iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

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Dr. Michael D. L. Johnson @copperbae.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

Happy to share the news that I have received the University of Arizona 2026 Graduate Teaching and Mentoring Award universityevents.arizona.edu/person/micha...

universityevents.arizona.edu

Michael D. L. Johnson

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Sergey Ovchinnikov @sokrypton.org · 15/08/2026

getting close to recreating Jane Richardson's style 😎

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Lindsay🧠 @neuromelody.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

Best news ever- I have finally earned my PhD in Neuroscience!!🧠 My thesis was completed in the lab of Dr. Gregory Corder @flybottleescape.bsky.social & is titled: “Opioidergic Organization of the Nociceptive Medial Thalamus & A Behavioral Model of Placebo Analgesia”

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Quentin Smith @qmsmith.bsky.social · 29/06/2026

My fellow colleague Alba (@svnddlsns.bsky.social) and I had the pleasure of hosting the 2026 GRS for Single Molecule Approaches to Biology in Switzerland 🇨🇭☀️!

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Quentin Smith @qmsmith.bsky.social · 06/07/2026

Thanks Valda! It was great to have you around 😊

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Oli Clarke @olibclarke.bsky.social · 04/07/2026

Pseudosymmetry in the wild 🙃🌻

Cluster of yellow Bird’s-foot trefoil flowers with almost six-fold symmetry.

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Korak Ray @korakray.bsky.social · 18/06/2026

The first paper from my postdoc, looking at how tension activates DNA cleavage by the endonuclease ANKLE1, is out in @narjournal.bsky.social. ANKLE1 processes ultrafine bridges, persisting linkages between chromosomes that can lead to catastrophic DNA ruptures. (1/3) doi.org/10.1093/nar/...

Two panels showing ANKLE1 cleavage of DNA held between optically trapped beads. The left shows slow cleavage at low tension, and the right shows fast cleavage at high tension.

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Quentin Smith @qmsmith.bsky.social · 29/06/2026

Finally the Mentorship Session had panelists across science, including: @valdavinson.bsky.social @timcraggs.bsky.social @esisamakis.bsky.social @sulianamanley.bsky.social They all provided excellent insight into careers across biophysics including publishing, industry and academia.

Mentorship component with panelists Valda Vinson, Evangelos Sisimakis, Tim Craggs and Suliana Manley from left to right.

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Quentin Smith @qmsmith.bsky.social · 29/06/2026

The two day experience had lots of talks and poster sessions with our peers with some time to wonder and enjoy the views around Les Diablerets!

Sunny Switzerland, path in Les Diablerets with river on the right and mountains in the back. Pretty clear skies too.

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Quentin Smith @qmsmith.bsky.social · 29/06/2026

We kicked off the event with our Keynote Speaker @sulianamanley.bsky.social who explored mitochondrial biology using super resolution and SMART microscopy, she also gave us advice on progressing through our early careers by embracing failures and broadening our scopes for opportunities.

Prof Suliana Manley presenting her Keynote Lecture in a conference room.

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Quentin Smith @qmsmith.bsky.social · 29/06/2026

My fellow colleague Alba (@svnddlsns.bsky.social) and I had the pleasure of hosting the 2026 GRS for Single Molecule Approaches to Biology in Switzerland 🇨🇭☀️!

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Pablo Alcón @palconh.bsky.social · 23/06/2026

Join us! Postdoc position (2-3 years) in our lab @molbiolau.bsky.social Looking for candidates with experience in cell culture, genome editing, biochemistry, and/or structural biology. Application opens in August via AU's system but informal enquiries by email are welcome from now. (1/2)

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Eugene Valkov @eugenevalkov.bsky.social · 23/06/2026

#cryoem folks- we keep seeing this popping up in 2d classes. Sample is a recombinant complex from insect cells

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Tobias Warnecke @tobiaswarnecke.bsky.social · 11/06/2026

Archaea the hornets of the microbial world. Discuss. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... TLDR: Archaeon kills bacterium with secreted phospholipase. Pretty nifty way to kill bacteria if you are a microbe with a very different lipid make-up, I reckon. No need to worry about accidentally killing yourself.

biorxiv.org

A Bactericidal Phospholipase from Archaea

Archaea kill bacteria, at least on occasion. The molecular underpinnings of these lethal interactions are barely understood. Here, we describe cinquedea, an α/β hydrolase secreted by the halophilic ar...

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Yasmin Hurd, PhD @neurovoice.bsky.social · 18/05/2026

Huge congratulations to @ashleyonthebrain.bsky.social on her successful thesis defense 🥳 It has been a joy to serve on her thesis committee alongside @dr-autumnivy.bsky.social. We are glad to have you in the community of Black women neuroscientists, Ashley! 🧠✨

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Yiliang Ding @yiliangding.bsky.social · 19/05/2026

Ding lab in 2026❤️Continue growing❤️ @johninnescentre.bsky.social

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Sholto David @sholtodavid.bsky.social · 17/05/2026

Surprised to discover that Thermo Fisher appears to show a fake western blot for the validation of one of their p53 antibodies. I've added a diagram to show the very similar bands. This does not appear to be one of the "published figures" but their own internal data.

