Robert Blassberg

I'm at #ISSCR2024 this week with an update on the work we have been doing @RevvityInc applying the Pin-point #BaseEditing platform to engineer #hypoimmune #iPSC Looking forward to discussing today at 5:45PM - Poster 235 in the Clinical Applications track

@MaxYunLab @Dev_Cell @HannahWalters30 @sumeetpalsingh8 @DcGenomeCenter @andreaberbau @GiovaPasqui @danilexn @CRTDpress @mpicbg Congratulations Max!

6 years, a dream team of collabs and a pinch of patience: our work on the role of senescent cells in regeneration it is out @Dev_Cell : cell.com/developmental-…. Tx Andy Yu, @HannahWalters30 @sumeetpalsingh8 @DcGenomeCenter @andreaberbau @GiovaPasqui @danilexn @CRTDpress @mpicbg

@AMartinezArias Perhaps not so strange when you consider that all parties are filling patents for the creation of synthetic human embryos- the fight to establish priority has implications far beyond academic kudos

Something strange is happening in certain realms of biology. Let me tell you a story

@JorgeLazaroF @t_rayon @CellStemCell Nice work Jorge!

So happy to see our Stem Cell Zoo on @CellStemCell . Thanks to all the people who helped with this fun project!

Great talk from @nmoris this morning at #ISSCR2023 . Clearly set out the value of both simple and complex pluripotent stem cell derived embryo models. Intriguing data showing maturation of germ cell precursors in 'gastruloids'.

A major milestone reached today on our mission to democratise the therapeutic application of base editing - Revvity and AstraZeneca enter a non-exclusive licencing agreement to apply the Pin-point platform to the creation of cell therapies. fiercebiotech.com/medtech/astraz…

Today Horizon Discovery was rebranded as part of PerkinElmer Life Sciences and Diagnostics as Revvity. Exciting times ahead. ms.spr.ly/6046gVHy2

@GunesTaylor Yes, I took that from your original post and I agree. My comment was more in response to the linked article - I'm skeptical that therapeutic models developed for caregivers will transfer well to animal technicians due to the different ethics of harm applied in each profession.

@robertblassberg You’re absolutely right, that is a closer parallel. Such a tricky subject. Though I also maintain the overarching principle is that as a society we outsource emotional burdens to certain professions and then often forget that we have done so.

Some people in the world insulate the rest of us from facing the burdens of hefty emotional situations - doctors, caregivers, animal technicians to name but a few. These people deserve our gratitude and respect. Never forget them and the service they do us all.

@AntoineZalc Sorry to hear about the babysitter- maybe more difficult to find than your next hire!

@AntoineZalc I'd take it as a positive that your lab alumni can secure good jobs in industry (not universally the case). Should make your lab more attractive to candidates nervous about getting 'stuck' in academia.

This week my research assistant (ingénieure d’étude) got offered a permanent position (CDI) in the industry and decided to leave the lab 😔 Then my babysitter told us he’s leaving us 😓 So here we go again…

@AMartinezArias @christlet On that note I should say that @SciencyCheese thread really resonated with me- if you're fortunate to find the right job in industry there is genuinely interesting research to engage with, even if some would not consider it Science.

@robertblassberg @christlet ...i just think that we all, and particularly young PIs, need to understand that nowadays, ideas, good questions and enthusiasm are only part of what will allow you to do Science.

@AMartinezArias @christlet Thanks @AMartinezArias. Genuinely interested if you think there is/was a funding model (other than core funding) that's substantively different to the early rounds of start-up investment

@robertblassberg @christlet Not sure that there's room here but (and I don' pine for those days), the underlying reason is the same as to why publishing a ms takes, so long, reviews of mss are so long, grants are so difficult to get and their outcome difficult to predict....

@AMartinezArias @christlet I'd be interested in your perspective of how grant funding of academic labs was less like raising start-up money in days gone by @AMartinezArias

@christlet There is some truth in that statement. In some ways (and sadly) nowadays a grant feels like start-up money with which (in many labs) people are employed to produce papers that can bring in money to keep the start-up going. Miraculously, somewhere in there, Science is done.

@Rob_Percival_ Unless you can get @GBNEWS to argue that chickens are actually made out of concrete or some other such nonsense it's probably not worth engaging with them mate

Im getting called a woke vegan eco-nut by GB News viewers, apparently for pointing out that intensive chicken farming is killing the River Wye. 🤷‍♂️

@olivier_debora @briscoejames Thanks Debora!

New from the lab: @robertblassberg & co on how the levels of SOX2 influence where WNT signaling effectors bind to chromatin This determines the WNT response & explains how one signal elicits different responses in different cell types #OA nature.com/articles/s4155…

Thanks also to the reviewers and editorial team @NatureCellBio who helped us to improve our @Biorxivpreprint biorxiv.org/content/10.110…

This was a really enjoyable collaboration with @aka_hpatel @mina_gouti @metzisv @joadelas @briscoejames. I learned a lot from you all during the time we spent working together @TheCrick.

Our updated study of how SOX2 levels direct the WNT response of embryonic progenitors is now out! nature.com/articles/s4155… It was quite a puzzle to unpick – hopefully this thread helps to show why we found it so intriguing.