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Elisa Franco

@francolab.bsky.social
958 followers 326 following 41 posts

Franco Lab @UCLA Exploring how to program dynamic behaviors in biological self-assembly 💡✨ We’re harnessing DNA and RNA to build smart, adaptive materials 🔬🧬 #Biomaterials #DNA #RNA

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Elisa Franco @francolab.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
Baga secretis 😂
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Reposted by Elisa Franco
Global Museum @globalmuseum.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
This 1679 “Sabionari” Stradivarius is the only playable guitar by Antonio Stradivari left in this world.🤗 So take just a moment to hear a sound that’s well over 300 years old! @55SweetThing #globalmuseum #music #guitar #Stradivarius
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Nature Nanotechnology @natnano.nature.com · 11/06/2026
dlvr.it
Programmable RNA nanostar condensates in cells
Nature Nanotechnology, Published online: 11 June 2026; doi:10.1038/s41565-026-02178-1Highly tunable RNA-based synthetic condensates can be designed and engineered in mammalian cells.
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Elisa Franco @francolab.bsky.social · 29/04/2026
There are exciting opportunities to harness our RNA droplets for cellular regulation, as modular recruitment domains incorporated into the nanostars enable selective recruitment of target RNA molecules.
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Elisa Franco @francolab.bsky.social · 29/04/2026
Through RNA sequence design we built up to three distinct types of RNA droplets that can be expressed simultaneously and do not mix. With linker RNA motifs, we organized spatially these distinct droplets to form multi-phase compartments.
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Elisa Franco @francolab.bsky.social · 29/04/2026
We can control where RNA droplets form (nucleus vs cytoplasm) by tuning design parameters of the nanostars (arm length, arm number, loop bonds), with large and “sticky” nanostars preferentially creating nuclear compartments.
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Elisa Franco @francolab.bsky.social · 29/04/2026
We produced micrometer-sized RNA viscoelastic compartments formed by RNA “nanostars”, motifs that fold from a single short RNA molecule (120-300 nt) and interact through loop-loop bonds. Building on previous work with @dimichelelab1.bsky.social www.nature.com/articles/s41...
nature.com
Modular RNA motifs for orthogonal phase separated compartments - Nature Communications
Protein and RNA-based condensates have emerged as biologically important alternatives to classical membrane-bound organelles. Here the authors design pure RNA condensates from nanostructured, star-sha...
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Elisa Franco @francolab.bsky.social · 29/04/2026
RNA is more than genetic information: it can be a tool for cellular architects. In our new paper, we engineer RNA motifs to physically reorganize intracellular space in living mammalian cells. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
nature.com
Programmable artificial RNA condensates in mammalian cells - Nature Nanotechnology
Modular RNA nanostar motifs spontaneously assemble into programmable synthetic condensates in the nucleus and cytoplasm, with RNA design controlling localization, sequence-specific target recruitment ...
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Elisa Franco @francolab.bsky.social · 03/03/2026
Particularly proud that the paper includes five undergraduate students from UCLA & Pasadena City College!
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Elisa Franco @francolab.bsky.social · 03/03/2026
🧬 DNA nanostars are great way to build biomolecular condensates. Add an aptamer and you can build "host condensates" that recruit & release targets. But where should the aptamer go? We show that there are several great options in our new @nanoscale-journals.rsc.org paper pubs.rsc.org/en/content/a...
pubs.rsc.org
Molecular recruitment and release using DNA host condensates
Artificial biomolecular condensates are a promising tool to achieve spatial self-organization in active materials and synthetic cells. DNA branched motifs known as nanostars are a particularly versati...
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Elisa Franco @francolab.bsky.social · 18/02/2026
Congrats this is super cool!
