Erik Poppleton
@poppleton.phd
Postdoc working on RNA Nanotech & MD simulations @uniheidelberg.bsky.social & MPIP. GROMACS wrangler, oxDNA developer, @molpigs.bsky.social podcast host, and all around weird lil guy.
Has been known to post about music and neat bugs found in the woods.
Has been known to post about music and neat bugs found in the woods.
Pinned
Erik Poppleton
@poppleton.phd
· Nov 11
Are there any other scientists from molecular programming here? That's self-assembly, chemical computation, rational design et al. I made a mol pro feed which works like the Science (🧪) feed. Let me know, I add you to the list, you post with a 🧬 emoji. Let's assemble!
bsky.app/profile/flop...
bsky.app/profile/flop...
Reposted by Erik Poppleton
DISCO research on DNA computing is now published in Nature! doi.org/10.1038/s415...
Congratulations to all the authors on this exciting achievement! 🧬
An accompanying Research Briefing is also available here:
doi.org/10.1038/d415...
Congratulations to all the authors on this exciting achievement! 🧬
An accompanying Research Briefing is also available here:
doi.org/10.1038/d415...
A thermodynamically favoured molecular computer - Nature
Scaffolded DNA Computer performs diverse computations while thermodynamically relaxing towards equilibrium, demonstrating simplicity, reusability, speed, robustness and scalability of the approac...
doi.org
September 18, 2026 at 12:19 PM
DISCO research on DNA computing is now published in Nature! doi.org/10.1038/s415...
Congratulations to all the authors on this exciting achievement! 🧬
An accompanying Research Briefing is also available here:
doi.org/10.1038/d415...
Congratulations to all the authors on this exciting achievement! 🧬
An accompanying Research Briefing is also available here:
doi.org/10.1038/d415...
New size record in DNA origami nanopores! 🧬
Latest #CDlab paper on BioRxiv: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
1st author Eva Bertosin developed huge DNA origami nanopores that can dilate and constrict in size. With diameters up to 87 nm, they can insert into lipid membranes, showing selective transport when filled with nuclear pore proteins.
1st author Eva Bertosin developed huge DNA origami nanopores that can dilate and constrict in size. With diameters up to 87 nm, they can insert into lipid membranes, showing selective transport when filled with nuclear pore proteins.
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.03.749129v1
www.biorxiv.org
September 9, 2026 at 9:17 AM
New size record in DNA origami nanopores! 🧬
Reposted by Erik Poppleton
Well, this Navier-Stokes affair did blow up in finite time
September 8, 2026 at 10:52 AM
Well, this Navier-Stokes affair did blow up in finite time
I moved from SLC to the Boston area for uni and was struck by how much of Cambridge/Somerville feels like a better version of SLC’s east bench. Building triplexes with generous setbacks results in density high enough for useful public transit and lively squares that make the city fun to live in.
Would allowing smaller homes in larger parts of Utah's capital provide a generational shift toward affordability or would it ultimately destroy the character of longtime neighborhoods?
Planning smaller homes for Salt Lake City is turning into a big battle
Would allowing smaller homes in larger parts of Utah's capital provide a generational shift toward affordability or would it ultimately destroy the character of longtime neighborhoods?
www.sltrib.com
September 7, 2026 at 1:26 PM
I moved from SLC to the Boston area for uni and was struck by how much of Cambridge/Somerville feels like a better version of SLC’s east bench. Building triplexes with generous setbacks results in density high enough for useful public transit and lively squares that make the city fun to live in.
Reposted by Erik Poppleton
How do researchers design an RNA in 3D when no accurate 3D prediction model exists? Eterna's collaboration with the @rdaslab.bsky.social at Stanford was able to design novel pseudoknots using a blend of secondary structure prediction and GenAI design methods. 🧪 #RNAsky
On the citizen science platform Eterna, #AI methods matched expert human players at inventing sequences that fold into an RNA pseudoknot, a structure in which loops pair with distant parts of the same molecule.
