Xiaoli Sky Wu

Application to speak in the Fragile Nucleosome series Thank you for your interest in our seminar series! We use a variety of different session formats but, in general, trainees can plan for a ~15 min talk + 5min Q/A and PIs can plan for a ~25min talk +...

Do you have an exciting new chromatin/transcription story that you'd like to share with the #FN community?

Fill out this form to be considered for a talk in our Jan-June 2026 schedule! forms.gle/TBi38UgYxPAB...

Please repost and share!

Thank you for coming out all the way from California to Boston for this!

Please join us on November 20th! We are very grateful for our first sponsorship - Molecular Instrument!

Congrats Alexander! Cannot imagine you made a dTAG mice!

How Afami-Cel Immunotherapy Helped a Young Man With Stage 4 Synovial Sarcoma Learn how a clinical trial for a new type of immunotherapy called TCR therapy benefited a patient with synovial sarcoma.

After one patient's synovial sarcoma returned, a clinical trial led MSK helped shrink his tumors by 85%. That same #Tcell therapy is now approved by the @fda.gov. Learn more ⬇️

Welcome Hanneke!!

Design of intrinsically disordered region binding proteins Intrinsically disordered proteins and peptides play key roles in biology, but a lack of defined structures and high variability in sequence and conformational preferences have made targeting such syst...

Designed protein domains can selectively target intrinsically disordered regions, potentially generating binders for key proteins in biological function and disease. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... #NBThighlight

Neuroinflammation across neurological diseases The brain’s response to injury includes the activation of intrinsic microglia and the influx of leukocytes, collectively constituting neuroinflammation, the “flame” of the brain. Although details diff...

A new #ScienceReview takes a look at the contribution of neuroinflammation during the course of a range of neurologic disorders, including multiple sclerosis, stroke, Alzheimer's disease, and Parkinson's disease. scim.ag/44wDXIH

Application to speak in the Fragile Nucleosome series Thank you for your interest in our seminar series! We use a variety of different session formats but, in general, trainees can plan for a ~15 min talk + 5min Q/A and PIs can plan for a ~25min talk +...

FN is taking a summer vacation 🏖️, but we'll be back in September with more exciting talks on chromatin and transcription!

If you've got a new story you'd like to share with the FN audience this fall, fill out the form here: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

Do you or someone you know have an exciting new chromatin/transcription story that you'll be ready to talk about in the Fall?

Then fill out or share this form to speak in the @fnucleosome.bsky.social seminar series! All models, organisms, and complexes welcome 🧬🧪🔬

NYT story about Judge Young’s ruling

Excited for these three talks on Wednesday!! Pls join us!

Canadian Excellence Research Chair (CERC) in Human Immunology Please refer to the How to Apply for a Job (for External Candidates) job aid for instructions on how to apply. If you are an active McGill employee (ie: currently in an active contract or position at ...

Are you an established PI that studies the human immune system and looking for a change of location? If the answer is yes, #McGill has an amazing opportunity to provide long-term funding at a world class institution. Apply now!!!! Please repost!!! mcgill.wd3.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/McGill...

If you're an international PhD student at Harvard working on something that my lab is familiar with and you're at risk of deportation, shoot me an email. We may be able to host you or find someone else who can.

Join us on Wednesday next week for two exciting talks on transcription regulation from @kasitc.bsky.social and @davidsuter.bsky.social!

You can register at: us06web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

Tomorrow!!! Register and join us for exciting research talks from @baluapuri.bsky.social and @juliecocquet.bsky.social!

Farnung Lab

Outstanding work from Allison James who will graduate next month! If you like our work, consider applying to the Farnung Lab. More info: farnunglab.com

We have reached 100 registrations for our 2nd seminar!

Rewriting regulatory DNA to dissect and reprogram gene expression Martyn and Montgomery et al. present Variant-EFFECTS, a high-throughput technology developed to precisely measure the effects of CRISPR-mediated edits on gene expression. Variant-EFFECTS is reproducib...

A tool to dissect regulatory DNA in its endogenous context enables the identification of designed small edits (<10 bp) that fine-tune gene expression, with potential therapeutic implications #NBThighlight www.cell.com/cell/abstrac...

Engineered nucleocytosolic vehicles for loading of programmable editors Engineered nucleocytosolic vehicles for loading of programmable editors (ENVLPE) with enhanced CRISPR ribonucleoprotein (RNP) loading and stabilization enable the efficient delivery of gene-editing ef...

