Sign in

James Saenz

@jamessaenz.bsky.social
1.9K followers 2.3K following 232 posts

Geochemist and biologist, Interested in lipids, RNA, pathogens, & synthesis of life.

PostsRepliesMedia
James Saenz @jamessaenz.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
We’ve finally installed the beautiful cell membrane wall art that Priyanka Oberoi made for the lab…now hanging in its new home @zmbh.uni-heidelberg.de in Heidelberg. The move is nearly complete! @anh-nhn.bsky.social @varvarakramkova.bsky.social
0223
Reposted by James Saenz
The Company of Biologists @biologists.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Applications are now open for early-career researchers to apply for a funded place at our Workshop on Membrane Function: Insights from Cellular Diversity and Evolution, organised by Snezhana Oliferenko @alebenoit.bsky.social & Cunqi Ye. Find out more and apply www.biologists.com/workshops/ju...
Membrane Function: Insights from Cellular Diversity and Evolution
Date: 13 – 16 June 2027

Location: Buxted Park, East Sussex, UK
Organisers: Snezhana Oliferenko and Cunqi Ye
12323
Reposted by James Saenz
@KayTrue (Sarah L. Keller) @kaytrue.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
Applications are now open for the Fall 2026 Heising-Simons 51 Pegasi b postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Washington in Seattle. The fellowship supports research in astrobiology and in exoplanet and planetary science. Great faculty! Details at: depts.washington.edu/astrobio/wor...
depts.washington.edu
Fall 2026 Applications Open for the Heising-Simons 51 Pegasi b Postdoctoral Fellowship at The University of Washington – uwastrobiology
0147
Reposted by James Saenz
André Nadler @nadlerlab.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
Lipids build the membranes of all cells, but identifying their precise functions is extremely challenging. Here’s our attempt to change that: How to find and understand lipid-protein interactions, by Katelyn Cook & company. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
716170
Reposted by James Saenz
Helena Klara Jambor @helenajambor.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
How scientists simplify their datavis with a few clicks - read more in **Click to plot** article, out in @natureportfolio.nature.com I love these resources, because I know they bridge the experimentalists journeying into advanced plots and coding eventually. Great collab @alex-lex.bsky.social
1156
Reposted by James Saenz
Jeremy Baskin @jeremybaskin.bsky.social · 27/06/2026
Thrilled to share this #lipidtime mechanism story in @jcb.org where, led by Shiying Huang and in collaboration with Tamas Balla’s lab, we uncover plasticity in phospholipid metabolism to preserve plasma membrane identity and integrity in the face of disease-relevant perturbations!
03414
James Saenz @jamessaenz.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
We held lab meeting at McDonalds today…they have air conditioning, and lipids
0221
Reposted by James Saenz
Anh Nguyen @anh-nhn.bsky.social · 11/06/2026
It's been a wonderful 4 years and I couldn't have done this without you James! Onwards and upwards!
051
James Saenz @jamessaenz.bsky.social · 20/06/2026
It’s looking good from Germany
010
Reposted by James Saenz
Helena Klara Jambor @helenajambor.bsky.social · 19/06/2026
What a week! My first Points of View was published @natmethods.nature.com Happy to start the series in 🏳️‍🌈 month with "On Color scales and the birth of Viridis" - looks good, allows naming of regions, AND is perceptually uniform 🎁 rdcu.be/fnPhk www.nature.com/articles/s41... #dataviz
A mountain ridge shown in different color sclales. Picture: 
Andres Passwirth - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=17166331
44516
James Saenz @jamessaenz.bsky.social · 17/06/2026
Same here!
010
Reposted by James Saenz
Cees Dekker @ceesdekker.bsky.social · 16/06/2026