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Omar Saleh @oasaleh.bsky.social · 18/02/2026
New from us in @pnas.org : We considered the limits of condensate diversity, and engineered DNA droplets to form 9 distinct, homotypic, coexisting phases. Very hard to do this except with nucleic acids. Probably you can make more than 9. (1/3)
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Elisa Franco @francolab.bsky.social · 09/12/2025
Some good news today, let's hope other countries follow suit! www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...
theguardian.com
Australia’s world-first social media ban begins as millions of children and teens lose access to accounts
Accounts held by users under 16 must be removed on apps that include TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, X, YouTube, Snapchat, Reddit, Kick, Twitch and Threads under ban
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Elisa Franco @francolab.bsky.social · 29/09/2025
Fatto - buona corsa!
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Elisa Franco @francolab.bsky.social · 25/09/2025
NIH award reinstated 🧬 happy to be able to continue our work!
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Elisa Franco @francolab.bsky.social · 03/09/2025
Come learn about UCLA research projects that have been suspended under the Trump administration, and why they matter for all of us. 🧪 Wednesday, Sept 10 | 11:30 AM – 1:30 PM 📍 Northwest corner of Westwood & Le Conte
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Elisa Franco @francolab.bsky.social · 13/08/2025
Thank you Diana for including us in your beautiful project!
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Di Michele Lab @dimichelelab1.bsky.social · 13/08/2025
Thrilled to share this new Adv. Sci. paper by @dianatanase.bsky.social with Dino Osmanovic @rogerrubiosanchez.bsky.social @laylamalouf.bsky.social @francolab.bsky.social. We demonstrate a modular approach to program internal phase separation in DNA condensates 1/n doi.org/10.1002/advs...
doi.org
Internal Phase Separation in Synthetic DNA Condensates
The modular, programmable system of DNA nanostructures developed provides programmatic control over multiphase condensate behavior, enabling mapping onto a predictive Flory-Huggins model. This combin...
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Di Michele Lab @dimichelelab1.bsky.social · 13/08/2025
Simulations by Dino Osmanovic @francolab.bsky.social, based on Flory-Huggins, map well onto the experimental trends and allowed us to establish a link between the experimental order parameter and the F-H interaction parameter. Experimental (top) and simulated (bottom) snapshots below 4/n
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Elisa Franco @francolab.bsky.social · 02/08/2025
We don't know yet. This is a disaster, with hundreds of research groups being hit at the same time. UCLA is a public school, we are very frugal as it is and our endowment is small. How to support my team keeps me awake at night...
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Elisa Franco @francolab.bsky.social · 01/08/2025
200 engineering/life science/medical grants, including my lab's NIH MIRA, have been suspended. In case you are wondering, this means immediately stop spending = stop paying salaries for students & postdocs. www.latimes.com/california/s...
latimes.com
Trump freezes $200 million in UCLA science and medical research funding, citing antisemitism
The Trump administration has frozen roughly $200 million in National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health and other federal agency-funded research at UCLA, citing allegations the school d...
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Elisa Franco @francolab.bsky.social · 26/06/2025
We demonstrated how to make and dissolve #RNA #condensates through strand displacement using synthetic genes - excited to see this new paper out in @narjournal.bsky.social Collab w/ the Andersen group @esandersen.bsky.social academic.oup.com/nar/article/...
academic.oup.com
Switchable RNA motifs for dynamic transcriptional control of RNA condensates
Abstract. RNA-driven phase separation is emerging as a promising approach for engineering biomolecular condensates with diverse functionalities. Condensate
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Elisa Franco @francolab.bsky.social · 05/06/2025
B) Some of the bands have odd “granularity” in the smears D) In lanes M2+LIC and co+S+LIC the smears look very unusual
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Tae Seok Moon @taeseokmoon.bsky.social · 31/03/2025
2025 Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Course in Synthetic Biology - apply! Deadline: April 14, 2025 Financial Aid: Stipend awards are available. Notifications: Applicants will be notified by May 15, 2025. meetings.cshl.edu/courses.aspx...
meetings.cshl.edu
Synthetic Biology
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Meetings & Courses -- a private, non-profit institution with research programs in cancer, neuroscience, plant biology, genomics, bioinformatics.
