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Michael Booth

@drmikebooth.bsky.social

3.5K followers 370 following 530 posts

Associate Prof of ChemBio+OrgChem at UCL Chemistry, Royal Society URF, chemistry, DNA/RNA, synthetic biology. Coeliac. Dad. 🎸 boothlab.uk

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Michael Booth @drmikebooth.bsky.social · Sep 2

We’ve developed the first-ever method to control nucleic acid activity and gene-expressing synthetic cells with a deeply tissue penetrating alternating magnetic field 🧬 🧪 🧲!!!

Published in *Nature Chemistry*

Led by Ellen Parkes
@syncelleu.bsky.social #chemsky
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Magnetic activation of spherical nucleic acids enables the remote control of synthetic cells - Nature Chemistry

The programmability of synthetic cells, comprising lipid vesicles that are capable of imitating the structure and function of living cells, facilitates their application as drug delivery devices. Now,...

www.nature.com

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Michael Booth @drmikebooth.bsky.social · 5h

I didn't have to look, Google Scholar suggested I add it to my profile!

Michael Booth @drmikebooth.bsky.social · 17h

✨️ Silver lining ✨️

Michael Booth @drmikebooth.bsky.social · 17h

Get 'em where you can, eh?

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Michael Booth @drmikebooth.bsky.social · 17h

No idea, I wasn't involved in it's creation!

Michael Booth @drmikebooth.bsky.social · 19h

Worth noting, the email addresses of the other two authors also aren't real!

The email address for the journal sent... I'm not really expecting a reply though 😑

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Michael Booth @drmikebooth.bsky.social · 20h

This is a new one for me #chemsky 🧪

My name has appeared on a published paper that I've had nothing to do with (even using an incorrect version of my email address)!

Has this happened to others? If so, what did you do?

Website image of a paper with my name on - that's not mine!

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Michael Booth @drmikebooth.bsky.social · 1d

Cell-surface DNA - wowser!

🧬❤️

Ryan Flynn @raflynn5.bsky.social · 2d

We’re excited to report work led by postdoc Jennifer Porat in the lab, finding that DNA accumulates on the surface of living cells and that the secreted extracellular protein DNASE1L3 can modulate its levels on B and T cells. With a new twist for ATAC-seq as well www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

DNASE1L3 surveils mitochondrial DNA on the surface of distinct mammalian cells

The extracellular space is a critical environment for discriminating self versus non-self nucleic acids and initiating the appropriate immune responses through signaling cascades to relay information ...

www.biorxiv.org

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Reposted by Michael Booth

Philip Ball @philipcball.bsky.social · 2d

2012 Nobel laureate John Gurdon has died. His work was central to both the development of animal cloning and the possibility of reprogramming cells to a different state. A giant of cell and developmental biology.
www.magd.cam.ac.uk/news/profess...

Professor Sir John Gurdon FRS (1933-2025) | Magdalene College

Magdalene College is deeply saddened to announce the death of Professor Sir John Gurdon FRS, who served as Master of the College from 1995 to 2002.

www.magd.cam.ac.uk

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Michael Booth @drmikebooth.bsky.social · 4d

Congratulations to Ellen Parkes for passing her PhD viva last week 🥳

- PhD #8 from the Booth group 🤩🤯 !

Massive thanks to Harrison Steel and @akellett.bsky.social for examining #proudPI

Michael Booth @drmikebooth.bsky.social · 4d

'Someone else would have done it' seems like an argument you could make it all breakthroughs!?

Reposted by Michael Booth

Olivier Borkowski @oborkowski.bsky.social · 8d

Cell-free opens a unique test-bed to reconstituteand to explore alternative life possibilities.

Check our review (by Maud Hofmann, Farouk Abdo, @manishmicrobe and myself) :

Reconstituting alternative life using the test-bed of cell-free systems
doi.org/10.1098/rstb...

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Michael Booth @drmikebooth.bsky.social · 8d

💯

kermit the frog is standing in front of a red curtain with his arms outstretched .

Alt: kermit the frog is standing in front of a red curtain with his arms outstretched .

media.tenor.com

Michael Booth @drmikebooth.bsky.social · 9d

It's #ChemNobel season again!

