Julien Richard Albert
Post-doc in Paris studying transposon restriction systems in ciliates and epigenetic reprogramming in mammals
- Reposted by Julien Richard AlbertNew paper from my lab out in NAR. We found that young L1 elements are controlled by SETDB1 and H3K9me3 in human neural progenitor cells via a mechanism independent of HUSH and TRIM28/KZNFs. academic.oup.com/nar/article/...
- coffee karyotype
- Reposted by Julien Richard AlbertNew preprint from the lab! We dig into the regulatory roles of TEs in the mouse placenta, with some surprising findings. Led by the awesome @smamante.bsky.social. Particular kudos to him for navigating the many twists and turns of the project.
- Reposted by Julien Richard Albert🔔 New paper alert 🔔 www.nature.com/articles/s41... Some regions in the genome replicate early and some late, but the why and how remain poorly understood. DNA replication and 3D genome organization appear linked, raising the question if one may regulate the other? (1/n)
- Reposted by Julien Richard AlbertStress controls epigenetic inheritance! A histone ubiquitylation-based regulatory hub links stress/environmental signaling to heterochromatin self-propagation and epigenetic inheritance-reshaping how we think about development, drug resistance, and cancer 👉 nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09899-8
- For anybody with an e-reader, I highly recommend these free, standardised e-books standardebooks.org/blog/public-...
- Reposted by Julien Richard AlbertHappy to begin the year with the publication of a Journal Club article - Programmed ‘DNA splicing’ removes transposons from genes. rdcu.be/eXBym
- Reposted by Julien Richard AlbertHot from the press: Using single-cell chromatin accessibility and gene expression across ~300,000 cells, we show that prostate cancer dissemination involves phenotypic plasticity over clonal selection, with malignant cells converging toward an inflammatory-like state during lymph node spread.
- Reposted by Julien Richard Albert@pravrutharaman.bsky.social got super intrigued about EZHIP/CATACOMB, previously identified as a histone H3K27M mimic of PRC2. You can read about her efforts here: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... We hope these analyses will help spur more analyses in this very cool gene! 1/
- Reposted by Julien Richard AlbertIt's always exciting when the latest edition of JASPAR comes out. Great leadership by @amathelier.bsky.social and pleased to welcome @anshulkundaje.bsky.social to the journey. #Jaspar2026 academic.oup.com/nar/advance-...
- Reposted by Julien Richard Albert1/ I’m very excited to share my postdoc work with @kseskv.bsky.social, in collaboration with @oligriffith.bsky.social. We explore embryonic DNA methylation reprogramming in the fat-tailed dunnart, an Australian marsupial 🦘🌏 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
- Reposted by Julien Richard AlbertCanada has lost its measles elimination status after more than 25 years, despite evidence of efficacy and safety for the vaccines. 👇 scienceupfirst.com/public-healt... #ScienceUpFirst 🧵1/2
- Reposted by Julien Richard AlbertPolycomb Repressive Complexes 1 and 2 are recruited independently to pericentromeric heterochromatin in response to hypomethylation in mouse embryonic stem cells biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/202…
- Reposted by Julien Richard AlbertNew paper from the lab: we’re using long-read sequencing to disentangle isoform complexity at allele-specific loci 🧬💡 Here, we combine the PacBio Iso-Seq workflow with the established WhatsHap phasing approach to assign long reads to the correct allele in polymorphic F1 mouse hybrids.
- There’s a car under here… Take me back to Paris 😭
- Reposted by Julien Richard AlbertExcited to share our new preprint on BioRxiv! A collaborative effort spanning many years and several labs to uncover what the germline chromosomes of Paramecium really look like. 🔗 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... 1/5
- Reposted by Julien Richard AlbertWhy fundamental research is fundamental to progress, seeding major breakthroughs Editorial @nature.com this week And 7 basic science discoveries that changed the world nature.com/articles/d41... nature.com/articles/d41...
- Reposted by Julien Richard AlbertOur latest paper on a histone methyltransferase-independent function of PRC2 controlling small RNA dynamics during programmed DNA elimination in Paramecium is now published in #NAR. #RNAbiology #TEsky #smallRNAs #PRC2 #DNAelimination 1/5 academic.oup.com/nar/article-...
