Enterococcus raffinosus is a bacterial species of the Gram-positive genus Enterococcus, named for its facultative anaerobic metabolism, including the ability to ferment the trisaccharide raffinose. This mesophilic microaerophile has optimal growth at 37°C in Columbia Blood Medium. It has an ovoid morphology categorized as coccal with arrangement singly, in pairs, or short chains.

Tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (TERS) is a variant of surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) that combines scanning probe microscopy with Raman spectroscopy. High spatial resolution chemical imaging is possible via TERS, with routine demonstrations of nanometer spatial resolution under ambient laboratory conditions, or better at ultralow temperatures and high pressure.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MCR-1</span>

The mobilized colistin resistance (mcr) gene confers plasmid-mediated resistance to colistin, one of a number of last-resort antibiotics for treating Gram-negative infections. mcr-1, the original variant, is capable of horizontal transfer between different strains of a bacterial species. After discovery in November 2015 in E. coli from a pig in China it has been found in Escherichia coli, Salmonella enterica, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Enterobacter aerogenes, and Enterobacter cloacae. As of 2017, it has been detected in more than 30 countries on 5 continents in less than a year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Haptista</span> Group of protists

Haptista is a proposed group of protists made up of centrohelids and haptophytes. Phylogenomic studies indicate that Haptista, together with Ancoracysta twista, forms a sister clade to the SAR+Telonemia supergroup, but it may also be sister to the Cryptista (+Archaeplastida). It is thus one of the earliest diverging Diaphoretickes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Georg Nagel</span>

Georg Nagel is a biophysicist and professor at the Department for Neurophysiology at the University of Würzburg in Germany. His research is focused on microbial photoreceptors and the development of optogenetic tools.

Ashwani Kumar is an Indian microbiologist and the Senior Principal Scientist at the Institute of Microbial Technology (ImTech). He is known for his studies on Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the causative agent of tuberculosis. His laboratory focuses on understanding the reasons for drug tolerance observed in humans. His laboratory hypothesizes that tuberculosis is a biofilm infection, so its treatment needs the administration of multiple drugs for at least six months. The Department of Science and Technology has awarded him Swarnajayanti Fellowship for 2016–2017. Department of Biotechnology has awarded him the National Bioscience Prize (2017-18). He was also selected for DBT/Wellcome Trust India Alliance Senior Fellowship. He was elected as a Fellow of the National Academy of Sciences, India, in 2022.He is considered as one of India's Leading Scientist in the field of Tuberculosis and his lab is doing some of the best research in India.

Nanotech metallurgy is an emerging interdisciplinary domain of materials science and engineering, manufacturing, and nanoscience and engineering to study how nanophases can be applied to significantly improve the processing/manufacturing, micro/nano-structures, and physical/chemical/mechanical behaviors of metals and alloys. This definition was first proposed by Xiaochun Li at the University of California, Los Angeles in 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hymenocarina</span> Extinct order of arthropods

Hymenocarina is an order of extinct arthropods known from the Cambrian. They possess bivalved carapaces, typically with exposed posteriors. Members of the group are morphologically diverse and had a variety of ecologies, including as filter feeders and as predators. Recent research has generally considered them to be stem or crown group members of Mandibulata, due the presence of mandibles in at least some species.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">SMCHD1</span> Protein-coding gene in the species Homo sapiens

Structural Maintenance of Chromosomes flexible Hinge Domain Containing 1 (SMCHD1) is a protein that in humans is encoded by the SMCHD1 gene. Mutations in SMCHD1 are causative for development of facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy type 2 (FSHD2) and Bosma arhinia microphthalmia syndrome (BAMS).

Katsumi Kaneko was born in Yokohama (Kanagawa), Japan. He graduated with a Bachelor of Engineering degree in 1969 from Yokohama National University, Yokohama. He received a master's degree in physical chemistry at The University of Tokyo, in 1971. He received Doctor of Science in solid state chemistry in 1978 for submitted thesis from The University of Tokyo, entitled “Electrical Properties and Defect Structures of Iron Hydroxide Oxide

Phenotypic response surfaces (PRS) is an artificial intelligence-guided personalized medicine platform that relies on combinatorial optimization principles to quantify drug interactions and efficacies to develop optimized combination therapies to treat a broad spectrum of illnesses.

