Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Cameron Berry

Nat Clarke @natclarke.bsky.social · 13h

🚨 My lab is hiring at all levels!

Interested in animal origins & evolutionary cell biology?

I'm recruiting a postdoc, PhD students & a research assistant to study the molecular evolution of cell adhesion using marine invertebrates + comparative genomics.

🔗: clarkelab.com/join/

Please repost!

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Reposted by Cameron Berry

Waggoner Lab @labwaggoner.bsky.social · 2d

Get your Zoster vaccine! @naturemedicine.bsky.social
A consistent relationship of VZV reactivation with dementia in 100M US adults after controlling for nearly 400 measured characteristics, with zoster vaccines reducing risk of dementia in dose-dependent manner
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

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Reposted by Cameron Berry

Jamie Cate @jhdcate.bsky.social · 4d

Giant DNA viruses taking on translation factors!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Giant DNA viruses encode a hallmark translation initiation complex of eukaryotic life

In contrast to living organisms, viruses were long thought to lack protein synthesis machinery and instead depend on host factors to translate viral transcripts. Here, we discover that giant DNA virus...

www.biorxiv.org

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Reposted by Cameron Berry

Raquel Fueyo @fueyoraquel.bsky.social · 7d

Today in @nature.com, we present our work leveraging functional genomics and human blastoids to uncover a human-specific mechanism in preimplantation development driven by the endogenous retrovirus HERVK.
Special thanks to the reviewers whose comments improved our manuscript a lot! rdcu.be/eI3tD

A human-specific regulatory mechanism revealed in a pre-implantation model

Nature - Genetic manipulation of blastoids reveals the role of recently emerged transposable elements and genes in human development.

rdcu.be

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Junior RNA scientists @jrrnascientists.bsky.social · 8d

🚨🚀 Save the date! Applications for two @RNASociety Junior Representative positions open October 16. Stay tuned for how to apply! #RNASociety #RNA

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David L. Stern @gallseeker.bsky.social · 8d

It's official! We are moving to Stowers!
Very exciting opportunity to expand our studies of insect-plant interactions. We have many opportunities available in biochemistry, development, behavior, genetics, evolution, genomics, AI, and even pest control. Interested in any of these things? Reach out!

Stowers Institute @stowersinstitute.bsky.social · 8d

NEWS🎉 We’re excited to announce @hhmijanelia.bsky.social Investigator David Stern will join the Institute from Janelia Research Campus. His lab studies how aphids transform plants at the genetic level, uncovering secrets of #evolution & new strategies for pest control. @hhmi.org bit.ly/4np96Fb

Stowers Institute recruits renowned developmental and evolutionary…

David Stern, Ph.D., brings groundbreaking research on insect–plant interactions for next-generation pest control to the Institute.

bit.ly

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Kurianlab @kurianlab.bsky.social · Sep 8

Many conserved exons in the heart and brain utilize weak 5 ′ splice sites, yet they are accurately spliced. But how? We show that splicing fidelity is actively enforced through a QKI-U6 checkpoint at the U1→U6 handover in essential cardiac genes during organogenesis.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

QKI ensures splicing fidelity during cardiogenesis by engaging the U6 tri-snRNP to activate splicing at weak 5ʹ splice sites

During organogenesis, precise pre-mRNA splicing is essential to assemble tissue architecture. Many developmentally essential exons bear weak 5'splice sites (5'SS) yet are spliced with high precision, ...

www.biorxiv.org

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Reposted by Cameron Berry

Evelina Tutucci @anilevetu.bsky.social · 10d

Collective homeostasis of condensation-prone proteins via their mRNAs | Nature share.google/zkKumKefL83G...

Collective homeostasis of condensation-prone proteins via their mRNAs - Nature

The authors discover a homeostatic process termed interstasis, in which an increased concentration of proteins within RNA–protein condensates induces the sequestration of their own mRNAs.

share.google

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Markus Hafner @markushafnerrna.bsky.social · 11d

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Delighted to share the story of two germline RBPs - one with little (DND1) and one with no (NANOS3) intrinsic sequence-specificity - that together build a continuous RNA binding surface recognizing a 7-mer (AUGAAUU) in target mRNA 3’UTRs, leading to deadenylation.

