Alex Taylor

🚨New paper in @NAR_Open - ever wonder what happens if you do molecular evolution with artificial building blocks (XNA) instead of the usual DNA, RNA or protein? Us too, and the answer is some strange structures! academic.oup.com/nar/advance-ar…

I'm finally updating group website and I am hoping to take blogging a little bit more seriously. So, question to X: what aspect of directed evolution would you like to hear about? Or what concept you think is often misunderstood in DE?

Finally out, Falk's paper on the evolution of function starting from single RNA sequences …mistry-europe.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/sy… Thanks to Ben Porebski and Chris Johnson for great contributions.

@kath_lab @J_A_C_S @ChemUniCologne @UniCologne Cool work, congratulations!

Now out @J_A_C_S: Xeno Nucleic Acids get a new base pair! 🧬Outstanding work by Hannah Depmeier during her PhD @kath_lab! @ChemUniCologne @UniCologne #XNA #TNA #NucleicAcids #ExpandedGeneticAlphabet 🧬🎉 pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.102…

Hey, #synbio people. Wes Robertson, A good friend of mine and a great scientist is starting his lab @MRC_LMB This is a unique opportunity to have an impact in #synthetic_genomics and work under leadership of talented and ambitious PI. shorturl.at/mnvw9

4-year studentship available in my lab at @kclchemistry working at the interface of fundamental synthetic biology and therapeutic biotechnology development - come & join me in the XNA world! Please RT findaphd.com/phds/project/c…

I'm currently looking to recruit a PhD student interested in synthetic polymers (ucl.ac.uk/chemistry/stud…, 1 week left to deadline!) and a postdoc to study models of primordial biology (bit.ly/48OnSOu)

@DrJamesAttwater @UCLChemistry Yesssss well done Jamie!!

Very happy to announce that I've been appointed a proleptic Lecturer in Organic Chemistry & Chemical Biology @UCLChemistry. Great to be part of such a friendly and supportive department, looking forward to see what attwaterlab.uk can learn about RNA chemistry & evolution

Could our type of life be an invention of older, [biochemically] alien life? Exciting findings by @matt_powner @NatureComms suggest that prebiotic chemistry scenarios could’ve provided the building blocks of an ‘XNA world’ predating RNA & DNA communities.springernature.com/posts/prebioti…

Porebski et al. hit the motherlode of antibody affinity data by repurposing a DNA sequencer - enough data to both identify better antibodies, and then improve them using machine learning.

A new MPhil programme at the University of Cambridge will deliver postgraduate training in the search for life’s origins on Earth and its discovery on planets beyond Earth. cam.ac.uk/stories/explor… via @Cambridge_Uni

It’s official! A permanent academic at last!! See you soon @KCLSU_Reggie 🦁 !! @KingsCollegeLon

Come and join us at our popular Cafe Synthetique on Mon 4 Sept, 6pm. Dr Alex Borodavka 'Viruses:Elegance in their Simplicity or Simply Bad News Wrapped in Protein. @AlexBoRNA sign up here meetup.com/cambridge-synt…

@jenny_molloy @EngBioIRC @ICGEB Congrats Jenny!

From Sep 2023 I'll be leading the new @ICGEB Biomanufacturing Group at the International Centre for Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology. Using #opensource #synbio & #decentralised manufacturing to help the 68 ICGEB member states build more with biology icgeb.org/biomanufacturi… 1/3

PDRA opportunity in our group @UCLChemistry to develop & characterise ribozymes that harness primordial chemistries. 28 months, funded by BBSRC & Royal Society; org chem or mol bio background. Apply by 7th August: tinyurl.com/4bhhf2v2

@chiara_rapi @SjorsScheres Not sure glory is the right word 😂 Crick used to say something like, who makes the discovery doesn’t matter, only that it was made.

@SjorsScheres in academia you get glory compared to industry. We are part of large teams and the glory is shared usually amongst many. In academia you get to learn about things that nobody knows yet, and divulge it, while in industry often we cannot share. I wouldn't say that we lack curiosity

Very well deserved congratulations to my student @MariaDonde2 who has won one of this years’ PhD student awards from the Cambridge Society for the Application of Research (CSAR) for her work on XNAzymes! Well done Maria! csar.org.uk/student-awards…

If you think it’s unacceptable that rapists can freely roam university campuses with no safeguarding measures in place then say #NotOnMyCampus and sign the petition to introduce national guidance on tackling sexual misconduct in higher education 👇🏽 petitions.parliament.scot/petitions/PE20…

@chiara_rapi @LeroyElodie3 @AnaCasanal & she is a brilliant human! 🫶

@LeroyElodie3 @AnaCasanal Ok I will ask them to apply

I am currently mentoring 3 amazing master students who are looking into doing a PhD. I cannot offer them one as I am already quite busy with 2 but if you are looking for motivated PhD students please let me know and I will forward it to them!