mtDNA deletions cause incurable diseases. Our CRISPR screen found a fix: deleting MTERF1 restores mitochondrial function, not by clearing bad genomes, but by making the healthy ones work harder. Simple Biology! New preprint 👇 @tatakavlashvili.bsky.social www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

MTERF1 loss buffers against pathogenic mtDNA deletions through transcriptional regulation

Large-scale mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) deletions cripple oxidative phosphorylation once they exceed a critical heteroplasmy threshold, causing incurable mitochondrial pathologies. Using a genome-wide C...

biorxiv.org

The Sfeir Lab at MSKCC is hiring a Research Assistant! We are looking for a motivated scientist with at least 2 years of research experience and a two-year commitment. Learn more about our work here www.sfeirlab.com, and message me your CV and cover letter if interested

New opinion in @lohud.com by Jonathan Teyan & Paola Bianchimano on why NYS must invest in biomedical research through EBRI including the fact that NY trains 1 in 7 U.S. doctors—and public research investment delivers up to a 10:1 economic return. EBRI would secure both. www.lohud.com/story/opinio...

NYers helps us call on @governor.ny.gov to invest in the Empire Biomedical Research Institute. A robust, stable research ecosystem protects jobs, fuels innovation, and builds community health. NY must invest in our global leadership in science. nycures.org @gothamist.com: tinyurl.com/5fab5k7u

NY medical schools press Gov. Hochul to put up billions for scientific research

The request comes amid continuing uncertainty over federal funding, with research and thousands of jobs on the line.

tinyurl.com

📢 Telomere community: Registration and abstract submission are now open for the EMBO Workshop “Telomere function and maintenance in health and disease”, May 25–30, 2026, in Lazise, Italy 🇮🇹. Looking forward to an exciting meeting! Please re-post. meetings.embo.org/event/26-tel...

Thrilled to share that the final piece of my PhD work is now on bioRxiv! biorxiv.org/content/10.1... With support from @nvidia and the @NSF, we used AlphaFold to screen 1.6M+ protein pairs, revealing thousands of potential novel PPIs. All data can be viewed at predictomes.org/hp

Proteome-wide in silico screening for human protein-protein interactions

Protein-protein interactions (PPIs) drive virtually all biological processes, yet most PPIs have not been identified and even more remain structurally unresolved. We developed a two-step computational...

biorxiv.org

Meet #MSKPostdoc Megan E. Kelley (@meganekelley.bsky.social) in the @agnelsfeir.bsky.social Lab, where she studies error-prone DNA 🧬 damage repair in the context of cancer and drug resistance. 👏 Congrats to Megan on receiving both the NCI F32 and MSK Society Scholar awards! #NPAW2025

Congrats Maria! very well deserved... @mskcancercenter.bsky.social @mskeducation.bsky.social

The Rockefeller University @rockefeller.edu · 11mo ago

Maria Jasin, whose fundamental research on repair of damaged DNA in cells has transformed our understanding of cancers linked to inherited gene mutations, has been selected as the 2025 recipient of the Pearl Meister Greengard Prize. Congratulations! #WomenInScience

🎉 Congratulations to our 10 MSK Postdoc Slam finalists! 👏 You were all fantastic and it was truly inspiring to learn about the incredible and diverse work happening at @mskcancercenter.bsky.social. Our #MSKPostdocs gave the judges a real challenge… choosing winners was no easy task! 🤗 #NPAW2025

While our judges deliberate the top 3 winners of MSK Postdoc Slam, let’s celebrate our #NPAW2025 📸 contest champs! 🎉 🥇 @meganekelley.bsky.social – @agnelsfeir.bsky.social lab 🥈 Zhendong Cao – @sawyerslabmskcc.bsky.social 🥉 Manendra Lankadasari – Jones lab Congrats to our amazing #MSKPostdocs! 👏📷

It’s SHOW TIME! 🎤 Kicking off the MSK Postdoc Slam is @meganekelley.bsky.social from the @agnelsfeir.bsky.social lab, diving into how error-prone DNA repair fuels drug resistance in cancer 🧬💊

Now accepting applications for our 2026 Cancer Biology & Cancer Engineering programs. Aspiring scientists & engineers will solve fundamental problems in biology & conduct research & develop technology that will help understand, diagnose & treat cancer. bit.ly/3WUiuo1

Gerstner Sloan Kettering Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences

The Gerstner Sloan Kettering Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences offers the next generation of basic scientists a program to study the biological sciences through the lens of cancer

bit.ly

🚀 NY-CURES Launch — Championing State-Wide Investment in Science! 🚀 Our new coalition advocates for sustained public support of New York’s vibrant biomedical research ecosystem — creating cures, economic gains & strengthening communities. Sign up. Stay informed. Join the movement: www.nycures.org/

We’re #hiring, please share! A fully funded #postdoc position is available in my lab to work on DNA damage response mechanisms. Please get in touch with your CV if you are interested; closing date: 27th June 2025. More details here: candidate.hr-manager.net/ApplicationI...

Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Blackford Group

A position as Postdoctoral Research Associate is available at the Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, in the group headed by Dr. Andrew Blackford. Th

candidate.hr-manager.net

Congrats!! Not a bad way to start your own lab 😜

Alessandra Brambati @alebrambati.bsky.social · last yr.

