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School of Biotechnology & Biomolecular Sciences (UNSW)

@unswbabs.bsky.social
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School of Biotechnology & Biomolecular Sciences at UNSW | posts from our staff, students, alumni & friends (which don't represent UNSW views)

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Matt Baker @phatmattbaker.bsky.social · 22/12/2025
Our work led by PhD student James Gaston is out online at Journal of Lipid Research. We looked at how % PEG3000 affected the size and stickiness of liposomes, to work out best conditions for combining DNA and lipid nanotechnology. @unswbabs.bsky.social www.jlr.org/article/S002...
jlr.org
The effect of PEGylation on surface tethering of liposomes via DNA nanotechnology.
Polyethylene glycol (PEG) is widely used in liposome formulation due to its blocking properties and ability to prolong circulation in vivo, to create biomimetic liposomes and drug delivery devices. Si...
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Reposted by School of Biotechnology & Biomolecular Sciences (UNSW)
Emma Harding @emma-harding.bsky.social · 17/12/2025
Happy to share our new paper on retroviruses in amphibians - a labour of love for our team @unswbabs.bsky.social with Prof. Peter White. We explore 102 amphibian species to understand what type of retroviruses infect them and their evolution, highlights below 🧵 link.springer.com/article/10.1...
link.springer.com
Transcriptome mining reveals diversity and evolution of circulating and endogenous amphibian retroviruses - Retrovirology
Background The evolutionary history of retroviruses and their impact on vertebrate evolution remains poorly understood, particularly in non-mammalian hosts. In this study, we explore retroviruses asso...
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Reposted by School of Biotechnology & Biomolecular Sciences (UNSW)
Matt Baker @phatmattbaker.bsky.social · 24/11/2025
Sounds like 🔝 #ASB2025 talk by James Gaston, finishing up his PhD on #lipids #DNAnano this year. Well done James! @unswbabs.bsky.social Congrats to flash talkers and all the amazing presenters that I unfortunately missed today. I will 🚲 ✈️ 6am tomorrow.
Slide saying future directionsPicture of speaker James Gaston
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Reposted by School of Biotechnology & Biomolecular Sciences (UNSW)
Kate Quinlan @katequinlan.bsky.social · 06/11/2025
Belated congratulations to 2025 Honours students Ziggi Zikmann & Ishara Maharjan for submitting their theses last week! I am very proud of your achievements. And thank you to the team for finding a way to make the process of pressing "submit" on a computer a celebration! @unswbabs.bsky.social
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Kate Quinlan @katequinlan.bsky.social · 05/11/2025
Thank you to the @anzscdb.bsky.social NSW Branch Committee for an excellent symposium today! I was grateful for the invitation to share our work & am delighted for Sonia Goozee who won the best ECR talk award! #anzscdbnsw2025 @biologists.bsky.social @unswbabs.bsky.social @merlincrossley.bsky.social
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Matt Baker @phatmattbaker.bsky.social · 21/10/2025
Well done @laurenceluu.bsky.social on ASMR Award tonight! Nice talk on pelvic inflammatory disease and great to celebrate @unswbabs.bsky.social colleagues' success at NSW Parliament. #asmr
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Kate Quinlan @katequinlan.bsky.social · 21/10/2025
Today at the ESA-SRB-ANZOS 2025 meeting (www.esa-srb-anzos.org.au) all three of our lab contingent gave oral presentations! I was so impressed with Tia Valentini and Emmaline Lonergan, for giving their first talks at a scientific conference with such poise! Now we relax! #ANZOS @unswbabs.bsky.social
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Matt Baker @phatmattbaker.bsky.social · 01/10/2025
Well done to Jamiema for your ECR Plenary #AES2025 yesterday @unswbabs.bsky.social A clear talk sharing our enthusiasm for flagellar diversity Uncle Billy welcome to country also awesome. AU has so much biodiversity but also raw human talent in ecology and evolution!
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School of Biotechnology & Biomolecular Sciences (UNSW) @unswbabs.bsky.social · 01/10/2025
Join us on November 20th for the 2nd Annual BABS Industry Networking Event! Connect with industry experts, innovators, and researchers - spark new ideas, collaborations, and opportunities. Register using the QR code.