Learn more this week in Science: https://scim.ag/4wOqvuE
Learn more this week in Science: https://scim.ag/4wOqvuE
August 27, 2026 at 7:11 PM
How do researchers design an RNA in 3D when no accurate 3D prediction model exists? Eterna's collaboration with the @rdaslab.bsky.social at Stanford was able to design novel pseudoknots using a blend of secondary structure prediction and GenAI design methods. 🧪 #RNAsky
Reposted by Erik Poppleton
the thing about Curry and Dolly they had in common was taking their art completely seriously but not taking themselves too seriously and that is why they were such a joy
August 26, 2026 at 4:03 PM
the thing about Curry and Dolly they had in common was taking their art completely seriously but not taking themselves too seriously and that is why they were such a joy
Reposted by Erik Poppleton
Super animation of trains in 🇫🇷🇩🇪🇳🇱🇧🇪🇱🇺🇨🇭
#eu.io/github.io/#eu" class="hover:underline text-blue-600 dark:text-sky-400 no-card-link" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-link="bsky">chillchamp1.github.io/github.io/#eu
A city like Marseille (France's second or third largest, depending how you define it) has so few trains you can barely see where it is
#eu.io/github.io/#eu" class="hover:underline text-blue-600 dark:text-sky-400 no-card-link" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-link="bsky">chillchamp1.github.io/github.io/#eu
A city like Marseille (France's second or third largest, depending how you define it) has so few trains you can barely see where it is
August 24, 2026 at 7:17 AM
Super animation of trains in 🇫🇷🇩🇪🇳🇱🇧🇪🇱🇺🇨🇭
#eu.io/github.io/#eu" class="hover:underline text-blue-600 dark:text-sky-400 no-card-link" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-link="bsky">chillchamp1.github.io/github.io/#eu
A city like Marseille (France's second or third largest, depending how you define it) has so few trains you can barely see where it is
#eu.io/github.io/#eu" class="hover:underline text-blue-600 dark:text-sky-400 no-card-link" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-link="bsky">chillchamp1.github.io/github.io/#eu
A city like Marseille (France's second or third largest, depending how you define it) has so few trains you can barely see where it is
A letter of marque came from the king
To the scummiest vessel I’ve ever seen
To the scummiest vessel I’ve ever seen
The White House memorandum is thin on details, but it aims to give private businesses the ability to sabotage or spy on certain foreign actors.
Trump administration wants to allow companies to hack foreign cybercriminals
The White House memorandum is thin on details, but it aims to give private businesses the ability to sabotage or spy on certain foreign actors.
n.pr
August 16, 2026 at 1:33 PM
A letter of marque came from the king
To the scummiest vessel I’ve ever seen
To the scummiest vessel I’ve ever seen
Reposted by Erik Poppleton
Pleased to finally announce... Abdication, the last Southern Reach novel!
"There will come the days of the watcher, the drowned woman and the shadow of a man who keeps falling apart with each step, but first comes the moment the birds appear at night from the gaps between the stars, far from home."
"There will come the days of the watcher, the drowned woman and the shadow of a man who keeps falling apart with each step, but first comes the moment the birds appear at night from the gaps between the stars, far from home."
August 7, 2026 at 5:25 PM
Pleased to finally announce... Abdication, the last Southern Reach novel!
"There will come the days of the watcher, the drowned woman and the shadow of a man who keeps falling apart with each step, but first comes the moment the birds appear at night from the gaps between the stars, far from home."
"There will come the days of the watcher, the drowned woman and the shadow of a man who keeps falling apart with each step, but first comes the moment the birds appear at night from the gaps between the stars, far from home."
This is an excellent development in the blind testing field! Good luck to the competitors 🧬
RNA flexible? Maybe we can model that. First blind test of RNA 3D *ensemble* prediction — ligand-free SAMURI ribozyme (displayed on a group II intron scaffold) -- #MD and #deeplearning methods welcome, deadline Aug 22, 2026:
predictioncenter.org/casp17/targe...
predictioncenter.org/casp17/targe...
July 25, 2026 at 10:41 AM
This is an excellent development in the blind testing field! Good luck to the competitors 🧬
Reposted by Erik Poppleton
Reposted by Erik Poppleton
It’s time for the World Cup final with one of the greatest footballers that may be playing his last cup
So time for a short thread on a link between Messi and an intrinsically disordered protein.
1/n
So time for a short thread on a link between Messi and an intrinsically disordered protein.
1/n
July 19, 2026 at 8:43 AM
It’s time for the World Cup final with one of the greatest footballers that may be playing his last cup
So time for a short thread on a link between Messi and an intrinsically disordered protein.
1/n
So time for a short thread on a link between Messi and an intrinsically disordered protein.
