Pregnancy loss is common in humans, and chromosomal abnormalities are the leading cause. Using genetic data from ~140,000 IVF embryos, we show that maternal variation in meiosis genes influences recombination and aneuploidy risk. First authors: @saracarioscia.bsky.social & @aabiddanda.github.io

After a long incubation, it is a huge pleasure to finally share the work of @luzmlopez.bsky.social, Jon Harper and their coauthors: "Localised negative feedback shapes genome-wide patterning of meiotic DNA breaks". @gdsc-sussex.bsky.social www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Now live on Find-A-PhD-dot-com: Joint project between @labneale.bsky.social and @drjonbaxter.bsky.social @gdsc-sussex.bsky.social Get in touch if you are interested in any and all of: Chromosomes, Genome Stability, Chromatin and DNA Topology in Mitosis and Meiosis. www.findaphd.com/phds/project...

@science.org A small polymerase ribozyme that can synthesize itself and its complementary strand | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... #RNA #ribozyme #evolution

Indeed! And this depiction is just of one... www.nature.com/articles/sre...

NOW LIVE!: PhD opening joint with @drjonbaxter.bsky.social at @gdsc-sussex.bsky.social Get in touch and apply if you are interested in any and all of: Chromosomes, Genome Stability, Chromatin and DNA Topology in Mitosis and Meiosis. www.sussex.ac.uk/study/fees-f...

Super strong representation from our department in SussexRNA at the RNA UK meeting in Windermere this week. Many congrats to Jake, Courtney and Hope from the Ben Towler group, and Leandro Castellano, Lidia Vasilieva, Ben and Nikos for having abstracts accepted for presentation. 👏

Beautiful! Is this in real time (20 seconds?) (Speed also seem to slow over time?)

Changes in the UK R&I funding landscape - doing fewer things better. An open letter from Ian Chapman to research and innovation community: www.ukri.org/news/open-le...

"Writing papers is rarely (probably never) the rate-limiting step in scientific research" Important to remember this. However painful writing is, however much more efficient we can make it, for experimental work it's the research that takes the time. www.linkedin.com/feed/update/...

Coming soon! PhD opening joint with @drjonbaxter.bsky.social at @gdsc-sussex.bsky.social Keep a look out and get in touch if you are interested in any and all of: Chromosomes, Genome Stability, Chromatin and DNA Topology in Mitosis and Meiosis.

Still some time to register to this great meeting! Great science and great location for a very affordable registration cost!

It’s a massive problem across the sector, and I’m not sure what is the solution is…

Human eggs must segregate their chromosomes with exquisite precision — yet errors rise with maternal age, causing miscarriage & infertility. Our new article on @biorxivpreprint.bsky.social shows why chromosome cohesion fails in aging eggs & how to improve it. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... (1/10)

Skip to 1m 39s for my current coding hobby project 🙃

30 years ago today, December 31st 1995, the last ever Calvin & Hobbes comic strip was published. Even now, I still find it so poignant & moving.

SMC and recombination enthusiasts: we updated our work describing the loop extrusion properties of budding yeast condensin and its function in biasing donor usage for mating-type switching. Lots of cool new data, check it out! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Do #hybrids handle heat, cold better? ❄️🔥 Over 140 generations at 5C and 31C, #yeast #F2 hybrids adapted fast, were ~4× fitter in cold, more resilient to sudden flips. #Hybridization could turbocharge #adaptation, impacting #conservation & #agriculture. #Evolution www.yeastgenome.org/reference/41...

Large and intricate naturally occurring structures composed exclusively of RNA... ROOL! More at Molecule of the Month: pdb101.rcsb.org/motm...

Leanna Owen, Margot Riggi , David Drubin, Janet Iwasa and Yidi Sun use molecular animation to depict the full progression of CME in budding yeast, with an accompanying Cell Science at a Glance article and poster. journals.biologists.com/jcs/article/...

While 𝘝. 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘪𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘪𝘴 max temp is around 45°C, we found 𝘐. 𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘴 grows up to 63°C with optimal growth at 55-57°C🥵. We showed cellular replication via Ultrastructure Expansion Microscopy at 63°C. The previous limit for euks is 60°C!

Bye bye Edinburgh - such a lovely trip! Thanks to @marstonlab.bsky.social @owendavi77.bsky.social !

Successful change at Euston. Train is standing room only though due to a prior cancellation 😱 Very glad I booked a seat and it is still reserved!

Departure: Brighton 13:40 (Due Edinburgh 20:24) 😁

New research from Valerie Garcia and colleagues: Tel1 is recruited at chromosomal loop/axis contact sites to modulate meiotic DNA double-strand breaks interference journals.plos.org/plosgenetics...

