William C. Beckerson, Ph.D.

One-shot design of functional protein binders with BindCraft - Nature BindCraft, an open-source, automated pipeline for de novo protein binder design with experimental success rates of 10–100%, leverages AlphaFold2 weights to generate binders with nanomolar affinity without the need for high-throughput screening.

BindCraft: an AlphaFold2-powered de novo protein binder design tool 🧬✨
Tested in some bacterial systems too! Designs so far are short peptides or mini-domains. Looking forward to long/full protein design ahead! 🧪 #microsky
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Meet the Scramblase-binding peptide (SBP)! We found that this Ophiocordyceps neuropeptide dysregulates olfactory systems in ants! 🐽 🐜

🧟🐜 Zombie Ant Research🚨

I can finally share my flagship research project characterizing the first ever Ophiocordyceps behavioral effector as an open access preprint!

This international, interdisciplinary research approach involved many amazing collaborations! 🧪

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

Zombie Spiders Are Freaking People Out. ‘Maybe Don’t Tell the Kids.’ A parasitic fungus is littering storm drains and sheds with the crusty white corpses of spiders, drawing “The Last of Us” comparisons.

www.wsj.com/lifestyle/zo...

Picture of a zombie spider infected by the fungus Gibellula attenboroughii. The spider has long black and brown striped legs with a body covered in a white fuzzy fungus.

I am always excited to share about zombie fungi! 🧟‍♂️ 🍄‍🟫 Thanks to Natasha Dangoor for allowing me to contribute through an interview to her new piece in The Wall Street Journal about zombie spiders found in the UK! 🇬🇧 🧟🕷️. Link to the full article and audio translations in the comments 🧪

The following temporary link, provided by Current Biology, can be used to view the full-length article as open access until Sep. 23, 2025
authors.elsevier.com/a/1lYLj3QW8S...

This figure shows a word cloud of the most frequently used words in current molecular biology papers about behavior-manipulating fungi. The words pertaining to techniques used are shown in blue with size corresponding with their prevalence in the texts. Some of the most common words used are “Gene”, “Expression”, “Metabolomics”, Protein”, “Genome”, “Modules”, “Ortholog”, “Transcription”, “Phylogenetic”, “Annotation”, “Biosynthesis”, “Sequencing”, and “Compounds”. The figure also has hand drawn pictures of a zombie fly, a zombie cicada, a zombie caterpillar, a zombie ant, and a zombie silkworm, the last of which is the focus system for this dispatch.

How about some spooky science! 🧟‍♂️ In this dispatch, I discuss the current state of molecular genetics work used to explore behavior-manipulating fungi and highlight new research by Zhao et al. describing a novel behavioral effector used by Cordyceps militaris in silkworms! 🧪
Link in the comments!

This data is even more exciting when you consider the game never explicitly uses the word evolution, providing an engaging tool for teaching evolutionary concepts to people who might be reticent or stand-offish about the topic! Oh the power of gamification 🙌. More info soon to be published 🤩

Zombie Ants VR: Definitive Edition on Steam Zombie Ants VR is a short educational experience that takes the player through the life cycle of Ophiocordyceps, a fungus that manipulates the behavior of insects in order to increase the spread of it...

Very excited to announce that our new version of Zombie Ants VR is releasing soon for free on Steam! I’m also thrilled to share that our month-long test run in collaboration with University Museum Utrecht showed that it teaches players about evolution!🧪
store.steampowered.com/app/3765230/...

Zombifying fungi have been infecting insects for 99 million years Two bits of amber discovered in a lab basement hold ancient evidence of a fungi famous for controlling the minds of its victims.

How cool! 🧟‍♂️🐜 Very interesting that it was found infecting an ant pupae, we normally only see adults infected. What mysterious evolutionary history! 👀 www.sciencenews.org/article/zomb... 🧪

LGBTQ+ scientists who shaped history - Wellcome Sanger Institute Blog Science thrives on diversity. Diversity of opinions, upbringing, experiences, and lifestyles, brings about innovation. It is imperative that everyone feels safe and comfortable to be their true selves...

🏳️‍🌈 A queer post a day for #PrideMonth2025

6/20: Florence Nightingale brought data and statistics to nursing. She also said “I have slept in the same beds with English Countesses and Prussian farm women. No woman has excited passions among women more than I.”

1/

sangerinstitute.blog/2022/06/29/l...

Field trial success for fighting banana weevils with fungal compounds Researchers say one particular fungus-derived compound could help farmers avoid banana drama

I know what you're thinking; how can we sustainably manage the banana weevil problem?

