David Kuster

*Baywatch

Wonder in basic research changes human lives ✨

This is a small piece I did for @mblscience.bsky.social physiology course wonder project to show how wonder can change lives. I have never done any artwork like this, so I’m super proud of it

#basicscience #science #sciart #art

I’m thrilled to announce that next summer I’ll be joining the University of Maryland Department of Biology as an assistant professor! The Van Etten lab will study how horizontal processes (DNA and gene transfer + organelle acquisition) drive and are driven by ecology and evolution. vanettenlab.org

A resource of RNA-binding protein motifs across eukaryotes reveals evolutionary dynamics and gene-regulatory function - Nature Biotechnology RNA-binding motifs in eukaryotic proteins are presented in a comprehensive resource.

New in @natbiotech.nature.com: a team led by scientists at MSK and ‪University of Toronto have developed a new platform to facilitate the study of RNA-biding proteins (RBPs) across hundreds of species of plants, insects, and animals.

Identification of conserved RNA regulatory switches in living cells using RNA secondary structure ensemble mapping and covariation analysis - Nature Biotechnology Transcriptome-scale maps of RNA secondary structure ensembles in living cells detect candidate RNA structural switches.

I am so incredibly excited to share our latest work, on the exploration of #RNA secondary structure ensembles and discovery of RNA regulatory structural switches in bacteria and human cells, just out in
@natbiotech.nature.com: nature.com/articles/s41.... A short tread! (1/n)

RNA can control cell migration by acting at focal adhesions - Scientific editing and writing experts - Life Science Editors Scientific editing and writing experts for manuscripts and grants

RNA can control cell migration by acting at focal adhesions www.lifescienceeditors.com/2025/06/24/r...

Many proteins bind RNA, yet we still don’t know what RNAs most bind because methods map one RBP at a time. In @cp-cell.bsky.social, with the Jovanovic lab, we describe SPIDR – a method for mapping the RNA binding sites of dozens of RBPs in a single experiment. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Biomolecular condensates as regulators of enzymatic reactions - Nature Chemical Engineering Open compartments, termed biomolecular condensates, are involved in cellular reactions. This Comment highlights their ability to enhance robustness and control of reactions in space and time, going be...

Glad to share our latest comment published in @natchemeng.nature.com
Here, we discuss the role of biomolecular condensates as regulators of enzymatic reactions.
I hope you enjoy it!
www.nature.com/articles/s44...

How do we screen do novo designed binders most efficiently? In this pre-print, we show that the microfluidic sizing technique FIDA allows us to pick successful binders in a single measurement using minimal sample:

www.biorxiv.org/cgi/content/...

And today we are treated with a sunset of a life time. I have never seen pallet of nature shine so bright in the sky - if you were to paint this, you would run out of colors. With lab members Enrico and Hannah. Well deserved break in our grueling schedule to see the big picture of why we are here. 🌊

Mesquite Sand Dunes, Death Valley

Disorder meets its match Designed protein pockets recognize intrinsically disordered protein regions

Designed protein pockets recognize intrinsically disordered protein regions @science.org
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
www.statnews.com/2025/07/17/n...

Hannah Arendt taught us that civil disobedience is essential to American democracy | American Masters | PBS Scholar Roger Berkowitz shares how Hannah Arendt saw civil disobedience as a collective and political act that renews democracy by holding power

civil disobedience are not peripheral to democratic life, but lie at the very heart of American democracy.

www.pbs.org/wnet/america...
@hannaharendtcenter.bsky.social @arendtedition.bsky.social @bardcollege.bsky.social

Registrations are Open for the Rigi Workshop 2026, which I'm happy to co-organise with @michaelraissig.bsky.social

"Endless Forms Most Beautiful"

This is primarily intended for PhDs & Postdocs.
Only 30 spots available! So think fast !

#Cell #Biology #ProtistsOnSky

LINK: scnat.ch/en/uuid/i/aa...

Least - but very pretty - sandpiper roaming the Sippewissett Marsh (MA) today!

You can spend a life time on a boat - and still be looking at new things every single day! Here is a quick glimpse of what’s just under our feet/boat!!

It has been a dream come true to lead a rotation in the @mblscience.bsky.social Physiology course - thanks to the amazing Directors @gladfelterlab.bsky.social and @brangwynnelab.bsky.social, course staff, TAs, and students!

Chromatin heterogeneity modulates nuclear condensate dynamics and phase behavior Nature Communications - Chromatin heterogeneity in the cell nucleus modulates the size, mobility, and formation of biomolecular condensates; decreasing chromatin heterogeneity correlates with...

Congrats to Jing @jesszhiyuezhao.bsky.social‬
& @dnamystrom.bsky.social‬ on cool manuscript!!! Reveals how cell nucleus is a heterogeneous material, w chromatin organization controlling formation & phase behavior of nuclear condensates. #CellBiology #Chromatin #PhaseSeparation rdcu.be/evWxR

A State Department employee shared with PBS News an image from inside the department. The image includes a piece of paper taped to a mirror with the words, "Colleagues, if you remain: RESIST FASCISM. Remember the oath you vowed to uphold."

A ghost crab sits on the sand wearily watching the photographer after it was startled out of its burrow.

A surprising daytime friend. Ghost Crab. Long Beach Island, NJ. July, 2025.

Nucleosome spacing can fine-tune higher-order chromatin assembly - Nature Communications Internucleosomal linker length alters the stability and dynamics of chromatin condensates by shifting the balance between inter- and intramolecular interactions. Further, by changing the linker length...

🚨 New paper out in Nature Comms!

From the Rosen, Redding and Collepardo Labs, we uncover how #nucleosome spacing fine-tunes the architecture of #chromatin condensates.

👇 A short thread on how physical #genome organization emerges from molecular interactions:

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

ROS transfer at peroxisome-mitochondria contact regulates mitochondrial redox Maintenance of mitochondrial redox homeostasis is of fundamental importance to cellular health. Mitochondria harbor a host of intrinsic antioxidant defenses, but the contribution of extrinsic, nonmito...

ROS transfer at peroxisome-mitochondria contact regulates mitochondrial redox | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

A versatile cohesion manipulation system reveals CENP-A dysfunction accelerates female reproductive age-related egg aneuploidy. Female reproductive aging is accompanied by a dramatic rise in the incidence of egg aneuploidy. Premature loss of chromosome cohesion proteins and untimely separation of chromosomes is thought to unde...

Some good news during these difficult times. Please check out our new preprint. We built a new tool to probe the origins of high oocyte aneuploidy rates at advanced female reproductive ages. This NIH funded work was led by a fantastic postdoc in the lab, Jiyeon Leem. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Least Terns - exchanging a fish!
Early July, Surf Drive Beach, MA

A common tern flaps its wings as it flies along the beach

A least tern stands amongst sea shells near its nest.

A least tern soars above looking for fish in the water.

A common tern hovers over the water looking for fish

Terns! Terns! Terns! Early July, Long Beach Island, NJ #birds #wildlife

HFSP Postdoctoral Fellowship for Augusto Ortega Granillo Fellowship for investigating the role of osmotic and hydrostatic pressure during pancreas lumen formation.

Augusto Ortega Granillo, postdoc in the groups of @anne-grapin.bsky.social @mpi-cbg.de & @campaslab.bsky.social @poldresden.bsky.social, received a postdoctoral fellowship from the @hfspo.bsky.social! Congratulations! 🎉 www.mpi-cbg.de/news-outreac...