Laura White
@laurakwhite.bsky.social
Colorado RNA biologist & tRNA enthusiast exploring the wild frontiers of nanopore direct RNA sequencing at the intrepid venn diagram of northern blots & machine learning.
Aurora from Rocky Mountain Arsenal tonight.
November 12, 2025 at 3:37 AM
Aurora from Rocky Mountain Arsenal tonight.
The grad student organizers of Colorado's long-running RNA Club have been putting together this event to demystify the PhD application process for the past few years. Pass along to folks applying to grad school this cycle 🍁
October 1, 2025 at 2:39 PM
The grad student organizers of Colorado's long-running RNA Club have been putting together this event to demystify the PhD application process for the past few years. Pass along to folks applying to grad school this cycle 🍁
Fun fact: the Japanese Spider Crab’s Latin name (M. kaempferi) refers to this 17th century Dutchman who “discovered” it in… a restaurant. 🙄
September 30, 2025 at 4:38 PM
Fun fact: the Japanese Spider Crab’s Latin name (M. kaempferi) refers to this 17th century Dutchman who “discovered” it in… a restaurant. 🙄
Every single one of these leaves is a bug.
September 29, 2025 at 12:34 AM
Every single one of these leaves is a bug.
Jasper’s here for this.
September 10, 2025 at 5:33 AM
Jasper’s here for this.
Another impressive dissection of tRNA modification consequences from Sarah Schultz in Ute Kothe's lab. Her work reveals that even though TrmA, TruB, or now DusA KOs show no overt growth phenotypes, modifications they deposit have real impacts on tRNA charging and codon-specific translation.
August 30, 2025 at 6:15 PM
Another impressive dissection of tRNA modification consequences from Sarah Schultz in Ute Kothe's lab. Her work reveals that even though TrmA, TruB, or now DusA KOs show no overt growth phenotypes, modifications they deposit have real impacts on tRNA charging and codon-specific translation.
Stay tuned for more on all those fronts, plus all the fun stuff Aleks (who's not on Bluesky) is working on looking at the origins of tRNA synthetases in his postdoc with
@joethorntonlab.bsky.social! I hope you all find a cool collaborator for that secret project you've been thinking about.
@joethorntonlab.bsky.social! I hope you all find a cool collaborator for that secret project you've been thinking about.
August 22, 2025 at 9:08 PM
Stay tuned for more on all those fronts, plus all the fun stuff Aleks (who's not on Bluesky) is working on looking at the origins of tRNA synthetases in his postdoc with
@joethorntonlab.bsky.social! I hope you all find a cool collaborator for that secret project you've been thinking about.
@joethorntonlab.bsky.social! I hope you all find a cool collaborator for that secret project you've been thinking about.
@jayhesselberth and I are really excited about having a direct window into charged tRNA supply so we can monitor the very building blocks that make protein synthesis possible. How does tRNA supply and demand change during stress? When and how are these molecules misaminoacylated?
August 22, 2025 at 9:08 PM
@jayhesselberth and I are really excited about having a direct window into charged tRNA supply so we can monitor the very building blocks that make protein synthesis possible. How does tRNA supply and demand change during stress? When and how are these molecules misaminoacylated?
Special shout-out to our PRA Kezia Dobson, who tackles everything I throw at her whether it’s nanopores or acid northern gels, as well as Marcin Sajek, who handled all early ML training at CU. Additional support from RBI alum Kent Riemondy and summer undergrad Sami del Pozo helped push this forward.
August 22, 2025 at 9:08 PM
Special shout-out to our PRA Kezia Dobson, who tackles everything I throw at her whether it’s nanopores or acid northern gels, as well as Marcin Sajek, who handled all early ML training at CU. Additional support from RBI alum Kent Riemondy and summer undergrad Sami del Pozo helped push this forward.
Key pieces of this solution: Flexizyme ground-truth controls (all Alex!), “chemical-charging northern” blots, machine learning calling of charged vs uncharged tRNA & add’l ML models that hit ~0.86 F1 on pairwise AA calls—first pass with room to grow. Huge team effort at @cuanschutz + @uchicago.
August 22, 2025 at 9:08 PM
Key pieces of this solution: Flexizyme ground-truth controls (all Alex!), “chemical-charging northern” blots, machine learning calling of charged vs uncharged tRNA & add’l ML models that hit ~0.86 F1 on pairwise AA calls—first pass with room to grow. Huge team effort at @cuanschutz + @uchicago.
