BLOG
Varroa research gets a mention in Japan!
Japan's Science and Technology Agency has picked up the recent publicity around our Varroa-mite-specific pesticide project by featuring it briefly on their website. Tash will be able to read it to you!
A NuRD for all seasons…
...is the title of our new review that is going to appear in Trends in Biochem Sci very soon. A sneak preview is here. In the paper - shaped by Xavier and Jason - we ponder on the observation that multiple paralogues are observed for all members of our favourite chromatin remodelling complex - the Nucleosome Remodelling and Deacetylase (NuRD) complex. This phenomenon has been observed for other remodelling complexes too (and likely many other types of protein complex). A couple of recent papers provide data that point to NuRD assemblies that are composed of a specific paralogue combination. This paper by Dan Bauer's group is the best example - they observe that repression of the fetal...
Varroa work in the spotlight
Our work to design safer insecticides - particularly ones targeting honeybee pests (which was funded recently by Horticultural Innovations Australia) - has become more immediately topical overnight with a report (and followups 1 2) that the dreaded Varroa mite has been detected in beehives in Newcastle, near Sydney. Australia is one of the only countries left in the world where this pest has been kept at bay, and there are concerns that it is only a matter of time before the mite finds its way in and takes hold. Yesterday Joel talked with Sarah McDonald on ABC Drive Sydney radio about the issue. You can listen here (5 min 15 s through to 15 min or so), and today talked with ABC Rural...
Wanted: postdoc biochemist/structural biologist to work with Richard Payne, Sydney/US startup INSAMO (and me). Goal: use cyclic peptide mRNA display to design cell-permeable peptide-based protein degraders: https://usyd.wd105.myworkdayjobs.com/USYD_EXTERNAL_CAREER_SITE/job/Darlington-Campus/Postdoctoral-Researcher-in--Peptide-Based-Drug-Discovery_0131612-1
Email for more info: joel.mackay@sydney.edu.au
Have been off X for months but had to log in to see response to AF3. I am much less smart than the authors - but am I (and Erin) the only ones to think that the helical afros that it makes out of IDRs is totally weird? Am I missing something?
This is supercool, but it does like folding everything, even things that are probably disordered... As always, use with caution, and consult your friendly structural biologist before investing too much in low confidence predictions.
Science in the swamp
As part of Science Week, Taylor, our outreach and media darling, has been demonstrating solar power (with robots of course) at the Science in the Swamp event, to an audience captivated small children... Note the "Nutty Scientists"...
You don’t often see horn players in bike shoes…
...but Ann captured Joel playing at the Con a few weeks ago breaking that little-known but cardinal rule of jazz...
Neil is done and dusted…
...with that PhD thing. Congratulations to Neil who got completion letter this week letting him know that has satisfied the requirements for the award of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Officially we can't call him Dr Neil until the actual graduation ceremony,...
Chay wins a prize for her thesis!
Chayenne Ghazi, who worked with us recently, was awarded a prize for the thesis that she presented based on her work here. The HAS-prize is annually awarded to students who produce excellent gradutation assignments at lab schools. It is named after the 'Haagse...
Jason S ties the knot (in a sporren)
Jason has jetted half way round the world to we his betrothed in St Andrews on a glorious spring day. He was resplendent in a kilt made from the MacSchmidberger tartan. What a dashing couple they...
Ana and Callum become parents. Again!
Congratulations to Ana, Callum and Emma, who have just welcomed a new family member into the world - meet Elliot, everyone... Everyone is...
Katschi’s family portrait
Neil, Katschi and new (March 2017) arrival Livvy pose for the camera...
Taylor’s science communication career continues…
As one of the organizers of the Sydney version of the International March for Science, which is being held on Earth Day (22 April), Taylor can now be seen on youtube promoting the event here. We're expecting her to have her own youtube channel...
Katschi becomes a mum!
Katschi Bendak, formerly from Joel's lab and now working across at CCIA in Randwick, has taken a little time off to become a mum - and the result of her efforts is Olivia Marie Wilson, born on her due date (with German punctuality) of 15/03/17 at 51 cm and 3.4 kg....
Morgan’s latest paper from chilly Dundee
Morgan Gadd, ex-PhD student of Jacqui's, has just published a paper from his postdoc time with Alessio Cuilli - a nice piece of work where they examine one of their bi-functional bromodomain inhibitors and show that it forms a tight ternary complex with their small...
Taylor takes to the radio
As one of the organizers of the Sydney version of the International March for Science, which is being held on Earth Day (22 April), Taylor chatted to the Drive Show host Danny Chifley on 2SER last week, to tell him what it was all about - and answer curly questions...
Lab members take Lorne posters by storm
Taylor, Mehdi and Athina all picked up prizes for their poster presentations at the Lorne Protein Conference this week. Poster prize success rate was overall about the same as the current NHMRC grant success rate, so a champion effort from them! No doubt they'll be...