iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Hans Pfalzgraf

Pujuan Poppy Deng @poppy-pujuan-deng.bsky.social · 16/04/2026

I am so excited to share our new findings with you! We provide the structural evidence for a direct protein-to-DNA information pathway, showing how a bacterial enzyme 'reads' its own structure to 'write' DNA. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

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Reposted by Hans Pfalzgraf

Ed Hutchinson @socialinfluenza.bsky.social · 17/04/2026

🚨New pre-print!🚨 Because influenza virions are highly variable in form no single method can show their molecular architecture in detail. Here, we integrate multiple structural and compositional approaches to identify new features of these beautiful virus particles www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

An illustration of an apical region of an animal cell in cross section, shown crowded with individual molecules. The plasma membrane is densely occupied by influenza virus glycoproteins, and from the surface bud influenza virions with different morphologies (L-R): spherical, bacilliform, filamentous with a genome, filamentous and empty, filamentous with a helical inner layer, and filamentous with a cofilactin cytoskeleton.

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Reposted by Hans Pfalzgraf

Torsten Schwede @torstenschwede.bsky.social · 21/04/2026

The CASP experiment is about to start - and is still short on challenging prediction targets. Ligand complexes, RNA, …

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Reposted by Hans Pfalzgraf

Mike Hough @mikehough.bsky.social · 25/02/2026

An exciting PhD studentship available between the U. of Manchester (Sam Lay) and Diamond Light Source -an opportunity to work with experimental time-resolved structural biology and state-of-the-art computational simulations to gain a deep understandingf enzymes. www.findaphd.com/phds/project...

findaphd.com

Understanding heme enzyme mechanism using dynamic, time resolved crystallography and QM/MM simulations at The University of Manchester on FindAPhD.com

PhD Project - Understanding heme enzyme mechanism using dynamic, time resolved crystallography and QM/MM simulations at The University of Manchester, listed on FindAPhD.com

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Hans Pfalzgraf @scihans.bsky.social · 11/11/2025

If you want to help science museums and research centres from the list linked below, you can sign this open letter too! www.sciencecentres.org.uk/centres/

sciencecentres.org.uk

Find a Science Centre

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Reposted by Hans Pfalzgraf

ChemShell @chemshell.bsky.social · 24/09/2025

High resolution structural biology approaches and ChemShell QM/MM simulations reveal an unusual structural feature in a cytochrome P460 enzyme, in research published in @chemicalscience.rsc.org For more details: chemshell.org/mcp460-doubl...

chemshell.org

Identifying an unusual structural feature in a cytochrome P460 enzyme - ChemShell

Structural and computational studies indicate the presence of a haem-lysine double crosslink in Methylococcus capsulatus cytochrome P460.

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Hans Pfalzgraf @scihans.bsky.social · 22/09/2025

That's one cursed colour scheme for anyone who has learned a little chemistry 😂

Adenosine molecule represented as balls and sticks with carbon in red, oxygen in blue and nitrogen in green 🤢

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Reposted by Hans Pfalzgraf

ProImmune @proimmune.bsky.social · 02/05/2025

Fascinating insights this #FluorescenceFriday, into complement delay-accelerating factor (DAF, CD55), identified by our Ankyron™ AC40301 (red) in HeLa cells (nuclei, blue) on @discoverecho.bsky.social #microscope. Find out more about our #animal-free Ankyrons™ at www.proimmune.com/ankyron

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Hans Pfalzgraf @scihans.bsky.social · 17/07/2025

My protein crystals getting imaged by the Formulatrix Rock Imager. I think it's pretty awesome! 🥰 And convenient to be able to check the images from my desk, including time points to check growth. Beats sitting at a microscope where you can't drink tea! ☕ #Crystallography #ResearchComplexAtHarwell

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Hans Pfalzgraf @scihans.bsky.social · 15/07/2025

They resealed the electron storage ring of the synchrotron @diamondlightsource.bsky.social during shutdown to get it ready for more experiments!

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Hans Pfalzgraf @scihans.bsky.social · 17/04/2025

This week I harvested about 450 beautiful protein crystals, more than in my 7 previous years of crystallography! These are crystals of a Covid target in which I soaked promising drug fragments to see what binds and how.

Smiling Hans in a lab coat sitting with a crystal-harvesting wand in front of a Crystal Shifter robot with a microscope and a foam bucket of liquid nitrogen.

Two beautiful protein crystals shaped like squished pyramids seen in their drop using a light microscope.

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Hans Pfalzgraf @scihans.bsky.social · 16/04/2025

I started a new job at @diamondlightsource.bsky.social! A 2nd protein crystallography postdoc, this time for antiviral drug discovery 🤩 It's only funded until October this year, but I'm sure I'll find something else after that 😁

A smiling Hans with a staff lanyard, standing inside the experimental hall of Diamond Light Source, the UK national synchrotron. There are the roofs of a couple beamlines and a yellow crane at the back. The curved wall has zone 4 indicated in red.

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Hans Pfalzgraf @scihans.bsky.social · 05/12/2024

Hello new followers! 👋 I'm a structural biologist 🧶🧬 currently having fun with unusual kinds of protein crystallography 💎 at Diamond Light Source. 😀 But my 3 years are almost over... 😢 So I'm looking for a lab-based biochemistry job 🧪 in the Oxford area. If you have any leads, please get in touch! 😁

Smiley Hans in the lab wearing proper PPE. Using a multichannel pipette to dispense buffers into a crystallisation plate based on electronic lab notes on a tablet.

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Hans Pfalzgraf @scihans.bsky.social · 27/11/2024

Iris in CCP4i2 is very useful to find amino acid residues that are particularly more mobile at room temperature than in cryogenic conditions! #protein #crystallography 🧪 @glycojones.bsky.social I assume that's not the use you had in mind when leading its development? 😁 🧶🧬

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Hans Pfalzgraf @scihans.bsky.social · 21/11/2024

Making this green protein has been pretty great 🧪 Easy to find it and estimate concentration! But can you guess WHY it's green? 😋 🧶🧬

A few small tubes with dark green liquid, arranged in a half-circle

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Hans Pfalzgraf @scihans.bsky.social · 15/11/2024

Blink and you might miss it moving! The Scorpion is my current favourite instrument. It can make my 96 conditions (2D gradient of concentrations) in half an hour. And look SUPER COOL doing it! 😆 #crystallography 🧪

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Hans Pfalzgraf @scihans.bsky.social · 19/12/2023

I inherited some dissolved metals from my colleague Peter Smyth and I think they're very pretty 🤩 We use them for long cultures of bacteria, so they don't run out of metal ions when making our favourite proteins 😊

Rack of labelled tubes containing red (CoCl2), blue (CuSO4), green (NiCl2), orange (FeCl3) and colourless solutions (McCl2 and ZnSO4)

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