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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...
Rogaine outing with collaborator Alyson Ashe
Joel and Alyson participated in the 2022 Paddy Pallin 6-hour rogaine yesterday - organized by the NSW Rogaining Association. Weather was perfect and had a fantastic outing - Alyson's first ever rogaine, but she smashed it - a complete natural. Running strongly the whole way *and* keeping in contact with the map (very hard to do at the same time...). Finished up 5th of 150 teams (second mixed veterans team...) - a first outing to be pleased with!
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?
Amazing story from the lab down the corridor - @RezwanSidd working with Sandro Ataide and Ruth Hall in @SydneySOLES at @Sydney_Science - now they will be thrown into the gladiators' pit I suspect with the other protagonists that prowl this landscape! 🙂 Great piece of work!
Our Peppy VR paper hits the airwaves!
Our great collaboration with David Doak, Jane Allison, Juliet Gerrard and Gareth Denyer is now out in Protein Science here . Peppy VR is a Unity application written by David (of Goldeneye fame), advised on by Juliet, Jane and myself and tested in real-life teaching...
Louise and the cloudy sea
Our RaPID collaborator from the Crick Institute in London - Louise Walport - was visiting this week (on her way to a speaking invitation at the Australian Peptide Conference) and she stopped in for a visit and to give a seminar. We managed to find a day with some...
Marylène est maintenant une mère
Congratulations to former postdoc Marylene Vandevenne and her husband Mathieu, who have become the proud parents of baby Alice on 27 March. I've been informed that she (Alice that is) is sleeping soundly from 10 pm till 7 am - which sounds like a great start to...
Xavier and Betsy’s graduation
Xavier and Betsy, who did Honours with Joel and Ann, respectively, graduated in May in full pomp and ceremony - and Jason got his chance to stand in for Joel on the stage - with the special floppy hat...
Michael Webster wins EMBO Fellowship
Michael, who has just recently finished his PhD at the LMB in Cambridge with Lori Passmore, has been successful in winning an EMBO postdoctoral fellowship to fund his work in Albert Weixlbaumer's lab in Strasbourg. Here, he will investigate how translation is...
Mehdi gets the big tick!
Congratulations to Mehdi, who has just received the official letter saying he has fulfilled all the requirements for a PhD! Hooray! Now, just the graduation ceremony to come!
Update from Antonia
Antonia Zech - who worked with Ana for 5 months in 2013-4 as part of her Masters degree in Hamburg - has sent us an update on her activities. She has been doing a PhD at the Institute of Experimental Pharmacology and Toxicology at the University Medical Center...
Showing off the coast to collaborators
We had a visit this week from David Doak - video game designer and architect of our new virtual reality app focused on allowing students to investigate the properties of polypeptides. Jane Allison - molecular dynamics aficionado from Auckland Uni who is involved in...
New lab paper hits the streets
Well, this paper took quite some time to come to fruition. Biswa from Melbourne worked hard to extract a structure from some less than friendly NMR data on a protein that was gifted to us by Wayne Patrick (formerly in Otago, now in Victoria University Wellington)....
Xavier gets to put the gown on
Xavier Reid graduated today with his BSc with first class Honours - and you can see him here accompanied by his co-supervisor, Dr Jason Low. No one will mention that Jason isn't wearing his UNSW gown... Xavier has taken the plunge to come back and start a PhD -...
Taylor’s PhD has been formally approved!
...so feel free to congratulate her if you see her around. I'm sure there will be a celebration to follow! Well done Taylor - it's a mighty achievement.