There is still time to register for the EngBio Forum on Monday. It's free to attend with a great speaker line up - Andreas Walther @waltherlab.bsky.social and Claudia Contini @continiclau.bsky.social exploring #SyntheticCells #LifeLikeSystems #EngineeringBiology 🎟️🫱 buytickets.at/engineeringb...

Engineering Biology Interdisciplinary Research Centre@engbioirc.bsky.social · 10mo ago

We're extremely excited to welcome Prof Andreas Walther @waltherlab.bsky.social and Dr Claudia Contini @continiclau.bsky.social for our next Forum We'll be exploring #SyntheticCells #LifeLikeSystems and #EngineeringBiology from the bottom-up Don't miss it, register now! 👉 bit.ly/engbio-forum-nov25

Thanks @syncelleu.bsky.social for highlighting our recent work on DNA receptors at @jacs.acspublications.org! 🧬 🧪 💡

European Synthetic Cell Initiative@syncelleu.bsky.social · 9mo ago

Thanks to receptors on their membranes and the process of cell signalling, cells can sense their environment and respond to it @rogerrubiosanchez.bsky.social & @dimichelelab1.bsky.social sought to mimic the early stages of this process by building receptors from DNA syntheticcell.eu/dna-based-re...

🚨I am excited to announce the upcoming Designer Membranes and Bio-inspired Interfaces Symposium, taking place at Wolfson College, Cambridge on the 26th and 27th of March 2026. iop.eventsair.com/dmbi2025/

As promised, we run the town and gown 10k! In the photos are group members @rogerrubiosanchez.bsky.social Juliette Bucci, Brian Ng, Cathrine Fan, Sebastian Krauss and Lorenzo (the old one). Thanks to all who supported us with donations to @mdukcharity.bsky.social

Hey! Some group members and I are running a 10k race in Cambridge this Sunday, and raining some funds for @mdukcharity.bsky.social Please donate and share! @ceb.cam.ac.uk @pembroke1347.bsky.social sportsgiving.co.uk/sponsorship/...

SportsGiving - Entry: Lorenzo Di Michele

Lorenzo Di Michele is fundraising for charity. Visit their fundraising page to sponsor them online now!

sportsgiving.co.uk

Check out this new @jacs.acspublications.org paper by @rogerrubiosanchez.bsky.social. Building cation responsive DNA receptors for synthetic cells!

Roger Rubio Sánchez@rogerrubiosanchez.bsky.social · 11mo ago

Really happy to see this published in its final form @jacs.acspublications.org! 🧬 In this paper, we introduce a new class of biomimetic receptors to host functionality in synthetic cell membranes Elita Peters @dianatanase.bsky.social @dimichelelab1.bsky.social pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...

So glad to see this beautiful work out! Got to work with an amazing team and see these small but mighty DNA receptors in action. 🧬

Roger Rubio Sánchez@rogerrubiosanchez.bsky.social · 11mo ago

Really happy to see this published in its final form @jacs.acspublications.org! 🧬 In this paper, we introduce a new class of biomimetic receptors to host functionality in synthetic cell membranes Elita Peters @dianatanase.bsky.social @dimichelelab1.bsky.social pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...

Really happy to see this published in its final form @jacs.acspublications.org! 🧬 In this paper, we introduce a new class of biomimetic receptors to host functionality in synthetic cell membranes Elita Peters @dianatanase.bsky.social @dimichelelab1.bsky.social pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...

