We are thrilled to announce the addition of several new members to the Mobile DNA editorial board on this special occasion of DNA Day 2023. The expertise and dedication of each member of our editorial board are greatly appreciated as they play a crucial role in shaping the content and direction of our journal. As we warmly welcome the new members of the Mobile DNA editorial board, we are also pleased to share the motivations they have provided for joining our team:
Alex Hayward: “I am very pleased to accept the invitation to join the Editorial Board of Mobile DNA. My lab focuses on the evolution of transposable elements and their host interactions, and so the journal’s scope is excellently aligned with our research interests. I look forward to playing a more involved role in contributing to the success of Mobile DNA, and helping to strengthen the research community focussing on the exciting field of mobile genetic elements.”
Alex Kentsis: “Half of the human genome originates from mobile DNA elements, but their contributions to human disease and physiology remain incomplete. Likewise, transposable elements are essential for the evolution and development of diverse organisms, and understanding of their biology is expected to elucidate fundamental biological processes.”
Alexandre de Mendoza Soler:“It is an honour to join the reference journal in the field, an indispensable platform where the community share their work on multiple aspects of Transposable Elements biology. My interest in the evolution of gene regulation brought me, without any premeditation, to transposable elements. Since then, I have become fascinated by how this usually neglected part of the genome dictates so many aspects of gene regulation, including large scale genomic changes across evolution. I hope that my expertise in linking transposable elements with the evolution of chromatin will be useful for this journal.“
Alexandros Bousios: “I have been studying transposable elements in plants ever since my PhD a long time ago! The interactions between TEs and their host genomes are fascinating, with new discoveries being constantly revealed by the scientific community. Pick up a stone and you will find a transposon underneath! Mobile DNA is the dedicated journal for TEs, run by the TE community itself, a great place for scientists who are involved with research on TEs. It is a pleasure to join the editorial board and contribute towards presenting new insights on how TEs impact their hosts.”
Christopher Ellison: “My lab studies the coevolution between transposable elements and their host genomes in Drosophila. I am thrilled to be joining the editorial board of Mobile DNA, the preeminent journal for research on transposons and other mobile elements.”
Christine Beck: "I have been working on transposable element biology and variation since 2005, and with the continued growth and interest in the field, Mobile DNA has filled an important role in publishing findings of broad interest to the mobile element community. I have been an avid reader of the journal since its inception, and look forward to contributing to the journal and the community of researchers it serves."
Clémentine Vitte: “For the past 20 years, I have sought to decipher how transposable elements shape the structure and functional regulation of plant genomes. Mobile DNA has always been an important source of relevant articles and information about the transposable element community. As a new editor, I will do my best to reinforce the contribution of Mobile DNA on disseminating high-quality science on the biology and evolution of transposable elements in the frame of the fast-growing sources of genomic and epigenomic datasets that now fuel intra- and inter-species analyses. I am honored and excited to join the editorial board!”
Emilie Brasset: “I am proud to have been invited to join the editorial board of Mobile DNA, the only journal entirely devoted to transposable element research. Working on the biology of transposable elements and their silencing mechanism, I hope to contribute to provide feedback in this field. As a member of the editorial board of Mobile DNA, I will be involved in the dissemination of scientific results from this exciting domain of research while ensuring the high-quality publication standards of the journal. It is also a good opportunity to both learn from and collaborate with other expert editorial board members.”
Guan-Zhu Han: “I am interested in the origins, evolution, and diversity of transposable elements as well as the impact of transposable elements on the evolution and biology of their hosts. It is fantastic to become an editorial board member of Mobile DNA, and the job will keep me informed of the direction that the mobile DNA field is moving forward.”
Helen Rowe: “I’m excited to join the Mobile DNA Editorial Board team and be at the forefront of new transposable element research. I’m particularly interested in discoveries of how TEs regulate our immune system and can be harnessed to boost anti-tumour immunity. I look forward to developing the journal with other editors and to supporting TE science, which is at the heart of health and disease processes.”
John LaCava: “Simply put, I think this journal is an outstanding resource for the LINE-1 community - which, I realize is only a fraction of the journal’s remit, but that fraction has an outsized importance to me. I have submitted articles to this journal and I read articles from this journal. My perception is that the editorial quality of the journal is high and (not unconnected) the scientific quality is high; the community around this journal, in my experience, is serious and rigorous but not stale or snobbish (actually, they’re a heck of a lot of fun!). So, for me and the way I operate, it's sort of a no-brainer to jump on board with my respected and admired colleagues (and friends) within this community. It will be an honor to join and, to the degree I am able, bolster your ranks, contributing to the success of the journal and the community all together.”
