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Janet Iwasa

@jiwasa.bsky.social

Molecular animator, cell biologist, biochemist, science communicator. Head of the Animation Lab and Director of the Genetic Science Learning Center at the University of Utah, and writer of the RCSB PDB Molecule of the Month

2,395 Followers  |  192 Following  |  29 Posts  |  Joined: 31.12.2023  |  2.1136

Latest posts by jiwasa.bsky.social on Bluesky

Promotional infographic for the speakers of the first WALII symposium. This promo highlights Dr. Amy Gladfelter of the Duke University, and includes her bio, headshot, and link to her website.

Promotional infographic for the speakers of the first WALII symposium. This promo highlights Dr. Amy Gladfelter of the Duke University, and includes her bio, headshot, and link to her website.

Meet the speakers of the very first inaugural WALII Symposium: Exploring Life Without Water, happening Tuesday, Nov 18! πŸ’§

To Learn More about the symposium: walii.science/virtual-symp...

To Learn More about Dr. Amy Gladfelter: www.cellbio.duke.edu/amy-gladfelter

@gladfelterlab.bsky.social

24.09.2025 18:19 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

I'm so honored to receive the 2025 Bruce Alberts Award for Excellence in Science Education. Thank you @ascbiology.bsky.social and I look forward to this year's annual ASCB meeting in Philly!

05.08.2025 03:21 β€” πŸ‘ 69    πŸ” 5    πŸ’¬ 4    πŸ“Œ 0
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Licensed to live | Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory The DNA packed inside every human cell contains instructions for life, written in billions of letters of genetic code. Every time a cell divides, the complete code, divided among 46 chromosomes, must ...

β€œIn bone marrow alone ~500 million cells are born every min” says Bruce Stillman. Each must duplicate 2+ meters of DNA to avoid errors that can cause cancer & autism. See more from Stillman, @crick.ac.uk’s John Diffley & @uuhsresearch.bsky.social's @jiwasa.bsky.social
www.cshl.edu/licensed-to-...

29.07.2025 16:12 β€” πŸ‘ 7    πŸ” 5    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

The Animation Lab will be giving an animation workshop and table demos, and the GSLC will have a table all day with demos! Come join us!

11.07.2025 15:30 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Almost fifty U of U researchers are giving over 80 demos, lab tours, workshops and talks for the public this Saturday, July 12th! Science-curious? We have something for everyone! 10am-4pm @utah.edu. Schedule and directions here: gslc.utah.edu/summer-scien...

09.07.2025 17:18 β€” πŸ‘ 6    πŸ” 4    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Zoom In. Geek Out. Take a Backstage Pass to the Secret Life of Cells! Take a tour of the HSC Cell Imaging Core at 12, 1 or 2pm during Summer Science Day this Sat July 12th!
Find the full Summer Science Day schedule here: gslc.utah.edu/summer-scien...

08.07.2025 14:29 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Yes - there are lots of IDRs in the MCMs. The animation focuses on their role in DNA binding (the close up) but they are thought to play other important roles as well. There's lots of discussion about IDRs in the review!

07.07.2025 13:30 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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a dog is dancing in a room with the words happy dance written on the bottom . ALT: a dog is dancing in a room with the words happy dance written on the bottom .

So grateful to be posting happy work-related news. First- I'm now tenured! Thank you @uofubiochem.bsky.social, @utah.edu, and Animation Lab collaborators! Also, 2 of GSLC's (@learngenetics.bsky.social) terminated science education grants were reinstated! AND Summer Science Day is next week!

05.07.2025 15:45 β€” πŸ‘ 60    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 7    πŸ“Œ 0
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One week until Summer Science Day! Everyone is welcome to visit @UofUHealth for lab tours, public-friendly talks, demos, and workshops! Saturday July 12th from 10am-4pm. Check out our action-packed schedule here: gslc.utah.edu/summer-scien...

05.07.2025 15:26 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Artists belong in science! Come to Summer Science Day & learn about:
+ How to draw dinosaurs!
+ Animating science w stop-motion animation!
+ Making a science comic!
+ Using 3D animation to bring science to life!
Sat 7/12, 10am-4pm. Free all-ages open house at the U. gslc.utah.edu/summer-scien...

02.07.2025 21:21 β€” πŸ‘ 3    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Check out this new review (with animations, natch) of mechanisms of licensing origins of DNA replication - a wonderful (and continuing!) collaboration with Bruce Stillman @cshlnews.bsky.social and John Diffley @crick.ac.uk! www.nature.com/articles/s41...

02.07.2025 17:01 β€” πŸ‘ 79    πŸ” 43    πŸ’¬ 6    πŸ“Œ 2

Working with collaborators at the Crick Institute and the University of Utah, CSHL's President and CEO Bruce Stillman explores how pre-replicative complexes (pre-RCs)β€”even earlier than ORCsβ€”assemble to initiate DNA replication in all plants, animals, and fungi.