Surely this year should go to the most important chemical breakthrough of our lifetimes: DNA synthesis/Marvin Caruthers 🧬

Phosphoramidite DNA synthesis is the bedrock of modern biology and enabled the development of therapies for untreatable diseases
#chemsky 🧪

Michael Booth @drmikebooth.bsky.social · Sep 18

It's Chem Nobel Prize season, so your reminder that DNA synthesis/Marvin Caruthers needs to win! chemsky 🧪

Without DNA synthesis there is NO *PCR*, *sequencing*, *cloning*, *CRISPR*, *siRNA*, *synthetic biology*, *mRNA vaccines*, *nucleic acid therapeutics*, *Nanotech*

What more am I missing?

Picard saying awesome job! give that man a medal

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Michael Booth @drmikebooth.bsky.social · 13d

As did one of my undergraduate Organic Chemistry lecturers... 🤐

Michael Booth @drmikebooth.bsky.social · 14d

We're SCIENTISTS, what do you expect us to do 🤷‍♂️

Michael Booth @drmikebooth.bsky.social · 14d

Safety officers do like showing not-so-nice pictures in those induction presentations 🫣 but we all know why 🤦‍♂️😑

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Michael Booth @drmikebooth.bsky.social · 14d

hands up if you also forgot to 'thinky think' ✋

#chemsky 🧪

5. Hot things can look cold. Thinky think before grabby grab. A chemist who's been burnt before

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Michael Booth @drmikebooth.bsky.social · 15d

Left-handed DNA......😶‍🌫️

Reposted by Michael Booth

European Synthetic Cell Initiative @syncelleu.bsky.social · 15d

One step closer to designing synthetic cells as drug delivery systems?

Researchers have developed simple cell mimics that activate only when exposed to a magnetic stimulus, opening up new possibilities for #syncell applications

To understand why, read our article👇
syntheticcell.eu/cell-mimics-...

Will synthetic cells soon offer new solutions for producing and delivering drugs in the body? - European Synthetic Cell Initiative

A study by British researchers opens up new possibilities for engineering cell mimics as drug delivery systems

syntheticcell.eu

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Reposted by Michael Booth

LondonSynbioNetwork @londonsynbio.bsky.social · 22d

🎉 London SynBio Network is back! Join us on 25th of September.

🧬 Surpassing Nature – Metabolic engineering for novel biological CO2 fixation routes
Ari Satanowski

💐 Open Flower: designer flowers for art and education
Nick Desnoyer

➡️ Register at: events.humanitix.com/london-synbi...

London SynBio Network 10

London SynBio afterwork talks and networking event on Thursday 25th of September

events.humanitix.com

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Michael Booth @drmikebooth.bsky.social · 23d

The Research Briefing for out Nature Chemistry paper on magnetically activated nucleic acids/synthetic cells is now out:
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

This is a more accessible summary of the work :) We hope you enjoy!
#chemsky 🧪 🧬 🧲

Reposted by Michael Booth

Maladroithe @maladroithe.bsky.social · 23d

Jonas Salk is sad when you let your kids get polio

wahoo-shem
One time when I was younger I was refusing to take headache medicine and my mom said "the person who invented that medicine is probably so sad you won't let them help you" and now every time I find myself denying medicine I just imagine the saddest scientist making those big wet eyes like "why won't you let me help" and whoop then I take the medicine

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Reposted by Michael Booth

Alex Fedorec @ajfedorec.bsky.social · Sep 10

Only 2 days left to submit abstracts and get the early registration discount!

#synbio

Biochemical Society @biochemsoc.bsky.social · Jul 29

Join us in London for the 10th anniversary of SynBio UK, the premier conference for synthetic and engineering biology. Submit your abstract for consideration as a poster or oral communication and register before 12 September to save £50 🧪 : www.eventsforce.net/biochemsoc/2...

Scientific Meeting Synthetic Biology UK London, UK 12-13 November 2025 Earlybird deadline 12 September 2025

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Reposted by Michael Booth

Willem van Schaik @wvschaik.bsky.social · Sep 10

My plans to start a new university in Dorset have run into significant economic headwinds, but I am confident that the business case is solid

A screenshot of Google Maps of Oxbridge, Dorset

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Reposted by Michael Booth

Erdinc Sezgin @sciezgin.bsky.social · Sep 8

Previous preprint is now published in RSC Chemical Biology.
If you are interested in plasma membrane labeling, see the paper! 👇
pubs.rsc.org/en/content/a...

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