Molecular Biology seminars

Yun Xia presents macrophage–kidney assembloids that address missing immune and vascular components in stem-cell organoids. Directed differentiation, self-organization, genetic perturbation, xenotransplantation and single-cell analysis reveal immune–epithelial interactions. Macrophages from the same parental cells acquire resident phenotypes; diabetic and polycystic kidney models show context-dependent effects on inflammation, epithelial injury and disease progression. Minoru Takasato addresses kidney organoids’ missing urinary outflow by generating bladder tissue from human pluripotent cells. Stepwise differentiation passes through endoderm, hindgut and cloaca; FGF4 posteriorization and growth-factor screening promote urothelial identity. The resulting sacs contain stratified urothelial cell types, stretch and form a barrier, supporting developmental, disease and future therapeutic studies. Online via Zoom. Tuesday 13 October, 11:00–12:30 SGT (Asia/Singapore). Both talks share this session; individual start times are unspecified. Register through the organizer page. Professional, trainee or student status in stem cells, regenerative medicine or an adjacent field is required; organizer approval and recording restrictions apply.

Tim Ebbels presents interpretable machine-learning models for metabolomics and multi-omics using pathway and chemical-class scores. Sparse coverage of the metabolome and uncertain annotations make conventional results difficult to interpret; pathway-based features aim to connect model output directly to biological function. The webinar examines applications from multi-assay mass spectrometry and multi-omics integration to single-cell and mass-spectrometry imaging, discusses methodological challenges and attempts to resolve them, and demonstrates how these approaches can clarify complex biological signals. Online via Zoom. Free for interested life scientists and bioinformaticians, with advance registration required through the Australian BioCommons event page. Tuesday 13 October, 16:00–17:00 AEDT (Australia/Melbourne), equivalent to 05:00–06:00 UTC. The event is subject to the BioCommons Code of Conduct and may be recorded.

Ilaria Ferlenghi discusses a career spanning structural biology, cryo-electron microscopy, vaccine research and development, and the growing role of artificial intelligence and machine learning in scientific innovation and entrepreneurship.

This webinar explains how researchers can retrieve and analyse protein information using UniProt. It demonstrates advanced queries, BLAST searches, peptide searches, and multiple-sequence alignments, including how to navigate outputs and use functional annotations to interpret them. It also discusses how identifiers, ontologies, and controlled vocabularies organize biological knowledge, and how identifier mapping connects resources. The session is suitable for scientists at any career stage who want to use UniProt or extend their existing skills; undergraduate-level biology knowledge is helpful.

Richard L. Huganir discusses research on the molecular mechanisms that regulate glutamate receptors, the brain's major excitatory neurotransmitter receptors, and thereby modulate communication between neurons.

Open biological data resources connect complementary evidence about proteins involved in infection. Using influenza haemagglutinin, this seminar demonstrates sequence and functional annotations in UniProt, three-dimensional cryo-EM maps in EMDB, and experimental and predicted structures in PDBe and the AlphaFold Protein Structure Database. Participants will learn to browse, retrieve and interpret these data and follow connections between the resources. The session also considers how accessible biological data supports infection research and pandemic preparedness. It is aimed at students and researchers in protein biology, structural biology and bioinformatics; basic knowledge of sequence and structure formats is useful.