Julius Brennecke
@juliusbrennecke.bsky.social
3.4K followers 2.1K following 60 posts
enthusiast of transposable elements, genetic conflicts, small RNAs, Drosophila, and funky germline biology running a lab at IMBA, Vienna BioCenter https://www.oeaw.ac.at/imba/research/julius-brennecke
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juliusbrennecke.bsky.social
Love RNA biology?

Join us to explore the piRNA pathway with structural and genetic approaches (see 👇👇).

PhD student/postdoc position co-supervised by Clemens Plaschka & myself.

DM or email us if you’d like to know more!

@vbcscitraining.bsky.social @imbavienna.bsky.social @impvienna.bsky.social
juliusbrennecke.bsky.social
PIWI clade Argonautes are essential for transposon silencing. Without them, animals are sterile due to massive transposon activity.

But how does piRNA-guided target interaction translate into silencing?

PhD student Júlia Portell Montserrat has an intriguing answer

www.cell.com/molecular-ce...
Reposted by Julius Brennecke
86dominik.bsky.social
When transposons jump, genomes diverge - even in cultured cells.
I am happy to share our new preprint: a chromosome-scale genome assembly for Drosophila OSC cells, one of the key model systems in the piRNA field, especially for nuclear piRNA biology. 🧬🧵 (1/12)
Graphical abstract: The Drosophila OSC Genome as a resource for transposon and piRNA biology. The figure illustrates the workflow and key findings. Left: De novo genome assembly using Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT) long reads and Hi-C data generates a phased assembly distinguishing unique (blue) and repetitive (orange) sequences. Dot plot comparison between OSC-r1.01 and dm6 reference genomes shows overall synteny with extensive structural variation. Middle: A freely accessible UCSC genome browser session displays multi-omics data tracks including gene models, transposon insertions, chromatin accessibility, transcription, small RNAs, and histone modifications. Right: New insights into flamenco piRNA cluster biology reveal >730 kb transcribed from a single promoter without major splicing. Tethering assays demonstrate long-range silencing effects across the locus, and genome browser tracks show coordinated regulation of piRNA production, transcription, and chromatin state. This resource enables comprehensive studies of transposon regulation and piRNA pathway function in a widely-used Drosophila cell line.
Reposted by Julius Brennecke
Reposted by Julius Brennecke
embl.org
EMBL @embl.org · 16h
EMBL’s 2025 Kendrew alumni award recipient may know how to make fairy tales come true.

Irma Querques (@irmaquerques.bsky.social) repurposed the ‘Sleeping Beauty’ transposon as a genetic tool for new therapeutics, particularly against cancer.

www.embl.org/news/people-...
Reposted by Julius Brennecke
aicc-ireland.bsky.social
There's a super line up next March for the Keystone meeting in Geneva for anyone interested in chromatin and epigenetics! Not a bad spot for a Spring trip!

🧬👇🇨🇭

#KSEpigenetics26 #epigenetics #chromatin #KeystoneSymposia
kjarmache.bsky.social
Join us in Geneva (March, 2026) for the Keystone Symposium Epigenetics & Gene Regulation in Health and Disease, co-organized with @ckadoch.bsky.social — linking epigenetic mechanisms with therapeutic innovation. Apply for a short talk!

#KSEpigenetics26 #epigenetics #chromatin #KeystoneSymposia
Epigenetics and Gene Regulation in Health and Disease: Linking Basic Mechanisms with Therapeutic Opportunities | Keystone Symposia
Join us at the Keystone Symposia on Epigenetics and Gene Regulation in Health and Disease: Linking Basic Mechanisms with Therapeutic Opportunities, March 2026, in Geneva, with field leaders!
keysym.us
Reposted by Julius Brennecke
dijiang319.bsky.social
Last week @science.org mRNA initiation and termination are spatially coordinated | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... from @anafiszbein.bsky.social @athmapai.bsky.social et al.
Reposted by Julius Brennecke
rupertfaraway.bsky.social
If you, or anyone you know, is looking for a PhD position, I have no doubt that Ulrich's lab is a fantastic choice! I'm tempted to do a second PhD in this lab.
hohmannulrich.bsky.social
Thrilled to share that I’ll be joining @imbmainz.bsky.social in February 2026 to start my own group!
We will explore new mechanisms in eukaryotic gene expression, leveraging ‘evolutionary play’ to uncover how regulation, repurposing, and hijacking shape RNA biology.
PhD positions available!
Reposted by Julius Brennecke
matthias-krause.bsky.social
Register for the Dynamic Cell VI conference, Reading, UK, April 2026! This conference focusses on all aspects of cell dynamics, co-organised by @bscb-official.bsky.social and @biochemsoc.bsky.social with @royalmicrosoc.bsky.social and the Chinese Society for Cell Biology.
bit.ly/Dynamic-Cell-VI
Reposted by Julius Brennecke
Reposted by Julius Brennecke
pauligroup.bsky.social
Big congrats to all, to @imbmainz.bsky.social on this amazing 'double-catch', and of course to @hohmannulrich.bsky.social & @lorenzoorts.bsky.social for starting their own labs!

