World's Best Scientists 2026 revealed!

D-Index & Metrics

Molecular Biology

D-Index
82
Citations
25530
World Ranking
935
National Ranking
69

Research.com Recognitions

  • 2020 - Member of the National Academy of Sciences
  • 2019 - Canada Gairdner International Award
  • 2009 - Member of Academia Europaea
  • 2007 - Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
  • 2005 - Fellow of the Royal Society, United Kingdom
  • 2003 - Paul Marks Prize for Cancer Research, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
  • Fellow of The Academy of Medical Sciences, United Kingdom
  • Member of the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO)
  • Fellow of The Academy of Medical Sciences, United Kingdom
  • Member of the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO)

Overview

John F. X. Diffley is affiliated with The Francis Crick Institute in the United Kingdom. Their research spans multiple domains within biochemistry, genetics, and molecular biology, with particular focus on molecular biology, infectious diseases, genetics, cell biology, and oncology.

The scientist has contributed extensively to topics including DNA repair mechanisms, genomics and chromatin dynamics, research on SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19, bacterial genetics and biotechnology, microtubule and mitosis dynamics, DNA and nucleic acid chemistry, and viral gastroenteritis research and epidemiology.

Key recent publications include:

  • The Initiation of Eukaryotic DNA Replication, 2022, Annual Review of Biochemistry
  • Cyclin E-induced replicative stress drives p53-dependent whole-genome duplication, 2023, Cell
  • Mechanism of replication origin melting nucleated by CMG helicase assembly, 2022, Nature
  • Identifying SARS-CoV-2 antiviral compounds by screening for small molecule inhibitors of nsp13 helicase, 2021, Biochemical Journal
  • Identifying SARS-CoV-2 antiviral compounds by screening for small molecule inhibitors of nsp15 endoribonuclease, 2021, Biochemical Journal

The scientist's frequent co-authors include Berta Canal, Florian Weissmann, Lucy S. Drury, Jingkun Zeng, and Rachel Ulferts.

John F. X. Diffley has published often in venues such as bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory), Biochemical Journal, Nature Structural & Molecular Biology, Cell, and Nature Communications.

The scientist has received several awards, including:

  • Member of the National Academy of Sciences, 2020
  • Canada Gairdner International Award, 2019
  • Member of Academia Europaea, 2009
  • Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), 2007
  • Fellow of the Royal Society, United Kingdom, 2005
  • Paul Marks Prize for Cancer Research, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, 2003
  • Member of the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO)
  • Fellow of The Academy of Medical Sciences, United Kingdom

Best Publications

  • A Mec1- and Rad53-dependent checkpoint controls late-firing origins of DNA replication

    Corrado Santocanale;John F. X. Diffley

  • Regulation of DNA replication fork progression through damaged DNA by the Mec1/Rad53 checkpoint

    José Antonio Tercero;John F. X. Diffley

  • Concerted Loading of Mcm2-7 Double Hexamers Around DNA during DNA Replication Origin Licensing

    Dirk Remus;Fabienne Beuron;Gökhan Tolun;Jack D. Griffith

  • Uninterrupted MCM2-7 Function Required for DNA Replication Fork Progression

    Karim Labib;José Antonio Tercero;John F. X. Diffley

  • Two steps in the assembly of complexes at yeast replication origins in vivo

    John F.X. Diffley;Julie H. Cocker;Simon J. Dowell;Adele Rowley

  • Cdc6p-dependent loading of Mcm proteins onto pre-replicative chromatin in budding yeast

    Shane Donovan;Janet Harwood;Lucy S. Drury;John F. X. Diffley

  • Mrc1 transduces signals of DNA replication stress to activate Rad53.

    Annette A. Alcasabas;Alexander J. Osborn;Jeff Bachant;Jeff Bachant;Fenghua Hu

  • Phosphorylation of Sld2 and Sld3 by cyclin-dependent kinases promotes DNA replication in budding yeast

    Philip Zegerman;John F. X. Diffley

  • Regulation of Early Events in Chromosome Replication

    John F.X. Diffley

  • Regulated eukaryotic DNA replication origin firing with purified proteins

    Joseph T P Yeeles;Tom D Deegan;Agnieszka Janska;Anne Early

  • A Central Role for DNA Replication Forks in Checkpoint Activation and Response

    José Antonio Tercero;Maria Pia Longhese;John F.X Diffley

  • S-phase-promoting cyclin-dependent kinases prevent re-replication by inhibiting the transition of replication origins to a pre-replicative state.

    Christian Dahmann;John F.X. Diffley;Kim A. Nasmyth

  • Protein-DNA interactions at a yeast replication origin.

    John F. X. Diffley;Julie H. Cocker

  • An essential role for the Cdc6 protein in forming the pre-replicative complexes of budding yeast

    Julie H. Cocker;Simonetta Piatti;Corrado Santocanale;Kim Nasmyth

  • CDKs Promote DNA Replication Origin Licensing in Human Cells by Protecting Cdc6 from APC/C-Dependent Proteolysis

    Niels Mailand;John F.X. Diffley

  • The Cdc4/34/53 pathway targets Cdc6p for proteolysis in budding yeast

    Lucy S. Drury;Gordon Perkins;John F.X. Diffley

  • A close relative of the nuclear, chromosomal high-mobility group protein HMG1 in yeast mitochondria

    J.F.X. Diffley;B. Stillman

  • Interdependent nuclear accumulation of budding yeast Cdt1 and Mcm2-7 during G1 phase.

    Seiji Tanaka;John F.X. Diffley

  • The Cdc7 protein kinase is required for origin firing during S phase

    Kristine Bousset;John F.X. Diffley

  • DNA Replication and Oncogene-Induced Replicative Stress

    Stephanie A. Hills;John F.X. Diffley

Frequent Co-Authors

Bruce Stillman
Bruce Stillman Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Karim Labib
Karim Labib University of Dundee
Michael Howell
Michael Howell The Francis Crick Institute
Kim Nasmyth
Kim Nasmyth University of Oxford
Chris P. Ponting
Chris P. Ponting University of Edinburgh
Jack D. Griffith
Jack D. Griffith University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Wolfgang Hammerschmidt
Wolfgang Hammerschmidt Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
Antony M. Carr
Antony M. Carr University of Sussex
James E. Haber
James E. Haber Brandeis University
Stephen J. Elledge
Stephen J. Elledge Harvard University

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