<i>Syllipsimopodi</i> Genus of fossil coleoid

Syllipsimopodi is an extinct member of the cephalopod subclass Coleoidea belonging to the clade Vampyropoda, which includes octopuses (Octopoda) and vampire squids (Vampyromorphida). The type and only known species is Syllipsimopodi bideni, named in honor of US President Joe Biden, and to raise awareness of his climate change policies. The well-preserved holotype fossil was found in the Bear Gulch Limestone deposit in the US state of Montana in 1988, and donated that year to the Royal Ontario Museum by one B. Hawes, designated ROMIP 64897. The species lived during the (Carboniferous) mississippian 330.3 to 323.4 million years ago pushing back the group of cephalopods by 81.9 million years. The cephalopod was named after Joe Biden, who was president of the United States at the time of its discovery. Whalen and Landman said in an interview that this name was chosen because they were, “encouraged by his plans to address climate change and to fund scientific research”.

In photonics, a meta-waveguide is a physical structures that guides electromagnetic waves with engineered functional subwavelength structures. Meta-waveguides are the result of combining the fields of metamaterials and metasurfaces into integrated optics. The design of the subwavelength architecture allows exotic waveguiding phenomena to be explored.

The following scientific events occurred or are scheduled to occur in 2023.

References

  1. UCL (2019-02-08). "UCL Genetics Institute". UCL Division of Biosciences. Retrieved 2020-04-07.
  2. 1 2 3 "Professor Francois Balloux | UCL Division of Biosciences - UCL - London's Global University". ucl.ac.uk. 13 February 2019. Retrieved 2020-03-15.
  3. Wang, Ruobing; van Dorp, Lucy; Shaw, Liam P.; Bradley, Phelim; Wang, Qi; Wang, Xiaojuan; Jin, Longyang; Zhang, Qing; Liu, Yuqing; Rieux, Adrien; Dorai-Schneiders, Thamarai (2018-03-21). "The global distribution and spread of the mobilized colistin resistance gene mcr-1". Nature Communications. 9 (1): 1179. Bibcode:2018NatCo...9.1179W. doi:10.1038/s41467-018-03205-z. ISSN   2041-1723. PMC   5862964 . PMID   29563494.
  4. O’Hanlon, Simon J.; Rieux, Adrien; Farrer, Rhys A.; Rosa, Gonçalo M.; Waldman, Bruce; Bataille, Arnaud; Kosch, Tiffany A.; Murray, Kris A.; Brankovics, Balázs; Fumagalli, Matteo; Martin, Michael D. (2018-05-11). "Recent Asian origin of chytrid fungi causing global amphibian declines". Science. 360 (6389): 621–627. Bibcode:2018Sci...360..621O. doi:10.1126/science.aar1965. ISSN   0036-8075. PMC   6311102 . PMID   29748278.
  5. Eldholm, Vegard; Pettersson, John H.-O.; Brynildsrud, Ola B.; Kitchen, Andrew; Rasmussen, Erik Michael; Lillebaek, Troels; Rønning, Janne O.; Crudu, Valeriu; Mengshoel, Anne Torunn; Debech, Nadia; Alfsnes, Kristian (2016-11-29). "Armed conflict and population displacement as drivers of the evolution and dispersal of Mycobacterium tuberculosis". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 113 (48): 13881–13886. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1611283113 . ISSN   0027-8424. PMC   5137683 . PMID   27872285.
