Akos Nyerges
@akosnyerges.bsky.social
#SyntheticBiology | #Genome Design & Genetic Code Engineering | Protein, RNA, DNA #DirectedEvolution beyond the boundaries of Nature |
Research Associate at Harvard, George M Church's lab | #NIH #NIBIB K99/R00
https://engineeringbio.science
Research Associate at Harvard, George M Church's lab | #NIH #NIBIB K99/R00
https://engineeringbio.science
Reposted by Akos Nyerges
Public access to the first fly connectome that spans the whole CNS - BANC!: codex.flywire.ai?dataset=banc
Different from prior connectomes - it is brain + cord (think spinal cord)
We use it to ‘embody’ the system and find it resembles ‘subsumption architecture’ doi.org/10.1101/2025...
Different from prior connectomes - it is brain + cord (think spinal cord)
We use it to ‘embody’ the system and find it resembles ‘subsumption architecture’ doi.org/10.1101/2025...
August 2, 2025 at 2:30 PM
Public access to the first fly connectome that spans the whole CNS - BANC!: codex.flywire.ai?dataset=banc
Different from prior connectomes - it is brain + cord (think spinal cord)
We use it to ‘embody’ the system and find it resembles ‘subsumption architecture’ doi.org/10.1101/2025...
Different from prior connectomes - it is brain + cord (think spinal cord)
We use it to ‘embody’ the system and find it resembles ‘subsumption architecture’ doi.org/10.1101/2025...
Reposted by Akos Nyerges
The Wilkinson Lab is open for science! @mskcancercenter.bsky.social
🧬We'll be finding funky new RNA biology, mainly by looking at reverse transcriptases (i.e. the Best Enzymes In The World)🧬
annnd: I'm hiring - come join! Especially postdocs and PhD students - please get in touch (NYC is great)
🧬We'll be finding funky new RNA biology, mainly by looking at reverse transcriptases (i.e. the Best Enzymes In The World)🧬
annnd: I'm hiring - come join! Especially postdocs and PhD students - please get in touch (NYC is great)
Wilkinson Lab
We discover and study reverse transcriptases
wilkinsonlab.bio
October 31, 2025 at 7:00 PM
The Wilkinson Lab is open for science! @mskcancercenter.bsky.social
🧬We'll be finding funky new RNA biology, mainly by looking at reverse transcriptases (i.e. the Best Enzymes In The World)🧬
annnd: I'm hiring - come join! Especially postdocs and PhD students - please get in touch (NYC is great)
🧬We'll be finding funky new RNA biology, mainly by looking at reverse transcriptases (i.e. the Best Enzymes In The World)🧬
annnd: I'm hiring - come join! Especially postdocs and PhD students - please get in touch (NYC is great)
Reposted by Akos Nyerges
🚨Our paper is out! 🥳
Hijacking a bacterial ABC transporter for efficient genetic code expansion.
Many congrats to everyone involved - a multi-year effort led by @taruniype.bsky.social @maxfottner.bsky.social
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
it all started years ago with a failed experiment
🧵👇 1/9
Hijacking a bacterial ABC transporter for efficient genetic code expansion.
Many congrats to everyone involved - a multi-year effort led by @taruniype.bsky.social @maxfottner.bsky.social
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
it all started years ago with a failed experiment
🧵👇 1/9
Hijacking a bacterial ABC transporter for genetic code expansion - Nature
Bacterial ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters can be utilized and engineered to transport non-canonical amino acids into Escherichia coli for highly efficient synthesis of proteins with novel func...
www.nature.com
October 16, 2025 at 2:06 PM
🚨Our paper is out! 🥳
Hijacking a bacterial ABC transporter for efficient genetic code expansion.
Many congrats to everyone involved - a multi-year effort led by @taruniype.bsky.social @maxfottner.bsky.social
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
it all started years ago with a failed experiment
🧵👇 1/9
Hijacking a bacterial ABC transporter for efficient genetic code expansion.
Many congrats to everyone involved - a multi-year effort led by @taruniype.bsky.social @maxfottner.bsky.social
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
it all started years ago with a failed experiment
🧵👇 1/9
Reposted by Akos Nyerges
The recently published report on Biosecurity by Drew Endy et al in the context of contemporary & future Biotech & SynBio is worth every word. Check it out 👉🏻 www.hoover.org/research/bio...
