Jeremy Schmit

Here’s the thing, emerging scientists aren’t going to flee to do science elsewhere…they just won’t do the science.

We will lose at least one, if not two generations of knowledge if we don’t get this shit sorted out immediately.

The U.S. Is Funding Fewer Grants in Every Area of Science and Medicine (Gift Article) A quiet policy change means the government is making fewer bets on long-term science.

The US is funding fewer grants compared to the past. The money is given in one lump sum instead a yearly infusion from a multi-year funded grant. This leads to more competition, less $ and time to do research. Not a win-win situation.

🧪🎁🔗 www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

"I, at any rate, am convinced that He is not playing at dice."

Einstein sent a letter to Max Born #OTD in 1926, in which he gave his oft-quoted objection to the probabilistic interpretation of the wavefunction in quantum mechanics. 🧪 ⚛️

You may be surprised by where this is headed. (1/n)

Talk titles for IDPSeminars on Dec 4th at noon central time. Alex Holehouse (Washington University in St. Louis): Sequence-to-ensemble with STARLING Birthe Kragelund (University of Copenhagen): Disordered protein complexes and the origins of life

We're back for our final seminar of 2025 with talks from @alexholehouse.bsky.social and Birthe Kragelund! 1 pm EST or 7 pm European time. If you're not already signed up, head on over to idpseminars.com to register!

A lot of complexity comes from thinking in terms of two-phase dilute/dense equilibrium. A three-state monomer/oligomer/dense framework is much easier. The monomer/oligomer and monomer/dense equilibria are easy to understand (and calculate) and the oligomer/dense comes along for free. 7/7

We show how to subtract oligomer effects from experimental data in order to reveal the solubility product phase boundary. The deviations from power law can then be used to understand the dense phase energy landscape. 6/7

Second, unlike salts, biomolecular condensates do not have strict stoichiometries. Variable stoichiometry in the dense phase bends the power law phase boundary, resulting in a larger two-phase region. 5/7

First, the solubility product describes the relationship between the dense phase and free monomers. But the dilute phase concentration measured by experiments usually includes oligomers. Oligomers cause "re-entrant" and "magic number" effects, both of which shrink the two-phase region. 4/7

Biomolecular phase diagrams rarely show power law boundaries. We show that the solubility product power law still works, but it is hidden by two opposing effects. 3/7

Multi-component condensation has a lot in common with salts, which have simple power-law phase boundaries. The exponent in the power law comes from the salt’s dissociation constant, the so-called “solubility product”. 2/7

Biomolecular Phase Boundaries are Described by a Solubility Product That Accounts for Variable Stoichiometry and Soluble Oligomers The solubility product is a rigorous description of the phase boundary for salt precipitation and has previously been shown to qualitatively describe the condensation of biomolecules. Here we present a derivation of the solubility product showing that the solubility product is also a robust description of biomolecule phase boundaries if care is taken to account for soluble oligomers and variable composition within the dense phase. Our calculation describes equilibrium between unbound monomers, the dense phase, and an ensemble of oligomer complexes with significant finite-size contributions to their free energy. The biomolecule phase boundary very nearly resembles the power law predicted by the solubility product when plotted as a function of the monomer concentrations. However, this simple form is concealed by the presence of oligomers in the dilute phase. Accounting for the oligomer ensemble introduces complexities to the power law phase boundary including re-entrant behavior and large shifts for stoichiometrically matched molecules. We show that allowing variable stoichiometry in the dense phase expands the two phase region, which appears as curvature of the phase boundary on a double-logarithmic plot. Furthermore, this curvature can be used to predict variations in the dense phase composition at different points along the phase boundary. Finally, we show how the solubility product power law can be identified in experiments by using dilute phase dissociation constants to account for the oligomer ensemble.

New publication! How to read the curves in biomolecular phase diagrams! A collaboration between the Schmit Group and Jonathon Ditlev, Les Loew, and @ani-chattaraj.bsky.social. 1/7 pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...

Out now in #SoftMatter, our work on linking single molecule features, microstructure, and macroscopic properties of condensates! Led by Daniel Tan, a former undergrad student who is now pursuing a PhD in Computational biophysics, Dilimulati Aierken and Pablo Garcia!

pubs.rsc.org/en/content/a...

Historical and experimental evidence that inherent properties are overweighted in early scientific explanation | PNAS Scientific explanation is one of the most sophisticated forms of human reasoning. Nevertheless, here we hypothesize that scientific explanation is ...

Excited to share our paper:
“Historical and Experimental Evidence that Inherent Properties Are Overweighted in Early Scientific Explanation”
I’m grateful to Zach Horne & my dear advisor @andreicimpian.bsky.social to let me be part of this project, it was a great experience!
doi.org/10.1073/pnas...

Biomolecular phase boundaries are described by a solubility product that accounts for variable stoichiometry and soluble oligomers https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.08.27.672390v1

Biomolecular phase boundaries are described by a solubility product that accounts for variable stoichiometry and soluble oligomers The solubility product is a rigorous description of the phase boundary for salt precipitation and has also been used to qualitatively describe the condensation of biomolecules. Here we present a deriv...

"What does this curved line mean?"
Like palm reading for your phase boundary.

Plus, when is your condensate actually an oligomer (or vice versa)?

A new preprint from the Schmit Group, in collaboration with Jonathon Ditlev, Les Loew, and @ani-chattaraj.bsky.social

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Can't say enough about the Condensates program at @kitp-ucsb.bsky.social. Invigorating discussions, fantastic facilities, and a beautiful location (a place I consider "home"). Thanks to @weber-lab.bsky.social, @jerelleaj.bsky.social, @zwickergroup.bsky.social, and Frank Julicher for organizing!

Thrilled to have the opportunity to present at @kitp-ucsb.bsky.social. It is a rare treat to get such an engaged and dynamic audience.

What nanometer structure-function relationships exist in your favorite condensate? We hope you will try to measure it! Congrats to Kris, @evdokiiap.bsky.social, Abby, Archish, Gandhar, and @schmitbiophysics.bsky.social . 4/4

In lab’s #FIRSTPREPRINT, we present methods to measure nanometer-scale organization around & between specific proteins in condensates in live cells. We uncover unexpected heterogeneity for a liquid-like phase with local meshwork spanning 10-50nm, stemming from ribosome biogenesis in the nucleolus.

Here is a thread on a paper we published on Dec 30th: doi.org/10.1038/s414... In this collaborative work, we looked at the structure of proteins behind Huntington’s disease. HD is an inherited neurodegenerative disease, with patients having a mutated form of the huntingtin gene. (1/..)

Hoping the demise of the clock app drives me to discover more cool science here.

When the turkey is supposed to be the centerpiece but your 12yo steals your thunder.

And why is it an indictment of our publishing system that we need to have figures with more than 6 panels?

An excellent writing companion!

Cutting NIH funding to improve federal cash flow is like cutting the wings off an airplane to make it lighter.

Shopping for summer 2025 conferences. Pitch me your favorites in:

Biological LLPS
Amyloids
Self-assembly
Soft condensed matter Physics
Chromatin
Systems biology
Other???

Report: Every dollar of NIH research funding doubles in economic returns Research funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) generated $2.46 in economic activity for every $1 of funding in 2023, a total of $92.9 billion, according to an

www.fiercebiotech.com/research/rep...

Excited to find this place and find all the people from the biophysics and LLPS community are already here! I'd like to link up with the soft condensed matter community too. Any suggestions?