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Tom Ellis @proftomellis.bsky.social · 20/03/2025
Unlike a lot of other universities right now, we are still hiring for new faculty here at Imperial in London 🎉🚨🇬🇧🫖 If you want to come and run a research group in the theme of bioengineering then apply to be my colleague before the end of April. www.imperial.ac.uk/jobs/search-...
imperial.ac.uk
Description
Please note that job descriptions are not exhaustive, and you may be asked to take on additional duties that align with the key responsibilities ment...
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Elisa Franco @francolab.bsky.social · 18/03/2025
If you want to read more, this very engaging book walks you through his discovery process - highs and lows.
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Elisa Franco @francolab.bsky.social · 17/03/2025
Michael Faraday was the father of electromagnetism. He changed our world experiment by experiment, without any formal education, and without ever writing equations - now you can check out his original "lab books"! www.theguardian.com/science/2025...
theguardian.com
Unearthed notebooks shed light on Victorian genius who inspired Einstein
Michael Faraday’s illustrated notes that show how radical scientist began his theories at London’s Royal Institution to go online
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Jeremy Berg @jeremymberg.bsky.social · 17/03/2025
Bluetorial: Non-Competitive Renewal (Continuation) Awards Normally, multiyear NIH grants are paid with awards each year, pending administratively reviewed progress reports. “NIH” has been slow in making these awards. This has led to $1.83 B being withheld from institutions through February 2025.
media.tenor.com
a cartoon of homer simpson holding a card
ALT: a cartoon of homer simpson holding a card
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Cathleen Crudden @cathleencrudden.bsky.social · 09/03/2025
Seriously. If you are that good you shouldn’t have to work so much. Get over this BS bro culture.
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Elisa Franco @francolab.bsky.social · 06/03/2025
They replied quickly to me - that's how I learned this trick :)
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Elisa Franco @francolab.bsky.social · 06/03/2025
I had this issue too. Try with your NSF ID instead of UCLA authentication. Doesn't fix the problem but you should be able to login. Set up Google authenticator it's very easy.
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Elisa Franco @francolab.bsky.social · 02/03/2025
I've been having persistent issues logging into eRA today, anyone else?
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Eric Topol @erictopol.bsky.social · 01/03/2025
Francis Collins, the NIH Director for 12 years, led the Human Genome Project and other NIH efforts for 32 years, resigned today. Key words from his resignation letter www.nytimes.com/2025/03/01/u...
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Rahul K @theresearch.bsky.social · 23/02/2025
2025-02-23 Issue of #engineeredlivingmaterials feed: biomed.news/bims-enlima/... @biomednews.bsky.social includes, metabolite-responsive control (h/t wilfriedweber.bsky.social), light-modulated self-assembly (h/t francolab.bsky.social), single-protein quant (h/t naturemethods.bsky.social), & more 🧪
The figure is a graphical abstract of the research article titled, "Metabolite-Responsive Control of Transcription by Phase Separation-Based Synthetic Organelles". Source: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acssynbio.4c00633The figure shows schematic outline of the OLS which is a single-objective, light-sheet imaging modality that provides illumination homogeneity, a large achievable FOV and superior background fluorescence rejection. OLS is suitable for SMLM and SMT measurements. Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41592-025-02594-6The figure shows Crystal structure and elastic bending properties of bis(acetylacetonato)copper(II) ([Cu(acac)2]. Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41563-025-02133-wThe illustration is a graphical abstract and shows Light-Modulated Self-Assembly of Synthetic Nanotubes. Source: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.nanolett.4c05452
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Craig Kaplan @triggerloop.bsky.social · 22/02/2025
Deeply concerned about NSF. They fired more people than they needed and now leadership is illegally reclassifying employees as probationary. www.reuters.com/world/us/us-...
reuters.com
US science agency reclassifies hundreds of workers as probationary, US lawmaker says
National Science Foundation administrators reclassified hundreds of employees from permanent to probationary status in violation of labor contracts, according to a U.S. lawmaker and agency employee.
