Real world impact:
The ability to target specific DNA sequences with high precision allows researchers to study the direct consequences of individual genetic changes. We can also make these changes in previously modified systems, further enhancing the power of this technology.

The repair can be random or we can direct the repair to model disease or add or remove a function to a disease-relevant protein.

We harness and influence the cell’s natural repair mechanisms to generate precise genome modifications to study gene function and model disease.

CRISPR works in three key steps:
• Targeting – A guide RNA directs Cas9 to a specific DNA sequence.
• Cutting – Cas9 creates a precise double strand break at the target site.
• Repair – The cell repairs the break, which can disrupt a gene or introduce a defined genetic change.

#MethodMonday 🧪
How do we edit #DNA?

At the Genome Engineering Facility, DNA editing is mainly carried out using CRISPR Cas9 technology for targeted mutagenesis in vivo.

#CRISPR #GenomeEngineering #GeneEditing #WIMMResearch #AcademicSky @rdm.ox.ac.uk @medsci.ox.ac.uk

Pramila Rijal awarded grant from Academy of Medical Sciences Springboard Programme Now in its 11th year, Springboard supports researchers at a critical point in their careers, when many are establishing laboratories for the first time and need the freedom to explore ambitious questi...

Congratulations to Pramila Rijal who has been awarded £125,000 from the @acmedsci.bsky.social Springboard programme to accelerate translational research to understand immune response & improve #influenza vaccines in order to protect more people from future outbreaks.
www.rdm.ox.ac.uk/news/pramila...

@natureportfolio.nature.com @nature.com @natrevcancer.nature.com @ox.ac.uk

Rethinking ovarian cancer III: the past decade and future directions - Nature Reviews Cancer In this Expert Recommendation, Bowtell and colleagues outline progress made over the last decade in the research and treatment of high-grade serous carcinoma as well as current challenges and research priorities for the coming years to reduce incidence and improve patient outcomes.

#WIMMReads 🧪
#MRCWIMM Professor Ahmed Ahmed and international experts provide an Expert Recommendation in Nature Reviews Cancer, outlining future priorities for high grade serous #OvarianCancer research and treatment. 👇
#CancerResearch #AcademicSky
@oxfordwomenshealth.bsky.social
@medsci.ox.ac.uk

This will be an invaluable public resource for future studies investigating biological processes in muscle health and disease.

#WIMMSpotlight #WIMMCommunity #SingleCellGenomics #HumanCellAtlas #ComputationalBiology #MuscleResearch #DataScience #MRCWIMM

As integration team lead for the musculoskeletal atlas, Carla has gathered single cell and nuclei data from 18 international studies and is now optimising integration and annotations to produce a definitive description of transcriptomic signatures in muscle tissue.

She is currently building a single cell atlas of muscle tissue as part of the Human Cell Atlas consortium.

#ScientistSpotlight 🧪

This week we’re featuring Carla Cohen, a computational researcher based in the David Sims Lab at the #MRCWIMM and Professor Sarah Snelling’s Lab at the Botnar Institute.

#AcademicSky @drcarlacohen.bsky.social @sarahsnelling.bsky.social @humancellatlas.org @medsci.ox.ac.uk

This includes visualising proteins at a subcellular level in combination with the microscopy and FACs facilities at the #MRCWIMM and overcoming the lack of specific antibodies to disease proteins.

#CRISPR #GenomeEngineering #GeneEditing #WIMMResearch

Real world impact:
Genome editing helps model genetic diseases, understand cancer drivers, and test therapeutic strategies in controlled systems.

These precise edits allow researchers to recreate disease relevant mutations and study how they affect cells and organisms.

This enables:
• Gene knockouts resulting from targeted disruption & imperfect DNA repair
• Precise exon excision
• Modelling of patient mutations by incorporation of a short artificial DNA sequence
• Insertion of complex knock in alleles using plasmid or viral template DNA

#MethodMonday 🧪
New month, new method: #GenomeEditing
How do we edit #DNA?
The Genome Engineering Facility mainly applies CRISPR Cas9 technology for targeted mutagenesis in vivo.

@rdm.ox.ac.uk @medsci.ox.ac.uk #AcademicSky

The rise of bone marrow organoids as next-generation models for blood formation and failure The bone marrow (BM) serves as the primary site of postnatal hematopoiesis, where hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) reside within a specialized, hypoxic microenvironment known as the BM niche1. This com...

#WIMMReads🧪
#MRCWIMM Group Leader Abs Khan contributes to a review on bone marrow organoids, highlighting their potential for modelling blood diseases and advancing personalised therapies. Read more 👇

#Haematology #Organoids @abattacks.bsky.social @rdm.ox.ac.uk @medsci.ox.ac.uk #AcademicSky

Onima Chowdhury receives Cancer Research UK clinical trial grant Congratulations to Dr Onima Chowdhury, who has been awarded a clinical trial grant by Cancer Research UK to improve treatment of Myelodysplastic Syndromes.

#WIMMHighlights 🧪
Many congratulations to Onima Chowdhury on receiving a Cancer Research UK Clinical Trial Grant.

www.imm.ox.ac.uk/news/chowdhu...

@cancerresearchuk.org @rdm.ox.ac.uk @medsci.ox.ac.uk @ox.ac.uk #AcademicSky #CancerResearch

Announcing new Principal Investigator 2026 Following RDM’s annual call for researchers to apply for Principal Investigator (PI) status, we are delighted to announce the designation of a new PIs for 2026.

Congratulations to Mafalda Santos, who has been designated an RDM Principal Investigator.

Mafalda's work integrates biophysics, super-resolution imaging, and molecular and structural biology to uncover the mechanisms underlying immune receptor triggering.

www.rdm.ox.ac.uk/news/announc...

#WIMMSpotlight #WIMMCommunity #LeukaemiaResearch #CancerGenomics #ClonalEvolution #GlobalHealth #MRCWIMM

Beyond Borders: Reflections on a Richard Doll Society conference - Green Templeton College The Richard Doll Society (RDS) welcomed delegates to Green Templeton for their annual conference on Beyond Borders: Global Healthcare in Times of Crisis on Saturday 27 September 2025. The day brought ...

Beyond his research, Felix has a keen interest in global health, particularly refugee health. He recently ran a conference as Richard Doll Society President, which was featured here:
www.gtc.ox.ac.uk/news-and-eve...

Rapid clonal selection within early hematopoietic cell compartments presages the outcome of ivosidenib combination therapy Key PointsIvosidenib and venetoclax, with or without azacitidine, either rapidly select resistant leukemic clones or eradicate leukemic clones.Resistant cl

📄 Publication:
ashpublications.org/blood/articl...

Felix recently published a study using a novel sequencing method developed in the lab that may have important future implications for the treatment of acute myeloid leukaemia. The work suggests that a particular treatment regimen could become relevant for a broader group of patients.

Felix’s work focuses on resolving clonal heterogeneity in acute myeloid leukaemia, with the aim of understanding how individual clones rewire during disease transformation.

#ScientistSpotlight 🧪

This week we’re featuring Felix A Radtke, a DPhil student in the Vyas Group, a clinician by training, and the current Oxford Sir David Weatherall Scholar.

#WorldHealthDay @rdm.ox.ac.uk @medsci.ox.ac.uk #AkademicSky @greentempleton.bsky.social

#MRCWIMM is proud to contribute to research that improves health and wellbeing worldwide. Happy #WorldHealthDay!
@medsci.ox.ac.uk @ox.ac.uk @rdm.ox.ac.uk #AcademicSky 🧪

Single-cell analysis of signalling and transcriptional responses to type I interferons - EMBO Reports Type I interferons (IFNs) play crucial roles in antiviral defence, autoinflammation and cancer immunity. The human genome encodes 17 different type I IFNs that all signal through the same receptor. No...

#WIMMReads
🧪 From the Sims and Rehwinkel Groups: type I interferons trigger shared but variable immune responses across cell types, shaping signalling and gene expression.
A new resource for understanding interferon biology in infection and disease.
#Immunology #WIMM @rdm.ox.ac.uk @medsci.ox.ac.uk

Verena Korber receives CRUK Career Development Fellowship Congratulations to Dr Verena Korber, who has been awarded a Career Development Fellowship from Cancer Research UK.

#WIMMHighlights: Congratulations to Verena Körber, on receiving the CRUK Career Development Fellowship.

Read the full story here 👉 www.imm.ox.ac.uk/news/korber-...

@rdm.ox.ac.uk @cancerresearchuk.org

Sharma Group: Mechanistic T Cell Genomics Our research team is focused on uncovering the mechanisms that govern T cell signaling, with the goal of precisely engineering immune cells for immunotherapies.

Find out more about the Sharma Group: www.imm.ox.ac.uk/research/res...
#WIMMSpotlight #WIMMCommunity #SystemsBiology #ComputationalBiology #Immunology #TCells #TranslationalResearch

Her work focuses on leveraging this knowledge to design strategies to reprogram cell states for translational applications, bridging computational insights with real world impact in immunology.