- Reposted by Julien Richard AlbertWe're now recruiting early career group leaders at the Crick to lead ambitious research programmes and explore bold scientific questions. Hear our Director, Edith Heard, explain why the Crick is a unique place for curiosity-driven research. Apply now ➡️ www.crick.ac.uk/careers-stud...
- Reposted by Julien Richard Albert🚨 New paper alert on telomeres! 🚨 Something different from the group! Thanks to Yuxin, a talented student in the lab, we used long-reads in 75 human trios to study telomeres and their inheritance.
- Reposted by Julien Richard Albert⚠️ Paper alert: Using a novel CRISPR screening approach, we mapped the entire regulatory network controlling Xist—key for X-chromosome inactivation. 👉 We discover how sex and development signals are decoded at a single gene locus. www.nature.com/articles/s41... 👇 Bluetorial
- Programmed DNA elimination in ciliates is rich in mechanistic insights and woefully understudied. Here, my colleagues pursue the link between condensin and the endonuclease responsible for eliminating 33% of Paramecium's genome www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
- extra fun: I got to watch the amazing @thomasbalan.bsky.social (@sandraduharcourt.bsky.social lab) present this work as part of his successful PhD defense only 2 weeks ago!
- I didn't think I could admire Azim Surani more than I already did journals.biologists.com/dev/article/...
- Reposted by Julien Richard AlbertSee this? This = implanting mouse embryo. Usually this happens inside its mother and is invisible to us, but we can actually watch implantation ex vivo with the hope of understanding why implantation goes awry in embryos of older women. A 🧵...
- Reposted by Julien Richard Albert❓Can a father’s environmental exposures before conception influence their offspring? We systematically tackled this - identifying effects of paternal age, environment and genetics on early embryos - as well as confounding influences www.embopress.org/doi/full/10....
- Reposted by Julien Richard AlbertBecome my colleague @oxfordbiochemistry.bsky.social ! 2 Associate Professorships in the areas of - prokaryotic/eukaryotic microbiology - metabolism my.corehr.com/pls/uoxrecru...
- Reposted by Julien Richard AlbertPIWI clade Argonautes are essential for transposon silencing. Without them, animals are sterile due to massive transposon activity. But how does piRNA-guided target interaction translate into silencing? PhD student Júlia Portell Montserrat has an intriguing answer www.cell.com/molecular-ce...
- Reposted by Julien Richard AlbertVery excited to share an excellent review from @teresa-urli.bsky.social, published one week before her PhD defense! We did a deep dive into the fascinating biology of the variant Polycomb complex, PRC1.6 (1/5) journals.plos.org/plosgenetics...
- Reposted by Julien Richard Albert1/ Do you have a favorite protein you wish you could dissect residue by residue? 🔬 Excited to share our platform for mutational scanning at endogenous loci in yeast (no ectopic expression needed!) doi.org/10.1101/2025...
- Reposted by Julien Richard AlbertPlease re-post: Interested in chromatin and its evolution? Good news! There's still time to join us in beautiful Catalonia (9-12 Dec) to discuss eukaryotic, bacterial, archaeal, and viral chromatin and how it all hangs together meetings.embo.org/event/24-evo... Abstract deadline: 30 September
- Wonderfully in depth study on how DNA methylation is directed in mouse oocytes and the developmental consequences of misguiding methylation activity www.cell.com/developmenta...
- Reposted by Julien Richard AlbertI keep imagining an Always Sunny episode titled "The Gang Sets Monetary Policy"
- Reposted by Julien Richard AlbertAre you @ the late stages of your postdoc ? Want to pursue a PI career ? Then this 👇👇 is for you ! Apply for a spot @ our Talent Forum www.helmholtz-munich.de/en/stem-cell... Peer-networking / Career orientation and more !!! Please distribute :) 🙂
- 🎤 Postdocs: want to take the next step and become a #PI? Apply to speak at the TALENT FORUM @www.helmholtz-munich.de, showcase your research in Epigenetics & Nucleic Acids, and connect with top scientists. 🧳 Travel & accommodation covered if selected! 📝 Apply by 31July. 🔗 Info: lnkd.in/drkRvz7N
- Reposted by Julien Richard AlbertThe "unofficial" advertisement for our lab's FIRST PhD defense is circulating! Love it!!! (made by Angélique David in the lab, who isn't on Bluesky) 🍝🍕🍷
- Reposted by Julien Richard AlbertI believe that over the past ~ two decades, since the breakthrough papers on UHRF1, this is the first reported DNA methylation phenotype of its close paralog, UHRF2 (and not for lack of trying). Congrats to Ambre Bender and Michael Weber on this fantastic study! www.nature.com/articles/s41...
