Ci Ji (CJ) Lim
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cijilim.bsky.social
Ci Ji (CJ) Lim
@cijilim.bsky.social
Associate Professor @ UW-Madison Biochemistry. www.limlab.org
Telomeres, Cryo-EM, Single-molecule Biophysics. Opinions are my own. 🇸🇬
Pinned
Our paper in Science is out! @souravagrawal.bsky.social, @rlynn.bsky.social, @susvirkar.bsky.social, and the rest of the team show human RPA is a telomerase processivity factor essential for telomere maintenance. This reshapes our thinking about telomerase regulation. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Human RPA is an essential telomerase processivity factor for maintaining telomeres
Telomerase counteracts telomere shortening by repeatedly adding DNA repeats to chromosome ends. We identified the replication protein A (RPA) heterotrimer as a telomerase processivity factor critical ...
www.science.org
Reposted by Ci Ji (CJ) Lim
Exciting news! The lab is moving to Colorado at @cuanschutz.bsky.social 🎉
We’ll be recruiting at all levels—stay tuned!
February 3, 2026 at 8:46 PM
Reposted by Ci Ji (CJ) Lim
Based in the #Americas? @embo.org Lab #Leadership live online training for #scientists on 17-20 March (NY time). Take time to focus on, and tune up, your interpersonal skills and discover tools to support you and your team's development. Sign up now: www.embolableadership.org/course/embol...
February 3, 2026 at 8:22 AM
Reposted by Ci Ji (CJ) Lim
My outstanding postdoc is looking for a research job in Albany, NY. Please forward all leads and RT!
February 3, 2026 at 10:14 PM
Reposted by Ci Ji (CJ) Lim
📣 We are accepting applications for the 2026 Boston Bioimage Analysis Course (BoBiAC): bobiac.github.io! Join us this July at Harvard Medical School for a 6-day intensive hands-on course to learn bioimage analysis with Python!
Apply by May 18th! No prior Python experience required!
🧫->🔬->💻->📊
February 3, 2026 at 9:36 PM
Reposted by Ci Ji (CJ) Lim
📣 The 2026 Midwest DNA Repair Symposium is coming to Kansas City (registration is open)

🗓 May 30–31, 2026

✨ Talks will be selected from abstracts, with a strong focus on trainees and new investigators.

Please RT & share with your labs!
🔗 sites.google.com/view/kumc-mi...
February 3, 2026 at 8:41 PM
Reposted by Ci Ji (CJ) Lim
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...
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
Reposted by Ci Ji (CJ) Lim
This just in. So honored and grateful...
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 6:24 PM
Reposted by Ci Ji (CJ) Lim
Check out NASA’s new press release on how we recreated a molecule used by some of Earth’s earliest life forms, helping us understand how life began here and how we might spot signs of life on other planets! Big congrats to first author, @hollyrucker.bsky.social!

science.nasa.gov/science-rese...
Resurrecting Ancient Enzymes in NASA's Search for Life Beyond Earth - NASA Science
NASA-supported scientists have resurrected an enzyme first used by organisms on Earth 3.2-billion years ago and, in the process, have validated a chemical
science.nasa.gov
January 30, 2026 at 9:16 PM
Reposted by Ci Ji (CJ) Lim
A rule I follow when reviewing cryo-EM manuscripts: if a claim relies on the orientation or interactions of a side chain, the evidence supporting the claim (ie the map density) must be shown.

In general, reviewers are responsible for ensuring claims in manuscripts are supported by data.
January 30, 2026 at 2:04 PM
Reposted by Ci Ji (CJ) Lim
Happy new year! We have some exciting news, the registration and abstract submissions for the 22nd Nucleic Acids Forum 2026 are now open! Join us on the 10th of July at Burlington House!
Hurry before it sells out! 🧬
www.rsc.org/events/detai...
22nd RSC Nucleic Acids Forum – 2026
The Royal Society of Chemistry, Burlington House, Piccadilly, Piccadilly, London, W1J 0BA, United Kingdom
www.rsc.org
January 29, 2026 at 9:05 AM
Reposted by Ci Ji (CJ) Lim
The IKI at Ben-Gurion University is looking for a Staff Scientist to join our CryoEM Unit.

If you’re passionate about #spa and #cryoET, this is a rare opportunity to work in an amazing environment with top-tier science and even better collaborators (myself […]

[Original post on tooot.im]
January 29, 2026 at 4:24 AM
Reposted by Ci Ji (CJ) Lim
Make your gene knockouts more efficient with multiplexed Cas12a sgRNAs. Our new paper is out now, with tools available from @addgene.bsky.social , www.plasmids.eu and @vdrc-flies.bsky.social.

