Marija Backovic
@marijabackovic.bsky.social
Group Leader at @pasteur.fr in Paris | Member of the @virusfusion007 Unit | Biochemist PhD, Structural biologist | #herpes #ERVs #retroviruses
Reposted by Marija Backovic
Incubation times.
This is the time between getting infected and developing symptoms of an infectious disease. Typically this is measured in days, sometimes weeks.
It seems something technical. Why would understanding this matter to you?
1/9
This is the time between getting infected and developing symptoms of an infectious disease. Typically this is measured in days, sometimes weeks.
It seems something technical. Why would understanding this matter to you?
1/9
November 25, 2024 at 10:08 AM
Incubation times.
This is the time between getting infected and developing symptoms of an infectious disease. Typically this is measured in days, sometimes weeks.
It seems something technical. Why would understanding this matter to you?
1/9
This is the time between getting infected and developing symptoms of an infectious disease. Typically this is measured in days, sometimes weeks.
It seems something technical. Why would understanding this matter to you?
1/9
Reposted by Marija Backovic
Every machine in a Hospital that diagnoses your body without cutting you open is based on a principle of Physics, discovered by a Physicist who had no interest in Medicine.
If you think the world doesn’t need Basic Science, or that somehow Science has failed you, think again.
#sciencematters
If you think the world doesn’t need Basic Science, or that somehow Science has failed you, think again.
#sciencematters
November 25, 2025 at 1:40 AM
Every machine in a Hospital that diagnoses your body without cutting you open is based on a principle of Physics, discovered by a Physicist who had no interest in Medicine.
If you think the world doesn’t need Basic Science, or that somehow Science has failed you, think again.
#sciencematters
If you think the world doesn’t need Basic Science, or that somehow Science has failed you, think again.
#sciencematters
Reposted by Marija Backovic
Reposted by Marija Backovic
🧪For anyone interested in EBV in autoimmunity, I strongly urge you to read this incredible study by @shady-myounis.bsky.social, Bill Robinson, and @tobiaslanz.bsky.social. It is not only a scientific tour de force, it has a deeply provocative discussion that everyone in the field should consider 1/
Epstein-Barr virus reprograms autoreactive B cells as antigen-presenting cells in systemic lupus erythematosus
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Epstein-Barr virus reprograms autoreactive B cells as antigen-presenting cells in systemic lupus erythematosus
Epstein-Barr virus reprograms autoreactive B cells as antigen-presenting cells to promote pathogenic antinuclear T and B cell responses in lupus.
www.science.org
November 19, 2025 at 5:24 PM
🧪For anyone interested in EBV in autoimmunity, I strongly urge you to read this incredible study by @shady-myounis.bsky.social, Bill Robinson, and @tobiaslanz.bsky.social. It is not only a scientific tour de force, it has a deeply provocative discussion that everyone in the field should consider 1/
Reposted by Marija Backovic
נגיף הEBV (מחלת הנשיקה) נקשר לאחרונה להתפתחות טרשת נפוצה ועכשיו גם לזאבת👇🏼
מתי יהיה חיסון?
מתי יהיה חיסון?
Epstein-Barr virus may drive autoimmunity in lupus by infecting and reprogramming memory B cells, according to a new #ScienceTranslationalMedicine analysis of patient-derived blood samples. https://scim.ag/49orb21
Epstein-Barr virus reprograms autoreactive B cells as antigen-presenting cells in systemic lupus erythematosus
Epstein-Barr virus reprograms autoreactive B cells as antigen-presenting cells to promote pathogenic antinuclear T and B cell responses in lupus.
scim.ag
November 18, 2025 at 7:10 AM
נגיף הEBV (מחלת הנשיקה) נקשר לאחרונה להתפתחות טרשת נפוצה ועכשיו גם לזאבת👇🏼
מתי יהיה חיסון?
מתי יהיה חיסון?
