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Schiracha (Schirra)

@schiracha.bsky.social
284 followers 415 following 593 posts

Former Naval Officer. #Biophysics and #Virology #Postdoc. Experience in #education, #outreach, #teambuilding, and project management. Cliffe Lab, University of Virginia. Ideas are my own & do not represent my lab/organization #cryoEM #teamtomo

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Schiracha (Schirra) @schiracha.bsky.social · 6h
When you say "the function of this protein is... ONE THING" I'm sorry, you're just wrong. Instead "We know the protein does this ONE THING, so there is still much to be discovered because every protein interacts with other things in its environment and has many different potential interactions"
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Schiracha (Schirra) @schiracha.bsky.social · 7h
Yes! More #protocol papers. Because, you know damn well, a 2 paragraph "method" with 8 citations starting from 1995 and going to 2025 is not only impossible to reproduce, it still manages to forget that BME works but DTT doesn't. This (right here) is how you #DoBetter in #Science
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Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research @mpipz.bsky.social · 11h
📣Paper Alert! 🥳 A new study @cp-cell.bsky.social from the Schulze-Lefert group @mpipz.bsky.social reveals how Arabidopsis adapts its iron acquisition strategy to soil pH, using coumarins & bacterial pathways to access this essential nutrient. 👏 👉 bit.ly/4yEU9Em #plantsci www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...
cell.com
Arabidopsis uses distinct coumarins and bacterial pathways for pH-adaptive iron acquisition
Arabidopsis coordinates Fe acquisition with its root microbiota by releasing distinct coumarin chemotypes in response to environmental pH. These root-exuded specialized metabolites interact with root-...
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Jennifer Ouellette @jenlucpiquant.bsky.social · 7h
An experimental tour-de-force: Entanglement between glass bead and light arstechnica.com/science/2026...
arstechnica.com
An experimental tour-de-force: Entanglement between glass bead and light
Getting a glass bead to act like a quantum object by entangling it with light.
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Marco Mauri @marcomauri.bsky.social · 7h
🚨 In 1h, at 15:30 EU, Marco Cosentino Lagomarsino (University of Milano and IFOM) will present the talk Ribosomal growth laws, beyond bacteria at the Population Dynamics Seminars. Subscription sites.google.com/view/popdyn/
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Schiracha (Schirra) @schiracha.bsky.social · 7h
So right fucking now is the time to write a couple #grants that support this claim by real #scientists and when the #evidence comes back that the #virus is much worse, #publish proactively before the pseudo scientists get ahead of this. And go!
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Schiracha (Schirra) @schiracha.bsky.social · 17h
**puts typo in the word language ** Posting without glasses is like driving while intoxicated, kids... only on your own property when no one else is around otherwise it's frowned upon and very dangerous
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Schiracha (Schirra) @schiracha.bsky.social · 18h
Realizing I am much better at the theory, principles and technical languagehl than the bench. I am just going to introduce myself as a Philosopher of Biophysics from now on. Then when I break more glassware, I can claim I had a stroke of genius and run away.
static.klipy.com
Michael Scott Declares Bankruptcy in The Office
ALT: Michael Scott Declares Bankruptcy in The Office
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Schiracha (Schirra) @schiracha.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
Come at me bro.
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Vytaute Boreikaite @vytaute.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
I’m very excited to share my postdoc work in the @plaschkalab.bsky.social, where we investigated the very final act of splicing – spliceosome termination, revealing the stepwise dismantling of the spent spliceosome www.nature.com/articles/s41... (1/11)
nature.com
Mechanism of spliceosome termination - Nature
A coordinated sequence of RNA helicases and associated factors dismantles normal and defective spliceosome complexes to enable intron degradation and ensure accurate gene expression.
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Schiracha (Schirra) @schiracha.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
www.facebook.com/share/v/1BjL...
facebook.com
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Schiracha (Schirra) @schiracha.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Exactly what I was looking for for my structure lecture next month. Now to see if it actually works
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Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA) @istaresearch.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Do bacteria have sex? ISTA scientists @pavelpayne.bsky.social and Călin Guet have uncovered a process resembling sexual reproduction that occurs when the gut bacterium E. coli is close to starvation. Read more: ista.ac.at/en/news/bact...
ista.ac.at
Bacterial Immunity—or a Form of Sex?
How do bacteria adapt when resources run low? ISTA researchers have found that, under starvation stress, E. coli can use bacteriophages and CRISPR-Cas immunity to transfer and incorporate DNA, acceler...
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Javier del Campo @fonamental.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
An atlas of eukaryotic centromere architecture reveals recurrent evolutionary dynamics #protists www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
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Schiracha (Schirra) @schiracha.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
static.klipy.com
Oppenheimer: J. Robert Oppenheimer Walking
ALT: Oppenheimer: J. Robert Oppenheimer Walking
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Schiracha (Schirra) @schiracha.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Oh yes. My favorite greeting is "Hello Random, " because my name is Randall. I turn off autocorrect in settigns and just have to right click all the words underlined with little red squiggles because I dont want to call people by some random word after getting called "Random" myself several times.