A VLP system for the delivery of various editors is optimized for the fraction of fully assembled editor ribonucleoproteins. This increases the per-VLP efficacy of editing in primary T lymphocytes and mouse models of inherited retinal disease. www.cell.com/cell/fulltex... #NBTHighlight

Conserved genetic basis for microbial colonization of the gut Tree-of-life scale genotype-habitat association reveals conserved gene modules across thousands of gut microbial species and identifies previously undescribed factors that modulate microbial colonizat...

A large-scale cross-species association study identifies new microbial gut colonization factors, whose modulation enhances the ability of poorly colonizing bacterial strains to establish in the mouse intestine #NBThighlight cell.com/cell/fulltex...

Meet the New AACR Board of Directors for 2025-2028 Term
@theaacr.bsky.social @megeblad.bsky.social

oncodaily.com/societies/aa...

#OncoDaily #Oncology #Cancer #Health #Medicine #MedEd #MedOnc #MedNews #AACR #BoardOfDirectors

Human-chimpanzee tetraploid system defines mechanisms of species-specific neural gene regulation A major challenge in human evolutionary biology is to pinpoint genetic differences that underlie human-specific traits, such as increased neuron number and differences in cognitive behaviors. We used human-chimpanzee tetraploid cells to distinguish gene expression changes due to cis -acting sequence variants that change local gene regulation, from trans expression changes due to species differences in the cellular environment. In neural progenitor cells, examination of both cis and trans changes – combined with CRISPR inhibition and transcription factor motif analyses – identified cis -acting, species-specific gene regulatory changes, including to TNIK , FOSL2 , and MAZ , with widespread trans effects on neurogenesis-related gene programs. In excitatory neurons, we identified POU3F2 as a key cis -regulated gene with trans effects on synaptic gene expression and neuronal firing. This study identifies cis -acting genomic changes that cause cascading trans gene regulatory effects to contribute to human neural specializations, and provides a general framework for discovering genetic differences underlying human traits. ### Competing Interest Statement C.A.W. is on the SAB of Bioskyrb Genomics (cash, equity) and Mosaica Therapeutics (cash, equity), and is an advisor to Maze Therapeutics (equity), but these have no relevance to this work. The remaining authors declare no competing interests.

We just posted two preprints on uncovering the genetic bases of species-specific differences in neural progenitors, excitatory neurons, and upon neuronal stimulation using the human-chimpanzee tetraploid system. Please check them out!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

FOS binding sites are a hub for the evolution of activity-dependent gene regulatory programs in human neurons After birth, sensory inputs to neurons trigger the induction of activity-dependent genes (ADGs) that mediate many aspects of neuronal maturation and plasticity. To identify human-specific ADGs, we cha...

Compelling evidence that the activity-dependent gene expression program has changed between human and chimpanzee neurons (new preprint by @janetsong.bsky.social and collaborators) 🧪🧬🧠
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Human-chimpanzee tetraploid system defines mechanisms of species-specific neural gene regulation A major challenge in human evolutionary biology is to pinpoint genetic differences that underlie human-specific traits, such as increased neuron number and differences in cognitive behaviors. We used ...

What contributes to human specific neural specification? Check out these two wonderful preprints from a wonderful scientist Ava carter! 1. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...; 2. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Stay tuned! third preprint is on its way!

The importance of moving away from bulk! Occupancy of Pol II at promoters is dramatically different between fly and mouse cells! When looking single molecule! Proud of the team! @kasitc.bsky.social @molinalab.bsky.social doi.org/10.1038/s443...

Cell biologist and former Fred Hutch division leader Dr. Jonathan Cooper retires After 40 years of asking good questions of his own science and the science of his colleagues at Fred Hutch, cell biologist Dr. Jonathan Cooper has retired from the Basic Sciences Division.

Cell biologist and former @FredHutch.bsky.social division leader Dr. Jonathan Cooper retires. Learn about his many years of scientific discovery and time directing the Basic Sciences Division:

🌱Join us for the first #FragileNucleosome seminar of this spring! We are excited to host @juliamaristany.bsky.social & @chribue.bsky.social this week!
If you have registered before you can join from the same link, if not, don't forget to register!
us06web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

Graphical abstract for Binan et al., Simultaneous CRISPR screening and spatial transcriptomics reveal intracellular, intercellular, and functional transcriptional circuits

Fantastic work from my soon-to-be neighbour Loϊc Binan (and all)! Simultaneous CRISPR screening and spatial transcriptomics reveal intracellular, intercellular, and functional transcriptional circuits
www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...