At a luncheon at the New Orleans Mariott Hotel, Prof McInerney was inducted into the American Academy of Microbiology as a Fellow. In total, 79 fellows were elected this year. According to the academy: The American Academy of Microbiology (Academy) is the honorific leadership group within the American Society for Microbiology (ASM), the world’s […]
Read MoreIn late 2014, Prof. McInerney was interviewed for the RTE radio series “Bright Sparks” which sought to highlight the work of a wide variety of Irish scientists. This particular excerpt is from a program that was broadcast on Sunday May 24th, 2015.
Read MoreThere is a post-doc position available in my research group in Ireland. The position is to continue our work on the origins and early evolution of eukaryotes. In this case, we are going to dig into the metabolism of early eukaryotes. We will spend time trying to reconstruct ancestral metabolisms, analysing the origins of eukaryote-specific […]
Read MoreThis scheme is for outstanding scientists in the UK who are in the early stages of their research career and have the potential to become leaders in their field. The scheme provides the opportunity to build an independent research career. Those appointed are expected to be strong candidates for permanent posts in universities at the […]
Read MoreI am actively seeking applicants for the current call for Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF). The details of this Programme of research are below. If you have an excellent track-record of consistent publication in peer-reviewed journals, then please get in contact through the contact form of this website. These grants pay incredibly well, will provide you […]
Read MoreCurrent State of Registrations: [wppb progress=100 option=”red candystripe” location=inside] We’re full. What?: Week-long, intensive phylogenetics course covering all aspects of bioinformatics and phylogenetics/phylogenomics. Where?: Department of Biology, National University of Ireland Maynooth. This is approximately 40 minutes from Dublin Airport (Aer Lingus, British Airways, Ryanair, American Airlines, Lufthansa, Air France, etc.) , 25km from the centre […]
Read MoreThe American Academy of Microbiology have elected Prof. McInerney to its membership. According to the American Society for Microbiology, which is the awarding body: Each elected Fellow has built an exemplary career in basic and applied research, teaching, clinical and public health, industry or government service. Election to Fellowship indicates recognition of distinction in microbiology […]
Read MoreProfessor McInerney has been named as one of six researchers shortlisted this year for the Irish Laboratory Awards. The winner will be announced on Wednesday the 3rd of December at an event held in the DoubleTree by Hilton Dublin. The other shortlisted scientists are: Alexander Von Kriegsheim, Systems Biology Ireland, University College Dublin Lester Ho, […]
Read MoreA recent comment from the lab was published in Nature in the News and Views Section on the evolution of developmental genes in animals. With the sequencing of sponge genomes, if is becoming obvious that the standard view of the evolutionary history of developmental genes is somewhat over-simplified. Sponges have ParaHox, NK and possibly HOX genes, […]
Read MoreAlthough I am the current secretary of the society, I am very much writing this as a personal perspective. I think I saw a lot as one of the co-organisers of SMBE 2012 in Dublin and maybe this will help somebody make up their mind about what is involved. First of all, this whole process […]
Read MoreProf. McInerney – in keeping with the public engagement ethos of the research unit – spoke last night at the Odessa club and restaurant on Dame Court in Dublin as part of a city-wide series of events called the Pint of Science talks. He spoke about horizontal gene transfer and how it seems to have […]
Read MoreProfessor McInerney is to give the plenary lecture at the Sociedad Española de Biología Evolutiva meeting in Barcelona on July 1st. This meeting is the premier evolution meeting in Spain and this year it is being organised by the Societat Catalana de Biologia. You can see more information about this meeting here: http://blogs.iec.cat/scb/wp-content/uploads/sites/21/2014/05/XIV-JORNADA-DE-BIOLOGIA-EVOLUTIVA2014.pdf […]
Read MoreProf. McInerney is a joint-organiser and one of the speakers at SMBEME, the satellite meeting of the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution. Program Sunday, 27th April, Zoological Museum Kiel 16:00 – 18:30 Registration 18:30 – 21:00 Opening session Moderator: Tal Dagan 18:30 – 18:45 Greetings Vice President Prof. Dr. Birgit Friedl, Christian-Albrechts University Kiel […]
Read MoreProfessor McInerney has been invited to speak at the International Union of Microbiology Societies annual meeting in Montréal, Canada from July 27th-August 1, 2014. This meeting is collectively known as the International Congress of Microbiology and it consists of three separate congresses: the XIVth International Congress of Bacteriology and Applied Microbiology, the XVIth International Congress of Virology and the XIVth International […]
Read MoreToday we had the pleasure of welcoming an unusual visitor into the lab – a green anaconda. The snake is owned by JP Dunbar, a herpteologist and snake enthusiast who recently graduated from NUI Maynooth and who is heavily involved in helping people understand and appreciate reptiles, amphibians and all animals generally. Not everybody was […]
Read MoreEd Yong has written an excellent article on Eukaryote Origins. Professor McInerney was interviewed as part of the article and the article also includes interviews with several other people involved with trying to understand the origin of the eukaryote cell. In this article, Yong makes a distinction between the “slow fuse” type of hypothesis governing […]
Read MoreVIBE – The Virtual Institute of Bioinformatics and Evolution, which is a loose community of research groups in Ireland, held its annual get-together in Galway recently and was attended by several of our past and current members. It was a superb meeting, organised in Galway by Prof. Cathal Seoighe and Dr. Tim Downing.
