Basil Greber
@bjgreber.bsky.social
Structural biologist. High-resolution imaging of macromolecular assemblies (and landscapes). MRC career development fellow/group leader at the Institute of Cancer Research, London. Views my own.
Reposted by Basil Greber
hello and welcome to the political genius exam. here is question one. which is a more compelling message:
- the president is sending armies to occupy cities and kidnap and kill people and your town could be next
- a meal at the cheesecake factory that previously cost $100 now costs $104.9
- the president is sending armies to occupy cities and kidnap and kill people and your town could be next
- a meal at the cheesecake factory that previously cost $100 now costs $104.9
Romance alert: Trump's reckless tariffs have Valentine’s Day costs up across the board:
Roses 🌹16.6%
Chocolates🍫 18.7%
Ribeye 🥩 25.4%
Restaurant meals 🍽️ 4.9%
Roses 🌹16.6%
Chocolates🍫 18.7%
Ribeye 🥩 25.4%
Restaurant meals 🍽️ 4.9%
February 14, 2026 at 6:19 PM
hello and welcome to the political genius exam. here is question one. which is a more compelling message:
- the president is sending armies to occupy cities and kidnap and kill people and your town could be next
- a meal at the cheesecake factory that previously cost $100 now costs $104.9
- the president is sending armies to occupy cities and kidnap and kill people and your town could be next
- a meal at the cheesecake factory that previously cost $100 now costs $104.9
Reposted by Basil Greber
New paper from my group in @science.org : "A small polymerase ribozyme that can synthesise itself and its complementary strand" www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Outstanding work by @edogia.bsky.social
Outstanding work by @edogia.bsky.social
February 13, 2026 at 10:57 AM
New paper from my group in @science.org : "A small polymerase ribozyme that can synthesise itself and its complementary strand" www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Outstanding work by @edogia.bsky.social
Outstanding work by @edogia.bsky.social
Reposted by Basil Greber
President Zelensky presented Heraskevytch with a civil honor this evening in Munich. Immediate national hero.
February 13, 2026 at 10:45 PM
President Zelensky presented Heraskevytch with a civil honor this evening in Munich. Immediate national hero.
Reposted by Basil Greber
Ooooh. Cool new paper on origins of life. A simple 45-nucleotide RNA molecule that can perfectly copy itself.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
A small polymerase ribozyme that can synthesize itself and its complementary strand
The emergence of a chemical system capable of self-replication and evolution is a critical event in the origin of life. RNA polymerase ribozymes can replicate RNA, but their large size and structural ...
www.science.org
February 13, 2026 at 2:19 AM
Ooooh. Cool new paper on origins of life. A simple 45-nucleotide RNA molecule that can perfectly copy itself.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Reposted by Basil Greber
I'm kind of depressed to see countries like Canada frame this as an opportunity. No one benefits from the collapse of US science. And you certainly don't benefit anyone by poaching a few big names while doing no other meaningful increased investment in your own research ecosystem.
February 10, 2026 at 11:15 PM
I'm kind of depressed to see countries like Canada frame this as an opportunity. No one benefits from the collapse of US science. And you certainly don't benefit anyone by poaching a few big names while doing no other meaningful increased investment in your own research ecosystem.
Reposted by Basil Greber
Honored to be a finalist for the 2026 Blavanik Awards in the UK in Life Sciences. I’m grateful to past and present lab members, collaborators, colleagues and mentors, who made it possible. It’s even better to share this from
Vietnam while celebrating the Tet holidays with family.
Vietnam while celebrating the Tet holidays with family.
@kellythd-nguyen.bsky.social, Group Leader in the Structural Studies Division, has been announced as a Finalist in the 2026 Blavatnik Awards for her work on telomerase.
Congratulations to Kelly and to all the other Finalists!
Read more here: blavatnikawards.org/news/items/y...
#LMBintheNews
Congratulations to Kelly and to all the other Finalists!
Read more here: blavatnikawards.org/news/items/y...
#LMBintheNews
February 10, 2026 at 10:19 AM
Honored to be a finalist for the 2026 Blavanik Awards in the UK in Life Sciences. I’m grateful to past and present lab members, collaborators, colleagues and mentors, who made it possible. It’s even better to share this from
Vietnam while celebrating the Tet holidays with family.
