Department of Genetics, University of Cambridge

Julie Ahringer from @gurdoninstitute.bsky.social @geneticscam.bsky.social @cam.ac.uk gives talk on decoding genome regulation during development. Exploring how chromatin accessibility changes throughout development enable single cells to become multicellular organisms.

🎉 Exciting news! 3 Department members have won @erc.europa.eu Synergy Grants:
• Richard Durbin & Felipe Karam-Teixeira — studying metazoan genomes & transposable elements
• Eva Paluch (PDN) & Daniel St Johnston — exploring epithelial cell robustness

➡️www.gen.cam.ac.uk/news/erc-synergy-grant-success

This summer, the Research Informatics Training Team hosted 19 students from Saudi Arabia for a 6-week bioinformatics summer school 🧬

Covering RNA-seq, proteomics, genomics & modelling, the programme got fantastic feedback ⭐Huge thanks to our team for making it a success!

We were thrilled to host students and staff from two Reykjavík Gymnasiums visiting to explore life science research.

They toured our labs, heard from our Head Steve, and discovered the excitement of modern genetics—an inspiring day of science and curiosity! 🧬✨

Dark blue graphic with white Functional and Evolutionary Genomics logo (DNA inside a cog wheel). Profile photos of Theme Leads Alex Almeida, Kate S. Baker, and John Welch. Quote from Dr John Welch reads: "Cambridge is full of great researchers working on different parts of complex problems. A real benefit of the Research Themes is bringing these researchers together, showing how apparently different research programmes can illuminate and energise one another."

Our final leadership team to reintroduce are the brilliant leads of the Functional and Evolutionary Genomics Theme. New lead John shares his thoughts on research across the School. Learn more on our website: www.bio.cam.ac.uk @camvetschool.bsky.social @geneticscam.bsky.social #BiologicalSciences

📅 Fixed-term (maternity cover, up to 12 months)
📍 Based in the Department of Genetics
👉 Apply now: www.cam.ac.uk/jobs/assista...

We’re hiring! ✨

Love keeping things organised, planning events, and making things run like clockwork? We are looking for an enthusiastic and reliable administrator to support our Head of Department and coordinate key activities — from research events to departmental celebrations! 🎉

It's World Mental Health Day. Here’s your reminder that if you need support at Cambridge, you are not alone. If you're not sure who to reach out to at Cambridge, swipe across to read our guide.

A person with a green speech bubble which says "I'm OK, but would like some advice." Text on the rest of the graphic says: You can reach out to your College Tutor, College Health and Wellbeing Team and the Postgraduate Wellbeing Service.

A drawing of a person wearing a headset at a desktop computer with a purple speech bubble that says: "Things are challenging or stressful, and my usual ways of helping myself aren’t always working." Below the drawing are the words: You can reach out to the University Counselling or Postgraduate Wellbeing Service, and your College Health and Wellbeing Team.

A drawing of a person looking anxious and unsure with a dark green speech bubble that says: "The way I’m feeling is often impacting my day to day life." Undernead that are the words: You can reach out to the University Counselling Service, your NHS GP, your College Health and Wellbeing Team and the University Mental Health Advice Service.

It's World Mental Health Day. Here's a reminder that if you need support at Cambridge, you are not alone.

Reach out for what you need at our student support page: www.studentsupport.cam.ac.uk/get-support

Teal graphic with white Reproduction, Development and Lifelong Health logo (three people behind health cross). Headshots of Theme Leads Sumru Bayin, Alex Cagan, Amanda Sferruzzi-Perri, Mekayla Storer. Quote from Dr Sumru Bayin says: 'As Theme Leads, we look forward to enabling new connections that inspire transformative interdisciplinary research. Building on my experience with the Complex Tissue Regeneration Grand Challenge, I aim to uncover new synergies and unlock new opportunities across the School of Biological Sciences.'

Meet our Reproduction, Development and Lifelong Health Theme Leads. New Lead Sumru shares her hopes for the Theme. Learn more on our website: www.bio.cam.ac.uk

@gurdoninstitute.bsky.social @geneticscam.bsky.social @pdncambridge.bsky.social @scicambridge.bsky.social

Fully-funded 4-year PhD Opportunities available at the @crick.ac.uk , including a project in our lab on human #embryomodels Feel free to share with anyone interested, and apply through the online portal before 5th November! 👏

www.crick.ac.uk/careers-stud...

Need plans for next Saturday? We are back at Big Biology Day 2025! 🧬

Explore why some species live longer, peer at tissue samples under the microscope, play our lifespan game 🐋🐭 & meet mutant fruit flies 🦟✨ From whales to tiny DNA-unlocking flies, discoveries await for all ages.

The Sawarkar lab is looking for a Research Assistant to investigate transcriptional changes in the context of stress and neurodegeneration with the goal of developing novel therapeutics.

Sawarkar lab research: buff.ly/kk3P5ia
Apply here: buff.ly/oSlJ5J4
Closes 31st August 2025

Interested in lactation?🤱

Are you a researcher, clinician or lactation consultant working in Cambridge and around with an interest in the science, health, and societal dimensions of lactation?

Join us for the Cambridge Lactation Network 2025 Summer Symposium!
🗓 Thursday 11 September 2025

Join today at 1pm in the Biffen Lecture Theatre, Downing Site!

