Tom Lau
@tomlau.bsky.social
Science, Drug Discovery, Public Infrastructure, Soccer Analytics & Miscellany. Boston via Dublin.
I love lamp
New Preprint: High-intensity 365 nm irradiation accelerates photoreactions in living cells by up to 1000×. We show protein–drug 💊, –protein 💪, –DNA 🧬, –RNA 🧬 crosslinking within seconds, and analysis by #massspec for #proteomics, #chembio, #chromatin and #RNAbiology. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Enhanced photo-crosslinking in living cells with high-intensity longwave ultraviolet light
The activation of chemical reactions in living cells using ultraviolet (UV) light enables the interrogation of biomolecules in their native environment with photoreactive probes or crosslinking reagen...
www.biorxiv.org
November 19, 2025 at 1:35 AM
I love lamp
Reposted by Tom Lau
People had questions, like
"Are there apples that taste & crunch like Honeycrisp? But without the existential rage about being alive?"
Yep! Let's talk about them!
"Are there apples that taste & crunch like Honeycrisp? But without the existential rage about being alive?"
Yep! Let's talk about them!
In honor of apple picking season: the secret of why Honeycrisp apples are so expensive!
This tree is angry at being alive and will make it your problem (if you plant it)
This tree is angry at being alive and will make it your problem (if you plant it)
Why Honeycrisp Apples Are EXPENSIVE
YouTube video by Farm to Taber
youtu.be
November 18, 2025 at 8:23 PM
People had questions, like
"Are there apples that taste & crunch like Honeycrisp? But without the existential rage about being alive?"
Yep! Let's talk about them!
"Are there apples that taste & crunch like Honeycrisp? But without the existential rage about being alive?"
Yep! Let's talk about them!
Job alert! Looking for a mass spectrometry expert to come join our team. Please share and let me know if you have any personal recommendations. #teammassspec www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/43...
Vertex Pharmaceuticals hiring Mass Spectrometry Sr. Research Scientist in Boston, MA | LinkedIn
Posted 12:01:53 AM. Job DescriptionGeneral Summary:We are seeking a Mass Spectrometrist to join the Chemical Biology…See this and similar jobs on LinkedIn.
www.linkedin.com
October 7, 2025 at 1:33 PM
Job alert! Looking for a mass spectrometry expert to come join our team. Please share and let me know if you have any personal recommendations. #teammassspec www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/43...
Silly take for a vacation day. Those couples that are smiling while sharing a slice and a hot dog at Costco, you just know they're gonna be together forever.
May 23, 2025 at 2:48 PM
Silly take for a vacation day. Those couples that are smiling while sharing a slice and a hot dog at Costco, you just know they're gonna be together forever.
Chembio in the Pub! The tastier, chattier version of the popular Boston conference. Jun 12th is pretty close to the GRC too so whether you're a local or visiting it would be great to hang out www.eventbrite.com/e/chembio-in... #chembio #chemicalbiology #bostonbiotech
ChemBio in the PUB 2025
Chemical Biology in the PUB
www.eventbrite.com
May 20, 2025 at 3:39 PM
Chembio in the Pub! The tastier, chattier version of the popular Boston conference. Jun 12th is pretty close to the GRC too so whether you're a local or visiting it would be great to hang out www.eventbrite.com/e/chembio-in... #chembio #chemicalbiology #bostonbiotech
Reposted by Tom Lau
#NeilPostman #Trump #MAGA #Musk #ElonMusk #Project2025 #TheFourthReich #BadFaith #Fascism archive.is/6TBfY
Still Amusing Ourselves
Why does this 40-year-old book by a career academic still hit so hard?
⏬ Bluesky 'bite-sized' article thread (12 min) with added links 📖🍿🔊
Still Amusing Ourselves
Why does this 40-year-old book by a career academic still hit so hard?
⏬ Bluesky 'bite-sized' article thread (12 min) with added links 📖🍿🔊
The One Book That Explains Our Current Era Was Written 40 Years Ago
NYT pundits and NBA coaches alike can't stop recommending this four-decade-old book.
slate.com
March 26, 2025 at 4:36 AM
#NeilPostman #Trump #MAGA #Musk #ElonMusk #Project2025 #TheFourthReich #BadFaith #Fascism archive.is/6TBfY
Still Amusing Ourselves
Why does this 40-year-old book by a career academic still hit so hard?