Vietnam while celebrating the Tet holidays with family.
Reposted by Basil Greber
Worth watching this in full. The statement is more powerful than this quote alone. Here is is from USA Today, with alt text.
Also! Rich Ruohonen is a personal injury lawyer and the oldest athlete to ever represent the United States in a Winter Games at 54 years old.
Also! Rich Ruohonen is a personal injury lawyer and the oldest athlete to ever represent the United States in a Winter Games at 54 years old.
February 10, 2026 at 10:12 PM
Worth watching this in full. The statement is more powerful than this quote alone. Here is is from USA Today, with alt text.
Also! Rich Ruohonen is a personal injury lawyer and the oldest athlete to ever represent the United States in a Winter Games at 54 years old.
Also! Rich Ruohonen is a personal injury lawyer and the oldest athlete to ever represent the United States in a Winter Games at 54 years old.
🙈
The FDA has refused to accept an application from Moderna to review its first mRNA seasonal flu vaccine, the company said, in another setback for the technology that’s been a target of some Trump administration health officials. https://cnn.it/4kt8iyn
February 11, 2026 at 2:38 AM
🙈
Reposted by Basil Greber
🧪🧬New preprint We present cryo-EM structures of reconstituted CTCF–nucleosome complexes, showing CTCF dimerization drives nucleosome oligomerization into defined higher-order assemblies. Disrupting CTCF–CTCF interfaces in mESCs reduces looping and impairs differentiation. tinyurl.com/CTCF-nucleos...
February 9, 2026 at 12:54 PM
🧪🧬New preprint We present cryo-EM structures of reconstituted CTCF–nucleosome complexes, showing CTCF dimerization drives nucleosome oligomerization into defined higher-order assemblies. Disrupting CTCF–CTCF interfaces in mESCs reduces looping and impairs differentiation. tinyurl.com/CTCF-nucleos...
Reposted by Basil Greber
Anybody know what the threshold was for MSCA funding this time round? Results are coming out and it looks brutal.
February 9, 2026 at 7:19 AM
Anybody know what the threshold was for MSCA funding this time round? Results are coming out and it looks brutal.
Reposted by Basil Greber
More evidence also that the federal administration is NOT pursuing actual criminal activity- they have forced out the very prosecutors who were working on the social services fraud cases that had been the proclaimed casus belli for sending federal forces to MN.
You should read this. It is the type of detail that experts in authoritarian regimes see as telling.
In this case, state agents are offered impunity from higher ups, and the legal system is rendered inoperative as a mode of accountability.
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/07/u...
In this case, state agents are offered impunity from higher ups, and the legal system is rendered inoperative as a mode of accountability.
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/07/u...
Prosecutors Began Investigating Renee Good’s Killing. Washington Told Them to Stop.
www.nytimes.com
February 7, 2026 at 7:23 PM
More evidence also that the federal administration is NOT pursuing actual criminal activity- they have forced out the very prosecutors who were working on the social services fraud cases that had been the proclaimed casus belli for sending federal forces to MN.
Reposted by Basil Greber
ICE told nurses this Minneapolis man “purposefully ran headfirst into a brick wall.”
What actually happened is that they pulled him from a car, beat him so viciously with a steel baton that he had 8 skull fractures, 5 life-threatening brain hemorrhages, and couldn’t remember he had a daughter.
What actually happened is that they pulled him from a car, beat him so viciously with a steel baton that he had 8 skull fractures, 5 life-threatening brain hemorrhages, and couldn’t remember he had a daughter.
February 7, 2026 at 5:54 PM
ICE told nurses this Minneapolis man “purposefully ran headfirst into a brick wall.”
What actually happened is that they pulled him from a car, beat him so viciously with a steel baton that he had 8 skull fractures, 5 life-threatening brain hemorrhages, and couldn’t remember he had a daughter.
What actually happened is that they pulled him from a car, beat him so viciously with a steel baton that he had 8 skull fractures, 5 life-threatening brain hemorrhages, and couldn’t remember he had a daughter.
