def realign_seqs(block, gap_char='.', align_indels=False):
    all_chars = [list(sq['seq']) for sq in block['sequences']]
    nrows = len(all_chars)
    i = 0
    while i < len(all_chars[0]):
        rows_need_gaps = [r for r in all_chars if not r[i].islower()]
        if len(rows_need_gaps) != nrows:
            for row in rows_need_gaps:
                row.insert(i, gap_char)
        i += 1
    return [''.join(row) for row in all_chars]