Rahul K

Come and work with my research group on polymer-based synthetic cells. Apply now for these exciting postdoc positions!

Mark your calendars for the 4th Metabolism in Health & Disease Conference! A platform designed to break down barriers between leaders in molecular biology, technology development, animal models, AI and drug pipelines.

Details at: bit.ly/3ZjqWil @fusionconf.bsky.social

Submit talks by 13 Apr 2026

How can we tap into the enormous functional diversity of microbes on this planet?

Join us at EMBL Heidelberg (8–10 Dec 2026) to learn about ongoing efforts to decode gene function and organisation in human gut microbes, and present your science.

Pluripotent stem-cell-based screening uncovers sildenafil as a mitochondrial disease therapy Mitochondrial disease encompasses inherited disorders affecting mitochondrial function. A severe and untreatable form of mitochondrial disease is Leig…

Our collaborative work is out now in CELL @cellpress.bsky.social

We sugggest sildenafil as a repurposable drug for mitochondrial disease.

A clinical trial is planned to start later this year.

Thanks to collaborators, funders, and patient organizations!

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

🥁🥁🥁 Newly out from us today in Science Advances: “Biased AI Writing Assistants Shift Users’ Attitudes on Societal Issues”.

Large Language Models are providing users with autocomplete writing suggestions on many platforms. Could these suggestions shift users’ own attitudes? (spoiler: YES) (1/7)

A modular genetic code expansion approach to site-specific lysine acylations A modular strategy combining genetic code expansion with a selective amide bond-forming reaction enables the site-specific installation of lysine acylations on folded proteins. Acylboronates react sel...

🚨 Our new paper is out! 🙌

Bioorthogonal reactions often create bulky, non-native linkages-great for labeling, but not ideal for installing natural PTMs.
We combine GCE with a chemoselective amide-bond forming reaction to install site-specific acylation PTMs.
www.cell.com/chem/fulltex...
1/4

ChemRxiv, which is owned by five academic societies, has decided to move to a commercially operated preprint server

newsroom.wiley.com/press-releas...

A great chance to expand your knowledge beyond the scientific aspects of engineered living materials.

The usefulness of useless knowledge [FREE TO READ] Politicians aren’t the best judges of the merits of scientific research

Of honey bees, long shots, and the usefulness of useless knowledge
as.ft.com/r/80525f53-e...

Cartoon suggesting that all modern digital technology is dependent on a project some random person has been thanklessly maintaining since 2003

So true, unfortunately

@xkcd.com

Don’t deprioritize curiosity-driven research Around the world, governments are demanding that research funding follow broader political priorities. They should be careful what they wish for.

A very important editorial:

Don’t deprioritize curiosity-driven research www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Schematic representation of the proposed processes of reverse translation: from peptides to DNA. Cleavage I: the aminopeptidase (blue) processively cleaves the peptide bonds at the N terminus of a peptide (pink), releasing free amino acids.

One of the most-viewed PNAS articles in the last week is “From peptides to DNA: All required steps can be catalyzed.” Explore the article here: https://ow.ly/Pa4q50YrSfY

For more trending articles, visit https://ow.ly/jUm050YrSg0.

'Virtual cell' captures most-basic process of life: bacterial division Researchers simulated nearly every molecule in a bacterial cell — and then watched the cell grow and reproduce.

For the first time, researchers have simulated nearly every chemical reaction in a living bacterial cell

go.nature.com/4lrAulM

Really exciting to hear Dan Gottschling (formerly of @fredhutch.org now @ Calico) on novel insights into cellular aging pathways in yeast using clever cellular, genetic and technological tools. Some recent papers: doi.org/10.1083/jcb.... ; doi.org/10.64898/202... ; review: doi.org/10.1146/annu...

Professor of Integrated Immunology

To all immunologists looking for amazing opportunities at a fantastic school/university. Please check the opening for a professorship in Integrated Immunology below 👇. Please don`t forget: ETH is a fantastic place to work and live!!
ethz.ch/en/the-eth-z...

Framework for microbiome-inspired functional synthetic communities

One of the biggest challenges in microbial biotechnology? Unlocking the potential of non-model microbes and synthetic communities! Glad to share our review @sonjablasche.bsky.social @simonemozzachiodi.bsky.social @kiranrpatil.bsky.social @cambridgebiosci.bsky.social🧵(1/7) doi.org/10.1016/j.co...