- Reposted by Julien Richard AlbertReally beautiful work led by Jessica Leismann in Joan Barau’s lab @imbmainz.bsky.social . If you like elegant mouse genetics, the transposon arms race, and a healthy dose of epigenetics, this one’s for you. www.embopress.org/doi/full/10.... @emboreports.org
- Every time I see this wet ashtray of a man I know I'm about to read something idiotic. Imagine being world leaders in new life saving tech and then letting one dude recklessly squander it all. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/05/h...
- Reposted by Julien Richard AlbertIs the annotation of viruses in the human genome accurate? We think not. Take a look at our new paper and let us know if you agree! www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
- Reposted by Julien Richard AlbertFinally out! 🥳 Our paper showing how a transposable element (TE) insertion can cause developmental phenotypes is now published @natgenet.nature.com 🧬🦠🐁 Below is a brief description of the major findings. Check the full version of the paper for more details: www.nature.com/articles/s41588-025-02248-5
- Reposted by Julien Richard AlbertWe take for granted that our hands have two sides and can articulate in an endless number of ways. But what about a fish’s fin? Can a fish know something “like the back of its fin,” or have its future told with a fin palm reading? Check out this bluetorial to find out 👇🧪🧬🐟 doi.org/10.1101/2025...
- Reposted by Julien Richard AlbertHappy that our preprint from early this year, uncovering the regulation a somatically "hot" endogenous retroelement locus, has now found its home in @narjournal.bsky.social. "TEsky" doi.org/10.1093/nar/...
- Reposted by Julien Richard Albert1/7 I am very excited to announce our🌹NEW PAPER OUT IN 𝑁𝐴𝑇𝑈𝑅𝐸!🌹 𝐃𝐑𝐈𝐕𝐄 𝐓𝐎 𝐒𝐔𝐑𝐕𝐈𝐕𝐄: Bimodal centromeres in pentaploid dogroses shed light on their unique meiosis With the Ritz and Kovařík labs we show a potential role for centromeres on 𝘙𝘰𝘴𝘢 𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘢 bizarre reproduction! www.nature.com/articles/s41...
- Reposted by Julien Richard AlbertNew from our lab & @harrisonflylab.bsky.social: Drosophila models of H3 K27M & EZHIP reveal conserved chromatin regulators that buffer PRC2 inhibition. An in vivo screen highlights how developmental defects can be rescued despite global H3K27me3 loss. doi.org/10.1101/2025...
- Reposted by Julien Richard AlbertDelighted to share our latest work deciphering the landscape of chromatin accessibility and modeling the DNA sequence syntax rules underlying gene regulation during human fetal development! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... Read on for more: 🧵 1/16 #GeneReg 🧬🖥️
- Reposted by Julien Richard AlbertIn this study, Hermant et al. describe the evolution of the retrotransposon MERVL and its cis-regulatory transcription factor binding motifs, highlighting the phyloregulatory adaptation at play during early embryogenesis. Learn more here: ➡️ tinyurl.com/gd352270
- Reposted by Julien Richard AlbertAustralia is populated with marsupial equivalents of placental mammals, but this might be the cutest: the honey possum or noolbenger (Tarsipes rostratus), found only in southwest Australia. They're pollen and nectar-eating, with prehensile tails (📷: Simon Colenutt, iNaturalist)
- Reposted by Julien Richard AlbertNew preprint from the @arnausebe.bsky.social lab! 💐 Here @crisnava.bsky.social, @seanamontgomery.bsky.social & collaborators develop a novel ChIPseq protocol, and demonstrate its huge potential to study the evolution of chromatin function and regulation across the eukaryotic tree of life.
