Alexis Verger 🧬🧫🧪
@alexis-verger.cpesr.fr
Molecular & structural biologist CNRS with a big respect for Transcription Factors, RNA Pol II & Mediator
#CryoEM #ESR
Advocating for #basicresearch #womeninSTEM #preprint
Message in English or French.
https://bsi-lille.cnrs.fr
#CryoEM #ESR
Advocating for #basicresearch #womeninSTEM #preprint
Message in English or French.
https://bsi-lille.cnrs.fr
Pinned
Alexis Verger 🧬🧫🧪
@alexis-verger.cpesr.fr
· Apr 23
Structural basis of human Mediator recruitment by the phosphorylated transcription factor Elk-1 - Nature Communications
The Mediator complex subunit MED23 contributes to transcriptional activation by the phosphorylated transcription factor Elk-1, in response to Ras-MAPK signalling. Here, the authors determine a cryo-EM...
www.nature.com
Our last contribution is now available.
The first #CryoEM structure of a Mediator subunit (MED23) in complex with the transactivation domain of Elk-1. Unstructured TAD of course, and to spice things up, it's phosphorylation dependent.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
The first #CryoEM structure of a Mediator subunit (MED23) in complex with the transactivation domain of Elk-1. Unstructured TAD of course, and to spice things up, it's phosphorylation dependent.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Well it's #fridaypaperclub, so I have a very special one just for @odedrechavi.bsky.social
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Transposable elements are vectors of recurrent transgenerational epigenetic inheritance
DNA methylation loss at transposable elements (TEs) can affect neighboring genes and be epigenetically inherited in plants, yet the determinants and importance of this additional system of inheritance...
www.science.org
November 14, 2025 at 7:00 PM
Well it's #fridaypaperclub, so I have a very special one just for @odedrechavi.bsky.social
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
My phone is also my lab book 😬
November 14, 2025 at 3:03 PM
My phone is also my lab book 😬
I'm getting old. 👴
Sometimes I have to reread old papers that I've already read but have little or no memory of.
Like this one, for example
www.cell.com/molecular-ce...
Sometimes I have to reread old papers that I've already read but have little or no memory of.
Like this one, for example
www.cell.com/molecular-ce...
Tyrosine-1 of RNA Polymerase II CTD Controls Global Termination of Gene Transcription in Mammals
Transcription of eukaryotic genes requires an efficient termination to avoid pervasive
transcript synthesis. Here, Shah and Maqbool et al. show that tyrosine residues of
RNA polymerase II CTD are esse...
www.cell.com
November 14, 2025 at 8:57 AM
I'm getting old. 👴
Sometimes I have to reread old papers that I've already read but have little or no memory of.
Like this one, for example
www.cell.com/molecular-ce...
Sometimes I have to reread old papers that I've already read but have little or no memory of.
Like this one, for example
www.cell.com/molecular-ce...
Reposted by Alexis Verger 🧬🧫🧪
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
November 12, 2025 at 9:26 PM
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
Reposted by Alexis Verger 🧬🧫🧪
The IGBMC is recruiting a new Computational Biology Group Leader through the ENACT AI Chair for Scientific Discoveries, covering cancer, developmental, and structural biology. Join one of Europe’s leading life science centers!
cluster-ia-enact.ai/appels-a-pro...
Deadline: Jan 7, 2026
cluster-ia-enact.ai/appels-a-pro...
Deadline: Jan 7, 2026
November 13, 2025 at 9:33 AM
The IGBMC is recruiting a new Computational Biology Group Leader through the ENACT AI Chair for Scientific Discoveries, covering cancer, developmental, and structural biology. Join one of Europe’s leading life science centers!
cluster-ia-enact.ai/appels-a-pro...
Deadline: Jan 7, 2026
cluster-ia-enact.ai/appels-a-pro...
Deadline: Jan 7, 2026
De mon côté on m'a confié le micro pour la chronique sciences.
Cette fois j'ai décidé de parler du fonctionnement scandaleux de l'édition scientifique, peu connu en dehors des labos : www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yg2C...
Mais 4 minutes c'est court, alors j'ajoute quelques ressources ci-dessous !
Cette fois j'ai décidé de parler du fonctionnement scandaleux de l'édition scientifique, peu connu en dehors des labos : www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yg2C...
Mais 4 minutes c'est court, alors j'ajoute quelques ressources ci-dessous !
Le beurre, l’argent du beurre et le c*l des chercheurs- La chronique de Tania Louis dans La dernière
YouTube video by Radio Nova
www.youtube.com
November 13, 2025 at 10:44 AM
The devil is in the details
Atomically accurate de novo design of antibodies with RFdiffusion
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
success rates against each target range from 0% to 2% 😆
for SARS-CoV2 RBD target, 9000 designs screened, 5 SPR confirmed binders.