Reposted by Basil Greber
We're launching a research lab at SMART. Shenzhen Medical Academy for Research and Translation is a newly established institute with long-term funding mechanisms for internal and external investigators. At full capacity SMART aims to support up to 400 labs.
www.scmp.com/news/china/s...
www.scmp.com/news/china/s...
Structural biologist Alexey Amunts launches new research lab in Shenzhen
‘Shenzhen adds another dimension; it is a place where ideas do not remain ideas for long,’ Amunts says of new position.
www.scmp.com
February 6, 2026 at 5:36 AM
We're launching a research lab at SMART. Shenzhen Medical Academy for Research and Translation is a newly established institute with long-term funding mechanisms for internal and external investigators. At full capacity SMART aims to support up to 400 labs.
www.scmp.com/news/china/s...
www.scmp.com/news/china/s...
Reposted by Basil Greber
Unquestionably the result of combined effort from all current and former lab members, support from colleagues @CSU and @CU, and support from @hhmi-science.bsky.social and NIH over decades. A heartfelt 🙏 to my nominators and of course @vilcekfoundation.bsky.social.
vilcek.org/prizes/prize...
vilcek.org/prizes/prize...
Karolin Luger - Vilcek Foundation
Karolin Luger's research led to the capture of a high resolution image of chromatin, resulting in the development of innovative drug treatments for diseases like cancer.
vilcek.org
February 2, 2026 at 11:37 PM
Unquestionably the result of combined effort from all current and former lab members, support from colleagues @CSU and @CU, and support from @hhmi-science.bsky.social and NIH over decades. A heartfelt 🙏 to my nominators and of course @vilcekfoundation.bsky.social.
vilcek.org/prizes/prize...
vilcek.org/prizes/prize...
Reposted by Basil Greber
We're proud to join the Vilcek Foundation in recognizing HHMI Investigator Karolin Luger, whose dedication & groundbreaking nucleosome research has led to the development of innovative new drug treatments, including cancer medicines. hhmi.news/49VciEd @vilcekfoundation.bsky.social
February 2, 2026 at 5:05 PM
We're proud to join the Vilcek Foundation in recognizing HHMI Investigator Karolin Luger, whose dedication & groundbreaking nucleosome research has led to the development of innovative new drug treatments, including cancer medicines. hhmi.news/49VciEd @vilcekfoundation.bsky.social
Reposted by Basil Greber
Exactly this
Would have been good to have added an apology for the lack of comms so far this year, particularly for those that submitted grants to UKRI applicant-led funding streams in Sept 2025, as these are highly unlikely to be funded (www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-r...)
MRC instructs grant review boards to slash funding rates - Research Professional News
Boards asked to recommend just three applications for funding, as BBSRC also suspends calls
www.researchprofessionalnews.com
February 2, 2026 at 11:14 AM
Exactly this
Reposted by Basil Greber
I miss these pieces so much...sigh...
February 2, 2026 at 7:36 AM
I miss these pieces so much...sigh...
Reposted by Basil Greber
One of the best #TeamTomo studies of phase-separated condensates I’ve seen. I am reminded of Rubisco condensates (pyrenoids) for the ability to make such quantitative measurements of molecular organization. It really helps to have intrinsic ~500 kDa fiducials. Awesome mechanistic stuff!! 🧪 🧶🧬 🔬
We are excited to share our new preprint which is now available to read on biorXiv: doi.org/10.64898/202... 🎉🎉🎉
January 18, 2026 at 8:45 PM
One of the best #TeamTomo studies of phase-separated condensates I’ve seen. I am reminded of Rubisco condensates (pyrenoids) for the ability to make such quantitative measurements of molecular organization. It really helps to have intrinsic ~500 kDa fiducials. Awesome mechanistic stuff!! 🧪 🧶🧬 🔬
Reposted by Basil Greber
We are excited to share our new preprint which is now available to read on biorXiv: doi.org/10.64898/202... 🎉🎉🎉
January 13, 2026 at 2:39 PM
We are excited to share our new preprint which is now available to read on biorXiv: doi.org/10.64898/202... 🎉🎉🎉
Reposted by Basil Greber
Both MRC and BBSRC responsive modes now withdrawn until further notice. Existing applications unlikely to succeed (late 2025 round expecting 1-5% success rate).