Josep Mª Casacuberta Suñer: “Mobile DNA is an excellent journal that has become the reference for transposon research and the meeting point of the transposon community. I am delighted to join the editorial board and work with the rest of the editors in running the journal.”
Juergen Schmitz: “I am delighted to provide my experience in constructively improving contributions to Mobile DNA. We have been investigating transposed elements (TEs) in model and non-model organisms for decades. Two main branches are using TEs as phylogenetic markers and detecting and characterizing TEs that exonize to "host" protein-coding function. We are developing computational tools such as TinT, GPAC, 2-n-way, ExoPLOT, KKSC, and 4-LIN to analyze the impact and significance of genomic TE insertions. These topics perfectly fit the aims and scope of Mobile DNA.”
Kate Chiappinelli: "I and my lab are interested in how transposable elements become dysregulated in human cancers. We still have much to learn about epigenetic regulation of these elements in cancer versus normal cells and how TEs interact with our immune system. I look forward to serving on the Mobile DNA editorial board to aid in dissemination of new knowledge about TEs in normal and disease states."
Kirsten Sadler Edepli: „As a cell and developmental biologist, my central interest in how DNA is packaged and how the genome is regulated naturally focused the attention of my group on the regulation of transposable elements. Mobile DNA is a flagship journal in the field and it is an honor to support the publication of outstanding science focused on transposon regulation through serving on this editorial board.”
Leandro Quadrana: „Since its creation, Mobile DNA journal has played an important role in the dissemination of discoveries and advances in the field of transposable elements. Joining the editorial board would offer to me the opportunity to not only contribute to the publication of high-quality research in population genomics of transposable elements, but also to foster a dynamic and engaged community of researchers working in this field.”
Miguel Zaratiegui Biurrun: “While I was doing my PhD on gene therapy I became fascinated by the molecular defense mechanisms that the cell deployed against non-self DNA. Ever since, my research has focused on the complex interplay between parasitic elements and their host genome, and the consequences they have on genome integrity and evolution.”
Michael Imbeault: „I am delighted to join the editorial team at Mobile DNA! As a researcher studying transposable elements for over a decade, I believe this journal provides a much needed platform for scientists to share their findings and ideas related to these fascinating genomic components. It is important to me that both the positive and negative aspects of transposable elements in biology are equally recognized, as too often in the past they have been either ignored or demonized. While it is true that they sometimes pose a threat to genomic integrity and lead to disease, they are as well in many cases welcome immigrants that enrich genomes with new functions and capabilities, participating in the rewiring of gene expression networks and driving evolution. With this in mind, I am looking forward to participate in shaping discussions on the complex role of transposable elements in through my editorial contributions to Mobile DNA.”
Nelson Lau: „I am motivated to join the Mobile DNA Editorial Board because I have been interested in studying mobile genetic elements since I was an undergraduate in David Shub’s lab studying homing group I introns from bacteriophages. When I finally started my own lab, my study focus turned to the biochemical silencing of transposons by piRNAs and siRNAs, and determining the genomic landscapes of actively mobilizing transposons in Drosophila. I hope to add my own lab’s research to the Mobile DNA journal and foster the reviews and submissions of future manuscripts to this journal.”
Özgen Deniz: “As a junior faculty, I want get insights into how the journals work, what they ‘want’, how the peer review process works. I would like to contribute to the evolution of the publication processes of this open access journal, whose scope aligns with my research expertise and interest. I will be also up-to-date with new ideas in the field of mobile elements and read the newest research before it is published.”
Travis Wheeler: “For over a decade, I’ve been involved in developing open source software and open access databases and infrastructure for improved annotation of repetitive genomic DNA. Fuller understanding of the fascinating biology of transposable elements demands tools that are fast, sensitive, reliable, and interpretable; it also will benefit from improved integration of the efforts of tool builders. To that end, I am particularly interested in efforts to develop frameworks that improve interoperability between tools and data repositories, and to establish robust mechanisms for estimating the efficacy of methods for addressing various questions in annotation and analysis.”
Wojciech Makalowski