Atomically accurate de novo design of antibodies with RFdiffusion
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
success rates against each target range from 0% to 2% 😆
for SARS-CoV2 RBD target, 9000 designs screened, 5 SPR confirmed binders.
November 13, 2025 at 8:11 AM
The devil is in the details
Atomically accurate de novo design of antibodies with RFdiffusion
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
success rates against each target range from 0% to 2% 😆
for SARS-CoV2 RBD target, 9000 designs screened, 5 SPR confirmed binders.
Atomically accurate de novo design of antibodies with RFdiffusion
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
success rates against each target range from 0% to 2% 😆
for SARS-CoV2 RBD target, 9000 designs screened, 5 SPR confirmed binders.
Reposted by Alexis Verger 🧬🧫🧪
Evidence from 14 research funding programmes confirms that early winners tend to keep winning (Matthew effect). But the idea that an early setback makes you stronger later doesn’t replicate widely.
buff.ly/UEtcRd4
buff.ly/UEtcRd4
November 12, 2025 at 4:15 PM
Evidence from 14 research funding programmes confirms that early winners tend to keep winning (Matthew effect). But the idea that an early setback makes you stronger later doesn’t replicate widely.
buff.ly/UEtcRd4
buff.ly/UEtcRd4
November 12, 2025 at 1:45 PM
Reposted by Alexis Verger 🧬🧫🧪
957 proposals were submitted in the latest round of ERC Synergy applications. They expect to fund 50 which means around 5% success rate. This is really not sustainable and a lot of people are likely avoiding doing this knowing how poor the chances are.
erc.europa.eu/news-events/...
erc.europa.eu/news-events/...
Applications for ERC Synergy Grants 2026: Facts and figures
The ERC Synergy Grants 2026 call closed for applications on 5 November 2025. These are the preliminary data on the submitted proposals:
erc.europa.eu
November 11, 2025 at 1:22 PM
957 proposals were submitted in the latest round of ERC Synergy applications. They expect to fund 50 which means around 5% success rate. This is really not sustainable and a lot of people are likely avoiding doing this knowing how poor the chances are.
erc.europa.eu/news-events/...
erc.europa.eu/news-events/...
Reposted by Alexis Verger 🧬🧫🧪
Our new special collection "Protein-Nucleic Acid Interactions: From Origins to Design (2025)" is now published in Current Opinion in Structural Biology. I'm excited to have both co-edited it with Shandar Ahmad and contributed a review!
www.sciencedirect.com/special-issu...
www.sciencedirect.com/special-issu...
LinkedIn
This link will take you to a page that’s not on LinkedIn
lnkd.in
November 10, 2025 at 5:54 PM
Our new special collection "Protein-Nucleic Acid Interactions: From Origins to Design (2025)" is now published in Current Opinion in Structural Biology. I'm excited to have both co-edited it with Shandar Ahmad and contributed a review!
www.sciencedirect.com/special-issu...
www.sciencedirect.com/special-issu...
Everyone knows the story of Photo 51, but who remembers Florence Bell? #DNA #Franklin #Watson #Crick
X-ray diffraction photograph of DNA fibres taken by Florence Bell in 1938
www.whatisbiotechnology.org/index.php/pe...
X-ray diffraction photograph of DNA fibres taken by Florence Bell in 1938
www.whatisbiotechnology.org/index.php/pe...
November 10, 2025 at 11:02 AM
Everyone knows the story of Photo 51, but who remembers Florence Bell? #DNA #Franklin #Watson #Crick
X-ray diffraction photograph of DNA fibres taken by Florence Bell in 1938
www.whatisbiotechnology.org/index.php/pe...
X-ray diffraction photograph of DNA fibres taken by Florence Bell in 1938
www.whatisbiotechnology.org/index.php/pe...
In light of the recent news, I did a thread a couple of years ago about some #classicpaper in #molecularbiology
I kept a record if anyone is interested
⬇️
aninfinityofhypotheses.wordpress.com/2018/09/28/c...
I kept a record if anyone is interested
⬇️
aninfinityofhypotheses.wordpress.com/2018/09/28/c...
#Classicpaper
Recently I started a Twitter thread highlighting a couple of seminal discoveries in molecular biology going back in the 40’s 50’s #classicpaper. I received many positive feedback and the thread was…
aninfinityofhypotheses.wordpress.com
November 9, 2025 at 7:22 PM
In light of the recent news, I did a thread a couple of years ago about some #classicpaper in #molecularbiology
I kept a record if anyone is interested
⬇️
aninfinityofhypotheses.wordpress.com/2018/09/28/c...
I kept a record if anyone is interested
⬇️
aninfinityofhypotheses.wordpress.com/2018/09/28/c...
