Chathuri Pathirage

Our review “tRNA modifications in viral replication” is out now. Here we aim to bring the spotlight to tRNA modifications as regulatory and functionally critical elements during viral infection. There’s much to explore in this field: doi.org/10.1016/j.jbc.…

tRNA modifications in viral replication - Journal of Biological Chemistry jbc.org/article/S0021-…

@DrBukkabwoi Wishing you the absolute best!!

Could have left Sri Lanka years ago. Most of my batchmates did. Better pay, better lifestyle, easier life. But something about this place keeps you here.. Its not logical. I know that. The queues in 2022 and now in 2026 again, the power cuts, the rupee crashing while your friends are posting UK snow pics. You question it every few months. This country will test you. Every single day. But if you survive it here, you can survive anything. And when things eventually turn around, and they will, the ones who stayed will be the ones who built it. Most people leave to find a better life. Some of us stay to build one.

We are opening applications for our 2026 cohort of FutureHouse AI-for-Science Independent Postdoctoral Fellows! Apply our AI tools to specific problems in biology and biochemistry, in collaboration with world-leading academic labs: --$125,000 annual stipend. --Access to all tools developed by FutureHouse and Edison Scientific at scale, including Kosmos and several as-of-yet unreleased agents, with under-the-hood access to them to specialize them for your workflows. --Receive dedicated software engineering support. --1 year with possible 1 year extension. Even more exceptional co-advisors than last year. Deadline for applications is February 13th, 2026. Link in next post.

Ethan Neumann, a 27-year-old PhD candidate in my lab, devoted himself to studying #fibrolamellar carcinoma, the cancer that claimed his life last week. Please support his father’s effort to establish an endowed research fellowship in Ethan’s name ⬇️ gofundme.com/f/ethan-neuman…

The footage from Gampola lays bare the scale of destruction — homes, roads and livelihoods torn apart in minutes. Communities are still struggling to recover as teams work nonstop on the ground.

Sri Lanka’s death toll from Cyclone Ditwah has risen to 481, with 345 people still reported missing, according to updated figures released by authorities today. Officials said search operations are ongoing across several districts hit by severe flooding and landslides, but hope of finding many of the missing alive is rapidly fading as days pass and water levels recede, revealing extensive destruction. D: newswire.lk/lz1o

@silvirouskin Your work is super cool and your journey is inspiring. Good luck Prof. Rouskin! I hope you find great success ❤️🙏🏽

As the year’s coming to an end , I had 95% chance of getting at least one big grant . I thought it was going to be my year and it has been the most difficult by far. Harvard is downsizing by ~ half and the future is very unclear. But I know one thing for sure - if I’m successful after this year, it’s 100% due to hard work and luck had nothing to do with it. It’s much more fun to go against all odds and win.

The eukaryotic tRNA chaperone La impacts tRNA modification levels (queuosine and others). Interesting because in procaryotes, tRNA modif enzymes themselves are thought to be chaperones. In both cases, there seems to be a link between modif and chaperones. academic.oup.com/nar/article/53…

Online now - Mitochondrial tRNA processing: a neutral evolutionary ratchet innovation dlvr.it/TLdrxN

Excited to share with you the good news! I have left Brown University and joined the Institute of Quantitative Biomedicine at Rutgers University. The lab is looking for new members at all levels, students, techs, postdocs! Plse retweet. deaconesculab.com

Check out our paper showcasing the first structure of a fully modified human tRNA bound to amino acyl-tRNA synthetase. academic.oup.com/nar/article/53…

Online now: Structural basis for aminoacylation of cellular modified tRNALys3 by human lysyl-tRNA synthetase academic.oup.com/nar/article/53…

Online Now: Free introns of tRNAs as complementarity-dependent regulators of gene expression dlvr.it/THwHd1

SRILANKA ~ AMONG THE BEST IN THE WORLD 🇱🇰 COLOMBO- BADULLA TRAIN JOURNEY RANKED IN THE TOP 7 TRAIN RIDES OF 2025 - Lonely Planet There are train rides, and then there are Sri Lankan train rides. The teardrop island in the Indian Ocean may be small, but it packs in some of the world's most thrilling rail journeys. You could find yourself rattling past suburbs with a fellow commuter dozing on your shoulder, or perhaps weaving in and out of emerald-green tea gardens and thickets of tropical rainforest while tucking into a packed-to-go meal of curry and rice - and sometimes both in the same trip. The steam trains that once transported tea and spices along these weaving rail lines have mostly vanished, but the colorful diesel locos that replaced them offer the same evocative effect as they transect the Sri Lankan landscape. If you're a lover of travel by locomotive, consider booking passage on one of the four epic train journeys around Sri Lanka. #VisitSriLanka 🚂 🎥Credit : Mihiran Karangoda

I’m reclaiming two words on behalf of this extraordinary lady to show their true, original meaning…. ‘Stunning’ & ‘brave’. Gisèle Pelicot. May you & your children now find the peace & happiness you so richly deserve. Merci. ❤️

The #DasGuptaLab is hiring a postdoc to develop RNA-based tools for sequencing modified RNAs. Ideal candidates should have nucleic acid chemistry/biochemistry experience. Expertise in the ‘in vitro selection/evolution’ of nucleic acids is preferred. #chempostdoc @rnaclubtirupati

Our focus issue on RNA biology features reviews that explore the many faces of #RNA, diving into the processes mediating the lifecycle of RNA, the regulatory roles of RNA, the importance of RNA in disease, and the technologies used to study RNA. cell.com/molecular-cell…