iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Benedetta Bolognesi @bennibolo.bsky.social · 30/03/2026

Big BIG congrats to @mbadiagraset.bsky.social. She led this work beautifully - thoughtful, rigorous, and relentless 💪. There’s more coming from her! Stay tuned.

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Benedetta Bolognesi @bennibolo.bsky.social · 30/03/2026

Our latest paper is out! We built a large-scale mutational map of amylin to understand how sequence drives #amyloid formation, a process linked to type 2 #diabetes🩸📈📉. It’s a step towards connecting molecular mechanisms with human genetic variation in a systematic way.

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Benedetta Bolognesi @bennibolo.bsky.social · 05/03/2026

We hope this is a small step forward towards understanding how aggregation can be tuned to fulfil different functions rather than disease!

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Benedetta Bolognesi @bennibolo.bsky.social · 05/03/2026

By coupling this with functional assays, we discover that necroptotic signaling requires a “sweet spot” 🍭 of amyloid formation. Variants that disrupt this balance are rare in the human population, consistent with evolutionary sequence optimization.

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Benedetta Bolognesi @bennibolo.bsky.social · 05/03/2026

We find that both proteins rely on an evolutionarily conserved aliphatic tetrad to nucleate amyloids, but the prioritization of aliphatic interfaces differs: RIPK3 relies primarily on one interface, whereas RIPK1 engages two.

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Benedetta Bolognesi @bennibolo.bsky.social · 05/03/2026

@marianomartin.bsky.social mutagenised mouse and human RIPK1 & RIPK3, the proteins that assemble into amyloid structures to build the necrosome and signal inflammatory cell death 💀.

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Benedetta Bolognesi @bennibolo.bsky.social · 05/03/2026

This time we went “functional.” 🙂 After years studying pathological amyloids, we followed RIPK1/3 into the other side of aggregation - where amyloids help cells decide when to die. 🔗🔗 🔗 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

biorxiv.org

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Benedetta Bolognesi @bennibolo.bsky.social · 05/03/2026

We hope this is a small step forward towards understanding how aggregation can be tuned to fulfil different functions rather than disease!

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Benedetta Bolognesi @bennibolo.bsky.social · 05/03/2026

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Benedetta Bolognesi @bennibolo.bsky.social · 05/03/2026

We find that both proteins rely on an evolutionarily conserved aliphatic tetrad to nucleate amyloids, but the prioritization of aliphatic interfaces differs: RIPK1 relies primarily on one interface, whereas RIPK3 engages two.

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Benedetta Bolognesi @bennibolo.bsky.social · 05/03/2026

@marianomartin.bsky.social mutagenised mouse and human RIPK1 & RIPK3, the proteins that assemble into amyloid structures to build the necrosome and signal inflammatory cell death 💀.

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Kalli Kappel @kallikappel.bsky.social · 17/06/2025

In the nucleus, many intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) form condensates. What IDP sequence features drive this behavior? We developed CondenSeq, a high-throughput approach to measure nuclear condensate formation, and applied it to ~14,000 IDPs to find out! rdcu.be/eq975

rdcu.be

Characterizing protein sequence determinants of nuclear condensates by high-throughput pooled imaging with CondenSeq

Nature Methods - CondenSeq is an imaging-based, high-throughput platform for characterizing condensate formation within the nuclear environment, uncovering the protein sequence features that...

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Benedetta Bolognesi @bennibolo.bsky.social · 12/06/2025

Our lab @ibecbarcelona.eu is hiring both 👩‍💻 and 🧪 profiles (or mixed!) to mechanistically probe disordered and aggregation prone proteins at scale using combinatorial strategies. Get in touch!

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Benedetta Bolognesi @bennibolo.bsky.social · 12/06/2025

This one is close to my ❤️ as we learnt SO MUCH in the process. We hope this approach will be employed to address the transition states 🎇 of many other reactions - amyloid and not! Well done @immunobananna.bsky.social, Mireia and @ajfaure.bsky.social!

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Benedetta Bolognesi @bennibolo.bsky.social · 12/06/2025

New cocktail 🍹 in town - in collaboration with @benlehner.bsky.social : Massive combinatorial mutagenesis + amyloid kinetics selection + thermodynamic modelling showing us the portrait 🎨 of an amyloid transition state. Read about it in this great thread:

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Danielle Beckman @daniellebeckman.bsky.social · 05/06/2025

A black hole in the early universe? Sometimes I like to imagine that I operate a telescope, not a microscope 😁. The hole in the middle of the image is actually a blood vessel. The stars are astrocytes🟡 in the human brain, interacting with beta-amyloid🔵. The brain is from a donor with #Alzheimer.

