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NATURE-ETN comes to a close

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The NATURE-ETN project, launched in April 2020, has officially ended. Spanning 10 beneficiary host organisations, the project recruited 15 Early-Stage Researchers (ESRs) who tackled significant scientific challenges. These efforts have led to advancements in gene-editing technologies, therapeutic oligonucleotide design, prebiotic chemistry, and epigenetic sequencing tools.

Key achievements of the NATURE-ETN initiative include the development of innovative methods for artificial gene editing using triplex-forming oligonucleotide hybrids and the synthesis of novel therapeutics targeting cancer immunotherapy and viral infections. The project has also made strides in epigenetic research, creating reagents for high-sensitivity base detection and enhancing next-generation sequencing technologies.

The project’s outcomes have been disseminated widely, with peer-reviewed publications in prestigious journals such as Nature, Angewandte Chemie, and Nucleic Acids Research. Researchers have also showcased their work at scientific conferences across Europe and in online forums, fostering collaborations and community engagement.

Training and career development were central to NATURE-ETN’s mission. ESRs participated in comprehensive training weeks that included workshops on scientific writing, publishing, and industry-focused skills.

Through its outputs and collaborative efforts, NATURE-ETN has contributed valuable knowledge and tools to its field.

We wish all the 15 ESRs all the best for their next stages of their career.

Exchanges with ClickGene Alumni for the final event

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On September 25, the NATURE-ETN ESRs got together for the final project event.

During this online session, the NATURE-ETN ESRs had the chance to hear from alumni of the ClickGene project, a European Training Network in click chemistry and gene therapy, coordinated by Prof. Kellett (DCU) in collaboration with other NATURE-ETN PIs, including Prof. Brown (UOXF), Prof. Carell (LMU), Prof. Hocek (IOCB), and the companies baseclick and ATDBio.

The four ClickGene alumni shared diverse career paths spanning academia, start-ups, and major pharmaceutical companies. Dr. Bastien Viverge (Senior Manager, Regulatory CMC – Clinical Lead, Biogen, CH), Dr. Sarah Walsh (Applied Platform Workflows Manager, Oxford Nanopore Technologies, UK), Dr. Nicolò Zuin Fantoni (Senior Scientist – Oligonucleotides, Roche, CH), and Dr. Georgia Menounou (Postdoctoral Researcher, DCU, IE) each discussed their post-PhD journeys.

We thank the ClickGene alumni for their time and valuable advice to our ESRs.

Dr. Marco Cavallaro (accelCH) also introduced the ESRs to EU funding opportunities for postdocs, industry-academia collaborations, and start-ups/SMEs, highlighting resources that could be useful after obtaining their PhD, whether they pursue careers in academia or industry.

NATURE-ETN counts two new Doctors

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We are delighted to announce that our ESRs Eva Sophie Schönegger (baseclick/LMU) and Ahmad Abdullrahman (University of Reading) recently passed their viva. Eva spent her NATURE-ETN journey at the company baseclick and the Carell group at LMU Munich, while Ahmad completed his PhD at the University of Reading under the co-supervision of Dr. James Hall and Prof. Christine Cardin.

We congratulate Dr. Schönegger and Dr. Abdullrahman on this key milestone in their career!

New Publication in Chemical Science

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Our former ESR, now postdoc at the University of Reading, Tayler D. Prieto published a new paper in Chemical Science, titled “Re-pairing DNA: binding of a ruthenium phi complex to a double mismatch”, in collaboration with Diamond Light Source Ltd. and the Kellett group at the Dublin City University.

The paper is available Open Access on the publisher’s website.

New publication on Angew. Chem from Reading-Dublin collaboration

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Tayler David Prieto (ESR2, University of Reading) published, together with colleagues from the Cardin group in Reading and the Kellett group at DCU, a paper on Angewandte Chemie (International Edition) titled “Probing a major DNA weakness: resolving the groove and sequence selectivity of the diimine complex [Λ-Ru(phen)2phi]2+”. This work notably benefitted from the use of the infrastructure at Diamond Light Source Ltd.

The paper demonstrates, for the first time, a crystal structure showing groove selectivity by an intercalating ruthenium complex.

It is available in Open Access on the publisher’s website.

NATURE-ETN Symposium in Paris, France

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On the 9th and 10th of November 2023, the Gasser group at Chimie ParisTech hosted the NATURE-ETN Symposium at their premises in Paris, France.

The Symposium was centred on the path from basic research to commercialisation and/or clinical trials. We had the privilege to hear from eminent speakers such as Marie Dutreix (Institut Curie, co-founder of DNA Therapeutics), Thomas Carell (Founder of baseclick), Tom Brown (co-founder of three biotechs, including our partner ATDBio), Nick Farrell (Virginia Commonwealth University), Patrick Couvreur (University Paris-Saclay and serial entrepreneur), Laurence Mulard (Institut Pasteur), and Mark Bazett (Director of Preclinical Development at Bold Therapeutics Inc.).

Some ESRs also presented their poster during the event reception at the beautiful Chimie ParisTech library.

We thank the Gasser group for the smooth organisation, as well as all the speakers for their precious insights from basic science to applications.

Work from Paris-Reading collaboration published in Inorganic Chemistry

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Our ESRs Maria Dalla Pozza (PSL University), Tayler David Prieto and Ahmad Abdullrahman (University of Reading) published together with their supervisors and co-authors from the Hollenstein lab at Institut Pasteur, a new article in the Inorganic Chemistry journal.

The article is about Ru(II) complexes with phototoxicity in the nM concentration range.