WORK: our Bionanoscience department at TU Delft is looking to hire an Assistant Professor in Biophysics of Living Systems. Apply! Deadline 30 July careers.tudelft.nl/job/Delft-As... RT=nice
careers.tudelft.nl
Assistant Professor in Biophysics of Living Systems
Assistant Professor in Biophysics of Living Systems
02832
Reposted by James Saenz
Helena Klara Jambor @helenajambor.bsky.social · 16/06/2026
😎 to have this out! --> stay tuned, this is a series about 📊#dataviz for #science 🧪
85522
Reposted by James Saenz
Ran Blekhman @blekhman.bsky.social · 15/06/2026
Just start writing. My new post: substack.com/home/post/p-...
26327
James Saenz @jamessaenz.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
Some things never change…I put this sign up 15 years ago when I borrowed a few glass vessels from @hymanlab.bsky.social as a postdoc… as of today it’s still there 😅 Did I return the bottles? We may never know! But there’s some bonus unpublished data printed on the back!
1262
James Saenz @jamessaenz.bsky.social · 11/06/2026
Thrilled to be joining the ZMBH, where my lab will continue to explore the evolution and engineering of living membranes. Farewell @bcube-tud.bsky.social...I couldn't imagine a better place to have started my lab! I'm perpetually grateful to my lab group for making this such a successful adventure!!
6414
James Saenz @jamessaenz.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
Congratulations 🍾 to @anh-nhn.bsky.social on her successful PhD defense today: Deciphering the role of lipidome complexity using Mesoplasma florum!! Time to celebrate 🎉 @bcube-tud.bsky.social
1173
James Saenz @jamessaenz.bsky.social · 09/06/2026
Congratulations 🎉🎊 to Dr. Sandra Rizk for defending her PhD thesis today: Functional Characterization of Isoprenoid Lipids in Methylobacterium extorquens PA1!!! @bcube-tud.bsky.social
0150
Reposted by James Saenz
Ewan Birney @ewanbirney.bsky.social · 04/06/2026
The fact we can see this machine factory frozen in time (and space), happily making molecular machines, effectively at an atomic level is just jaw dropping. Every time I see these images I am blown away by it. Great work by Xiaohan and what a way for Christoph Müller to retire from @embl.org
0152
James Saenz @jamessaenz.bsky.social · 02/06/2026
And now I’ve found a catchy new slogan for the lab…MEMBRANES: MORE THAN YOU THINK inpreparation.substack.com/p/biophysica...
inpreparation.substack.com
Biophysical Society Blows Ad Budget On Bus That Reads 'MEMBRANES: MORE THAN YOU THINK'
ROCKVILLE, MD—The Biophysical Society confirmed Tuesday that it has spent its entire $14,000 annual advertising budget on a single advertisement on the side of a Washington, D.C., Metrobus that reads ...
041
James Saenz @jamessaenz.bsky.social · 31/05/2026
Thanks, David!!
010
James Saenz @jamessaenz.bsky.social · 31/05/2026
Thank you, Nadine 🤩 let’s catch up next time you’re in town!
010
James Saenz @jamessaenz.bsky.social · 31/05/2026
Thank you, Cihan! Looking forward to catching up
000
James Saenz @jamessaenz.bsky.social · 31/05/2026
Thank you, Ruth! Now we are almost neighbors 😅🎉
010
James Saenz @jamessaenz.bsky.social · 31/05/2026
Thanks Unal 🤗🍾
100
James Saenz @jamessaenz.bsky.social · 31/05/2026
Thank you, Pavel! You forgot the bit about the hedgehogs 🦔 …probably all for the best 😅
010
James Saenz @jamessaenz.bsky.social · 31/05/2026
Thanks, Jeremy! Sorry we missed each other this week…hopefully we finally catch up in September 🤩!
010
James Saenz @jamessaenz.bsky.social · 31/05/2026
Thank you André 🙏!!
010
Reposted by James Saenz
ZMBH @zmbh.uni-heidelberg.de · 29/05/2026
The ZMBH welcomes Dr. James Sáenz @jamessaenz.bsky.social as new Professor in Molecular Biology. James previously led a research group at B CUBE - Center for Molecular Bioengineering of Dresden University of Technology.
Portrait of Dr. James Sáenz
95912
Reposted by James Saenz
Rowan Martindale @rowanmartindale.bsky.social · 27/05/2026
Geoscience teachers, interested in playing my GeoTimeline Game? You can now buy your own copy, these little timescale cards come in a cute mint tin! www.thegamecrafter.com/games/geotim...
