Congratulations to Meidi Gu on starting her lab at SMART! Meidi brings expertise in immunotherapy developed through her postdoc with @jimriley52.bsky.social at @pennmehp.bsky.social and @mdanderson.bsky.social Her lab will focus on how membrane remodeling shapes T-cell function in diseased tissues.

Delighted to welcome our new PI, Daxiao Sun who is starting her lab at SMART after a postdoc with @hymanlab.bsky.social @mpi-cbg.de and Alf Honigmann @biotec-tud.bsky.social Daxiao’s group will investigate how biomolecular condensates regulate cell junctions and tissue morphogenesis. Welcome!

Fascinating new @nature.com paper: a Pluto moment for biology. It introduces the concept of 'peptideins' - a new category for dark translated ORFs that produce detectable microprotein-like products with unknown biological roles.

It was very special Karen Davies Memorial Symposium in Nottingham. Karen’s pioneering work on ATP synthase and bioenergetic membranes shaped our field, and speakers highlighted her impact as colleague, mentor and friend. Thank you eBIC, CCPEM and all participants for making such a meaningful tribute

The first Max Planck Center in Shenzhen. @maxplanck.de and Chinese Academy of Sciences launch a Center for Synthetic Biochemistry at Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology. It will leverage automated infrastructure for biomanufacturing of natural products. Germany-China partnership is growing.

Pleasure to welcome Patrick Cramer to SMART and to present our research and discuss future directions. Cooperation between Max Planck Society @maxplanck.de and institutions in Shenzhen is expanding and will open new opportunities. As Patrick concluded in German, “Jedem Anfang wohnt ein Zauber inne”.

Since our preprint on the ETC-ATP synthase supercomplex has attracted attention, I would like to introduce the platform we used, Langtaosha. It was launched by SMART together with several other institutions with support from Open Life Science Alliance, aiming for long-term open infrastructure 1/4

In a followup with @longzhou88.bsky.social and Yue Liu we move from molecular mechanism to membrane architecture. A giant ETC-ATP synthase assembly containing 10 ATP synthases and 6 respiratory complexes builds long-range periodic OXPHOS arrays on native cristae langtaosha.org.cn/lts/en/prepr... 1/4

65 years after Peter Mitchell’s chemiosmotic theory, we report an association between ATP synthase and the electron transport chain. In the preprint led by @longzhou88.bsky.social, we describe a large supercomplex and show how the supramolecular organization contribute to oxidative phosphorylation 🧵

Catching the early morning low tide in Aguda on Portugal’s Atlantic coast with colleagues from Universidade de Aveiro, collecting local species for analysis. Pure curiosity and passion for science!

Hiking with Kai Zhang and lab colleagues above the clouds. A nice retreat to conclude a busy week

After watching a beautiful sunset from the 117th floor of Ping An Centre, we went for chamber music at Shenzhen Concert Hall featuring Beethoven and Tchaikovsky. The majority of the audience were in their 20s and 30s, even kids. Refreshing to see young people embracing classical music in Shenzhen.

On International Women’s Day 2026, China honoured 9 women for outstanding achievements, including our colleague Nieng Yan. The recognition reflects her scientific excellence and leadership as the founding president of SMART, Shenzhen Medical Academy of Research & Translation. Congratulations Nieng!

Epigenetics twist in watermelon: ripening is accompanied by genome-wide DNA hypermethylation,mostly non-CG. In cultivated fruit 11,961 genes gain methylation. Epigenetic program tied to domestication. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Information theory meets archaeology. Ice Age notches weren’t just decoration, and early humans may have been recording information that way. A very interesting attempt to trace the evolution of signs. Looks like we were building data storage systems already 40,000 years ago.

Happy Lunar New Year from Huawei RD campus! May the Year of the Horse be filled with bright moments and positive energy, bring speed toward goals and strength for the journey ahead. Happy celebrations to everyone celebrating!

Sunday reset: nature and good company. Yangtai mountain park in heart of Shenzhen with clear spring water, lakes and evergreen forest. Great to spend the day with Shujia Zhu who recently moved her lab to Shenzhen. Back to work full of energy.

Wei Yang joins SMART after a postdoc with David Baker @uwproteindesign.bsky.social. He designs next generation binders for immune checkpoint receptors. At SMART, Wei's team will integrate algorithm development with high-throughput experimental validation to deliver selective protein therapeutics.

A delegation of German academic leadership and council visited Shenzhen labs. Strong interest in concrete collaborations @unibonn.bsky.social @unileipzig.bsky.social @uniheidelberg.bsky.social @uni-freiburg.de @unituebingen.bsky.social @lmu.de @unistuttgart.bsky.social @kit.edu @tuda.bsky.social

Neuroscientist Arthur Konnerth from TUM launches a brain research lab in Shenzhen

We're launching a research lab at SMART. Shenzhen Medical Academy for Research and Translation is a newly established institute with long-term funding mechanisms for internal and external investigators. At full capacity SMART aims to support up to 400 labs. www.scmp.com/news/china/s...

Science highlight in Shenzhen: Galileo mapping lunar craters, watched by Pierre and Marie Curie, as if observation and discovery are in dialogue across time and disciplines. A bridge lined with 30 bronze statues of scientists turns walk to the library into a conversation with the history of science.

Mitoribosomes in painting 🧵

“Nature’s Gift to Science” Sydney Brenner's 2002 Nobel lecture with remarkable opening and concluding remarks.

Only in Shenzhen: Science Nature coffee bar. If you’ve published in @science.org or @nature.com, they give you coffee for free. 100% real!

Tokyo University on the best day of the year. Autumn ginkgo in full gold, turning the campus into a magic.

