Nick Stroustrup
@nstroustrup.bsky.social
A British/American group leader at @crg.eu . We study the biology of aging using molecular genetics, engineering, systems biology, and probabilistic machine learning.
Lab page: http://lifespanmachine.crg.eu
Lab page: http://lifespanmachine.crg.eu
Reposted by Nick Stroustrup
This was a lovely first read of 2026
January 1, 2026 at 8:55 AM
This was a lovely first read of 2026
Reposted by Nick Stroustrup
"Results from experiments with N = 4 or less are shown to be highly misleading (...). For a cut-off of 2-fold expression differences, we find an N of 6-7 mice is required to consistently decrease the false positive rate to below 50%, and the detection sensitivity to above 50%"
Optimized murine sample sizes for RNA sequencing studies revealed from large scale comparative analysis - Nature Communications
Determining the appropriate sample size (N) for bulk RNA sequencing experiments is critical to ensure reliable results. Here the authors perform an unusually large N experiment (N = 30 per group), ana...
www.nature.com
December 27, 2025 at 3:51 PM
"Results from experiments with N = 4 or less are shown to be highly misleading (...). For a cut-off of 2-fold expression differences, we find an N of 6-7 mice is required to consistently decrease the false positive rate to below 50%, and the detection sensitivity to above 50%"
Reposted by Nick Stroustrup
Yet one more reason we cannot allow LLMs to serve as epistemic grounding is that we cannot triangulate among them the way you can among reasonable independent sources. They bullshit in the same way and end up agreeing with one other about things that are completely false.
December 15, 2025 at 11:36 PM
Yet one more reason we cannot allow LLMs to serve as epistemic grounding is that we cannot triangulate among them the way you can among reasonable independent sources. They bullshit in the same way and end up agreeing with one other about things that are completely false.
Reposted by Nick Stroustrup
Organelles do NOT have a single uniform pH.
And if you think they must, because “protons diffuse fast,” this paper is for you.
A thread on why that assumption is wrong; and what we found instead. 🧵 1/n
And if you think they must, because “protons diffuse fast,” this paper is for you.
A thread on why that assumption is wrong; and what we found instead. 🧵 1/n
Organelles harbour pH gradients https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2025.12.12.694065v1
December 17, 2025 at 12:46 AM
Organelles do NOT have a single uniform pH.
And if you think they must, because “protons diffuse fast,” this paper is for you.
A thread on why that assumption is wrong; and what we found instead. 🧵 1/n
And if you think they must, because “protons diffuse fast,” this paper is for you.
A thread on why that assumption is wrong; and what we found instead. 🧵 1/n
The manuscript is out now--take a look! www.nature.com/articles/s41...
We’d love feedback! As always, please reach out if you’re interested in getting more info or reagents. 10/10
We’d love feedback! As always, please reach out if you’re interested in getting more info or reagents. 10/10
Engineering the auxin-inducible degron system for tunable in vivo control of organismal physiology - Nature Communications
Auxin-inducible degradation (AID) is a powerful tool for degrading target proteins in live organisms. Here, the authors develop the AID system to provide more precise, quantitative control over single...
www.nature.com
December 16, 2025 at 12:09 PM
The manuscript is out now--take a look! www.nature.com/articles/s41...
