True. The holy grail (for our lab) of efficient long amplification single locus analysis always seems just out of reach (either too annoying, too expensive, or both). But we're still trying!

I thought it was more a cool finding than a technological breakthrough (especially in the nanopore/pacbio era)

No evidence of any such enzyme in nature, AFAIK. And the workarounds seem to be through base excision repair (which is nuts). So, yeah, would be curious to know what a chemist would say

A biochemical curiosity: it is much more straightforward to go enzymatically from 5mC > T than it is to go from 5mC > C

Those amazing #phages 🦠 figured out 5mC chemistry before we did:
📄 Out today in @MolecularCell we describe a 5mC-selective #deaminase family in environmental phage genomes with broad applications for #5base #sequencing
#epigenetics #DNAmethylation #genomics #NGS 🧬🧪
www.cell.com/molecular-ce...

Obviously terrible that there is a federal agency willing to carry this out, but it sounds like the two sons were quite nasty in orchestrating this....

These images show live embryos of animals (jellyfish, crustacean, worm, sea urchin, sea squirt, beetle) and one of animals closest single-celled relatives. They were captured taking advantage of fluorescent proteins localised on the outer membrane of cells, allowing us to observe cell outlines. 1/9

But don't rewrite the textbooks! Drt3b is highly tailored for poly(AC) and is NOT a general avenue for amino acid-to-DNA information transfer, though the conceptual implications are fun to consider. (4/6)

The line that stuck me was Whitaker talking to Ogilvie “I love taking care of people on the worst day of their lives” 🥹

Gonna be a tough readjustment to not having this show to look forward to every week

Fantastic podcast (as usual), but it was nice to hear you three be genuinely optimistic. Kim Lane Scheppele was an outstanding guest. PS - the prelude to each show where you three crack wise is my favorite podcast moment of every week

Au CNRS, une coupe budgétaire inédite fragilise un peu plus la recherche : « On va dans le mur » Le PDG du Centre national de recherche scientifique, Antoine Petit, a annoncé, le 24 mars, une baisse supplémentaire de 20 millions d’euros sur le budget 2026 de l’institution. Les chercheurs et les d...

On va dans le mur 🧱⬅️🚗

Feels like this paper on protein-templated DNA synthesis by a natural enzyme warrants some comment.
So here's a 🧵. /1
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

There are Science papers and then there are *I just dropped and shattered my mug of coffee Usual Suspects style* Science papers www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Very happy that @jacobsenucla.bsky.social won the ASPB-Carnegie Winslow Briggs Mentorship Award. Every day I think "what would Steve do"--the sign of a truly impactful mentor. Also 🙏 @jlawlab.bsky.social, who nominated Steve and put together the application. She will surely be a future winner!

🔬IGMM (CNRS/ Univ Montpellier) is hiring Group Leaders in Innovative Biology. @cnrsbiologie.bsky.social @cnrs.fr @umontpellier.bsky.social
📅 1 May–15 June 2026
📩 search2026@igmm.cnrs.fr
📎Full information 👇
#LifeScience #MolecularBiology #Research #PI #CNRS

Spatial, temporal and Notch determination of terminal selector expression controls neuronal cell fate in the Drosophila optic lobe - Nature Neuroscience The authors characterized the spatial origin of Drosophila medulla neurons, completing their previous characterization of the temporal and Notch origins of these neurons and allowing them to correlate...

Félix Simon's paper is out in its final form 😍
When we got into (extreme) detail in the temporal and spatial patterning of neuroblasts, Félix asked a simple question "sure, but how does this translate into neuronal cell fate?". www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Number of grants, which either would mean low success rate or low number of applicants (both would be bad)

Something I’ve noticed (not done real stats/analysis on) is that France does much better at StG awards than CoG for life sciences. I think this is very telling about the support we get compared to some of our neighbors (DE, UK, CH)

ERC : "We're overwhelmed with funding request, it's becoming unmanageable. We need to find a way to reduce the number of applications."

French Government: "You need to go get the money from Europe, you bunch of losers!"

🫣

With all the cuts to research funding in European countries, everyone is turning to the ERC...

The ERC should be a source of supplementary funding, not a substitute.

Every country in Europe must invest in basic research and increase its budgets!!!!

We are basically getting a national top-down directive from CNRS to apply to the ERC to help offset budget cuts, and then we see this from the ERC yesterday. Demoralizing....

In Nature this week:
Motherhood derails women’s academic careers — these data reveal how and why www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Blazing hot take, Julien 😂

Synthetic chromosomes for 3D functional genomics: from principles to AI-guided design The role of genome 3D organization for fundamental chromatin processes, such as long-range promoter-activator regulatory interactions, remains ambiguo…

Happy to share our review of the past, recent, and future applications of synthetic genomics in studying the 3D functional organization of chromosomes, a set of approaches that are gaining momentum!

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Help needed: I know this has been discussed before - what are people doing now that phase lock tubes have disappeared from the market? Is everyone making their own and that's why companies are not selling them anymore? If so, what is the best vaccum grease you would recommend? 🤷‍♀️

He knows that NIH spent their apportionment but he also knows they did by sending dollars to upcoming years with the result of ~25% fewer proposals- which is a massive cut. He just lies to the face of Congress

📣📣 Deadline approaching 📣📣 (Please re-post)

If you are thinking of starting (or moving) your lab, do not miss the opportunity to apply to join us at the
@i2bcparissaclay.bsky.social

Diversity of topics, interdisciplinary environment and excellent platform support! Recommended!

Something is happening

1/6 This November, the Institute of Molecular Genetics, the leader in vertebrate functional genomics in Czechia, open a call for applications for its Director (starting 1.5. 2027). Whoever would seriously think about it, please, contact me. Thanks for RT.
img.cas.cz/en/