1/n
Reposted by Erik Poppleton
Emailed two colleagues in the EU tonight and immediately got this in my inbox.
We in the states have so much to learn from y'all.
We in the states have so much to learn from y'all.
July 18, 2026 at 6:11 AM
Emailed two colleagues in the EU tonight and immediately got this in my inbox.
We in the states have so much to learn from y'all.
We in the states have so much to learn from y'all.
RNA imaging 👀🧬👀🧬
In a series of 3 papers and preprints, we’re thrilled to share with you the working laser phase plate. In collaboration with research led by Holger Müller at UC Berkeley, this is a huge innovation in imaging to make small and faint objects inside cells visible. bit.ly/4vK9LVn
June 11, 2026 at 8:29 PM
RNA imaging 👀🧬👀🧬
Reposted by Erik Poppleton
New results! 🧬
DNA origami uptake in Y-79 retinoblastoma cells driven by oligolysine coating
DNA origami nanoparticles (DONs) are attractive nanocarriers of controllable size, shape and addressability that have potential for treating eye diseases by overcoming ocular barriers. However, subopt...
doi.org
June 11, 2026 at 4:55 AM
New results! 🧬
Reposted by Erik Poppleton
Versatile DNA nanostructures 🧬 can be used as molecular lithography masks for the selective deposition or etching of materials in conventional lithographic processing. Check out our new open-access review in J Phys D: Appl Phys! doi.org/10.1088/1361... via @ioppublishing.bsky.social
Molecular lithography with DNA nanostructures: methods and applications
Molecular lithography with DNA nanostructures: methods and applications, Keller, Adrian, Linko, Veikko
doi.org
May 24, 2026 at 10:30 AM
Versatile DNA nanostructures 🧬 can be used as molecular lithography masks for the selective deposition or etching of materials in conventional lithographic processing. Check out our new open-access review in J Phys D: Appl Phys! doi.org/10.1088/1361... via @ioppublishing.bsky.social
Reposted by Erik Poppleton
The parking attendant paused by the double-length bay. Intended for mobile homes and cars with trailers, it was currently occupied by a sleeping dragon.
No parts of it extended beyond the lines, and the paper ticket was clearly displayed, impaled on a horn.
The parking attendant moved on.
No parts of it extended beyond the lines, and the paper ticket was clearly displayed, impaled on a horn.
The parking attendant moved on.
May 20, 2026 at 7:45 PM
The parking attendant paused by the double-length bay. Intended for mobile homes and cars with trailers, it was currently occupied by a sleeping dragon.
No parts of it extended beyond the lines, and the paper ticket was clearly displayed, impaled on a horn.
The parking attendant moved on.
No parts of it extended beyond the lines, and the paper ticket was clearly displayed, impaled on a horn.
The parking attendant moved on.
Reposted by Erik Poppleton
Our multi-μm DNA shell paper is finally out in #NanoLetters, now also featuring controlled multilayer shell formation! 🧬
🔗 pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...
Thanks so much again to Christoph and
@simmellab.bsky.social !!
🔗 pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...
Thanks so much again to Christoph and
@simmellab.bsky.social !!
May 15, 2026 at 7:08 AM
Our multi-μm DNA shell paper is finally out in #NanoLetters, now also featuring controlled multilayer shell formation! 🧬
🔗 pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...
Thanks so much again to Christoph and
@simmellab.bsky.social !!
🔗 pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...
Thanks so much again to Christoph and
@simmellab.bsky.social !!
The new arXiv rules don’t even say you can’t be bad at citing, just don’t make up citations from whole cloth.
Improper citations are a problem which predates LLMs. I found one recently where, for more than a decade, the entire field has been citing a paper for something it didn’t do.
Improper citations are a problem which predates LLMs. I found one recently where, for more than a decade, the entire field has been citing a paper for something it didn’t do.
I'm sorry, what? In writing my first monograph, I spent six weeks trying to track down a citation in TWO languages I didn't know. And good thing too, because the citation was wrong. That's scholarship. That's research. You know, the thing we're trained to do?!?
May 17, 2026 at 2:40 PM
The new arXiv rules don’t even say you can’t be bad at citing, just don’t make up citations from whole cloth.
Improper citations are a problem which predates LLMs. I found one recently where, for more than a decade, the entire field has been citing a paper for something it didn’t do.
