Dr Seth Cheetham is an ARC Discovery Early Career Award Fellow and group leader at the Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology. He is also the Deputy Director of the BASE facility, Australia's leading mRNA manufacturing hub. After his Bachelor of Science (Hons) at the University of Queensland, he completed his PhD at the University of Cambridge, supported by the Herchel Smith Research Studentship. Seth is a molecular biologist and geneticist with a focus on mRNA drugs, synthetic biology and epigenetics. He has authored 22 publications, including twelve as a first author and four as a corresponding author. He has published in some of the most influential molecular biology journals including Science, Molecular Cell, Nature Reviews Genetics , Genome Biology and Nature Structural and Molecular Biology. His work has attracted > $2.5M in funding from an ARC DECRA (2022), NHMRC Fellowship (2019), UQ HERA Grant, a Cancer Australia Grant (2021), Mater Foundation seeding grant (2019), a UQ ECR grant (2019) and the UQ Genome Innovation Hub (2020). In 2021 Seth was award the Genetics Society of Australasia Alan Wilton ECR awarded for his research in the field of RNA and epigenetics.
Journal Article: Long-read cDNA sequencing identifies functional pseudogenes in the human transcriptome
Troskie, Robin-Lee, Jafrani, Yohaann, Mercer, Tim R., Ewing, Adam D., Faulkner, Geoffrey J. and Cheetham, Seth W. (2021). Long-read cDNA sequencing identifies functional pseudogenes in the human transcriptome. Genome Biology, 22 (1) 146, 1-15. doi: 10.1186/s13059-021-02369-0
Journal Article: Nanopore sequencing enables comprehensive transposable element epigenomic profiling
Ewing, Adam D., Smits, Nathan, Sanchez-Luque, Francisco J., Faivre, Jamila, Brennan, Paul M., Richardson, Sandra R., Cheetham, Seth W. and Faulkner, Geoffrey J. (2020). Nanopore sequencing enables comprehensive transposable element epigenomic profiling. Molecular Cell, 80 (5), 915-928.e5. doi: 10.1016/j.molcel.2020.10.024
Journal Article: Overcoming challenges and dogmas to understand the functions of pseudogenes
Cheetham, Seth W., Faulkner, Geoffrey J. and Dinger, Marcel E. (2020). Overcoming challenges and dogmas to understand the functions of pseudogenes. Nature Reviews Genetics, 21 (3), 191-201. doi: 10.1038/s41576-019-0196-1
Journal Article: RNA-DamID reveals cell-type-specific binding of roX RNAs at chromatin-entry sites
Cheetham, Seth W and Brand, Andrea H (2017). RNA-DamID reveals cell-type-specific binding of roX RNAs at chromatin-entry sites. Nature structural & molecular biology, 25 (1), 109-114. doi: 10.1038/s41594-017-0006-4
Building the next mRNA vaccines and therapies
(2023–2028) MRFF - National Critical Infrastructure Initiative
(2023–2026) NHMRC MRFF EMCR - Early to Mid-Career Researchers
Tracing the epigenetic life-history of cells
(2023–2025) ARC Discovery Early Career Researcher Award
Drugging the undruggable with mRNA technologies
Doctor Philosophy
Inhibition of transcription factors using mRNA technology
Doctor Philosophy
Functional coding and noncoding pseudogenes in the human genome
(2022) Doctor Philosophy
Next generation mRNA vaccines and therapeutics
mRNA vaccines and therapeutics are rapidly emerging technologies with enormous potential to improve human health. The mRNA COVID-19 vaccines are credited with saving millions of lives throughout the pandemic and mRNA vaccine candidates have demonstrated the capacity to protect against various infectious diseases and cancer. mRNA-based gene therapies have the potential to alleviate a myriad of chronic diseases. This project will develop novel technologies to improve mRNA vaccines and therapeutics to achieve cell-type specific expression and enhance stability.
