Peter Sarkies @PSarkies@qoto.org
Epigenetics and Evolution at Oxford Biochemistry. Wide range of science interests. Also passionate about heavy metal, literature and climate justice.
Joined Nov 2022
Peter Sarkies
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Nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of RNA sequencing, but what if you can't analyze the data? We (mostly Guy) created a software to make your life easy! Read our NEW preprint & REBLOG. Please try it (follow the detailed tutorial) and give us feedback! 🤟🙏
"RNAlysis: analyze your RNA sequencing data without writing a single line of code"
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.11.25.517851v1
Here's Guy's thread with all the details:
https://twitter.com/GuyTeichman/status/1596193414885810180?s=20&t=25MH4VPG-6PcqObk04bjVA
This is undoubtedly exciting new tech but there is no easy "technological fix" for the #climatecrisis . I think that we have to realise that developed countries need to scale back our consumption drastically, even if that means less growth and reduced standard of living (hopefully only for the richer members of society).
QT: https://universeodon.com/@kmdk/109410145061560846
Intriguing news from George Monbiot in the Guardian on precision fermentation, which I had never heard of before. https://www.theguardian.com/comme...
On the basis of the theory that the worse something tastes the better it is for your health, those ginger shot things they are handing out manically in #oxford over the last few days must be some kind of miracle cure for all ailments.
Peter Sarkies
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Thread: our latest #preprint looks at long-term #proteome #evolution phenomena and asks #macroevolutionary #LevelsOfSelection questions https://biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.10.27.514087v1 1/11 (Repeat for new server).
Research on toxoplasma in wolf populations: "The effect of TOXO[toxoplasma positive test] was positive ...With an odds ratio of 46.06 (exp[3.83]), the odds that a seropositive wolf becomes a pack leader is more than 46 times higher than a seronegative wolf becoming a pack leader."
Extraordinary result. I think one would need to do an experimental infection to be sure that this is not due to some complex confounder. But super-interesting idea.
Paper here:
Tooted a while back about #WGSebald Vertigo. Now reading his second, The Rings of Saturn. Suddenly I get what he is about. An astonishing work using a long walk around the Suffolk coast as a springboard for wide-ranging discussions on history, literature and the environment. In that regard it is also prescient, lamenting on the #climatecrisis and how it was affecting the Suffolk countryside even when the book was written in the early 90s. Strongly recommended.
Shortlisted for "word of the year 2022" in UK is apparently "goblin mode". I misread it initially as globin mode which would have been much more exciting.
Eugenics- a cautionary tale of how science can be misused- and in some ways is still influencing thought today. Gripping and urgent account from Adam Rutherford on this BBC radio4 program:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001fd36
Looks like citizens in the developed world will have to do more than their governments if #globalheating is to be kept to 1.5C. I think it's possible- but it's going to be very difficult.
Peter Sarkies
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RT @PSarkies@twitter.com
Come and join us @BiochemOxford@twitter.com ! https://twitter.com/RobKlose/status/1593344358954188800
#TransposableElements in #evolution . New paper from Hanne De Kort and others. Increased heterozygosity in #Arabidopsis lyrata is found near to TEs, and is hypothesised to play an important role in maintaining diversity despite inbreeding. Curiously the SNPs downstream of transposon start sites are enriched in genes with roles in stress resistance but not upstream. Interesting idea that this represents a selective advantage to maintaining TEs but, as authors acknowledge, might not be a direct relationship (i.e. TE spreading may result in increased mutation rate, which selection could then act on, even if TEs themselves are neutral or deleterious). Interesting to see if this is found in other species.