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RCSB Protein Data Bank @rcsbpdb.bsky.social · 16/05/2026

Try this new online training game from Leandro F. Estrozi designed for newcomers in structural biology, with a focus on cryo-EM and cryo-ET map interpretation: rico.ibs.fr/helixplo...

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Nucleic Acids Research @narjournal.bsky.social · 15/05/2026

Congratulations to Della Syau and the Farnung Lab @lucas.farnunglab.com on this outstanding work!

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Nucleic Acids Research @narjournal.bsky.social · 15/05/2026

⭐ #NARBreakthrough! ⭐ New #cryo-EM study reveals how #transcription factor IWS1 promotes #RNApolII #elongation. Its C-terminus contains #modularmotifs that bind elongation components, stabilizing the complex. IWS1 also competes with #RECQL5 for Pol II binding. 📖 Read here: doi.org/10.1093/nar/...

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Hanjin Liu @liu-hanjin.bsky.social · 09/05/2026

Job navigation in table view, searchable tags, 3D mesh optimized for masks, and many more features! 👉👉👉 github.com/hanjinliu/hi... Let's make our RELION directory a better place.

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Valérie Lamour @valeroche.bsky.social · 08/05/2026

Registration is opened for the FASEB conference DNA Topoisomerases in Biology and Medicine ! July 20th-23rd 2026, Nashville, TN Abstract Submission Deadline: Monday, May 25, 2026 Early Registration Deadline: Monday, June 8, 2026 #DNATopSRC John Nitiss, Valerie Lamour & Keir Neuman

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Giulia Palermo @giuliapalermo.bsky.social · 08/05/2026

Excited to co-organize the @keystonesymposia.bsky.social on Integrative Structural Biology with Alex De Marco @NewYorkStructuralBiology and Niccolò Banterle @embl.org! ⭐️Stellar speakers & keynote by @fraserlab.com! keystonesymposia.org/conferences/... RETWEET&APPLY #KSStructuralBio27 #CryoEM #AI

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Sebastian S. Cocioba @atinygreencell.bsky.social · 08/05/2026

55 stars on GitHub for SpliceCraft! Thank you all so much for the interest. Gonna make y'all proud.

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Lucas Farnung @lucas.farnunglab.com · 08/05/2026

The Farnung Lab is looking for postdoctoral researchers interested in understanding mechanisms at the intersection of chromatin, transcription, and replication. Find out more here: www.farnunglab.com

farnunglab.com

Contact — Farnung Lab

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Alister Burt @alisterburt.bsky.social · 04/05/2026

tl;dr: MissAlignment learns to score misalignment then wiggles your alignments around to reduce that misalignment -> no more misalignment = high res STA 🌟 Watching @martenchaillet.bsky.social chip away at this was a real privilege! I’m excited to see this out and what you all will do with it 🙃

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MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology @mrclmb.ac.uk · 29/04/2026

Congratulations to @lapassmore.bsky.social, Joint Head of the LMB’s Structural Studies Division, who has been elected an international member of @nationalacademies.org Congratulations to #LMBalumni Andrea Brand who has also been elected. Read more: mrclmb.ac.uk/news-events/... #LMBNews

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MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology @mrclmb.ac.uk · 29/04/2026

Re-entering the research field after a long break can be difficult. That’s why the LMB has introduced the Career Returner Fellowship: a 3-year, fully-funded postdoc placement to rebuild career momentum and reignite scientific ambitions. Applications open until 17th May. mrclmb.ac.uk/careers-and-...

Three-year funded postdoctoral fellowship for scientists returning after a 12-month career break, deadline May 17, 2026.

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Karolin Luger @nucleosomepolice.bsky.social · 28/04/2026

New work from Sashi Weerawarana on how TFAM compacts mitochondrial DNA 🧬 TFAM oligomerizes on DNA to form compact, homogeneous higher-order complexes (see beautiful mass photometry data below), that still retain dynamic behavior. Congratulations Sashi and Wei. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

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MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology @mrclmb.ac.uk · 27/04/2026

🚨 Applications are open for our Rising Talent Fellowship! Thinking of applying but have questions? Join our webinar today at 1pm to find out more. Hear from LMB Group Leaders and current Fellows. 👉 Register here: ow.ly/JggH50YQr3x

Promotional banner for Rising Talent Fellowship offering a three-year postdoctoral training for Black heritage scientists with a May 2026 deadline.

