I'm attending a digital humanities event in Montreal. There was a keynote on AI and something about the talk made me wonder if it had been written by Claude. I said as much in the Q&A. As I posed the question, the speaker shifted, looking slightly uncomfortable. What he said next shocked the room +

Just out is a little cautionary tale by @emmabelcher96.bsky.social Turns out StrepTactin pulls down biotinylated proteins from mammalian cells and anti-FLAG antibody likes its own specific contaminants. Both of which can end up dominating your precious cryo-EM images. You've been warned!

Ok, time to get back on this platform with some science, as exciting things are coming out. Well, I think they are exciting. Let's start with cool FBDD story.Together with Spring group we have come up with a covalent inhibitors for PH domain. Activated lysine in PIP3 binding site, it seems.

The Thermo Fisher situation keeps getting worse. We've now collected 450+ problematic images presented as verification data in TF's antibody catalog. This includes: 🖌️ Dozens more images with duplications or painting 🖨️ Hundreds of blots that all share the same background (behold slideshow below)

Congratulations to the @markohyvonen.bsky.social Group on its celebration of 25 years this week by 40 alumni! Since 2001, it has welcomed 21 Postdocs, 8 RAs, 15 PhDs, 6 Visiting PhDs, 9 MScs and 46 Undergrads and contributed over 90 publications. 🎂🎉👏 Read more: www.bioc.cam.ac.uk/news/hyvonen...

Run an MD simulation of any protein in the AlphaFold Protein Structure Database using AF-CALVADOS Thanks to @sobuelow.bsky.social AF-CALVADOS is now on Colab colab.research.google.com/github/KULL-...

Chemistry in current events: the connections between fertilizer, the Haber-Bosch process, and the Persian Gulf. Read this and your knowledge will exceed that of most of our current political leadership after only a few minutes of light work:

Interested in a 12-month postdoc in Brazil? 🇧🇷 Join us in vibrant São Paulo for cutting-edge research in biomolecular simulation and design. 🤓 Check out the details here: fulbright.org.br/awards-for-u...

Papers are increasingly challenging to navigate, not only because of the sheer volume of data they contain but also because of their structure. This is a delicate point of discussion that we, as a community, should address. I would love hearing your views on this. network.febs.org/posts/thinki...

FOR THE RECORD: one year on, I lay out clearly how Elon Musk FRS has breached the @royalsociety.org’s code of conduct, why the Society’s failure to defend its values has been so damaging, & what they need do to recover their standing in the scientific community. occamstypewriter.org/scurry/2026/...

I am very happy that we again managed to invite two world-leading scientists as keynotes for the 6th Virtual @chembiotalks.bsky.social. We are working on an exciting additional program. Stay tuned! Mailing list: fd24.formdesk.com/universiteit... #ChemSky #ChemBio #ChemBioTalks

We are looking for a postdoc to work on mechanisms of #RNA decay in cancer using #cryoEM with #nanobodies and #minibinders! Please RT

"Migrants who came to the UK on skilled work visas in 2022-23 will make a net contribution of £47bn to the public finances over their lifetime, according to new estimates from the government’s Migration Advisory Committee." Not surprising, but some observations (1/n) www.ft.com/content/10da...

We are advertising for a Technician in Mammalian Cell Culture (Pharma collaboration) with the Merkle Group, to help generate and characterise human cellular models of obesity💊 Apply here: phar.cam.ac.uk/jobs

We agree, this is horrible - we need a holistic look at the whole city centre (not just the 'Civic Quarter') to better design routes for all modes of transport, beginning with walking, wheeling and cycling.

A sure sign of Christmas coming to Cambridge when shoppers queue on Tennis Court Rd and some impatient drivers race against the oncoming traffic, usually cyclists, turning around a blind corner. Every year the same, a serious accident waiting to happen. Cc. @camcycle.bsky.social

Congrats @emmabelcher96.bsky.social for a job superbly done! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 Challenging and exciting project, tackled with skill and determination. What more can one hope for? 🙏🏻👍🏻

👇👇👇👇👇

We wrote the Strain on scientific publishing to highlight the problems of time & trust. With a fantastic group of co-authors, we present The Drain of Scientific Publishing: a 🧵 1/n Drain: arxiv.org/abs/2511.04820 Strain: direct.mit.edu/qss/article/... Oligopoly: direct.mit.edu/qss/article/...

What is the most profitable industry in the world, this side of the law? Not oil, not IT, not pharma. It's *scientific publishing*. We call this the Drain of Scientific Publishing. Paper: arxiv.org/abs/2511.04820 Background: doi.org/10.1162/qss_... Thread @markhanson.fediscience.org.ap.brid.gy 👇

Cambridge Amgen Scholars Programme 2026 is now open. Great opportunity for undergrad students from UK and Europe to join Cambridge labs. Happy hear from anyone interested in joining our group at @cambiochem.bsky.social amgenscholars.bio.cam.ac.uk

Looking for an AMR-themed PhD project? Join us to investigate antibiotic tolerance in Staphylococcus aureus through a fully funded MRC DTP PhD studentship starting in September 2026. This project is close collaboration with @kateduncan.bsky.social and @mycobacterium-ncl.bsky.social.

