About 8% of the human genome originates from ancient viruses. This research uses bioinformatics and evolutionary comparisons to understand why viral DNA persists and how cells silence it through DNA methylation. Identifying how genomes separate useful from non-functional DNA helps clarify which genetic elements matter for human health and disease.

Fungal infections are becoming harder to treat as fungi rapidly evolve resistance to limited antifungal drugs. This research reveals that large, multi-gene mutations—once overlooked—are common in resistant fungi. Understanding these dramatic genetic changes is critical for developing more effective antifungal therapies.

The talk describes using AI language models to decipher the hidden “languages” within millions of natural protein sequences. By learning protein vocabulary, syntax, and grammar, researchers can design new molecules that fight cancer, degrade plastics, capture carbon, and expand biology beyond nature’s rules—advancing medicine, sustainability, and molecular engineering.

Mashpit is a portable genome-search tool that runs on a Raspberry Pi, enabling rapid, offline screening of Salmonella genomes. Using MinHash sketches, it scans hundreds of thousands of genomes in seconds, offering small or low-resource labs a fast, accessible way to identify related isolates before performing high-resolution follow-up analyses.