Rae Smith
@raemsmith.bsky.social
I research adaptive traits in wildlife and domestic species for conservation through molecular biology and genomics. I like nature and the tools used to study it.
Back in the saddle for the new year
January 7, 2026 at 11:28 AM
Back in the saddle for the new year
Proud to be part of a movement that is growing in Africa! African BioGenome Project is sequencing many genomes and providing training opportunities for African scientists interested in generating digital sequence information that will capture our species genetic diversity doi.org/10.5281/zeno...
December 4, 2025 at 12:53 PM
Proud to be part of a movement that is growing in Africa! African BioGenome Project is sequencing many genomes and providing training opportunities for African scientists interested in generating digital sequence information that will capture our species genetic diversity doi.org/10.5281/zeno...
Reposted by Rae Smith
Chromosome-Level Genome Assembly of Southern Africa Mozambique Tilapia (Oreochromis mossambicus) using PacBio HiFi and Omni-C sequencing https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.11.27.690999v1
November 30, 2025 at 3:33 AM
Chromosome-Level Genome Assembly of Southern Africa Mozambique Tilapia (Oreochromis mossambicus) using PacBio HiFi and Omni-C sequencing https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.11.27.690999v1
This is my first genome assembly project that is well on it's way to finalization. Grasping the requirements for generating high-quality genomes has been a tough road, but slowly gaining the confidence to put these out for the benefit of people looking to apply these for their own research.
A chromosome-level genome assembly of the South African indigenous, Kolbroek pig, Sus scrofa domesticus https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.11.20.689645v1
November 27, 2025 at 8:00 AM
This is my first genome assembly project that is well on it's way to finalization. Grasping the requirements for generating high-quality genomes has been a tough road, but slowly gaining the confidence to put these out for the benefit of people looking to apply these for their own research.
Some of the work that is coming out of our lab. we are getting close to achieving telomere-level assemblies for important South African livestock species.
A Near Telomere-to-Telomere Reference Genome for Drakensberger Cattle Achieved Through Trio-Binned Long-Read Sequencing https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.11.19.689200v1
November 27, 2025 at 7:57 AM
Some of the work that is coming out of our lab. we are getting close to achieving telomere-level assemblies for important South African livestock species.
I am definitely getting somewhere with these circos plots in Circlize (R)! It is always surprising how deep these packages go - all in the name of generating pretty figures for publication. #circilise #genomics #science
October 15, 2025 at 10:44 AM
I am definitely getting somewhere with these circos plots in Circlize (R)! It is always surprising how deep these packages go - all in the name of generating pretty figures for publication. #circilise #genomics #science
Now fully in the academic space, I strive to have our undergrad modules competitive and career-building. Today we are privileged to get inputs from industry and stakeholders (Current and past students and other Universities) on how to improve our modules. At #UNISA #LifeSciences - truly valuable.
October 2, 2025 at 10:16 AM
Now fully in the academic space, I strive to have our undergrad modules competitive and career-building. Today we are privileged to get inputs from industry and stakeholders (Current and past students and other Universities) on how to improve our modules. At #UNISA #LifeSciences - truly valuable.
First of the rains for our region, can't wait to start looking for mushrooms. #Joburg #mushrooms #SouthAfrica
September 30, 2025 at 8:51 AM
First of the rains for our region, can't wait to start looking for mushrooms. #Joburg #mushrooms #SouthAfrica
Reposted by Rae Smith
New online! Genome engineering in biodiversity conservation and restoration
Genome engineering in biodiversity conservation and restoration
Nature Reviews Biodiversity, Published online: 18 July 2025; doi:10.1038/s44358-025-00065-6This Perspective argues for the use of genome engineering for restoring species genetic diversity and increase species resilience to environmental change. Genome engineering could be combined with traditional conservation approaches for more effective conservation initiatives.
bit.ly
July 18, 2025 at 11:07 AM
New online! Genome engineering in biodiversity conservation and restoration
It is apparent that our small-holder farmers in South Africa are aging, mostly male and need support with tick-borne diseases. Happy to have contributed to my Colleague's investigation on these farmers knowledge towards her PhD.
#farming
#livestock
#cattle
#science
#SouthAfrica
rdcu.be/ewqw6
#farming
#livestock
#cattle
#science
#SouthAfrica
rdcu.be/ewqw6
Cattle tick-borne diseases: study of knowledge and practices among communal farmers in selected areas of the Limpopo Province, South Africa
rdcu.be
July 16, 2025 at 9:48 AM
It is apparent that our small-holder farmers in South Africa are aging, mostly male and need support with tick-borne diseases. Happy to have contributed to my Colleague's investigation on these farmers knowledge towards her PhD.
