Christa Buecker
@chribue.bsky.social
Molecular Biologist, Transcription enthusiast and stem cell afficionado
Associate Professor at Max Perutz Labs and University Vienna,
Associate Professor at Max Perutz Labs and University Vienna,
Reposted by Christa Buecker
The (Yoav) Voichek lab has opened its gates at the Weizmann Institute, and is actively recruiting students and researchers at all levels - come explore gene regulation and computational genomics in a fun, friendly sprouting lab 🤗🥼⚗️🧪
www.weizmann.ac.il/plants/voichek
www.weizmann.ac.il/plants/voichek
January 11, 2026 at 8:41 PM
The (Yoav) Voichek lab has opened its gates at the Weizmann Institute, and is actively recruiting students and researchers at all levels - come explore gene regulation and computational genomics in a fun, friendly sprouting lab 🤗🥼⚗️🧪
www.weizmann.ac.il/plants/voichek
www.weizmann.ac.il/plants/voichek
Congratulations to Dr Feng! Songjie is the genome whisperer who is simply amazing when it comes to editing the genome! And one of the nicest person to have around!
🎓 Congrats to Songjie Feng (Bücker lab), who successfully defended his thesis titled “Enhancer cooperativity can compensate for loss of activity over large genomic distances" - well done! 🤩🙌
@univie.ac.at
@meduniwien.ac.at
@univie.ac.at
@meduniwien.ac.at
January 9, 2026 at 12:47 PM
Congratulations to Dr Feng! Songjie is the genome whisperer who is simply amazing when it comes to editing the genome! And one of the nicest person to have around!
Reposted by Christa Buecker
Activator-promoter compatibility in mammals - Hcfc1 is a key and intrinsically CGI-promoter-specific co-activator that cannot activate non-CGI promoters. Lead by @nemcko.bsky.social & Kevin Sabath in collab. with @plaschkalab.bsky.social @impvienna.bsky.social www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... (1/2)
Activator-promoter compatibility in mammals: a CpG-Island-specific co-activator directly bridges transcription factors to TFIID
Transcription from CpG island (CGI) promoters controls the expression of two-thirds of mammalian genes, yet despite their prevalence, it remains unknown whether CGI-specific co-activators with intrins...
www.biorxiv.org
December 30, 2025 at 8:02 AM
Activator-promoter compatibility in mammals - Hcfc1 is a key and intrinsically CGI-promoter-specific co-activator that cannot activate non-CGI promoters. Lead by @nemcko.bsky.social & Kevin Sabath in collab. with @plaschkalab.bsky.social @impvienna.bsky.social www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... (1/2)
This is such a beautiful piece of work, Filip! Congratulation on the preprint!
Do transcriptional activators work on any promoter? Our data says no. 🙅♂️
Despite driving ~2/3 of mammalian genes, CpG island (CGI) promoters have remained a puzzle. We identified >50 activators that are exclusively compatible with this promoter class. 🧬
Despite driving ~2/3 of mammalian genes, CpG island (CGI) promoters have remained a puzzle. We identified >50 activators that are exclusively compatible with this promoter class. 🧬
December 30, 2025 at 7:21 AM
This is such a beautiful piece of work, Filip! Congratulation on the preprint!
Reposted by Christa Buecker
Join @stirlingchurchman.bsky.social,
@moffittlab.bsky.social, @saramostafavi.bsky.social, me and all speakers for the 2026 CSHL meeting Systems Biology: Global Regulation of Gene Expression, March 11-14. Abstract deadline January 9! More infos and registration at meetings.cshl.edu/meetings.asp...
@moffittlab.bsky.social, @saramostafavi.bsky.social, me and all speakers for the 2026 CSHL meeting Systems Biology: Global Regulation of Gene Expression, March 11-14. Abstract deadline January 9! More infos and registration at meetings.cshl.edu/meetings.asp...
December 29, 2025 at 9:01 AM
Join @stirlingchurchman.bsky.social,
@moffittlab.bsky.social, @saramostafavi.bsky.social, me and all speakers for the 2026 CSHL meeting Systems Biology: Global Regulation of Gene Expression, March 11-14. Abstract deadline January 9! More infos and registration at meetings.cshl.edu/meetings.asp...
