Sign in

yosephbarash.bsky.social

@yosephbarash.bsky.social
315 followers 41 following 55 posts

Opinions - own. Lab RNA+AI+Genetics @upenn.edu www.biociphers.org

PostsRepliesMedia
Reposted by @yosephbarash.bsky.social
Manuel Irimia @mirimiam.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
🧬🧬🧬 Very happy to share our new preprint led by Fede Mantica (@fedemantica.bsky.social) on how tissue-specific alternative splicing (TS-AS) and gene expression (TS-GE) evolve across bilaterians! Thread below 🧵 1/11 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
13714
yosephbarash.bsky.social @yosephbarash.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
Yes, we believe so! See figure 4c in the paper for capturing condition specific regulatory elements compared to other models.
001
yosephbarash.bsky.social @yosephbarash.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
The good news is we eventually got a much better paper (Thank you @eliferalp.bsky.social reviewers/editors!), better results..Special thanks to all current/past lab members who contributed and wonderful collaborators: Jake Gardner & Natalie Maus (BOS dev), Peter Choie (dCAS13 validations).😊🙏
000
yosephbarash.bsky.social @yosephbarash.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
Worth noting this work started *many* years ago: @anupamajha.bsky.social started it during her PhD; she's now a Prof. at Yale (😊!)... Led by Di Wu, (graduated, now in Amazon research 🙂), who did a terrific job pushing it through... It was a preprint back in May 2023 openreview.net/forum?id=UZT... 😱
openreview.net
Verifying your browser | OpenReview
100
yosephbarash.bsky.social @yosephbarash.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
We are painfully aware that this significantly limits TrASPr+BOS usability. We have been working on this, along with various improvements, for a variety of applications, so stay tuned for that…. 🙂
100
yosephbarash.bsky.social @yosephbarash.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
That said, TrASPr+BOS are far from perfect (we try to show that clearly too) and there is clearly still much work to do/improve in all of the above aspects. One key downside is that it does *not* come with a 'plug-and-play' interface that anyone can just plug a genomic sequence into. 😕
100
yosephbarash.bsky.social @yosephbarash.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
We believe TrASPr+BOS offer a flexible LLM based framework representing a different approach than building very large models that "do everything" but may not perform well on specific tasks of interest and/or may be harder to adjust.
100
yosephbarash.bsky.social @yosephbarash.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
Then, we use TrASPr as a 'teacher' for BOS, a generative model using Bayesian Optimization. BOS takes a given seq and optimizes it for a multi-objective task (e.g. make it more included in Cerebellum but do not let inclusion drop below 20% in other tissues). 😎
110
yosephbarash.bsky.social @yosephbarash.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
TrASPr uses a flexible template that can be applied to different types of alternative splicing, not just cassette exons (e.g. alternative 3'/5' splice sites). It can generalize to unseen experimental conditions using a latent space representation for the "RBP state" of the condition.
100
yosephbarash.bsky.social @yosephbarash.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
TrASPr is tissue specific splicing model. It outperformed existing models (SpliceAI, Pangolin, SpliceTransformer) in a variety of prediction tasks (PSI, changing events, regulatory elements etc). For example, tissue specific events improved over Pangolin avg 1.28-fold, max 1.8-fold.
100
yosephbarash.bsky.social @yosephbarash.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
📣📣 "Old" paper announcement😂! Deep generative modeling for RNA splicing (posted originally May 2023! 😱, final eLife VOR May 2026: elifesciences.org/articles/106...). This took a *long* time, but we are proud of the end result; let me explain why....
elifesciences.org
Generative modeling for RNA splicing prediction and design
TrASPr+BOS enables accurate prediction and design of tissue-specific RNA splicing, even for tissues not trained on, uncovering unseen regulatory elements and guiding sequence edits that reshape splici...
261
Reposted by @yosephbarash.bsky.social
