A new Save Science Coalition report documents 700+ science roles lost in NZ. That's a lot for a country of 5 million. Scientists are leaving for Europe, Australia and the US. NZ spends 1.4% of GDP on R&D — the OECD benchmark is 3%. img.scoop.co.nz/media/pdfs/2...

Looking forward to presenting our work on bacterial flagella and structural phylogenetics at @biologyanu.bsky.social Protein structure+evolutionary analyses is a powerful yet underexplored combination. Come along or join on Zoom. Always happy to connect. Thanks @corrylab.bsky.social for hosting me!

Commentary compiled by @smcnz.bsky.social examines New Zealand’s shift in research priorities toward advanced technologies. Perspectives highlight potential gains in innovation and competitiveness, and raise questions about funding distribution and research diversity.

A phylogeny-aware approach to detecting amino acid coevolution: PHACE. Instead of relying on sequence alignments only, it maps substitutions onto evolutionary trees and accounts for shared ancestry. A nice step toward more accurate models of protein evolution and structure.

Great opportunity for anyone looking to get into science communication. Effectively communicating our research matters. It makes it accessible and useful beyond academia. It shapes public understanding, informs policy, and ensures research has real-world impact.

AlphaFold is moving beyond single proteins to predicting complexes. Millions of interactions with strong confidence. This kind of data will help uncover how protein interactions evolve, how new functions arise, and how complex biological systems are built over time. Exciting to see where this goes!

The 2026 SMBE Australasian Protein Structural Phylogenetics Meeting took place last week in Brisbane (Australia) to discuss this rapidly growing field. Thank you to all participants and congratulations to the organizing team, who brought to life a fantastic event!👏 @strphy.bsky.social #StrPhy26

APSPM brought together protein evolution research from across the globe. @jtrinidad13.bsky.social used structural homology to predict the function of uncharacterised eukaryotic proteins and revealed deep conservation hidden from sequence alone. Thank you for sharing your work with us! #StryPhy

Looking forward to working together in the future and further develop #StructuralPhylogenetics in viruses @spyroslytras.bsky.social #StrPhy26 #StrPhy

I am looking for wide-ranging mammalian DNA samples for a class I am developing. Especially sought-after would be parent-offspring paired samples. Please retweet (re-skeet?), thank you!

Great to chair the session on Virus Evolution at APSPM2026. Thank you to all the speakers for sharing their cool research with us 🦠 Mihnea Bostina, Cinthy Jimenez Silva, @spyroslytras.bsky.social @jonathonmifsud.bsky.social #StryPhy26

Hope to you see all you next year! @lorneproteins.bsky.social

We want to make APSPM 2026 a vibrant and supportive space to share ideas, spark collaborations, and a great experience for everyone attending (in-person or remotely). Feel free to reach out @strphy.bsky.social with any questions/concerns you may have. See you in a few days!

Meet the APSPM 2026 organisers: Caroline, Jordan and Ashar. We're 3 ECRs based in Australia/NZ passionate about protein evolution and developing new approaches and applications to advance this exciting field. biosig.lab.uq.edu.au/strphy26/org... @official-smbe.bsky.social

Be part of Lorne Proteins history! Photo session today from 1-1:10 pm. See you there 🎉📷🤩 #lorneproteins2026

Looking forward to sharing our work on the evolution of flagellar proteins! Session 7 - Light-Ning Talks 11am @lorneproteins.bsky.social

Archaeal cytoskeleton proteins provide new insights on the origin of cellular complexity and deep evolution.

Great to see another talk on the bacterial flagellum and learn more about the proteins that make this specialised system in spirochetes.

A great example of why we need an evolutionary framework to better understand protein function. @lorneproteins.bsky.social

❗⏰ Please remember that the deadline for submitting your applications for abstracts and awards for SMBE 2026 ends today. Join us in Copenhagen from June 28 to July 2 for a fantastic meeting! #SMBE2026

We have less than a week to go before the deadline for abstract submission and award applications for SMBE 2026 in Copenhagen. Check the conference website for details on the programme, symposia, and awards: smbe2026.org #SMBE2026

Can’t wait to welcome everyone. See you in Brisbane very soon!

The Undergraduate Travel and Mentoring Award provides support, advice and networking opportunities for undergraduate students (including Masters students under a 3+2 system) as they navigate their first international conference. 📨 Award applications smbe2026.org/abstracts #SMBE2026

One month to go until APSPM 2026! Scientific program coming soon.

Collecting over 200 samples. Getting there! Building new data to help fill the gaps in the Australian flowering plants Tree of Life. Nothing flashy, but essential. Studying biodiversity, from molecules to whole organisms, never gets old. This is where we keep learning from nature.

Doing something different this week! Visiting the Western Australia Herbarium to collect tissue samples for DNA sequencing. A nice change from the computational work and a good reminder of why herbarium collections matter 🌿

We have had an amazing response to #APSPM2026 and only a few in person spots are still available. Abstract submissions and travel grant applications close tomorrow November 28. 👉 biosig.lab.uq.edu.au/strphy26/reg... Join the community that is transforming protein evolution research.

