If you’re around @biophysicalsoc.bsky.social 2026 and looking for some cool RNA-protein work related to microRNA biogenesis, stop by my poster today at 1:45 and I’ll tell you about some of my near-complete work with @keanelab.bsky.social! #BPS2026
Cade Harkner
@chembiocade.bsky.social
Chemistry Ph.D. candidate in the Keane group at UMich, studying RNA structure and RNA-protein interactions in microRNA processing. He/him/his 🏳️🌈 Views are my own
I’ll be leaving Ann Arbor behind for a few months tomorrow for a summer sabbatical @cshlnews.bsky.social getting to learn some cryoEM with the Joshua-Tor lab! Super excited for this opportunity - grateful to Prof. Joshua-Tor for hosting and UMich CBITP for the support!
Glad to finally get this work out there - extremely thankful to my co-authors. Special thanks to my co-first author, our talented former postdoc Yaping!
Sarah Keane@keanelab.bsky.social · last yr.Another preprint posted! Yaping and Cade @chembiocade.bsky.social uncovered important structural elements in pre-miR-20a that impact Dicer processing. Huge thanks to both Megan @mnwestwood.bsky.social and Aldrex whose experiments rounded out this work! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
New preprint from the lab - Grace has been instrumental in leading the lab into the RNA-targeting space. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
In silico discovery of compounds targeting NPSL2: a regulatory element in the human oncomiR-1 primary microRNA.
NPSL2 is a stem loop element within the oncomiR-1 polycistronic primary microRNA (miRNA) cluster. NPSL2 is predicted to mediate conformational rearrangements within oncomiR-1 to regulate the biogenesi...
biorxiv.org
Michiganders understood the assignment #standupforscience #scienceforall
Abolish bank regulators. “Delete” the CFPB & IRS. Gut Social Security and Medicare. The Trump administration’s plots all boil down to the same thing: swindle working people, funnel money to the ultra-rich.
It's annoying how clearly this is going to play out. They gut the FAA. Therefore, the FAA can't do its job well because it was gutted. Therefore, they say "The FAA sucks, we have to privatize it." which is what Project 2025 wants to do. They're manufacturing the crises for their end goal.
1/ I am seeing a lot of comments on the slashing of NIH support along the lines of “universities should just spend their huge endowments.” I’m the last person to cheer on the institutional stratification rising endowments have contributed to. But let me explain why this is not a solution.
Please join my cell biology colleagues and CALL Congress. emails are not as impactful. Here is a simple sample script
![“Hello, my name is [Dr. Jim Smith], and I live on [Main Street in Anytown, Connecticut]. I am a [biomedical researcher at the State University], where I study [briefly describe your research]. This research is funded by the [NIH] and is crucial because [in one sentence explain why your research is important to the public].
The decision by the NIH to immediately reduce the amount of funds it provides universities to support biomedical research will have a devastating impact on American science.
Universities are vital partners in the research we do. Without the administrative support and the research facilities they provide, I could not do my research.
I am deeply concerned about the implications of this decision on America’s standing as the world’s leader in life science research.
I urge [Senator Jones] to take action to stop these reductions in university research support. Thank you for your time, and I would be happy to discuss this further at any time.”](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:r3avzdjyhu6jm7vxia265ncu/bafkreic44hnsrs4r5z7wf2vbebjkcgmq27uecx5qekvsc3jnk4endtunbi)
American Society for Cell Biology@ascbiology.bsky.social · last yr.@NIH’s new 15% cap on research funds threatens U.S. science. Call Congress now to oppose it! Your voice matters—act today. Find your rep’s number at govtrack.us. #SupportScience #cellbiology
I can’t lie, these past few weeks have been super disheartening as a grad student who wants to pursue an academic career. arstechnica.com/science/2025...
White House budget proposal could shatter the National Science Foundation
“This kind of cut would kill American science and boost China.”…
arstechnica.com
Truly living in the darkest timeline
André K. Isaacs@drdre4000.bsky.social · last yr.Just got word that our Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Inclusive Excellence 3 (IE3) Grant was being canceled. All 100+ institutions. So even private funding is susceptible to this administration’s unraveling of DEI initiatives
Picked this up recently and got to discuss with author Dr. Eric Cech, an engineer turned sociologist here at UMich! Really interesting and I highly recommend a read!