Biosecurity Really: A Strategy for Victory
Current trends make clear that biosecurity will become much more challenging over the next several years. We must act strategically to secure biology—before it becomes a general-purpose technology. Dr...
www.hoover.org
October 15, 2025 at 6:52 PM
The recently published report on Biosecurity by Drew Endy et al in the context of contemporary & future Biotech & SynBio is worth every word. Check it out 👉🏻 www.hoover.org/research/bio...
Reposted by Akos Nyerges
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
October 8, 2025 at 11:29 PM
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
Abhishek Chatterjee @achemsynbio.bsky.social and Michael Krogh Jensen's talks are opening the afternoon session of SynBio @ #BostonDOT
September 22, 2025 at 5:12 PM
Abhishek Chatterjee @achemsynbio.bsky.social and Michael Krogh Jensen's talks are opening the afternoon session of SynBio @ #BostonDOT
SynBio @ #BostonDOT started with a fantastic morning session, with talks from Farren Isaacs, Shira @shiraweingarten.bsky.social, and Ryan Clarke
September 22, 2025 at 4:28 PM
SynBio @ #BostonDOT started with a fantastic morning session, with talks from Farren Isaacs, Shira @shiraweingarten.bsky.social, and Ryan Clarke
Reposted by Akos Nyerges
If there were a collection of E. coli with every combination of a bunch of resistance markers fluorophores on the chromosome, would this be something people would be interested in using?
September 17, 2025 at 1:57 AM
If there were a collection of E. coli with every combination of a bunch of resistance markers fluorophores on the chromosome, would this be something people would be interested in using?
Reposted by Akos Nyerges
New blog post – A quick look at Roche's SBX
lh3.github.io/2025/09/11/a...
lh3.github.io/2025/09/11/a...
September 12, 2025 at 3:26 AM
New blog post – A quick look at Roche's SBX
lh3.github.io/2025/09/11/a...
lh3.github.io/2025/09/11/a...
Reposted by Akos Nyerges
Please repost!
Postdoc in adaptive laboratory evolution and C1 synthetic metabolism!
Location: DTU Biosustain
🦠🧬🔬
Starting in 01/2026!
Fell free to reach out if you have questions!
efzu.fa.em2.oraclecloud.com/hcmUI/Candid...
Postdoc in adaptive laboratory evolution and C1 synthetic metabolism!
Location: DTU Biosustain
🦠🧬🔬
Starting in 01/2026!
Fell free to reach out if you have questions!
efzu.fa.em2.oraclecloud.com/hcmUI/Candid...
efzu.fa.em2.oraclecloud.com
September 12, 2025 at 11:43 AM
Please repost!
Postdoc in adaptive laboratory evolution and C1 synthetic metabolism!
Location: DTU Biosustain
🦠🧬🔬
Starting in 01/2026!
Fell free to reach out if you have questions!
efzu.fa.em2.oraclecloud.com/hcmUI/Candid...
Postdoc in adaptive laboratory evolution and C1 synthetic metabolism!
Location: DTU Biosustain
🦠🧬🔬
Starting in 01/2026!
Fell free to reach out if you have questions!
efzu.fa.em2.oraclecloud.com/hcmUI/Candid...
Reposted by Akos Nyerges
Looking forward to a terrific symposium on Synthetic Biology and it's implication in therapeutic development ✨
Excited to chair #BostonDOT 's SynBio symposium with talks from
🔸Farren Isaacs
🔸Jessica Stark @jcstark.bsky.social
🔸Shira Weingarten-Gabbay @shiraweingarten.bsky.social
🔸Abhishek Chatterjee @achemsynbio.bsky.social
🔸Wen Tseng
🔸Michael Krogh Jensen
🔸Ryan Clarke
🔸Alex Reis @alexcampreis.com
🔸Farren Isaacs
🔸Jessica Stark @jcstark.bsky.social
🔸Shira Weingarten-Gabbay @shiraweingarten.bsky.social
🔸Abhishek Chatterjee @achemsynbio.bsky.social
🔸Wen Tseng
🔸Michael Krogh Jensen
🔸Ryan Clarke
🔸Alex Reis @alexcampreis.com
September 13, 2025 at 7:29 PM
Looking forward to a terrific symposium on Synthetic Biology and it's implication in therapeutic development ✨
Reposted by Akos Nyerges
Today, I’m grateful that I can finally share Briana Lino’s @blino237.bsky.social work on engineering eukaryotic release factor 1 (eRF1) for enhanced noncanonical amino acid incorporation. I highlight some key findings in this thread (1/n).