Long-read cDNA sequencing identifies functional pseudogenes in the human transcriptome
Troskie, Robin-Lee, Jafrani, Yohaann, Mercer, Tim R., Ewing, Adam D., Faulkner, Geoffrey J. and Cheetham, Seth W. (2021). Long-read cDNA sequencing identifies functional pseudogenes in the human transcriptome. Genome Biology, 22 (1) 146, 1-15. doi: 10.1186/s13059-021-02369-0
Nanopore sequencing enables comprehensive transposable element epigenomic profiling
Ewing, Adam D., Smits, Nathan, Sanchez-Luque, Francisco J., Faivre, Jamila, Brennan, Paul M., Richardson, Sandra R., Cheetham, Seth W. and Faulkner, Geoffrey J. (2020). Nanopore sequencing enables comprehensive transposable element epigenomic profiling. Molecular Cell, 80 (5), 915-928.e5. doi: 10.1016/j.molcel.2020.10.024
Overcoming challenges and dogmas to understand the functions of pseudogenes
Cheetham, Seth W., Faulkner, Geoffrey J. and Dinger, Marcel E. (2020). Overcoming challenges and dogmas to understand the functions of pseudogenes. Nature Reviews Genetics, 21 (3), 191-201. doi: 10.1038/s41576-019-0196-1
RNA-DamID reveals cell-type-specific binding of roX RNAs at chromatin-entry sites
Cheetham, Seth W and Brand, Andrea H (2017). RNA-DamID reveals cell-type-specific binding of roX RNAs at chromatin-entry sites. Nature structural & molecular biology, 25 (1), 109-114. doi: 10.1038/s41594-017-0006-4
Mapping RNA-Chromatin interactions in vivo with RNA-DamID
Cheetham, Seth W. and Brand, Andrea H. (2020). Mapping RNA-Chromatin interactions in vivo with RNA-DamID. RNA-Chromatin Interactions. (pp. 255-264) edited by Ulf Andersson Vang Ørom. New York, NY, United States: Humana Press. doi: 10.1007/978-1-0716-0680-3_18
Vasculature organotropism in drug delivery
Amruta, A., Iannotta, Dalila, Cheetham, Seth W., Lammers, Twan and Wolfram, Joy (2023). Vasculature organotropism in drug delivery. Advanced Drug Delivery Reviews, 201 115054, 1-13. doi: 10.1016/j.addr.2023.115054
Somatic retrotransposition in the developing rhesus macaque brain
Billon, Victor, Sanchez-Luque, Francisco J, Rasmussen, Jay, Bodea, Gabriela O, Gerhardt, Daniel J, Gerdes, Patricia, Cheetham, Seth W, Schauer, Stephanie N, Ajjikuttira, Prabha, Meyer, Thomas J, Layman, Cora E, Nevonen, Kimberly A, Jansz, Natasha, Garcia-Perez, Jose L, Richardson, Sandra R, Ewing, Adam D, Carbone, Lucia and Faulkner, Geoffrey J (2022). Somatic retrotransposition in the developing rhesus macaque brain. Genome Research, 32 (7), gr.276451.121-1314. doi: 10.1101/gr.276451.121
Methylartist: tools for visualizing modified bases from nanopore sequence data
Cheetham, Seth W., Kindlova, Michaela and Ewing, Adam D. (2022). Methylartist: tools for visualizing modified bases from nanopore sequence data. Bioinformatics, 38 (11), 3109-3112. doi: 10.1093/bioinformatics/btac292
Reduced chromatin accessibility correlates with resistance to Notch activation
van den Ameele, Jelle, Krautz, Robert, Cheetham, Seth W., Donovan, Alex P. A., Llorà-Batlle, Oriol, Yakob, Rebecca and Brand, Andrea H. (2022). Reduced chromatin accessibility correlates with resistance to Notch activation. Nature Communications, 13 (1) 2210, 2210. doi: 10.1038/s41467-022-29834-z
In vivo targeted DamID identifies CHD8 genomic targets in fetal mouse brain
Wade, A. Ayanna, van den Ameele, Jelle, Cheetham, Seth W., Yakob, Rebecca, Brand, Andrea H. and Nord, Alex S. (2021). In vivo targeted DamID identifies CHD8 genomic targets in fetal mouse brain. iScience, 24 (11) 103234, 103234. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2021.103234
Troskie, Robin-Lee, Faulkner, Geoffrey J. and Cheetham, Seth W. (2021). Processed pseudogenes: a substrate for evolutionary innovation. Retrotransposition contributes to genome evolution by propagating pseudogene sequences with rich regulatory potential throughout the genome. BioEssays, 43 (11) 2100186, 2100186. doi: 10.1002/bies.202100186