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Elisa Franco @francolab.bsky.social · 18/02/2025
How can complex dynamics emerge from phase-separated matter? 🤔 Simple chemical reactions can trigger periodic or chaotic behavior in dense phases! Cool simulations by Dino Osmanovic 💥 w/ support by @sloanfoundation.bsky.social #PhaseSeparation #Matter2Life journals.aps.org/pre/abstract...
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Beth Popp Berman @epopppp.bsky.social · 18/02/2025
1/ I am seeing a lot of comments on the slashing of NIH support along the lines of “universities should just spend their huge endowments.” I’m the last person to cheer on the institutional stratification rising endowments have contributed to. But let me explain why this is not a solution.
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Elisa Franco @francolab.bsky.social · 15/02/2025
Sure. Is it acceptable for someone to make tens of billions in taxpayer money and also have the authority to decide what programs/people are unnecessary or suboptimal?
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Elisa Franco @francolab.bsky.social · 14/02/2025
was it a single unelected friend infiltrating every single agency?
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Elisa Franco @francolab.bsky.social · 14/02/2025
Happy #Valentine's day with some colorful #DNA #condensates that decided to assemble into a heart ❤️ 💚 ❤️ 💚 ❤️ 💚
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Elisa Franco @francolab.bsky.social · 12/02/2025
thank you - reposted :)
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Elisa Franco @francolab.bsky.social · 12/02/2025
🚨 New Preprint Alert! 🚨 Dose-response curves measure how cells react to inputs, but what about how long the input stays high? Our latest work shows that some circuits can flip the script of temporal dose: short stimuli can trigger sustained responses & vice versa! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
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Elisa Franco @francolab.bsky.social · 07/02/2025
NIH to implement a 15% indirect cost rate. "This policy shall be applied to all current grants for go forward expenses from February 10, 2025 forward as well as for all new grants issued." Devastating for US scientific institutions. Am I understanding this right? grants.nih.gov/grants/guide...
grants.nih.gov
NOT-OD-25-068: Supplemental Guidance to the 2024 NIH Grants Policy Statement: Indirect Cost Rates
NIH Funding Opportunities and Notices in the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts: Supplemental Guidance to the 2024 NIH Grants Policy Statement: Indirect Cost Rates NOT-OD-25-068. OD
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Amy Feldman @amyfeldman7.bsky.social · 22/01/2025
If you’ve been directly impacted by a pause or cancellation of an NIH study session, we @forbes.com would like to talk to you
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Elisa Franco @francolab.bsky.social · 07/01/2025
#UCLA QCbio qcb.ucla.edu is looking for a new director! recruit.apo.ucla.edu/JPF10007 Please share
recruit.apo.ucla.edu
Director, Institute for Quantitative and Computational Biosciences
University of California, Los Angeles is hiring. Apply now!
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Erik Poppleton @poppleton.phd · 07/01/2025
Abstract submission for FNANO is now open! They’re due Feb 1! Join us at molecular programming’s annual celebration of design, interfaces and applications (and also skiing) 🧬 www.fnano.org
fnano.org
Foundations of Nanoscience
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Elisa Franco @francolab.bsky.social · 31/12/2024
Che bella animazione!
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Elisa Franco @francolab.bsky.social · 20/12/2024
I do too for the same reasons, but after scoping your ideas and getting them funded, it would be great to have time to actually do the research. We are pulled away from research by dozens of other urgent daily tasks, including more grant deadlines, reporting, admin, teaching...
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Elisa Franco @francolab.bsky.social · 20/12/2024
The article describes common frustrations for PIs - "pure academic publishing and grant-getting above all else".
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