Kushol Gupta

Using X-rays at CHESS, Dr. Kushol Gupta (@guptapenn.bsky.social) and UPenn Medicine scientists found that DNA’s building blocks can unfold under high pressure and spring back when pressure eases, offering new clues into genome stability and disease.

Read more: bit.ly/48TkDbo

We dusted off a nearly 100-year-old vinyl record from The University of Pennsylvania Band and gave “The Red and Blue” another spin. The sound may crackle a little, but the Penn pride still comes through loud and clear ❤️💙

Elucidating lipid nanoparticle properties and structure through biophysical analyses - Nature Biotechnology Guidance for optimizing lipid nanoparticle formulations is derived using sophisticated biophysical techniques.

Elucidating lipid nanoparticle properties and structure through biophysical analyses - @guptapenn.bsky.social
@pennengineering.bsky.social @pennmedicine.bsky.social go.nature.com/4oTt639

The cutting-edge resources available CHESS to leverage high-pressure environment for structural biology are downright amazing and I'm certain will become indispensable tools for structural biology!

This work was published in Chromosome Research with Nikolina Sekulić, the laboratory of Ben Black at Penn, and the teams at CHESS and at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (#NIST) Center for Neutron Research (NCNR).

I'm really grateful for this write-up from @chess-synchrotron.bsky.social (CHESS) on the high-pressure SAXS work that was featured in our recent collaborative work!

www.chess.cornell.edu/under-pressu...

Great to see this article by @guptapenn.bsky.social is out! Kushol helped us interview @xtalmaker.bsky.social Vivian Stojanoff and @gabbygrowsxtals.bsky.social who published an article on careful sample preparation in crystallisation experiments, also part of #SAMPREP
www.youtube.com/watch?v=m34R...

thank you for doing this!!

It was alot of fun to help with this interview of the authors!!

NIH staff and biomedical community sound alarm about agency politicization, funding slowdown In test of NIH director’s support of dissent, NIH staff sign Bethesda Declaration urging reversal of grant cuts and freezes

Breaking news: Staff at the National Institutes of Health have issued a declaration calling on their director to depoliticize the agency and reverse spending cuts.

A lot of celebrating in the lab this week!

Undergraduates Nancy An (Masters in Biochem, headed to Stanford Law) and Jacob Issacs are graduating (BA in Biochem, headed to RPI for PhD studies), along with Bioengineering Master's student Liam Rivard!

NIH insiders: Trump is ‘dismantling and destroying everything' After just 100 days, agency scientists say U.S. health institutes are demoralized and have lost essential staff and funding

After Trump’s first 100 days, agency scientists say U.S. health institutes are demoralized and have lost essential staff and funding.

Registration is still open, but only a small number of spots are left!

www.med.upenn.edu/jf/aucsymp.h...
@BB_UPenn
@pennmedicine.bsky.social

For those of you attending the 2025 American Crystallographic Association meeting in Lombard, IL in July: consider this workshop Dr. Maxwell Watkins (APS BioCAT) and I are organizing for the community, and don't forget to register!
#structure #lightscattering #AUC

US map via scienceimpacts.org visualization of economic loss due to IDC cuts to 15% as part of Feb 7, 2025 executive order, with shading denoting intensity of cuts.

Working with an interdisciplinary team, we have developed a website to communicate how the White House's proposed cuts to health research would cause losses of $16B and 68,500 jobs.

Find out how your community may be impacted.

Explore more at SCIMaP: scienceimpacts.org

a 🧵

Championing Science: ACA’s Commitment to Research, Collaboration, and Advocacy

acas.memberclicks.net/index.php?op...

A great crowd here in Philadelphia at the @standupforscience.bsky.social rally! #standupforscience

For those of you attending the 2025 American Crystallographic Association meeting in Lombard, IL in July: consider this workshop Dr. Maxwell Watkins (APS BioCAT) and I are organizing for the community, and don't forget to register!
#structure #lightscattering #AUC

Registration is open! - in addition to our traditional session on modern applications of AUC, we'll also be holding a special afternoon session on emerging biophysical methods as applied to therapeutic nanoparticles!

www.med.upenn.edu/jf/aucsymp.h...
@BB_UPenn @pennmedicine.bsky.social

Safeguarding the future of biomedical science in the United States NIH’s abrupt decision to cap indirect cost reimbursement at 15% threatens the critical infrastructure supporting groundbreaking biomedical research in the United States. This policy jeopardizes Americ...

Safeguarding the future of biomedical science in the United States: Cell www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...

PLOS statement on recent US Executive Orders and scientific integrity - The Official PLOS Blog Since its founding over twenty five years ago PLOS has been dedicated to advancing open science, ensuring that knowledge is accessible to…

PLOS has issued a statement on recent US Executive Orders and scientific integrity.

We are determined to stand firmly behind our mission, our values and our principles, and against any attempt at censorship or undermining of the core principles of scientific inquiry.

plos.io/3D4O8cH

Ax falls on elite group of Ph.D.s training to lead U.S. public health labs Most of the fellows in CDC’s highly competitive Laboratory Leadership Service were fired last weekend

Ax falls on elite group of Ph.D.s training to lead U.S. public health labs | Science | AAAS www.science.org/content/arti...

We celebrated several of our young labs members. In no particular order:

1. a grad school admission
2. Law school admissions, including Harvard!
3. a preposterously high MCAT score
4. a 2.3 Angstrom EM structure
5. a 2.0 Angstrom dataset on crystals from a new project

There's never been a better time to celebrate young scientists.
Lab Happy Hour Yesterday:

‘I really wanted something to happen.’ The students behind the Stand Up for Science protests New group hopes to turn out researchers for 7 March demonstrations against Trump administration policies

Want to do something concrete? help them out.

‘I really wanted something to happen.’ The students behind the Stand Up for Science protests | Science | AAAS www.science.org/content/arti...

Trump Cuts Target Next Generation of Scientists and Public Health Leaders A core group of so-called disease detectives, who track outbreaks, was apparently spared. But other young researchers are out of jobs.

www.nytimes.com/2025/02/18/u...

Welcome to the Bluesky account for Stand Up for Science 2025!

Keep an eye on this space for updates, event information, and ways to get involved. We can't wait to see everyone #standupforscience2025 on March 7th, both in DC and locations nationwide!

#scienceforall #sciencenotsilence

A Lancet Editorial: “American chaos: standing up for health and medicine”

“...to care is an act not of weakness, but of strength.”

The Lancet response: bit.ly/4jRb5Av

Dear US elected officials:
"Science is hard enough, don't make it even harder! Work to remove restrictions on scientists immediately. Any delay will have deep, immediate, and long-lasting detrimental economic consequences."

You can send your message here:
www.biophysics.org/policy-advoc...

Eppur si muove - Galileo