Long-read cDNA sequencing identifies functional pseudogenes in the human transcriptome
Troskie, Robin-Lee, Jafrani, Yohaann, Mercer, Tim R., Ewing, Adam D., Faulkner, Geoffrey J. and Cheetham, Seth W. (2021). Long-read cDNA sequencing identifies functional pseudogenes in the human transcriptome. Genome Biology, 22 (1) 146, 1-15. doi: 10.1186/s13059-021-02369-0
Microdeletion of 9q22.3: a patient with minimal deletion size associated with a severe phenotype
Ewing, Adam D., Cheetham, Seth W., McGill, James J., Sharkey, Michael, Walker, Rick, West, Jennifer A., West, Malcolm J. and Summers, Kim M. (2021). Microdeletion of 9q22.3: a patient with minimal deletion size associated with a severe phenotype. American Journal of Medical Genetics Part A, 185 (7) ajmg.a.62224, 2070-2083. doi: 10.1002/ajmg.a.62224
Nanopore sequencing enables comprehensive transposable element epigenomic profiling
Ewing, Adam D., Smits, Nathan, Sanchez-Luque, Francisco J., Faivre, Jamila, Brennan, Paul M., Richardson, Sandra R., Cheetham, Seth W. and Faulkner, Geoffrey J. (2020). Nanopore sequencing enables comprehensive transposable element epigenomic profiling. Molecular Cell, 80 (5), 915-928.e5. doi: 10.1016/j.molcel.2020.10.024
Overcoming challenges and dogmas to understand the functions of pseudogenes
Cheetham, Seth W., Faulkner, Geoffrey J. and Dinger, Marcel E. (2020). Overcoming challenges and dogmas to understand the functions of pseudogenes. Nature Reviews Genetics, 21 (3), 191-201. doi: 10.1038/s41576-019-0196-1
LINE-1 Evasion of epigenetic repression in humans
Sanchez-Luque, Francisco J., Kempen, Marie-Jeanne H.C., Gerdes, Patricia, Vargas-Landin, Dulce B., Richardson, Sandra R., Troskie, Robin-Lee, Jesuadian, J. Samuel, Cheetham, Seth W., Carreira, Patricia E., Salvador-Palomeque, Carmen, García-Cañadas, Marta, Muñoz-Lopez, Martin, Sanchez, Laura, Lundberg, Mischa, Macia, Angela, Heras, Sara R., Brennan, Paul M., Lister, Ryan, Garcia-Perez, Jose L., Ewing, Adam D. and Faulkner, Geoffrey J. (2019). LINE-1 Evasion of epigenetic repression in humans. Molecular Cell, 75 (3), 590-604.e12. doi: 10.1016/j.molcel.2019.05.024
DamID as a versatile tool for understanding gene regulation
Aughey, Gabriel N., Cheetham, Seth W. and Southall, Tony D. (2019). DamID as a versatile tool for understanding gene regulation. Development, 146 (6) dev173666, dev173666. doi: 10.1242/dev.173666
Targeted DamID reveals differential binding of mammalian pluripotency factors
Cheetham, Seth W., Gruhn, Wolfram H., van den Ameele, Jelle, Krautz, Robert, Southall, Tony D., Kobayashi, Toshihiro, Surani, M. Azim and Brand, Andrea H. (2018). Targeted DamID reveals differential binding of mammalian pluripotency factors. Development, 145 (20) dev170209, dev.170209. doi: 10.1242/dev.170209
RNA-DamID reveals cell-type-specific binding of roX RNAs at chromatin-entry sites
Cheetham, Seth W and Brand, Andrea H (2017). RNA-DamID reveals cell-type-specific binding of roX RNAs at chromatin-entry sites. Nature structural & molecular biology, 25 (1), 109-114. doi: 10.1038/s41594-017-0006-4
Gloss, Brian S., Signal, Bethany, Cheetham, Seth W., Gruhl, Franziska, Kaczorowski, Dominik C., Perkins, Andrew C. and Dinger, Marcel E. (2017). High resolution temporal transcriptomics of mouse embryoid body development reveals complex expression dynamics of coding and noncoding loci. Scientific Reports, 7 (1) 6731, 6731. doi: 10.1038/s41598-017-06110-5
Marshall, Owen J., Southall, Tony D., Cheetham, Seth W. and Brand, Andrea H. (2016). Cell-type-specific profiling of protein-DNA interactions without cell isolation using targeted DamID with next-generation sequencing. Nature Protocols, 11 (9), 1586-1598. doi: 10.1038/nprot.2016.084
The Evx1/Evx1as gene locus regulates anterior-posterior patterning during gastrulation
