OxTalks is Changing
OxTalks will soon be transitioning to Oxford Events (full details are available on the Staff Gateway). A two-week publishing freeze is expected in early Hilary to allow all events to be migrated to the new platform. During this period, you will not be able to submit or edit events on OxTalks. The exact freeze dates will be confirmed as soon as possible.
If you have any questions, please contact halo@digital.ox.ac.uk
Breaking the Silence: How Transcriptional Surveillance by HUSH Guards the Genome from Reverse Genetic Flow
This is a hybrid event - with the speaker attending in-person and viewable on Teams.
Retrotransposition — the reverse flow of genetic information from RNA to DNA is the major route by which new genetic material enters our genome, with retroelements comprising over 40% of human DNA. This process drives innovation but threatens genome integrity, demanding precise regulation. Our discovery of the Human Silencing Hub (HUSH) revealed a genome-wide transcriptional immunosurveillance system that detects and epigenetically silences invading DNA. How HUSH distinguishes self from invading DNA was unclear. We found that HUSH discriminates ‘self’ from ‘non-self’ based on introns: The majority of cellular genes are intron-containing, while RNA-derived retroelements are intronless, marking their cDNA as foreign. This intron-based recognition mechanism uncovers an unexpected innate immune surveillance system that protects the genome from the reverse flow of genetic information.
Date:
29 January 2026, 12:00
Venue:
MRC Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine, Headington OX3 9DS
Venue Details:
se
Speaker:
Professor Paul Lehner (Cambridge Institute of Therapeutic Immunology and Infectious Disease, University of Cambridge)
Organising department:
MRC Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine
Organiser:
Yasmine Saito (Weatherall Institute, University of Oxford)
Organiser contact email address:
seminar.admin@imm.ox.ac.uk
Host:
Prof Simon Davis (MRC Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine, University of Oxford)
Part of:
WIMM THURSDAY SEMINARS
Booking required?:
Not required
Audience:
Members of the University only
Editor:
Yasmine Saito