#farming
#livestock
#cattle
#science
#SouthAfrica
rdcu.be/ewqw6
#farming
#livestock
#cattle
#science
#SouthAfrica
rdcu.be/ewqw6
The other day, I got the opportunity to check out our university's herd of cattle to contribute to getting baseline information on the heart, checking out health, age, pregnancy status and more.
#cattle
#cows
#AnimalScience
#cattle
#cows
#AnimalScience
July 14, 2025 at 10:35 AM
The other day, I got the opportunity to check out our university's herd of cattle to contribute to getting baseline information on the heart, checking out health, age, pregnancy status and more.
#cattle
#cows
#AnimalScience
#cattle
#cows
#AnimalScience
The 1st of our research group's genome assemblies has been published. For this sheep we used Hifiasm, BWA-MEM2 and YaHS for contig and scaffold assembly. Annotation was done using Tiberius as pare of the VGP pipline.
Turned out quite well if I should say so myself!
doi.org/10.1038/s415...
Turned out quite well if I should say so myself!
doi.org/10.1038/s415...
A chromosomal level genome assembly of Nguni Sheep, Ovis aries - Scientific Data
Scientific Data - A chromosomal level genome assembly of Nguni Sheep, Ovis aries
doi.org
July 11, 2025 at 11:13 AM
The 1st of our research group's genome assemblies has been published. For this sheep we used Hifiasm, BWA-MEM2 and YaHS for contig and scaffold assembly. Annotation was done using Tiberius as pare of the VGP pipline.
Turned out quite well if I should say so myself!
doi.org/10.1038/s415...
Turned out quite well if I should say so myself!
doi.org/10.1038/s415...
VOSViewer is pretty easy to use - I wonder how I can use this to gain new insights into the bibloverse?
July 1, 2025 at 8:40 PM
VOSViewer is pretty easy to use - I wonder how I can use this to gain new insights into the bibloverse?
Reposted by Rae Smith
📣 Upcoming Online Talk at Imperial College London: Discover Galaxy – From Analysis to FAIR Data Management
Learn how Galaxy supports research data analysis and FAIR data management in this online talk hosted by Imperial College London.
📍 Online
📅 10 July 2025
🔗 More info & registration: (1/2)
Learn how Galaxy supports research data analysis and FAIR data management in this online talk hosted by Imperial College London.
📍 Online
📅 10 July 2025
🔗 More info & registration: (1/2)
July 1, 2025 at 8:34 AM
📣 Upcoming Online Talk at Imperial College London: Discover Galaxy – From Analysis to FAIR Data Management
Learn how Galaxy supports research data analysis and FAIR data management in this online talk hosted by Imperial College London.
📍 Online
📅 10 July 2025
🔗 More info & registration: (1/2)
Learn how Galaxy supports research data analysis and FAIR data management in this online talk hosted by Imperial College London.
📍 Online
📅 10 July 2025
🔗 More info & registration: (1/2)
Everyday is another opportunity to refuse being stuck in tutorial hell.
June 30, 2025 at 7:23 AM
Everyday is another opportunity to refuse being stuck in tutorial hell.
Looks like this event just keeps getting bigger and more interesting. A lot of work but happy to be a part of it. This year we've invited students and staff from some of our other local universities to participate.
June 23, 2025 at 6:35 PM
Looks like this event just keeps getting bigger and more interesting. A lot of work but happy to be a part of it. This year we've invited students and staff from some of our other local universities to participate.
Trying to figure out circilzeR to help make my efforts in genome assembly beautiful. - now to get organise chromosomes in a way that I can avoid the tangled mess in the middle...
June 12, 2025 at 7:42 PM
Trying to figure out circilzeR to help make my efforts in genome assembly beautiful. - now to get organise chromosomes in a way that I can avoid the tangled mess in the middle...
Reposted by Rae Smith
Little gentle reminder to all the human creatives out there 💪
April 9, 2025 at 8:08 PM
Little gentle reminder to all the human creatives out there 💪
I wonder what happened to all the anti-covid19 vaccine people? is it just the work of the algorithms or are they really quiet?
February 11, 2025 at 7:01 AM
I wonder what happened to all the anti-covid19 vaccine people? is it just the work of the algorithms or are they really quiet?
Reposted by Rae Smith
Genetic diversity has declined within two-thirds of more than 600 species over the past three decades, according to research published in Nature. The findings highlight the need for conservation efforts to prevent genetic diversity loss. https://go.nature.com/42EpVo5 🧪
February 5, 2025 at 2:43 AM
Genetic diversity has declined within two-thirds of more than 600 species over the past three decades, according to research published in Nature. The findings highlight the need for conservation efforts to prevent genetic diversity loss. https://go.nature.com/42EpVo5 🧪