Bell, Charles C., Amaral, Paulo P., Kalsbeek, Anton, Magor, Graham W., Gillinder, Kevin R., Tangermann, Pierre, di Lisio, Lorena, Cheetham, Seth W., Gruhl, Franziska, Frith, Jessica, Tallack, Michael R., Ru, Ke-Lin, Crawford, Joanna, Mattick, John S., Dinger, Marcel E. and Perkins, Andrew C. (2016). The Evx1/Evx1as gene locus regulates anterior-posterior patterning during gastrulation. Scientific Reports, 6 (1) 26657, 26657. doi: 10.1038/srep26657
Freedom of expression: cell-type-specific gene profiling
Otsuki, Leo, Cheetham, Seth W. and Brand, Andrea H. (2014). Freedom of expression: cell-type-specific gene profiling. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Developmental Biology, 3 (6), 429-443. doi: 10.1002/wdev.149
Long noncoding RNAs and the genetics of cancer
Cheetham, S. W., Gruhl, F., Mattick, J. S. and Dinger, M. E. (2013). Long noncoding RNAs and the genetics of cancer. British Journal of Cancer, 108 (12), 2419-2425. doi: 10.1038/bjc.2013.233
Cheetham, Seth W. and Brand, Andrea H. (2013). Insulin finds its niche. Science, 340 (6134), 817-818. doi: 10.1126/science.1238525
Gascoigne, Dennis K., Cheetham, Seth W., Cattenoz, Pierre B., Clark, Michael B., Amaral, Paulo P., Taft, Ryan J., Wilhelm, Dagmar, Dinger, Marcel E. and Mattick, John S. (2012). Pinstripe: a suite of programs for integrating transcriptomic and proteomic datasets identifies novel proteins and improves differentiation of protein-coding and non-coding genes. Bioinformatics, 28 (23), 3042-3050. doi: 10.1093/bioinformatics/bts582
Building the next mRNA vaccines and therapies
(2023–2028) MRFF - National Critical Infrastructure Initiative
(2023–2026) NHMRC MRFF EMCR - Early to Mid-Career Researchers
Tracing the epigenetic life-history of cells
(2023–2025) ARC Discovery Early Career Researcher Award
Optimisation of mRNA production and purification using the AMBR15 and AMBRCF
(2023–2024) Innovation Connections
Long-read genetic and epigenetic profiling in lung cancer for precision medicine
(2021–2024) Priority-driven Collaborative Cancer Research Scheme
Deciphering global and locus-specific regulation of LINE-1 retrotransposons in cancer
(2019–2022) NHMRC Early Career Fellowships
Are inhibitory pseudogenes key players in cancer?
(2019) UQ Early Career Researcher
Drugging the undruggable with mRNA technologies
Doctor Philosophy — Principal Advisor
Other advisors:
Inhibition of transcription factors using mRNA technology
Doctor Philosophy — Principal Advisor
Other advisors:
Epigenetic lineage tracing using Dam and alternate DNA methylases
Doctor Philosophy — Principal Advisor
Other advisors:
Nanopore Sequencing for Mobile Element Research: The Long and Short of It
Doctor Philosophy — Associate Advisor
Other advisors:
Building the next-generation of mRNA drugs
Doctor Philosophy — Associate Advisor
Other advisors:
Functional coding and noncoding pseudogenes in the human genome
(2022) Doctor Philosophy — Principal Advisor
Other advisors:
Note for students: The possible research projects listed on this page may not be comprehensive or up to date. Always feel free to contact the staff for more information, and also with your own research ideas.
Next generation mRNA vaccines and therapeutics
mRNA vaccines and therapeutics are rapidly emerging technologies with enormous potential to improve human health. The mRNA COVID-19 vaccines are credited with saving millions of lives throughout the pandemic and mRNA vaccine candidates have demonstrated the capacity to protect against various infectious diseases and cancer. mRNA-based gene therapies have the potential to alleviate a myriad of chronic diseases. This project will develop novel technologies to improve mRNA vaccines and therapeutics to achieve cell-type specific expression and enhance stability.