Keeping the dream alive.

Could it be this thing? This was from someones dataset at the LMB, also by FLAG. I don’t we ever identified what it was, but my guess was aldolase.

One of the more surprising parts was how the LINE-1 machinery (ORF2p) remodels the target DNA for retrotransposition - basically melting and breaking the DNA into two parts. We could even see this melting as heterogeneity during the #CryoEM data processing.

These elements jump by a "copy-and-paste" mechanism where the LINE-1 encoded machinery reverse transcribes its LINE-1 mRNA (a copy) into a new target DNA site (paste). We captured the complex just at the point of reverse transcription and solved structures by #CryoEM.

Did you know that two jumping sequences (LINE-1 and Alu) make up nearly 30% of our genomes? Ever wonder how they jump into new genomic sites? We have some exciting discoveries to share new in @science.org on the structural mechanisms of LINE-1 retrotransposition (aka jumping 🧬➡️🧬) 🧪 #ScienceResearch

After many years at @mrclmb.bsky.social, I've moved back home to start my own lab at @princetonmolbio.bsky.social. I'm so thankful to my mentors, especially Kelly Nguyen and Don Rio! We have some exciting results on LINE-1 in the works and are recruiting. Find out more: ghanim.lab.princeton.edu