Welcome to the new Harraways Visiting Professor! OK, this is the Department of Food Science, but definitely biochemistry-related. Yay oats! And a reminder for New Zealanders to eat New Zealand-grown oats!

Come and visit the Otago Biochemistry stall at the Nanofest hub! Explore the science of flavour, smell and plants with fun hands-on activities. Wall St Mall Dunedin, 12-2pm, 15-17 July scifest.org.nz/programme

🎉📖Congratulations to Alexandra Kate Gibbon for submitting her PhD thesis! 😊

Department of Biochemistry Seminar Tues 30 June, 12pm, Rm BIG13 Dr Shane Ohline, University of Otago Department of Physiology Neuronal hyperactivity associated with changes in the function of the ryanodine receptor type 2 (RyR2)

Latest publication with a contribution from Otago Biochemistry. Genome-Wide Homozygosity Predicts Inbreeding Depression in the Hihi/Stitchbird (Notiomystis cincta) Better Than Realised Load onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Latest publication with a contribution from Otago Biochemistry. The Biosynthesis and Functions of Flavonoids: Recent Advances From Studies Across Land Plant Diversity rsnz.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

Latest publication with a contribution from Otago Biochemistry. Integrating molecular and physiological approaches to quantify genetic controls for wheat development and improve phenotyping academic.oup.com/jxb/advance-...

"Right now, we are drifting toward a system in which science is increasingly interpreted by machines, with all the distortions that entails. If we want science to be more open, reusable and easier to integrate, we need to take that new reality seriously." www.thetransmitter.org/artificial-i...

Congrats @tslumley.bsky.social et al.! VeRy well deseRved Recognition 🙌🍾🥂

"Part of the reason it’s taken me so long to write and publish this post is that I do not know what to say or do about the fact that the companies which control so much of the knowledge infrastructure are complicit in genocide and fascism."

Celebrating Liz Ledgerwood’s promotion to Professor - a fantastic milestone and well-earned recognition of her contribution to science and community. Read more: www.otago.ac.nz/news/newsroo...

Latest publication with a contribution from Otago Biochemistry. TP53 mutation at codon 179 metabolically reprograms cancer cells to promote invasion www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Latest publication with a contribution from Otago Biochemistry. Aerobic soil bacteria adapt to hypoxia by hybridizing fermentation with carbon storage www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Latest publication from Otago Biochemistry Genome scale CRISPRi reveals both shared and strain-specific vulnerabilities in genetically diverse drug-resistant strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Journal Club - Fri, 12pm, Rm BIG13 Chantelle Monteith: To bee, or not to bee doi.org/10.1038/s415... Sachini Thennakoon: Click here to stop bleeding doi.org/10.1038/s415...

Kākāpō are the world’s heaviest parrot. They are flightless, coloured in a million shades of green, & chonky. Males make a bowl on the ground, sit in it, inflate, and make booming calls. They live for maybe 100 years, have a distinctive smell, & they are critically endangered.

For one week in mid-winter, Predator Free Dunedin are asking Ōtepoti/Dunedin residents to head outside after dark, look and listen for possums in backyards, parks, reserves and bushy areas around the neighbourhood, and tell us what they find www.predatorfreedunedin.org/spotlight/

Lynette Brownfield's research featured in Farmers Weekly, again! www.farmersweekly.co.nz/technology/g...

Rodney Wong, alumnus of the Department of Biochemistry (1970s), is a new Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to business and the community. "Rodney enjoyed studying milk proteins and enzyme activations with his “hugely intelligent” lecturers." www.otago.ac.nz/news/newsroo...

Congratulations to Otago Biochemistry's Parry Guilford, Matthew McNeil and Peter Mace for their success in the latest Health Research Council (HRC) funding round! PS Matt McNeil is now in Department of Biochemistry. Read more about their projects here: www.otago.ac.nz/news/newsroo...

Why I’m proud to be ‘frigging around with bees’ open.substack.com/pub/peterkde...

A great day for chemistry! The first goal of the #worldcup was apparently scored by Quinones. It's about time these amazing compounds get some recognition! Suck it up, Terpenes! #chemsky 🧪

Department of Biochemistry Seminar Tuesday, 12pm, Rm BIG13 Prof Allan Gamble, University of Otago School of Pharmacy and Pharmacology A Link to the Drug: Self-Eliminating Linkers in Drug Delivery and Bioorthogonal Chemistry

Biochemists be warned www.science.org/content/arti...

Journal Club - TOMORROW, Rm BIG13, 12pm July Arinez: Cocaine Pollution alters the movement and space use of Atlantic Salmon (Salmo solar) in a large natural lake www.cell.com/current-biol... Navindu Perera: Postgrad Research Magazine Initiative

"The AlphaFold advance was possible only because of the Protein Data Bank, a laboriously created database of protein structures that the National Science Foundation began funding in the 1970s. No Protein Data Bank, no AlphaFold."