To prospective PhD students interested in mechanistic question in gene regulation, check out Laura's & Ulrich's labs!
hohmannulrich.bsky.social
Thrilled to share that I’ll be joining @imbmainz.bsky.social in February 2026 to start my own group!
We will explore new mechanisms in eukaryotic gene expression, leveraging ‘evolutionary play’ to uncover how regulation, repurposing, and hijacking shape RNA biology.
PhD positions available!
juliusbrennecke.bsky.social
Off he is ...

Ulrich is one of the most remarkable scientists I had the pleasure to work with. I learned so much from him about biochemistry, proteins, structural biology, and so much more.

Great people make great things happen.
The really great people are rare.
Ulrich is one of them ...
hohmannulrich.bsky.social
Thrilled to share that I’ll be joining @imbmainz.bsky.social in February 2026 to start my own group!
We will explore new mechanisms in eukaryotic gene expression, leveraging ‘evolutionary play’ to uncover how regulation, repurposing, and hijacking shape RNA biology.
PhD positions available!
Reposted by Julius Brennecke
labgrosshans.bsky.social
Paper alert! doi.org/10.1038/s443... - "A scheduler for rhythmic gene expression". We show how 9 txn factors suffice for rhythmic gene expression of thousands of genes with any phase or amplitude in #Celegans larvae (and also look at the tissues where oscillations happen) 1/n
Reposted by Julius Brennecke
Reposted by Julius Brennecke
zunlongke.bsky.social
Really cool story on a FRET biosensor by Bijun Tang @bijuntang.bsky.social and an amazing team, now published @science.org
I’m so proud of your PhD work at @slcuplants.bsky.social
Below is the lockdown time in 2020 when you spent long hours screening your FRET biosensor, now known as SalicS1!
Reposted by Julius Brennecke
wilhelmpalm.bsky.social
Just out in @science.org: Together with the lab of @johanneszuber.bsky.social, we used sequential in-vitro/in-vivo screens to decipher metabolic adaptations in tumors. We find that acidosis is a dominant factor that shapes energy metabolism and stress resilience. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Reposted by Julius Brennecke
ewanbirney.bsky.social
A reminder that the PhD program for EMBL is open for winter recruitment round. If you want to understand life at a molecular level and have a quantitative science (you don't have to have done biology - we love our mathematicians/physcists/chemists!) apply www.embl.org/about/info/e...
Application – EMBL International PhD Programme
www.embl.org
Reposted by Julius Brennecke
jorg-vogel-lab.bsky.social
Two group leader positions available in the broader areas of RNA science, RNA technologies, and RNA medicine. Attractive packages and a great environment. Come and join us at Helmholtz RNA Würzburg, Bavaria.
Reposted by Julius Brennecke
carlzimmer.com
Today my @nytimes.com colleagues and I are launching a new series called Lost Science. We interview US scientists who can no longer discover something new about our world, thanks to this year‘s cuts. Here is my first interview with a scientist who studied bees and fires. Gift link: nyti.ms/3IWXbiE
nyti.ms
Reposted by Julius Brennecke
mitsenkov.bsky.social
The latest #AlphaFold DB update is out!

We synchronised with UniProt release 2025_03, predicted protein isoforms across all species, and provide MSAs used to generate each prediction.

Proud of the team at the PDBe for the hard work that went into this. Grateful to play my part in it!
ebi.embl.org
We’re renewing our collaboration with Google DeepMind!

We'll keep developing the AlphaFold Database to support protein science worldwide 🎉

To mark the moment we’ve synchronised the database with UniProtKB release 2025_03.

www.ebi.ac.uk/about/news/t...

🖥️🧬 #AlphaFold
@pdbeurope.bsky.social