Marnie Blewitt

Accessory subunits of PRC2 mimic H3K27me3 to restrict the spread of Polycomb domains Some proteins mimic the repressive mark H3K27me3, but the physiological relevance of this phenomenon was unclear. Agius et al. show that the PRC2 subunits JARID2 and PALI1 mimic H3K27me3 to antagonize...

1/ 🧵 In our new paper, we show that JARID2 and PALI1 mimic H3K27me3 to antagonise PRC2. www.cell.com/molecular-ce...

If you want to explore ncRNA dynamics during mammalian development, love microscopy, and are not afaraid of transposons biology, apply‼️
We are looking for a postdoc to join our team at @imbavienna.bsky.social
More details 👇🏻

Single-cell CRISPR activation screens in primary B cells discover gene regulatory mechanisms for hundreds of autoimmune risk loci. https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.03.01.708923v1

We wrote a perspective "How to build the regulatory genome: a constructionist guide to the cis-regulatory code", out in Development yesterday. Title says it all. Find it here:

journals.biologists.com/dev/article/...

Hey Chromatin Friends!
Long time no chromatin question...
For many of you, CUT&x (RUN/Tag) works really well but some of you have had their frustrations with CUT and "gone back" to ChIP-Seq. Can you share your experiences in the comments!?
Would love to hear from you!
Sharing is appreciated : )

Already more than 5,000 Australians have joined our campaign to release more funding for medical research in the 2026 Federal Budget.

If you can spare 30 seconds of your time to join our campaign, you’ll help fund life-saving cures in Australia.
www.moniqueryan.com.au/medical_rese...

Good morning @lornegenome.bsky.social delegates! In case you missed watching the sunrise on the beach this morning (with galahs!), I’m happy to report that today we have a forecast of blue skies, highs of 31 degrees & some great science, kicking off with @odomlab.bsky.social at 9am. #LorneGenome2026

Let’s celebrate women and girls in scientific research! Often underestimated, women drive research in biomedical sciences both intellectually and at the bench. Research should be a “gender-blind” endeavor, but rarely is. Stop bigotry ! Stop unconscious bias ! Go women & girls!

🚨Preprint alert🚨 How does chromatin “architecture” form at CTCF sites? Our new preprint with @voslab.org and @andersshansen.bsky.social shows CTCF dimerization promotes nucleosome oligomerization on chromatin. tinyurl.com/CTCF-nucleos...

For once an article about the "how to get to Rome" and not "Rome" itself. Collaboration with my "partner-in-crime" @felibas.bsky.social has been a key ingredient of my research over the years. Sara Miller at Molecular Cell spoke with us of how we got there and what we think about collaborations.

This is a cool study that you should all read. Full credit to the key agitator, Alexandra Gurzau, and noting not possible without amazing collaborators, and another fun effort for me, personally, with long time collab @marnieblewitt.bsky.social

Kudos to first author Alexandra Gurzau and joint lead @pseudokinase.bsky.social, plus all authors. Great team! @richardbirkinshaw.bsky.social Andrew Leis, @qgouil.bsky.social Peter Czabotar, Tamara Cameron, Hannah Vanyai, Sam Eccles, Iromi Wickramasinghe, Kelsey Breslin. @wehi-research.bsky.social

Our new preprint on SMCHD1! We’ve shown SMCHD1’s ATPase activity is critical for function in vivo, and excitingly a new DNA binding domain neighbouring the ATPase domain activates the enzymatic function, which is important for normal chromatin binding.
urldefense.com/v3/__https:/...

After a long (but fun!) postdoc journey, I am very excited to share that I will start my own lab in the Ubiquitin Signalling Division at WEHI. We will study how ubiquitin controls mitochondrial health and its role in neurodegenerative disease. Hiring soon!

Say hello to our incoming lab heads! 👋 Excited to announce Dr Danika Hill, Dr Jacki Heraud-Farlow and Dr Sylvie Callegari will soon be establishing new labs at WEHI.

More info:
www.wehi.edu.au/news/excepti...

bsky.app/profile/sylv...
bsky.app/profile/jack...
bsky.app/profile/prec...

During germline epigenetic reprogramming, Polycomb must be restricted in the gametes to ensure proper genome regulation in the fertilized embryo. 2 must-read papers assess what happens when Ezhip (Polycomb antagonist) is lost. They come to highly similar conclusions and should be read in tandem 1/4

Pfs48/45 nanobodies block Plasmodium falciparum transmission Author summary Malaria is spread when an infected Anopheles mosquito bites a human. Within the female Anopheles mosquito, malaria parasite fertilisation occurs in the mosquito midgut. If you inhibit p...