Genomics Aotearoa Webinar Friday 5th June 2026 at 3pm Dr Michael Hoggard, University of Auckland Niche partitioning and genomic markers of environmental adaptation in DNA viruses More info here: mailchi.mp/6e4510ced785...

Why an event 2.3 billion years ago made our genomes a mess open.substack.com/pub/peterkde...

PhD committee trying to help a struggling student

New version of the academic slop collection! Latest entry is a book cover that @springer.springernature.com posted, then deleted after criticism (cover unchanged). Also, an earlier entry got a "Temporary removal" notice, with no explanation from @elsevierconnect.bsky.social. bit.ly/academic-slop

Our own Lynette Brownfield, Prasanthi Namburi & Shiny Varghese and former Otago biochemists Rowan Herridge & Richard Macknight have created a new way to make stronger crops and improve hard-to-breed species by controlling plants’ tendency to reject their own pollen. www.otago.ac.nz/news/newsroo...

We told you it wouldn’t be a long wait. 👀 Even more predicted protein structures have been added to the #AlphaFold Database. This time, the database has expanded to include heterodimers – protein complexes made up of two different proteins. alphafold.ebi.ac.uk

🧪 dagnabbit.

Extra cool www.nature.com/articles/d41...

The Royal Society Te Apārangi has written two booklets to help people understand gene technologies - how they work & how they’re used. Otago Biochemists Peter Dearden & Louise Bicknell were amongst the scientists that provided advice for them! Find them here: www.royalsociety.org.nz/what-we-do/o...

Journal Club - Fri 29 May, 12pm, Rm BIG13 Ben Peters: Finally, my eyes can photosynthesize! www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... Reza Mohammadhassan: Wazzup! Altering steroid metabolism with weed! www.nature.com/articles/s43...

Why you should read The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Sorry- was a bit busy this week! on ‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar’ by Eric Carle open.substack.com/pub/peterkde...

Check out the updated expert advice on Gene editing from Te Apārangi|The Royal Society of New Zealand www.royalsociety.org.nz/what-we-do/o...

"Why couldn’t I just tell bright young students the fascinating things they were thirsting to know? I should have simply remembered my own days as a student. I still remember... when Mr. Gresham dunked his hand in molten lead, lay on a bed of nails, or exploded a paper bag of lycopodium powder."

Prof Steph Hughes from the Department of Biochemistry is director of RARITY, helping to turn discovery science into real‑world impact, including new hope for people and whānau affected by rare diseases. RARITY held its inaugural symposium last month: www.otago.ac.nz/news/newsroo...

Nature spoke to a variety of scientists, from highly adept coders to complete beginners, who are using AI to stretch the limits of the coding they can do. Many use AI-assisted coding in their work, and some are intentionally testing its limits. #Academicsky 🧪

We’re celebrating Professor Louise Bicknell - a DNA detective whose work is bringing answers and hope to families affected by rare genetic diseases. Read more about Louise's research journey as told at her recent Inaugural Professorial Lecture www.otago.ac.nz/news/newsroo...

Did you know this year marks 100 years of publicly funded science in Aotearoa New Zealand? In 1926, New Zealand established its first government science agency, the DSIR, laying the foundations for a century of discovery, innovation and impact. More here: youtu.be/9nbGOP4FkoM?...

Genomics Aotearoa Friday Webinar Fri 22nd May 2026 at 3pm Dr Megan Leask, University of Otago A Love Affair with the Non-Coding Genome Join here: mailchi.mp/6cb56e3787e2...

So proud of our graduates, but so sad to say goodbye Tino pai rawa atu! www.otago.ac.nz/news/newsroo...

If you want some posters for your primary, intermediate or secondary schools on where science can take you, I worked with the NZ Assoc Science Educators to develop these. Primary & intermediate is on the left, secondary on the right. PM me if you would like some PDF copies for your classroom.

Department of Microbiology and Immunology Seminar Mon 25 May, 1pm, Rm BIG13 Professor Peter Mace, Department of Biochemistry The COP1 system - from biological regulation to protein design

My Mythbusting de-extinction talk is on this Friday in Wanaka, so if you're around in Central Otago, come & listen. Plenty to talk about with @itiscolossal.bsky.social announcement of an artificial egg & what it means for genetically modifying an emu to look somewhat like a moa @smcnz.bsky.social

Journal Club – Fri 22 May, 12pm, Rm BIG13 Maddy Hall – How to be a good dad Agouti integrates environmental cues to regulate paternal behaviour doi.org/10.1038/s415... Ashley Campbell - An emerging human eye disease is associated with aquatic virus zoonotic infection doi.org/10.1038/s415...