Li Zhao
@lizzyzhao
Associate Professor at @RockefellerUniv. also: @ http://lizhao.bsky.social We study gene origination, molecular evolution, and the genetic basis of adaptive traits.
Nicolas Svetec, David Begun, and I wrote a review article about de novo genes. If you are interested in this topic please take a look at this final open-access version @AnnualReviews annualreviews.org/content/journa….

Rockefeller's @lizzyzhao has spent nearly a decade cataloguing evolutionarily young genes. Now, complementary studies in @PNASNews and @NatureEcoEvo are the first to demonstrate how these new genes are regulated and expressed. rockefeller.edu/news/38025-how…
I’m thrilled to announce the launch of the Evolution of Chromosomes and Genomes (ECG) Lab at the Institute of Molecular Biology, Academia Sinica, Taiwan.Our lab website is now live—come check it out! sites.google.com/view/ecg-lab/h…
If you are an SMBE member and received the election email (may have gone to junk folder), I'd be honored if you'd consider voting for me for @officialsmbe councilor. You may also choose to vote for other scientists, and please participate in the election. Thank you!

Honored to be elected as a Fellow of @ISCB! Grateful to the community, colleagues, and students who have shaped my journey. Look forward to contributing to the next wave of advances in comp bio!
🌟 Congrats to the 2025 ISCB Fellows! 🌟 Honoring leaders in #computationalbiology for outstanding research, innovation and service. See this year's Fellows and their contributions here: t.ly/VYfLk
Dear All, I believe that this thread will become one of my most important contributions to the fly field (I hope I will make other contributions)! Here, I introduce the Soy Milk Machine Fly Food Method, a.k.a., DeepCook!#Drosophila#NewPI
Abstract submission for SMBE2025 in Beijing is open. If you study gene duplication or new genes, please consider submitting an abstract for a talk for Symposium 7, The Origin, Evolution, and Phenotypic Contributions of New Genes. smbe2025.scimeeting.cn/en/web/index/2…. Deadline is Jan 30, 2025.
Dear Drosophila PIs, please consider nominating your excellent recent graduate students for the Larry Sandler Award. The required materials are straightforward: their CV, thesis abstract, and your letter. Deadline is Dec 13. genetics-gsa.smapply.io/prog/larry_san…
Poster-only abstract submission for #Dros25 is OPEN! bit.ly/3XPyNmu Missed last week's abstract submission deadline? You can still present your science! Submit by January 9. Have you ever considered the benefits of presenting your #research in poster format? 1/3🧵 ⬇️
We are excited to publish an modENCODE level epigenome data analyses for Dobzhansky's favourite Drosophila species D. pseudoobscura on @NatureComms and the paper link is here rdcu.be/dYQId My very talented and hard-working former Ph.D student Mujahid Ali almost single
Our new @CurrentBiology paper provides a rare glimpse into a morphological novelty in Drosophila eugracilis In it, @gavinrrice and colleagues, infer and reproduce the likely initial steps of a novelty's formation sciencedirect.com/science/articl…
Drosophila PIs, please nominate your recent graduate for this excellent award!
Each year, the Drosophila community & @GeneticsGSA bestows the Larry Sandler Award on outstanding graduates who completed a PhD in an area of Drosophila research-(this year 7/23 -12/24) Applications are now open. Nominations are dueDec 13, 2024 RT 1/n genetics-gsa.smapply.io/prog/larry_san…
Happy to share my postdoc work! We characterise the pupal lipid desiccation barrier and its synthesis. biorxiv.org/content/10.110…
Widely observed negative correlation between recombination rate and TE abundance is usually interpreted as recombination rate being the "cause," influencing the efficacy of selection purging TEs. Yet, our recent study "flipped" this causality! biorxiv.org/content/10.110…… (1/5)
Excited to share the revised version with a new title "CDCA7 is an evolutionarily conserved hemimethylated DNA sensor in eukaryotes" now published @ScienceAdvances! Congrats @IsabelWassing, @QingyuanJia, @NishiyamaAtsuya, @KyoheiArita! science.org/doi/10.1126/sc…
New preprint from the lab led my talented postdoc @IsabelWassing! She discovered that CDCA7's unique zf-4CXXC_R1 domain acts as a novel hemi-methylated DNA binding module to recruit the nucleosome remodeler HELLS and help DNA methylation! Check out her tutorial!