⏬ Bluesky 'bite-sized' article thread (12 min) with added links 📖🍿🔊
Still Amusing Ourselves
Why does this 40-year-old book by a career academic still hit so hard?
⏬ Bluesky 'bite-sized' article thread (12 min) with added links 📖🍿🔊
Reposted by Tom Lau
Truncated gRNA sequences to target Cas9 fusions to hundreds of sites with similar sequences: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
This should address a question I commonly get for GLoPro (PMID: 29735997), about targeting TF binding sites throughout the genome, rather than a single locus.
Cool work.
This should address a question I commonly get for GLoPro (PMID: 29735997), about targeting TF binding sites throughout the genome, rather than a single locus.
Cool work.
Multi-locus CRISPRi targeting with a single truncated guide RNA - Nature Communications
A critical goal in functional genomics is evaluating which non-coding elements contribute to gene expression, cellular function, and disease. Here the authors present a CRISPRi-based method using trun...
www.nature.com
February 6, 2025 at 6:21 PM
Truncated gRNA sequences to target Cas9 fusions to hundreds of sites with similar sequences: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
This should address a question I commonly get for GLoPro (PMID: 29735997), about targeting TF binding sites throughout the genome, rather than a single locus.
Cool work.
This should address a question I commonly get for GLoPro (PMID: 29735997), about targeting TF binding sites throughout the genome, rather than a single locus.
Cool work.
Reposted by Tom Lau
Whom would you like to hear at our next event?
The planning for the 5th Virtual ChemBioTalks is starting. We are excited for talks by @oconnorlab.bsky.social, @craigmcrews.bsky.social and Kelly Chibale.
Let us know in reply to this post, whom you would additionally like to hear!
The planning for the 5th Virtual ChemBioTalks is starting. We are excited for talks by @oconnorlab.bsky.social, @craigmcrews.bsky.social and Kelly Chibale.
Let us know in reply to this post, whom you would additionally like to hear!
January 31, 2025 at 7:31 AM
Whom would you like to hear at our next event?
The planning for the 5th Virtual ChemBioTalks is starting. We are excited for talks by @oconnorlab.bsky.social, @craigmcrews.bsky.social and Kelly Chibale.
Let us know in reply to this post, whom you would additionally like to hear!
The planning for the 5th Virtual ChemBioTalks is starting. We are excited for talks by @oconnorlab.bsky.social, @craigmcrews.bsky.social and Kelly Chibale.
Let us know in reply to this post, whom you would additionally like to hear!
Reposted by Tom Lau
There are no shortcuts in drug discovery. And it takes incredible efforts to make sense of what you can find in the scientific literature. This is an excellent piece of work to quality check what has been claimed as a new avenue in targeted protein degradation (TPD). www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Critical assessment of LC3/GABARAP ligands used for degrader development and ligandability of LC3/GABARAP binding pockets - Nature Communications
Autophagosome tethering compounds (ATTECs) are small molecule degraders hijacking the autophagy system. Here, the authors show that current ATTEC ligands did not bind to their designated targets but e...
www.nature.com
November 25, 2024 at 10:09 PM
There are no shortcuts in drug discovery. And it takes incredible efforts to make sense of what you can find in the scientific literature. This is an excellent piece of work to quality check what has been claimed as a new avenue in targeted protein degradation (TPD). www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Tom Lau
We asked a collection of chemical biologists, “What do you think are the most exciting frontiers or the most needed developments in your main field of research?”
You can read that they said in our Feature “Thoughts for the future” – Free to read in January. rdcu.be/d5Ksw
You can read that they said in our Feature “Thoughts for the future” – Free to read in January. rdcu.be/d5Ksw
Thoughts for the future
Nature Chemical Biology - As Nature Chemical Biology approaches its third decade we asked a collection of chemical biologists, “What do you think are the most exciting frontiers or the most...
rdcu.be
January 9, 2025 at 12:56 PM
We asked a collection of chemical biologists, “What do you think are the most exciting frontiers or the most needed developments in your main field of research?”