Happy to share the “International Symposium on Chromosome Dynamics: from Structure to Cellular Function” that will be held in Japan 31st of May 2026 www.fbs.osaka-u.ac.jp/labs/fukagaw.... Registrations will open on December 1st! Plenty of opportunities to present your work! Hope to seeing you

Using #yeast, Yu et al show templated insertions at double-strand breaks in cancers arise from foldback mechanism involving microhomologies. Lack of RPA may drive this process, shedding light on cancer's genetic instability #CancerResearch #Genetics #DNARepair www.yeastgenome.org/reference/39...

Delighted to see our study finally out in "print". Thanks to all the (many) contributors, collaborators and reviewers! Mismatch repair disturbs meiotic crossover control in S. cerevisiae academic.oup.com/nar/article/...

Matching T-shirt and slide @gdsc-sussex.bsky.social from Sir Paul Nurse

Fantastic celebration of Tony Carr’s scientific career at the @gdsc-sussex.bsky.social retreat 2025

Vital piece of investigative reporting from Sky. They've uncovered the X algorithm which feeds users extremist right wing material from the moment they join the site. It is a far-right radicalisation engine, by design. news.sky.com/story/the-x-...

Among the anti-recombinases, FIGNL1 rules them all. So much that inactivating it brings BRCA2-deficient cells to life. Who is responsible for RAD51 loading without BRCA2/FIGNL1, check out the paper to find out! Great collaboration with @raychaudhurilab.bsky.social www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Good old @nathanwpyle.bsky.social 😀

BIG ANNOUNCEMENT📣: I haven’t been this excited to be part of something new in 15 years… Thrilled to reveal the passion project I’ve been working on for the past year and a half!🙀🥳 (thread 👇)

I'm always reminded of Tim Hunt's description of going to the library: "flipping through tables of contents of all the latest issues, hoping there isn't something relevant to your work..." 3/n

Excited to announce that our PearlAI DependANT tool for identifying targeted treatments for patients with Cancer of Unknown Primary is one of the 48 projects funded by the UKRI Proof of Concept programme !! www.ukri.org/news/48-proj...

Slowly recovering after just briefly visiting that "other" place we used to hang out in and Tweet. So much hate and misinformation...😔

👩‍🔬 We’re hiring! Join a dynamic team driving innovation in blood cancer research at the University of Sussex. Collaborate with experts, grow your skills in protein biochemistry, and contribute to vital discoveries. 👉 Apply here: www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DOP599/r...

Looking forward to contributing to Social DNAing @columbiauniversity.bsky.social @columbiacancer.bsky.social later today!

Yesterday’s #EasternArc session on HE in Palestine felt like a direct call to action - so much can be achieved if we put effort into working with/round clunky university processes - pooling open resources, giving Gaza students honorary fellowships to enable library access… 1/2

For everyone

Banksy = Genius

The irony

#NEW_PAPER In this study, the Chan Lab uncover the molecular mechanisms by which human cells safeguard centromeric chromatin during mitosis, via tight dynamic control of the Bloom Syndrome complex (BTRR). rdcu.be/eCGxF

#NEW_PAPER The Hochegger laboratory + collaborators investigate the sensitivity of cancer cells to a highly selective inhibitor of human Greatwall kinase (GWL) + the BB5alpha-to-GWL expression ratio is a predictive biomarker for the cellular reponse to Greatwall-targeted therapeutics. rdcu.be/eC4Hf

#New-Paper Rass laboratory reveal DNA2 to be a gatekeeper to homologous recombination at stalled DNA replication forks, rrequired to stave off cellular senescence. Their findings provide a molecular explanation for the association of DNA2 with primordial dwarfism and cancer. doi.org/10.1038/s415...

Interested in the nuclease–helicase DNA2? Fantastic new recombination-replication-checkpoint mechanics uncovered by Jessica Hudson et al: @u-rass.bsky.social @gdsc-sussex.bsky.social www.nature.com/articles/s41...

New review about DNA double-strand break resection during meiosis, with @alhajijoker.bsky.social and Soonjoung Kim. Please check it out: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

The floating museum Galeón Andalucía looking spectacular and formidable in harbour at Shoreham-by-Sea today.

Excited to share our new @NatureComms paper! We developed C-604, a selective inhibitor of Greatwall kinase, and discovered that cancer cells' sensitivity to it depends on a simple ratio: B55α/Greatwall expression levels. www.nature.com/articles/s41...