Roland Dunbrack 🏳️🌈
@rolanddunbrack.bsky.social
Computational structural biologist @Fox Chase Cancer Center. Gay, out & proud since 1986. I support transgender & nonbinary people. Living with CLL/SLL. Video about my LGBTQ+ life in science: https://tinyurl.com/45srzjdw. Views my own, not my employer's.
Sometimes I go over to my X account to see just how bad things are over there. Besides getting called foul names when I defend trans people's existence, occasionally something really funny comes across. This is a grift beyond grifts. He learned redox in high school & it's been all redox ever since.
November 21, 2025 at 10:09 PM
Sometimes I go over to my X account to see just how bad things are over there. Besides getting called foul names when I defend trans people's existence, occasionally something really funny comes across. This is a grift beyond grifts. He learned redox in high school & it's been all redox ever since.
And this is why.
November 15, 2025 at 2:35 AM
And this is why.
This is why Trump is sending Bondi after Democrats associated with Epstein. It's to shut down release of all the files.
November 15, 2025 at 2:34 AM
This is why Trump is sending Bondi after Democrats associated with Epstein. It's to shut down release of all the files.
Baltimore Penn Station is really beautiful.
November 5, 2025 at 10:42 PM
Baltimore Penn Station is really beautiful.
@us.theguardian.com headline: millions marched today. @nytimes.com headline: why they can’t be bothered to count crowds. Earlier their article said “1000s marched…”. They’ve changed it to “large numbers.”
I read the Guardian first every day. Then check the Times until it pisses me off too much.
I read the Guardian first every day. Then check the Times until it pisses me off too much.
October 18, 2025 at 7:55 PM
@us.theguardian.com headline: millions marched today. @nytimes.com headline: why they can’t be bothered to count crowds. Earlier their article said “1000s marched…”. They’ve changed it to “large numbers.”
I read the Guardian first every day. Then check the Times until it pisses me off too much.
I read the Guardian first every day. Then check the Times until it pisses me off too much.
The new Calder Gardens museum in Philly (works of Alexander Calder) is pretty magnificent.
September 28, 2025 at 9:15 PM
The new Calder Gardens museum in Philly (works of Alexander Calder) is pretty magnificent.
September 7, 2025 at 9:41 PM
I hate the New York Times. @nytimes.com
September 6, 2025 at 11:09 PM
I hate the New York Times. @nytimes.com
Honored to receive the 2026 DeLano Award from @asbmb.bsky.social. Warren wrote PyMOL which I spend several hours a day with -- a hero for open & accessible software. Helen Berman, another of my heroes, nominated me (with help from Ruth Nussinov & Janet Thornton), three women I admire tremendously.
September 5, 2025 at 10:35 PM
Honored to receive the 2026 DeLano Award from @asbmb.bsky.social. Warren wrote PyMOL which I spend several hours a day with -- a hero for open & accessible software. Helen Berman, another of my heroes, nominated me (with help from Ruth Nussinov & Janet Thornton), three women I admire tremendously.
We worked hard to get an accurate assessment of beta turns. It was a <1.2 A data set. We carefully handled 3-10 helices (complicated & interesting -- see the paper). We used DBSCAN to find peaks in the density to find beta turn types. And used a nomenclature based on regions of the Ramachandran map.
September 5, 2025 at 9:48 AM
We worked hard to get an accurate assessment of beta turns. It was a <1.2 A data set. We carefully handled 3-10 helices (complicated & interesting -- see the paper). We used DBSCAN to find peaks in the density to find beta turn types. And used a nomenclature based on regions of the Ramachandran map.
In 2019, we published a clustering & nomenclature of beta turns in proteins & found 18 unique types. The code was in python2. I've just rewritten it in python3, because it might still be useful to people.
The paper & code:
journals.plos.org/ploscompbiol...
github.com/DunbrackLab/...
The paper & code:
journals.plos.org/ploscompbiol...
github.com/DunbrackLab/...
September 5, 2025 at 9:48 AM
In 2019, we published a clustering & nomenclature of beta turns in proteins & found 18 unique types. The code was in python2. I've just rewritten it in python3, because it might still be useful to people.
The paper & code:
journals.plos.org/ploscompbiol...
github.com/DunbrackLab/...
The paper & code:
journals.plos.org/ploscompbiol...
github.com/DunbrackLab/...
@nytimes.com still trying to rationalize Trump which is a fool’s errand. They still don’t get it.
September 4, 2025 at 12:11 AM
@nytimes.com still trying to rationalize Trump which is a fool’s errand. They still don’t get it.