Cation-Controlled Assembly, Activity, and Organization of Biomimetic DNA Receptors in Synthetic Cell Membranes

Biological cells use cations as signaling messengers to regulate a variety of responses. Linking cations to the functionality of synthetic membranes is thus crucial to engineering advanced biomimetic agents such as synthetic cells. Here, we introduce bioinspired DNA-based receptors that exploit noncanonical G-quadruplexes for cation-actuated structural and functional responses in synthetic lipid membranes. Membrane confinement grants cation-dependent control over receptor assembly and, when supplemented with hemin cofactors, their peroxidase DNAzyme activity. Cation-mediated control extends to receptor lateral distribution to localize DNA-based catalysis within phase-separated membrane domains of model synthetic cells, imitating the localization of multimeric membrane complexes to signaling hubs in living cells. Our modular strategy paves the way for engineering from the bottom-up cation-responsive pathways for sensing, signaling, and communication in synthetic cellular systems.

pubs.acs.org

Super elegant work on DNA-DNA interactions 👇🏼 🧬

Di Michele Lab@dimichelelab1.bsky.social · 11mo ago

It turns out sDNA 🧬 interacts selectively! Andy Stannard measured these interactions very (very) precisely, and Ehud Haimov, @drjonhedley.bsky.social‬, Alexei Kornyshev worked out how it all works. It has to do with charge correlation... Check it out here chemrxiv.org/engage/chemr...

Thrilled to share this new Adv. Sci. paper by @dianatanase.bsky.social with Dino Osmanovic @rogerrubiosanchez.bsky.social @laylamalouf.bsky.social @francolab.bsky.social. We demonstrate a modular approach to program internal phase separation in DNA condensates 1/n doi.org/10.1002/advs...

Internal Phase Separation in Synthetic DNA Condensates

The modular, programmable system of DNA nanostructures developed provides programmatic control over multiphase condensate behavior, enabling mapping onto a predictive Flory-Huggins model. This combin...

doi.org

My work on DNA condensates @dimichelelab1.bsky.social is now out! 🧬🎉🍬 A huge thank you to @francolab.bsky.social lab for their invaluable expertise and to everyone in our lab for their insights, feedback, and countless discussions along the way. I’ve learned so much from working with you all!

Di Michele Lab@dimichelelab1.bsky.social · 12mo ago

Thrilled to share this new Adv. Sci. paper by @dianatanase.bsky.social with Dino Osmanovic @rogerrubiosanchez.bsky.social @laylamalouf.bsky.social @francolab.bsky.social. We demonstrate a modular approach to program internal phase separation in DNA condensates 1/n doi.org/10.1002/advs...

Very exciting to see this preprint live! Check out @dimichelelab1.bsky.social 🧵 👇🏼 showing how to produce synthetic condensates as ‘designer’ membrane-less organelles inside bacteria using RNA nanotechnology 🧬 ✨

Di Michele Lab@dimichelelab1.bsky.social · last yr.

Thrilled to share our latest preprint on expressing synthetic organelles made from RNA nanostructures in bacteria! 1/n www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

New preprint! 🚨 With Elita Peters @dianatanase.bsky.social @dimichelelab1.bsky.social, we introduce cation-regulated DNA receptors for structural and functional responses in synthetic cells! 🧬 We think they are useful for bottom-up sensing and signalling pathways. Hope you enjoy the read!

bioRxivpreprint@biorxivpreprint.bsky.social · last yr.

Cation-controlled assembly, activity, and organisation of biomimetic DNA receptors in synthetic cell membranes https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.04.27.650532v1

Fully funded PhD studentship in the group for Home students! Please RT! www.findaphd.com/phds/project...

Engineering of dynamic Synthetic Cells at Imperial College London on FindAPhD.com

PhD Project - Engineering of dynamic Synthetic Cells at Imperial College London, listed on FindAPhD.com

findaphd.com

📣NEW PAPER ALERT ⚠️ Finally out in Nature Communications, after unfortunately spending almost 1 year under review at Nature Materials 🤐 But very very pround of this work that was spearheaded by extremely talented PhD student Moritz Weck: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Fully addressable designer superstructures assembled from one single modular DNA origami - Nature Communications

Methods for creating large DNA assemblies with low cost and enhanced structural control are of interest. Here, the authors report moDON (modular DNA origami nanostructure) that combines two approaches...

nature.com

Research Fellow in Artificial Cell Modification Particularly suited to applicants with expertise in protein overexpression and purification, peptide synthesis and characterisation of proteins and their conjugates, including mass spectrometry. jobs.leeds.ac.uk/vacancy.aspx...