Link:
Peter Sarkies
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Our latest editorial round-up of CUSP news and events has just gone live. → https://www.getrevue.co/profile/cusp_uk/issues/a-lasting-legacy-cusp-newsletter-nov-2022-1427527
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HT @ProfTimJackson cc #PostGrowth #degrowth #WellbeingEconomy #EcologicalEconmics #NewEconomis #RethinkingEconomics #postwachstum #decroissance #decrecimiento #postcroissance #ProsperityWithoutGrowth #LifeAfterCapitalism #GoodLife #SelfTranscendence
Reading #WillSelf new work #WhyRead. Scholarly essays, including superb essay on #Kafka putting him in context of the times in which he wrote. Self's immense vocabulary is a little challenging for someone like me who mostly reads and writes science... but despite this, still very engaging and readable
Peter Sarkies
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Hot off the press:
Politicians’ growth fetish is the problem—and Sunak is headed for the same budget trap as Truss | New @TheGuardian Op-ed by @ProfTimJackson.
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#AutumnBudget #RishiSunak #JeremyHunt #UKtreasury #PostGrowth #Degrowth #SecularStagnation #Recession #WellbeingEconomy #GrowthDependency #BeyondGDP #EconTwitter
Peter Sarkies
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Mainstream #politics has long proved resistant to the arguments of those who question the pursuit of unending #EconomicGrowth. How do you break through this powerful denialism? Here are some reflections on the potential of #GrowthDependency as a framing that can be (and has been) used to drive political interest in #PostGrowth and #Degrowth ideas by connecting them to immediate political priorities. → https://cusp.ac.uk/themes/aetw/blog-rd-postgrowth-mindset
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#WellbeingEconomy #PostWachstum #PostCroissance #Postcrecimiento
Peter Sarkies
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RT @MoltagDK@twitter.com
Margot Ernst group at @MedUni@twitter.com newest review discusses the function of #cannabinoids on cys-loop #receptors, including their clinical use for the treatment of #epilepsy, #ChronicPain and other #neuropsychiatric conditions. Congratulations to the group! https://tinyurl.com/j5b7j9tw
Peter Sarkies
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Birdsite
I see a lot of pundit speculation and debate that goes something like, “well, only the hackers and cybersecurity people are moving to Mastodon - and everyone else is just going to stay on #Twitter “, but the thing the folks saying this do not understand is that we are a canary.
We watched Twitter get rid of qualified #cybersecurity people who we personally knew. We understand the implications of privacy teams and lawyers being fired has on our data. We hollered about the way the new blue check system would be abused days before billions were lost by a couple companies. We understood the implications of rapid and haphazard terminations. The bottom line is:
1) We know our login data, DMs, and private posts really aren’t secure at all anymore due to lost competent staff and disgruntled employees,
and
2) Twitter probably won’t just shut down this month or next month, but it’s going to start having some serious and unpredictable financial and technical problems due to the people who were let go as well as Elon’s apparent instability and lack of checks.
So, we migrated. Other communities don’t necessarily have this inside baseball, and they understandably just feel like Twitter is too big to fail. We will see if stuff that happens over the coming weeks pushes more folks here, or to other social media sites. Depends a lot on our outreach and what we do with this community.
Peter Sarkies
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Affordable housing for all doesn’t have to cost the #earth. #England’s current #housing strategy will consume the UK's entire #CarbonBudget by 2050. There are alternatives, but they face political and economic barriers.—Recent blog by Sophus zu Ermgassen et al summarising their in-depth research on housing policies in the context of #ClimateChange. → https://cusp.ac.uk/themes/aetw/blog-sze-housing-within-planetary-boundaries/
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#PlanetaryBoundaries #PostGrowth #degrowth #WellbeingEconomy #ProsperityWithoutGrowth #DoughnutEconomics #SocialPolicy
Peter Sarkies
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Hello! By way of introduction, here are some of our recent papers / preprints!
1) A preprint on high-res promoter interaction analysis in a rare cell type (type 3 Innate lymphoid cells) and using these data for linking Crohn's GWAS variants with target genes:
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.10.19.512842v3
2) A protocol article on Capture Hi-C analysis using the tools we (and others) developed:
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41596-021-00567-5
3) A review about enhancers and enhancer-promoter communication:
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00018-021-03903-w
Epigenetics and Evolution at Oxford Biochemistry. Wide range of science interests. Also passionate about heavy metal, literature and climate justice.
Joined Nov 2022