0115
James Saenz @jamessaenz.bsky.social · 27/05/2026
Congratulations 🎊🎉!!
110
James Saenz @jamessaenz.bsky.social · 27/05/2026
Congratulations 🎉!!!
000
Reposted by James Saenz
Carolyn Bertozzi @carolynbertozzi.bskyverified.social · 26/05/2026
“Academic science is not only about productivity, it is also about deep understanding, exploring creative solutions and training critical thinkers to be the next generation of researchers.” www.nature.com/articles/d41...
nature.com
The uncritical adoption of AI in science is alarming — we urgently need guard rails
Artificial intelligence is rapidly accelerating scientific output, but risks narrowing inquiry, weakening judgement and undermining how scientists are trained.
114464
James Saenz @jamessaenz.bsky.social · 20/05/2026
🍾 🎉 Congratulations to Dr. Isaac Justice for defending his PhD thesis, in which he demonstrated that two lipid species are sufficient (but not optimal) for life! @bcube-tud.bsky.social
2230
Reposted by James Saenz
Jonathan Parra @jonathanparra.bsky.social · 20/05/2026
Evolutionary strategies of late-stage diversification in bacterial biosynthetic gene clusters portlandpress.com/essaysbioche... Nice review by @pthiel.bsky.social and Aleksandra Nivina
portlandpress.com
Evolutionary strategies of late-stage diversification in bacterial biosynthetic gene clusters
Abstract. Natural products are complex chemical molecules produced by organisms to carry out a wide range of functions. The remarkable chemical diversity of these compounds arises from the diversity o...
065
James Saenz @jamessaenz.bsky.social · 10/05/2026
Thanks that sounds really interesting. looking forward to it!
000
Reposted by James Saenz
Mike Feigin 🥯 @mikefeigin.bsky.social · 08/05/2026
Wow. 3’UTRs are pretty amazing.
0121
Reposted by James Saenz
Itay Budin @ibudin.bsky.social · 01/05/2026
What membrane properties do cells maintain through regulation of lipid metabolism? In a new paper, we identify intrinsic curvature stress as one such parameter and show how different (eukaryotic) cell types employ different lipids to do that www.cell.com/cell-reports...
cell.com
Active regulation of intrinsic curvature by eukaryotic phospholipid metabolism
Cells maintain membrane function by actively balancing the molecular shape of their lipids. Milshteyn et al. find that, when subjected to high hydrostatic pressure, yeast and human cells, but not bact...
18430
James Saenz @jamessaenz.bsky.social · 12/04/2026
Yes! Spring is almost sprung
010
James Saenz @jamessaenz.bsky.social · 11/04/2026
That’s a beautiful bike 🤩
110
Reposted by James Saenz
Misha Kudryashev @mishakudryashev.bsky.social · 07/04/2026
Take a look at the fresh post-Easter paper about lipid regulation of NS5A, a key protein of the hepatitis C virus. We were happy to contribute to the all-star team by Anna, Rebecca, James et al, spearheaded by Christoph Welsch. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
science.org
Phospholipid-driven conformational switching of HCV NS5A links protein folding to replication membrane remodeling
A host lipid flips a viral protein’s shape to control membrane remodeling during virus replication.
1249
James Saenz @jamessaenz.bsky.social · 01/04/2026
Thank you, Jan!
000
James Saenz @jamessaenz.bsky.social · 01/04/2026
Thank you, Falk!
010
James Saenz @jamessaenz.bsky.social · 01/04/2026
Thank you, Yasin!
010
James Saenz @jamessaenz.bsky.social · 01/04/2026
Thank you, Henrik! Beers are on me at our next opportunity :)
001
James Saenz @jamessaenz.bsky.social · 01/04/2026
Thank you, Rita!!
010
James Saenz @jamessaenz.bsky.social · 01/04/2026
Thank so much Hanh! See you around town :)
010
James Saenz @jamessaenz.bsky.social · 01/04/2026
Thank you, Sam!
000
James Saenz @jamessaenz.bsky.social · 01/04/2026
Thank you, Anna!! And congrats to you as well 🤩
110
James Saenz @jamessaenz.bsky.social · 29/03/2026
Thank you!! Looking forward to catching up soon...I'll need to practice biking up the Steigerweg 😅
020