In a paper by Balmus et al., the authors report that Paxx/Xlf double-knockout mice display embryonic lethality associated with genomic instability, cell death in the central nervous system, and an almost complete block in lymphogenesis, phenotypes that closely resemble those of Xrcc4−/− and Lig4−/− mice.
Read MoreRepair of single-ended DNA double-strand breaks (seDSBs) by homologous recombination (HR) requires the generation of a 3′ single-strand DNA overhang by exonuclease activities in a process called DNA resection. However.....
Read MoreA new paper, published in Cell Reports, demonstrates that PAXX and XLF (paralogs of the nonhomologous endjoining factor XRCC4) have distinct roles during V(D)J recombination. V(D)J recombination is the process by which T cells and B cells randomly assemble different gene segments – known as variable (V), diversity (D) and joining (J) genes – in order to generate unique receptors (known as antigen receptors) that can collectively recognize many different types of molecule. PAXX and XLF are required to join broken DNA ends generated during antigen receptor gene assembly. This work was the result of a collaboration between our lab and that of Ludovic Deriano at the Pasteur Institute.
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Watch a new video from the Gurdon Institute where Steve describes his research on DNA repair and the ground-breaking work that led to the cancer killing drug olaparib/Lynparza
Read MoreThree papers were published last month describing a small molecule inhibitor that hypersensitizes tumour cells to DNA-damaging agents (http://bit.ly/2aTZpfA); insights into the mechanism of vascular aging (http://bit.ly/2auaFkJ); and how global genome nucleotide excision repair (GG-NER) is organised into distinct domains (http://bit.ly/2aG6fFE).
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Steve has won the University of Cambridge Vice Chancellor's inaugural Impact Award for the School of Biological Sciences, in recognition of his work on the DNA damage response, leading to the development of PARP inhibitors, a new class of anti-cancer drugs.
Read MoreSteve Jackson has been awarded the Dr. A.H. Heineken Prize for Medicine by the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Science for his "fundamental research into DNA repair in human cells and for the successful application of knowledge of that process in the development of new cancer drugs".
Read MoreA novel highly efficient gene edting technique is described by Chiang et al., in Scientific Reports. This method combines an All-In-One Cas9D10A nickase vector with FACS enrichment, high-throughput genotypic and phenotypic clonal screening strategies to generate isogenic knockouts and knock-ins highly efficiently, with minimal off-target effects.
Read MoreSteve has been awarded this prestigious prize for "his outstanding contribution to defining the link between the basic mechanism of genomic DNA instability and its relationship to cancer.
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