  6. Balloux, Francois; Brønstad Brynildsrud, Ola; van Dorp, Lucy; Shaw, Liam P.; Chen, Hongbin; Harris, Kathryn A.; Wang, Hui; Eldholm, Vegard (2018). "From Theory to Practice: Translating Whole-Genome Sequencing (WGS) into the Clinic". Trends in Microbiology. 26 (12): 1035–1048. doi:10.1016/j.tim.2018.08.004. PMC   6249990 . PMID   30193960.
  7. Shaw, Liam P.; Bassam, Hassan; Barnes, Chris P.; Walker, A. Sarah; Klein, Nigel; Balloux, Francois (2019). "Modelling microbiome recovery after antibiotics using a stability landscape framework". The ISME Journal. 13 (7): 1845–1856. doi: 10.1038/s41396-019-0392-1 . ISSN   1751-7370. PMC   6591120 . PMID   30877283.
  8. Eldholm, Vegard; Rieux, Adrien; Monteserin, Johana; Lopez, Julia Montana; Palmero, Domingo; Lopez, Beatriz; Ritacco, Viviana; Didelot, Xavier; Balloux, Francois (2016-08-09). Jit, Mark (ed.). "Impact of HIV co-infection on the evolution and transmission of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis". eLife. 5: e16644. doi: 10.7554/eLife.16644 . ISSN   2050-084X. PMC   4978521 . PMID   27502557.
  9. Eldholm, Vegard; Monteserin, Johana; Rieux, Adrien; Lopez, Beatriz; Sobkowiak, Benjamin; Ritacco, Viviana; Balloux, Francois (November 2015). "Four decades of transmission of a multidrug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis outbreak strain". Nature Communications. 6 (1): 7119. Bibcode:2015NatCo...6.7119E. doi:10.1038/ncomms8119. ISSN   2041-1723. PMC   4432642 . PMID   25960343.
  10. Eldholm, Vegard; Rieux, Adrien; Monteserin, Johana; Lopez, Julia Montana; Palmero, Domingo; Lopez, Beatriz; Ritacco, Viviana; Didelot, Xavier; Balloux, Francois (2016-08-09). "Impact of HIV co-infection on the evolution and transmission of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis". eLife. 5: e16644. doi:10.7554/eLife.16644. ISSN   2050-084X. PMC   4978521 . PMID   27502557.
  11. Wang, Ruobing; van Dorp, Lucy; Shaw, Liam P.; Bradley, Phelim; Wang, Qi; Wang, Xiaojuan; Jin, Longyang; Zhang, Qing; Liu, Yuqing; Rieux, Adrien; Dorai-Schneiders, Thamarai (December 2018). "The global distribution and spread of the mobilized colistin resistance gene mcr-1". Nature Communications. 9 (1): 1179. Bibcode:2018NatCo...9.1179W. doi:10.1038/s41467-018-03205-z. ISSN   2041-1723. PMC   5862964 . PMID   29563494.
  12. Acman, Mislav; van Dorp, Lucy; Santini, Joanne M.; Balloux, Francois (December 2020). "Large-scale network analysis captures biological features of bacterial plasmids". Nature Communications. 11 (1): 2452. Bibcode:2020NatCo..11.2452A. doi:10.1038/s41467-020-16282-w. ISSN   2041-1723. PMC   7229196 . PMID   32415210.
  13. Shaw, Liam P.; Wang, Alethea D.; Dylus, David; Meier, Magda; Pogacnik, Grega; Dessimoz, Christophe; Balloux, François (2020). "The phylogenetic range of bacterial and viral pathogens of vertebrates". Molecular Ecology. 29 (17): 3361–3379. doi: 10.1111/mec.15463 . ISSN   1365-294X. PMID   32390272. S2CID   218586409.
  14. van Dorp, Lucy; Acman, Mislav; Richard, Damien; Shaw, Liam P.; Ford, Charlotte E.; Ormond, Louise; Owen, Christopher J.; Pang, Juanita; Tan, Cedric C. S.; Boshier, Florencia A. T.; Ortiz, Arturo Torres; Balloux, François (2020-09-01). "Emergence of genomic diversity and recurrent mutations in SARS-CoV-2". Infection, Genetics and Evolution. 83: 104351. doi:10.1016/j.meegid.2020.104351. ISSN   1567-1348. PMC   7199730 . PMID   32387564.