You can read that they said in our Feature “Thoughts for the future” – Free to read in January. rdcu.be/d5Ksw
You can read that they said in our Feature “Thoughts for the future” – Free to read in January. rdcu.be/d5Ksw
Reposted by Tom Lau
1/ In two back-to-back papers, we present our de novo TRACeR platform for targeting MHC-I and MHC-II antigens
TRACeR for MHC-I: go.nature.com/4gcLzn5
TRACeR for MHC-II: go.nature.com/4gj5OQk
TRACeR for MHC-I: go.nature.com/4gcLzn5
TRACeR for MHC-II: go.nature.com/4gj5OQk
December 17, 2024 at 12:56 AM
1/ In two back-to-back papers, we present our de novo TRACeR platform for targeting MHC-I and MHC-II antigens
TRACeR for MHC-I: go.nature.com/4gcLzn5
TRACeR for MHC-II: go.nature.com/4gj5OQk
TRACeR for MHC-I: go.nature.com/4gcLzn5
TRACeR for MHC-II: go.nature.com/4gj5OQk
Reposted by Tom Lau
Come with me as I troubleshoot this very high GC PCR toward clonable homology arms in an actinobacteria. Testing DMSO, Betaine 1M, and Propylene Glycol to see if we get amplification. Arms are 1000bp. Full length with arms and gene is 2800bp. Let's go!
🧵 1/n
🧵 1/n
December 11, 2024 at 5:26 PM
Come with me as I troubleshoot this very high GC PCR toward clonable homology arms in an actinobacteria. Testing DMSO, Betaine 1M, and Propylene Glycol to see if we get amplification. Arms are 1000bp. Full length with arms and gene is 2800bp. Let's go!
🧵 1/n
🧵 1/n
Very neat system from Alice's team. I love the name too!
Could one envision a synthetic receptor technology that is fully programmable, able to detect diverse extracellular antigens – both soluble and cell-attached – and convert that recognition into a wide range of intracellular responses, from gene expression and real-time fluorescence to modulation..
December 5, 2024 at 7:43 AM
Very neat system from Alice's team. I love the name too!
Reposted by Tom Lau
Fellow Genetics professors - rejoice! This is pedagogy heaven: the paradigmatic epiallele in calico cats … is built on a cis-regulatory deletion, not a coding mutation!
We can teach it all off 1 paper!
1. Woo
2. Hoooo!!!
H/t @lianafaye.bsky.social
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
We can teach it all off 1 paper!
1. Woo
2. Hoooo!!!
H/t @lianafaye.bsky.social
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Molecular and genetic characterization of sex-linked orange coat color in the domestic cat
The Sex-linked orange mutation in domestic cats causes variegated patches of reddish/yellow hair and is a defining signature of random X-inactivation in female tortoiseshell and calico cats. Unlike th...
www.biorxiv.org
November 29, 2024 at 3:08 AM
Fellow Genetics professors - rejoice! This is pedagogy heaven: the paradigmatic epiallele in calico cats … is built on a cis-regulatory deletion, not a coding mutation!
We can teach it all off 1 paper!
1. Woo
2. Hoooo!!!
H/t @lianafaye.bsky.social
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
We can teach it all off 1 paper!
1. Woo
2. Hoooo!!!
H/t @lianafaye.bsky.social
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Delighted these fun explainers have made it to bluesky
Skeetorial time! Let’s talk early human dose prediction. Not the fancy, need-tons-of-software and a DMPK pro kind. Just the kind that uses some basic algebra. HDP is a unifying concept for med chemists. It’s the master optimization parameter, and it can’t be easily cheated. 1/
a pink background with pills and capsules on it
ALT: a pink background with pills and capsules on it
media.tenor.com
November 24, 2024 at 11:53 AM
Delighted these fun explainers have made it to bluesky
Reposted by Tom Lau
Assume all small molecules are unselective for their protein target until proven otherwise. Even if the vendor tells you it’s a selective inhibitor for X, there’s a decent chance it isn’t selective! So how do we find quality molecules for scientific experiments? academic.oup.com/nar/advance-...
The Chemical Probes Portal – 2024: update on this public resource to support best-practice selection and use of small molecules in biomedical research
Abstract. The Chemical Probes Portal (www.chemicalprobes.org) is a free, public resource, based on expert-reviews, that supports the assessment, selection
academic.oup.com
November 21, 2024 at 1:50 PM
Assume all small molecules are unselective for their protein target until proven otherwise. Even if the vendor tells you it’s a selective inhibitor for X, there’s a decent chance it isn’t selective! So how do we find quality molecules for scientific experiments? academic.oup.com/nar/advance-...