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

#CRISPR #geneediting #Drosophila 🧪🧬✂️🔬🪰

Summary 🧵 below.
January 29, 2026 at 9:26 AM
Reposted by Ci Ji (CJ) Lim
Jane Richardson was born #OTD in 1941

+ Developed the Richardson (ribbon) diagram to represent proteins' 3D structure (becoming a standard representation for protein structures)
+ MacArthur Fellow, 1985
+ Elected, Nat'l Academy of Sciences, 1991
+ President, Biophysical Society, 2012

#WomenInSTEM
January 26, 2026 at 12:06 AM
Reposted by Ci Ji (CJ) Lim
Our paper on the structural and functional basis of the human dimeric OS9–SEL1L–HRD1 ERAD complex, together with @qilabuva.bsky.social, is now out! Huge congratulations to Leo, Emir, and Elina!
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
January 27, 2026 at 8:24 PM
Reposted by Ci Ji (CJ) Lim
Excited to share our latest work on dissecting the mechanism of processive telomeric DNA synthesis by telomerase. Led by amazing PhD student Sebastian Balch in collaboration with lab members,@automnenine.bsky.social @rachael-kretsch.bsky.social,@rdaslab.bsky.social.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Structures of nucleotide-bound human telomerase at several steps of its telomeric DNA repeat addition cycle - Nature Communications
To maintain genome stability, the specialised reverse transcriptase telomerase processively adds telomeric DNA repeats to chromosome ends. Here the authors reported structures of human telomerase at t...
www.nature.com
January 23, 2026 at 6:57 AM
Reposted by Ci Ji (CJ) Lim
New pre-print from the lab! Lead by Mariia Mikhova and in collaboration with Kefei Yu’s lab @msumgi.bsky.social we dug into the molecular mechanism of class switch recombination in B cells using simultaneous RNA and protein single-molecule imaging. 1/n
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
January 23, 2026 at 2:49 PM
Reposted by Ci Ji (CJ) Lim
Cryo-EM structure reveals how influenza A virus NEP binds the viral polymerase at a regulatory hotspot, coordinating RNA synthesis and nuclear export. Fantastic collaboration with @loiccarrique.bsky.social and Jon Grimes. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
January 24, 2026 at 5:25 PM
Reposted by Ci Ji (CJ) Lim
Reposted by Ci Ji (CJ) Lim
Students & postdocs 👉 Apply by April 16 for our hands-on #TheoreticalBiophysics workshop featuring participant talks, tutorials & lively discussions.

✅ No registration fee
🍽️ Meals & hotel covered
✈️ Travel support available

Apply ➡️ janelia.news/THB26

@allysonsgro.bsky.social @zamakany.bsky.social
January 22, 2026 at 2:37 PM
Reposted by Ci Ji (CJ) Lim
We are running the cryo-ET image processing workshop again this year! Come learn everything tomo: STA, segmentation, heterogeneity analysis from @baradlab.com @williamnwan.bsky.social and others!

Apply!
While everything feels flash-frozen in Michigan, it's a great time to plan for U-M's 2026 #CryoET Data Processing Workshop!
This hands-on workshop will introduce participants to standard image processing packages used to analyze cryo-ET data.
Apply by March 20: myumi.ch/lsi-cryo-wor...
January 20, 2026 at 2:20 PM
Reposted by Ci Ji (CJ) Lim
Here are the success rates of de novo pipelines based on which designs I could actually identify the methods for.
January 22, 2026 at 3:48 PM
Reposted by Ci Ji (CJ) Lim
Weill Institute is recruiting postdocs, please share!

Fischer Lab: lnkd.in/eMnveqyv

Hu Lab: lnkd.in/epsGK7wd
January 22, 2026 at 5:56 PM
Reposted by Ci Ji (CJ) Lim
Does anyone else think this gif looks like somebody crowd-surfing at a gig?
Happy to share the latest from the lab, led by Daniel Alvarez, in collaboration with @lizconibear.bsky.social‬. In this AA-MD tour-de-force, we delve deep into the mechanism and energetics of lipid uptake by bridge-like lipid transfer proteins, and we learn a few interesting things along the way...
January 22, 2026 at 4:07 PM
Reposted by Ci Ji (CJ) Lim
Excited to share our new paper! We developed a method to visualize proteasomal degradation at the single–molecule level in live cells, enabling us to dissect distinct modes of substrate engagement, probe co-factor dependence, and study proteasome–ribosome collisions.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
January 20, 2026 at 12:27 PM