- Diversity and evolution of chromatin regulatory states across eukaryotes biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/202…
- Reposted by Julien Richard Albert🚨New preprint from @bonevlab.bsky.social 🚨: What are the key epigenetic mechanisms that drive species-specific gene regulation during primate neurogenesis - and how do they contribute to the evolution of the human neocortex? Here’s what we discovered 👇 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
- Reposted by Julien Richard AlbertWe are featuring Amanda Haage as an extraordinary biologist this week. Amanda was the first to post on @prelights.bsky.social and is a Kaess Endowed Professor of Anatomy & Cell Biology at the University of North Dakota, USA. #100biologists
- Important work unraveling how restoring DNA methylation loss affects cellular differentiation, transposon restriction and genomic imprinting (!!!) in mouse. Congrats to all the authors!
- Happy to share the lab's latest publication from @eli-elder.bsky.social and team in @narjournal.bsky.social ! What happens when #DNAmethylation maintenance is transiently interrupted in mouse embryonic stem cells? Let's dive in (1/11). doi.org/10.1093/nar/...
- Feeling extremely grateful for this transition of bioRxiv into an independent nonprofit. The tonic to predatory, smash & grab journals. www.cshl.edu/the-natural-...
- Reposted by Julien Richard AlbertBig news: we are setting up a new non-profit organization to run bioRxiv and medRxiv. It's called openRxiv [no it's not a new preprint server; it's dedicated organization to oversee the servers] openrxiv.org 1/n
- Reposted by Julien Richard AlbertHelp 🚨 science Bluesky. We'd like an #GFP/#FluorescentProtein construct with an intron in the middle of the coding sequence for an experiment (not before the coding sequence). Does anyone know of anything that fits? We haven't turned up anything suitable from a quick search so far. Please repost 🙏
- Reposted by Julien Richard AlbertThe realignment of research in our group @fmiscience.bsky.social is beginning to bear fruit. Proud of our captain @merleskribbe.bsky.social and the whole team! www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
- Reposted by Julien Richard AlbertPaper out !!🥳big thanks to all authors @marliesoomen.bsky.social @diego-rt.bsky.social @kaessmannlab.bsky.social @jonathangoeke.bsky.social @lorenzamottes.bsky.social & 'bluesky-less' Lots of interesting new TE (& genes) biology Data fully browsable💻 👉 embryo.helmholtz-munich.de/shiny_embryo/
- A vaccine skeptic was just elected Health Secretary of the USA. Reminds me of when the Largest Man in Quebec was elected Health Minister and fucked our entire health care system. But much worse.
- Reposted by Julien Richard Albert💥The @elife.bsky.social special issue on #ReproductiveHealth just dropped💥 It includes our story (soon to be updated) about the erosion of sperm/testis genes in gorillas coincident with the #Evolution of a polygamous mating system #RepoductiveBiology 🧪 💻🧬 elifesciences.org/collections/...
- Reposted by Julien Richard AlbertNEW PAPER ALERT! In this paper that was posted today on @biorxivpreprint.bsky.social, Felix Simon from our lab at @ijmonod.bsky.social (with important contributions by Isabel Holguera and a small contribution from yours truly) completed the trifecta. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
- Reposted by Julien Richard Albert
- For my first post here, I am happy to share that our latest paper is out at #NAR. Thanks for the smooth and constructive reviewing process and the highlight #RNAbiology #TEsky #smallRNAs (1/8) doi.org/10.1093/nar/...
- At 17 I thought this was the coolest thing ever. 17 years later: it still is!! CRISPR and RNA vaccines are neat and all but... www.youtube.com/watch?v=B38C...
- Reposted by Julien Richard AlbertDiscover the wonders of 𝘗𝘦𝘳𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘶𝘴 🤩 This parasitic protist undergoes rapid #CellDivision : from a single sporangium to hundreds of motile zoospores. A stunning glimpse into the speed and precision of microbial life! 🌊🔬 Stay tuned for more 𝘗𝘦𝘳𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘶𝘴 insights! #CellBiology #ProtistsOnSky
