KymoSketch started out as a GUI for our kymotracker script, but after I added DeepDiffusion to it I got suggestions to add more features and it’s since become a more fleshed out analysis platform (1/6)

Korak Ray@korakray.bsky.social · last mo.

🚨 Preprint alert 🚨 Excited to share our latest bioRxiv preprint introducing DeepDiffusion, a tool for analysing facilitated 1D diffusion! 🔗 Preprint: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... (1/3)

Our latest paper is out! 🎉 We show that the HSV-1 origin binding protein UL9 tethers dsDNA thereby forming intramolecular DNA loops and intermolecular DNA tethers. 🤝 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Rotavirus (RV) is the leading cause of severe childhood diarrhea. To enter the host cell, RV must first activate its spike protein. This occurs when trypsin, a digestive enzyme found in the intestine, cleaves specific regions of the spike protein. Hence, ensuring tissue specificity.

Herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) tightly packages its DNA within the capsid and creates a pressure of ~20 atm that is used to inject the genome into the cell nucleus. Check out this beautiful structure of the capsid and portal vertex:

We partially originate from viruses! This week I found out that part of the mitochondrial replication machinery (polymerase and helicase-primase) has its ancestry in bacteriophages. 🤯

Most viruses rely on the host to provide the entire translation machinery. However, giant viruses have evolved to encode part of the machinery themselves. Latest discovery: mimivirus (APMV) encodes its own initiation factor (vIF4F) and specifically promotes translation of viral mRNA!

Check it out if you are at Imperial! The AWA always hosts great events!!

Ilaria Belluomo@ilabell.bsky.social · 6mo ago

🌟 The new Academic Women Association (AWA) event is approaching! Workshop Title: Intentional Careers How To Figure Out ‘What’s Next?’ Speaker: Hannah Roberts Date: 2nd March 2026 Time: 12:30 pm Location: LMS Building 7th Floor Seminar Room, Hammersmith Campus Registration is required👇

Studying viruses helps us understand cellular processes: the breakthrough discovery of RNA splicing in 1977 was achieved by studying adenovirus (AdV) biology. They used mRNA/ DNA hybridization and electron microscopy.

Excited for my new chapter at ETHZ

D-BSSE, ETH Zurich@bsse.ethz.ch · 8mo ago

Meet #postdocs who recently joined the D-BSSE @ethz.ch: Mélanie Roschewitz | lab of @michaelmoor.bsky.social advancing medical image analysis using AI tools > u.ethz.ch/auXVR & Anita Meier @anitafmeier.bsky.social | lab of #MartinFussenegger working on gene therapies > u.ethz.ch/8dFrx

Meet #postdocs who recently joined the D-BSSE @ethz.ch: Mélanie Roschewitz | lab of @michaelmoor.bsky.social advancing medical image analysis using AI tools > u.ethz.ch/auXVR & Anita Meier @anitafmeier.bsky.social | lab of #MartinFussenegger working on gene therapies > u.ethz.ch/8dFrx

Some of the weirdest viruses: Multipartite viruses have segmented genomes that are enclosed in different capsids, which are independently transmitted. All segments have to meet in the same host cell for complementation. The evolutionary benefit for this lifestyle is unclear.

Zika virus induces nanotube formation 👾 in the host cell to facilitate viral spread. ZIKV even uses them to acquire mitochondria from neighbouring uninfected cells!

Epstein-Barr virus encodes a protein called EBNA1, which physically tethers 🤝 the viral DNA to the host chromosome so it doesn't get lost during mitosis. www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...

💥 We have 3 positions open in my lab in Basel, Switzerland🇨🇭: #nanopores #smFRET #biomolecular #dynamics #singleMolecules We’re looking for talented & ambitious new colleagues enthusiastic about biomolecular dynamics & single-molecule tech. Please share broadly, thank you!🤝 schmid.chemie.unibas.ch

Application deadline for up to 5 @mrc-lms.bsky.social postdoc positions in developmental epigenetics closes soon - don’t miss out! Positions across both experimental and computational projects. Come and join our fantastic team science community!

Vicki Metzis@vmetzis.bsky.social · last yr.

Interested in developmental epigenetics? So are we! Apply now to join us for your postdoc! Multiple positions across multiple groups @mrc-lms.bsky.social Projects spanning germline demethylation, gene regulation, genome architecture in development & disease 👇👇 lms.mrc.ac.uk/work/vacanci...

