Magdalena J Koziol
2007 Ph.D. in Developmental Biology, University of Cambridge, UK
2000 B.Sc. in Medical Genetics, University of Leicester, UK
06/2019 – present Assistant Investigator, Lab Head of Koziol Laboratory
Chinese Institute for Brain Research, CIBR, Beijing, China
03/2013 – 04/2019 Post-Doctoral Scientist with Sir John B Gurdon
Gurdon Institute, University of Cambridge, UK
06/2011 – 03/2013 Post-Doctoral Scientist with Antonio Giraldez
Department of Genetics, Yale University, USA
06/2009 – 05/2011 Post-Doctoral Scientist with John Rinn
Broad Institute & Harvard University, USA
07/2007 – 05/2009 Boston Consulting Group
Frankfurt Office, Germany
DNA, the ‘building block of life’, form the basis for human health. Since chemical modifications directly alter DNA, discovering and studying such modifications is key in understanding human brain function, in health and disease. DNA modifications affecting one DNA base, dC, have been studied extensively for years, revealing fundamental roles in regulating genes, brain function and in human diseases, such as in cancer. Surprisingly, DNA modifications affecting other DNA building blocks have mostly been ignored. Hence, I have used novel approaches and tried to discover novel DNA modifications in vertebrate genomes. As a proof of principle, I identified a novel DNA modification in vertebrate genomes, called methylated deoxyadenosine (Koziol et al., 2015). This finding opened entirely novel avenues for investigation and pioneered an exciting new area of biology that I we are following up in the Koziol Laboratory. Therefore, in addition to studying this novel DNA modification that is now known to be important for brain function, the Koziol Laboratory is studying and aiming to discover novel DNA and RNA modifications and investigate their role in the brain. Where possible, we explore how our discoveries can be exploited to improve human health.
1. Feng S, Koziol MJ*. Unraveling brain complexity: from single-cell to spatial m6A technologies. Trends in Genetics. 2025 Aug 13. DOI:10.1016/j.tig.2025.06.010
2. Feng S, Tallaetxe-Abete M, Zhang Y, Peng Y, Zhou H, Dong M, Larrea E, Xue L, Zhang L, Koziol MJ*. Single-cell discovery of m6A RNA modifications in the hippocampus. Genome Research, 2024, doi: 10.1101/gr.278424.123
3. Wen MH, Triana HB, Butler R, Hu HW, Dai YH, Lawrence N, Hong JJ, Garrett N, Jones-Green R, Rawlins EL, Dong Z, Koziol MJ, Gurdon JB. Deterministic nuclear reprogramming of mammalian nuclei to a totipotency-like state by Amphibian meiotic oocytes for stem cell therapy in humans. Biol Open, 2024, doi: 10.1242/bio.060011
4. Cui G, Zhou JY, Ge XY, Sun BF, Song GG, Wang X, Wang XZ, Zhang R, Wang HL, Jing Q, Koziol MJ, Zeng A, Zhang WQ, Han DL, Yang YG, Yang Y. m6A promotes planarian regeneration. Cell Proliferation, 2023, doi: 10.1111/cpr.13481
5. Shi B, Heng J, Zhou JY, Yang Y, Zhang WY, Koziol MJ, Zhao YL, Li P, Liu F, Yang YG. Phase separation of Ddx3xb helices regulates maternal-to-zygotic transition in zebrafish. Cell Research, 2022, doi: 10.1038/s41422-022-00655-5
6. Pacini C, Bradshaw CR, Garrett NJ, Koziol MJ*. Characteristics and homogeneity of N6-methylation in human genomes. Scientific Reports, 2019, doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-41601-7
7. C Pacini, Koziol MJ*. Bioinformatics challenges and perspectives when studying the effect of epigenetic modifications on alternative splicing. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, 2018, doi: 10.1098/rstb.2017.0073
8. *Koziol MJ, Bradshaw CR, Allen GE, Costa ASH, Frezza C. Identification of methylated deoxyadenosines by DNA immunoprecipitation. Bio-Protocol, 2016, doi: 10.21769/BioProtoc.1990
9. *Koziol MJ, Bradshaw CR, Allen GE, Costa ASH, Frezza C, Gurdon JB. Identification of methylated deoxyadenosines in vertebrates reveals diversity in DNA modifications. Nature Structural & Molecular Biology, 2015, doi: 10.1038/nsmb.3145
10. *Koziol MJ, Gurdon JB. TCTP in development and cancer. Biochemistry Research International, 2012, doi: 10.1155/2012/105203
11. Cabili MN, Trapnell CB, Goff L, Koziol MJ, Tazon-Vega B, Regev A, Rinn LJ. Integrative annotation of human large non-coding RNAs reveals global properties and specific subclasses. Genes and Development, 2011, doi: 10.1101/gad.17446611
12. Huarte M, Guttman M, Feldser D, Garber M, Koziol MJ, Kenzelmann-Broz, Khalil AM, Zuk O, Amit I, Rabani M, Attardi LD, Regev A, Lander ES, Jacks T, Rinn JL. A large intergenic noncoding RNA induced by p53 mediates global gene repression in the p53 response. Cell, 2010, doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2010.06.040
13. Guttman M, Garber M, Levin JZ, Donaghey J, Robinson J, Adiconis X, Fan L, Koziol MJ, Gnirke A, Nusbaum C, Rinn JL, Lander ES, Regev A. Ab initio reconstruction of cell type-specific transcriptomes in mouse reveals the conserved multi-exonic structure of lincRNAs. Nature Biotechnology, 2010, doi: 10.1038/nbt.1633
14. Koziol MJ, Rinn JL. RNA traffic control of chromatin complexes. Current Opinions in Genetics & Development, 2010, doi: 10.1016/j.gde.2010.03.003
15. Koziol MJ, Garrett N, Gurdon JB. Tpt1 activates transcription of Oct4 and Nanog in transplanted somatic nuclei. Current Biology, 2007, doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2007.03.062
* Only corresponding author
