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Rakyan Lab

@rakyanlab

Blizard Institute, QMUL, London. Working on inter-individual genetic and epigenetic variation of mammalian ribosomal DNA.

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Latest posts by Rakyan Lab @rakyanlab

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Some molecular machines, like ribosomes, can persist for long periods of time in cells.

Could molecular aging of ribosomes shape how proteins are made?

In our new preprint we track ribosomes as they age in cells and uncover unexpected effects on translation (1/10)

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

10.03.2026 15:29 πŸ‘ 89 πŸ” 34 πŸ’¬ 4 πŸ“Œ 4

there's so much bad in the world but there's also people who lift up and carry an elderly bat around every day so he can pretend he's flying again, and that's the part of the world I think is worth fighting for

07.03.2026 15:46 πŸ‘ 21808 πŸ” 6562 πŸ’¬ 89 πŸ“Œ 161
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Excited to share this preprint that describes my latest work on using GPUs to accelerate processing of RNA-seq data.

The title says it all: "RNA-seq analysis in seconds using GPUs" now on biorxiv www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... and github github.com/pachterlab/k...

Figure 1 shows they key result

06.03.2026 19:32 πŸ‘ 181 πŸ” 86 πŸ’¬ 6 πŸ“Œ 8

Wow!

06.03.2026 07:15 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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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.

04.03.2026 10:31 πŸ‘ 9 πŸ” 7 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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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...

05.03.2026 10:56 πŸ‘ 20 πŸ” 10 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 0
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A jumbo cyanophage encodes the most complete ribosomal protein set in the known virosphere www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

04.03.2026 03:43 πŸ‘ 33 πŸ” 17 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 1

β€œSubsequent evolution is construed as a ribosomal takeover, whereby the ribosome evolved to consume most of the cell’s resources, while other cellular componentry ensured the propagation of the ribosome. Under this perspective, the
ribosome is the ultimate biological selfish element.” !! πŸ’ͺ🏽

03.03.2026 23:04 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Long in the making, but happy to present the Chlamydomonas chlororibosome!
Cryo-ETπŸ”¬reveals a large new domain on the small subunit, built from multiple extensions in conserved ribosomal proteins.
bioRxiv πŸ“–: shorturl.at/q44tG
This suggests greater chlororibosome diversity than expected!
1/n 🧡

10.02.2026 08:35 πŸ‘ 154 πŸ” 54 πŸ’¬ 4 πŸ“Œ 6
 Bipartite network of ncORF-CDS co-translation in mice

Bipartite network of ncORF-CDS co-translation in mice

🧬 A major data reanalysis in December's most-read Genetics paper uncovers thousands of previously hidden protein-coding regions in human and mouse genomes: buff.ly/Bxw7cKf

27.02.2026 09:21 πŸ‘ 9 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Undergraduate GPA does not predict success in PhD programs for cohorts of MS students at two minority-serving institutions - PubMed Master of Science (MS) research training programs funded by organizations such as the NIH, the NSF as well as private corporations represent the potential for significant interventions for student success, especially for marginalized or underrepresented and first-generation students, to bridge the g …

This is such a cool finding! Undergraduate GPA does not predict success in PhD programs for cohorts of MS students at two minority-serving institutions pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41628237/

26.02.2026 18:53 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Excited to share our new study:
rRNA expansion segments are not passive structural elements β€” they mediate hibernating ribosome interfaces and reshape translation under stress. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

23.02.2026 02:59 πŸ‘ 8 πŸ” 3 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 1
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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.

25.02.2026 12:22 πŸ‘ 8 πŸ” 5 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 2

Wish they had stuck with this. At QMUL, we get paid on the 24th of every month.

24.02.2026 12:58 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Year of the horse indeed! Cool finding.

24.02.2026 08:21 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

πŸ”₯πŸ”₯πŸ”₯πŸ’₯πŸ’₯πŸ’₯🌢️🌢️🌢️ Hottest new lab in town, led by the exceptional @calumgabbutt.bsky.social, is recruiting it's first #PhD student. If you love #maths and somatic #evolution it could be your dream come true! 🌢️🌢️🌢️πŸ’₯πŸ’₯πŸ’₯πŸ”₯πŸ”₯πŸ”₯

24.02.2026 07:47 πŸ‘ 4 πŸ” 5 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

And hot on the heels of the Schuman lab’s rRNA ES paper.

23.02.2026 08:55 πŸ‘ 5 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Interesting!

22.02.2026 08:41 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

Very cool! rRNA Expansion Segments are so interesting! All eukaryotic ribosomes contain them, but what they are doing is still not entirely clear. It looks like they could have multiple roles.

20.02.2026 07:59 πŸ‘ 10 πŸ” 4 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
A photo of an ice cream machine with a sign reading, "Anything is possible with ice cream." Beneath that is a hand lettered sign reading, "No ice cream".

A photo of an ice cream machine with a sign reading, "Anything is possible with ice cream." Beneath that is a hand lettered sign reading, "No ice cream".

2026 basically

18.02.2026 16:23 πŸ‘ 40988 πŸ” 10912 πŸ’¬ 310 πŸ“Œ 338
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Computational Postdoc in Ribosome Specialization at the Biotech Research and Innovation Centre We are looking for a highly motivated and dynamic computational postdoc for a 3-year position to join the Lund Group. Our research Our team aims to understand h

We are recruiting a computational scientist for a postdoc position to work onΒ detecting RNA modifications using nanopore sequencing:
tinyurl.com/RiboComp
Deadline March 4th.

Please share and repost!

More on the group: www.bric.ku.dk/research-gro...

18.02.2026 05:26 πŸ‘ 7 πŸ” 6 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 1

Forget about Nutella or lemon/sugar. Try crepes with mango slices and desiccated coconut! πŸ˜‹

18.02.2026 07:46 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Completely agree about the Brevia format. I love papers that get to the point quickly. I call them β€˜mic drop’ papers!

16.02.2026 17:14 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

Looks great! Is this open to postdocs from overseas?

15.02.2026 21:28 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

πŸ˜‚

15.02.2026 09:13 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Happy birthday to Charles Darwin,
patron saint of tired scientists, grumpy fieldworkers, and hating your own manuscript.

12.02.2026 18:58 πŸ‘ 640 πŸ” 233 πŸ’¬ 14 πŸ“Œ 31
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βœ… The UK Government has today granted access to half a million UK Biobank participants' coded GP data for health research.

This change will dramatically increase the power of UK Biobank's dataset to advance the diagnosis, treatment and management of conditions handled by GPs.

10.02.2026 14:57 πŸ‘ 29 πŸ” 16 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 8
UK science policy in transition – Soft Machines, by Richard Jones

The way UK govt funds science is in the midst of a major transition, with creation of a much more direct link between government priorities & UKRI research funding.

My attempt to set in context the biggest upheaval in UK science funding policy since the 1980s:
softmachines.org?p=3252

06.02.2026 08:48 πŸ‘ 26 πŸ” 21 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 7

Interesting. Worth a read.

04.02.2026 09:34 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Time for a thread on our Christmas preprint β€œOrigin and evolution of acrocentric chromosomes in human and great apes”. I had so much fun with this project and paper. It will be hard to summarize in a thread, but I’ll try www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... [1/21]

02.02.2026 14:58 πŸ‘ 41 πŸ” 29 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 1