Latest collab out in Cell: ~1 mil ribos are embedded per human genome, non-random in distribution. Telomeres are a hotspot with a distinct G-strand rA signature. Watch for future work on how they impact telomere biology! A wonderful collaboration led by the Storici lab. www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...

Human nuclear ribomes reveal DNA-embedded ribonucleotides as epigenetic modulators of transcription-associated DNA supercoiling

Human nuclear ribomes reveal that DNA-embedded ribonucleotides accumulate at promoter-associated regulatory elements and scale with transcriptional activity. RNase H2 and Top1 process these ribonucleo...

cell.com

Check out our new @grantwitness.org website! 18 months ago, we launched as a humble Google Sheet listing 8 terminated NIH grants. Today, we’ve launched a new site tracking tens of thousands of grants and new awards at several different agencies. THANK YOU to everyone who's made this possible! 🧵

Grant Witness

An independent, up-to-date, grant-level record of federal science funding disruptions in the United States.

grantwitness.org

First day of 6th grade. Go get em boys!

Bret Freudenthal, a professor in KU’s Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, works to develop more effective cancer treatments through DNA repair. 🧬 KU encourages collaborative research to deliver global solutions straight from the heartland. 🔗 https://bit.ly/3QT7gkC

After the World Cup left KC, we squeezed in a few trips to close out the summer. Cape May, Wyoming mountains, and wake surfing in Utah/FoCo. The boys start school tomorrow, so this was the last hurrah.

1/ Latest publication from the Freudenthal lab in Biomolecules: 8oxoG:A base pairs are structurally accommodated in the nucleosome, yet effectively invisible to MUTYH. doi.org/10.3390/biom...

What an incredible game to round out the World Cup in KC!

What a soccer weekend! Kicked things off at KC House, where I heard about exciting things happening in KC, then headed to a wild Algeria vs Austria match with great friends. Beautiful game, even better company. ⚽️🇩🇿

To George and Laura, Bill and Hillary — we're grateful for your friendship, counsel, and devotion to this country. And to Joe and Jill, thank you for being on this journey with us.

Bucket list checked. Arrowhead was fully taken over by Argentina last night and the passion was unreal. We took the boys to watch them beat Algeria 3-0, capped by the first world cup hat trick for Messi. Started at KC FanFest, ended watching history. One we’ll never forget. 🇦🇷⚽️

How does a DNA repair enzyme find a needle in a haystack? 🧬 Our latest paper in NAR, led by the one and only C-trap queen Kaitlin Dehart, uses single-molecule imaging to watch APE1 scan DNA and lock onto AP-sites. @lumicks.bsky.social academic.oup.com/nar/article/...

A dynamic search mechanism enables APE1 to identify AP-sites in DNA

Abstract. Apurinic/apyrimidinic (AP) sites are among the most frequent DNA lesions, arising thousands of times per cell each day. These lesions threaten ge

academic.oup.com

I am honored to receive a 2026 University Scholarly Achievement Award from KU. They say it takes a village. Mine took a village and then some: my lab, my trainees, my family. The award has my name on it, but it is theirs. They do they hard work and make this the best job ever!🙏 youtu.be/o-KcgX3IiP8

Bret Freudenthal, University Scholarly Achievement Award

YouTube video by The University of Kansas

youtu.be

That's a wrap on the 25th Annual Midwest DNA Repair Symposium at the University of Kansas Medical Center. Two days, 175 attendees, 4 keynotes, 22 talks, and 85 posters of genuinely incredible science (also some fun socializing of course). I am still smiling, but a bit tired. 🧬🌻

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... New research space for the group: RNA binding proteins! Been chipping away at this for about 3 years now. But, pretty cool to see how a single PTM in an IDR changes overall configurational states of ordered domains.

A season of change in the lab. 🎓 Hooding ceremony for Spencer Thompson who is headed back to the clinic. 🧬 Zach Onyszchuk joins the lab as a graduate student 🔬 Nicholas @nicholaswashton.bsky.social joins the lab as Senior Scientist Excited for what's ahead!!

Action packed Mother’s Day weekend celebrating Jean, cheering on Pierce at his big improv show and watching Grayson’s team bring home tournament gold. This is what great moms do, even on the weekends meant to celebrate them. Grateful for you, Jean. ❤️

We are excited to have Nicholas join the team and see what amazing science we can do together! Also a great connection to the Barnes lab to help with the synergy across our groups.