@moffittlab.bsky.social, @saramostafavi.bsky.social, me and all speakers for the 2026 CSHL meeting Systems Biology: Global Regulation of Gene Expression, March 11-14. Abstract deadline January 9! More infos and registration at meetings.cshl.edu/meetings.asp...
Reposted by Christa Buecker
Intrigued by a long-standing conundrum in small RNA biology—how nuclear Argonaute proteins silence transposons when they *need* target transcription for their own recruitment—we studied the piRNA pathway.
And found a hidden RNA-decay axis from Piwi to the RNA exosome.
And found a hidden RNA-decay axis from Piwi to the RNA exosome.
RNA decay via the nuclear exosome is essential for piwi-mediated transposon silencing https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2025.12.16.694471v1
December 22, 2025 at 6:14 PM
Intrigued by a long-standing conundrum in small RNA biology—how nuclear Argonaute proteins silence transposons when they *need* target transcription for their own recruitment—we studied the piRNA pathway.
And found a hidden RNA-decay axis from Piwi to the RNA exosome.
And found a hidden RNA-decay axis from Piwi to the RNA exosome.
Now that I am off for Christmas, I started my first book for the holidays: Katabasis. And every other page has a few memorable phrases about academia to ponder...
December 22, 2025 at 5:38 PM
Now that I am off for Christmas, I started my first book for the holidays: Katabasis. And every other page has a few memorable phrases about academia to ponder...
Reposted by Christa Buecker
🔬 Love science and keeping a lab running smoothly? Join the @leeboratory.bsky.social as a lab manager/research technician and help uncover how cells choose and maintain their identity 🧫 More information ➡️ tinyurl.com/y7a8he88
December 19, 2025 at 10:15 AM
🔬 Love science and keeping a lab running smoothly? Join the @leeboratory.bsky.social as a lab manager/research technician and help uncover how cells choose and maintain their identity 🧫 More information ➡️ tinyurl.com/y7a8he88
Two outstanding group leaders to watch!
🧬🎉Join us on Dec 17th for our last session of 2025! 🎉🧬Two fantastic talks on transcriptional regulation:
🔬JB Lalanne on developmental enhancers (and starting a lab in 2025?)
🔬 @rberrens.bsky.social on transposable elements in development
📋Register here: us06web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...
🔬JB Lalanne on developmental enhancers (and starting a lab in 2025?)
🔬 @rberrens.bsky.social on transposable elements in development
📋Register here: us06web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...
December 12, 2025 at 8:06 AM
Two outstanding group leaders to watch!
This looks fantastic! Congratulations to everyone involved!
An early Christmas present for those interested in chromatin and transcription! Fantastic work from @au-ho-yu.bsky.social and @aleksszczurek.bsky.social . Thanks to Inge and Michiel for their help. Please repost!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
SET1/MLL complexes control transcription independently of H3K4me3
Histone H3 lysine 4 trimethylation (H3K4me3) at gene promoters is thought to play a central role in gene transcription. H3K4 methylation is deposited by the SET1 (A/B) and MLL (1-4) multi-protein comp...
www.biorxiv.org
December 11, 2025 at 8:10 AM
This looks fantastic! Congratulations to everyone involved!
So deserved! Congratulations, @plaschkalab.bsky.social
Clemens Plaschka, Senior Group Leader at the IMP, has been awarded an ERC Consolidator grant!
His project on the fate control of messenger RNA (mRNA) will be supported with funding over the next five years.
➡️ Read more:
His project on the fate control of messenger RNA (mRNA) will be supported with funding over the next five years.
➡️ Read more:
December 9, 2025 at 2:10 PM
So deserved! Congratulations, @plaschkalab.bsky.social
I get it, 90% of students writing to enquire about a research possibility will use ChatGPT. But at least don't end it with
Sincerely,
[Your Name]
I am just so over these emails that say do little, are so generic and just try to flatter me.
Sincerely,
[Your Name]
I am just so over these emails that say do little, are so generic and just try to flatter me.
December 4, 2025 at 3:59 PM
I get it, 90% of students writing to enquire about a research possibility will use ChatGPT. But at least don't end it with
Sincerely,
[Your Name]
I am just so over these emails that say do little, are so generic and just try to flatter me.
