Biochemistry & Molecular Biophysics
@ColumbiaBiochem
biochem.cuimc.columbia.edu/profile/naomi-… together with our newest arrival in the department, Dr. Naomi Latorraca, a wizard in GPCR structural dynamics, @AkankshaThawani completes our efforts to bring some UCBerkeley creativity at Washington Heights!
So excited to welcome @AkankshaThawani at the department!
Now that our federal funding is restored, @ColumbiaBiochem can officially announce that @AkankshaThawani a super star in cryoEM and retrotransposons will be joining our faculty this winter! Welcome aboard Akanksha!
Excited to share my last major PhD work from the @SternbergLab. We discovered a mechanism that initiates transcription at programmable sites, without requiring promoter sequences - a novel mode of transcription regulation in bacteria.
New pre-print(s) from the Sternberg Lab in collaboration with @LeifuChangLab! We uncover an unprecedented molecular mechanism of CRISPR-Cas12f-like proteins, which drive RNA-guided transcription independently of canonical promoter motifs. Full story here: tinyurl.com/mr3fd493
The sequel to our DRT2 story is here, and this one is once again full of surprises! This time around, the @SternbergLab teamed up with the @WiedenheftLab to study how DRT9 reverse transcriptases provide antiviral immunity. Here’s what we found: biorxiv.org/content/10.110…
Amazing! Congrats to all!
Our latest story is now online @Nature! We discovered a phage defense system that deploys kilobase-long DNA homopolymers to protect against viral infection. Congratulations to all authors, and to the @WiedenheftLab for a fun and fruitful collaboration! nature.com/articles/s4158…
Congratulations to @ColumbiaMSPH’s Class of 2025! 👏🎓 We look forward to celebrating your future triumphs.
New Gene Editor Enables Greater Precision cuimc.columbia.edu/news/sternberg…
For the first time, scientists Charles Zuker, @FitzpatrickLab and team have mapped the tongue’s sweet sensor. This could lead to new ways to curb our insatiable attraction to sugar. @Columbia @CellCellPress zuckermaninstitute.columbia.edu/scientists-map… #sweet #Neuroscience 🍬🧠
Big news in taste #science: HHMI Investigator Charles Zuker, @FitzpatrickLab and team have revealed the structure of the human sweet receptor. This could lead to ways of reducing sugar in foods—without sacrificing taste. More here: hhmi.news/3F0plr4
nature.com/articles/s4158… Awesome new paper from Shan Za and @ColumbiaBiochem and systems biology colleague Chaolin Zhang @chaolinzhang
Sweet!
Over 20 years ago, Zuker et al. discovered the mammalian sweet taste receptors Now, an exciting collaboration between our labs @ColumbiaBiochem reveals the #cryoEM structure of the human sweet receptor-key to sweet taste perception-online @CellCellPress! sciencedirect.com/science/articl…
Another historic scientific discovery by @ColumbiaBiochem and @ZuckermanBrain faculty Zuker and Fitzpatrick.
The structure of human sweetness: Cell cell.com/cell/fulltext/… So cool to see this out. An amazing journey from the receptor cloning to the receptor structure (and all the circuits in between the tongue and the brain) by Charles Zuker et al with the help of @FitzpatrickLab
Another great study from @CUIMCDeptofMed and @ColumbiaBiochem faculty Peter Kwong! Congrats to the team!
Snake venom protection by a cocktail of varespladib and broadly neutralizing human antibodies: Cell cell.com/cell/fulltext/… super cool study by Peter Kwong and colleagues!
Blood of man who’s had 200 snake bites helps make a potent antivenom nature.com/articles/d4158…
Hashim Al-Hashimi Elected to American Academy of Arts and Sciences cuimc.columbia.edu/news/hashim-al… "Hashim the Dream"- congrats for the great science and the great ethos that were both recognized!
Conserved energetic changes drive function in an ancient protein fold biorxiv.org/content/10.110… Same folds- different energetic requirements according to cellular function! New exciting preprint from Anum Glasgow @ColumbiaBiochem
2025 Canada Gairdner Award Winners Announced gairdner.org/resource-hub/2… Congrats to BMB faculty member Iva Greenwald, and mentor of many BMB scientists Gary Struhl for this tremendous honor!
Computational discovery and experimental validation of mammalian gut colonization factors. Work led by our own amazing @menghan_liu in collaboration with @SohailTavazoie lab at @RockefellerUniv. @Columbia_Bio @ColumbiaSysBio @ColumbiaBiochem cell.com/cell/fulltext/…