Boy do I have good news for you. My piece for @cenmag.bsky.social 🧪

#ZebrafishZunday: Simultaneous tracking of 100 zebrafish larvae using open-source software. Credit to FastTrack (www.fasttrack.sh). 🧪

So excited to be partnering with University Museum Utrecht to debut our updated VR game about zombie ants! It’s an educational game that teaches about evolution, and will be free to download from both SteamVR and the Meta Horizon Store later this month. Just search “Zombie Ants VR” to find it! 🧪

Illustration of two people, one holding a large pencil, the other walking along a path of diverging arrows. Hedline is "Rules all PIs should follow."

#NextGenSci asked young scientists to write a rule that all principal investigators should be required to follow to improve the experience of young scientists in their lab.

Check out their answers on #NationalHigherEducationDay: scim.ag/45zsFEr

Examples of science illustrations created by Julie Johnson at Life Science Studios, including fish paintings, mushrooms, beetles, an oyster reef, butterflies, and lizards.

Hello ecologists and evolutionary biologists! I work with scientists to transform discoveries into beautiful, accurate, publication-ready figures. Get in touch if you want custom illustrations for your next paper.

Check out www.lifesciencestudios.com to explore services and get started!

#🐡 #🧪

The first night of Pint of Science if off to a fantastic start with a packed bar here in Utrecht! 🧪 🤩 @pintofsciencenl.bsky.social

YouTube video by Neil Halloran Defeating a Virus That Killed Half a Billion People – The Plea

Wonderfully good video about the beauty of science and humanitarian motivation working together to defeat diseases and save people. youtube.com/watch?v=ybVZ... 🧪 #NIH #CDC #WHO #BMGF #NIAID

Incredible video, thanks for sharing!

Pint of Science Locations Pint of Science is the largest global science festival taking place in many countries simultaneously

Pint of Science 2025 kicks off on Monday! This annual science festival brings scientists to local pubs to share their work with the community. It’s a powerful engagement initiative in 27 countries worldwide that fosters dialogue between scientists and the public! 🧪

pintofscience.nl/locations/

Hi Monica! Can you please add me to neuroscience? I am a MSCA fellow at Utrecht University 🇳🇱 using C. elegans to study the neurobiology of zombie insects! I also do a lot of public engagement on the topic. Publications and outreach efforts can be found on my website: www.williamcbeckersonphd.com

Hi Andrew! Can you please add me to the zoology page? I am a MSCA fellow at Utrecht University 🇳🇱 studying the behavior manipulation of zombie insects! I also of a lot of public engagement on the topic. Publications and Outrech effors can be found on my website: www.williamcbeckersonphd.com

I am very excited to host one of this year’s Pint of Science events in Utrecht, NL! Join us at Body Talk, May 21st, to hear about topics like gender neutral/non-binary language, fungal materials, and AI! Tickets and more information can be found here: pintofscience.nl/event/the-sp...

The do’s and don’ts of scientific image editing Acceptable image-editing practices are partly a matter of common sense. But researchers say journals and funders could help scientists by standardizing policies.

Useful guidance in paper images: “The do’s and don’ts of scientific image editing." 🧪🔬💡🔌🌌

idp.nature.com/authorize?re...

Very excited about this years @pintofsciencenl.bsky.social event in the Netherlands 🇳🇱!

Check out The Science Journal for Kids @sj4k.bsky.social , these folk are AWESOME at unpacking complex science articles for general audiences

Science on our sleeves: the research that inspires our tattoos Inked scientists choose scientific images to mark career accomplishments and illustrate their research passion.

Nature Careers spoke to scientists about their tattoos, which include scientific images to mark career accomplishments and illustrate research passions. #Academicsky 🧪

Who’s excited for season 2 of #TheLastofUs? 🙋‍♀️ @williamycete.bsky.social & other researchers have been studying the fungus that helped inspire the show (don’t worry, it only zombifies insects in real life!). Learn how it makes ants walk like zombies: www.sciencejournalforkids.org/articles/whi...

Ready for more zombies - with free science teaching resources? Monthly roundup from Science Journal for Kids and Teens

It might be April Fools' Day, but we're more interested in zombies this month. In the new installment of our newsletter, you'll find a new adapted article about zombie ants along with other resources: open.substack.com/pub/sciencej.... Subscribe to receive the next one right in your inbox!

What I love so much about this group is just how far they go with their work! They simplify the paper, create a lesson plan for teachers, make a video overview with full background, and provide a full audio translation to make it more accessible! www.sciencejournalforkids.org/articles/whi...