iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Sebastian Samwald (Basti) he/him @samwalds.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

And indeed our intronised constructs were able to retain fluorescence signals better over generations. 🤩

A scientific graph showing that we encountered less loss of fluorescence over generations when using intronised constructs.

Sebastian Samwald (Basti) he/him @samwalds.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Next we used the well characterised pSCR to show how powerful intronisation can be in enhancing your signals with a tissue specific promoter. And wow, did the intronised fluorophores not disappoint. 😱

A scientific graph showing that intronised fluorophores under the pSCR promoter produce a lot more signal than intronless fluorophores

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Sebastian Samwald (Basti) he/him @samwalds.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

What is more striking is that we could even recapitulate that effect when comparing independent T1 Arabidopsis plants in such a clear way. (red marks intronised constructs in T1 plants, blue marks intronless constructs in T1 plants)

A screenshot of a Westernblot.
It demonstrates that one can get more protein abundance by using intronised constructs.

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Sebastian Samwald (Basti) he/him @samwalds.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

And indeed we saw a further increase in fluorescence signal and protein abundance when transiently expressing these constructs in Nicotiana benthamiana. Have a look at the intronised (marked with a red i) bands in comparison to the intronless protein abundances. ✨

A scientific graph.
Showing that intronised fluorophores indeed do produce more signal than intronless constructs.

A screenshot from a Westernblot.
Demonstrating that intronised constructs produce a lot more signal.

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Sebastian Samwald (Basti) he/him @samwalds.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

One can chose a brighter fluorophore, or even triplicate the fluorophore to enhance the signal. We took it one step further and intronised our fluorophores of choice.

A graphical scheme of how non-intronised coding sequence results in some fluorophores, whilst intronised coding sequence results in more fluorophores.

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Sebastian Samwald (Basti) he/him @samwalds.bsky.social · 04/07/2026

My favourite ‘snacking whilst running’ season has kicked off ✨

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Sebastian Samwald (Basti) he/him @samwalds.bsky.social · 07/05/2026

the snacks the experiments for the with the collaborators collaborators

A plant science experimental set-up
A hand wearing a green lab coat. A green gloved hand is giving a thumbs up.

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Sebastian Samwald (Basti) he/him @samwalds.bsky.social · 17/04/2026

The “my train is delayed”-treat in the sunshine. Life could be worse 🤷‍♂️☀️

An ice cream/ice lolly held up against the background of a German train station.

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Sebastian Samwald (Basti) he/him @samwalds.bsky.social · 15/02/2026

Celebrating Karneval/Fasching by making Berliner/Krapfen at home. 🧑‍🍳🎉

A yeast based dough that has risen well in a big metal bowl.

Lots of small balls of dough placed on baking sheets.

“Doughnuts” without holes. Called Berliner/Krapfen in German.

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Sebastian Samwald (Basti) he/him @samwalds.bsky.social · 01/01/2026

Happy New Year! May all your PCRs give you only specific bands of the appropriate sizes. May your gel extraction and miniprep yields be high. May your cloning always give you at least one correct colony, and your genotyping identify the mutants you are after. ✨

A gel electrophoresis picture.
It shows DNA of different sizes.

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Sebastian Samwald (Basti) he/him @samwalds.bsky.social · 31/12/2025

In preparation for the new year, today’s task is to sort all the notes from my undergrad and Master’s degrees for the proper recycling bins. 🙃

Piles of binders with lots of paper on a floor.

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Sebastian Samwald (Basti) he/him @samwalds.bsky.social · 24/12/2025

Happy Holidays! Merry Christmas to all who celebrate! 🎄✨

Snow laden branches of bushes and a street lamp

Christmas cookies and a beautifully arranged candle

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Sebastian Samwald (Basti) he/him @samwalds.bsky.social · 09/12/2025

Some of my friends and I clearly think much too similarly. 😅

A screenshot of a whatsapp chat.
It says "tomorrow is lab cleaning day, very exciting!"

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Sebastian Samwald (Basti) he/him @samwalds.bsky.social · 27/11/2025

We just put up our eel facts advent calendar in the lab. ✨ Always happy to support initiatives such as @skypeascientist.bsky.social www.skypeascientist.com by purchasing cool merch squidfacts.bigcartel.com (Don't worry, we also have another advent calendar with chocolates.)

A colourful eel facts advent calendar attached to the glass bit of a laboratory door.

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Sebastian Samwald (Basti) he/him @samwalds.bsky.social · 20/10/2025

At least it doesn't automatically upload your PDF without your consent to the cloud... But still, I'd much prefer to not get pushed by them towards using their AI.

A screenshot from the Adobe Acrobat FAQ.
It states that the AI Assistant does not automatically process documents opened in Acrobat. The user must select the AI Assistant or generative summary icon.

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Sebastian Samwald (Basti) he/him @samwalds.bsky.social · 20/10/2025

The automatic assumption from Adobe Acrobat that I would like to have their AI "help" me read paper PDFs has driven me slightly mad. Thankfully, it is simple to turn it off. (Even if I would prefer that one would need to actively turn it on, instead of off.) helpx.adobe.com/uk/acrobat/u...