Cedric Boeckx @cedricboeckx.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
Taking this opportunity to recommend once more @jkpritch.bsky.social’s excellent (and open-access!) textbook, which offers a very accessible introduction to the field of human genetics. 🧪🧬 web.stanford.edu/group/pritch...
web.stanford.edu
An Owner's Guide to the Human Genome
An Owner's Guide to the Human Genome
1124
Reposted by @yosephbarash.bsky.social
Judith Kribelbauer @jk-swietek.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
Huge undertaking of many labs for many years, highlighting the power of multi-platform comparisons and open collaborations! So many Zoom meetings, bridging an 11h+ time zone difference to make it all happen!
0144
Reposted by @yosephbarash.bsky.social
Dr. Thomas Martínez @thomasmartinez.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
Please share! What companies have folks successfully worked with to generate custom antibodies? Rough cost? We've been burned once before and want to try a different company this time around.
313
yosephbarash.bsky.social @yosephbarash.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
My colleague's husband, who will remain anonymous, has recently confided in us that his wife has been spending more and more time with this new guy. He constantly promises her lots of money, but keeps disappointing. I hear his pretty famous: Huge Grant.
static.klipy.com
Hugh Grant Trending
ALT: Hugh Grant Trending
000
Reposted by @yosephbarash.bsky.social
UPENN_ITMAT @itmat.bsky.social · 11/06/2026
Boosting the #Diagnostic rate for patients with suspected #Mendelian #GeneticDisorders doi.org/10.1016/j.gi... @yosephbarash.bsky.social #GenomeSequencing #ExomeSequencing #TranslationalScience
doi.org
Redirecting
001
Reposted by @yosephbarash.bsky.social
Jonathan Eisen @phylogenomics.bsky.social · 30/04/2026
Reposting this from April 1, 2007 in honor of Craig Venter. I did this as an April Fool's joke - sharing it as a PDF. I got stressed when I found out Craig had seen it and knew it was by me. But he loved it and said it was OK to share it more widely. So then I posted it on the web.
25414
Reposted by @yosephbarash.bsky.social
Michael Baym @baym.lol · 17/04/2026
I’m looking for an automated way to read others’s scientific data without giving credit or acknowledgement, and also claim full credit for insights from it. And I want it to have a fitting name OAI: say no more
10836320
Reposted by @yosephbarash.bsky.social
Kurianlab @kurianlab.bsky.social · 03/04/2026
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
link.springer.com
Alu-mediated RNA duplexes are associated with widespread exon skipping across primate transcriptomes - Genome Biology
Alternative splicing patterns have diverged rapidly during vertebrate evolution. By integrating genome-wide predictions of stable RNA duplexes, alternative splicing profiles, and proximity ligation-de...
0105
Reposted by @yosephbarash.bsky.social
Nicky Whiffin @nickywhiffin.bsky.social · 09/04/2026
Super excited that our two companion papers on saturation genome editing (SGE) of RNU4-2 and discovery of a novel recessive neurodevelopmental disorder (NDD) were published yesterday 🥳 SGE experiment: www.nature.com/articles/s41... Recessive NDD characterisation: www.nature.com/articles/s41... 🧵
nature.com
Saturation editing of RNU4-2 reveals distinct dominant and recessive disorders - Nature
Saturation genome editing of RNU4-2 identifies the functional and clinical impact of variants across the entire gene and delineates variants that cause a new recessive neurodevelopmental disorder distinct from ReNU syndrome.
55116
Reposted by @yosephbarash.bsky.social
RNA Society Journal @rnajournal.bsky.social · 17/02/2026
Advances in CLIP-derived methods have enabled high-resolution mapping of individual RNA binding protein-RNA interactions as well as RNA binding protein-associated RNA–RNA interactions #RNA #CLIP @evannostrandlab.bsky.social bit.ly/4bYjAsg
01911
Reposted by @yosephbarash.bsky.social
Prof Chris Jackson @seismatters.bsky.social · 11/02/2026
😂
One on left is a black dog and above it the words “Reality”. Below it is “I chased a squirrel” 

One the right is a black dog and above it says “LinkedIn”. Below it says, 

Proud to announce that I effectively executed a rapid-response squirrel displacement strategy to mitigate potential yard intrusions.