Sincerely,
[Your Name]
I am just so over these emails that say do little, are so generic and just try to flatter me.
I made an entry in my calendar labelled "Meeting on" I have a slight recollection that it was important and I blocked three hours for it. But I have no idea who I will be talking to, whatever this is about.
December 3, 2025 at 4:50 PM
I made an entry in my calendar labelled "Meeting on" I have a slight recollection that it was important and I blocked three hours for it. But I have no idea who I will be talking to, whatever this is about.
Reposted by Christa Buecker
The Vienna BioCenter Out of the Box Award celebrates collaboration & creative thinking. This year 2 teams received the annual stipend, as both stood out for their creativity, collaboration & potential.
Learn more: lnkd.in/dz3iBU2E
@maxperutzlabs.ac.at @imbavienna.bsky.social @impvienna.bsky.social
Learn more: lnkd.in/dz3iBU2E
@maxperutzlabs.ac.at @imbavienna.bsky.social @impvienna.bsky.social
December 1, 2025 at 12:56 PM
The Vienna BioCenter Out of the Box Award celebrates collaboration & creative thinking. This year 2 teams received the annual stipend, as both stood out for their creativity, collaboration & potential.
Learn more: lnkd.in/dz3iBU2E
@maxperutzlabs.ac.at @imbavienna.bsky.social @impvienna.bsky.social
Learn more: lnkd.in/dz3iBU2E
@maxperutzlabs.ac.at @imbavienna.bsky.social @impvienna.bsky.social
This is probably my favorite paper of 2025. Beautiful work by @elphegenoralab.bsky.social and @karissalhansen.bsky.social that should be on the top of the reading list for everyone with even a slight interest in gene expression!
Bah, who needs cohesin if you're at the right place (near). Grover once taught us the difference between near and far (my favourite Sesame Street piece), and now amazing work from @elphegenoralab.bsky.social led by @karissalhansen.bsky.social shows us how: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Synergy between regulatory elements can render cohesin dispensable for distal enhancer function
Enhancers are critical genetic elements controlling transcription from promoters, yet how they convey regulatory information across large genomic distances remains unclear. Here, we engineer pluripote...
www.science.org
November 27, 2025 at 9:21 PM
This is probably my favorite paper of 2025. Beautiful work by @elphegenoralab.bsky.social and @karissalhansen.bsky.social that should be on the top of the reading list for everyone with even a slight interest in gene expression!
Reposted by Christa Buecker
Want to analyze the role of endogenous retroviruses in early human development or investigate their regulation in pluripotency and early development for your PhD?
Join the lab of @fueyoraquel.bsky.social via the IMPRS-BAC #gradschool!
👉 www.molgen.mpg.de/5094682/Fuey...
Join the lab of @fueyoraquel.bsky.social via the IMPRS-BAC #gradschool!
👉 www.molgen.mpg.de/5094682/Fuey...
November 27, 2025 at 2:06 PM
Want to analyze the role of endogenous retroviruses in early human development or investigate their regulation in pluripotency and early development for your PhD?
Join the lab of @fueyoraquel.bsky.social via the IMPRS-BAC #gradschool!
👉 www.molgen.mpg.de/5094682/Fuey...
Join the lab of @fueyoraquel.bsky.social via the IMPRS-BAC #gradschool!
👉 www.molgen.mpg.de/5094682/Fuey...
Never got to say goodbye! Well, you just have to come back then.
The @impvienna.bsky.social is a unique place where talented researchers are doing amazing science. I'm glad I had an opportunity to spend some time there, and am looking forward to the next excuse to visit Vienna!
“…[at the IMP] collaborations can develop naturally across many projects…”
We sat down with Jacob Schreiber after he wrapped up his one-year stay at the IMP, and he told us all about it: www.imp.ac.at/news/article...
@jmschreiber91.bsky.social, @viennabiocenter.bsky.social
We sat down with Jacob Schreiber after he wrapped up his one-year stay at the IMP, and he told us all about it: www.imp.ac.at/news/article...
@jmschreiber91.bsky.social, @viennabiocenter.bsky.social
November 26, 2025 at 5:07 AM
Never got to say goodbye! Well, you just have to come back then.
