McVey lab

Congrats, Hengel lab!

A comprehensive genetic catalog of human double-strand break repair The analysis of DNA sequence outcomes provides molecular insights into double-strand break (DSB) repair mechanisms. Using parallel in-pool profiling of Cas9-induced insertions and deletions (indels) w...

A comprehensive genetic catalog of human double-strand break repair | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

This made my day. Gotta watch those hot mikes.

Every few months the "good lab hands" thing comes up and it misses a key point: you can learn to have good hands. Training matters.

Good hands aren't some magic gift from the PCR gods, you have to develop them through directed repetitive practice, like any other skill

It is not always safe to repair DNA Damage. Sometimes, cells "just bypass it".

During DNA replication, repair of lesions on DNA can be dangerous. Cells instead "tolerate" DNA damage and focus on finishing replication.

Read our review and find out why and how: doi.org/10.1016/j.ti...

Postdoctoral Training Programs Funded by the National Cancer Institute (T32CA186895), the program at City of Hope provides exceptionally motivated, recent (2 years or less) postdoctoral fellows with scientific knowledge, researc

We have openings for a postdoctoral training program on DNA Damage and Oncogenic Signaling. Our past trainees have been very successful. Apply by Aug 31 for full consideration. See link for details. www.imgs-coh.edu/postdoctoral...

Why would anyone want to be a scientist? It is difficult to fathom why anyone intelligent enough to be a scientist would actually choose to be one. Doing good science requires the utmost exertion of body, mind and spirit, yet is consistently...

This!
journals.biologists.com/jcs/article/...

Exclusive: Harvard University lays off fly database team The layoffs jeopardize this resource, which has served more than 4,000 labs for about three decades.

www.thetransmitter.org/community/ha...

a canva graphic that says "How it works Step 1: Go to SkypeAScientist.com Step 2: Click “Sign Up” then “Scientist Sign Up Form” Step 3: Tell us about yourself Step 4: Get matched with a classroom Step 5: Connect with the teacher Step 6: Make a kid’s day isn't that great? @SkypeAScientist"

Scientists!

@skypeascientist.bsky.social matches scientists with classrooms, libraries, & more for virtual Q&As! It's easy and fun!

We are looking for 750 more volunteers by 8/15

If you're down to chat with 1-5 classrooms this semester, sign up here
www.skypeascientist.com/sign-up.html

Sian, this absolutely sucks. You and your team are vital, and don’t deserve this.

If there is any way that the scientific community can prevent this, we MUST try!

Tell the Supreme Court: No Stay. Hands off NIH The Supreme Court is poised to allow Trump to illegally terminate NIH grants. Let's speak out. There is not much time.

Important new document available regarding SCOTUS and NIH grants.

scienceandfreedomalliance.substack.com/p/tell-the-s...

1/2

Proud of FASEB, ASM, ASCB, and ASBMB.

Check out this new review (with animations, natch) of mechanisms of licensing origins of DNA replication - a wonderful (and continuing!) collaboration with Bruce Stillman @cshlnews.bsky.social and John Diffley @crick.ac.uk! www.nature.com/articles/s41...

An important correction in the NYT, to a chart that was shared a lot in recent days & that I shared myself, shows they'd made a mistake with the 18-24 year old turnout, and so it's not the case that age group outvoted all others.

Still: nothing to sneeze at here, still a huge surge in youth vote.

I think that this is one of the most difficult aspects of science today—finding time to think and reflect.

It's unconscionable that Congress is rushing to pass the reconciliation bill, which polling indicates is wildly unpopular across citizens of both parties. This isn't a political football to get across the goal line. It's a morally bankrupt contract. There's no shame in taking extra time to fix it.

Yes! We need to replicate this graph across the country.

Change in NSF GRFP awards from 2024-2025. Bar height shows absolute change, label shows percent change.

Although 500 new NSF GRFPs were added in June, the total number of fellowships in 2025 remains ~500 fewer than in 2024. Some fields—like CS and Physics—still saw net increases in total awards.

But others, including Life Sciences & Psychology, have taken hits of 50% or more compared to last year.

Too poor to science: how wealth determines who succeeds in STEM

Thought-provoking read, especially in these times of questioning diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives
🧪

This is a beautiful paper!

Biology of Aging at Tufts

This semester, the Tufts undergraduate Biology of Aging class created a new set of YouTube Videos describing the science behind different healthspan-promoting interventions. There were some really creative and informative entries! Check them out here: www.youtube.com/@BiologyofAg...

Our department can say with conviction that people like Chiara are exactly the individuals whose careers we need to be supporting. Now is not the time to be pulling back from commitments to young scientists!

🧵5 Top Free Alternatives to BioRender for Scientific Illustrations!

These five websites offer free scientific illustrations for biologists. Great for presentations, research papers and other research communication needs.

Save and share the post!

For those of you who rely on government websites for your research, American University has put together this guide to sites that have archived them.

subjectguides.library.american.edu/data_rescue/...

This is good news. May the rule of law prevail.

The NIH budget is on a fast track to disaster An NIH insider explains what Republicans are likely to do next, and what we can do

This piece by an anonymous NIH insider spells it out:
*Slow science spending as much as possible, ignore existing commitments
*Present the failure to spend as a "savings"
*House GOP leadership will make cuts permanent with rescission/tax cut
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/the-nih-bu...

A non-tethering role for the Drosophila Pol θ linker domain in promoting damage resolution Abstract. DNA polymerase theta (Pol θ) is an error-prone translesion polymerase that becomes crucial for DNA double-strand break repair when cells are defi

The polymerase and helicase domains of DNA polymerase theta are important for double-strand break repair. Most scientists ignore its linker domain. Maybe we shouldn't do that anymore? Graduate student Justin Blanch from our lab shows why in a new paper:
track.smtpsendmail.com/9032119/c?p=...

Please consider making a public comment opposing the possibility of making NIH directors, program officers, and other staff (e.g. SRO, GMS) political appointees. This only took me ~90 seconds. Please repost. Thanks 👍