The DND1-NANOS3 complex shapes the primordial germ cell transcriptome via a heptanucleotide sequence in mRNA 3'UTRs

The RNA-binding proteins DND1 and NANOS3 are essential for primordial germ cell survival. Their co-immunoprecipitation and overlapping loss-of-function phenotypes suggest joint function, yet how they ...

www.biorxiv.org

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Reposted by Cameron Berry

Lori Passmore @lapassmore.bsky.social · 11d

We have an open post-doc position in my group to study mRNA cleavage and polyadenylation using biochemical reconstitution and cryoEM.

Please get in touch if you are interested in joining this amazing team! 🔬🧬🤩
#RNA #cryoEM

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Reposted by Cameron Berry

John Ngo @johntngo.bsky.social · 16d

🚀 Our new paper is out @natmethods.nature.com!

Kuffer & Marzilli engineered conditionally stable MS2 & PP7 coat proteins (dMCP & dPCP) that degrade unless bound to RNA, enabling ultra–low-background, single-mRNA imaging in live cells.

🔗 www.nature.com/articles/s41...
🧬 www.addgene.org/John_Ngo/

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Cameron Berry @cameronwberry.bsky.social · 20d

Amazing work, Aurelie & authors!! Congratulations!! 👏👏🤩🤩

Reposted by Cameron Berry

Aurelie Hintermann @aurhin.bsky.social · 21d

Are digits modified fins, or evolutionary innovations? Read how we tackled this old question from a new angle🧪
A story with @chasebolt.bsky.social, @homeobox.bsky.social and myself, coordinated by @denisduboule.bsky.social from @college-de-france.fr and published in @nature.com today!
#InHoxWeTrust

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Reposted by Cameron Berry

Stirling Churchman @stirlingchurchman.bsky.social · 29d

Our new pre-print from the Greenberg and Churchman labs shows that activity-dependent modulation of RNA stability is a major, and underappreciated, mechanism of gene regulation in neurons. Tutorial below! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... (1/11)

HuD controls widespread RNA stability to drive neuronal activity-dependent responses

Neuronal activity shapes brain development and refines synaptic connectivity in part through dynamic changes in gene expression. While activity-regulated transcriptional programs have been extensively...

www.biorxiv.org

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Reposted by Cameron Berry

Cell Reports @cp-cellreports.bsky.social · Sep 7

Polysomes and mRNA control the biophysical properties of the eukaryotic cytoplasm

Gade et al. report that polysomes and mRNA levels impact the biophysical properties of the cytoplasm. Using passive rheology probes and single-particle tracking, they demonstrate that intracellular diffusion is enhanced when polysomes are disassembled or when mRNA levels are reduced in eukaryotic cells.

dlvr.it

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Reposted by Cameron Berry

Matt Gibson @mgstowers.bsky.social · Aug 14

Cnidarian-Microbe Interactions
Fully-funded postdoctoral position is available in the Gibson Lab at the Stowers Institute to investigate any aspect of cnidarian-microbe interactions. Strong background in coral symbiosis or eukaryotic microbiology preferred.
Contact Matt Gibson: [email protected]

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Reposted by Cameron Berry

Luisa Cochella @lcochella.bsky.social · Sep 3

Our work on the function of miR-51/miR-100 is out! miR-100 is widely conserved across eumetazoans but its function has been mysterious. Emilio Santillán found in worms it regulates signaling and extracellular matrix genes, some of which seem to be conserved targets! www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

An ancient and essential miRNA family controls cellular interaction pathways in C. elegans

A microRNA that arose at the origin of eumetazoans regulates cell adhesion and signaling in C. elegans through conserved targets.

www.science.org

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Timothy Fuqua 🏳‍🌈 @timothyfuqua.bsky.social · Aug 28

Excited / nervous to share the “magnum opus” of my postdoc in Andreas Wagner’s lab!