Read MoreProfessor McInerney of the Bioinformatics and Molecular Evolution Unit graduated yesterday with a DSc degree from the National University of Ireland. The DSc, which is a higher doctorate, was awarded for his thesis entitled “Studies on the Evolution of Genes and Genomes”. This thesis was entirely based on published research papers. The degree was awarded on […]
Read MoreLucas Brouwers has written a very nice account, entitled “How genetic plunder transformed a microbe into a pink, salt-loving scavenger” about the Halophile work we published in PNAS. You can read it here: http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/thoughtomics/2013/04/22/how-genetic-plunder-transformed-a-microbe-into-a-pink-salt-loving-scavenger/
Read MoreIn the last five years, there has been tremendous progress made in understanding the origin of the eukaryote cell. This progress has been on a number of fronts – phylogenetic, metabolic and bioenergetic and in terms of other data that relate directly to evolution. Our latest paper in PNAS is, I feel, the latest in […]
Read MoreFrom the 10th to the 17th of March, 2013 a course on phylogenetics and phylogenomics was held in the beautiful old village of Erice in Sicily and members of the Bioinformatics and Molecular Evolution Unit participated as lecturers and as practical demonstrators. The course was sponsored by EMBO, the European Molecular Biology Organisation. [ready_google_map […]
Read MoreLast Thursday night I went to a lecture in Harvard by Sir Paul Nurse, Nobel prizewinner, 2001 and current president of the Royal Society. The theme of his talk was “Science and Government” and he spoke about two things – how we should identify the best science to support and how science should be presented […]
Read MoreSeveral members of the Bioinformatics and Molecular Evolution Unit attended the second “Mechanisms of Protein Evolution” meeting in Denver Colorado in February 2013. The agenda for the meeting is here: http://www.proteinevolution.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Agenda_MPEII_5Feb13.pdf During the meeting a video was made where a number of the speakers gave a brief overview of what they were speaking […]
Read MoreLucas Brouwers has written an article on ths Scientific American Website about our work on the origin of vision. You can read the article here: http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/thoughtomics/2012/11/20/animal-vision-evolved-700-million-years-ago/
Read MoreFor some time, it has become apparent that many evolving entities (genes, cells, viruses, plasmids, genomes, etc.) are mosaic. That is to say, we cannot describe their evolutionary history without telling more than one story about it. Genes can be chimaeric and indeed, it is arguable that it is almost impossible for them not to […]
Read MoreHave been thinking recently about what the five biggest evolutionary transitions might be. Naturally, there are several transitions and indeed it is arguable that at every speciation event, there has been a transition – indeed at every mutational event, even. But which ones are the biggest? Also, in this vein – what evolves and what […]
Read MoreThe society for Molecular Biology and Evolution held their annual meeting in Dublin from June 23-26 in the Convention Centre Dublin. The meeting was attended by 1,300 delegates, 44 from Irish institutions and the rest were from international institutions. The value to the Irish economy is estimated at approximately €3,000,000. Some of the outcomes of […]
Read MoreDrs. Alvarez-Ponce and Fondi, along with Professor McInerney visited Paris to develop the collaborations that are ongoing with the laboratory of Dr. Philippe Lopez and Dr. Eric Bapteste in Paris. It wasn’t all work on the two-day trip, there was time for an occasional coffee.
Read MoreTranscription: The first video is an introduction to the structure of a gene and its transcription into messenger RNA. Click here: This video follows on from the first transcription video and completes the section on transcription. Click here: Translation: This first translation video introduces the various components required for translation of an mRNA […]
Read MoreThe research unit decamped to Colorado this week to attend the first MMPE (Molecular Mechanisms of Protein Evolution), which was held in the University of Colorado Denver medical school and the 12th ISCB Regional Meeting, which was held in Snowmass Colorado in the Silvertree Hotel. Speaking at the meeting were: Dr. Davide Pisani, Dr. James […]
Read Morepost-doc applicants wanted We are looking for post-doctoral applicants for the upcoming IRCSET grant deadline. The name of the programme is EMPOWER and it is aimed at relatively early-stage postodoctoral applicants. Here is some of the information form the website: EMPOWER: Government of Ireland Postdoctoral Fellowships in Science, Engineering and Technology IRCSET will continue to […]
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