Nicholas William Ashton@nicholaswashton.bsky.social · 6mo ago

I am glad to share that I have accepted a new position in Bret Freudenthal’s group (@freudlab.bsky.social) in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of Kansas Medical Center. I will be starting at KUMC on May 26.

Big congrats to Spencer Thompson on defending his thesis today! Beautiful @lumicks.bsky.social C-Trap single-molecule work and a major MD/PhD milestone. Proud PI! BioRxiv coming soon.

Abstract deadline approaching (April 15) for the Midwest DNA Repair meeting. Join us for an exciting meeting with outstanding science and valuable networking. Register and share. $100 includes meals, networking, and social events. sites.google.com/view/kumc-mi...

Midwest DNA Repair

The 25th Annual Midwest DNA Repair Symposium will be held at the University of Kansas Medical Center in Kansas City, Kansas, on May 30–31, 2026. The meeting will take place in the Health Education Bui...

sites.google.com

Bret Freudenthal@freudlab.bsky.social · 8mo ago

📣 The 2026 Midwest DNA Repair Symposium is coming to Kansas City (registration is open) 🗓 May 30–31, 2026 ✨ Talks will be selected from abstracts, with a strong focus on trainees and new investigators. Please RT & share with your labs! 🔗 sites.google.com/view/kumc-mi...

Congratulations and welcome to the newest members of the #ACSBIOL Executive Committee! @freudlab.bsky.social, @doc-jlmeier.bsky.social, @tmweaver.bsky.social, @ebraselmann.bsky.social

Great way to wrap up the ski season at Steamboat over spring break last week on a wonderful trip with family and friends. The boys definitely leveled up and are now hitting black diamonds! ⛷️

Great seminar visit to UC Riverside hosted by Linlin Zhao. Excellent discussions with a terrific group of trainees and scientists exploring a wide range of exciting science. Thanks to Linlin for the warm hospitality!

Great first Fusion meeting! 🧬 Presented our telomere/ribonucleotide work. Huge congrats to Abbey Vito for winning Best Poster and Most Engaged 🏆👏 Always great catching up with friends in the field. And the weather didn’t hurt ☀️

Wonderful few days skiing in New Mexico. Every trip the boys get stronger, more controlled, and confident. It is fun to watch the progression in real time. Some fresh snow helped too!

So, to wrap up today's insanity: President Trump, who is deeply implicated in a pedophilia scandal involving his best friend, the sex trafficker, sent Attorney General Bondi -- who only has that job because Trump's first choice was also implicated in a separate pedophilia scandal -- to the House...

“What do you think the odds are that person is a goat fucker?!” Grade A trolling

Such a great conference for trainees and early career scientists. Going back for the first time last year (since leaving the Midwest) this conference felt like home. Such a wonderful supportive DNA repair community. Awesome science and even better people!!

Bret Freudenthal@freudlab.bsky.social · 8mo ago

📣 The 2026 Midwest DNA Repair Symposium is coming to Kansas City (registration is open) 🗓 May 30–31, 2026 ✨ Talks will be selected from abstracts, with a strong focus on trainees and new investigators. Please RT & share with your labs! 🔗 sites.google.com/view/kumc-mi...

This 👇is such a great opportunity for young scientists in the field. I “grew up” on this conference & still hold so many meaningful relationships to this day that I made at these conferences.

Bret Freudenthal@freudlab.bsky.social · 8mo ago

📣 The 2026 Midwest DNA Repair Symposium is coming to Kansas City (registration is open) 🗓 May 30–31, 2026 ✨ Talks will be selected from abstracts, with a strong focus on trainees and new investigators. Please RT & share with your labs! 🔗 sites.google.com/view/kumc-mi...

Great conference!!

Bret Freudenthal@freudlab.bsky.social · 8mo ago

📣 The 2026 Midwest DNA Repair Symposium is coming to Kansas City (registration is open) 🗓 May 30–31, 2026 ✨ Talks will be selected from abstracts, with a strong focus on trainees and new investigators. Please RT & share with your labs! 🔗 sites.google.com/view/kumc-mi...

📣 The 2026 Midwest DNA Repair Symposium is coming to Kansas City (registration is open) 🗓 May 30–31, 2026 ✨ Talks will be selected from abstracts, with a strong focus on trainees and new investigators. Please RT & share with your labs! 🔗 sites.google.com/view/kumc-mi...