01.07.2025 16:56 β€” πŸ‘ 6    πŸ” 4    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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You're trying to fill the summer days. What do we have that might be interesting for you and your kids? How about electron microscopes? Glowing fish?! Pig lungs??!! Come to Summer Science Day at the U on Saturday, July 12. Free and open to the public! gslc.utah.edu/summer-scien...

01.07.2025 22:04 β€” πŸ‘ 4    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 1
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U of U Summer Science Day is less than two weeks away! Come to the U on Saturday July 12th between 10am-4pm for lab tours, science demos, talks, and fun for all ages! Free and open to the public. Schedule will be coming out in the next day or two! gslc.utah.edu/summer-scien...

01.07.2025 03:54 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Paper Published: A new chapter for Molecule of the Month
Read how @jiwasa.bsky.social has taken over as the series creator of stories about critically important biological macromolecules

pubs.aip.org/aca/sdy...

15.05.2025 16:12 β€” πŸ‘ 6    πŸ” 3    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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...and big thanks to @jiwasa.bsky.social for making this amazing video to illustrate the strand-sliding mechanism!

15.05.2025 19:51 β€” πŸ‘ 29    πŸ” 8    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 2
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πŸ“£New FREE module drop!

In Genetic Tech Investigations, students explore what technologies like sequencing, mass spec, and others reveal about the process from genes to proteins.
➑️ teach.genetics.utah.edu/content/gent...

#ScienceTeachers #NGSS #Genetics #STEM

01.05.2025 20:01 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Thanks to Rachel and Laura for this great collaboration!

28.04.2025 20:43 β€” πŸ‘ 3    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Outside the lab, Laura likes to hang out with her almost 2- and 5-year olds!

28.04.2025 20:43 β€” πŸ‘ 7    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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The Dassama group uses detailed understanding of factors that enable interactions between biological molecules to provide insights that allow functional control of those molecules. Applications include host-microbe interactions and targeted control of disease-relevant proteins.

28.04.2025 20:42 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 3    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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Meet Dr. Laura Dassama, an Assistant Professor at Stanford University. This illustration by Rachel Torrez showcases how the Dassama Group uses tools of chemistry and physics to provide molecular insights into complex biological processes.

28.04.2025 20:42 β€” πŸ‘ 8    πŸ” 6    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

Thank you! I had a wonderful time at Augsburg. Getting to chat with students about their research was definitely a major highlight!

16.04.2025 16:10 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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How β€˜Science Interpreters’ Make Hidden Science Visible A cell animator and a museum designer tell us how they translate scientific findings into visual experiences.

Had a great time chatting with Flora Lichtman and Tim Lee @nhmu.bsky.social a couple of weekends ago here in SLC, and excited that our Science Friday @scifri.bsky.social piece will be airing today! www.sciencefriday.com/segments/sci...

11.04.2025 14:05 β€” πŸ‘ 11    πŸ” 3    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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IT ALL STARTS NOW!!! #UGivingDay is underway! donate.utah.edu/giving-day-2...

Go here tinyurl.com/482kzszf RIGHT NOW. Be among the first donors to the GSLC in our first-ever Giving Day campaign!

Follow #MeettheGSLC to see to some of our most popular activities.

08.04.2025 14:02 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Please consider supporting the Genetic Science Learning Center (gslc.utah.edu) and Learn.Genetics (learn.genetics.utah.edu)! We're raising funds during #UGivingDay to help maintain this free (and fun!) resource that's used by science learners around the world.

04.04.2025 19:21 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Thanks for this great collaboration @ann-hl.bsky.social and @zadkhan.bsky.social!

13.03.2025 15:52 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 1
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In his spare time, Shahzad enjoys helping coach his son's basketball team, baking, and running outdoors.

13.03.2025 15:51 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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Currently, the Khan lab uses molecular, cellular, and histological approaches to study primary cilia dynamics in age-related neurological disorders.

13.03.2025 15:51 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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We're excited to feature Dr. Shahzad Khan @zadkhan.bsky.social , an Assistant Professor of Neuroscience at UNC Chapel Hill, for #SeeingDiversity! This illustration (by @ann-hl.bsky.social ) highlights his studies on the molecular mechanisms of primary cilia loss in neurodegenerative diseases.

13.03.2025 15:50 β€” πŸ‘ 8    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

So glad you found this project useful! We unfortunately don't have any immediate plans for more metabolism visualizations RN. Have you have seen our project on Fat Metabolism iwasa.biochem.utah.edu/fatmetabolism/? All of the metabolism projects were done by Shraddha Nayak while she was a postdoc.

28.02.2025 15:26 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

@jiwasa is following 20 prominent accounts