James Murphy

Biochemical Journal The home of painless publishing

All Biochemical Journal papers undergo a rigorous peer review process; however, the Editorial Board is committed to ensuring that, if revisions are recommended, extra experiments not necessary to the paper will not be asked for🧪. https://ow.ly/PLkr50Ybg7g

🎉 As we celebrate #TIBS50, we're highlighting #CitedClassics and revisiting the top cited article from each of the last 50 years! Check out this one from 1980!

Read it here 👉 www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Lol

UPDATE‼️ Mentor list update for the ACDS 2026 Mentorship Program (details below):

Applications are still open - Closing 27th Feb, 5pm AEDT.

Apply here: australasiancelldeathsociety.com/mentorship-p...

Chris Barnes on now! Outpacing RNA viruses. #lorneproteins26 is go 🎆

I find them helpful! And enjoy seeing the satisfaction authors show in their unguarded comments

Krebs Memorial Scholarship. PhD scholarship offered to individuals whose promising research career has been interrupted for extraordinary non-academic reasons and/or those ineligible for public funds.

Do you know a exceptional PhD candidate whose very promising research career has been interrupted for non-academic reasons? Encourage them to apply for the Krebs Memorial Scholarship - now accepting applications for the 2026/27 academic year! Deadline 3 April https://ow.ly/Pufm50Y7K5G

There is a substantive NZ/Aotearoa connection for this paper. So perhaps timely it is now out there on Waitangi Day

This is a cool study that you should all read. Full credit to the key agitator, Alexandra Gurzau, and noting not possible without amazing collaborators, and another fun effort for me, personally, with long time collab @marnieblewitt.bsky.social

The IMB at the University of Queensland is looking for a new Mass Spectrometry Facility Manager. See details below.
Closing date 13th of February.

uq.wd3.myworkdayjobs.com/en-GB/uqcare...

Say hello to our incoming lab heads! 👋 Excited to announce Dr Danika Hill, Dr Jacki Heraud-Farlow and Dr Sylvie Callegari will soon be establishing new labs at WEHI.

More info:
www.wehi.edu.au/news/excepti...

bsky.app/profile/sylv...
bsky.app/profile/jack...
bsky.app/profile/prec...

The musical is not very explanatory but fun

Is Julian going to catch the food?

Glad to hear. We’re here to serve! And free!

Write for BCJ or BST! Sounds fun. Biochem Soc would be a great venue

Vibrant color portrait of Jane S. Richardson, the visionary biophysicist and artist who revolutionized structural biology with her invention of ribbon diagrams. She gazes warmly at the camera with a bright, knowing smile that radiates quiet brilliance and decades of curiosity. Her silver-blonde hair woven with gentle waves. Large, elegant dangling earrings catch the light, and she wears a richly patterned brown blouse embroidered with intricate turquoise paisley motifs and delicate beadwork that echoes the molecular elegance she has spent her life depicting. Behind her floats a luminous, dreamlike backdrop of glowing molecular structures--interlocking hexagonal and ribbon-like forms in electric blues, teals, and greens--blending science and art in a single, living canvas.

Hand-drawn and hand-colored (by Jane Richardson) scientific artwork known as a Richardson ribbon diagram (or “ribbon model”), one of the iconic visual inventions of Jane Richardson that transformed the way we see and understand protein structures. A graceful, three-dimensional tangle of protein backbone ribbons twists and spirals through space, rendered in soft pencil lines and luminous watercolor hues. Smooth golden-brown coils represent α-helices that curl like elegant ribbons, while broad teal-green arrows trace the flat, pleated strands of β-sheets slicing through the molecule with directional purpose. Thin, looping golden threads connect the secondary structures, creating a delicate, almost dance-like choreography of biology’s hidden architecture. The entire form is framed by a simple olive-green mat and dark border, giving the drawing the quiet dignity of both fine art and precise scientific illustration—a timeless bridge between molecular reality and human imagination.

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

#NARF is on bluesky! 👉 if you’ve held a fellowship in the last 10 years, you should join.

Biochemical Journal Mechanisms of life December 2025 issue

Check out the latest issue of Biochemical Journal, featuring research on enzymology, molecular interactions, signaling biotechnology, gene expression, host-microbe interactions, and mutation🧪 https://ow.ly/MijF50XXQtp

I imagine they’ve lumped in the MRFF frontiers etc which has undoubtedly been enabling/essential for infrastructure but not so much for the bulk of those doing discovery science

‘We’re losing careers’: Leading cardiologist warns Australian medical research is in crisis The head of the Heart Research Institute is telling young scientists medical research is a “terrible career path”. There’s a $5 billion answer in the government’s budget.

In the words of a world-renowned cardiologist, Australia’s young medical researchers are “left to flounder with total job insecurity and family pressures. It’s the best recipe we have for raiding our future, in terms of a medical research workforce and the benefits of medical research”

Full credit. It stumped a bunch today

🎉 Happy New Year! I am so excited for #TIBS50!

✍️ My editorial provides insights into the exciting projects planned for 2026, and I hope that each of you finds something that resonates with you. Please reach out to share your ideas for content as well as your #ScienceSketch ideas!

Interested in writing for a wide, interdisciplinary audience? The Biochemist has announced its themed issues for 2026, if your work aligns with any of these themes - get in touch with our Editorial Team today! 🧪 https://ow.ly/f2cT50XWyov

Luckily 100% of people can enjoy a new Shoresy episode - rain or shine

The brewery at the foot of the steps is very good

💡Solving decades-long mysteries with cryoEM. 💥Brilliant science + best tech = life-saving medical research. Shaping the future of health through bold new approaches.

#ParkinsonsDisease

Examples of the functional diversity of bacterial pseudokinases.

Pseudokinases have emerged as key regulators of numerous fundamental biological processes however, bacterial pseudokinases remain largely unexplored. O’Boyle et al reveal understudied bacterial serine–threonine pseudokinase families in this mini-review. https://doi.org/10.1042/BST20253080

Lorne Proteins 2026 🏖️ features Princeton University protein cognoscenti Michael Hecht, designing an artificial proteome with new folds and functions; and Jerelle Joseph, on tractable MD simulations of multiprotein condensates & synthetic condensate engineering.

🔗 Register now www.lorneproteins.org

I hear there are some really comfortable spots to dwell near the Leeds rail station