mspivakov.bsky.social
Mikhail Spivakov
@mspivakov.bsky.social
620 followers 450 following 48 posts
Genomics biologist. Group leader at MRC Laboratory of Medical Sciences, Hon. Senior Lecturer (Associate Prof.) at Imperial College London. Opinions / view my own. https://functionalgenecontrol.group
functionalgenecontrol.group
Posts Media Videos Starter Packs
Pinned
mspivakov.bsky.social
Mikhail Spivakov @mspivakov.bsky.social · Jan 27
Our new paper is finally out, showing that the same enhancer sequences - and likely the same transcription factors recruited to them - affect the activity of distal enhancers and their looping over to target gene promoters.

www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Genetic coupling of enhancer activity and connectivity in gene expression control - Nature Communications
Here, the authors study the effects of expression quantitative trait loci on enhancer activity and promoter contacts in primary monocytes isolated from male individuals, suggesting an inherent genetic...
www.nature.com
7 39 130
mspivakov.bsky.social
Mikhail Spivakov @mspivakov.bsky.social · 4d
A great collaboration between Marina Nocente and Monica Della Rosa in our lab, and human naive pluripotency experts Maria Rostovskaya and Peter Rugg-Gunn in Cambridge.
1
mspivakov.bsky.social
Mikhail Spivakov @mspivakov.bsky.social · 5d
Many enhancers that drive tissue-specific gene expression are already connected to gene promoters in human pluripotent cells.

In a new preprint, we share some clues about when, how, and why this happens!

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Poising and connectivity of emergent human developmental enhancers in the transition from naive to primed pluripotency
In primed human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) resembling post-implantation epiblast, numerous lineage-specific enhancers assume the poised chromatin state, co-marked by H3K4me1 and Polycomb-associate...
www.biorxiv.org
1 20 55
mspivakov.bsky.social
Mikhail Spivakov @mspivakov.bsky.social · 17d
Sounds cool, thanks for sharing!
1
mspivakov.bsky.social
Mikhail Spivakov @mspivakov.bsky.social · Aug 28
Hi Alexis, not sure if I'm on your list - would love to be added if not. Thanks!
1
mspivakov.bsky.social
Mikhail Spivakov @mspivakov.bsky.social · Aug 19
Congrats Arnaud and team, exciting stuff!
1
mspivakov.bsky.social
Mikhail Spivakov @mspivakov.bsky.social · Aug 14
...and a welcoming Ryanair check-in gate with no queue!
1
mspivakov.bsky.social
Mikhail Spivakov @mspivakov.bsky.social · Jul 19
Translational research is digging for gold. Basic research is learning where and what to dig. The more funding is diverted to translation, the more we deplete the research ecosystem, driving the supplies of "gold" - immediately translatable findings and innovations - to unsustainably low levels.
3 27 70
mspivakov.bsky.social
Mikhail Spivakov @mspivakov.bsky.social · Jul 15
My colleagues at @mrc-lms.bsky.social are hiring (five postdoc positions in total!).
vmetzis.bsky.social
Vicki Metzis @vmetzis.bsky.social · Jul 14
Interested in developmental epigenetics? So are we! Apply now to join us for your postdoc!

Multiple positions across multiple groups @mrc-lms.bsky.social

Projects spanning germline demethylation, gene regulation, genome architecture in development & disease 👇👇

lms.mrc.ac.uk/work/vacanci...
MRC Postdoctoral Research Scientists x 5 - MRC Laboratory of Medical Sciences
Applications are now open for up to five postdoctoral positions in the area of developmental epigenetics.
lms.mrc.ac.uk
1 5
mspivakov.bsky.social
Mikhail Spivakov @mspivakov.bsky.social · Jul 10
Congratulations to Will Scott and the team from @mrc-lms.bsky.social on this exciting study!
mrc-lms.bsky.social
MRC Laboratory of Medical Sciences @mrc-lms.bsky.social · Jul 9
A new study, published today in Nature, reveals the hidden benefits of weight loss on fat tissue.

