iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Shyam Bhakta

Sternberg Lab @sternberglab.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

1/13 — New pre-print from the Sternberg Lab in collaboration with Leifu Chang's Lab! TnpB nucleases have repeatedly given rise to TldRs, nuclease-dead RNA-guided transcription factors. Here we define the biological role of one TldR clade in its native host. Story: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

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Shyam Bhakta @shyambhakta.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

2 years ago, a rare nitrogen fixing organelle "nitroplast" was discovered in an alga, endosymbiotically derived from a cyanobacterium. And this nitroplast is of a distinct origin from the ancestor of chloroplasts! www.nature.com/articles/d41... www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9B3...

nature.com

Scientists discover first algae that can fix nitrogen — thanks to a tiny cell structure

A newly discovered ‘organelle’ that converts nitrogen gas into a useful form could pave the way for engineered plants that require less fertilizer.

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Reposted by Shyam Bhakta

Thomas Ipoutcha @tomipou.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Finally out! 🎉 After 3 years of postdoc in London, here is my main work, now published in Nature Comm. (and as co-corresponding author!) Using a combination of bioinformatic and experimental approaches, we propose a model of plasmid evolution in Staphylococcus. www.nature.com/articles/s41... ⬇️ 1/4

nature.com

Mobile genetic elements drive a plasmid fusion and deletion lifecycle shaping evolution and antimicrobial resistance - Nature Communications

Plasmids drive bacterial adaptation, but how their diversity arises has remained unclear. Here, they show that in Staphylococcus aureus, mobile genetic elements repeatedly fuse and delete plasmids, re...

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Reposted by Shyam Bhakta

Tanmay Bharat @tbharat-lab.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

Molecular architecture of colossal surface layers from hyperthermophilic archaea Led by @idocaspy.bsky.social (Ido) In collaboration with @mkrupovic.bsky.social and @vikramalva.bsky.social labs doi.org/10.64898/202...

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Shyam Bhakta @shyambhakta.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

funny how such a simple circuit drives evolution of faster growth to dilute the Cas9.

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Reposted by Shyam Bhakta

Olivier Borkowski @oborkowski.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

Gene circuit-driven amplified selection enables evolution of fast-growing Escherichia coli doi.org/10.64898/202...

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Reposted by Shyam Bhakta

Miloš Tišma @tismaa.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

I'm happy to share the first paper from my postdoc work: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... How does RecA find one homologous sequence in an entire chromosome -and what turns that encounter into a repair-competent one? We find that DNA topology is the gatekeeper !! 1/10

biorxiv.org

Chromosome topology gates productive RecA homology search

In homologous recombination, DNA repair depends on recombinase filaments finding homologous templates on chromosomes whose topology is continually remodeled by replication and transcription. How dynam...

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Reposted by Shyam Bhakta

Mihris Naduthodi @mihrisn.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

(1/16) Nearly two-thirds of ocean carbon fixation flows through a diverse organelle: the pyrenoid. Our new paper maps its 3D architecture in the alga Chlorella and identifies new proteins — expanding the toolkit to engineer this CO2-concentrating machine into crops🧵 #Pyrenoid #CCM #Photosynthesis

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Reposted by Shyam Bhakta

Joel Boerckel @jboerckel.bsky.social · 11/01/2026

To me, there’s a special beauty known only behind the curtain of the microscope room, in the faint red light of the darkroom, in the depths of the cave when nobody else is around.

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Reposted by Shyam Bhakta

Andrea Garza E. @andrea-garza-e.bsky.social · 01/05/2025

Some Gboard emoji combinations I'll be using to express my feelings in the lab, a thread

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Shyam Bhakta @shyambhakta.bsky.social · 04/12/2024

Here are some syn bio–themed file/folder icons I made a many years ago (.ico). github.com/shyambhakta/...

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