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Aga Gambus @agagambus.bsky.social · 24/04/2026

Congratulations to Dr Tianyi Zhang and Dr Layara Abiko@layaraabiko.bsky.social, who are recipients of Career Development Awards from Wellcome Trust. www.birmingham.ac.uk/news/2026/su...

birmingham.ac.uk

Success for Birmingham researchers in Wellcome Career Development Awards - University of Birmingham

Researchers at the University of Birmingham have been successful in the most recent round of the Wellcome Career Development Awards.

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MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology @mrclmb.ac.uk · 22/04/2026

A massive congratulations to @nicfarmer.bsky.social, Race Equality Lead at the LMB, who has achieved their CMI Level 6 Diploma in Professional Management and Leadership Practice, with a focus on leading EDI in an organisational context 👏 Read more: mrclmb.ac.uk/news-events/... #LMBNews

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Kelvin Lau @klausenhauser on 🙅‍♂️🐘🪡 @klausenhauser.bsky.social · 22/04/2026

Calling all xray structure folks that have worked with denovo proteins. Do you suffer from high rfactors? Myself, someone else I know and now multiple structures all seem to suffer from this. Assuming we all tried our best in model building, what could be some causes?

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MwahahahahahadScientist @mads100tist.bsky.social · 22/04/2026

Intrusive thought: Start another project

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Sonja Schmid @scisonja.bsky.social · 20/04/2026

PhD's & postdocs: dont miss the GRS partner conference, organized by @qmsmith.bsky.social & #AlbaGómez-Segalàs with lots of interaction opportunities and career mentorship: ⏰ June 27-28, 2026 🌍 Swiss Alpes (✈️ Geneva) ✅ APPLY now: deadline May 30. www.grc.org/single-molec...

grc.org

2026 Single Molecule Approaches to Biology (GRS) Seminar GRC

The 2026 Gordon Research Seminar on Single Molecule Approaches to Biology (GRS) will be held in Les Diablerets, Vaud (fr) Switzerland. Apply today to reserve your spot.

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Sonja Schmid @scisonja.bsky.social · 20/04/2026

Don't miss the #GordonConference on 𝑺𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒍𝒆-𝒎𝒐𝒍𝒆𝒄𝒖𝒍𝒆 𝑨𝒑𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝑩𝒊𝒐𝒍𝒐𝒈𝒚, organized by #KevinWelsher & me: ⏰ June 28 - July 3, 2026 🌍 in the Swiss Alpes (✈️ Geneva) ✅ APPLY now: deadline May 31. We're 75% booked: register today & be there! 🙌 🕳️ 🧬🧪🧫 🔬🟩🟥🟩🟥🏋️‍♀️💥🪤 🍩 ... you get it... 😁

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Oli Clarke @olibclarke.bsky.social · 18/04/2026

Has anyone had any luck using CDART from NCBI lately? It used to work really well for exploring domain architectures, but now seems broken... I guess InterPro is the closest replacement? www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Structure/le...

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

CDART: New Query

Search for Similar Architectures

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LUMICKS @lumicks.bsky.social · 14/04/2026

A new #Nature study from the Rueda and @alicepyne.bsky.social labs identifies the molecular mechanism of DNA supercoiling in CRISPR–Cas9 off-target activity. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

nature.com

Structural basis of supercoiling-induced CRISPR–Cas9 off-target activity - Nature

Cas9 structures explain topology sensing and off-target activation.

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Florent Waltz @florentwaltz.bsky.social · 06/04/2026

Spent too much time in situ and forgot the level of detail you get with SPA 🍩 #cryoEM

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Ira Blader @bladerlab.bsky.social · 01/04/2026

PIs/group leaders, what was the most important aspect of the first paper your lab published 1️⃣ Establishing the lab's identity 2️⃣ Communicating an important discovery 3️⃣ Completing a project started as a postdoc 4️⃣ Other 📊 Show results

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Eddie Rollins @eddierollins.bsky.social · 30/03/2026

Some of my PhD work is now out in Nature! www.nature.com/articles/s41... Investigating the structural basis of off‑target Cas9 binding to supercoiled DNA with #AFM & cryo-EM. From my time in the lab of @alicepyne.bsky.social, in collaboration with @qmsmith.bsky.social and the team at the MRC LMS.

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Quentin Smith @qmsmith.bsky.social · 30/03/2026

We turned DNA minicircles into diamond rings with Cas9 and uncovered mechanisms behind supercoiling induced Cas9 off-targeting! 🧬⭕️💍 Check out this thread that summaries the key findings! 🧵 bsky.app/profile/qmsm...

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Nature @nature.com · 30/03/2026

Nature research paper: Structural basis of supercoiling-induced CRISPR–Cas9 off-target activity go.nature.com/4t39bk8

go.nature.com

Structural basis of supercoiling-induced CRISPR–Cas9 off-target activity - Nature

Cas9 structures explain topology sensing and off-target activation.

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