NEW from me: Political hostility, high visa fees and (in the case of the UK) stagnant incomes are making the UK and US less attractive destinations for top international talent. That steep decline in the appeal of moving to the US after 2016 is 👀

📣 Save the date 📣 The next FASEB Science Research Conference on TGF-β Family in Development and Disease will take place: July 26-30, 2026 in Porto, Portugal! @faseborg.bsky.social With Mythreye Karthikeyan @mythreye.bsky.social, Rosemary Akhurst and Andrew Hinck web.cvent.com/event/af5f6d...

We just published: Why you should sequence your plasmids (and how to do it for free) Through @GetGenome scientists in 100 countries can access free whole-plasmid sequencing —giving researchers the confidence to move their experiments forward. medium.com/p/why-you-sh...

truth

The "reproducibility crisis" in science constantly makes headlines. Repro efforts are often limited. What if you could assess reproducibility of an entire field? That's what @brunolemaitre.bsky.social et al. have done. Fly immunity is highly replicable & offers lessons for #metascience A 🧵 1/n

The Bornelöv Group is seeking a Research Assistant to work on gene regulation using deep learning. This is an exciting opportunity to use AI-based methods to uncover the molecular mechanisms behind mRNA processing and fate. Apply here by 8 July 2025: www.jobs.cam.ac.uk/job/51812/

FBLD 2025 | Final Call for Abstract Submissions! Abstract submissions close this Friday, 27 June 2025. Don't miss your chance to share your research with global experts at FBLD 2025. For more information go to: fbldconference.org/2025-abstrac...

I'm on BBC World Service later discussing how we're not going to get people cycling more just by encouraging them. I've not heard the edit, but hopefully they've used lots of the footage of me slagging off Swansea's car-first infrastructure as we cycled through the city www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w...

www.ft.com/content/8778... Kudos to Andrea Sella for taking a stand against @royalsociety.org’s inaction over Elon Musk FRS

“The visa fees are so exceedingly high that it makes coming here very difficult for some people. We are fishing for the best scientists in the world. They want to come and work here because we are such an effective country at science, but if we have these high costs, they can and will go elsewhere.”

This 👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻 is so frustrating. Write to your MPs and make them listen. Object to these ridiculous costs. Object to the language they use on immigrants. Promote the value we bring as fully fledged members of the society. Island of strangers, my arse.

My letter to the Prime Minister. #immigration

@biorxivpreprint.bsky.social is bioRxiv search down? Don't seem to get hits with any searches, incl in advanced mode.

I got hit by some rather sudden and extreme financial hardship so if anyone is in need of remote wetlab contract research, strictly BSL1, do let me know. Currently scrambling for gigs. Plant, Bacterial, Archaeal Non-model Bioeng Custom Lab Hardware Turn Key Genetic Design Please repost for reach 💚

Join us in Cambridge in September for the latest in fragment-based lead discovery 👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻 #FBLD2025

Pedestrians killed by car drivers in UK annually: >400 Cyclists killed by car drivers in UK annually: >100 Pedestrians killed by cyclists in UK annually: <3 So which of these is the most scary and worthy of more laws? www.theguardian.com/news/2025/ap...

Another report on how our high visa costs deter top R&D talent www.theguardian.com/science/2025...

My lab and Chuck Farah's at the University of São Paulo (USP) are seeking a postdoc to join an exciting project focused on applying structural biology to novel and unexplored targets in antibiotic discovery.

Honestly, UK, do it or fuck off. The world’s in flames, and you’re pissing about over the name of the most basic and uncontroversial form of cooperation imaginable. If you can’t even manage this, go away and come back when you’ve grown the fuck up. www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/poli...

Has left-handed DNA Hulk migrated from the other platform to BlueSky? Wanted to ask what they think of this beauty. 🤔

We are excited to announce a new faculty position here in Cambridge, for researchers in computational and/or theoretical biology, based jointly in Genetics and Mathematics. Come and join us! Happy to answer questions about research, teaching and working here. www.jobs.cam.ac.uk/job/50414/

EMBL International PhD Programme - summer recruitment 2025! 👀 Research groups across EMBL are recruiting now! www.embl.org/about/info/e... Don’t miss this opportunity to receive dedicated mentoring while doing interdisciplinary research. 🧪#AcademicSky #MolBiol #PhDSky #careers @ebi.embl.org

Scrap austerity – tax the super-rich instead. Britain can’t rebuild with more cuts – a wealth tax on the richest is the fair alternative to funding public services and growth.

I just published: 12 tips for effective leadership I spent three days at a leadership course. These are the most helpful takeaways. link.medium.com/KGHiePpEGQb

I just found out that my first book 📗, LAB GIRL 🌱🌿🌳, was challenged by a parent and subsequently removed from the shelves of the library at Walworth High School in Elkhorn, Wisconsin. So I decided to write a 🧵 on book 📚 #censorship 🚫 in American 🇺🇸 schools 🚸 1/n

Heterologous protein over-expression in E. coli is now woke because of 'inclusion bodies'

FBLD is returning to Europe! We're excited to host FBLD 2025 at the historical Fitzwilliam College in Cambridge, UK from 21 to 24 Sep 2025. The event is co-hosted by Monash Uni and Astex Pharmaceuticals. Visit fbldconference.org @markohyvonen.bsky.social @fitzwilliamcollege.bsky.social