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Schiracha (Schirra) @schiracha.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
There seems to be a spreading misconception that systems are intentional or almost 'designed' and this is not the case. Its extremely important to be careful with our #language when speaking to students as they internalize these concepts rapidly and lean into them. #scientists and #educators
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Schiracha (Schirra) @schiracha.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Speaking about #biochemical reactions with intention is common and I would argue its fine as long as you understand that there really is no intention of a #subcellular process. A #virus has no intention, neither does a cell. They react together under given conditions because of underlyimg #physics.
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Banned Books Week @bannedbooksweek.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
TODAY! Don't miss the spotlight on Buffalo Fluffalo writer and honorary chair Bess Kalb, led by youth honorary chairs Marshall Romero and Azeemah Sadiq. 2pm ET ala-events.zoom.us/webinar/regi... #BannedBooksWeek #LetBooksBe
Spotlight on Bess Kalb (Buffalo Fluffalo series with Erin Kraan). With Youth Honorary Chairs Marshall Romero and Azeemah Sadiq. October 5, 2026. 2pm ET. Register: bit.ly/bess-kalb. Banned Books Week. BannedBooksWeek.org
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The New York Times @nytimes.com · 03/10/2026
In @nytopinion.nytimes.com As the UN General Assembly embraced “blustering speeches and endless unread communiqués,” our columnist Lydia Polgreen says, Zohran Mamdani seems to be “offering an antidote to globe-spanning distemper. To restore faith in institutions, you must begin from the bottom up.”
nyti.ms
Opinion | Zohran Mamdani Is Showing the World How It’s Done
The New York City mayor has an antidote to globe-spanning distemper.
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Alondra Nelson @alondra.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
In the Biden administration, l led the team that developed what was arguably the first White House “AI safety” framework, the AI Bill of Rights. David Robinson, author of this forthright and sobering essay about risk culture at OpenAI and in Silicon Valley was on that team.
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Jennifer Ouellette @jenlucpiquant.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Milt Windler, NASA flight director who helped save Apollo 13, dies at 94 arstechnica.com/space/2026/1...
arstechnica.com
Milt Windler, NASA flight director who helped save Apollo 13, dies at 94
Milt Windler, one of the leaders of Mission Control who directed the effort to bring the Apollo 13 astronauts back to Earth safely, has died.
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Addgene @addgene.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
On this day 75 years ago, Henrietta Lacks died of aggressive cervical cancer. She left behind a husband, five children, and a sample of her cancer cells — taken without her knowledge — that had already begun to replicate independently in a lab. Thread 🧵👇 (1/8) #HenriettaLacks #HeLa #Bioethics
A black and white photograph of Henrietta Lacks, cropped from the waist up. She is a young Black woman smiling at the camera, wearing a collared coat and lipstick with her hair pinned up.
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RCSB Protein Data Bank @rcsbpdb.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
How X-rays and crystals revealed the true nature of things The story behind the 100-year-old discovery that continues to render Nobel Prizes.
nobelprize.org
How X-rays and crystals revealed the true nature of things - NobelPrize.org
The story behind the 100-year-old discovery that continues to render Nobel Prizes.
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Sean Carroll @seanmcarroll.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
I do think philosophy as a discipline has dramatically underperformed at answering the question “When would an artificial system qualify as conscious?” Should have nailed that one long before it became a practical issue.
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Schiracha (Schirra) @schiracha.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
I thunk Vegas is part of mega Denver. I do support the dome idea . The Truman show will kill
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Schiracha (Schirra) @schiracha.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
The guilty feeling of taking a non-conference #vacation defeated thanks to this little #adventurer who climbed rabbit ears and fish creek falls in Steamboat #Colorado
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Arnaud Vanden Broeck @avbroeck.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Very happy to share the first paper from our lab, out now in Nature Communications!🎉🥳 Structural basis of step II Spliced Leader RNA trans-splicing in trypanosomatid parasites 🧬🔬 🔗 www.nature.com/articles/s41... @natcomms.nature.com @universitedeliege.bsky.social @rockefeller.edu #cryoEM #cryo-EM
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Schiracha (Schirra) @schiracha.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
More of this!
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Vasilii Mikirtumov @vasiliimikirtumov.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
to keep the channels fully intact, we have purified sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) vesicles directly from the native muscle tissue (completely detergent-free). and then we did tomography ofc, look at these beautiful RyR1 arrays sitting on the vesicle surfaces!
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David Solecki @so-lets-kilab70.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Georgios Skiniotis and I are announce a unique St. Jude faculty search: a joint effort between the CoE for Structural Cell Biology an intellectual community advancing structural imaging & the Division of Neuronal Cell Biology. CryoET/vEM + neuron cell biology = 🚀 talent.stjude.org/careers/JobD...
talent.stjude.org
Faculty position, Neuronal Cell Biology and Cryo-ET/vEM
Department of Developmental NeurobiologyCenter of Excellence for Structural Cell Biology and Neuronal Cell Biology DivisionSt. Jude Children’s Research HospitalThe Center of Excellence for...
