Akanksha Thawani, PhD

Check out this extremely cool work by @fueyoraquel.bsky.social on how human specific ERVs contribute to early development!

A miniature CRISPR–Cas10 enzyme confers immunity by inhibitory signalling - Nature Panoptes, an anti-phage defence system against virus-mediated immune suppression, is revealed.

Today in @nature.com , we highlight how a cousin of CRISPR-Cas10, mCpol, establishes an evolutionary trap in anti-phage immune systems.

Check out @erinedoherty.bsky.social and my work from @doudna-lab.bsky.social lab here:
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Thank you Flora!

🧪 We’re hiring at all levels! If you're interested in transposons, genome biology, cryoEM, RNA, chromatin, or genome engineering—let’s talk! Particularly interested in enthusiastic technicians and postdoctoral fellows!

Email me and check out our lab website to learn more! #TeamScience #WeAreHiring

Grateful for many other supporters in this journey: the entire @leadingedgeprogram.bsky.social community, @bwfund.bsky.social, @damonrunyon.org, and a number of mentors within and outside @ucberkeleyofficial.bsky.social. It's been a joy ride!

Huge thanks to my incredible mentors—Eva @nogaleslab.bsky.social, Kathy Collins and members of these two labs for their support and generosity during my postdoc. I've learned so much from you.

The Thawani Lab at Columbia University The Thawani Lab at Columbia University describing their research on mobile genome, cryo-electron microscopy and genome engineering

Extremely excited to share that I’m joining Columbia University @columbiauniversity.bsky.social as an Assistant Professor!

We will explore how the mobile genome works—how transposons shape us, our DNA and how they can be harnessed to build useful technologies. #NewPI #RNAsky #TEsky

thawanilab.org

Congrats Luuk!

RNA N-glycosylation enables immune evasion and homeostatic efferocytosis by chemically caging acp3U. Excited to report this work lead by Vinnie @vinnieviruses.bsky.social and in collaboration with @vijayrathinam.bsky.social in @nature.com www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Looking forward to this new installment of the Woods Hole Mobile DNA Meeting! Fantastic program, laid-back atmosphere, and gorgeous setting at the Marine Biological Laboratory ⛵️🪼🐋
Abstract submission closes Aug 7 but registration after that date is possible. www.eventsquid.com/event.cfm?ev...

Many proteins bind RNA, yet we still don’t know what RNAs most bind because methods map one RBP at a time. In @cp-cell.bsky.social, with the Jovanovic lab, we describe SPIDR – a method for mapping the RNA binding sites of dozens of RBPs in a single experiment. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Structural basis for the evolution of a domesticated group II intron–like reverse transcriptase to function in host cell DNA repair | PNAS A previous study found that a bacterial group II intron–like reverse transcriptase (G2L4 RT) evolved to function in double-strand break repair (DSB...

#TEsky Structural basis for the evolution of a domesticated group II intron–like reverse transcriptase to function in host cell DNA repair doi.org/10.1073/pnas...

Group Leader – Molecular Systems Biology Unit Are you ready to lead groundbreaking research in Molecular Systems Biology? Join us at EMBL! We are seeking a motivated scientist to lead an independent research group, addressing original biological ...

Ready to lead pioneering research that bridges systems-level investigations of biological systems to molecular mechanism? The EMBL Molecular Systems Biology Unit in Heidelberg is hiring a Group Leader!

🦠🧍‍♀️From bacterial to human immunity.

We report in @science.org the discovery of a human homolog of SIR2 antiphage proteins that participates in the TLR pathway of animal innate immunity.
Co-led wt @enzopoirier.bsky.social by D. Bonhomme and @hugovaysset.bsky.social

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Junior, Assistant, or Associate Specialist – Xue Lab University of California, Irvine is hiring. Apply now!

The Xue lab at UC Irvine is looking for a staff scientist to support our work investigating how microbes interact and evolve in the gut microbiome! Open to a wide range of previous experience levels, see ad for more.
recruit.ap.uci.edu/JPF09601

Congrats @kedmonds.bsky.social @maxewilkinson.bsky.social et al on your beautiful work being out!

Transcriptional and post-transcriptional regulation of transposable elements and their roles in development and disease - Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology Transposable elements (TEs) comprise nearly half of the human genome. This Review discusses transcriptional and post-transcriptional mechanisms that repress TE activity, how TEs escape this suppressio...

We wrote a review on Transposable Elements (TEs) and almost all aspects of TE silencing and their roles in biological processes & disease.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Deeply touched and honored by the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, my alma mater, (@uam.es) making me Doctor Honoris Causa. Thank you to the Department of Physical Chemistry for nominating me for this recognition. It was a memorable day for me and my family👩‍🎓

Like a dream, my name next to that of @isabelallende.com, and to be recognized by Universidad Internacional Menéndez Pelayo UIMP. Soon after, Irene Vallejo @irenevalmore.bsky.social will receive the same honor. I feel proud to be linked to these truly inspiring, talented women! Thank you UIMP!

Structures of vertebrate R2 retrotransposon complexes during target-primed reverse transcription and after second-strand nicking pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40540573/ #cryoEM

Structures of vertebrate R2 retrotransposon complexes during target-primed reverse transcription and after second-strand nicking Cryo-EM and functional analyses reveal features of vertebrate R2 retrotransposon proteins that support transgene insertion.

Link to the article: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

It was a joy ride to be working on this project alongside Anthony Rodríguez-Vargas, @nozhathassan.bsky.social, Briana Van Treeck and my fearless mentors Kathy and @nogaleslab.bsky.social!

And thanks for the very important support from the NIH, @hhmi.org and @damonrunyon.org for this work! (5/n)

Besides the initiation of insertion, we could also determine the #cryoEM structure of another biochemical intermediate where the first strand synthesis and second strand nicking has completed (4/n)

The expanded zinc finger array within these new R2s covers the upstream target site entirely to enable more precise junction formation (3/n)

We identified features of the avian R2 retrotransposons that we previously identified and a newly identified element from a turtle genome that support transgene insertion (2/n)

Vertebrate retrotransposons are the future of gene therapy. But how do they insert their genes? 🔥🔥

Thrilled to share our new work now published with Kathy Collins, @nogaleslab.bsky.social @berkeleymcb.bsky.social where we investigate this with #cryoEM & biochemistry in 🧪 and cells! #RNAsky #TEsky

We're thrilled to share the published version of our DRT9 story, online today @nature.com! Congratulations to all authors!

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

Our review article on the recent progress in understanding the mechanism of LINE element propagation in eukaryotes is out! Please check it out. #TEsky #RNAsky #RT #cryoEM

Deep sequencing of yeast and mouse tRNAs and tRNA fragments using OTTR

It is finally (FINALLY) out! We characterized Kathy Collin's super cool OTTR protocol for tRNA and tRF cloning, showing that it is comparable (mim-tRNA-seq, maybe nano-tRNA -seq and LIDAR) or superior (everything else) to the best protocols in the literature.

elifesciences.org/articles/77616

Congratulations Aaron!