Reposted by Marija Backovic
Reposted by Marija Backovic
And here we have our Fourier transform nr. 58! As far as I'm concerned, perhaps the most enigmatic and unexpected spectrum so far... anyway, quite a spectacle! #BraggYourPattern #Fouriertransform #crystallography
As always, more on behance.net/specialdefects and instagram.com/specialdefects
As always, more on behance.net/specialdefects and instagram.com/specialdefects
November 9, 2025 at 4:06 PM
And here we have our Fourier transform nr. 58! As far as I'm concerned, perhaps the most enigmatic and unexpected spectrum so far... anyway, quite a spectacle! #BraggYourPattern #Fouriertransform #crystallography
As always, more on behance.net/specialdefects and instagram.com/specialdefects
As always, more on behance.net/specialdefects and instagram.com/specialdefects
Reposted by Marija Backovic
New work from Tahirov x Lim collaboration! @qixianghe.bsky.social from my lab contributed the cryo-EM structures for this work. We are excited to help explain how anti-HSV drugs work and to guide their future development.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
@unmc.bsky.social @uwbiochem.bsky.social
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
@unmc.bsky.social @uwbiochem.bsky.social
Structural basis of herpesvirus helicase-primase inhibition by pritelivir and amenamevir
Structural studies of HSV-1 helicase-primase revealed how pritelivir and amenamevir bind and block its helicase activity.
www.science.org
November 10, 2025 at 12:14 AM
New work from Tahirov x Lim collaboration! @qixianghe.bsky.social from my lab contributed the cryo-EM structures for this work. We are excited to help explain how anti-HSV drugs work and to guide their future development.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
@unmc.bsky.social @uwbiochem.bsky.social
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
@unmc.bsky.social @uwbiochem.bsky.social
Reposted by Marija Backovic
my friend and wonderful colleague Stan is hiring at Genentech in South San Francisco! 🧬 🌉
Biochemist/structural biologist looking for your first position in industry? I can’t recommend working with Stan enough ☺️ please repost for visibility
www.linkedin.com/posts/stanis...
Biochemist/structural biologist looking for your first position in industry? I can’t recommend working with Stan enough ☺️ please repost for visibility
www.linkedin.com/posts/stanis...
#hiring #researchassociate #structuralbiology #proteinsciences #cryoem #biochemistry #biophysics #dnarepair #drugdiscovery | Stanislau Yatskevich
We’re hiring a 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐀𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞 (Contractor) to join our 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐁𝐢𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐲 team in 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐢𝐧 𝐒𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬 focused on the molecular mechanisms of DNA repair.
𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬
You’ll help purify and ...
www.linkedin.com
October 31, 2025 at 9:05 PM
my friend and wonderful colleague Stan is hiring at Genentech in South San Francisco! 🧬 🌉
Biochemist/structural biologist looking for your first position in industry? I can’t recommend working with Stan enough ☺️ please repost for visibility
www.linkedin.com/posts/stanis...
Biochemist/structural biologist looking for your first position in industry? I can’t recommend working with Stan enough ☺️ please repost for visibility
www.linkedin.com/posts/stanis...
Reposted by Marija Backovic
5 raisons de suivre la formation « HIV Sciences »
www.fun-mooc.fr/fr/actualite...
@pasteuredu.bsky.social
www.fun-mooc.fr/fr/actualite...
@pasteuredu.bsky.social
5 raisons de suivre la formation « HIV Sciences »
Quelle est l’origine du virus du VIH ? Quelles sont les perspectives actuelles pour l’éradication du VIH ? Quelles sont les dernières avancées en matière de traitement et de prévention ?
www.fun-mooc.fr
October 29, 2025 at 2:38 PM
5 raisons de suivre la formation « HIV Sciences »
www.fun-mooc.fr/fr/actualite...
@pasteuredu.bsky.social
www.fun-mooc.fr/fr/actualite...
@pasteuredu.bsky.social
Reposted by Marija Backovic
Our preprint, in collaboration with Rino Rappuoli & Emanuele Andreano, is out! Co-led by colleagues at TLS, my grad student Ling Zhou @lingzhou.bsky.social, and postdoc Emily Rundlet @cryoemily.bsky.social, we identified OPG153 as a poxvirus bnAb target via B cell isolation & AlphaFold3 prediction.
August 19, 2025 at 6:24 PM
Our preprint, in collaboration with Rino Rappuoli & Emanuele Andreano, is out! Co-led by colleagues at TLS, my grad student Ling Zhou @lingzhou.bsky.social, and postdoc Emily Rundlet @cryoemily.bsky.social, we identified OPG153 as a poxvirus bnAb target via B cell isolation & AlphaFold3 prediction.