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Benedetta Bolognesi @bennibolo.bsky.social · 04/06/2025

Candle-lit commuting sponsored by @rodalies.info 🕯️🕯️🕯️

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John Burn-Murdoch @jburnmurdoch.ft.com · 04/06/2025

Full slide deck here from our talk yesterday on the gender divide and relationship recession, featuring many more countries and plenty of economic data too: www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/1lp1d...

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Ed Yong is offline @edyong209.bsky.social · 30/05/2025

I urge everyone to read Unbreaking’s new page on everything the govt is doing to destroy & diminish medical research funding. It’s the best thing I’ve read on this topic: @lizneeley.bsky.social & co have such done an incredible job. unbreaking.org/issues/medic...

unbreaking.org

Medical Research Funding — Unbreaking

How the administration is breaking the government, and what that means for all of us.

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Benedetta Bolognesi @bennibolo.bsky.social · 23/05/2025

And what a great talk to end #VariantEffect25 ! Thanks to the amazing crowd that travelled to Barcelona and made MSS25 such a fantastic meeting. Lots to think about now! 🧦🗺️☀️

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Benedetta Bolognesi @bennibolo.bsky.social · 22/05/2025

Fantastic talk #VariantEffect25 by @pollyfordyce.bsky.social on how much we can understand about sequence-function relationships once we are able to factor in kinetic 🏎️rates. Microfluidics 💧💧for the win!

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Jonathan Frazer @jonnyfrazer.bsky.social · 22/05/2025

Good views, food and even better company at #VariantEffect25

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IBEC | Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia @ibecbarcelona.eu · 21/05/2025

The first poster session just started! #VariantEffect25

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Jonathan Frazer @jonnyfrazer.bsky.social · 21/05/2025

Welcome back from the lunch break. Kicking off the afternoon session at #VariantEffect25 we welcome Patrick Hsu @pdhsu.bsky.social all the way from @arcinstitute.org – Bridging biology and AI for genome design 💥🧬🤖 #SynBio #AI Let’s gooo! 🚀

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Jonathan Frazer @jonnyfrazer.bsky.social · 21/05/2025

It is a deeply inspiring story, reminding us why we do what we do.

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Jonathan Frazer @jonnyfrazer.bsky.social · 20/05/2025

Welcome back from the coffee break and to the last session of Workshop 1 of #VariantEffect25. @pascalnotin.bsky.social is giving us an overview of protein fitness prediction models! #AI #ProteinML

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Jonathan Frazer @jonnyfrazer.bsky.social · 20/05/2025

Next up at #VariantEffect25 Workshop 1 we have Noelia Ferruz! From Rosetta to Flow Matching: The Evolution of Protein Design -How Should You Begin Today?

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Jonathan Frazer @jonnyfrazer.bsky.social · 20/05/2025

Let’s get this party started! Kicking off workshop 1 of #VariantEffect25 we have Albert Escobedo — From Fitness to Free Energy: Thermodynamic Modeling of Protein DMS Data for Accurate Genetic Prediction with MoCHI 🍡🧬

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Jamison Foser @jamisonfoser.bsky.social · 14/05/2025

there are 1,100 words in this article and zero of them are "bus"

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Benedetta Bolognesi @bennibolo.bsky.social · 09/05/2025

@marianomartin.bsky.social discussing amyloid formation from random sequence extensions at our first CNS 🧠network event @ibecbarcelona.eu Find out more this week on @pnas.org! www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

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IBEC | Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia @ibecbarcelona.eu · 02/05/2025

CAT 1/ 🧵 Una IA catalana desxifra el llenguatge secret de les proteïnes "enganxoses" CANYA, desenvolupada pel @crg.eu i l’ #IBEC, pot predir quan i per què es formen agregats proteics, un procés relacionat amb malalties com l’Alzheimer 👇

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IBEC | Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia @ibecbarcelona.eu · 08/04/2025

🏆 Congrats to #IBEC researcher Dr. Irene Marco-Rius on winning the 2025 Anatole Abragam Prize! 🎉 Her groundbreaking work in hyperpolarized #MRI & organ-on-a-chip tech is transforming disease diagnosis & therapy monitoring. 🔬👏 #MagneticResonance #ScienceExcellence #ISMARENC2025