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
High throughput screening of eukaryotic release factor 1 variants to enhance noncanonical amino acid incorporation
Noncanonical amino acids (ncAAs) enable diversification of protein functions, but the efficiency of genetic code expansion (GCE) in eukaryotes is hindered by competition between suppressor tRNAs and r...
www.biorxiv.org
September 11, 2025 at 1:28 PM
Today, I’m grateful that I can finally share Briana Lino’s @blino237.bsky.social work on engineering eukaryotic release factor 1 (eRF1) for enhanced noncanonical amino acid incorporation. I highlight some key findings in this thread (1/n).
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Excited to chair #BostonDOT 's SynBio symposium with talks from
🔸Farren Isaacs
🔸Jessica Stark @jcstark.bsky.social
🔸Shira Weingarten-Gabbay @shiraweingarten.bsky.social
🔸Abhishek Chatterjee @achemsynbio.bsky.social
🔸Wen Tseng
🔸Michael Krogh Jensen
🔸Ryan Clarke
🔸Alex Reis @alexcampreis.com
🔸Farren Isaacs
🔸Jessica Stark @jcstark.bsky.social
🔸Shira Weingarten-Gabbay @shiraweingarten.bsky.social
🔸Abhishek Chatterjee @achemsynbio.bsky.social
🔸Wen Tseng
🔸Michael Krogh Jensen
🔸Ryan Clarke
🔸Alex Reis @alexcampreis.com
September 10, 2025 at 12:21 PM
Excited to chair #BostonDOT 's SynBio symposium with talks from
🔸Farren Isaacs
🔸Jessica Stark @jcstark.bsky.social
🔸Shira Weingarten-Gabbay @shiraweingarten.bsky.social
🔸Abhishek Chatterjee @achemsynbio.bsky.social
🔸Wen Tseng
🔸Michael Krogh Jensen
🔸Ryan Clarke
🔸Alex Reis @alexcampreis.com
🔸Farren Isaacs
🔸Jessica Stark @jcstark.bsky.social
🔸Shira Weingarten-Gabbay @shiraweingarten.bsky.social
🔸Abhishek Chatterjee @achemsynbio.bsky.social
🔸Wen Tseng
🔸Michael Krogh Jensen
🔸Ryan Clarke
🔸Alex Reis @alexcampreis.com
Reposted by Akos Nyerges
This is one of the findings that really motivates my research: yes, antibiotic resistance genes are ancient, but the age of antibiotics has likely contributed to a big change in their mobility and of the landscape of MGEs we see today! Very happy for Arya and to see this published.
September 2, 2025 at 10:30 PM
This is one of the findings that really motivates my research: yes, antibiotic resistance genes are ancient, but the age of antibiotics has likely contributed to a big change in their mobility and of the landscape of MGEs we see today! Very happy for Arya and to see this published.
Reposted by Akos Nyerges
Dave Baker, not on bluesky, on the issues of the 600 cycle kit on Illumina NextSeq 2000 instrument.
August 30, 2025 at 7:06 AM
Dave Baker, not on bluesky, on the issues of the 600 cycle kit on Illumina NextSeq 2000 instrument.
Reposted by Akos Nyerges
“We feel like the lost generation.” A story on the collapse of US science, which is hitting young scientists hardest www.washingtonpost.com/education/20...
At Harvard, Trump administration cuts hit young scientists hard
More than 700 graduate students and nearly 800 postdoctoral researchers at Harvard get salaries, stipends or tuition support from federally funded research.
www.washingtonpost.com
August 24, 2025 at 11:06 PM
“We feel like the lost generation.” A story on the collapse of US science, which is hitting young scientists hardest www.washingtonpost.com/education/20...
Reposted by Akos Nyerges
Our paper is out in its final form! Back in April 2023, my coauthor Aleks Radakovic, then a PhD student, approached me after a talk in Chicago to ask what I thought an aminoacylated tRNA would look like if we pulled it through a @nanopore.
doi.org/10.1038/s414...
doi.org/10.1038/s414...
