James Dewar @jamesmdewar.bsky.social · 25/09/2026Anthropic is using Claude for biomedical discovery with commercial potential while restricting outside scientists from using Claude for biomedical research. This creates a potential conflict because the same company controls access to the tool and competes in the discovery space. Thread 👇 130
James Dewar @jamesmdewar.bsky.social · 11/08/2026Excited to share that my review on the role of topoisomerases during DNA replication is now accepted for publication in JMB! www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... 011
James Dewar @jamesmdewar.bsky.social · 04/08/2026Excited to speak later this month at the ORISE week-long online symposium on AI Opportunities in STEM. It’s free, open to all, and designed for faculty and trainees. orisesymposium2026.vfairs.com Timing feels perfect: I’ve seen a real uptick in interest in this topic over the past few weeks. 000
James Dewar @jamesmdewar.bsky.social · 03/08/2026Excited to share my piece in @nature.com Careers on why scientists are already trained for AI, plus ten places to start. 🧑🔬🤖 www.nature.com/articles/d41... Hope it helps! 🙏 Incredibly grateful to editors Jack Leeming and @jperkel.bsky.social for the opportunity and collaboration.nature.comWant to get more from AI? Treat every prompt like an experimentTaking a scientific approach to artificial-intelligence queries makes every output a result to be checked, says James Dewar. Here are ten tips for doing it right. 021
James Dewar @jamesmdewar.bsky.social · 04/06/2026Excited to see this published and to be able to read the whole story! Exciting science and a tour de force. www.nature.com/articles/s41... Ragini also gave a phenomenal talk on this at GS-Connect (gs-connect.us).nature.comCentromeric footprints preserve telomere integrity in ALT cancers - NatureCentromeric DNA repeat insertions and CENP-A chromatin assembly are identified as genomic signatures that preserve telomere integrity in ALT cancer cells. 041
James Dewar @jamesmdewar.bsky.social · 28/05/2026🧬 ⛓️💥 Our paper is now out in @natsmb.nature.com ! We examined the fate of replication forks that collapse at single-strand DNA breaks (SSBs) in vertebrates 🐸, comparing the consequences of collapse at single vs convergent forks. www.nature.com/articles/s41...nature.comDistinct repair outcomes from single and convergent replication fork collapse - Nature Structural & Molecular BiologyHere the authors show that collapse of single replication forks causes recombination, end fusions or degradation but does not restart DNA synthesis. In contrast, collapse of convergent forks completes... 3176
James Dewar @jamesmdewar.bsky.social · 08/05/2026Excited to share a preprint of my review: "How Topoisomerases Relax and Disentangle the Genome During DNA Replication" 🧬🪢🧵✂️🙏 papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....papers.ssrn.comHow Topoisomerases Relax and Disentangle the Genome During DNA ReplicationDNA replication generates topological stress that must be relaxed and molecular entanglements that must be resolved. Unwinding of the parental duplex creates po 142
Reposted by James DewarAlberto Ciccia @albertociccia.bsky.social · 02/05/2026Happy to share our new review in @annualreviews.bsky.social on abasic sites and their impact on DNA replication written by @angelotaglialatela.bsky.social. www.annualreviews.org/content/jour...annualreviews.orgEndogenous Sources of Abasic Sites and Implications for DNA Replication: Mechanisms of Fork Stalling and RecoveryApurinic/apyrimidinic (AP) sites, also known as abasic sites, are among the most frequent DNA lesions, arising spontaneously or as intermediates in base excision repair. Their structural impediment to... 13017
Reposted by James DewarAmerican Cancer Society @americancancersoc.bsky.social · 30/04/2026Congratulations to all of the new members of the National Academy of Sciences! We are proud to see ACS Professor Dr. Johannes Walter recognized among these new members for his important work on DNA replication and repair. #CanSky #OncoSky 🧪 121
Reposted by James DewarCharles Winterhalter @winterhalterlab.bsky.social · 29/04/2026What are the genetic and molecular determinants underpinning the repair of bidirectional replication fork collapse in bacteria? PhD position open in my lab in collaboration with the brilliant @heathmurraylab.bsky.social. Please share and contact me if interested: www.findaphd.com/phds/project...findaphd.comIdentifying bacterial DNA repair requirements enabling stable genetic inheritance during bidirectional replication fork collapse at Newcastle University on FindAPhD.comPhD Project - Identifying bacterial DNA repair requirements enabling stable genetic inheritance during bidirectional replication fork collapse at Newcastle University, listed on FindAPhD.com 01615
James Dewar @jamesmdewar.bsky.social · 29/04/2026Updated the genome stability feed. Should be comprehensive but please let me know if relevant topics are missed. 000
James Dewar @jamesmdewar.bsky.social · 28/04/2026Now widely sharing two AI preprints: 1. A practical guide to using LLMs in science and research: zenodo.org/records/1917... 2. A framework for integrating LLMs into education, with Madhvi Venkatesh: osf.io/preprints/ed... These are living documents, openly licensed for re-use. 010
James Dewar @jamesmdewar.bsky.social · 27/04/2026Excited to finally see read story from Marta Markiewicz-Potoczny and Eros Lazzerini Denchi! www.nature.com/articles/s41...nature.comNonsense-mediated mRNA decay safeguards telomeres in pluripotent stem cells - Nature Cell BiologyMarkiewicz-Potoczny et al. report that the nonsense-mediated mRNA decay pathway protects telomeres in the absence of core Shelterin component TRF2 by regulating the stability and abundance of TRF1 at ... 000
James Dewar @jamesmdewar.bsky.social · 11/03/2025Awesome resource and super proud of Dewar lab alum tatakavlashvili.bsky.social who co-led the work.tatakavlashvili.bsky.socialTata Kavlashvili (@tatakavlashvili.bsky.social)@DamonRunyon.org Timmerman Traverse Fellow w Agnel Sfeir at MSK • PhD in Dewar lab @vanderbilt.edu • from Tbilisi, Georgia 🇬🇪 basic scientist fascinated by mtDNA+🏔️⛷️🎭🗽 030
James Dewar @jamesmdewar.bsky.social · 10/03/2025🧬⛓️ Our latest preprint examines the fate of collapsed forks in vertebrates 🐸 and our colleagues in @heathmurraylab.bsky.social asked similar questions in bacteria 🦠 to reveal how evolution shapes the response to fork collapse (see🧵) www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...biorxiv.orgResolution of collapsed forks is separate from completion of DNA synthesisReplication fork collapse at single-strand DNA breaks (SSBs) poses a serious threat to genome stability. Using Xenopus egg extracts, we show that a replication fork encountering an SSB on either the l... 1116
James Dewar @jamesmdewar.bsky.social · 13/01/2025In our latest preprint we analyzed how abasic (AP) sites affect DNA replication: - AP sites stall DNA synthesis ⛓️💥 - Leading APs stall replisomes but lagging APs don’t 🛑/✅ - TLS is crucial for bypass of both leading and lagging strand AP sites 🛠️🧬 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...biorxiv.orgLeading and lagging strand abasic sites differentially affect vertebrate replisome progression but involve analogous bypass mechanismsAbasic sites are one of the most frequent forms of DNA damage that interfere with DNA replication. However, abasic sites exhibit complex effects because they can be processed into other types of DNA d... 000