Reposted by Marija Backovic
about PAE #alphafold
PAE viewer pae-viewer.uni-goettingen.de
PAE Figure editor thecodingbiologist.com/tools/pae.html
PAE viewer pae-viewer.uni-goettingen.de
PAE Figure editor thecodingbiologist.com/tools/pae.html
October 27, 2025 at 7:27 AM
about PAE #alphafold
PAE viewer pae-viewer.uni-goettingen.de
PAE Figure editor thecodingbiologist.com/tools/pae.html
PAE viewer pae-viewer.uni-goettingen.de
PAE Figure editor thecodingbiologist.com/tools/pae.html
Reposted by Marija Backovic
I love AlphaFold—but please include PAE (Predicted Aligned Error) plots for every “interaction.” Pretty PDBs ≠ proof. If the PAE doesn’t show an interface, it ain’t one. Show the plots. Structural biology's reputation is on the line.
October 24, 2025 at 5:44 PM
I love AlphaFold—but please include PAE (Predicted Aligned Error) plots for every “interaction.” Pretty PDBs ≠ proof. If the PAE doesn’t show an interface, it ain’t one. Show the plots. Structural biology's reputation is on the line.
Reposted by Marija Backovic
Visualizing influenza A virus assembly by in situ cryo-electron tomography
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Visualizing influenza A virus assembly by in situ cryo-electron tomography - Nature Communications
Influenza A virus must package eight separate genomic segments, called viral ribonucleoproteins (vRNPs). Using in situ cryo-electron tomography, the authors visualize how vRNPs are clustered on cell m...
www.nature.com
October 23, 2025 at 2:01 PM
Visualizing influenza A virus assembly by in situ cryo-electron tomography
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Marija Backovic
Scientists have designed an interleukin-21 mimic with increased stability and capacity to induce more potent antitumor activity than the native protein, which could inform improved #immunotherapies.
Learn more in #ScienceImmunology: https://scim.ag/47jQLSW
Learn more in #ScienceImmunology: https://scim.ag/47jQLSW
Design of a potent interleukin-21 mimic for cancer immunotherapy
A de novo IL-21 mimic, 21h10, exhibits improved stability and potent antitumor activity in vivo compared with native IL-21.
scim.ag
October 21, 2025 at 3:08 PM
Scientists have designed an interleukin-21 mimic with increased stability and capacity to induce more potent antitumor activity than the native protein, which could inform improved #immunotherapies.
Learn more in #ScienceImmunology: https://scim.ag/47jQLSW
Learn more in #ScienceImmunology: https://scim.ag/47jQLSW
Reposted by Marija Backovic
🚨 new paper alert 🚨
Here, we describe and evaluate a "best-of-both-worlds" vaccine technology platform that combines the benefits of mRNA vaccines and computationally designed protein nanoparticle immunogens: bit.ly/47s7btG.
Here, we describe and evaluate a "best-of-both-worlds" vaccine technology platform that combines the benefits of mRNA vaccines and computationally designed protein nanoparticle immunogens: bit.ly/47s7btG.
Computationally designed mRNA-launched protein nanoparticle immunogens elicit protective antibody and T cell responses in mice
Genetic delivery of designed protein nanoparticles displaying the SARS-CoV-2 RBD elicits potent neutralizing antibody and CD8 T cell responses.
bit.ly
October 15, 2025 at 11:16 PM
🚨 new paper alert 🚨
Here, we describe and evaluate a "best-of-both-worlds" vaccine technology platform that combines the benefits of mRNA vaccines and computationally designed protein nanoparticle immunogens: bit.ly/47s7btG.
Here, we describe and evaluate a "best-of-both-worlds" vaccine technology platform that combines the benefits of mRNA vaccines and computationally designed protein nanoparticle immunogens: bit.ly/47s7btG.
Reposted by Marija Backovic
Wow! we didn’t expect this kind of response! 🚀
Huge amount of papers were uploaded in the past two hours, and our servers are feeling it, so we’ve temporarily reinstated a waitlist. We’ll gradually let everyone in, don’t worry. Thank you for the incredible enthusiasm and support!