Humbled by the unwavering support of my family and local stakeholders.

This experience reinforced the importance of vigilance, ownership, and continuous improvement.

Looking forward to scaling this impact in future engagements.
6944381187
yosephbarash.bsky.social @yosephbarash.bsky.social · 15/02/2026
You typically give condolence speeches with slides ? 😉
000
Reposted by @yosephbarash.bsky.social
Alex Palazzo @ribonucleicacids.bsky.social · 13/02/2026
Ever notice that when one gene is disrupted, its orthologs get upregulated? This phenomenon, known as transcriptional adaptation, has been controversial and mysterious - glad to see that we are starting to learn how it works.
science.org
Mechanisms linking cytoplasmic decay of translation-defective mRNA to transcriptional adaptation
Transcriptional adaptation (TA) is a genetic robustness mechanism through which mutant messenger RNA (mRNA) decay induces sequence-dependent up-regulation of so-called adapting genes. How cytoplasmica...
25117
Reposted by @yosephbarash.bsky.social
Sasha Gusev @sashagusevposts.bsky.social · 06/01/2026
Clever use of proteomic data to stress-test TWAS and QTL colocalization methods, revealing a high false sign rate. This hypothesis about high-LD and cross-tissue confounding is particularly interesting:
2358
Reposted by @yosephbarash.bsky.social
Xuebing Wu @xuebingwu.bsky.social · 31/01/2026
Does the noncoding genome actually carry more genetic information than coding seqs? Motivated by this question we mutated every bp in the 10kb MYC locus. Results are even more exciting: Decoding the MYC locus reveals a druggable ultraconserved RNA element www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
biorxiv.org
412846
Reposted by @yosephbarash.bsky.social
Kaur Alasoo @kauralasoo.bsky.social · 07/01/2026
If you like larger sample sizes, then do check out our reprocessed and fine mapped cis-eQTLs and cis-sQTLs (leafCutter and MAJIQ!) from the INTERVAL cohort (whole blood, n up to 4,729)! zenodo.org/records/1795... These will be on the eQTL Catalogue FTP soon as well. cc @yosephbarash.bsky.social
zenodo.org
Fine mapped eQTL and sQTL summary statistics from the INTERVAL RNA-seq study (part 1)
This repository contains fine mapped eQTL and sQTL summary statistics from the INTERVAL RNA-seq study (Tokolyi et al, 2025). Datasets QTD001000-QTD001002 are based on the whole cohort of 4,729 samples...
2129
yosephbarash.bsky.social @yosephbarash.bsky.social · 28/12/2025
Embracing Uncertainty in Life, Science It has been a long time since I wrote a non strictly scientific blog post. The holiday time, often a time of reflection and new resolutions, seems good for getting back to that. But don’t worry, there will be connections to science work as well… 😉 Today’s…
biociphers.wordpress.com
Embracing Uncertainty in Life, Science
It has been a long time since I wrote a non strictly scientific blog post. The holiday time, often a time of reflection and new resolutions, seems good for getting back to that. But don’t worry, there will be connections to science work as well… 😉 Today’s blog is about uncertainty - in our science, in our lives, in the world.
020
Reposted by @yosephbarash.bsky.social
Matthew Taliaferro @jmtali.bsky.social · 08/12/2025
Announcing the 2026 edition of the EMBO workshop on RNA localization and local translation! This meeting will be held June 30 - July 4 near Porto, Portugal. Come for exciting updates in the field from both established investigators and trainees. See the link below for details!
13719
Reposted by @yosephbarash.bsky.social
Dr. Suzanne R Lee @suzannerleephd.bsky.social · 08/12/2025
@rnasociety.bsky.social now offers an "undergraduate" category for membership! rnasociety.memberclicks.net/membership #RNA@PUI
rnasociety.memberclicks.net
Membership
Membership
056
Reposted by @yosephbarash.bsky.social
Ted Morgan @tedmorgan.bsky.social · 08/12/2025