His NIH posted this White House propaganda today on the other place. Previously unimaginable politicization at NIH.
August 11, 2025 at 11:10 PM
His NIH posted this White House propaganda today on the other place. Previously unimaginable politicization at NIH.
On twitter, NIH reposts cult-of-personality-style propaganda from White House. I feel sick to my stomach.
August 11, 2025 at 10:12 PM
On twitter, NIH reposts cult-of-personality-style propaganda from White House. I feel sick to my stomach.
Nice containerization of AlphaFold, Boltz, and Chai, and calculation of metrics (including our ipSAE score for protein-protein interactions). www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
August 8, 2025 at 6:11 PM
Nice containerization of AlphaFold, Boltz, and Chai, and calculation of metrics (including our ipSAE score for protein-protein interactions). www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
@governor.pa.gov : Dear Governor Shapiro: Stop texting me with this scheme that only pays 1.6% of donations to actual campaigns.
data4democracy.substack.com/p/the-mother...
data4democracy.substack.com/p/the-mother...
August 4, 2025 at 8:48 PM
@governor.pa.gov : Dear Governor Shapiro: Stop texting me with this scheme that only pays 1.6% of donations to actual campaigns.
data4democracy.substack.com/p/the-mother...
data4democracy.substack.com/p/the-mother...
Two things:
I use an app called TextKiller to move texts with a set of keywords like Democrat, election, Senate, Trump, Elizabeth Warren, all to a junk folder.
Send this article to every politician whose name appears in your junk folder. Along with Warren, Buttigieg, Roy Cooper, Josh Shapiro.
I use an app called TextKiller to move texts with a set of keywords like Democrat, election, Senate, Trump, Elizabeth Warren, all to a junk folder.
Send this article to every politician whose name appears in your junk folder. Along with Warren, Buttigieg, Roy Cooper, Josh Shapiro.
August 4, 2025 at 7:46 PM
Two things:
I use an app called TextKiller to move texts with a set of keywords like Democrat, election, Senate, Trump, Elizabeth Warren, all to a junk folder.
Send this article to every politician whose name appears in your junk folder. Along with Warren, Buttigieg, Roy Cooper, Josh Shapiro.
I use an app called TextKiller to move texts with a set of keywords like Democrat, election, Senate, Trump, Elizabeth Warren, all to a junk folder.
Send this article to every politician whose name appears in your junk folder. Along with Warren, Buttigieg, Roy Cooper, Josh Shapiro.
We are happy to receive your exports in Philadelphia.
August 1, 2025 at 12:04 AM
We are happy to receive your exports in Philadelphia.
Senate appropriations panel funding bill for NIH: increase of $400 million (0.8% more). Keeping all current institutes instead of merging/terminating some.
July 31, 2025 at 8:42 PM
Senate appropriations panel funding bill for NIH: increase of $400 million (0.8% more). Keeping all current institutes instead of merging/terminating some.
Tom Lehrer's song "Fight Fiercely Harvard!" has more meaning now than it used to. That orange spheroid is now the President of the United States.
July 27, 2025 at 9:08 PM
Tom Lehrer's song "Fight Fiercely Harvard!" has more meaning now than it used to. That orange spheroid is now the President of the United States.
I like to make fun of artists' images of left-handed DNA, when they mean ordinary right-handed DNA.
But here's an image from a popular science blog about a new crystal structure of a protein complex.
I can't even with this.
#wronghandedDNA
But here's an image from a popular science blog about a new crystal structure of a protein complex.
I can't even with this.
#wronghandedDNA
June 28, 2025 at 7:16 PM
I like to make fun of artists' images of left-handed DNA, when they mean ordinary right-handed DNA.
But here's an image from a popular science blog about a new crystal structure of a protein complex.
I can't even with this.
#wronghandedDNA
But here's an image from a popular science blog about a new crystal structure of a protein complex.
I can't even with this.
#wronghandedDNA
This is cool. An archaeal species with no metabolic genes. Just replicative genes (ribosomes, messenger and transfer RNAs). 238kb genome.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
June 26, 2025 at 10:06 PM
This is cool. An archaeal species with no metabolic genes. Just replicative genes (ribosomes, messenger and transfer RNAs). 238kb genome.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
As a line in the musiscal "1776" goes (in reference to July 2, 1776), "It's hot as hell in Phi-la-del-phi-a." 🎹
June 23, 2025 at 8:54 PM
As a line in the musiscal "1776" goes (in reference to July 2, 1776), "It's hot as hell in Phi-la-del-phi-a." 🎹