We’d love feedback! As always, please reach out if you’re interested in getting more info or reagents. 10/10
We’d love feedback! As always, please reach out if you’re interested in getting more info or reagents. 10/10
We have transcriptomics data describing the on- and off-target effects of different AID system implementations. We also generated several new TIR1 lines we think will be useful to others, including a new “whole-body” line with pan-somatic and pan-germline expression. 9/10
December 16, 2025 at 12:09 PM
We have transcriptomics data describing the on- and off-target effects of different AID system implementations. We also generated several new TIR1 lines we think will be useful to others, including a new “whole-body” line with pan-somatic and pan-germline expression. 9/10
One of the most exciting outcomes was that we figured out how to control two different proteins independently in the same living animal, a “dual channel” AID system that opens the door to cool new experimental designs. 8/10
December 16, 2025 at 12:09 PM
One of the most exciting outcomes was that we figured out how to control two different proteins independently in the same living animal, a “dual channel” AID system that opens the door to cool new experimental designs. 8/10
Along the way, we ran into several surprises including some unexpected (and in some cases unfortunate) features of the popular AID2 system...it's worth taking a look at, for anyone using the AID2 system. 7/10
December 16, 2025 at 12:09 PM
Along the way, we ran into several surprises including some unexpected (and in some cases unfortunate) features of the popular AID2 system...it's worth taking a look at, for anyone using the AID2 system. 7/10
So we took a close look at existing AID implementations for use in quantitative degradation experiments. We ran careful dose–response experiments, and found it is possible to control the rate of an animal’s aging by quantitatively degrading components of IGF signaling. 6/10
December 16, 2025 at 12:09 PM
So we took a close look at existing AID implementations for use in quantitative degradation experiments. We ran careful dose–response experiments, and found it is possible to control the rate of an animal’s aging by quantitatively degrading components of IGF signaling. 6/10
Most people use AID in a binary way: adding lots of auxin to drive protein levels as low as possible. However, biology—especially aging and physiology—is rarely just “on” or “off.” What my group really wanted was a way to tune protein levels in a controlled, quantitative way.5/10
December 16, 2025 at 12:09 PM
Most people use AID in a binary way: adding lots of auxin to drive protein levels as low as possible. However, biology—especially aging and physiology—is rarely just “on” or “off.” What my group really wanted was a way to tune protein levels in a controlled, quantitative way.5/10
In 2009, the yeast biologists Kanemaki et al realized that they could take TIR1 out of plants and put it into other organisms--degrading any protein modified to include an AID tag. In 2014, Abby @adernburg.bsky.social, Jordan @gotworms.bsky.social, and others adapted it for C. elegans 🐛. 4/10
December 16, 2025 at 12:09 PM
In 2009, the yeast biologists Kanemaki et al realized that they could take TIR1 out of plants and put it into other organisms--degrading any protein modified to include an AID tag. In 2014, Abby @adernburg.bsky.social, Jordan @gotworms.bsky.social, and others adapted it for C. elegans 🐛. 4/10
Our approach builds on the Auxin-Inducible Degron (AID) system, a technology derived from plant biology, where a protein called TIR1 triggers the degradation of any protein containing a short target peptide sequence—but only when activated by a specific hormone called Auxin. 3/10
December 16, 2025 at 12:09 PM
Our approach builds on the Auxin-Inducible Degron (AID) system, a technology derived from plant biology, where a protein called TIR1 triggers the degradation of any protein containing a short target peptide sequence—but only when activated by a specific hormone called Auxin. 3/10
Our lab studies the molecular genetics of aging--we want to understand why organisms grow old and how to engineer them to age better. 🛠️🧬💀That said, the technology I’m describing here should be useful well beyond aging, for anyone doing quantitative biology in eukaryotes. 2/10
December 16, 2025 at 12:09 PM
Our lab studies the molecular genetics of aging--we want to understand why organisms grow old and how to engineer them to age better. 🛠️🧬💀That said, the technology I’m describing here should be useful well beyond aging, for anyone doing quantitative biology in eukaryotes. 2/10
What tools do we need to start engineering #aging and #longevity ? A🧵about something we've been cooking up in lab with Jeremy Vicencio at the @crg.eu : technology that lets us reach inside living animals and precisely dial multiple proteins' levels up and down. 1/10
December 16, 2025 at 12:09 PM
What tools do we need to start engineering #aging and #longevity ? A🧵about something we've been cooking up in lab with Jeremy Vicencio at the @crg.eu : technology that lets us reach inside living animals and precisely dial multiple proteins' levels up and down. 1/10
Multi-lingual children can end up with very random gaps in their vocab. I've asked my 4 y/o daughter every day after school *for years* what she ate for lunch. She would never tell me and I always wondered why.
Today just before bedtime, we were talking and she asked me: baba, what is "lunch"?
Today just before bedtime, we were talking and she asked me: baba, what is "lunch"?
December 8, 2025 at 7:51 PM
Multi-lingual children can end up with very random gaps in their vocab. I've asked my 4 y/o daughter every day after school *for years* what she ate for lunch. She would never tell me and I always wondered why.
Today just before bedtime, we were talking and she asked me: baba, what is "lunch"?
Today just before bedtime, we were talking and she asked me: baba, what is "lunch"?
Reposted by Nick Stroustrup
So happy to announce our new preprint, “A geothermal amoeba sets a new upper temperature limit for eukaryotes.” We cultured a novel amoeba from Lassen Volcanic NP (CA, USA) that divides at 63°C (145°F) 🔥 - a new record for euk growth!
#protistsonsky 🧵
#protistsonsky 🧵
November 25, 2025 at 8:41 PM
So happy to announce our new preprint, “A geothermal amoeba sets a new upper temperature limit for eukaryotes.” We cultured a novel amoeba from Lassen Volcanic NP (CA, USA) that divides at 63°C (145°F) 🔥 - a new record for euk growth!
