RNA Systems Biology Lab

Catalunya sufre una fuga de cerebros por falta de plazas para científicos que despuntan “Marcharme no fue algo que yo deseara; me vi obligado a hacerlo. Busqué opciones activamente, llamé a muchas puertas. No se me ofreció ninguna oportunidad de

On science in Barcelona and the need many researchers feel to move elsewhere to build their careers.
www.lavanguardia.com/ciencia/2025...

Phase Transitions in Unsupervised Feature Selection Identifying minimal and informative feature sets is a central challenge in data analysis, particularly when few data points are available. Here we present a theoretical analysis of an unsupervised fea...

Johnny and Michele show that unsupervised feature selection in proteins exhibits a glass-like phase transition: for physico-chemical features there’s a critical number where information and classification performance saturate: arxiv.org/abs/2602.00660. Great work with Vittorio and Alessandro!

What drives RNA–RNA interactions? In our latest Nature Communications paper, we show that low-complexity repeats act as hubs for multi-partner RNA interactions—and introduce RIME: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Congrats to all authors, especially Giorgio, Adriano, and Alessio!

Computationally-designed aptamers targeting RAD51-BRCA2 interaction impair homologous recombination and induce synthetic lethality - Nature Communications Milordini et al. report the design of DNA aptamers that block RAD51-BRCA2 interaction and impair DNA repair in cancer cells. Combined with the PARP inhibitor Olaparib, they trigger synthetic lethality...

Great work by Giulia! Together with Elsa, Mirco, Andrea & Stefania we show that RAD51-binding aptamers disrupt the RAD51–BRCA2 interaction and induce synthetic lethality. Special thanks to Alex as well as the Nikon Centre!
📄 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Computationally Designed RNA Aptamers Enable Selective Detection of FUS Pathology in ALS FUS is an RNA/DNA-binding protein whose mislocalization and aggregation are defining pathological features of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD). Detectin...

Our new preprint is out! Huge thanks to Elsa, Martina, Neil, Mathew & Jenna — and none of this would be possible without Alex. Grateful to all the authors!! Here we show RNA aptamers that selectively detect pathological FUS missed by antibodies.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

TGR Leonardo del 02/01/2026 ore 14:50 | TGR Leonardo, Rubrica del TGR TGR Leonardo. Leonardo è un telegiornale tematico, un'esperienza unica in Europa che coniuga l'attenzione all'attualità del quotidiano con il rigore della documentazione e dell'approfondimento. Tra gl...

Beautiful piece about Giulia’s work on RNA aptamers against cancer. Many thanks to Andrea, Stefania, and all the people involved (+ Valeria!). In Italian, starting at 6:45
www.rainews.it/tgr/rubriche...

Disarmare il tumore al pancreas, una speranza che arriva dall’Iit di Genova La ricerca riguarda il ruolo delle proteine RDA51 e BRC2 nella funzione specifica di portare le cellule malate all’autodistruzione

Many thanks to Alberto Diaspro for this beautiful piece on our work on RNA aptamers and their potential in cancer research (article in Italian):
genova.repubblica.it/cronaca/2026...

A RNA-based molecule enhances therapies against pancreatic cancer - Talk iit An IIT team in Genoa has used artificial intelligence to identify an aptamer that enhances existing anticancer therapies A research group at the Italian Institute of Technology (IIT) has identified a ...

Advanced computational biology, aptamer design and cellular experiments working together against pancreatic cancer. Grateful to Giulia, Elsa, Mirco, Alex, Francesco, Andrea, Stefania, the Nikon Centre and all the amazing people who made this work possible.

opentalk.iit.it/en/a-rna-bas...

Great work by Jakob! RNA co-aggregates with α-synuclein, reshaping fibril structure and inhibiting its catalytic activity. It also drives selective recruitment of transcripts—highlighting RNA as a key cofactor.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Group retreat 2025 — Passo del Faiallo edition! Fantastic time with fantastic people!

𝐔𝐧𝐚 𝐧𝐮𝐨𝐯𝐚 𝐦𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐚 𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐥𝐚 𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐢𝐚 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐚 𝐜𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐢 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢 🔬🧬 All’Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia di Genova, il gruppo di… | Tgr Rai - Testata Giornalistica Regionale Rai 𝐔𝐧𝐚 𝐧𝐮𝐨𝐯𝐚 𝐦𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐚 𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐥𝐚 𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐢𝐚 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐚 𝐜𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐢 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢 🔬🧬 All’Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia di Genova, il gruppo di ricerca guidato da Gian Gaetano Tartaglia, 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐥’𝐑𝐍𝐀 𝐒𝐲...

Nice interview on our new project for ALS diagnosis

YouTube video by Target ALS Everyone Lives: Turning Vision Into Reality | The Target ALS Origin Story | Film Premiere & Panel

a great man and a great initiative www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nxas...

Decoding RNA-RNA Interactions: The Role of Low-Complexity Repeats and a Deep Learning Framework for Sequence-Based Prediction RNA-RNA interactions (RRIs) are fundamental to gene regulation and RNA processing, yet their molecular determinants remain unclear. In this work, we analyze several large-scale RRI datasets and identi...

We present RIME, a deep learning model predicting RNA–RNA interactions from sequence embeddings. It outperforms thermodynamic tools and reveals low-complexity repeats as hubs in RNA networks. Adriano, Giorgio, Alessio & all - super!

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

tools.tartaglialab.com/rna_rna

Festival della Scienza

Super event in Genoa - Katalin Karikó

www.festivalscienza.it/programma-20...

YouTube video by Startup Breeze Cernais_Startup_Breeze_final_event_15.10.25

With A. Cerase, J. Fiorentino and P. Bonfanti
I am proud to be part of CERNAIS, a team turning vision into reality — combining RNA science, AI, and therapeutic innovation to create new possibilities for rare diseases.

youtu.be/Ec4vChtk_04

cernais.com

sweet memories from the past www.clarehall.cam.ac.uk/wp-content/u...

Advancing Medicine through Innovation - Expo 2025 Osaka - RNA Genetherapy

My mind goes back to our previous RNA gene therapy meeting in Japan. It has been an incredible journey, and I truly appreciate the collaborations that have emerged thanks to this project.

www.rna-genetherapy.eu/advancing-me...

RNA-based innovative therapies for neurological disorders The third annual meeting of Spoke 3 of the National Center

The third annual meeting of Spoke 3 of the National Center for Gene Therapy and RNA-based Drugs congressiconvegni.it/en/eventi/rn...