The new Enabling Discovery through GEnomics (EDGE) Program page is posted. Please contact us at BIOEDGE@nsf.gov if you have questions. www.nsf.gov/funding/oppo...
nsf.gov
Enabling Discovery Through Genomics (EDGE)
18855
Reposted by @yosephbarash.bsky.social
Jeremy Berg @jeremymberg.bsky.social · 02/12/2025
New York Times article on science funding with some depressing but familiar curves with interactive graphics. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
nytimes.com
The U.S. Is Funding Fewer Grants in Every Area of Science and Medicine (Gift Article)
A quiet policy change means the government is making fewer bets on long-term science.
313796
yosephbarash.bsky.social @yosephbarash.bsky.social · 24/11/2025
Finally, we have new models, more results and more analysis brewing in all those areas so stay tuned! 😀
000
yosephbarash.bsky.social @yosephbarash.bsky.social · 24/11/2025
#3 David Wang led MAJIQTL method development with validations by Peter Choi lab (CHOP/UPenn) and joint students Kevin Yang and Benjamin Wales-McGrath. This project started many years ago with the late and great Casey Brown to whom we dedicated this work 💔
100
yosephbarash.bsky.social @yosephbarash.bsky.social · 24/11/2025
#2: Matthew Gazzara led the APA/DDX55 paper, a joint effort with co-mentor Kristen Lynch
100
yosephbarash.bsky.social @yosephbarash.bsky.social · 24/11/2025
#1 Farica Zhuang led G4mer with Danielle Gutman performing validations, Dan Dominguez lab (UNC) structure validation and Kate Nathanson (UPenn) helped with the Breast cancer analysis.
100
yosephbarash.bsky.social @yosephbarash.bsky.social · 24/11/2025
As I noted, each paper is a different comp approach, and a different element of RNA processing! I just find this so exciting we can do this kind of science in the lab 🙂 This is possible because (a) lab members did terrific job 👏💪(b) great collaborators 🙌😊. Specifically:
100
yosephbarash.bsky.social @yosephbarash.bsky.social · 24/11/2025
we published blog posts that give an overview of what's new here: biociphers.wordpress.com/2025/01/20/a... biociphers.wordpress.com/2025/01/28/a...
biociphers.wordpress.com
A Deep Dive into sQTL Modeling – Part 2
In my previous post, I described how, in our recent sQTL preprint, we broke current sQTL pipelines into their basic elements. This led to identifying potential issues/areas we may be able to improv…
100
yosephbarash.bsky.social @yosephbarash.bsky.social · 24/11/2025
A nice write up about this work just came out on #alzforum www.alzforum.org/news/researc... and also
alzforum.org
100
yosephbarash.bsky.social @yosephbarash.bsky.social · 24/11/2025
Co-localization of sQTLs and AD and PD GWAS variants increased by 64% and 92% respectively compared to current standard, and we experimentally test an sQTL associated with exon 7 in MS4A3 co-localized with AD that disrupts the RBP YBX3 binding site by blocking that region with ASO.
100
yosephbarash.bsky.social @yosephbarash.bsky.social · 24/11/2025
#3: Last but not least, we released a new method for splicing #QTL which uses #MAJIQ under the hood but then adds new statistical modeling. The new MAJIQTL results in major power increase (can be > 2 fold in some cases) with improved control over false positives. www.cell.com/ajhg/fulltex...
cell.com
A deep dive into statistical modeling of RNA splicing QTLs reveals variants that explain neurodegenerative disease
Current methods for detecting splicing quantitative trait loci (sQTLs) miss many disease-associated genetic variants. MAJIQTL introduces improved statistical modeling and comprehensive splicing repres...
110
yosephbarash.bsky.social @yosephbarash.bsky.social · 24/11/2025
We identify a new role for DDX55 as APA regulator with an associated mechanism where it can unwind local structure to either hide APA signals or bring those to be in the “right” distance - cool beans! 😎🫘