#protistsonsky 🧵
#protistsonsky 🧵
Reposted by Nick Stroustrup
Doing non-causal inference (and being explicit about it), yet using a causal word as second word in the title.
If you pay Nature € 10.690, they will publish this in Nature Ageing.
I can tell you what I think of that for free.
www.nature.com/articles/s43...
If you pay Nature € 10.690, they will publish this in Nature Ageing.
I can tell you what I think of that for free.
www.nature.com/articles/s43...
November 11, 2025 at 7:58 AM
Doing non-causal inference (and being explicit about it), yet using a causal word as second word in the title.
If you pay Nature € 10.690, they will publish this in Nature Ageing.
I can tell you what I think of that for free.
www.nature.com/articles/s43...
If you pay Nature € 10.690, they will publish this in Nature Ageing.
I can tell you what I think of that for free.
www.nature.com/articles/s43...
Reposted by Nick Stroustrup
Today we had a great EvoMG Seminar by Dario Valenzano @dvalenzano.bsky.social from FLI, who told us about some of their recent aging work using the fascinating short-lived killifish.
Hosted by @mirimiam.bsky.social
evomedgenomics.com/events/exter...
Hosted by @mirimiam.bsky.social
evomedgenomics.com/events/exter...
November 5, 2025 at 11:18 PM
Today we had a great EvoMG Seminar by Dario Valenzano @dvalenzano.bsky.social from FLI, who told us about some of their recent aging work using the fascinating short-lived killifish.
Hosted by @mirimiam.bsky.social
evomedgenomics.com/events/exter...
Hosted by @mirimiam.bsky.social
evomedgenomics.com/events/exter...
Reposted by Nick Stroustrup
What is the origin of diversity in allometric laws scaling across species? Check our new paper led by Andrea Tabi where
we propose a new theory of metabolic scaling grounded in thermodynamics and stochastic fluctuations at the cellular level.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
we propose a new theory of metabolic scaling grounded in thermodynamics and stochastic fluctuations at the cellular level.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
November 9, 2025 at 2:39 AM
What is the origin of diversity in allometric laws scaling across species? Check our new paper led by Andrea Tabi where
we propose a new theory of metabolic scaling grounded in thermodynamics and stochastic fluctuations at the cellular level.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
we propose a new theory of metabolic scaling grounded in thermodynamics and stochastic fluctuations at the cellular level.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
A detIled account of all the characters involved. www.nature.com/articles/d41...
What Rosalind Franklin truly contributed to the discovery of DNA’s structure
Franklin was no victim in how the DNA double helix was solved. An overlooked letter and an unpublished news article, both written in 1953, reveal that she was an equal player.
www.nature.com
November 8, 2025 at 3:27 PM
A detIled account of all the characters involved. www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Come hear us talk about causality in biology, next Monday and Tuesday!
🧬 1 month to go! Join us at the Collaboratorium Annual Symposium: Causality in Biology & AI. 12 speakers, big questions.
#CRG #EMBL #EMBLBarcelona #BCNCollaboratorium
#CRG #EMBL #EMBLBarcelona #BCNCollaboratorium
November 6, 2025 at 3:51 PM
Come hear us talk about causality in biology, next Monday and Tuesday!
Both approaches work with most consumer electronic scanners you can buy.
October 28, 2025 at 6:47 PM
Both approaches work with most consumer electronic scanners you can buy.
The SANE interface on Linux works great. On MS windows, people have had success using AutoIt to automatically click through the TWAIN GUI interfaces.
October 28, 2025 at 6:46 PM
The SANE interface on Linux works great. On MS windows, people have had success using AutoIt to automatically click through the TWAIN GUI interfaces.
Reposted by Nick Stroustrup
Are you looking for a PhD? Join us in Barcelona! You'll dive into a community of >100 PhD students from 30 countries exploring the frontiers of biology. You can also join an online workshop on 6 November (15:00 CET) to learn how to find the right lab for you.
More info: www.crg.eu/en/content/t...
More info: www.crg.eu/en/content/t...
October 23, 2025 at 7:56 AM
Are you looking for a PhD? Join us in Barcelona! You'll dive into a community of >100 PhD students from 30 countries exploring the frontiers of biology. You can also join an online workshop on 6 November (15:00 CET) to learn how to find the right lab for you.
More info: www.crg.eu/en/content/t...
More info: www.crg.eu/en/content/t...
