Translational Genomics
We work at the interface of research and translation, with many ongoing clinical collaborations. We rely on experimental and computational genomics to advance our translational research but do not shy away from other approaches.
We also contribute to the academic leadership of the Genomic Medicine Theme in the NIHR GOSH Biomedical Research Centre (BRC), and have a growing interest in the impact of AI to genomic diagnosis and treatment. Further, we contribute to genomic services, providing academic leadership to UCL Genomics, the GOSH BRC CRISPR Centre and the Genomics Science Technology Platform at UCL. Finally, we teach computational genomics in our MSc in Personalised Medicine and Novel Therapies.
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We also occasionally provide consultations on all things genomics.
If you are interested in what we do, please check our job openings or consider applying to a fellowship with us.
Research Interests
We are interested in accelerating the diagnosis, prognosis, treatment and modelling of various rare diseases and cancers in children. To this end, we leverage established and novel genomic technologies and their computational analysis, to explore new clinical possibilities.
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We are particularly keen on translational approaches at single-cell and spatial resolution, which we apply to assess disease heterogeneity and the quality of new disease models, tissues and organs. AI has become increasingly important for this. We also assess genomic risks from new therapies, including the unwanted acquisition of deleterious mutations when engineering new tissues, editing genomes or introducing new genes. Further, we apply population genomics and support metagenomic approaches to understand micronutrient deficiencies in global health as well as infection.
In this regard, we have supported the tracking of mutations in the spread of COVID-19 in the UK, through genomic sequencing.
Selected Publications
Sanchez-Corrales et al.
Spatially resolved fetal and maternal cell contributions to severe preeclampsia
bioRxiv
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Budinger et al.
An in vivo and in vitro spatiotemporal atlas of human midbrain development
bioRxiv​​​
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Rees, Castellano and Andres
Global impact of micronutrients in modern human evolution
American Journal of Human Genetics (2025)​​​​​
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News in Grimmet J
How micronutrients have shaped human DNA
Cell Press (2025)
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Puigdevall et al.
Somatic mutations alter the differentiation outcomes of iPSC-derived neurons
Cell Genomics, 3, 100280 (2023)
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Morfopoulou et al.
Genomic investigations of acute hepatitis of unknown aetiology in children
Nature, 617, 564–573 (2023)​​
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News in Kaiser J
Mystery hepatitis cases in kids linked
Science (2022)
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Volz et al. (including COG-UK)
Evaluating the effects of SARS-CoV-2 spike mutation D614G on transmissibility and pathogenicity
Cell, 184, 64-75 (2021)​
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The COVID-19 Genomics UK consortium (COG-UK)
An integrated national scale SARS-CoV-2 genomic surveillance network
The Lancet Microbe, 1, e99–e100 (2020)
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Comment in Nelson MI
Tracking the UK SARS-CoV-2 outbreak
Science, 371, 680-681 (2021)
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Comment in Lo SW and Jamrozi D
Genomics and epidemiological surveillance
Nature Reviews Microbiology, 18, 478 (2020)
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Sarangi et al.
Distinct Patterns of Selection in Selenium-Dependent Genes between Land and Aquatic Vertebrates
Molecular Biology and Evolution, 35, 1744-1756 (2018)
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Rees, Castellano and Andrés
The Genomics of Human Local Adaptation
Trends in Genetics, 36, 415-428 (2018)
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De Manuel et al.
Chimpanzee genomic diversity reveals ancient admixture with bonobos
Science, 354, 477-481 (2016)​​
Comment in Hoelzel AR.
The road to speciation runs both ways
Science, 354, 414-415 (2016)
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News in Pennisi E.
—and swapped genes—in the past
Science (2016)​
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Mendez, Poznik, Castellano and Bustamante
The divergence of Neandertal and modern human Y chromosomes
The American Journal of Human Genetics, 98, 728-734 (2016)
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News in Gibbons A
Modern human females and male Neandertals
had trouble making babies. Here’s why
Science (2016)
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Kuhlwilm et al.
Ancient gene flow from early modern humans into Eastern Neanderthals
Nature, 530, 429-433 (2016)
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News in Gibbons A
Humans mated with Neandertals much earlier
and more frequently than thought
Science (2016)
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News in Callaway A
Evidence mounts for interbreeding bonanza
Nature (2016)
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White et al.
Genetic adaptation to levels of dietary selenium in recent human history
Molecular Biology and Evolution, 32, 1507-1518 (2015)
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Lazaridis et al.
Ancient human genomes suggest three ancestral populations for present-day Europeans
Nature, 513, 409-413 (2014)
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News in Callaway A
Ancient European genomes reveal jumbled ancestry
Nature (2014)
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Castellano et al.
Patterns of coding variation in the complete exomes of three Neandertals
PNAS, 111, 6666-6671 (2014)​
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Fu et al.
A revised timescale for human evolution based on ancient mitochondrial genomes
Current Biology, 23, 553-559 (2013)​​​​
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Comment in Green RE and Shapiro B
Human Evolution: Turning Back the Clock
Current Biology, 23, R286-R288 (2013)
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Castellano et al.
Low exchangeability of selenocysteine, the 21st amino acid, in vertebrate proteins
Molecular Biology and Evolution, 26, 2031-2040 (2009)​
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PNAS, 102, 16188-16193 (2005)​​​
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Comment in Stillwell, RJ and Berry MJ
Expanding the repertoire of the
PNAS, 102, 16123-16124 (2005)
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International Chicken Genome Sequencing Consortium
Nature, 432, 695-716 (2004)​​
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Comment in Schmutz J and Grimwood J
Nature, 432, 679-680 (2004)
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Jaillon et al.
Nature, 431, 946-957 (2004)​​​
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Comment in Mulley J and Holland P
Nature, 431, 916-917 (2004)
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Castellano et al.
EMBO Reports, 5, 71-77 (2004)
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Comment in Driscoll DM and Chavatte L
Finding needles in a haystack: In silico identification
of eukaryotic selenoprotein genes
EMBO Reports, 5, 140-141 (2004)
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Kryukov et al.
Characterization of mammalian selenoproteomes
Science, 300, 1439-1443 (2003)
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Castellano et al.
In silico identification of novel selenoproteins in the Drosophila melanogaster genome
EMBO Reports, 2, 697-702 (2001)
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