Listen, I get that UKRI wants to pivot. But killing both at once is devastating.
Let's hope at least one opens by summer... #AcademicSky
Listen, I get that UKRI wants to pivot. But killing both at once is devastating.
Let's hope at least one opens by summer... #AcademicSky
MRC instructs grant review boards to slash funding rates - Research Professional News
Boards asked to recommend just three applications for funding, as BBSRC also suspends calls
www.researchprofessionalnews.com
January 31, 2026 at 11:12 PM
Both MRC and BBSRC responsive modes now withdrawn until further notice. Existing applications unlikely to succeed (late 2025 round expecting 1-5% success rate).
Listen, I get that UKRI wants to pivot. But killing both at once is devastating.
Let's hope at least one opens by summer... #AcademicSky
Listen, I get that UKRI wants to pivot. But killing both at once is devastating.
Let's hope at least one opens by summer... #AcademicSky
Reposted by Basil Greber
The leaders of four major physics infrastructure projects due to receive over £280m from UKRI were told in December they have “not been prioritised” for funding
The projects include an upgrade to the LHC at Cern and a new US particle accelerator
...
The projects include an upgrade to the LHC at Cern and a new US particle accelerator
...
January 31, 2026 at 10:12 AM
The leaders of four major physics infrastructure projects due to receive over £280m from UKRI were told in December they have “not been prioritised” for funding
The projects include an upgrade to the LHC at Cern and a new US particle accelerator
...
The projects include an upgrade to the LHC at Cern and a new US particle accelerator
...
Reposted by Basil Greber
Oh dear. Our favourite Fellow of the @royalsociety.org is in the news again
NEW: Elon Musk has insisted that Jeffrey Epstein invited him to the notorious island and he declined. But new emails show the opposite -- Musk was practically begging to party with Epstein in the Caribbean, years after Epstein's sex convictions were public knowledge
futurism.com/future-socie...
futurism.com/future-socie...
Elon Musk Emailed Extensively With Jeffrey Epstein, Begging to Visit His Notorious Island
Newly released documents show how Elon Musk extensively communicated with Jeffrey Epstein to plan parties and trips to his island.
futurism.com
January 31, 2026 at 7:07 AM
Oh dear. Our favourite Fellow of the @royalsociety.org is in the news again
Reposted by Basil Greber
Am I the only one increasingly annoyed by cryo-EM papers not showing *any* experimental density in figures? Sometimes not even in the supplementary material??
January 30, 2026 at 12:36 PM
Am I the only one increasingly annoyed by cryo-EM papers not showing *any* experimental density in figures? Sometimes not even in the supplementary material??
Is there any freely accessible info (I do not have a subscription to “Research Professional News”, which is the article being shared in this context) on what will happen to project grants submitted in 2025?
...annual applicant-led funding at MRC and BBSRC will be lower from 2026-29 than during 2022-25.
MRC's applicant-led calls are paused, and messaging from the research council suggests funding rounds from 2025 (where grants are yet to be awarded) may be impacted - tough for those who put in bids...
MRC's applicant-led calls are paused, and messaging from the research council suggests funding rounds from 2025 (where grants are yet to be awarded) may be impacted - tough for those who put in bids...
January 29, 2026 at 8:20 AM
Is there any freely accessible info (I do not have a subscription to “Research Professional News”, which is the article being shared in this context) on what will happen to project grants submitted in 2025?
A 300 kV low-base Titan is an “entry-level TEM”? Reading that, I expected to read about tweaking something like an F20 or similar.
Researchers at UCLA show you don’t need a dedicated cryo-EM to get world-class results. Using an adapted entry-level TEM, they achieved 1.95 Å apoferritin—comparable to top-tier systems—pointing to a more accessible future for cryo-EM.
Read more: https://doi.org/10.1093/mam/ozae044.364
Read more: https://doi.org/10.1093/mam/ozae044.364
January 28, 2026 at 11:04 PM
A 300 kV low-base Titan is an “entry-level TEM”? Reading that, I expected to read about tweaking something like an F20 or similar.