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cryoEM papers @cryoempapers.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
On-grid enrichment strategies in cryo-EM: affinity-functionalized supports for low-abundance and challenging targets pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42781870/ #cryoEM
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Cedric Feschotte @cedricfeschotte.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Thrilled to see this published today! Truly special because we made the initial discovery >15 yrs ago! We found two copies of a human gene called BC200 embedded in a human poxvirus. BC200 blurs the line between gene & transposon—both functional & mutagenic! www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... 🧵1/n
science.org
Escape of the BC200 gene to a human poxvirus reveals its persistent transposition in primates
Transposable elements mobilize within and occasionally between genomes, including from host to virus. We identified two insertions of the human BC200 noncoding RNA gene in the poxvirus molluscum conta...
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Sjors Scheres @sjorsscheres.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Over the last week I have had separate discussions with three people being disillusioned by how bad their colleagues are at their job. Large organizations seem worse. I wonder whether having line managers work together with their people, instead of just leading from above, is a good solution.
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Schiracha (Schirra) @schiracha.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Repost with your favorite version of James Bond. Wrong answers only.
static.klipy.com
Christian Bale as Batman
ALT: Christian Bale as Batman
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Schiracha (Schirra) @schiracha.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
...in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility, provide a common defense and promote the general welfare.. Its in the preamble not the constitution, so it doesnt matter...
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Schiracha (Schirra) @schiracha.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Total external reflectance microscopy Its sort of like "vegetative electron microscopy"
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Schiracha (Schirra) @schiracha.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
I feel like the onion has had to get increasingly ridiculous and less political as politics has become so unbelievable
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Korak Ray @korakray.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
🚨Preprint news!!🚨 Using specifically purified mitotic chromosomes, we show that chromosome mechanics vary based on identity and cell type. Chromosomes from differentiated cells are more compact and stiffer, likely due to increased non-covalent crosslinks within them www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
biorxiv.org
Individual mouse mitotic chromosomes exhibit cell type-specific differences in biomechanical properties
Cyclic episodes of chromosome compaction and de-condensation are features of eukaryotic cell division that aid mitotic segregation and help prevent aneuploidy. While biophysical data on mitotic chromo...
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Jenna Norton @jenna-m-norton.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
As you call members of Congress to raise concern about a Vought-led grant review panel, encourage them to sign onto proposed legislation that could help: 1) Follow the Science Act by @degette.house.gov would remove political appointees from the grant-making process: www.congress.gov/bill/119th-c...
congress.gov
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Schiracha (Schirra) @schiracha.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Ask both what your country can do for your and what you can do for your country. If you can lead a lab, you can lead a community. Vote blue in November to rescue democracy and consider running for local offices. The best way to change the system is to be the system. - Veteran and scientist.
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ACLU @aclu.org · 22/09/2026
Taxpayers are footing the bill for President Trump's radical anti-immigrant agenda. Our government must prioritize investing in working families over ICE raids and more militarization of our communities.
Brown graphic reading "Instead of spending $268,999,966,016 or $2,358 per taxpayer, the U.S. could fund:..." with a list of things that could be funded instead, including school teachers, firefighters, and people on medicaid
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Nature @nature.com · 22/09/2026
The device can image materials as low as about -266 degrees Celsius for 30 hours or more go.nature.com/4yfed06
go.nature.com
This super-cold microscope could spur a quantum revolution
The instrument, which operates near absolute zero for hours, will soon ship to a few labs. Researchers are thrilled.
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Mark Peifer (He, him) @peiferlabunc.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
@ascbiology.bsky.social Have you spoken up?
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Schiracha (Schirra) @schiracha.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
After my postdoc I will likely go back to teach high school. As someone who thoroughly enjoys teaching at that level, I feel like its becoming more and more necessary. The education system is being dismantled. Good science teachers are hard to come by in rural America. Rebuild the foundation
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Schiracha (Schirra) @schiracha.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Oh no! Don't tell Florida man that science can save the plants from disease! The radical left fake news is trying to trick them into gain of function research, it couldn't possibly be that a higher level of understanding of underlying biology leads to solutions that benefit mankind! 😨
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Schiracha (Schirra) @schiracha.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
A good case study for peak evolutionary niche filling? Can this species adapt to environmental challenges over reasonable time scales?
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Harmit Singh Malik @harmitmalik.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Amazing work
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Schiracha (Schirra) @schiracha.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Exactly. If is malfunctioning, and "going against its instructions", that's bad programming. Code can only do what code what built to do.
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The Onion @theonion.com · 21/09/2026
Congress Sends Unemployed Americans 40 Million Boxes Of Saltwater Taffy From Vacation theonion.com/congress-sends-unemplo…
Congress Sends Unemployed Americans 40 Million Boxes Of Saltwater Taffy From Vacation
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