A better understanding of how weight loss leads to health improvements at a molecular level could help inform the development of therapies for diseases such as type 2 diabetes in the future.
Study reveals the hidden benefits of weight loss on fat tissue
Scientists from the MRC Laboratory of Medical Sciences (LMS) and Imperial College London have produced the first detailed characterisation of the changes that weight loss causes in human fat tissue by...
lms.mrc.ac.uk
3
mspivakov.bsky.social
Mikhail Spivakov @mspivakov.bsky.social · Jul 5
"We’re reaping the fruits of what happened economically 50 years ago, when... decisions began to prioritize efficiency and making as much money as possible over what was ethically correct."

english.elpais.com/culture/2025...
Philip Kitcher, philosopher: ‘Life is a human project, not God’s’
The British thinker is an advocate of collective progress and laments our contemporary individualism. In an interview with EL PAÍS, he says that there is value in idealism, even when it is absurd
english.elpais.com
1
mspivakov.bsky.social
Mikhail Spivakov @mspivakov.bsky.social · Jun 24
I have no doubt about that - but this in itself is commendable :)
1
mspivakov.bsky.social
Mikhail Spivakov @mspivakov.bsky.social · Jun 24
Wow. Saying this as someone trained in classical piano...
1
mspivakov.bsky.social
Mikhail Spivakov @mspivakov.bsky.social · Jun 9
Sounds cool!
2
mspivakov.bsky.social
Mikhail Spivakov @mspivakov.bsky.social · Jun 2
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

This is all a painful deja vu from 2007. And it's important to remember that despite all the suffering and literal lives lost (www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this...) Labour had lost hopelessly then to the party whose policies it tried to mimic.
I got British citizenship via the five-year route. Labour’s new 10-year rule will cause untold pain | Nesrine Malik
Starmer claims to want integration. Yet denying people safety, belonging and the right to vote for a decade amounts to the exact opposite, says Guardian columnist Nesrine Malik
www.theguardian.com
mspivakov.bsky.social
Mikhail Spivakov @mspivakov.bsky.social · Jun 2
AI models go dumb when fed their own output. But as we are increasingly reading AI-generated text and looking at AI-generated images, how about us?

www.nature.com/articles/s41...
AI models collapse when trained on recursively generated data - Nature
 Analysis shows that indiscriminately training generative artificial intelligence on real and generated content, usually done by scraping data from the Internet, can lead to a collapse in th...
www.nature.com
1
mspivakov.bsky.social
Mikhail Spivakov @mspivakov.bsky.social · May 18
Hi @Maria, sorry I missed your poster and didn't meet you at the meeting. Which is a shame because I could also then ask for feedback on our project :)
1
mspivakov.bsky.social
Mikhail Spivakov @mspivakov.bsky.social · May 14
The two JRs can be found here and may be useful for people who consider campaigning against the proposed changes via either the lobbying or judicial route:

www.casemine.com/judgement/uk...

www.casemine.com/judgement/uk...
1
mspivakov.bsky.social
Mikhail Spivakov @mspivakov.bsky.social · May 14
Two JRs were allowed to proceed and were won but one, sadly the most relevant for this situation, was not. Still, the two successful JRs have hopefully set a strong precedent against retroactive changes. 3/n
1
mspivakov.bsky.social
Mikhail Spivakov @mspivakov.bsky.social · May 14
We organised and campaigned fiercely at the time against these changes. Lobbying alone (led by the group I then coordinated) didn't help, but was effective for mounting the evidence for judicial reviews, led by a partner campaign group. 2/n
1 1
mspivakov.bsky.social
Mikhail Spivakov @mspivakov.bsky.social · May 14
My heart goes to UK migrants who feel outraged with UK govt's proposals to retroactively extend the qualifying period for permanent residence by 5(!) years. The last Labour govt did the same just by 1 year and it was still shocking and destructive.

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

1/n
1.5m foreign workers already in UK could face longer wait for permanent settlement
People who have moved to UK since 2020 may face extra five-year wait to stay indefinitely under Labour crackdown
www.theguardian.com
1 1 5
Reposted by Mikhail Spivakov
iandunt.bsky.social
Ian Dunt @iandunt.bsky.social · May 12
Labour has chosen nativism over growth.

inews.co.uk/opinion/star...
44 160 750
mspivakov.bsky.social
Mikhail Spivakov @mspivakov.bsky.social · May 12
I would agree :)

Not sure it came across as such, but I meant to highlight the caveats of using net migration as a target - even if for some people (not me), it seems to be a meaningful metric.
mspivakov.bsky.social
Mikhail Spivakov @mspivakov.bsky.social · May 12
There is one sure way to reduce net immigration: make life in this country rubbish for everyone.
1 3
mspivakov.bsky.social
Mikhail Spivakov @mspivakov.bsky.social · Apr 19
The reason why ERCs and other non-strategy-driven grants are scarce is that funders feel they have the least control over them. When given the chance to talk policy, we should do more to promote blue skies research. Sadly, I've seen people use it to suggest new schemes for their field/crowd instead.
1 1 5
mspivakov.bsky.social
Mikhail Spivakov @mspivakov.bsky.social · Apr 18
Exciting, congratulations Jesse and team!
1