Associate Professor at @RockefellerUniv. also: @ lizhao.bsky.social We study gene origination, molecular evolution, and the genetic basis of adaptive traits.
New York, NY
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We wrote a review on using machine learning to study evolutionary genetics and molecular evolution in Trends in Genetics
@TrendsGenetics . It is open access—please read it if you are interested in this topic sciencedirect.com/science/ar…
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Li Zhao retweeted
For too long, we have only had 2 sex-specifically spliced genes in the mosquito. Welcome to the world, MOSN! Males: big protein. Females: small protein. Fascinating new domain of unknown function. Great collab with @lizzyzhao, Sean Eddy, @nipunbasrur, @yaeltea
biorxiv.org/content/10.64898…
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In our recent paper in @PLOSCompBiol , we used AlphaFold2 Multimer to predict the structural details of ~28,000 protein-protein interactions from high-confidence STRING pairs in Drosophila, and identified interesting patterns in disordered regions. journals.plos.org/ploscompbi…
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If we trust AlphaFold, it means either the experimental data are very noisy, or the interactions inferred from them are primarily indirect. Either way, we need to think more deeply about what it means for protein-protein interactions in the cellular context.
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This project actually took a long time. One of the first questions we studied using this idea was this paper, which used structural modeling and ancestral sequence reconstruction to examine ligand-receptor (sex peptide, SPR) evolution. @OfficialSMBE academic.oup.com/mbe/article…
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Very excited to share the work by Alice Gadau. We found that D. suzukii (the invasive pest that loves ripe fruit) doesn’t hate CO₂, while classic lab flies avoid it. That tiny sensory shift helps explain a big ecological transition.
journals.plos.org/plosgeneti…
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We recreated this CO₂ sensitivity in D. melanogaster by generating transgenic lines that swap regulatory or protein-coding sequences from D. suzukii and D. subpulchrella and found that enhancers and proteins in each species play different roles in this convergent trait.
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Li Zhao retweeted
A study in @ScienceMagazine from Paul Cohen's lab, led by @KoenenMascha, demonstrates how beige fat directly influences blood pressure. The findings offer a new target for treating vascular disease and could lead to more precise therapies for hypertension: rockefeller.edu/news/38906-h…
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Our NY area population genetics meeting is back and "upgraded", as Simons Foundation @SimonsFdn
generously agreed to host. Please save the date: March 9, 2026. Look forward to seeing many of you from NY and beyond (attendees were from upstate NY, NJ, PA, CT, and farther).
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Li Zhao retweeted
We are deeply saddened to share that our friend and colleague Jim Hudspeth passed away on Saturday. We will remember and continue to be inspired by Jim’s integrity, his humility, and his unwavering commitment to discovery. rockefeller.edu/news/38152-a…
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Our latest paper is out rdcu.be/ev6Ym @NatureEcoEvo . It began about 8 years ago when Nobel laureate Torsten Wiesel asked me: what transcription factors regulate new genes? I had no idea then. Now we have some answers.
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Here is the Rockefeller press release: rockefeller.edu/news/38025-h…. Thank you for promoting our science.
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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-h…
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Li Zhao retweeted
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-la…
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