Pfs48/45 nanobodies block malaria parasite transmission 🦟 and crystal structures provide structural insight to how they bind 💎

Pfs48/45 is one of the leading transmission blocking vaccine candidates and a critical fertilisation antigen 💕

Please share widely- love to hear your feedback!

Check out our new findings showing BRD4's role in preventing the premature activation of developmental transcription factors via #Polycomb, providing new mechanistic insights into the pathogenesis of neurodevelopmental disorder #CdLS #NDDs, #chromatinopathies www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

I’d read that review :)

Excited to share our latest preprint: "SWARM: A Single-Molecule Workflow for High-Precision Profiling of RNA Modifications" www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Led by Stefan Prodic #RNA #Epitranscriptomics #Nanopore 1/6

Hierarchical buffering of cellular RNA polymerase II pools maintains transcriptional homeostasis RNA polymerase II (Pol II) abundance and transcriptional output are coordinated across diverse conditions to maintain mRNA homeostasis. To determine whether Pol II acts as a limiting factor for transc...

What happens when you suddenly remove half of an essential enzyme from cells? 🤔

We watched in real-time as cells deploy multiple backup strategies to buffer against changes in RNA Pol II abundance.

Our lab's new preprint 👇

bit.ly/4pyPgax

Academic employee for Research Group, Dept. of Biomedical Sciences, reNEW

Do you want to play a key role in running a cutting-edge stem cell and embryology lab at reNEW @ucph.bsky.social ? We’re hiring a Lab Manager to support our team and help with stem cell and animal work. Apply before Feb. 1st : rb.gy/d5uf17

Associate Professor (tenure) or Professor (tenure) Dr. Connie Eaves Chair in Cancer Stem Cell Research Academic Job Category Faculty Bargaining Job Title Associate Professor (tenure) or Professor (tenure) Dr. Connie Eaves Chair in Cancer Stem Cell Research Department School of Biomedical Engineering | ...

UBC and BC Cancer are recruiting a cancer stem cell faculty member at the Associate Professor or Professor rank for the new Connie Eaves Chair in Cancer Stem Cell Research. A great position recognizing a giant in the field. Please share. #Vancouver
ubc.wd10.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/ubcfac...

Cohesin drives chromatin scanning during the RAD51-mediated homology search Cohesin folds genomes into chromatin loops, the roles of which are under debate. We found that double-strand breaks (DSBs) induce de novo formation of chromatin loops in human cells, with the loop bas...

Thrilled to share that my postdoc research is published today in @science.org! We found that DNA repair uses cohesin complexes to build new chromatin loops that guide the homology search and boost accurate repair! 1/n
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Escape from X inactivation is directly modulated by Xist noncoding RNA Nature Cell Biology - The authors show that increased Xist RNA levels can induce de novo silencing of genes that normally escape X inactivation. SPEN depletion prevents the silencing of escape...

Very happy to share our paper rdcu.be/eUImj out today in @natcellbio.nature.com 🎉🎉🎉
We uncover an unexpected role for endogenous Xist RNA in regulating X-linked genes that escape X-inactivation.

💡 New paper out in @natcellbio.nature.com 💥💥💥🚀🚀🚀 We uncover an unexpected role for endogenous Xist RNA in regulating X-linked genes that escape X-inactivation well beyond early development, in differentiated, non-dividing cells and in vivo post implantation embryos 👇👇👇👇

🚨 Want to do a #Phd using high-throughput mutagenesis and CRISPR screens to understand how gene body methylation impacts transcription in collaboration with Greg Kudla's group? Do apply, deadline in a week! www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
Deadline 15th December 2025
#epigenetics Please share 🙏

XIST Drives X-Chromosome Inactivation and Safeguards Female Extraembryonic Cells in Humans Dosage compensation of sex chromosomes through X-chromosome inactivation (XCI) is required for mice extra-embryonic tissue growth and embryo development. The species specificity in mechanisms and timi...

𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐫𝐭! 🎉
“𝐗𝐈𝐒𝐓 𝐃𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐗-𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐈𝐧𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐒𝐚𝐟𝐞𝐠𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐅𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐞 𝐄𝐱𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐫𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐜 𝐂𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐇𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐬” 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐨𝐧 𝐛𝐢𝐨𝐑𝐱𝐢𝐯!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

We are excited to share our new preprint:

SMARCA2/4-Dependent Chromatin Remodelling Establishes Gene Regulatory Programs in Early Human Embryos and Blastoids.

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2025.12.01.691499v1

🚨 Multiple #PhD opportunities for lab or computational applicants. Do you want to understand the molecular basis of #epigenetic dysfunction in human disease?
Come work with our group at the fantastic, collaborative @uoe-igc.bsky.social in a beautiful, liveable city.
🧵 1/4
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