Miguel Branco

Flyer for symposium: https://ctrlepiedit.sciencesconf.org/

Very excited to announce the FIRST symposium on epigenome editing! These tools are becoming widely used in mol bio, ag & therapy. It's time to bring leaders together to discuss this rapidly growing and exciting field. And why not in Paris! Please register & share! (1/2) ctrlepiedit.sciencesconf.org

Control of retrotransposon-driven activation of the interferon response by the double-stranded RNA binding protein DGCR8 Abstract. The type I interferon (IFN) response is the main innate immune pathway against viruses in mammals. This pathway must be tightly regulated to prev

Graphical abstract from our new paper in Nucleic Acids Research with @saramaciasrna.bsky.social 🧬

DGCR8 prevents accumulation of endogenous dsRNA derived from Alu elements within mRNAs, avoiding aberrant activation of the interferon response.

academic.oup.com/nar/article/...

A digital CAPTCHA verification window titled "Select all squares with PIPES" against a plain white background. The window contains a 3×3 grid of numbered squares, mixing literal hardware, smoking pipes, and programming syntax.

These captchas just keep getting harder #rstats

Systematic investigation of interindividual variation of DNA methylation in human whole blood - Genome Biology Background Interindividual genetic variability is well characterised, but we still lack a complete catalogue of loci displaying variable and stable epigenetic patterns. Results Here, we report a catal...

Excited to share our latest publication on interindividual variation of DNA methylation in human whole blood, spearheaded by the amazing Olivia Grant and co-led with @leo-schalkwyk.bsky.social and Meena Kumari.

link.springer.com/article/10.1...

We're excited to announced that our 2nd Annual QMUL Centre for Epigenetics Conference is happening on June 18th, 2026 at Mile End!

To find out more and book your ticket, please follow this link: www.qmul.ac.uk/epigenetics/...

The deadline to book your tickets is Monday, June 8th 2026.

If you want to explore ncRNA dynamics during mammalian development, love microscopy, and are not afaraid of transposons biology, apply‼️
We are looking for a postdoc to join our team at @imbavienna.bsky.social
More details 👇🏻

Many congrats. Fantastic achievement!

What's with the left-handed helix on your slides, though?
Ha!, made you look!

👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇

We are hiring! Join the Jachowicz lab as a postdoctoral researcher. The project focuses on understanding the dynamics of ncRNAs using high-resolution and single-molecule microscopy approaches. Link below 👇

Transposable element regulation as a therapeutic target for #Aging

activating Suv39h1
inhibiting KDM4A
inhibiting TET

CRISPRi/a to program TEs in the genome

#OpenBiol 2026
royalsocietypublishing.org/rsob/article...

This will be a great meeting! Don't forget to register!

Ancient co-option of LTR retrotransposons as yeast centromeres - Nature Evolutionarily related ‘proto-point’ centromeres providing resolution to the evolutionary origins of point centromeres are identified in yeast, and comparison shows they evolved in an ancestor with re...

Our paper is now out in Nature:

“Ancient co-option of LTR retrotransposons as yeast centromeres”

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

A short thread on how retrotransposons helped give rise to yeast point centromeres.

1/14

Gene body methylation buffers noise in gene expression in plants Abstract. Non-genetic variability in gene expression is an inevitable consequence of the stochastic nature of processes driving transcription and translati

Hot off the press, our latest publication on the functional role of gene body methylation (gBM).

academic.oup.com/nar/article/...

Work spearheaded by Jakub Zastapilo with help from @robynemm.bsky.social and Liudmila Mikheeva and co-led by Marco Catoni and @ubechtold.bsky.social 1/3

Are you a DNMT3 enthusiast wondering how they achieve specificity at CpG islands during development? And why is DNMT3B specifically required for methylation on the inactive X?

We set out to dissect the mechanism, now published in Genes & Development
genesdev.cshlp.org/content/earl...
[1/12]

Let’s celebrate women and girls in scientific research! Often underestimated, women drive research in biomedical sciences both intellectually and at the bench. Research should be a “gender-blind” endeavor, but rarely is. Stop bigotry ! Stop unconscious bias ! Go women & girls!

As you were saying, @pradeepmadapura.bsky.social

🤯

🎉 After a very long one (appropriately…), I’m excited to share work revealing an unexpected role for the epigenetic regulator ZFP57 - linking development, lactation, milk composition and lifelong health.

Check it out: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
#MammaryGlandBiology #DOHaD

Congrats @retrogenomics.bsky.social! Richly deserved.

Our new preprint on SMCHD1! We’ve shown SMCHD1’s ATPase activity is critical for function in vivo, and excitingly a new DNA binding domain neighbouring the ATPase domain activates the enzymatic function, which is important for normal chromatin binding.
urldefense.com/v3/__https:/...

Nice! Congrats. Important for our lab to read this one carefully.

Loss of SETDB1-mediated H3K9me3 in human neural progenitor cells leads to transcriptional activation of L1 retrotransposons Abstract. Heterochromatin is characterized by an inaccessibility to the transcriptional machinery and is associated with the histone mark H3K9me3. However,

New paper from my lab out in NAR. We found that young L1 elements are controlled by SETDB1 and H3K9me3 in human neural progenitor cells via a mechanism independent of HUSH and TRIM28/KZNFs.

academic.oup.com/nar/article/...

I do hate broken bar plots with a passion...

Ad for a postdoc position in centromere biology with colorful chromosomes and centromeres made out of FIMO.

🧪 My lab has an opening for a postdoc position soon! Please share/get in touch!

Registrations are now OPEN! Join us in Newcastle for the “RNA in Physiology and Disease” conference, an international meeting bringing together world-leading RNA biologists and emerging researchers.

Early bird deadline: 1 May
Abstract deadline: 30 June
Register now: genetics.org.uk/events/rna-i...

Very nice. Congrats!

Thanks for our wonderful collaborators: @charalambouslab.bsky.social, Maria Lillina Vignola, Cyril Pulver, Tessa Bertozzi, Anne Ferguson-Smith

New preprint from the lab! We dig into the regulatory roles of TEs in the mouse placenta, with some surprising findings. Led by the awesome @smamante.bsky.social. Particular kudos to him for navigating the many twists and turns of the project.

So depressing and hilarious in equal measures.

"A case study with pregnant mathematicians and aspiring gynecologists demonstrates that integrating the Fibonacci sequence into labor progression charts induces spontaneous appreciation for abstract algebra and mild cravings for prime numbers." 🤣

Researchfish — Information for Researchers Regarding Researchfish Sunsetting After careful consideration, Elsevier have made the difficult decision to sunset Researchfish on July 31st 2027, when the product will no longer be availab

OOOOH

Researchfish

Is going extinct 🐡🐟🐠

help.researchfish.com/en_US/resear...