100
yosephbarash.bsky.social @yosephbarash.bsky.social · 24/11/2025
#2: We performed a large scale analysis of alternative polyadenylation ( #APA ) changes after RNA Binding Protein (RBP) Knockdown (KD). The entire APA quantifications across ENCODE is given as a resource you can use but we focus on DDX55. genomebiology.biomedcentral.com/articles/10....
genomebiology.biomedcentral.com
Integrative analysis of RNA binding proteins identifies DDX55 as a novel regulator of 3’UTR isoform diversity - Genome Biology
Background The 3’ untranslated regions (3’UTRs) of mRNAs play a critical role in controlling gene expression and function because they contain binding sites for microRNAs and RNA binding proteins (RBP...
120
yosephbarash.bsky.social @yosephbarash.bsky.social · 24/11/2025
Negative selection, effect of mutations...subtypes matter! We validate effect on effect on structure and downstream gene translation of Breast cancer associated variants that either create or disrupt rG4. Transcriptome wide predictions are available for gnomAD as well as online prediction tool
100
yosephbarash.bsky.social @yosephbarash.bsky.social · 24/11/2025
#1: G4mer is an #LLM to predict #RNA G-Quads (rG4) and their subtypes. www.nature.com/articles/s41.... Yes, it's much more accurate... more interestingly, we show current experimental data used by ML/AI methods is biased to short, canonical, rG4 and that not all rG4 are created equal:
nature.com
G4mer: An RNA language model for transcriptome-wide identification of G-quadruplexes and disease variants from population-scale genetic data - Nature Communications
RNA G-quadruplexes (rG4s) are structures formed in guanine-rich regions of RNA that can serve as crucial regulatory elements in gene expression. Here the authors present an RNA language model for tran...
110
yosephbarash.bsky.social @yosephbarash.bsky.social · 24/11/2025
I'll preface, each of these papers represents a different facet of the labs research both in terms of the RNA and the Comp methods, making me very happy and proud about them 😊. So let’s start.. (no particular order)
100
yosephbarash.bsky.social @yosephbarash.bsky.social · 24/11/2025
📣📣📣 (one for each new paper from the lab😀): Within ~1 week we had 3 papers published (two in the same day!), each took years... This calls for a quick tweetorial to explain why these may be interesting for you if you are into #RNA processing ( #Splicing #APA #UTR #rG4) with #AI #StatisticalGenetics.
131
Reposted by @yosephbarash.bsky.social
Joshua G. Schraiber @jgschraiber.bsky.social · 07/11/2025
Really cool paper that changed the way I think about what GWAS and Burden tests are doing, and also basically made me pleiotropy-pilled
0247
Reposted by @yosephbarash.bsky.social
Richard Sever @richardsever.bsky.social · 06/11/2025
Excited to launch an openRxiv partnership with the scientist-run AI review service qed (@qedscience.bsky.social), the brainchild of @odedrechavi.bsky.social 1/n openrxiv.org/enabling-rev...
openrxiv.org
Enabling options for review: from training and transparency to author-centered AI tools - openRxiv
Peer review is widely viewed as a critical aspect of biomedical communication. Ideally, it provides authors with feedback so they can improve manuscripts and gives readers, particularly nonspecialists...
911664
Reposted by @yosephbarash.bsky.social
Ensembl @ensembl.org · 04/11/2025
As new human assemblies become available on beta.ensembl.org - which human reference genome will you choose? This article explores the question with insights from Ensembl’s own Fergal Martin - www.nature.com/articles/s41... #HumanGenomics #Pangenomes #ReferenceGenomes
nature.com
Choose your human genome reference wisely - Nature Methods
Scientists can choose between multiple human genome references, and a pangenome reference is coming. Deciding what to use when is not quite straightforward.
02014