James Watson c'est un peu l'équivalent de Luc Montagnier. Le mec au bon endroit au bon moment entouré de gens brillants qui est devenu un vieux con à moitié sénile à faire des déclarations bien dégueulasses qui font encore beaucoup de mal aujourd'hui car "il est prix Nobel, il doit avoir raison".
November 9, 2025 at 4:52 PM
James Watson c'est un peu l'équivalent de Luc Montagnier. Le mec au bon endroit au bon moment entouré de gens brillants qui est devenu un vieux con à moitié sénile à faire des déclarations bien dégueulasses qui font encore beaucoup de mal aujourd'hui car "il est prix Nobel, il doit avoir raison".
Reposted by Alexis Verger 🧬🧫🧪
A Sharon Begley byline, almost 5 years after her death.
Upon hearing the news James Watson had died, a STAT reporter said in our Slack, "I wish I could read what Sharon would have written."
Incredible news: Sharon in fact did pre-write a Watson obit. And it is masterful and excoriating.
🧪🧬🧫
Upon hearing the news James Watson had died, a STAT reporter said in our Slack, "I wish I could read what Sharon would have written."
Incredible news: Sharon in fact did pre-write a Watson obit. And it is masterful and excoriating.
🧪🧬🧫
James Watson, dead at 97, was a scientific legend and a pariah among his peers
James Watson, the co-discoverer of the structure of DNA who died Thursday at 97, was a scientific legend and a pariah among his peers.
www.statnews.com
November 8, 2025 at 1:39 PM
A Sharon Begley byline, almost 5 years after her death.
Upon hearing the news James Watson had died, a STAT reporter said in our Slack, "I wish I could read what Sharon would have written."
Incredible news: Sharon in fact did pre-write a Watson obit. And it is masterful and excoriating.
🧪🧬🧫
Upon hearing the news James Watson had died, a STAT reporter said in our Slack, "I wish I could read what Sharon would have written."
Incredible news: Sharon in fact did pre-write a Watson obit. And it is masterful and excoriating.
🧪🧬🧫
Les fonctionnaires y'en a trop, ça coûte trop cher et on a du mal à les virer.
Gelons leurs salaires, sous-investissons pour ensuite dire que le service rendu se dégrade et rendons leurs conditions de travail exécrables. Ils vont bien finir par démissionner et ne plus postuler aux concours.
Gelons leurs salaires, sous-investissons pour ensuite dire que le service rendu se dégrade et rendons leurs conditions de travail exécrables. Ils vont bien finir par démissionner et ne plus postuler aux concours.
a man is holding his finger to his forehead while thinking .
ALT: a man is holding his finger to his forehead while thinking .
media.tenor.com
November 8, 2025 at 6:32 PM
Les fonctionnaires y'en a trop, ça coûte trop cher et on a du mal à les virer.
Gelons leurs salaires, sous-investissons pour ensuite dire que le service rendu se dégrade et rendons leurs conditions de travail exécrables. Ils vont bien finir par démissionner et ne plus postuler aux concours.
Gelons leurs salaires, sous-investissons pour ensuite dire que le service rendu se dégrade et rendons leurs conditions de travail exécrables. Ils vont bien finir par démissionner et ne plus postuler aux concours.
Gel du point d'indice, suppression de la GIPA, 1 protection sociale complémentaire que personne ne comprend & maintenant gel du changement d'échelon automatique. #ESR
La fonction publique devient si peu attractive qu'ils vont obtenir ce dont ils rêvent depuis longtemps : que tout le monde se barre
La fonction publique devient si peu attractive qu'ils vont obtenir ce dont ils rêvent depuis longtemps : que tout le monde se barre
[ #VeilleESR #VeilleEN ] Le rapporteur général Philippe Juvin appelle au gel des avancements automatiques dans la fonction publique #PLF2026
par @basscordia.bsky.social
C'est effectivement l'étape logique quand on prend au sérieux tout le discours "performance des fonctionnaires".
par @basscordia.bsky.social
C'est effectivement l'étape logique quand on prend au sérieux tout le discours "performance des fonctionnaires".
Budget : le rapporteur général Philippe Juvin appelle au gel des avancements automatiques dans la fonction publique
Dans un rapport sur le projet de loi de finances 2026, le rapporteur général du budget Philippe Juvin pousse au gel des avancements automatiques des agents publics. Un totem statutaire. Le député LR p...
acteurspublics.fr
November 8, 2025 at 5:58 PM
Gel du point d'indice, suppression de la GIPA, 1 protection sociale complémentaire que personne ne comprend & maintenant gel du changement d'échelon automatique. #ESR
La fonction publique devient si peu attractive qu'ils vont obtenir ce dont ils rêvent depuis longtemps : que tout le monde se barre
La fonction publique devient si peu attractive qu'ils vont obtenir ce dont ils rêvent depuis longtemps : que tout le monde se barre
Reposted by Alexis Verger 🧬🧫🧪
La crédibilité se mesure en acte, pas en mots!