Reposted by Tom Lau
Nice new large proteomics dataset on drug MoA applying proteome integral solubility alteration (PISA) from @dschweppe.bsky.social and Gygi lab #TeamMassSpec
Article: doi.org/10.7554/eLif...
Blog post by @dereklowe.bsky.social: www.science.org/content/blog...
Article: doi.org/10.7554/eLif...
Blog post by @dereklowe.bsky.social: www.science.org/content/blog...
Large-scale characterization of drug mechanism of action using proteome-wide thermal shift assays
An approachable framework for the scalable implementation of proteome-wide thermal shift assays to assess drug mechanisms of action.
doi.org
November 22, 2024 at 7:18 PM
Nice new large proteomics dataset on drug MoA applying proteome integral solubility alteration (PISA) from @dschweppe.bsky.social and Gygi lab #TeamMassSpec
Article: doi.org/10.7554/eLif...
Blog post by @dereklowe.bsky.social: www.science.org/content/blog...
Article: doi.org/10.7554/eLif...
Blog post by @dereklowe.bsky.social: www.science.org/content/blog...
Is ProteomicsDb dead? Even a single protein search just infinitely loads for me
November 20, 2024 at 8:08 PM
Is ProteomicsDb dead? Even a single protein search just infinitely loads for me
In a wonderful intersection of my science and local policy bluesky worlds, Somerville City Councilor @benforward3.bsky.social created a better split-Gal4 system
🪰🧬 Now that we’re off twitter, might as well re-share my recent #drosophila work here :)
First up, we fixed a long-standing limitation of split-Gal4: previously, it couldn’t be controlled temporally via Gal80.
Our new split-intein Gal4 fully solves this problem
www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1...
First up, we fixed a long-standing limitation of split-Gal4: previously, it couldn’t be controlled temporally via Gal80.
Our new split-intein Gal4 fully solves this problem
www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1...
November 18, 2024 at 4:52 PM
In a wonderful intersection of my science and local policy bluesky worlds, Somerville City Councilor @benforward3.bsky.social created a better split-Gal4 system
Reposted by Tom Lau
Interesting @biorxivpreprint.bsky.social preprint by a team around Jason Thomas and Andrea Byrnes of Novartis. They developed a photoaffinity probe based on the RNA-splicing modulator branaplam for the transcriptome-wide identification of RNA binding events in native cells. doi.org/10.1101/2024...
November 15, 2024 at 1:58 PM
Interesting @biorxivpreprint.bsky.social preprint by a team around Jason Thomas and Andrea Byrnes of Novartis. They developed a photoaffinity probe based on the RNA-splicing modulator branaplam for the transcriptome-wide identification of RNA binding events in native cells. doi.org/10.1101/2024...
Been a while since I checked this app and glad to see it's on the up again. Welcome new and old friends!
November 14, 2024 at 8:02 PM
Been a while since I checked this app and glad to see it's on the up again. Welcome new and old friends!
Thinking about how a research lab could learn from the discipline, teamwork and efficiency from a commercial kitchen as I watch Syd from The Bear think about how you could learn similar from college basketball. Minus the shouting preferably
January 18, 2024 at 12:36 PM
Thinking about how a research lab could learn from the discipline, teamwork and efficiency from a commercial kitchen as I watch Syd from The Bear think about how you could learn similar from college basketball. Minus the shouting preferably
Reposted by Tom Lau
Then we talked about on-tip processing of sorted cells. Started with @proteomicsnews.bsky.social writing about EvoSep-based method. But fortunately @schejbaljlab.bsky.social was here to talk about his on-tip method too.
5/n
5/n
ONE-TIP Preprint! Do your entire sample digestion protocol on your EvoTip!
You've probably seen talks that this was coming. Here it is! Wait. What month is it? I've been busy. Not the newest news, but still worth ta...
proteomicsnews.blogspot.com
November 8, 2023 at 6:36 PM
Then we talked about on-tip processing of sorted cells. Started with @proteomicsnews.bsky.social writing about EvoSep-based method. But fortunately @schejbaljlab.bsky.social was here to talk about his on-tip method too.
5/n
5/n