SMBE Australasian Protein Structural Phylogenetics Meeting 📄 Abstract submission deadline: Nov 28 Please submit your abstracts by Friday! Registration is free, but limited to 50 in-person attendees. ✈️ Travel grant applications deadline: Nov 28 🔗 biosig.lab.uq.edu.au/strphy26/str...

Only a few spots left for #APSPM2026! Join the community transforming protein evolution research. biosig.lab.uq.edu.au/strphy26

Happy to see our work featured by @aucklanduni.bsky.social Constant molecular motion is essential to life. We’re unravelling the story of how life first got moving. @phatmattbaker.bsky.social @nicholasmatzke.bsky.social @kacarlab.bsky.social www.auckland.ac.nz/en/news/2025...

It's been a great opportunity to organise a SMBE regional meeting. Hoping we get more in the Asia/Oceania region!

Meet the plenary speakers for #APSPM2026. Joanna Masel @joannamasel.bsky.social Nicholas Matzke @nicholasmatzke.bsky.social Join us to discuss how protein structure is changing evolutionary theory, phylogenetics and molecular evolution. biosig.lab.uq.edu.au/strphy26/spe...

From AI to ancestral proteins, the #APSPM2026 speaker lineup brings protein evolution research together in one place. Check out the list of confirmed speakers here: biosig.lab.uq.edu.au/strphy26/spe... Brisbane + online Feb 2026 Free registration @official-smbe.bsky.social

Protein evolution underpins the principles that govern molecular function. Investigating how protein structure and function evolve will enable protein design to genuinely transform medicine.

UniProt is changing its reference proteomes resource. Reference proteomes will remain in UniProtKB, while others will move to UniParc. Read more about these changes: www.ebi.ac.uk/about/news/u... 🧬 🖥️ Uniprot is a collaboration between EMBL-EBI, @sib.swiss & the Protein Information Resource.

Looking forward to seeing David Moi's talk about Foldtree and the upcoming Foldtree II at #APSPM2026 in sunny Brisbane. biosig.lab.uq.edu.au/strphy26/spe... @official-smbe.bsky.social

Registration is now open for SMBE 2026! Head over to the registration page to find all the details and secure your spot 🏃‍♀️ 📝 smbe2026.org/registration 🐦 Early-bird deadline: March 31, 2026 If you are an active member of the SMBE you can register for the meeting with discounts. #SMBE2026

I’m so excited and impressed with the abstracts we have received so far. Looking forward to the talks!

February 2026 is shaping up to be the month for protein science down under! Lorne (Feb 8–12) @lorneproteins.bsky.social APSPM 2026, Brisbane (Feb 15–18) biosig.lab.uq.edu.au/strphy26/str... Two meetings and a summer of great science! @strphy.bsky.social @official-smbe.bsky.social

You can become an expert after the meeting! @official-smbe.bsky.social

We can’t wait to welcome you to sunny Brisbane. Home to world-class research and a vibrant scientific community. Join us at the University of Queensland for #APSPM2026 to discuss how protein structure and evolution come together #StrPhy26

It's #NationalPumpkinDay! 🎃 Why are pumpkins orange, and what do pumpkins have to do with pumpkin spice? Here are the chemical answers in @cenmag.bsky.social: cen.acs.org/articles/93/... #ChemSky 🧪

Abstract submissions are open for #APSPM2026! 🗓️ Deadline: Nov 28, 2026 📍 Brisbane + online 🎓 Travel grants for students & ECRs Join us to explore how protein structures and AI are reshaping evolutionary biology. @official-smbe.bsky.social #StrPhy26 #StrPhy

The conference will be held on the beautiful St Lucia campus of The University of Queensland. Plenary speakers are @joannamasel.bsky.social (University of Arizona, USA) and Nicholas Matzke (University of Auckland, NZ). Registration is free, but spaces are limited to 50 in-person attendees.

Structural phylogenetics is poised to reshape our understanding of molecular evolution. While the availability of structural data has exploded, its integration into evolutionary analysis has yet to reach its full potential. This meeting provides a timely forum to explore this frontier.

We are excited to announce APSPM 2026 - the SMBE Australasian Protein Structural Phylogenetics Meeting! 🗓️ 15-18 Feb. 2026 🌏 Brisbane, Australia 🔗 biosig.lab.uq.edu.au/strphy26/ 📄 Abstract submission: 28.11.2025 ✈️ Travel grant application: 28.11.2025 ✏️ Registration: 15.01.2026 #StrPhy26

Registration is now open! Limited spots so register fast. We also have generous travel grants. We’d love to see attendees from all career stages and backgrounds. #StrPhy26 @official-smbe.bsky.social

New in the #StructuralPhylogenetics special section: Dixson et al. show that structural and physicochemical features of proteins uncover remote evolutionary relationships and provide a new toolset to revisit mitochondrial enzyme evolution. @genomebiolevol.bsky.social

Follow this account for updates on the upcoming SMBE Australasian Protein Structural Phylogenetics Meeting #APSPM

The case for useless knowledge by Betül Kaçar. In this 3 minute video she explains why the simple act of being curious and asking questions (without needing a reason) is one of the most powerful things a human can do. www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2k3...