"De-novo promoters emerge more readily from random DNA than from genomic DNA"

This project is the accumulation of 4 years of work, and lays the foundation for my future group. In short, we… (1/4)

De-novo promoters emerge more readily from random DNA than from genomic DNA

Promoters are DNA sequences that help to initiate transcription. Point mutations can create de-novo promoters, which can consequently transcribe inactive genes or create novel transcripts. We know lit...

www.biorxiv.org

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Patricia Baldrich González @pbaldrich.bsky.social · Aug 20

This was such a beautiful and collaborative effort! I am so proud of what we accomplished! Congrats to all my co-authors!!

ROOT-SHOOT RCN @root-shoot.bsky.social · Aug 20

We are incredibly excited & proud: our first publication is out in eLIFE!
"Making conferences in the plant sciences more inclusive through community recommendations"
elifesciences.org/articles/106...
This project was a team effort involving contributors from seven professional societies. #PlantSci

Equity, Diversity and Inclusion: Making conferences in the plant sciences more inclusive through community recommendations

The ROOT & SHOOT project in the plant sciences has produced guidelines to help scientific societies organize conferences that are more inclusive and offer more supportive environments to all attendees...

elifesciences.org

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Reposted by Cameron Berry

Dr Sian Gramates @drglam.bsky.social · Aug 16

We have finally navigated the endless red tape and gotten the donation site to support the US FlyBase groups up and running.

bsky.app/profile/flyb...

FlyBase @flybase.bsky.social · Aug 15

FlyBase needs your help! We ask that European labs continue to contribute to Cambridge, UK FlyBase, whereas US and other non-European labs can contribute to US FlyBase. For more information and how to donate: wiki.flybase.org/wiki/FlyBase...

FlyBase:Contribute to FlyBase - FlyBase Wiki

wiki.flybase.org

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Reposted by Cameron Berry

Magda Kopczyńska @mgkopczynska.bsky.social · Dec 27

Do you know where transcription of a gene actually stops? Hint: it is not the annotated gene end.
In our new paper in Nucleic Acids Research we argue that phosphorylation on threonine 4 of RNA Pol II CTD is a marker of transcription termination in animals... 🧵
academic.oup.com/nar/advance-...

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Stowers Institute @stowersinstitute.bsky.social · Aug 12

🎉 Congrats to postdoc Horacio Martín Pallarés on being named a 2025 @pewtrusts.org Latin American Fellow!

His work in the @bazzinilab.bsky.social (a 2010 PEW Fellow) investigates how #Zika & #dengue viruses hijack host cells.

Read about the fellowship and full circle moment: bit.ly/4mHWJTS

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Dr Sian Gramates @drglam.bsky.social · Aug 11

I just got the notice that all the FlyBase people at Harvard, including me, will be laid off on October 12. I'm devastated.

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Ryan Flynn @raflynn5.bsky.social · Aug 6

RNA N-glycosylation enables immune evasion and homeostatic efferocytosis by chemically caging acp3U. Excited to report this work lead by Vinnie @vinnieviruses.bsky.social and in collaboration with @vijayrathinam.bsky.social in @nature.com www.nature.com/articles/s41...

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A. Sánchez Alvarado @planaria1.bsky.social · Aug 6

Evolution’s eye game is wild, but mollusks take it to another level

CRISPR in apple snails gives us a new model to dissect how nature rebuilds complex organs like the camera-type eyes we humans possess

It turns out Evolution doesn’t just innovate, it rewinds, remixes, & regenerates

rdcu.be/ezw0t

A genetically tractable non-vertebrate system to study complete camera-type eye regeneration

Nature Communications - Accorsi et al. show that the apple snail Pomacea canaliculata has eyes similar to humans and can fully regenerate them. They then developed genetic tools to establish these...

url.us.m.mimecastprotect.com

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