Slower focused search beats rushing. Taxi drivers who drive slower pick up more passengers. Attention > speed. Brilliant work! www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Science in the spotlight! Buildings in Shenzhen lit with research themes, and scientists Xue Qikun and Nieng Yan carrying the torch for the national games. So refreshing to see science celebrated. Congrats to both on the relay!

What a gem from @dudinlab.bsky.social @gautamdey.bsky.social @centriolelab.bsky.social in Cell! Expansion microscopy atlas of >200 eukaryotes comparing cytoskeletal architectures revealing structures not seen before. Stunning visualisation! Exactly the kind of transformative cell biology we need.

Sweden: celebrating structural biology & protein synthesis! Saluting Anders Liljas & Måns Ehrenberg for years of shaping discoveries and service to the Nobel committee. Friends and colleagues gathering to discuss transformative advances and how to push the boundaries next.

Warm congratulations to the young scientists recipients of the 2025 Nordic Photosynthesis community prizes: Jannis Straube (Copenhagen), Vesa Havurinne (Aveiro), Laura Laihonen & Pablo Ortega Martínez (Turku @utu.fi)👏 Kudos to all participants🎉 See you in Umeå next time!

White beaked dolphins breach beside our boat in the North Atlantic as snowcapped peaks of Arctic fjords rise into clouds.

Today, @rcsbpdb.bsky.social introduces Q-score in EM validation reports. Q-score assesses model-map fit. A new percentile slider will compare an entry’s average Q-score to the full archive and a resolution-matched subset. This would help judge whether the fit is typical for the reported resolution.

In Cambridge celebrating 25 years of ribosome structure studies. Wonderful to reconnect with friends, pioneers of the field, and engage with brilliant young scientists. Proud to be part of this community. Thank you @mrclmb.bsky.social for the amazing event! Great photos by Song, Nenad and Shaoxia

1973: Max Perutz explains the solution of hemoglobin. 53 years later, we’re still waiting for someone to solve the missing pointer

A dramatic blood moon is lighting up the sky above Churchill College as Venki @mrclmb.bsky.social delivers the plenary on ribosome synthesis, a memorable alignment of breakthrough in structural biology and the cosmos tonight.

Speak up before more is lost. UCLA lost $600M in federal research grants, freezing work on cancer, neurodegeneration, pediatrics & more. Entire labs, careers, and patients remain in limbo. A devastating blow to US science. Trainees are hardest hit, the community must speak up before more is lost.

The scent of silence! Cool research in Cell @cellpress.bsky.social to brighten up your day🌹. The mystery of why some roses are fragrant and others aren't has an answer. It's called SCREP: a rose-specific gene that evolved from non-coding DNA 16.8 million years ago 👇

Stunning cryo-ET from Peijun Zhang lab: Direct visualization of HIV-1 nuclear import! Hundreds of viral cores captured entering the nucleus. The NPC dilates to let the capsid through. A masterclass in correlative microscopy that makes it quantitative. A leap for structural virology! @emboreports.org

Mitochondrial transfer is a fascinating phenomenon where cells shuttle mitos. The therapeutic potential is compelling and observational science is solid but the mechanism is a black box. Excellent Viewpoint in @naturemetabolism.bsky.social breaks down one of cell biology’s biggest emerging mysteries

Fantastic studies presented by young scientists today: @noodlyscientist.bsky.social, @aliciakmichael.bsky.social, @sramundo.bsky.social, @florentwaltz.bsky.social. Beautifully orchestrated by @cellarchlab.com What a treat here in Münster @uni-muenster.de!

Emmanuel Levy @elevylab.bsky.social has joined BlueSky 🌟 with a fantastic Cell paper with Shu-ou Shan, showing the interactome of the TOM complex and how cotranslational mito import prioritizes large globular domains. Beautiful science! Give him a warm welcome 🎉 link: www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...

Delighted to be appointed Honorary Visiting Chair Professor at Wuhan Agricultural University. This recognises our work in bioenergetics and opens exciting opportunities for international cryo-EM collaboration and joint supervision of PhD students.

Dedicated my talk at the opening evening of Biophysical Society proton meeting to Karen Davies. Karen's work shaped the field of bioenergetics from solving the horizontal subunit-a of ATP synthase to the structures of photosynthetic CI and more. She was a brilliant scientist, mentor and communicator

Your sleep pressure is powered by your mitochondria! Sleep, energy, and ageing are all connected through mitochondrial bioenergetics in neurons. Brilliant work from Gero Miesenböck’s lab, just out in Nature @nature.com www.nature.com/articles/s41...

ACA 2025 Starter Pack for attendees of the 75th Annual Meeting. Tried to include everyone, feel free to tag yourself or others missed. Connecting the community at #ACA2025! @acastructuralsci.bsky.social @rcsbpdb.bsky.social 🔗 go.bsky.app/JAmraSp

Science builds bridges🇮🇷🤝🇮🇱 Join me in welcoming our new postdoc Vida who brings PhD in plant sciences and will contribute to new bioenergetic studies. Vida is from Tabriz where her family's lives were disrupted by war. Thankfully no casualties, but career delays to her siblings and psychological toll

Our new preprint: how photoprotection is spatially coordinated with energy metabolism. Photosystem I is major source of radicals. We report EM structure of PSI in complex with superoxide dismutase SOD: direct link between energy conversion & oxidative stress defence www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Speak up to prevent a major loss for the field. CASP, which helped shaping structural biology including AlphaFold is on the verge of shutting down. NIH funding has lapsed, UC Davis support ends and the core team is being let go. Painfully shortsighted.

Excited to contribute to the Mitoribosome collaborative study led by @wredenberglab.bsky.social in @natcomms.nature.com🎉 "The mitochondrial methylation potential gates mitoribosome assembly" The assembly starts before the completion of the rRNA gene cluster processing🧵 www.nature.com/articles/s41...