A screenshot of the preference settings in Adobe Acrobat, showing which boxes to untick so that the automatic AI gets turned off.

The AI box of Adobe Reader asking you to summarise a PDF.

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Sebastian Samwald (Basti) he/him @samwalds.bsky.social · 14/08/2025

Regular reminder: If you can, please consider donating blood. 🩸 It is always needed and often in short supply.

An arm donating blood.
There is a needle inserted and the blood is glowing out of the arm into a plastic tube.

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Sebastian Samwald (Basti) he/him @samwalds.bsky.social · 31/07/2025

🚨 new cat in the family alarm 🚨🐈‍⬛ (Sadly not in my household though 😢)

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Sebastian Samwald (Basti) he/him @samwalds.bsky.social · 31/07/2025

Happy to report, that the massive Koolasuchus, my niblings bugged me for days to build with/for them, has been interesting for a full minute after its completion. 😂

A massive paper Koolasuchus crafted out of paper.

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Sebastian Samwald (Basti) he/him @samwalds.bsky.social · 25/07/2025

I promise, I really promise, that he is super happy I’m home. Even if his facial expression is eternally grumpy.

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Sebastian Samwald (Basti) he/him @samwalds.bsky.social · 02/07/2025

Some seminars one just knows are going to be great, even before they begin. Such as this one from @stanfordstomata.bsky.social

A photo of a lecture hall.
A female professor is standing in front and is about to start a seminar talk.

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Sebastian Samwald (Basti) he/him @samwalds.bsky.social · 18/06/2025

I guess this idea of mine, to make a rainbow flan for pride, needs a bit more refinement by adjusting the colours to less blue, and more red tones. Might be worth a second attempt another day. 😉 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️🍮

A flan in very green and blue tones with some red speckles.

A slice of a coloured flan. It is mostly having a blue swirl.

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Sebastian Samwald (Basti) he/him @samwalds.bsky.social · 30/05/2025

There are a few advantages for being at an institute so far away from anything else like @mpipz.bsky.social …such as better snacks (sometimes) 🍓

Forest strawberries on the ground mixed in with other plants.

A bunch of forest strawberries growing in between other plants on the ground. They are in the sunshine.

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Sebastian Samwald (Basti) he/him @samwalds.bsky.social · 30/05/2025

Today’s rescue mission from the hallway 🐦‍⬛✅

A song bird being held in a white lab coat.

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Sebastian Samwald (Basti) he/him @samwalds.bsky.social · 22/04/2025

May I present the newest generation of egg warmers! The "Pussy Riot" edition. Certainly not created on purpose as such, but a good breakfast egg reminder to keep fighting for feminism, LGBTQIA+ rights and all human rights. ✊

A photo taken in a garden.
On a glass table are three egg holders.
On them are eggs covered with hand-crochet egg warmers.
They are pink bunnies looking grumpy and reminiscent of the masks worn by members of the punk band Pussy Riot.

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Sebastian Samwald (Basti) he/him @samwalds.bsky.social · 19/04/2025

I have to say…even I am surprised how well they turned out this year. 😊

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Sebastian Samwald (Basti) he/him @samwalds.bsky.social · 21/03/2025

I’d like to think I am quite good at stapling…and we have some really old envelopes here at the MPIPZ. I could always post it to you. For a small publishing fee of only >5000€.

The top left corner of a research paper stapled. Underneath it is a brown envelope.

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Sebastian Samwald (Basti) he/him @samwalds.bsky.social · 21/03/2025

It is real! 🤩 I can touch it (after I printed it). Huge Congrats to everyone involved! 😀

A photo of a print version of a science paper https://www.science.org/doi/epdf/10.1126/science.ado8680

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Sebastian Samwald (Basti) he/him @samwalds.bsky.social · 04/03/2025

Maybe…just maybe, I can be quite determined and persistent in the things I do. 😅😂

A partial phone screenshot.
It shows a celebratory congratulations from the Duolingo language learning app, for completing a 365 days long streak.

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Sebastian Samwald (Basti) he/him @samwalds.bsky.social · 12/01/2025

I can recommend the decision of “I need a flan” today. 🍮

A big flan on a plate.
Both are placed on the black plate of an electric stove.

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Sebastian Samwald (Basti) he/him @samwalds.bsky.social · 09/01/2025

Sunrise or greenhouse glow over the MPIPZ this morning? 🤔

A snowy landscape there is a snow filled field in the foreground.

And a thin line of trees and buildings on the horizont. On the left there is some more diffuse light visible.

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Sebastian Samwald (Basti) he/him @samwalds.bsky.social · 28/12/2024

My parents’ cats just “successfully negotiated” which one gets which cuddle spot. 🐈🐈‍⬛ One is very happy and the other one scheming the revolution. 🔄

A man in sweatpants on a narrow sofa.
There are two cats on him. One on his stomach and one between his legs.