Nanopore sequencing of intact aminoacylated tRNAs - Nature Communications
Accurate protein synthesis depends on aminoacylated tRNAs, but their identities have been hard to measure. Here, authors present aa-tRNA-seq, a nanopore-based method that reveals the amino acid, seque...
doi.org
August 22, 2025 at 9:08 PM
Our paper is out in its final form! Back in April 2023, my coauthor Aleks Radakovic, then a PhD student, approached me after a talk in Chicago to ask what I thought an aminoacylated tRNA would look like if we pulled it through a @nanopore.
doi.org/10.1038/s414...
doi.org/10.1038/s414...
Reposted by Akos Nyerges
#NatMicroPicks
Synthetic evolution overdrive 🦠🔧🚅
A highly mutagenic DNA replication system speeds up evolution in Escherichia coli, without harming the host, opening a new way to accelerate protein engineering.
#SynBio #MicroSky
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Synthetic evolution overdrive 🦠🔧🚅
A highly mutagenic DNA replication system speeds up evolution in Escherichia coli, without harming the host, opening a new way to accelerate protein engineering.
#SynBio #MicroSky
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
An orthogonal T7 replisome for continuous hypermutation and accelerated evolution in E. coli
Systems that perform continuous hypermutation of designated genes without compromising the integrity of the host genome can substantially accelerate the evolution of new or enhanced protein functions....
www.science.org
August 8, 2025 at 1:35 PM
#NatMicroPicks
Synthetic evolution overdrive 🦠🔧🚅
A highly mutagenic DNA replication system speeds up evolution in Escherichia coli, without harming the host, opening a new way to accelerate protein engineering.
#SynBio #MicroSky
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Synthetic evolution overdrive 🦠🔧🚅
A highly mutagenic DNA replication system speeds up evolution in Escherichia coli, without harming the host, opening a new way to accelerate protein engineering.
#SynBio #MicroSky
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Reposted by Akos Nyerges
Simulating a for-loop in the human genome: Design and evaluation of recombinase genetic programs that count to three. https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.08.04.668540v1
August 6, 2025 at 3:04 AM
Simulating a for-loop in the human genome: Design and evaluation of recombinase genetic programs that count to three. https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.08.04.668540v1
Reposted by Akos Nyerges
#NatMicroPicks
Engineering Peace in the Gut Microbiome ☮️🔧🦠
BACTRINS, a microbiome engineering platform that precisely edits gut pathogens by inserting therapeutic payloads and neutralizing virulence genes, transforming them into allies.
@natbiomedeng.nature.com
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Engineering Peace in the Gut Microbiome ☮️🔧🦠
BACTRINS, a microbiome engineering platform that precisely edits gut pathogens by inserting therapeutic payloads and neutralizing virulence genes, transforming them into allies.
@natbiomedeng.nature.com
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Precise virulence inactivation using a CRISPR-associated transposase for combating Enterobacteriaceae gut pathogens - Nature Biomedical Engineering
A self-transmissible CRISPR-associated transposase system encodes a nanobody payload to treat Shiga toxin infections.
www.nature.com
August 1, 2025 at 2:25 PM
#NatMicroPicks
Engineering Peace in the Gut Microbiome ☮️🔧🦠
BACTRINS, a microbiome engineering platform that precisely edits gut pathogens by inserting therapeutic payloads and neutralizing virulence genes, transforming them into allies.
@natbiomedeng.nature.com
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Engineering Peace in the Gut Microbiome ☮️🔧🦠
BACTRINS, a microbiome engineering platform that precisely edits gut pathogens by inserting therapeutic payloads and neutralizing virulence genes, transforming them into allies.
@natbiomedeng.nature.com
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Akos Nyerges
BIG NEWS:
“Senate appropriators on Thursday approved an FY26 Labor-HHS bill that included a slight bump in funding for the NIH, with a strong 26–3 bipartisan vote.”
Thank you to members of the Senate Appropriations Committee on both sides of the aisle!
www.axios.com/pro/health-c...
“Senate appropriators on Thursday approved an FY26 Labor-HHS bill that included a slight bump in funding for the NIH, with a strong 26–3 bipartisan vote.”