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Reposted by School of Biotechnology & Biomolecular Sciences (UNSW)
Kate Quinlan @katequinlan.bsky.social · 30/09/2025
I’m back at @asbmbaus.bsky.social at UQ this morning & delighted to have the opportunity to present the 2025 ASBMB Boomerang Award to @unswbabs.bsky.social alumni @ajknights7.bsky.social. What a deserving recipient of this award! It was great to hear about your latest research, Alex! #ASBMB2025
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Kate Quinlan @katequinlan.bsky.social · 29/09/2025
It’s great to be at UQ for the #asbmb2025 conference! Convenor Michael Landsberg opened the conference this morning & I’ve already been lucky enough to present research from our team to this great audience. Looking forward to the rest of the conference! @asbmbaus.bsky.social @unswbabs.bsky.social
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Selene FeRNAndez @selfdz.bsky.social · 29/09/2025
Si les interesa saber de la Antártida 🇦🇶🐧, y el trabajo que realizamos en el #RegRNALab @unswbabs.bsky.social @unswrna.bsky.social, los invito a escuchar Mutante 🧬 en Radio UAEM 📻 📅 Lunes 29 de Sept, 4 pm 🇲🇽, martes 30 de Sept, 8 am, AEST 🇦🇺 Gracias @elagusdekomodo.bsky.social! radio.uaem.mx/en-vivo
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Kate Michie @kmichie.bsky.social · 19/09/2025
So lovely to see this story yesterday on SMC complexes presented by Prof Jan Löwe ( MRC LMB). It’s been a long journey and is still evolving but is a structural biology tour de force. @mrclmb.bsky.social @unswbabs.bsky.social
Prof Jan Löwe presenting his work on Structural maintenance of chromosome complexes
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Matt Baker @phatmattbaker.bsky.social · 16/09/2025
We hoped to control bacteria with light, using LOV domains. Our stators were functional but light didn't impact motility. We then checked if our periplasmic tags could be useful as fluorophores. 👐 Jyoti Gurung for tenacity to get it done 🕒✈️🇦🇺➡️🇬🇧! doi.org/10.1002/mbo3... @unswbabs.bsky.social
doi.org
Insertion of Fluorescent Proteins Near the Plug Domain of MotB Generates Functional Stator Complexes
We inserted small light-interacting domains at various locations in the stator complex to see what sites were amenable for labeling and how these affected flagellar rotation and switching. We observe...
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Kate Quinlan @katequinlan.bsky.social · 10/09/2025
Yesterday our two honours students gave their @unswbabs.bsky.social final seminars. Congratulations, Ziggi & Ishara on your excellent presentations & on reaching this milestone. I am very proud of all you’ve learned & achieved this year! Now you can relax & enjoy the rest of the honours talks!
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Matt Baker @phatmattbaker.bsky.social · 10/09/2025
Our motAB work out now in mBio! We examined the origins of the bacterial flagellar stator ⚙️ by combining phylogenetics, ancestral reconstructions, structural predictions and motility assays. Thanks to all authors 🇳🇿🇦🇺🇺🇸 @hfspo.bsky.social @unswbabs.bsky.social journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...
journals.asm.org
Evolution and structural diversity of the MotAB stator: insights into the origins of bacterial flagellar motility | mBio
Flagellar motility allows bacteria to propel themselves and direct movement according to environmental conditions. It plays a key role in bacterial pathogenicity and survival. We investigated the molecular and structural diversity of the stator motor proteins that provide the ion motive force to power flagellar rotation. This study uses a comparative approach that integrates phylogenetics, 3D protein structure, motility assays, and ancestral state reconstruction (ASR) to provide insights into the structural mechanisms that first powered the flagellar motor. We provide the first phylogenetic and structural characterization and classification of MotAB and relatives.
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Kate Quinlan @katequinlan.bsky.social · 06/09/2025
I’m very happy to be on campus today for #unsw Open Day! It’s a beautiful day for it & there is an amazing atmosphere. So pleased to be having conversations with potential new students & their families about the great student experience we offer here in @unswbabs.bsky.social & across the University!