Job Opportunity at University of Leeds: Research Fellow in Artificial Cell Modification

Are you a creative and resourceful researcher looking for your next challenge? Do you have a background in protein engineering and modification? Would you like to be part of an international multidisc...

jobs.leeds.ac.uk

PhD alert! I have two ERC-funded PhD positions to uncover the chemical origins of life (Oct 2025). *UK fees only*. Projects described here: www.lclu.cam.ac.uk/studentship-... Email me if interested - deadline (PhD in Biochemistry, Uni of Cambridge): Jan 7th! Please share within your networks!

If you’re interested in immune cell metabolism I’m recruiting for a PhD student. Deadline: 17th Jan. Start date: Sept 2025. Informal discussion always welcome. www.findaphd.com/phds/project...

EASTBIO-Investigating phosphoinositide acyl chain composition as a novel regulator of T cell signalling during ageing at University of Edinburgh on FindAPhD.com

PhD Project - EASTBIO-Investigating phosphoinositide acyl chain composition as a novel regulator of T cell signalling during ageing at University of Edinburgh, listed on FindAPhD.com

findaphd.com

Great talks by Juliette Bucci @cebcambridge.bsky.social and Honghao Su @honghaosu.bsky.social @plantscience.bsky.social at our EngBio ECR Meetup today. We hope to see you at next meetup 20 Jan 👉 www.tickettailor.com/events/engin...

#Phd project available to join my group and @drmikebooth.bsky.social group at @uclchemistry.bsky.social on the #CDT in #Engineering Solutions for #Antimicrobial #Resistance to work on electrokinetic and nucleic acid technology for lateral flow assays (shorturl.at/mCozh) App Deadline: 26/01/25

Join us for the final EngBio Early Career Researcher Meetup of 2024! @engbioirc.bsky.social 📆Monday 9th December📍Cambridge West Hub. Talks by Juliette Bucci @cebcambridge.bsky.social 🧬 and Honghao Su @honghaosu.bsky.social @plantscience.bsky.social 🌱. 👉RSVP: www.tickettailor.com/events/engin...

A growing starting package of the Engineering Biology community in Cambridge (UK) 🧬! Contact EngBio IRC @engbioirc.bsky.social if you want to be added go.bsky.app/CFmRK7X

Please share this PhD opportunity in my new lab in Bristol, using protein design/ engineering to understand and build molecular motors to control intracellular transport. Working with @markdodding.bsky.social and Prof Dek Woolfson. www.findaphd.com/phds/project... www.swbio.ac.uk/biomolecular...

Ok, trying to bring my community back together... I created a starter pack for lipids and membrane protein aficionados! Feel free to share, add and distribute, so we can come together again! 😍 go.bsky.app/AEeXh86

I am excited to share our review published online with Nature Reviews MCB. Pilong Li, Gaofeng Pei, Heankel Lyons, and I review the current literature on the regulation of transcription by condensates, large length scale assemblies of complexes (Figure 1). www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Transcription regulation by biomolecular condensates - Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology

Transcriptional condensates, which are formed through dynamic multivalent interactions between proteins, RNA and chromatin, regulate transcription by compartmentalizing its machinery in the crowded nu...

nature.com

To accelerate the X-odus, I created a DNA & RNA nanotech starter pack :) Comment if you want to be added! go.bsky.app/7LUeJ61

Amazing to see our work on designer RNA condensates featured on the cover of @naturenano.bsky.social!!! #RNAnanotech #condensates #SynCells www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Co-transcriptional production of programmable RNA condensates and synthetic organelles - Nature Nanotechnology

Controlling RNA and protein condensation is helpful in synthetic biology. Here the authors show programmable assembly of synthetic RNA nanostructures into designer membrane-less organelles that select...

nature.com