Huge amount of papers were uploaded in the past two hours, and our servers are feeling it, so we’ve temporarily reinstated a waitlist. We’ll gradually let everyone in, don’t worry. Thank you for the incredible enthusiasm and support!
BIG ANNOUNCEMENT📣: I haven’t been this excited to be part of something new in 15 years… Thrilled to reveal the passion project I’ve been working on for the past year and a half!🙀🥳 (thread 👇)
October 15, 2025 at 2:45 PM
Wow! we didn’t expect this kind of response! 🚀
Huge amount of papers were uploaded in the past two hours, and our servers are feeling it, so we’ve temporarily reinstated a waitlist. We’ll gradually let everyone in, don’t worry. Thank you for the incredible enthusiasm and support!
Huge amount of papers were uploaded in the past two hours, and our servers are feeling it, so we’ve temporarily reinstated a waitlist. We’ll gradually let everyone in, don’t worry. Thank you for the incredible enthusiasm and support!
Reposted by Marija Backovic
Finally, someone has solved a real problem with AI! No more having to take a paper in the format for a journal that rejected you, and reformat it for a new journal. Well done!! formatmypaper.com
October 15, 2025 at 6:33 AM
Finally, someone has solved a real problem with AI! No more having to take a paper in the format for a journal that rejected you, and reformat it for a new journal. Well done!! formatmypaper.com
New findings from @salehlabparis.bsky.social
Persistent viral #infections in #insects are not as harmless as once believed. @salehlabparis.bsky.social &co show how such infections in #FruitFlies alter survival, reproduction, behavior & gene expression, revealing the hidden costs of #viral persistence @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/4olpuXm
October 14, 2025 at 10:39 AM
New findings from @salehlabparis.bsky.social
Reposted by Marija Backovic
Thank you, Carl. This is badly needed.
Today my @nytimes.com colleagues and I are launching a new series called Lost Science. We interview US scientists who can no longer discover something new about our world, thanks to this year‘s cuts. Here is my first interview with a scientist who studied bees and fires. Gift link: nyti.ms/3IWXbiE
nyti.ms
October 9, 2025 at 4:09 AM
Thank you, Carl. This is badly needed.
Reposted by Marija Backovic
AMAZING and wonderful news. I can think of few scientists more deserving of this honor. Congratulations to Jason and all the colleagues who have helped with his incredibly impactful work!
I'm honored to receive a MacArthur Fellowship. As always, I extend my sincerest thanks to all my wonderful mentors, colleagues, collaborators, admins, and trainees who make this work possible. #MacFellow
UT Austin has a new “genius grant” recipient!
Texas Science professor Jason McLellan has been awarded a MacArthur Fellowship — aka the “genius grant” — by The MacArthur Foundation.
#TexasScience @mclellanlab.bsky.social #MacArthurGenius @utaustin.bsky.social
cns.utexas.edu/news/accolad...
Texas Science professor Jason McLellan has been awarded a MacArthur Fellowship — aka the “genius grant” — by The MacArthur Foundation.
#TexasScience @mclellanlab.bsky.social #MacArthurGenius @utaustin.bsky.social
cns.utexas.edu/news/accolad...
October 8, 2025 at 9:09 PM
AMAZING and wonderful news. I can think of few scientists more deserving of this honor. Congratulations to Jason and all the colleagues who have helped with his incredibly impactful work!
Reposted by Marija Backovic
I don’t think I’ve ever had more fun in the lab than when I was making MOFs myself (and trying to use them for small-molecule X-ray structure determination). So let me celebrate by posting a few of the MOF crystals I prepared:
October 8, 2025 at 11:54 AM
I don’t think I’ve ever had more fun in the lab than when I was making MOFs myself (and trying to use them for small-molecule X-ray structure determination). So let me celebrate by posting a few of the MOF crystals I prepared:
Reposted by Marija Backovic
A Chemistry Nobel that many had anticipated: metal-organic frameworks! Writeup coming on the blog later this morning:
Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2025
The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2025 was awarded jointly to Susumu Kitagawa, Richard Robson and Omar M. Yaghi "for the development of metal–organic frameworks"
www.nobelprize.org
October 8, 2025 at 11:54 AM
A Chemistry Nobel that many had anticipated: metal-organic frameworks! Writeup coming on the blog later this morning: