Češi popsali virus, který porušuje známá pravidla. Umí hackovat imunitu Viry mají několik triků, jak se dostat hluboko do lidského těla. Obyčejně to dělají tak, že se chrání před imunitním systémem jakousi čepičkou. Jenže jeden virus ji nepotřebuje, popsala teď nová česká...

— a good reminder of how tricky accurate science communication can be. Perhaps it’s therefore just as well that the press release focused on the headline rather than the full author list — the paper itself remains the best place to find what we actually discovered.

At the same time, press summaries sometimes simplify complex biology in ways that can unintentionally drift from what the data actually show. In this case, several aspects of the article go well beyond (or sideways from) the conclusions supported by the experiments

🎉 Great to see our work getting attention — with a few clarifications!
I was pleased to spot recent media coverage of our Nature Communications study — it’s always exciting when fundamental research sparks broader interest.

Vaccinia virus mRNAs containing long 5′-poly(A)-leaders lack a canonical 5′-methylguanosine cap Nature Communications - The vaccinia virus produces mRNA lacking the 5′ m7G cap structure. These uncapped mRNAs have long poly(A) leaders and dominate late in infection, suggesting a novel...

A new study in Nature Communications has challenged 50-year-old dogma by revealing that vaccinia virus mRNAs with 5'-poly(A) leaders lack the 5' m7G caps. This unexpected finding reshapes our understanding of poxvirus RNA polymerase function and viral gene expression.

More: rdcu.be/eXksT

The work benefited greatly from collaboration with Zora Mělková and from the guidance of my supervisor, Václav Vopálenský, who helped refine the story and move the paper through revisions. I’m thankful to everyone who contributed along the way.

Vaccinia virus mRNAs containing long 5′-poly(A)-leaders lack a canonical 5′-methylguanosine cap - Nature Communications The vaccinia virus produces mRNA lacking the 5′ m7G cap structure. These uncapped mRNAs have long poly(A) leaders and dominate late in infection, suggesting a novel viral strategy for host takeover.

🎄 Christmas came early this year!
Very happy to see this story published. This project was particularly meaningful to me, as it is the first study where I developed the original hypothesis, defined the experimental strategy, and generated most of the data underlying the initial manuscript.

🚨 All right, since this is a place of sanity now, let’s kick things off with an open PhD position in my team to work on simulating glycans and their interactions. If you’re passionate about computational biophysics and glycobiology, go ahead and apply! Any shares would be greatly appreciated. 🙃