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Saba Altaf @sabaaltaf.bsky.social · 06/09/2025
Our lncRNA-in-brain review is out in @natrevneuro.nature.com ✨ The emerging roles of long noncoding RNAs in the brain We discuss 🧬 lncRNA roles in brain development, synaptic function, learning, & behavior 💡 Therapeutic potential and future directions. @unswrna.bsky.social @unswbabs.bsky.social
innatrevneuro.nature.com
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Selene FeRNAndez @selfdz.bsky.social · 05/09/2025
Things are happening 🌱 #RegRNALab @unswbabs.bsky.social
Picture of agar dish with two rows of plant seedlings held by a gloved hand
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Martin Smith @martinalexsmith.bsky.social · 25/08/2025
This work was led by Vanda Gaonac'h-Lovejoy, a PhD student co-supervised with @martinsauvageau.bsky.social at @ircm.bsky.social in collaboration with Prof John Mattick. Research conducted at: @cra-chusj.bsky.social, @umontreal.ca, @unswbabs.bsky.social, and supported by #FRQS, #NSERC and #UNSW.
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Reposted by School of Biotechnology & Biomolecular Sciences (UNSW)
Selene FeRNAndez @selfdz.bsky.social · 14/08/2025
Listening to Stephanie Nobbs (@snobsi.bsky.social) telling us about the fascinating Asgard archaea isolated from Shark Bay's microbial mats. They isolated a new archaea and assembled its genome and in silico proteome. Found lots of eukaryote-like tubulins + new protein folds @unswbabs.bsky.social
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Dr Jacob Scadden @jscadden.bsky.social · 12/08/2025
🚨New Paper Alert🚨Our latest paper is published now in the Journal of Bacteriology @asm.org!🦠🔬🏃 A huge thanks to all the co-authors (Matthew Baker, Divyangi Pandit, Pietro Ridone and Yoshiyuki Sowa) for all their hard work! @unswbabs.bsky.social #flagella #chimera journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...
journals.asm.org
Rescue of bacterial motility using two- and three-species FliC chimeras | Journal of Bacteriology
Flagellin is a key protein forming the filament of the bacterial flagellar motor which powers most bacterial swimming. Flagellin can have hypervariable domains which can alter motility in different en...
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Adrian Liston @labliston.bsky.social · 07/08/2025
Thanks @unswbabs.bsky.social for the great visit! An inspiring group of scientists!
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Selene FeRNAndez @selfdz.bsky.social · 06/08/2025
Such a therapy could also reduce the pathology not only of trauma brain injury, but also stroke and multiple sclerosis - rather remarkable. Data is available online in purple QR code in the picture if you want to have a 👀 Amazing talk! @unswbabs.bsky.social
Adrian Liston presenting acknowledgement slide, thanking lab and funding sources
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Selene FeRNAndez @selfdz.bsky.social · 06/08/2025
Second talk today by @labliston.bsky.social, now telling us about how to harness tissue #TRegs in the 🧠 Being a total trooper as he only landed yesterday - jetlag when coming from the antipodes tends to hit hard @unswbabs.bsky.social
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Selene FeRNAndez @selfdz.bsky.social · 06/08/2025
Overall a great talk on topics that are unfortunately, often neglected. If you want to know more, please check out the link below 👇🏽 @unswbabs.bsky.social #AcademicSky
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Selene FeRNAndez @selfdz.bsky.social · 06/08/2025
Listening to @labliston.bsky.social on creating a positive research culture. He defines it as one where team members are empowered, recognised, have a clear career 🛣️ & can contribute to impactful & reproducible research @unswbabs.bsky.social
Prof Adrian Liston presenting his definition of a positive research environment
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Brendan Burns @brendanburns999.bsky.social · 26/07/2025
From humble beginnings @unswbabs.bsky.social this research has passed along multiple hands to bring together two of my greatest loves…archaea and stromatolites. Fantastic team spearheaded with fellow PIs of the ‘Asgard Dream Team' @iduggin.bsky.social @kmichie.bsky.social @debnathghosal.bsky.social
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Selene FeRNAndez @selfdz.bsky.social · 24/07/2025
Proud of #RegRNALab 's student Xingyu Yan, who presented preliminary results on her PhD project. Well done Xingyu! 🌱 Also, she's been an incredible host, helping me an others sort out paying issues and providing Beijing recommendations 谢谢 #SMBE2025 @unswbabs.bsky.social
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Kate Quinlan @katequinlan.bsky.social · 11/07/2025
One of my favourite parts of the #IES2025 Congresses are the Roundtable Discussions, where we collectively debate major issues in the field, with audience members tagging in to provide their ideas. Later we also have the pro/con debates (also great fun)! (+ some trip photos) @unswbabs.bsky.social
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Kate Quinlan @katequinlan.bsky.social · 10/07/2025
I am very grateful to have had the opportunity to present some of our work at the International Eosinphil Society Congress #IES2025 today & to get some great feedback on this project. I have also really been enjoying the excuse to visit the beautiful city of Montpellier! @unswbabs.bsky.social
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Matt Baker @phatmattbaker.bsky.social · 08/07/2025
Nice @unswbabs.bsky.social UNSW write up of our paper. ✈️ Melbourne now w/ team to present this and other work at #HFSP @hfspo.bsky.social 24th awardee meeting. Looking forward to getting inspired with new biology from interdisciplinary teams across the world. www.unsw.edu.au/news/2025/06...