Reposted by Christa Buecker
Engineered chromatin readers track damaged chromatin dynamics in live cells and animals
->Nature | More from Lil Dr Glen EcoChat at BigEarthData.ai
->Nature | More from Lil Dr Glen EcoChat at BigEarthData.ai
Engineered chromatin readers track damaged chromatin dynamics in live cells and animals
All singleton BRCT domains from Mus musculus (Fig. 1a) were manually retrieved from Uniprot. Tandem BRCT domains, comprising two or more closely located BRCT domains linked by a variable linker region, were manually retrieved, and their association in tandem was...
www.nature.com
November 22, 2025 at 11:46 AM
It was cold and wet, but nevertheless the lab retreat to Budapest was a success!
November 21, 2025 at 3:41 PM
It was cold and wet, but nevertheless the lab retreat to Budapest was a success!
We are excited to participate this year again in the VBC summer school! If you want to work with me and my amazing student Maria, apply!
The Vienna BioCenter Summer School 2026 call is now open for talented undergrads, it's a great opportunity for students who are interested in graduate study in the life sciences. Christa Buecker from Max Perutz Labs Vienna is recruiting! Please share
https://training.vbc.ac.at/summer-school/
https://training.vbc.ac.at/summer-school/
November 21, 2025 at 3:36 PM
We are excited to participate this year again in the VBC summer school! If you want to work with me and my amazing student Maria, apply!
Congratulations again, Clemens!
Messenger RNA is made in the nucleus before it is exported to the cytoplasm for translation. But how are only correctly made mRNAs chosen and remodeled in the nucleus for export?
Our new paper investigates the nuclear events leading to human mRNA export. www.nature.com/articles/s41.... (1/4)
Our new paper investigates the nuclear events leading to human mRNA export. www.nature.com/articles/s41.... (1/4)
November 21, 2025 at 7:49 AM
Congratulations again, Clemens!
I teach quite a bit, but today was my favourite yearly teaching event: a seminar with @clemensplaschka.bsky.social and @ursulaschoeberl.bsky.social on initiation of transcription, either from a single-molecule or a structural perspective. So much fun and so many insights!
November 18, 2025 at 4:09 PM
I teach quite a bit, but today was my favourite yearly teaching event: a seminar with @clemensplaschka.bsky.social and @ursulaschoeberl.bsky.social on initiation of transcription, either from a single-molecule or a structural perspective. So much fun and so many insights!
Congratulations, @alex-stark.bsky.social and @miketilapia.bsky.social ! Loved hearing everything during the @cshasia.bsky.social
Major new direction in the lab: hacking human cell biology with pathogen effectors (eORFs) - amazing collaboration with @miketilapia.bsky.social lab. Huge congrats to first authors Tomas & He & all co-authors! Check out the pre-print on @biorxivpreprint.bsky.social www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org
November 18, 2025 at 4:04 PM
Congratulations, @alex-stark.bsky.social and @miketilapia.bsky.social ! Loved hearing everything during the @cshasia.bsky.social
Reposted by Christa Buecker
The Vienna BioCenter Summer School 2026 call is now open for talented undergrads, it's a great opportunity for students who are interested in graduate study in the life sciences. Please RT
https://training.vbc.ac.at/summer-school/
https://training.vbc.ac.at/summer-school/
November 17, 2025 at 3:55 PM
The Vienna BioCenter Summer School 2026 call is now open for talented undergrads, it's a great opportunity for students who are interested in graduate study in the life sciences. Please RT
https://training.vbc.ac.at/summer-school/
https://training.vbc.ac.at/summer-school/
Congratulations, Dr Weykopf! Great achievement andbibambvertain it was a fantastic defense!
A personal milestone - PhD successfully defended (with no corrections 🥳)
A heartfelt thank you to my supervisors @wbickmor.bsky.social @simonbiddie.bsky.social @eliasfriman.bsky.social @KennyBaillie and the entire Bickmore lab who made this a wonderful 4 years ✨
A heartfelt thank you to my supervisors @wbickmor.bsky.social @simonbiddie.bsky.social @eliasfriman.bsky.social @KennyBaillie and the entire Bickmore lab who made this a wonderful 4 years ✨
November 15, 2025 at 7:05 AM
Congratulations, Dr Weykopf! Great achievement andbibambvertain it was a fantastic defense!