A new study tracks how cells prepare gene regulatory decisions that will define their fate during the earliest stages of human development and highlights how the genome’s 3D structure helps shape cell identity and could offer clues to how developmental disorders arise 🧬

Our story about the poising and connectivity of human developmental enhancers is out! www.cell.com/cell-reports...

A very important editorial: Don’t deprioritize curiosity-driven research www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Have just seen a social media post from a Nobel Prize winner about how they are actually not afraid of their core grant renewal interview. I don't even know from what side to start unpacking this as an insight into the sociology of science...

Happy to have contributed to this exciting study!

I'm guest-editing a collection on "Enhancer-promoter interactions" at Genome Biology. Please send us your exciting stories! link.springer.com/collections/...

Thank you, my local Labour MP @stellacreasy.bsky.social for a bit of common sense. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

I elaborated on my proposal for a "grants commons" in an opinion piece for Times Higher Education. www.timeshighereducation.com/opinion/comm...

Totally agree and had been proposing this for a while. Time to join forces and make this happen?

The costs of the UK’s Global Talent Visa looks a trifle high in comparison to competitor countries - largely through the Immigration Health Surcharge (which critics say is a form of double taxation as they contribute to the NHS through normal tax on their earnings)

From a sample of over 10 papers (on most of which I'm either not an author or not a senior author), over a year-long revisions in our field are becoming common. Before we accept this as the norm, I suggest we consider the consequences & inequalities this creates, even in the era of preprints.

The PhD opportunities in our group and in many others at @mrc-lms.bsky.social are now open! lms.mrc.ac.uk/work-and-stu...

A quick heads-up that we will have two PhD positions available to start in October 2026. One as part of MRC LMS PhD programme, and one as a transdisciplinary studentship with @srinjan.bsky.social and Thomas Ouldridge at Imperial.

Many enhancers that drive tissue-specific gene expression are already connected to gene promoters in human pluripotent cells. In a new preprint, we share some clues about when, how, and why this happens! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Translational research is digging for gold. Basic research is learning where and what to dig. The more funding is diverted to translation, the more we deplete the research ecosystem, driving the supplies of "gold" - immediately translatable findings and innovations - to unsustainably low levels.

My colleagues at @mrc-lms.bsky.social are hiring (five postdoc positions in total!).

Congratulations to Will Scott and the team from @mrc-lms.bsky.social on this exciting study!

"We’re reaping the fruits of what happened economically 50 years ago, when... decisions began to prioritize efficiency and making as much money as possible over what was ethically correct." english.elpais.com/culture/2025...

AI models go dumb when fed their own output. But as we are increasingly reading AI-generated text and looking at AI-generated images, how about us? www.nature.com/articles/s41...

My heart goes to UK migrants who feel outraged with UK govt's proposals to retroactively extend the qualifying period for permanent residence by 5(!) years. The last Labour govt did the same just by 1 year and it was still shocking and destructive. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025... 1/n

Labour has chosen nativism over growth. inews.co.uk/opinion/star...

There is one sure way to reduce net immigration: make life in this country rubbish for everyone.

Our institute has created an exciting postdoc fellowship scheme for UK black heritage scientists. Please spread the word and apply if eligible! lms.mrc.ac.uk/work/vacanci...

Postdoc position #1 is live! Please apply / spread the word! lms.mrc.ac.uk/work/vacanci...

❤️‍🔥 Passionate about gene regulation research, in the wet and/or dry lab? 🎡 Excited about London's vibrant research and social environment? 🔬 Looking for a funded postdoc position (but ideally, have the CV and drive to apply for a fellowship in your 1st year)? Please DM/email me to discuss!

Govts aren't businesses, and efficiency isn't their main virtue. They need to be resilient and fair, and efficiency often comes at the cost of that.

Our new paper is finally out, showing that the same enhancer sequences - and likely the same transcription factors recruited to them - affect the activity of distal enhancers and their looping over to target gene promoters. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Happy to be part of this exciting study with Oleg Glebov's lab at KCL/Quindao and our own Lumi Ruje! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Dear reviewers, when you refuse to re-review a revised version of the paper you reviewed earlier, you mess things up quite badly for the authors. Please try to avoid doing that.

Congratulations to Pavel Artemov in our lab on passing his PhD viva and many thanks to Vlad (@teiflab.bsky.social) and Alexis (@alexisbarr.bsky.social) for conducting it!

By instituting their own funding calls, smaller science funders increase the workload of everyone: their staff, reviewers/panelists and, of course, the applicants. Would it not be better if they committed to funding some proposals deemed fundable but not making the cut at major funders?

I think it's time to move to Bluesky. Follow me here (@mspivakov.bsky.social)! Will cross-post to X/Twitter for now.