unsw.edu.au
Bacteria were swimming from the start
New analysis shows that the last common ancestor of bacteria had a flagellar motor which enabled it to swim, indicating how important learning to swim was for life.
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Kate Quinlan @katequinlan.bsky.social · 07/07/2025
I’m here in Montpellier for the International Eosinophil Society Congress #IES2025! As a member of the Scientific Program Committee, it’s exciting to see it all come together. Fittingly, earlier today I visited the Faculty of Medicine, which has been operating for >800 years. @unswbabs.bsky.social
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Selene FeRNAndez @selfdz.bsky.social · 26/06/2025
Yesterday, @carlbergstrom.com presented his course "Modern-day Oracles or BS Machines? How to thrive in a ChatGPT world". Neat way to make students aware of the capacities and limitations of LLMs👇🎰 Recording: www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZC0... Course: thebullshitmachines.com @unswbabs.bsky.social
youtube.com
Modern Day Oracles or Bullshit Machines? Seminar with Prof. Carl Bergstrom, University of Washington
YouTube video by UNSW eLearning
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Ramaciotti Centre for Genomics @ramacgenomics.bsky.social · 30/06/2025
#MeetTheTeamMonday ~ Get to know Steven, our fabulous Research Assistant who works in the amplicon, Sanger, and ONT sequencing teams! @unswbabs.bsky.social #unsw #ramaciotticentreforgenomics
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salehalquethamy.bsky.social @salehalquethamy.bsky.social · 23/06/2025
New review out in @narjournal.bsky.social! 🔎 What makes a small RNA work? We discuss: 🧬 Sequence features 🤝 Hfq, ProQ & RNA chaperones ✂️ RNase E & degradosome interactions 🧪 Lessons for RNA design 📖 Read: academic.oup.com/nar/article-... @unswbabs.bsky.social @davidlalaouna.bsky.social @Jai Tree
academic.oup.com
What makes a small RNA work?
Abstract. Bacterial small RNAs (sRNAs) are key regulators of gene expression, interacting with target messenger RNAs (mRNAs) through imperfect base pairing
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Selene FeRNAndez @selfdz.bsky.social · 23/06/2025
I enjoyed Carl Bergstrom's @carlbergstrom.com talk today @unswbabs.bsky.social on the current 'Peer review meltdown' phenomenon. Misery loves company, so I was glad to find out I'm not the only editor struggling to find reviewers. Carl et al. have narrow it down to a few factors including ->
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Kate Quinlan @katequinlan.bsky.social · 20/06/2025
PhD students @valasafari.bsky.social & Michael O’Dea represented the lab & @unswbabs.bsky.social at the UNSW Science Postgraduate Showcase this week. They did a great job of communicating their PhD research projects creatively & in just 1 minute! And Michael won the Best in School prize for BABS!
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Kate Quinlan @katequinlan.bsky.social · 20/06/2025
Today we celebrated @henrybell.bsky.social’s next adventure! Henry joined us 8 years ago as an intern, then for honours, a PhD & a postdoc. While I’m sad to see him go, I know he’s going to thrive in the next stage of his research career in Melbourne! All the best, Henry! @unswbabs.bsky.social
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Selene FeRNAndez @selfdz.bsky.social · 17/06/2025
Registration for A-RNA 2025 is now open!!! Join us in September for 3 days of #RNA Science. We have an excellent lineup of invited speakers (www.a-rnameeting.org.au/invited-spea...) & networking events Register: www.a-rnameeting.org.au/registration Early bird rate ends July 30th, 2025 #RNASky
Promotional tile for A-RNA 2025 meeting in Sydney, Australia. List of international speakers and registration link
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Matt Baker @phatmattbaker.bsky.social · 15/06/2025
Out this weekend in @ismepublications.bsky.social We looked at 10,000 species to map the diversity and history of the bacterial #flagellar motor across the tree of life. Lots of (re)analysis , especially from Jamiema Sara Philip @unswbabs.bsky.social academic.oup.com/ismej/advanc...
