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Niko McCarty @nikomccarty.bsky.social · 7d

Read & subscribe: press.asimov.com/articles/hy...

Seeing Microbes from the Sky

Biotechnology needs more and better transducers.

press.asimov.com

Niko McCarty @nikomccarty.bsky.social · 7d

Hyperspectral cameras, mounted to drones, can be used to see microbes from > 90 meters away. It's now possible to monitor microbes across entire ecosystems.

My new Asimov Press essay explains how it works & regulations on releasing genetically-engineered microbes into the wild.

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Niko McCarty @nikomccarty.bsky.social · 9d

Check out the Editor's Note here: press.asimov.com/articles/ed...

Editor's Note

A look inside Issue 08.

press.asimov.com

Niko McCarty @nikomccarty.bsky.social · 9d

Today we are launching Issue 08 of @AsimovPress.

There will be at least 2x new articles each week for the next two months (and...a podcast?)

Coming up:
- A deep history of electron microscopy.
- How to see microbes from the sky.
- Making computers smell.

... and much more.

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Reposted by Niko McCarty

Saloni @scientificdiscovery.dev · 22d

New post!

A round up of the latest advances in biotech and medicine by @nikomccarty.bsky.social and me.

Prime editing, curing whipworm, a new narcolepsy drug, designing protein nanoparticles, the 3D structure of E. coli's genome and more!

Read it all here: www.worksinprogress.news/p/whats-new-...

What’s new in biology: September 2025

Gene therapy, narcolepsy drugs, parasite removal, protein nanoparticles, the 3D structure of genomes, and more.

www.worksinprogress.news

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Niko McCarty @nikomccarty.bsky.social · 26d

RSVP: partiful.com/e/sVXNLASsT...

RSVP to ASIMOV PRESS: ISSUE 08 LAUNCH + TRIVIA | Partiful

Join Asimov Press to celebrate our Issue 08 release! We'll have plenty of snacks and drinks, and will also do some biology trivia. Winning teams get DNA books. This event is adults only.

partiful.com

Niko McCarty @nikomccarty.bsky.social · 26d

Asimov Press party // September 30 // Boston // Asimov HQ

There will be trivia. There will be winners (and losers). And there will be prizes.

Come celebrate, answer questions, and show everyone how much esoteric biology stuff you know. Hope to see you there!

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Niko McCarty @nikomccarty.bsky.social · Sep 1

No paywall:
www.cell.com/action/show...

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Niko McCarty @nikomccarty.bsky.social · Sep 1

Out today: A useful review on AI-designed protein binders.

It covers the history of this work + has lots of good case studies, including how these tools are being used to make snake anti-venoms.

The tables are particularly valuable.

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Niko McCarty @nikomccarty.bsky.social · Aug 10

You can play around with the notebook (and change the error rate) here:

observablehq.com/d/6d9b33b8a...

The Remarkable Speed of DNA Replication

observablehq.com

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Niko McCarty @nikomccarty.bsky.social · Aug 10

E. coli copies 600 bases of DNA/second.

It makes one error every few billion bases, or one mutation per 1,000 generations.

I made an animation to show just how crazy this is. Every green square is a copied nucleotide. The red squares (very rare) are mutations. 🔻

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Niko McCarty @nikomccarty.bsky.social · Jul 29

Article here:
www.nature.com/articles/s4...

3D bioprinting of plant and animal cell-based hybrid food

Nature Communications - The field of cellular agriculture has relied on 3D bioprinting for the generation of sophisticated products. Here, the authors employ chaotic bioprinting to create plant and...

www.nature.com

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Niko McCarty @nikomccarty.bsky.social · Jul 29

Behold the cursed noodles.

Researchers mixed together chicken muscle cells and microalgal cells, and then extruded them with a 3D printer, to make a "plant and animal cell-based hybrid noodle."

The reason for doing this, they say, is to tune textures, nutrition levels, etc.

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Niko McCarty @nikomccarty.bsky.social · Jul 23

Read the essay in Asimov Press:
www.asimov.press/p/cable-bac...

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Niko McCarty @nikomccarty.bsky.social · Jul 23

Cable bacteria link together (thousands of cells, end-to-end) to conduct electrons across distances up to 7 centimeters. They are living batteries.

They were discovered in Aarhus, Denmark in 2012. I visited Aarhus last year to see them in person, and wrote about it today.

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Niko McCarty @nikomccarty.bsky.social · Jul 12

What is a specific problem in biology that would be useful to solve, and could be solved for ~$10,000?

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Niko McCarty @nikomccarty.bsky.social · Jul 6

Paper: www.nature.com/articles/s4...

In situ structure of a bacterial flagellar motor at subnanometre resolution reveals adaptations for increased torque

Nature Microbiology - In situ cryoEM and modelling of the Campylobacter jejuni flagellar motor characterize the periplasmic scaffold and the structural basis for increased torque generation.

www.nature.com

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Niko McCarty @nikomccarty.bsky.social · Jul 6

The flagellum motor is biological design of the highest order.

The motor hits rotational speeds >1,000 rpm. The basal disk (that purple ring) alone is built from 51 tethered subunits. The tail whips at high torques thanks to interlocking cogs, an axial driveshaft, and propeller.

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Niko McCarty @nikomccarty.bsky.social · Jun 23

Paper here in Nature Chemistry: www.nature.com/articles/s4...

A biocompatible Lossen rearrangement in Escherichia coli

Nature Chemistry - Biocompatible chemistry merges chemo-catalytic reactions with cellular metabolism for sustainable small-molecule synthesis. Now a biocompatible Lossen rearrangement has been...

www.nature.com

Niko McCarty @nikomccarty.bsky.social · Jun 23

Using E. coli to convert post-consumer PET plastic into acetaminophen.

The researchers discovered a biocompatible Lossen rearrangement; it uses phosphate as a catalyst.

They start the Lossen rearrangement in phosphate buffer and add E. coli; PET to acetaminophen at 92% yield.

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Niko McCarty @nikomccarty.bsky.social · Jun 22

YouTube channel idea: Recreating famous biology experiments.

Explain what was known at the time, go through the initial observations, and make the "discovery."

e.g. Monod's biphasic E. coli growth curves, T.H. Morgan's fly breeding programs, and so on.

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Niko McCarty @nikomccarty.bsky.social · Jun 20

It's sad, in a way, that a magazine spending $4M a year to hire additional, talented writers is seen as "throwing a lot of money."

It's good that The Atlantic is spending more money on writers. It is the anti-status quo. May their poaching drive up salaries elsewhere, too.

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Niko McCarty @nikomccarty.bsky.social · Jun 20

Link: www.nmccarty.com/p/weekly-li...

Weekly Links #4

A synthetic cell phage cycle. Migrating moths use stars for guidance. Proteins from an ancient hominid.

www.nmccarty.com

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Niko McCarty @nikomccarty.bsky.social · Jun 20

Biotech papers & news this week:

1. Chemical reactions can be affected by stir bars.
2. A tool to drag membrane transporters into peroxisomes.
3. Full computational design of Kemp eliminase enzymes.
4. UK government to approve crops made using precision breeding.

& more...

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Niko McCarty @nikomccarty.bsky.social · Jun 19

PDF here: www.biorxiv.org/content/10....