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Sebastian Samwald (Basti) he/him @samwalds.bsky.social · 25/12/2024

Happy Holidays! May you allow yourself to keep your email programme closed! 😉

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Sebastian Samwald (Basti) he/him @samwalds.bsky.social · 20/12/2024

A few weeks ago I found a bike bag at the roadside, with a wallet, keys etc. inside. Through some google magic I found the owner, and got it back to them. I thought the story would be over after that. But now they stopped by and showered me with chocolates and wine...and I can't complain about that😜

A bunch of chocolates and a bottle of wine on a window sill

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Sebastian Samwald (Basti) he/him @samwalds.bsky.social · 06/12/2024

Are you even visiting family in Switzerland if you don’t bring them lots of stuff that’s cheaper in Germany (blue)? My own things are in orange and in my backpack. 😂

A suitcase at a railway platform with a big tote bag on top.
Most of the suitcase and bag are marked with blue, and about 1/3rd is marked with orange.

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Sebastian Samwald (Basti) he/him @samwalds.bsky.social · 12/11/2024

Content Warning: blood If you can, please consider donating blood.🩸 Grab a friend to make it a catch-up date…or like I did, grab a science friend to make it a networking/strategising meeting 😉

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Sebastian Samwald (Basti) he/him @samwalds.bsky.social · 08/11/2024

Silly question... So, when I open some papers in Adobe Acrobat, they have this horrible 'Check for updates' button on the top right corner of the first page, that prints on my physical print-outs too. 🙃 It doesn't affect readability too much, but annoys me. Does anyone know how to get rid of it? 🤔

A partial screenshot of a PDF science paper. On the top right is a 'Check for updates' button that is actually a layer above the text and therefore partially covers the text.

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Sebastian Samwald (Basti) he/him @samwalds.bsky.social · 06/11/2024

Running comforting golden gate reactions now...

A red ice bucket with a red rack in ice.
There are two tiny labelled tubes in it.

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Sebastian Samwald (Basti) he/him @samwalds.bsky.social · 01/10/2024

Applications for the Rotation PhD Programme (4 years; full funding) @John Innes Centre and @thesainsburylab.bsky.social are open now. As an alumni, I cannot recommend this highly enough! If you want to do a PhD in plant and/or microbial sciences, you need to consider applying for this!✨ t.ly/_SHRm

A poster advertising the TSL and JIC rotation PhD programme
It says:
John Innes Foundation PhD Programme
Plant and Microbial Science
Genetics
Cell Biology
Microbiology
Crop Science
Data Science
Plant Health
Biological Cehmistry
13 November application deadline
fully funded 4-year studentships
UK and international applicants

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Sebastian Samwald (Basti) he/him @samwalds.bsky.social · 29/09/2024

Organizing the CEPLAS-IPK summer school last week was great. It was an amazing event. Thanks to everyone who actively contributed and participated! #TRANSPLANTBIO #CEPLAS_IPK_SummerSchool @ceplas.bsky.social @leibnizipk.bsky.social

A group photo of a bunch of scientists standing together with a green background

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Sebastian Samwald (Basti) he/him @samwalds.bsky.social · 14/09/2024

Okay Oxford…I have to hand it to you: You can be quite pretty. 😉

A college dining hall in Oxford filled with people having dinner

A fancy Oxford college building and lawn

A double rainbow stretching to both ends

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Sebastian Samwald (Basti) he/him @samwalds.bsky.social · 29/08/2024

Donate blood 🩸 -> eat as much chocolate as possible afterwards ✅

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Sebastian Samwald (Basti) he/him @samwalds.bsky.social · 19/07/2024

Nearly stumbled over this handsome little fella 🦔❤️

A hedgehog at night on a path. Photo taken with a long exposure time, so it seems like there is more light

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Sebastian Samwald (Basti) he/him @samwalds.bsky.social · 19/05/2024

None of them want to stay in a Poké Ball to join my team. 🥲

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Sebastian Samwald (Basti) he/him @samwalds.bsky.social · 14/05/2024

The institute babies grow up so fast! ☺️

A bit of course gravel in the foreground. There are two adult Candada geese and three of their baby chicks in the middle.
The background consists of greenery and further painted white buildings.

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Sebastian Samwald (Basti) he/him @samwalds.bsky.social · 12/02/2024

In Cologne even the potholes try their best to be extra cheery during carnival. ❤️

Asphalt on a street. There is a bit of a manhole cover visible in the corner.
There is a slightly heart shaped pothole in the middle.

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Sebastian Samwald (Basti) he/him @samwalds.bsky.social · 01/01/2024

Time for an upgrade.🎒 If you’ve met me irl in the last 11 years, you probably met me with this backpack on (right), or at least it was with me in the building. It accompanied me basically everywhere. But as it is now beyond repair, it was time for a new one (left). 🤩 And to let the old one go…

Two black backpacks lying on the floor.
The right one looks older and battered.
The left one is new and still in its box.
Both are the same make, but the left one is a newer model.

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Sebastian Samwald (Basti) he/him @samwalds.bsky.social · 27/12/2023

Every year my family tries something new for Christmas. Usually it is a new cookie recipe or tree ornaments. This year it was Norovirus. We decided it gets 0 out of 10 stars ⭐️ and no recommendation. The cookies were good though, whilst we were still able to enjoy them. 🙃

A glass plate of decoratively arranged Christmas cookies.

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