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Itai Yanai @itaiyanai.bsky.social · 25/03/2025

David Baker talks about how the current uncertainty and instability hinder creativity because of the difficulty in thinking long-term. From this week’s Night Science Podcast nightscience.buzzsprout.com/1744020/epis... @nightsciencepod.bsky.social

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Gabi Heller @g-heller.bsky.social · 24/03/2025

We’re looking for fellow nerds to help us make disordered proteins druggable. Love #IDPs, #MD, #NMR, #AI, #DrugDiscovery, or #MassSpec? Let’s talk. @bindresearch.org is hiring across the board: bindresearch.org/careers/ #compchem #compbio #NMRChat #TeamMassSpec #chemjobs @chemjobber.bsky.social

bindresearch.org

Careers

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John Bull @garius.bsky.social · 17/03/2025

“If she wants to know something specific, but doesn’t want people to notice her asking questions, she should simply make incorrect statements while in the company of experts. Her companions will correct her, especially if they're men.” - Advice for female agents in WW2, provided during SOE training

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Dave Baltrus 🦦 @surtlab.bsky.social · 15/03/2025

In my 25 years since high school I’ve seen 1. HIV/AIDS go from death sentence to manageable with drugs 2. Cystic fibrosis go from pretty much an extended death sentence to manageable with drugs 3. Sickle cell go from a horrible disease to (almost maybe) cured by gene therapy Simply incredible

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Benedetta Bolognesi @bennibolo.bsky.social · 15/03/2025

Ben detto! A volte a me va anche di ricordare che la “carriera” è conseguenza della scienza. Concentrarsi su problemi importanti e lavorarci con dedizione profonda (in quantità e qualità) viene prima. Le opportunità, le posizioni, le promozioni sono solo la conseguenza.

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Nicky Whiffin @nickywhiffin.bsky.social · 02/03/2025

A few weeks ago, I had an incredibly emotional call with James Coney, a writer for the Sunday Times whose son Charlie was in the @genomicsengland.bsky.social 100k project and was recently diagnosed with ReNU syndrome. This beautiful article tells their story ❤️ www.thetimes.com/article/0bcc...

thetimes.com

My son Charlie — and the breakthrough that changed our lives

James Coney and his wife, Sarah, struggled not knowing why their 12-year-old was born with a severe learning disability. In their darkest moments, they blamed themselves. Then, out of the blue, came a...

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BWJones @bwjones.bsky.social · 27/02/2025

By @katherinejwu.com "The NIH... supported 99 percent of the drugs approved in the U.S. from 2010 to 2019. The agency has had a hand in “nearly all of our major medical breakthroughs over the past several decades,” The NIH is in a struggle for its (and our) lives. This is existential to America:

theatlantic.com

Inside the Collapse at NIH

Administration officials pressured NIH to avoid clear advice from the agency’s own lawyers to restart grant funding now.

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Benedetta Bolognesi @bennibolo.bsky.social · 27/02/2025

Gosh - I thought somebody was pitching this to you!

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Benedetta Bolognesi @bennibolo.bsky.social · 27/02/2025

Aaah. You’ve got the answer. Does that only say “cool scientist and idea - no time” or is it a massive red flag!? Can the idea matter way more? I think so. But then fix your f**g image.

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IBEC | Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia @ibecbarcelona.eu · 26/02/2025

⏰ Deadline alert! 🔴 Last week to submit abstracts & get early bird registration for the 8th Mutational Scanning Symposium! Join experts in genomics, protein science & precision medicine to discuss cutting-edge variant interpretation #VariantEffect25 🔗 events.ibecbarcelona.eu/mutational-s...

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Atlas of Variant Effects Alliance @varianteffect.bsky.social · 25/02/2025

The 8th Annual Mutational Scanning Symposium is just around the corner! #VariantEffect25 What we are looking forward to: 🗣️Great talks! 🛠️Workshops! 🏆Poster session and awards! 🌏Amazing community! ⌛️March 1st deadline for abstracts!

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Atlas of Variant Effects Alliance @varianteffect.bsky.social · 18/02/2025

Register soon to receive the early bird rate! Mutational Scanning Symposium "Mapping and Modelling Variant Effects at Scale" #VariantEffect25 🗓️ May 21-23, 2025 📍Barcelona (or online) ℹ️ www.varianteffect.org/mss2025

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Benedetta Bolognesi @bennibolo.bsky.social · 31/01/2025

👇👇 check this out for exciting+impactful science in a great working environment. 💻☀️

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