En tant qu'auteur #GIEC, je ne me sens nullement reconnu par ce discours; je me sens trahi par des paroles qui n'ont plus de valeurs
#colère
La désinformation ne va pas se combattre par du "mots contre mots" mais par du "actes contre mots".
Un fil 🧵
1/
En tant qu'auteur #GIEC, je ne me sens nullement reconnu par ce discours; je me sens trahi par des paroles qui n'ont plus de valeurs
#colère
La désinformation ne va pas se combattre par du "mots contre mots" mais par du "actes contre mots".
Un fil 🧵
1/
🔥 Des années de travail pour obtenir une telle reconnaissance politique : hier, Emmanuel Macron a déclaré à la COP30 que « la désinformation climatique fait peser une menace sur nos démocraties, sur l’agenda de Paris et donc sur notre sécurité collective ».
November 8, 2025 at 4:38 PM
Reposted by Alexis Verger 🧬🧫🧪
The blue plaque which commemorates the celebration of the discovery of the structure of DNA has finally been updated to acknowledge Rosalind Franklin. #womeninSTEM
😍
newn.cam.ac.uk/newnham-news...
😍
newn.cam.ac.uk/newnham-news...
November 20, 2024 at 7:57 AM
The blue plaque which commemorates the celebration of the discovery of the structure of DNA has finally been updated to acknowledge Rosalind Franklin. #womeninSTEM
😍
newn.cam.ac.uk/newnham-news...
😍
newn.cam.ac.uk/newnham-news...
Reposted by Alexis Verger 🧬🧫🧪
When people celebrate the individual genius of folks in science, they should also
mourn the collective loss of genius of folks who were actively discouraged or disadvantaged from a career in science because of the same person(s)
mourn the collective loss of genius of folks who were actively discouraged or disadvantaged from a career in science because of the same person(s)
November 7, 2025 at 11:43 PM
When people celebrate the individual genius of folks in science, they should also
mourn the collective loss of genius of folks who were actively discouraged or disadvantaged from a career in science because of the same person(s)
mourn the collective loss of genius of folks who were actively discouraged or disadvantaged from a career in science because of the same person(s)
As we all face flood of papers + all the difficulties in getting human reviewers, 'evaluation' of papers by LLMs is almost inevitable. For good or bad.
November 7, 2025 at 4:50 PM
As we all face flood of papers + all the difficulties in getting human reviewers, 'evaluation' of papers by LLMs is almost inevitable. For good or bad.
#proteindesign #proteinbinder
100 designs
⬇️
34 got through the screening (ipTM, PAE, RMSD)
⬇️
4 ordered (gene synthesis + codon optimization)
⬇️
3 expressed and soluble
⬇️
1 interacts with its target !!!!
Now the story begins !
100 designs
⬇️
34 got through the screening (ipTM, PAE, RMSD)
⬇️
4 ordered (gene synthesis + codon optimization)
⬇️
3 expressed and soluble
⬇️
1 interacts with its target !!!!
Now the story begins !
a man with glasses and a mustache is wearing a white shirt and says yes .
ALT: a man with glasses and a mustache is wearing a white shirt and says yes .
media.tenor.com
November 7, 2025 at 12:03 PM
#proteindesign #proteinbinder
100 designs
⬇️
34 got through the screening (ipTM, PAE, RMSD)
⬇️
4 ordered (gene synthesis + codon optimization)
⬇️
3 expressed and soluble
⬇️
1 interacts with its target !!!!
Now the story begins !
100 designs
⬇️
34 got through the screening (ipTM, PAE, RMSD)
⬇️
4 ordered (gene synthesis + codon optimization)
⬇️
3 expressed and soluble
⬇️
1 interacts with its target !!!!
Now the story begins !
Reposted by Alexis Verger 🧬🧫🧪
Wondering why no one likes your posts anymore, even among your friends? It's because @jay.bsky.team and team have decided to hide a huge amount of content from all of our feeds by default.
Here's how to turn it off.
First go to the hamburger menu in the upper left corner
Here's how to turn it off.
First go to the hamburger menu in the upper left corner
November 6, 2025 at 6:23 PM
Wondering why no one likes your posts anymore, even among your friends? It's because @jay.bsky.team and team have decided to hide a huge amount of content from all of our feeds by default.
Here's how to turn it off.
First go to the hamburger menu in the upper left corner
Here's how to turn it off.
First go to the hamburger menu in the upper left corner