Inherent instability of simple DNA repeats shapes an evolutionarily stable distribution of repeat lengths Nature Communications - Repetitive DNA sequences shape genome evolution and instability. Here, the authors analyze repeat length distributions across over 300 mammals and show that long repeats...

Our latest paper on the length distribution of simple tandem repeats in mammalian genomes is out in Nature Communications. All credit go to my brilliant collaborators Ryan McGinty, Daniel Balick and Shamil Sunyaev!
rdcu.be/eXGyo

Proud to share this review based on recent studies from our and other labs. All credits to my great students Liangzi Li and Shem Scott who conducted some of these studies and wrote this thought-provoking review!
Emerging drivers of DNA repeat expansions url: portlandpress.com/biochemsoctr...

The origin of mirror repeats in the human genome Abstract. Mirror DNA repeats were found in genomic DNA several decades ago, but their role and the mechanisms leading to their abundance have remained a my

origin of mirror repeats in the human genome url: academic.oup.com/nar/article/...

stand up for science boston 3 24 YouTube video by Michael Holloway

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehmM...

My fantastic undergraduates at Stand up for Science rally in Boston today!

What RNA polymerase gets up to in the genome and how mutations happen! Just out in Nature! Many thanks to many collaborators & congrats 1st author Jingjing Liu! www.nature.com/articles/s41...

More NIH job cuts coming? Agency's scientists already reeling after week of firings NIH is appealing loss of some lab leaders among in-house research program while bracing for the next actions from the Trump administration

Already bruised by the Trump administration’s first round of firings of federal workers, employees at NIH faced more bad news. NIH’s 27 institute directors were told this week that the agency must cut staffing back to 2019 levels, or at least 10% below its 2024 tally. scim.ag/3EP8gjy

Triplex H-DNA structure: the long and winding road from the discovery to its role in human disease Abstract. H-DNA is an intramolecular DNA triplex formed by homopurine/homopyrimidine mirror repeats. Since its discovery, the field has advanced from chara

Best holiday present: Our comprehensive review of triplex H-DNA has just come out in NAR Mol Medicine. I am indebted to two outstanding graduate students: Julia Hisey and Chiara Masnovo, whose enthusiasm, dedication and hard work made this review possible! academic.oup.com/narmolmed/ad...

Stabilization of expandable DNA repeats by the replication factor Mcm10 promotes cell viability - Nature Communications DNA repeats can lengthen or shorten during their replication, which may lead to a human disease. Here, the authors discovered that an essential replication protein, Mcm10, counteracts instability of G...

Another week, another great paper! Kudos to the amazing grad student, Chiara Masnovo who single-handedly initiated and led the project, and arranged a terrific collaboration with the Aharoni lab from Ben-Gurion University, and to the great members of the two labs.

www.nature.com/articles/s41...?

So very true. In any case, DNA nicks seem to rule!

Recurrent DNA nicks drive massive expansions of (GAA)n repeats | PNAS Over 50 hereditary degenerative disorders are caused by expansions of short tandem DNA repeats (STRs). (GAA)n repeat expansions are responsible for...

Our latest paper showing that DNA nicks drive expansions of both normal and disease-size alleles. All credit goes to a fantastic graduate student Liangzi Li as well as to a terrific team of current and former undergraduate and graduate students in the lab.

www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2413298121

Looking great!