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Zachary Ardern @zachary-ardern.bsky.social · 14/04/2026

The next exciting seminar in our "Protein Structure and Evolution" series is today - 5pm CET!

Zachary Ardern @zachary-ardern.bsky.social · 05/02/2026

A new method I've contributed to for finding potentially high fitness recurrent variants in pandemic-scale genome datasets is online: arxiv.org/abs/2106.07292 Looking forward to applying this in other contexts!

The new method for finding recurrent variants, "EVOtRec", is much faster than phylogenetics-based tools and produces congruent results. EVOtRec is based on topological data analysis.

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Reposted by Zachary Ardern

Protein Structure Evolution (ProSE) Seminar @proteinstructure.bsky.social · 25/10/2025

Protein Structure Evolution (ProSe) Seminar is now on BlueSky! Every 2nd Tuesday, 4PM GMT. Sign-Up: tinyurl.com/prose-seminar2 Organized by Claudia Alvarez Carreño, Zachary Ardern, Lars Eicholt, Carolina Sanchez-Rocha, Sergio Romero Romero and Md. Hassan Uz-Zaman.

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Zachary Ardern @zachary-ardern.bsky.social · 14/10/2025

The next Protein Structure Evolution (ProSE) seminar is this afternoon, 4pm UK time. Stephen Fried on why some microbes refold their proteins and others don't! Registration link: tinyurl.com/prose-seminar2

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Zachary Ardern @zachary-ardern.bsky.social · 02/09/2025

Looking forward to re-starting the Protein Structure Evolution (ProSE) seminar series next week! We have a great line up of talks on cutting-edge work over the next few weeks. Register here: tinyurl.com/prose-seminar2

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Zachary Ardern @zachary-ardern.bsky.social · 26/06/2025

I'm glad to now be an academic editor for PLOS Computational Biology @plos.org, expecting to handle 1-2 manuscripts a month. If you're a postdoc in microbial evolutionary genomics / other 'omics topics interested in review experience, let me know - I will be looking for reviewers!

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Zachary Ardern @zachary-ardern.bsky.social · 10/06/2025

Next ProSE seminar is today! "Computational Insights into Protein Adaptation Across Environmental Gradients"

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Zachary Ardern @zachary-ardern.bsky.social · 12/05/2025

The exciting next seminar in our Protein Structure Evolution (ProSE) online seminar series - tomorrow! Sign up at the link here.

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Zachary Ardern @zachary-ardern.bsky.social · 10/05/2025

Very interesting new study from authors including Nobel Prize winner David Baker. I'm glad that it cites one of my related papers 😀 I've faced plenty of skepticism from editors & others about the importance of this line of research, perhaps this will shift ... www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

biorxiv.org

Design of overlapping genes using deep generative models of protein sequences

In nature, viruses frequently evolve overlapping genes (OLG) in alternate reading frames of the same nucleotide sequence despite the drastically reduced protein sequence space resulting from the shari...

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Zachary Ardern @zachary-ardern.bsky.social · 12/03/2025

To live in Cambridge is to be surrounded by amazing built history. One favourite of mine is the Round Church, where I've had the privilege of speaking a couple of times. It was built approx. ~1130AD, likely before the first human settlement in my homeland of NZ 🤯 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_...

The Round Church, Cambridge, in the evening, with the moon appearing behind the clouds

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Zachary Ardern @zachary-ardern.bsky.social · 10/03/2025

Next up in the ProSE seminar series, tomorrow: Come hear about my current project on protein structure evolution over the very long term!

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Zachary Ardern @zachary-ardern.bsky.social · 21/02/2025

We have an exciting programme of talks for the ProSE seminars (Protein Structure Evolution). The first session was an inspiring and provocative talk by leader in the field Prof. Andrei Lupas. Next up, 11th March, I'll be speaking about my work on evolution over extremely long time periods.

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Reposted by Zachary Ardern

Carolina Sanchez-Rocha @caro-rocha.bsky.social · 18/02/2025

🧬 New research reveals that encoded & non-genetic protein variants shape the human proteome in ways previously unknown! These **alternative proteoforms** expand protein function bypassing genetic constraints. 🔗 Check it!: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... #Proteomics #CentralDogma #Translation

biorxiv.org

Encoded and non-genetic alternative protein variants expand human functional proteome

Each stage of the Central Dogma contributes to proteome diversity through mechanisms such as heterozygosity, somatic mutations, transcriptional errors, and translational errors. As a result, a diverse...

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Zachary Ardern @zachary-ardern.bsky.social · 30/01/2025

Join our new seminar series on protein structure evolution! This is an exciting and rapidly growing new field drawing on multiple subfields of biology. 💡🦠🧬🌱🐘 Monthly discussions, open to any interested students or researchers.

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Zachary Ardern @zachary-ardern.bsky.social · 24/01/2025

I'm excited to be co-hosting a seminar series on Protein Structure Evolution, presenting some of the exciting work in this field. Talk 1: Speaker: Andrei Lupas Topic: "Highly repetitive genomic ORFs: a source of new fibrous proteins?" 📅 Feb. 11, 3PM GMT 🔗 tinyurl.com/prose-seminar1 Please share!

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Reposted by Zachary Ardern

Chase W. Nelson 倪誠志 @chasewnelson.bsky.social · 14/12/2024

Michael Lynch, Evolutionary Cell Biology (2024): “Many biologists are content to live in a pure Dawkinsian world in which every aspect of biological diversification was set down for adaptive reasons, but details at the molecular and cellular level suggest that this vision is far from the truth.”

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Zachary Ardern @zachary-ardern.bsky.social · 09/12/2024

A recent talk I gave at the Faraday Institute for Science & Religion, Cambridge, relating recent developments to some old very big questions; and based partly on some forthcoming scientific work, is now online: www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYxl... www.faraday.cam.ac.uk/event/dr-zac...

youtube.com

Are there Underlying Principles of Protein Evolution? Reconsidering Law and Purpose in Biology

YouTube video by The Faraday Institute

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Reposted by Zachary Ardern

Chase W. Nelson 倪誠志 @chasewnelson.bsky.social · 12/11/2024

A starter pack of scientists working in molecular evolution and population genetics, with an emphasis on the human and virological. go.bsky.app/2xnyMrS

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Zachary Ardern @zachary-ardern.bsky.social · 17/11/2024

Hello 🦋! I'm a research fellow investigating the evolution of protein novelty (sequence, structure, function) and 'overlapping genes' in bacteria and viruses. Based in beautiful Cambridge, UK, working @Wellcome Sanger Institute. Further info on my research & other interests: www.zacharyardern.com

zacharyardern.com

Convergent Wanderings --- not all who wander are lost

Not all who wander are lost

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