Improper citations are a problem which predates LLMs. I found one recently where, for more than a decade, the entire field has been citing a paper for something it didn’t do.
There is only one song powerful enough to make an entire generation start singing with just a single note.
(Blank video, sound up)
(Blank video, sound up)
May 11, 2026 at 11:21 AM
There is only one song powerful enough to make an entire generation start singing with just a single note.
(Blank video, sound up)
(Blank video, sound up)
I feel like @aptshadow.bsky.social was binging on Creature posts from @lize.bsky.social while writing the Bug Section of Children of Strife.
May 10, 2026 at 3:52 PM
I feel like @aptshadow.bsky.social was binging on Creature posts from @lize.bsky.social while writing the Bug Section of Children of Strife.
Reposted by Erik Poppleton
🚀 We are recruiting 2 PhD researchers to join the Walther Lab @ JGU Mainz!
Help us build intelligent matter: synthetic cells and hydrogel materials that compute, adapt, move, learn, or make simple decisions.
#PhDPosition #SyntheticCells #Hydrogels
Help us build intelligent matter: synthetic cells and hydrogel materials that compute, adapt, move, learn, or make simple decisions.
#PhDPosition #SyntheticCells #Hydrogels
May 4, 2026 at 12:57 PM
🚀 We are recruiting 2 PhD researchers to join the Walther Lab @ JGU Mainz!
Help us build intelligent matter: synthetic cells and hydrogel materials that compute, adapt, move, learn, or make simple decisions.
#PhDPosition #SyntheticCells #Hydrogels
Help us build intelligent matter: synthetic cells and hydrogel materials that compute, adapt, move, learn, or make simple decisions.
#PhDPosition #SyntheticCells #Hydrogels
Reposted by Erik Poppleton
Excited to share our discovery of a new programmable RNA-guided DNA-targeting system hiding inside bacteriophages that predates CRISPR.
We call it VIPR (Viral Interference Programmable Repeat), and it uses an entirely new logic to find its targets.
Thread + link below.
We call it VIPR (Viral Interference Programmable Repeat), and it uses an entirely new logic to find its targets.
Thread + link below.
April 27, 2026 at 9:32 PM
Excited to share our discovery of a new programmable RNA-guided DNA-targeting system hiding inside bacteriophages that predates CRISPR.
We call it VIPR (Viral Interference Programmable Repeat), and it uses an entirely new logic to find its targets.
Thread + link below.
We call it VIPR (Viral Interference Programmable Repeat), and it uses an entirely new logic to find its targets.
Thread + link below.
“[Algorithmic feeds] rarely — if ever — give you what you're looking for. ‘They give just enough to keep you engaged, keep you looking at the app and interacting with it as long as possible,’”
What is this #1 brain-melting Instagram Reel they’re hiding from me??
What is this #1 brain-melting Instagram Reel they’re hiding from me??
Taken together, these four features can create a trancelike state that can keep us stuck on social media apps or video games for hours. Children are particularly vulnerable. n.pr/4mH6i6s
The surprising origin of 4 features that superglue kids — and adults — to screens
Taken together, these four features can create a trancelike state that can keep us stuck on social media apps or video games for hours. Children are particularly vulnerable.
n.pr
April 21, 2026 at 11:33 AM
“[Algorithmic feeds] rarely — if ever — give you what you're looking for. ‘They give just enough to keep you engaged, keep you looking at the app and interacting with it as long as possible,’”
What is this #1 brain-melting Instagram Reel they’re hiding from me??
What is this #1 brain-melting Instagram Reel they’re hiding from me??
Reposted by Erik Poppleton
I am delighted to announce our new paper, which investigates the conductivity of our DNA-templated palladium nanowires:
doi.org/10.1002/sstr...
Great work by Borja and everyone else involved! 🧬
doi.org/10.1002/sstr...
Great work by Borja and everyone else involved! 🧬
Metallic Conductance in Palladium Nanowires Templated by DNA Origami Molds
Pd nanowires are created by self-assembly based on DNA origamis and exhibit exceptionally good charge conduction properties.
doi.org
April 7, 2026 at 4:05 PM
I am delighted to announce our new paper, which investigates the conductivity of our DNA-templated palladium nanowires:
doi.org/10.1002/sstr...
Great work by Borja and everyone else involved! 🧬
doi.org/10.1002/sstr...
Great work by Borja and everyone else involved! 🧬