Once I got back to Denver we began outlining some ideas for him to test @uchicago. First data: clear signal shifts for 2 different amino acids and an uncharged synthetic tRNA control. We pulled in our PIs (Jack Szostak and @jayhesselberth) and worked up a library budding yeast.
August 22, 2025 at 9:08 PM
Once I got back to Denver we began outlining some ideas for him to test @uchicago. First data: clear signal shifts for 2 different amino acids and an uncharged synthetic tRNA control. We pulled in our PIs (Jack Szostak and @jayhesselberth) and worked up a library budding yeast.
I told him I didn’t know, but wanted to find out. Aleks then drew this. An origins of life RNA chemist, he’d already worked out a way to chemically ligated charged tRNAs, and wanted someone crazy enough to try nanopore sequencing them. I was deemed sufficiently competent + crazy, so scheming began.
August 22, 2025 at 9:08 PM
I told him I didn’t know, but wanted to find out. Aleks then drew this. An origins of life RNA chemist, he’d already worked out a way to chemically ligated charged tRNAs, and wanted someone crazy enough to try nanopore sequencing them. I was deemed sufficiently competent + crazy, so scheming began.
Junior colleague: wow, that image looks TERRIBLE.
Me: Well, it's a photo of a printout of a photo of a printout from a former postdoc's PhD lab's bulletin board
Junior colleague: 😮...oh.
no one appreciates the classics anymore
and by classics, I mean this image showing where dyes migrate on gels
Me: Well, it's a photo of a printout of a photo of a printout from a former postdoc's PhD lab's bulletin board
Junior colleague: 😮...oh.
no one appreciates the classics anymore
and by classics, I mean this image showing where dyes migrate on gels
July 18, 2025 at 10:04 PM
Junior colleague: wow, that image looks TERRIBLE.
Me: Well, it's a photo of a printout of a photo of a printout from a former postdoc's PhD lab's bulletin board
Junior colleague: 😮...oh.
no one appreciates the classics anymore
and by classics, I mean this image showing where dyes migrate on gels
Me: Well, it's a photo of a printout of a photo of a printout from a former postdoc's PhD lab's bulletin board
Junior colleague: 😮...oh.
no one appreciates the classics anymore
and by classics, I mean this image showing where dyes migrate on gels
This dog just met the guy in our neighborhood who keeps a dog treat station outside his house where most of my neighbors would situate their little free library.
July 11, 2025 at 1:43 AM
This dog just met the guy in our neighborhood who keeps a dog treat station outside his house where most of my neighbors would situate their little free library.
Here are some pictures of a dog who’s had a good week. 🐕
June 22, 2025 at 4:21 AM
Here are some pictures of a dog who’s had a good week. 🐕
New billboard spotted on the longest street in America.
June 5, 2025 at 3:42 PM
New billboard spotted on the longest street in America.
I've been thinking a lot about the history of RNA biology, and which lines of inquiry got lost to the vagaries of time vs. followed up on. Fun find along the way: this model of a tRNA built by then first year undergraduate Elizabeth Cavicchi @mit.edu
mitmuseum.mit.edu/collections/...
mitmuseum.mit.edu/collections/...
June 2, 2025 at 3:51 PM
I've been thinking a lot about the history of RNA biology, and which lines of inquiry got lost to the vagaries of time vs. followed up on. Fun find along the way: this model of a tRNA built by then first year undergraduate Elizabeth Cavicchi @mit.edu
mitmuseum.mit.edu/collections/...
mitmuseum.mit.edu/collections/...
Checking your university email as a researcher in the US in 2025
Left: oh no what now
Right: oh whew don't scare me like that
Left: oh no what now
Right: oh whew don't scare me like that
May 27, 2025 at 6:38 PM
Checking your university email as a researcher in the US in 2025
Left: oh no what now
Right: oh whew don't scare me like that
Left: oh no what now
Right: oh whew don't scare me like that
Lots of anarcho- tech skepticism mixed in with this exhibit too.
May 25, 2025 at 8:39 PM
Lots of anarcho- tech skepticism mixed in with this exhibit too.
I like the mathy art.
May 25, 2025 at 8:35 PM
I like the mathy art.
Another fun one — early hand-colored plotter outputs.
May 25, 2025 at 8:32 PM
Another fun one — early hand-colored plotter outputs.
Presumably the original inspiration for the EZ Logo turtle here in the Electric Dreams exhibition @tatemodern.bsky.social
May 25, 2025 at 8:27 PM
Presumably the original inspiration for the EZ Logo turtle here in the Electric Dreams exhibition @tatemodern.bsky.social