Johan Elf, Professor at Uppsala University, former EMBO Young Investigator and EMBO Member since 2022, speaks with us about his work and the importance of EMBO to his #career. 🧪

Continue reading:
https://www.embo.org/the-embo-communities/embo-communities-by-country/focus-on-sweden/

Gene regulatory networks: from correlative models to causal explanations - Nature Reviews Genetics In this Perspective, Maizels and Briscoe discuss the limitations of current models of gene regulatory networks and outline solutions to harness data abundance without compromising explanatory power.

"GRNs, which should provide mechanistic explanations, are increasingly reduced to statistical correlations — ‘hairballs’ that fail to capture molecular causation"

By Maizels and @jamesbriscoe.bsky.social

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Lab logo facelift to better reflect our research focus. More about our lab here: bibellab.lmu.build

SEED2026 abstract deadline extended to 3/15!! there's still time to submit an abstract for a talk or poster! #SEED2026 #synbio

Beyond Belief The remarkable story of the global movement championing the idea that evidence, not opinions, should guide our decisions

📢 My book, Beyond Belief: How Evidence Shows What Really Works, is out 28th April. 🚨🚨

“an incredibly engaging popular science book that illustrates why we should care about good quality evidence.”

Preorders *really* help! 🙏
@princetonupress.bsky.social
press.princeton.edu/books/hardco...

MIT graduate student council "calls for adoption of preprints...to
accelerate communication of scientific discoveries, and restore healthy incentives" drive.google.com/file/d/1KLbj...

Open Science round-up: Making preprints count - International Science Council In this issue, we feature an editorial by the International Network for Advancing Science and Policy (INASP) on how funders and policy-makers can support a faster, more equitable publishing system by ...

"Funders serious about timely, open, and equitable access to research must explicitly recognize preprint sharing as a route to Open Access compliance"

I know I'm a broken record on this but it seems so blindingly obvious... #PlanU journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...

council.science/blog/open-sc...

Just discovered the wonderful covers of 'Genes to Cells', the journal of the Molecular Biology Society of Japan @mbsj-official.bsky.social – absolutely beautiful!

here some examples inspired by mitosis, CRISPR, the DNA helix, and plant pigments

A figure showing a 'Simplot' which plots the similarity of a genome to other genomes across a graph, with similarity on the Y-axis and the genome position on the x-axis. Many coloured lines show the sequences being compared - those closest to the top (similarity of 1) are the closest matches in different parts of the genome.

1/5

Introducing SimPlot-CL! 🧬
Recombination plays an important role in viral evolution. Similarity plots are a great way to visualize recombination patterns, but generating them across many genomes can be cumbersome

(Work with my student, Keno Strotjohann!)
📂 github.com/hodcroftlab/simplot-cl

The Intersecting Physical Mechanisms That Regulate Cell Viability in 3D Synthetic Hydrogels This study coordinates multiple cell-biomaterial interfaces to evaluate the overlapping physical signals of stiffness, solute transport, and cell confinement presented when cells are encapsulated in ...

Latest issue of curated #engineeredlivingmaterials feed:
biomed.news/bims-enlima/...

via @biomednews.bsky.social | #livingmaterials #ELMs

includes research on: tough hydrogels enabled by transient entanglements, physical mechanisms that regulate cell viability in 3D synthetic hydrogels, & more 🧪

Ultrafast-relaxing and photopolymerizable PEG hydrogels enable viscoelasticity-mediated cell remodeling in synthetic matrices Photopolymerizable BELA hydrogels combine dynamic boronate ester and elastic dithiolane-ene crosslinks to achieve ultrafast stress relaxation and tunable viscoelasticity. By adjusting formulation and ...

Latest issue of curated #engineeredlivingmaterials feed:
biomed.news/bims-enlima/...

via @biomednews.bsky.social | #livingmaterials #ELMs

includes research on: cell remodeling in synthetic matrices, designing self-healing, printable, and tough conductive hydrogels, matter and microbes & more 🧪

How do the H2A.Z histone variant and its dedicated chromatin remodeller SRCAP regulate gene expression ?
Beautiful work from @armelletollenaere.bsky.social now published @ www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Why ‘quantum proteins’ could be the next big thing in biology Fluorescent proteins with a quantum upgrade could offer unprecedented views inside cells.

“In the past, it might have seemed like, ‘ah, that’s likely never going to work’,” says physicist Ania Jayich. “That’s not true any more.”

go.nature.com/3NdJMF1

Two decades of induced pluripotent stem cell research: From discovery to diverse applications Since the discovery of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) 20 years ago, iPSC technology has transformed stem cell research and regenerative medicine. This perspective reviews key advances in reprogramming mechanisms and highlights the growing clinical, translational, and societal applications of iPSCs.

Two decades of induced pluripotent stem cell research: From discovery to diverse applications