Thank you to members of the Senate Appropriations Committee on both sides of the aisle!
www.axios.com/pro/health-c...
Senate appropriators approve Labor-HHS bill with NIH bump
The vote and lawmaker comments show that most senators aren't going along with the White House's proposed 40% budget cut to NIH.
www.axios.com
July 31, 2025 at 6:48 PM
BIG NEWS:
“Senate appropriators on Thursday approved an FY26 Labor-HHS bill that included a slight bump in funding for the NIH, with a strong 26–3 bipartisan vote.”
Thank you to members of the Senate Appropriations Committee on both sides of the aisle!
www.axios.com/pro/health-c...
“Senate appropriators on Thursday approved an FY26 Labor-HHS bill that included a slight bump in funding for the NIH, with a strong 26–3 bipartisan vote.”
Thank you to members of the Senate Appropriations Committee on both sides of the aisle!
www.axios.com/pro/health-c...
Reposted by Akos Nyerges
E. coli, but with only 57 codons! Honey, who shrunk the genetic code?
By @carlzimmer.com quoting @akosnyerges.bsky.social about work from Jason Chin's lab at the MRC LMB.
"There’s a lot more in genomes than we thought. We are still not great at designing biology.”
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/31/s...
By @carlzimmer.com quoting @akosnyerges.bsky.social about work from Jason Chin's lab at the MRC LMB.
"There’s a lot more in genomes than we thought. We are still not great at designing biology.”
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/31/s...
Scientists Are Learning to Rewrite the Code of Life
www.nytimes.com
July 31, 2025 at 7:28 PM
E. coli, but with only 57 codons! Honey, who shrunk the genetic code?
By @carlzimmer.com quoting @akosnyerges.bsky.social about work from Jason Chin's lab at the MRC LMB.
"There’s a lot more in genomes than we thought. We are still not great at designing biology.”
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/31/s...
By @carlzimmer.com quoting @akosnyerges.bsky.social about work from Jason Chin's lab at the MRC LMB.
"There’s a lot more in genomes than we thought. We are still not great at designing biology.”
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/31/s...
Reposted by Akos Nyerges
Meet Syn57, a living cell that only needs 57 codons, not the standard 64. Here's my story on how synthetic biology is tackling the mystery of our bloated genetic code. Gift link: nyti.ms/3Hf4f9v
Scientists are Learning to Rewrite the Code of Life
In a giant feat of genetic engineering, scientists have created bacteria that make proteins in a radically different way than all natural species do.
nyti.ms
July 31, 2025 at 6:03 PM
Meet Syn57, a living cell that only needs 57 codons, not the standard 64. Here's my story on how synthetic biology is tackling the mystery of our bloated genetic code. Gift link: nyti.ms/3Hf4f9v
Reposted by Akos Nyerges
We traveled to DC to talk to Congressional Staffers about the impact of NIH and NIBIB funding. It enables us to develop synthetic biology tools to advance cell & genetic medicines for patients in need. REPOST to deliver the message that SCIENCE saves lives & makes America GREAT!
July 21, 2025 at 12:16 PM
We traveled to DC to talk to Congressional Staffers about the impact of NIH and NIBIB funding. It enables us to develop synthetic biology tools to advance cell & genetic medicines for patients in need. REPOST to deliver the message that SCIENCE saves lives & makes America GREAT!
Reposted by Akos Nyerges
Excited to share our latest: we engineered the reactivity of a bacterial E1-like enzyme for ATP-driven modification of C termini. Our tool mimics the logic of peptide bond formation in biology for precision modification of proteins in vitro. 🧪https://rdcu.be/ewN7C
Engineered reactivity of a bacterial E1-like enzyme enables ATP-driven modification of protein and peptide C termini
Nature Chemistry - In living systems, ATP provides an energetic driving force for protein synthesis and modification. Now, an engineered enzymatic tool has been developed for high-yield, ATP-driven...
rdcu.be
July 18, 2025 at 2:40 PM
Excited to share our latest: we engineered the reactivity of a bacterial E1-like enzyme for ATP-driven modification of C termini. Our tool mimics the logic of peptide bond formation in biology for precision modification of proteins in vitro. 🧪https://rdcu.be/ewN7C