🚨 I’m looking for two enthusiastic scientists to join our team at Cambridge to explore the molecular mechanisms of lactation, early nutrition, and their long-term impact on health.

Apply here:
👉 RA: www.jobs.cam.ac.uk/job/51988/
👉 Postdoc: www.jobs.cam.ac.uk/job/51984/

Please share 🔬👩‍🔬

🧬 25 years since the Human Genome Project — a milestone that reshaped biology and medicine.

Richard Durbin joins the latest Naked Scientist episode to explore the history of genomics

www.gen.cam.ac.uk/news/25-years-human-genome-project

Are you a scientist with an interest in molecular cell #biology & quantitative systems biology? Join four leading molecular biologists as they conduct a residential scientific meeting in Cambridge on the topic of protein homeostasis: royalsociety.org/science-even... @geneticscam.bsky.social

Can genetics grow a better garden? 🌻🪴

In this Naked Scientists episode, @aylwyn-scally.bsky.social digs into the roots of genetics and how it could help gardens face climate threats like drought and pests.

www.thenakedscientists.com/podcasts/naked-scientists-podcast/can-genetics-grow-better-garden

Large-scale DNA study maps 37,000 years of human disease history Researchers have mapped the spread of infectious diseases in humans across millennia, to reveal how human-animal interactions permanently transformed our

“These infections didn’t just cause illness – they may have contributed to population collapse, migration, and genetic adaptation.”
- Eske Willerslev

www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/large-scale-dna-study-maps-37000-years-of-human-disease-history

Faster identification of Transposable Elements in full genome assemblies This month's ERGA BioGenome Analysis & Applications Seminar will feature a talk by speaker Pío Sierra about a new tool, pantera, which allows faster identification of Transposable Elements in genome a...

Next Tuesday at 11:00 CEST: Talk by @piosierra.bsky.social from @geneticscam.bsky.social - Faster identification of Transposable Elements in full #genome assemblies 🧬

➡️ www.erga-biodiversity.eu/post/faster-...

@biogeneurope.bsky.social @ebpgenome.bsky.social #TransposableElements #TEs

Incredible images created by our scientists using advanced microscopes are helping to drive biological discovery 🔬

Read more about our Microscopy Bioscience Platform⬇️
www.cam.ac.uk/stories/camb...

@cambridgebiosci.bsky.social
📸 @alexneaverson.bsky.social
📸 @dillansaunders.bsky.social

Ever wonder how nature got so diverse? The secret might lie in these colorful cichlid fish 🐠

Cambridge scientists discovered that ‘flipped’ segments of DNA act like evolutionary turbo boosts — helping species adapt fast and evolve into new ones. 👇
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adr9961

Are you a scientist with an interest in molecular cell #biology & quantitative systems biology? Join four leading molecular biologists as they conduct a residential scientific meeting in Cambridge on the topic of protein homeostasis: royalsociety.org/science-even... @geneticscam.bsky.social

The natural history of the emergence of sexually transmissible shigellosis Shigellosis is a gastrointestinal illness caused by bacteria belonging to one of four species of Shigella . Sexually transmissible shigellosis was first reported in 1974, but recently there has been a...

Sexually transmissible shigellosis has gone from an obscure cause of sporadic outbreaks to a sustained endemic AMR priority in only two decades! 🧫💊 Check out our latest preprint to understand how this happened 1/11
www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1...

Check out the latest from the lab on Sexually Transmissible shigellosis where @lewiscemason.bsky.social and co unpick why this relatively obscure disease re-emerged endemically in the 21st Century 🔬 🧫 🕵️ 🧬

Roving Researcher scheme: the benefits, challenges and looking ahead The Roving Researcher scheme was launched in the School of Biological Sciences in March 2024. To celebrate its success over the last 12 months, we were pleased to host the first Roving Researcher

Launched in 2024, our Roving Researcher scheme helps scientists maintain momentum in the lab while taking medium- to long-term leave.

To mark its first year, we hosted an event in Cambridge, exploring successes, challenges, and future potential.

➡️ www.bio.cam.ac.uk/news/roving-...

The impact of ancestral, genetic, and environmental influences on germline de novo mutation rates and spectra - Nature Communications Here the authors analyze de novo mutations in >10,000 parent-offspring trios and find that ancestry and smoking independently associate with mutation rate, but that common genetic variants likely c...

Delighted to see this paper out, investigating factors affecting human germline mutation in a cohort of 10,000 families from the UK 100k Genomes Project.

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

🚨 Fully funded PhD with @atjcagan.bsky.social at @cambridgeuni.bsky.social

Studying how somatic mutations and clonal expansions develop in living tissues to predict cancer risk early, using highly accurate next-generation sequencing.

Apply now for Oct 2025 👉 www.jobs.cam.ac.uk/job/51281/

🚨 We’re hiring a Postdoc!

Join Dr Erik Clark’s group to explore how gene networks pattern early Drosophila embryos 🧬🪰

Combine cutting-edge imaging, modelling & evo-devo insights. Apply your wet-lab & computational skills in a creative, collaborative team.

➡️https://www.jobs.cam.ac.uk/job/51216/

✨NEW INTERVIEW✨
LOST ANCESTORS - Secrets In Our Genome ~ DR AYLWYN SCALLY
#evolutionsoup #evolution #paleoanthropology #science #fossils
👇🏿👇🏽
is.gd/mHJM8d