Prof Francois Balloux (@BallouxFrancois) / X

Prof Francois Balloux

35.5K posts

Prof Francois Balloux

@BallouxFrancois

Director @UGI_at_UCL. Interest in Infectious disease epidemiology, pathogen genomics, global health, and all sorts of other stuff.

Settling in

scholar.google.co.uk/citations?user…

Joined April 2019

Pinned
Prof Francois Balloux
@BallouxFrancois
Jun 21, 2022
Our über-massive review on everything you always wanted to know about SARS-CoV-2, or didn't even know you wanted to know, or would have preferred not to know - but if you read it you'll know it (sorry), is out, peer-reviewed and open access. academic.oup.com/ooim/advance-a…
Prof Francois Balloux
@BallouxFrancois
Mar 6, 2025
H5N1 bird flu has a mortality rate close to 100% in chicken. When the virus is detected in a chicken farm, all animals are being euthanised to reduce their suffering and limit the risk of spread to other animals and humans. 1/
4.2M
Prof Francois Balloux
@BallouxFrancois
Jul 4, 2025
Israel is becoming extremely unpopular in the West, especially among young people. Desperate measures by authorities to oppose this trend, such as cancelling musicians and listing Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation, won't convince people to like Israel more. 1/
2.7M
Prof Francois Balloux
@BallouxFrancois
Mar 14, 2020
I should be qualified to comment on the covid-19 pandemic. I'm a computational/system biologist working on infectious diseases and have spent five years in a world class 'pandemic response modelling' unit. In this thread, I will summarise what I believe I (don't) know. (1/12)
Prof Francois Balloux
@BallouxFrancois
Mar 14, 2025
A university degree is a qualification, not a morality clause. A University revoking degrees for 'wrong think' makes a total mockery of its mission. This is also the most authoritarian 'right-woke' nonsense I've come across in a while. 1/
CU Apartheid Divest (CUAD)
@ColumbiaBDS
Mar 13, 2025
BREAKING: COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY HAS JUST SUSPENDED, EXPELLED, AND REVOKED DEGREES FROM 22 STUDENTS FOR PROTESTING GENOCIDE IN PALESTINE
1.2M
Prof Francois Balloux
@BallouxFrancois
Sep 27, 2024
Whether the IDF suspected that Nasrallah was in this block of flats that got flattened, or just made this up as a story, is largely irrelevant. This is a war crime, either way.
Dyab Abou Jahjah
@Aboujahjah
Sep 27, 2024
Israel just brought down 6 buildings in Beirut, killing everyone inside. Child, woman, and man. The death toll is said to be in the hundreds. This is the end of any notion of rules of engagement.
1.6M
Prof Francois Balloux
@BallouxFrancois
May 19, 2025
If this was meant to be a hit piece, it's an epic fail. The list of his 'controversial' posts include that we should treat refugees humanely, avoid pumping sewage in the sea, and that abuse of migrant workers in Qatar is wrong. Seriously ...
Sky News
@SkyNews
May 19, 2025
A history of Gary Lineker's most controversial posts - from Rwanda and Brexit to Gaza 🔗 Read more trib.al/JFGHFRG
505K
Prof Francois Balloux
@BallouxFrancois
Jul 6, 2021
Interesting coincidence ...
Prof Francois Balloux
@BallouxFrancois
Mar 6, 2025
Replying to @BallouxFrancois
Elon Musk has just become the ultimate outrage disinformation machine. Whenever I see a tweet by him on any topic I know something about, he's totally, utterly wrong. 3/
267K
Prof Francois Balloux
@BallouxFrancois
Dec 27, 2021
This is not an easy message to convey, even to those who have have already accepted that zero-covid was toast. Essentially everyone will eventually get infected by SARS-CoV-2 in the near future, and likely more than once in their lifetime. 1/
Prof Francois Balloux
@BallouxFrancois
Mar 6, 2025
Replying to @BallouxFrancois
Culling all the chicken in a farm where H5N1 is circulating is the correct response, epidemiologically, ethically and morally, and it is standard procedure globally. 2/
247K
Prof Francois Balloux
@BallouxFrancois
Jun 6, 2021
I had a difficult childhood, I went rogue as a teenager and did some really stupid things. Yet, I was reaccepted in society, got a free education, and ended up as a successful member of society. I doubt this would be possible today. I regret our society has become so unforgiving.
Prof Francois Balloux
@BallouxFrancois
Oct 15, 2024
I suspected this had been mistranslated. It isn't (I'm fluent in German). She didn't make a case for "collateral damage" being acceptable in the pursuit of "military objectives". She literally stated that what Germany stands for is the wilful slaughter of civilians. This is dark.
Tarek Baé
@Tarek_Bae
Oct 14, 2024
German Foreign Minister Baerbock defends Israel's killings of Palestinian civilians. "Civilian places" lose "their protected status" because "terrorists abuse that", she claims. This is of course nonsense under international law. The International Criminal Court accuses Israel of
00:00
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Prof Francois Balloux
@BallouxFrancois
Dec 15, 2024
I've now come across this argument that Palestinians are worthless subhumans because they produced no major scientific figure - the first time I saw this view expressed was in a tweet by @GadSaad. This is really ultimate - old-fashioned 1930s - genocidal fascism. Ironically, it
554K