Don't forget to sign up to reserve your spot! 🍿🥂🍪Signing up now will also ensure that we order enough drinks and snacks!

Anita Meier@anitafmeier.bsky.social · last yr.

💥Our next AWA event is all about networking, mentorship and how to do it in a way that is right for you.😌 Sign up and come along. Everyone from Imperial/ MRC welcome! Limited spaces available, drinks and snacks included 🥂🧀

Herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) infections dramatically change the architecture of the host nucleus. HSV-1 specifically recruits certain host factors (e.g. RNAPII) to promote its replication. HSV-1 actively rewires the human genome! 😲Look at how the host genome gets squeezed!!

We have a 3-year funded postdoc position to work on structures of #amyloid filaments. If you are an expert in protein biochemistry, structural biology or #cryoEM / #cryoET, this could be for you! Feel free to email me with any questions. Come join us! 🤩 www.nature.com/naturecareer...

Postdoctoral Scientist - Structural Studies - Dr Sjors Scheres - LMB 2640 - Cambridgeshire job with MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology (LMB) | 12840844

Postdoctoral Scientist Starting Salary: £41,344 Fixed term: 3 years MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge, UK We are looking for a postdoc...

nature.com

#JobAlert! We have an opening for a postdoctoral scientist in #CancerMetabolism in my lab @mrc-lms.bsky.social. If you're interested in the role of metabolism in drug response and resistance in cancer, and would like to work in a fun and friendly team, check it out: lms.mrc.ac.uk/work/vacanci...

MRC Postdoctoral Research Scientist - MRC Laboratory of Medical Sciences

The MRC Laboratory of Medical Sciences (LMS) is a biomedical research institute where scientists and clinicians collaborate to advance the understanding of biology and its application to medicine. LMS...

lms.mrc.ac.uk

💥Our next AWA event is all about networking, mentorship and how to do it in a way that is right for you.😌 Sign up and come along. Everyone from Imperial/ MRC welcome! Limited spaces available, drinks and snacks included 🥂🧀

Ilaria Belluomo@ilabell.bsky.social · last yr.

🌟 The next event of the Academic Women Association (AWA) is happening! Registration and details here: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/academic-w...

🌟 The next event of the Academic Women Association (AWA) is happening! Registration and details here: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/academic-w...

This is a tupanvirus, ~450nm in diameter ~1.2um in length, clearly one of the giant viruses. It encodes for the most complete translational machinery found in viruses with only the ribosome lacking. Most (non-giant) viruses don't encode any components required for translation. It's so fluffy!! 😱

Blows my mind 🤯 that it is possible to capture the structural dynamics of viral capsid contraction by thawing and re-freezing the ice within the electron microscope! Anyone interested in microsecond time-resolved cryo-EM should check out this paper: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Weird virus fact: Bacteriophage 29 (Phi29) uses RNA to help package genomic DNA 🤯. This so-called packaging RNA (pRNA) is an essential part of the packaging motor, which is part of the newly formed viral capsid. Check out the pRNA (pink) in the beautiful structure: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Weird virus fact: Papillomaviruses can make their host cell immortal 🧟‍♂️ by activating telomerase (together with other mechanisms). The viral protein E6 regulates and directly interacts with hTERT and telomeric DNA.

Weird virus fact: Adeno-associated viruses (AAV) can only replicate if the same host cell is infected with a helper virus. AAV will remain in the host cell (latently infecting it) until a helper virus such as HSV or AdV comes along. www.mdpi.com/1999-4915/12...

Weird virus fact: HIV-1 and other retroviruses hijack cellular tRNA and use it as primer to initiate reverse transcription of their RNA genome. They exploit the same tRNA terminal 3′-OH group used by the host for aminoacylation and peptidyl transfer.

Weird virus fact: In order to overcome the end replication problem, adenovirus DNA replication starts at a protein, rather than an RNA primer. The viral polymerase couples the first nucleotide (dCTP) to a serine on the terminal protein, which assures full replication by a jump-back mechanism. 😎

I fear the consequences of this move...

Nature@nature.com · last yr.

The administration of US President Donald Trump has hollowed out one of the federal offices aimed at ending the nation’s HIV epidemic. The move comes as the administration has also cut hundreds of grants funding HIV and AIDS research. https://go.nature.com/3FN700Z

Weird virus fact: The SV40 polyomavirus dsDNA genome is wrapped around cellular histones within the viral capsid. Most #viruses don't contain histones in their virions. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... Image credit: viralzone.expasy.org/148