Tim Stearns

NYC Postdocs! Interesting in using comedy in the creative scientific process? NYC Postdoc Night Science will have its first 2026 meeting on Feb. 11 at @nyumedpostdocs.bsky.social. I'll lead this with the amazing stand-up comedian Sarah Adelman!
Free registration: docs.google.com/forms/d/11Sz...

Computational design of conformation-biasing mutations to alter protein functions Conformational biasing (CB) is a rapid and streamlined computational method that uses contrastive scoring by inverse folding models to predict protein variants biased toward desired conformational sta...

Can we design mutations that bias proteins towards desired conformational states?

Today in @science.org, we introduce Conformational Biasing (CB), a simple and scalable computational method that uses contrastive scoring by inverse folding models to identify conformation-biasing mutations.

Our attempt to give multinucleate cells the spotlight they deserve (seriously, they’re everywhere), led by the fearless @mrosjac.bsky.social and with @Markus Ganter

doi.org/10.32942/X2M...

We’d love your feedback while this goes through the peer review process!

#MicroEvoSky
#ProtistsonSky 🧪🌏

It was a beautiful talk, bringing together an important problem, a great system, and technical prowess. @computingcaitie.bsky.social is a star!

Great talk (and work 🧪 ) by @computingcaitie.bsky.social from @biozentrum.unibas.ch about exploring multiciliated cells with a complementary trio of structural techniques! Looking forward to sharing the preprint. Thanks for the fab collab @centriolelab.bsky.social @stearnslab.bsky.social #TeamTomo

Are you a postdoc in NYC? Come hang out with us at Postdoc Night Science! We are hosting the event at Columbia on Dec 3 at 5PM. Meet other NYC postdocs as well as @itaiyanai.bsky.social & @stearnslab.bsky.social to talk science & creativity! 🧬🧪

Make sure to use the QR code on the poster to sign up!

Intracellular competition shapes plasmid population dynamics From populations of multicellular organisms to selfish genetic elements, conflicts between levels of biological organization are central to evolution. Plasmids are extrachromosomal, self-replicating g...

Hot off the press! Our latest paper led by @fernpizza.bsky.social, understanding how plasmids evolve inside cells. These small, self-replicating DNA circles live inside bacteria and carry antibiotic resistance genes, but also compete with one another to replicate. 1/
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Assistant or Associate Professor in Microbiology The Department of Biology in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, KY seeks to fill a tenure-eligible faculty position at the Assistant or Associate Professor le...

My dept. is hiring a microbiologist (broadly defined)! We are a deeply curious and friendly dept. with lots of enthusiasm for unusual systems and strengths in regeneration & dev bio, ecology & evolution, and circadian rhythms. I highly encourage anyone to apply: ukjobs.uky.edu/postings/600....

He was at Harvard Med and then Boston University, and published work on other cell types from the lung, but the cilia work was the highlight. There are 64 figures in that JCS paper! It's not clear who made the amazing illustration that we all use - nobody is credited in the paper, so perhaps him.

Beautiful drawing of ciliogenesis in airway cells from Sorokin, 1968: journals.biologists.com/jcs/article/.... Just shown on stage by @mahjoublab.bsky.social at #GEF25

Interested in learning how to be a good speaker and give effective talks? Season 2 of the NYC Postdoc Night Science Club begins October 15th. Join us NYC Postdocs for a 2hr workshop and maybe also a drink at a bar! Free registration (usually ~100 come): docs.google.com/forms/d/1dII...

A new study in ants from @danielkronauer.bsky.social reveals a previously unknown mechanism that ensures that each olfactory neuron expresses only one odorant receptor, with broad implications for the study of gene regulation. #RockefellerScience
https://bit.ly/4pwPFLY

Canceled grants get the spotlight at a Capitol Hill 'science fair' On Tuesday, scientists held an event organized by House Democrats in which they stood in front of posters outlining their work — and the federal cuts that now threaten it.

www.npr.org/2025/07/09/n...

Looks like a suctorian. Which have very interesting microtubule structures, by the way. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suctoria

The genomic DNA was sheared by their prep, before the density gradient. The pieces were small enough that they were either fully replicated or unreplicated. If it was the whole genome, the experiment gives the wrong answer because the genomes are replicating asynchronously and relatively slowly..

I was young, and Stahl already seemed to me an old man who had done something famous long ago. Really, he was only in his mid-50’s and Meselson-Stahl was 30 years before. I regret not asking him more about it then, and the famous necessary artifact that allowed them to get the right answer.

Franklin W. Stahl, 95, Dies; Helped Create a ‘Beautiful’ DNA Experiment

Frank Stahl was a visiting scientist in the lab next to where I was a grad student at MIT in the 1980's. He loved nothing more than doing experiments with phage lambda, staring at the plaques through a pair of magnifying goggles, thinking about recombination. www.nytimes.com/2025/07/07/s...

Frank Stahl, screen capture from: https://youtu.be/7-tnuAqEp9g

RIP Franklin W. Stahl (1929–2025)

here is Frank explaining semiconservative replication of DNA in the marvelous interview from 2020 together with Matt Meselson (youtu.be/7-tnuAqEp9g)

UCSF Asilomar retreat t-shirt, 1990

Proposed cuts could have ‘catastrophic effect,’ 110 biomedical, health sciences industry leaders tell Congress Proposed cuts will have “a catastrophic effect on the advancement of biomedical and biotechnology capabilities in the United States,” more than 100 leaders of biomedical/health sciences companies tell...

Good to see acknowledgment from industry about the importance of fundamental research funding. We need more industry leaders to step up to make this point to Congress. www.statnews.com/2025/06/27/b...

Thank you, Tim! The Last Class film about Robert Reich is playing in NYC throughout this week at the wonderful Quad Cinema Greenwich Village through Thursday, July 3. Tickets available now here: quadcinema.com/film/the-las...

Saw the new film by @elliotkirschner.bsky.social about Robert Reich’s last class taught at UC Berkeley. It’s a film about @rbreich.bsky.social’s remarkable life, but also about the power of teaching and the classroom. Check it out!

About the art of writing, but applies to doing science, too.

It was, but I don't think the Senate version of that part of the bill is out yet.

It could. I haven't seen that part of the reconciliation bill yet, but should be out soon.

Court invalidates NSF 15% indirect cost cap. Strong ruling. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

The 2025 Freeman Hrabowski Scholars | HHMI Freeman Hrabowski Scholars are outstanding early career faculty who have the potential to become leaders in their research fields.

An amazing group of Freeman Hrabowski Scholars from @hhmi.org !

Great to see Steve Bonilla, who is off to an outstanding start at @rockefelleruniv.bsky.social

www.hhmi.org/programs/fre...

🚨 New preprint!
Using U-ExM + in situ cryo-ET, we show how C2CD3 builds an in-to-out radial architecture connecting the distal centriole lumen to its appendages. Great collab with @cellarchlab.com @chgenoud.bsky.social @stearnslab.bsky.social 🙌. #TeamTomo #UExM
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Woo! Very excited to share our collaborative work on the centriole's Luminal Distal Ring ⭕. This project started 13 years ago with @hugovdhoek.bsky.social & @stearnslab.bsky.social, and then beautifully came together with @computingcaitie.bsky.social & @centriolelab.bsky.social.
#TeamTomo #UExM 🧪🧶🧬🔬

I heard this morning that my informatics colleague Dr. Atul Butte passed after a battle with cancer. He was a giant in the field & inspired many of us over his distinguished career. He was a passionate champion of the power of big data & his impact on our field is immeasurable. RIP Atul & thanks.