Excited to share our latest from my postdoc at @mskcancercenter.bsky.social in the Sfeir Lab, in collaboration with the Simon Powell Lab! We uncovered a novel genome repair mechanism in human cells: RNA-templated DNA double-strand break repair (RT-DSBR). (1/5)

Excited to share our latest from my postdoc at @mskcancercenter.bsky.social in the Sfeir Lab, in collaboration with the Simon Powell Lab! We uncovered a novel genome repair mechanism in human cells: RNA-templated DNA double-strand break repair (RT-DSBR). (1/5)

Here is the link to the Last Week Tonight with John Oliver about RFK, Jr, public health, and HHS (including NIH) www.youtube.com/watch?v=8H34...

RFK Jr. & HHS: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)

YouTube video by LastWeekTonight

youtube.com

My father-in-law, Jack Strominger, and I wrote a letter to the @wsj.com editor about the current threats to science due to Trump's funding freeze. Please repost! www.wsj.com/opinion/scie...

Opinion | Science Suffers With Trump’s Funding Freeze

America’s scientific enterprise demands reliable stewardship, not destabilizing political intervention.

wsj.com

Take a look at the harvard web site...We have our break-throughs and next generation drugs on full display! Come take a look at the new wonders of medicine! So proud to be a part of it!!! Harvard.edu

Harvard University

Harvard University is devoted to excellence in teaching, learning, and research, and to developing leaders who make a difference globally.

harvard.edu

🚨 Join us for the @faseborg.bsky.social Meeting on Mechanisms of Mitochondrial DNA Mutation and Repair, June 1 - 5, 2025 | Nashville, Tennessee. 📅 Abstract submission & Early Registration close on April 20, 2025! Don't miss out: events.faseb.org/event/mitoch... Please re-post!

Published an op-ed for @cnn.com: “Nobel laureate: I owe America my success. Today, its scientific future is in danger.” A personal reflection on what’s at stake as science funding gets slashed. I’d be grateful if you could amplify both in and beyond the science world. www.cnn.com/2025/04/09/h...

Nobel laureate: I owe America my success. Today, its scientific future is in danger | CNN

Dr. Ardem Patapoutian says he watches “with deep sadness as the United States’ remarkable scientific enterprise, which took generations of hard work and national investment to build, faces a concerted...

cnn.com

📢#BGFP25 GRANTS AVAILABLE & TALK DEADLINE EXTENDED! 💰We are excited to announce we have at least 10 reg support grants ready to award to those submitting abstracts! 🧑‍💼Our short talk submission deadline has been extended and will now close on 01 April. Submit your abstract HERE: bit.ly/3AnsVZF

Harvey Society lecture tonight features Eric Olson. Come listen to an absolute giant in muscle biology! Bonus roast/ appreciation by me and Mary Baylies! harveysociety.org/lectures/abs...

Scientists have just cured pancreatic cancer in some patients with personalized mRNA vaccines. Pancreatic cancer. And this Trump administration wants to throw it all away. They’re throwing away a cure for cancer.

Alex Wayne@aawayne.bsky.social · last yr.

Exclusive: NIH officials have advised scientists to remove reference to mRNA vaccines from their grant applications, in expectation the Trump administration intends to abandon most research in the field. By @arthurallen202.bsky.social kffhealthnews.org/news/article...

A new collection of papers on #mitochondrialdiseases is ready: biomed.news/bims-mitdis/... Congratulations to all authors! @biomednews.bsky.social @mitoscientist.bsky.social @gavinmcstay.bsky.social Highlight: Engineering mtDNA deletions by reconstituting end joining in human mitochondria

Congrats Agnel! As a side note, also an example of how studying diverse systems of DNA repair yields unexpected benefits across domains of life, in this case the NHEJ system of mycobacteria, the first prokaryotic NHEJ system to be characterized: www.nature.com/articles/nsm...

Mechanism of nonhomologous end-joining in mycobacteria: a low-fidelity repair system driven by Ku, ligase D and ligase C - Nature Structural & Molecular Biology

Nature Structural & Molecular Biology - Mechanism of nonhomologous end-joining in mycobacteria: a low-fidelity repair system driven by Ku, ligase D and ligase C

nature.com

Agnel Sfeir@agnelsfeir.bsky.social · last yr.

Thanks, Ronan and the entire team... this publication would not be possible without SAIL.

This publication is deeply meaningful to us, as Ignas tragically passed away last year from a sudden and aggressive cancer. Proud that his incredible scientific legacy lives on through this work. We will never forget him, and it has only strengthened our dedication to the work we do at MSKCC.

No matter what Rocket Man says, the NIH offers a strong return on investment www.forbes.com/sites/michae...

NIH Grants Fueled $95 Billion In FY 2024 Economic Activity, Finds New Report

National Institutes of Health grants generated almost $95 billion in economic activity nationwide in FY 2024 according to a new report by United for Medical Research.

forbes.com

Postdoc Night Science NYC! Next session is Friday 4-6pm at MSK, to learn and practice the creative scientific process! The topic this time is the import/export of ideas. Yael David join us too! @davidlabmsk.bsky.social Limited spots: docs.google.com/forms/d/12bB... @kelseymonson.bsky.social

Combining bacterial end joining with programmable nucleases, we induced mtDNA deletions in human cells at varying heteroplasmy and examined their metabolic and cellular effects. Simple tool to apply across any cell type and engineer pathogenic mtDNA deletions. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Engineering mtDNA deletions by reconstituting end joining in human mitochondria

Recent breakthroughs in the genetic manipulation of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) have enabled precise base substitutions and the efficient elimination of…

sciencedirect.com