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Ramaciotti Centre for Genomics @ramacgenomics.bsky.social · 16/06/2025
#MeetTheTeamMonday ~ Get to know Lydia (Research Officer), our resident expert in Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT) long-read sequencing! @unswbabs.bsky.social #unsw #unswscience #genomics #plasmidsequencing #wholegenomesequencing #ont #ontsequencing #longreadsequencing #gridion #minion
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Emma Harding @emma-harding.bsky.social · 05/06/2025
What can wastewater tell us about viruses? 💩🚽🧬📈 During the COVID-19 pandemic many labs turned to wastewater monitoring to detect viruses. However, Prof White's group @unswbabs.bsky.social has been using wastewater for over 10 years to monitor circulating norovirus 🤮. 🧵 doi.org/10.1080/2374...
doi.org
Molecular epidemiology and evolution of norovirus in Australia and New Zealand, 2018 to 2020
Norovirus causes an estimated 699 million cases of gastroenteritis and 219,000 deaths each year. Historically, novel strains with a genogroup II genotype 4 (GII.4) capsid have emerged every 3–5 yea...
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Selene FeRNAndez @selfdz.bsky.social · 04/06/2025
Celebrating the first #RegRNALab confirmed PhD candidate in 🇭🇲, Xingyu Yan!!! 🎉 Xingyu showed her progress on the characterisation of plant RBPs🥬, part of our #Two2Tango project, supported by ARC Thanks to the panel for all their input. Go Xingyu! @unswbabs.bsky.social @unswrna.bsky.social #RNASky
Four female scientists smiling and looking at the camera while sitting in a cafe. A building, cafe tables and trees are visible in the background.
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Ramaciotti Centre for Genomics @ramacgenomics.bsky.social · 02/06/2025
#MeetTheTeamMonday ~ Get to know Scott (Research Officer), RNA and robotics expert here at The Ramaciotti Centre for Genomics! @unswbabs.bsky.social
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Kate Michie @kmichie.bsky.social · 28/05/2025
Just found out @carlbergstrom.com is talking in my school in a few weeks about “Peer review meltdown”! Very excited!!! @unswbabs.bsky.social
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Sydney Precision Data Science Centre @sydneyprecisionds.bsky.social · 21/05/2025
✨Next Monday, we are thrilled to have Prof Marc Wilkins from @unswbabs.bsky.social as our Judith and David Coffey speaker! 🧬 Systems or sub-systems biology? Which can best help us understand the cell? ⏱️26 May, 1pm (AEST) 🔗http://bit.ly/4hZLxiR
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Selene FeRNAndez @selfdz.bsky.social · 20/05/2025
Week 2, session 4, of this year's Honours & 1st year PhD #Bioinformatics course UNSW BABS (@unswbabs.bsky.social)! Thanks to Julia Meltzer and Michael O'Dea for demonstrating some examples of how they use #Bioinformatics in their Asgard archaea and epigenetic regulation projects, respectively 🦠🧬💻
Student demonstrating in a bioinformatics course. Student demonstrating in a bioinformatics course.
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Ramaciotti Centre for Genomics @ramacgenomics.bsky.social · 19/05/2025
Lunch & Learn! Register to join an interactive seminar about the new NGS-based proteomics workflow: Olink Reveal. Brenton Short from Olink Proteomics will discuss how this technology (now available at Ramaciotti!) is revolutionizing multiomics & transforming clinical research. @unswbabs.bsky.social
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School of Biotechnology & Biomolecular Sciences (UNSW) @unswbabs.bsky.social · 14/05/2025
Congratulations to our April BABS Paper of the Month Winner Dr Joshua Hamey & Prof Marc Wilkins For ‘SMYD5 is a ribosomal methyltransferase that trimethylates RPL40 lysine 22 through recognition of a KXY motif’, published in Cell Reports. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40184250/
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