Our work describing a phospho-activated DNA polymerase δ-RPA interaction and how RPA-ssDNA scaffolds break-induced replication is now available as published article! 📚
nature.com/articles/s41467-0…
Uli Rass retweeted
#IOCGE2026 Exciting Update: Abstract Submission Deadline Extended to 4 September 2026!
We’re delighted to announce an extension to the abstract submission deadline for the 3rd International Online Conference on Genes.
📌 Learn more: sciforum.net/event/IOCGE2026
The @acmedsci Professorship Scheme hugely impacted my work, helping me to do groundbreaking research: nature.com/articles/s41586-0….
A new round is open offering up to £500k to researchers moving to the UK for a full Professorship.
If you're eligible, do apply!
bit.ly/4tTaN0u
Uli Rass retweeted
For decades, biology textbooks have enshrined a simple rule: DNA is made by copying a template. After one enzyme unzips a DNA double helix into separate strands, another called a polymerase builds a complementary sequence, base by base, for each strand. Presto: two copies of the original DNA.
But new research into how bacteria defend themselves from viruses now shows this synthesis rule isn’t absolute.
Now, a team describes a bacterial enzyme that synthesizes DNA without a nucleic acid template, using its own structure as a guide.
Learn more: scim.ag/4tTc5IA @NewsfromScience
Thank you Dr. Luo for an exciting talk. Social DNAing has the honor to welcome Dr. Alberto Ciccia from Columbia this week. Please sign up cancer.columbia.edu/research…
Now in press: We have identified a phospho-activated RPA-binding module in Pol delta which promotes BIR. This provides a paradigm for the dynamic regulation of DNA transactions involving single-stranded intermediates bound by RPA! nature.com/articles/s41467-0…
Fantastic conservation success story: Knepp estate in Sussex! bbc.co.uk/news/articles/czej…
Last year we've learned the Bowhead whale is great at DNA repair... who would have thought the Greenland shark is great at DNA repair as well?! nature.com/articles/s41467-0…
The bowhead whale is great at DNA repair. Long live the bowhead whale!
nature.com/articles/s41586-0…
What are the right questions for AI in Biological Research? This discussion with John Jumper, and @GDSC panelist Luke Yates provides some answers! Charlotte Deane: AI, Drug Discovery, and the UK Advantage youtu.be/Fmp9-E8cPWk?si=yOX9… via @YouTube
Uli Rass retweeted
Dr. Jane Goodall filmed an interview in March 2025 with the understanding it would only be released after her death. This is her final message from it.
Uli Rass retweeted
Learn how the human brain evolved as Sussex psychologist Professor @ForresterGilly shows @jimalkhalili how primates tackle survival challenges in Secrets of the Brain. Watch now on iPlayer: bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m0…
Uli Rass retweeted
Today, the UN family mourns the loss of Dr. Jane Goodall.
The scientist, conservationist and UN Messenger of Peace worked tirelessly for our planet and all its inhabitants, leaving an extraordinary legacy for humanity and nature.
Uli Rass retweeted
Thrilled to share that today we report our human protein interactome in @ScienceMagazine! Predicting which pairs of proteins in the human proteome is a great challenge due to the shallow eukaryotic evolutionary signals but hugely important to understand. science.org/doi/10.1126/scie…
Uli Rass retweeted
Today in @ScienceMagazine, we report a new DNA editing technology to seamlessly write massive changes into the right place in the human genome.
The reason gene editing hasn't transformed human health is that current gene editing technologies like CRISPR are very limited.
The problem with CRISPR is that it cuts up your DNA, and then hopes that unreliable cellular DNA repair will make the wanted edit. @geochurch famously called it genome vandalism. More precise versions of CRISPR only edit less than 100 bases - often only a single base. Therefore, it's not suited to make large changes safely.
However, most diseases are not the result of mutations in one location. Instead, their causes are spread all across the 3 billion base pairs in the genome.
We found bridge RNAs in bacterial “jumping genes” that allow us to make safe and arbitrary changes (insert, cut out, or flip) to every nucleotide within (up to) a 1 million bp sequence in your DNA.
In the paper, we show that we can correct the disease-causing DNA repeats that cause Friedreich's ataxia (which is a rare neurological disease). The same approach could be applied to Huntington’s and other repeat expansion disorders.
At @arcinstitute, we're working towards a full Turing machine for biology. Evo, our DNA foundation model, helps us design the optimal healthy DNA sequences. And Bridge recombination gives us the ability to seamlessly write these changes into the right place in the genome.
This work was a wonderful collaboration with my @arcinstitute cofounder @SKonermann and led by the indefatigable @ntperry13, alongside our amazing bridge editing team: @BartieLiam @dhruvakatrekar @Gabogonzalez515 @mgdurrant @james_jw_pai @AlisonFanton Juliana Martins Masa Hiraizumi @chiaroscurale @hnisimasu
What if we could universally recombine, insert, delete, or invert any two pieces of DNA?
In back-to-back @Nature papers, we report the discovery of bridge RNAs and 3 atomic structures of the first natural RNA-guided recombinase - a new mechanism for programmable genome design
Uli Rass retweeted
Thank Laurie for explaining the Mito DNA for us. Social DNAing will move to JHU @JHU, where Dr. Oberdoerffer @POberdoerffer will tell us about epigenetic guardiance of DNA stability in cancer. Sign up at cancer.columbia.edu/research…
Make trains great again — for the sake of people and the planet nature.com/articles/d41586-0…
I love train travel!
Uli Rass retweeted
Open Call for Expressions of Interest: we’re looking for visionary scientists to become Max Planck Directors - lead world-class research institutes, shape your own department & explore ambitious science w/ unmatched independence & long-term funding! mpg.de/directors
Uli Rass retweeted
How do plants know when to flower? 🌻
Salk scientists just discovered a genetic mechanism for how plants coordinate their flowering with optimal light and temperature conditions. The genetic module effectively works as a 'coincidence detector,' linking the presence of blue light and low temperature to guide the switch to flowering.
Understanding this system will help Salk’s Harnessing Plants Initiative develop strategies for supporting healthy crop growth under changing environmental conditions.
The study is one of the last of Professor Joanne Chory's remarkable career. First author Adam Seluzicki writes, "This manuscript is dedicated to Joanne Chory—a fearless explorer, exceptional mentor, and motivating role model.
#PlantScience #PlantBiology #Genetics #Agriculture






















