LOV-BirA, light regulated biotin ligase, engineered by Song-Yi Lee www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Excited to share a new pre-print on a joint study between my group and @chembiobryan.bsky.social‬! Directed Evolution of Enzymes for Bioorthogonal Chemistry Using Acid Chloride Proximity Labeling. chemrxiv.org/engage/chemr... 1/n

A post-translational backbone extension acyl rearrangement (BEAR) reaction has now been developed that converts a ribosomal protein product into a new product containing a β-, γ-, or δ-peptide backbone www.nature.com/articles/s41...

First copies of my book are here!! As a new faculty member, I realized that in addition to my research job, I also had a leadership job…and I wasn’t prepared for that. This book is the guide I wish I’d had then, with the goal of helping others now.   jenheemstra.com/book

New preprint! We solve a mystery you didn't know existed. Mitotic cells lack new transcription but require ongoing translation. Interphase mRNA half life is only 2-4 hrs. So how do cells arrest in mitosis for hours without depleting their transcriptomes? www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

I don't disagree and I have data (now rather old but I bet still relevant) to support this. loop.nigms.nih.gov/2011/06/prod...

Exciting new work from Sattely lab with collaborator @pollyfordyce.bsky.social and coworkers @stanford-chemh.bsky.social, solving they biosynthesis of taxol! www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Awesome to hear so much great science today at the New York Academy Chemical Biology Year-End Symposium, and proud of grad student Jessie Mohsen, who gave an awesome talk on an overlapping, stress-response microprotein in E. coli. Thanks to @davidlabmsk.bsky.social and the rest of the organizers!

My father-in-law, Jack Strominger, and I wrote a letter to the @wsj.com editor about the current threats to science due to Trump's funding freeze. Please repost! www.wsj.com/opinion/scie...

New preprint drop! Check out work from @jimmy-ly.bsky.social et al for how protein isoforms generated by alternate translation initiation create dual localization, contribute to mitochondrial function, and are mutated in disease. "Blue-tutorial" thread below. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

It’s an honor to receive the ACS Chem Biol Young Investigator Award! I’m most grateful for the contributions from all past & present lab members — it is an award for all of you as much as for me. (& also grateful to still be considered young 😅) axial.acs.org/chemical-bio... @acsbiol.bsky.social 1/2

Excited to share this one! We developed an in vivo model for specific manipulation of transfer RNA acetylation and found it serves as a sentinel modification whose loss causes ribosome stalling and stress signaling. Implications for a genetic disorder and cancer. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Congrats to Anna Seminara on her paper out today in @cp-cellchembiol.bsky.social reporting a new approach to metabolite depletion using a bacterial ABC transporter, applied to study the antioxidant ergothioneine in H. pylori!

#Microproteins may be the next frontier in #proteomics. But figuring out the publications can be tough. If you are looking for some advice about microprotein evidence, check out the latest from our consortium. Lead by @carvunis.bsky.social and Aaron Wacholder! 🧬 💻 #genomics #RNASky bit.ly/4bgJSDm

Graduate admissions being put on hold because of the chaos...

I have been trying to find the time to move away from the polical hellscape we find ourselves in to finish and share a bluetorial about science. This helps me remember what this is all about. Ironically, it is about the treatment of pain.

New York Times article now up on Federal Register stuff. www.nytimes.com/2025/02/21/s... 1/n

Excited to share our publication on bacterial microproteome www.cell.com/molecular-ce... #microproteins

🚨 Chemical Biology & Probes study section (formerly SBCB, one of two NIH panels that reviews chemistry #chemsky 🧪) was abruptly POSTPONED w/no specific plans for rescheduling, less than 24h before start. If this affects you call your reps & senators, talk to local news, make your voice heard 📢 👩‍🔬

March 7. Stand Up For Science. Rallies in DC and nationwide. 🧪 Please visit the website and spread the word. www.standupforscience2025.org

"Imagine a DAPI-like stain, but for the extracellular matrix." That's basically how this work was pitched to me by Kayvon and Antonio a year or so ago. Now the final product really delivers. Read about their versatile label for ECM in living tissues here: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

ONLY 200 days until the GRC on #microproteins launches! Sign up now for the landmark event in the scientific field. Don't miss this chance to meet all of the leaders in #RiboSeq, #RNA, #Proteomics, #Translation! #genomics #bioinformatics 🧬 💻 🔎 microproteins #RNAsky www.grc.org/decoding-mic...

Back by popular demand, I present PPI Prediction Challenge #2. My claim: I AM SKEPTICAL COMPUTATIONAL APPROACHES CAN PREDICT WHETHER TWO PROTEINS INTERACT. Someone prove me wrong (take two). docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F... 1/n