A Molecular Biologist and Biochemist. Transcription factors, genomics, synthetic biology and the molecular basis of disease.
Joined October 2011
- Tweets 336
- Following 719
- Followers 192
- Likes 421
26 Photos and videos
Pinned Tweet
7 Apr 2025
Finally out in @NatureComms thanks to all the contributors. Special thanks to Tim and Ali as well as the labs that have supported me and this work over years (none on social media). @RobsInstitute nature.com/articles/s41467-0…
3
6
377
david bersten retweeted
May 30
Amazing graph. One the best visualizations of human progress.
26
142
1,204
98,640
david bersten retweeted
May 8
We have developed a cysteine-free, highly thermostable tagging system, UTag, that enables single-mRNA translation tracking in live cells. You may wonder how different tagging systems affect translation kinetics—we addressed this by performing a systematic comparison.
8
84
388
24,813
david bersten retweeted
Apr 28
Generative design of sequence specific DNA binding proteins.
Most fun paper I have ever written, with @enishasehgal and @YPolitansk15183 and the team, on a project which is a testament to the power of RFdiffusion3.
biorxiv.org/content/10.64898…
10
85
407
30,567
david bersten retweeted
Apr 27
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.
26
353
1,257
241,068
david bersten retweeted
🌐 🧬SEED 2026: Bigger, Broader, Better. Join the largest program in synthetic biology and make your mark. Submit your abstract and register now bit.ly/3NdirTa #SEED2026 #SyntheticBiology #SynBio #BiotechInnovation #Biomanufacturing #GenomeEngineering
1
2
9,070
Are AI DNA foundational models the new homeopathy?
In my latest column, I explain some of my reasons for being deeply skeptical about AI models that claim to understand DNA, genes, and genomes: stevensalzberg.substack.com/…
18
Mar 26
I enjoyed this too much
AP-1 TFs control everything, example #312:
nature.com/articles/d41586-0…
nature.com/articles/s41586-0…
30
david bersten retweeted
Mar 26
Actually... 250K structures was overkill. Technically, one structure with a good alpha/beta mix should've been enough. AlphaFold didn't solve the protein folding problem, it solved the low-resolution to high-resolution problem. (1/2)
7
10
140
38,719
david bersten retweeted
Mar 13
Behold peasants, 10k synthetic enhancers with no wetlab verification
AI x Bio teams like Origin have coding agents, scaling laws, and a wave of big biotech deals all at their backs. This is barely touched territory. Crazy what this small team can do now.
12
16
287
36,710
david bersten retweeted
Feb 26
We are pleased to share a paper from our lab out in this week’s issue of @Nature, where we show that HT ML can dramatically speed up the synbio DBTL cycles, profiling gene circuit design spaces at unprecedented scale: nature.com/articles/s41586-0… (1/16)
2
34
128
15,178
david bersten retweeted
Jan 9
A new robotic lab that makes human embryos using AI is now responsible for 19 babies. Is it better at IVF than humans are? bloomberg.com/news/features/…
6
34
133
219,150
david bersten retweeted
24 Nov 2025
Excited to share that the most recent paper from my PhD is now online in @NatureComms! We made new inroads to further our understanding of how the estrogen receptor is regulated and mechanistic conservation across vertebrates. nature.com/articles/s41467-0…
2
2
3
376
19 Nov 2025
Beautiful as you could only expect from Mikko’s lab….. but we are also clearly only scratching the surface re-assaying the most well characterised pathways. The juice will really come from broader more scalable iterations. Not a critique BTW, love the paper!!
18 Nov 2025
Our new preprint is online! Viruses, bacteria and parasites use effector proteins to evade immunity and rewire host cell pathways. Together with @AlexanderStark8, we wondered if we could systematically map what these effectors, regardless of their origin, do in human cells. 1/8
1
2
439
david bersten retweeted
18 Nov 2025
Our new preprint is online! Viruses, bacteria and parasites use effector proteins to evade immunity and rewire host cell pathways. Together with @AlexanderStark8, we wondered if we could systematically map what these effectors, regardless of their origin, do in human cells. 1/8
3
11
52
6,214
david bersten retweeted
8 Oct 2025
The GUI for processing BindCraft inputs is fantastic, something I always wished BindCraft would have!
Preparing PDB files for protein design usually means wrestling with PyMOL or ChimeraX. We're making it easier.
Watch us use our new Prep Inputs feature to go from PDB fetch → structure trimming → hotspot selection → launching a design job in a leisurely 75 seconds.
1
15
107
7,584
david bersten retweeted
11 Jun 2025
Boltz-2 is available as an accelerated, downloadable NVIDIA NIM microservice!
6
68
468
29,841
david bersten retweeted
12 May 2025
🧵5 Top Free Alternatives to BioRender for Scientific Illustrations!
These five websites offer free scientific illustrations for biologists. Great for presentations, research papers and other research communication needs.
Save and share the post!
21
599
2,131
242,875
david bersten retweeted
8 May 2025
Our lab is seeking a postdoctoral scientist to work with us on an exciting new project modelling cancer extracellular matrix structures using nanofabrication approaches. Full details are at shorturl.at/fF4OC.
3
4
1,048
david bersten retweeted
14 Apr 2025
📣 Exciting news for #SynBio enthusiasts! The #SEED2025 abstract submission deadline extended to April 17, 2025. Don’t miss your chance to showcase your research—submit aiche.confex.com/aiche/seed2… and learn more at synbioconference.org/2025. #BioEngineering #Conference #Research 🧬🔬
1
6
13
1,667
david bersten retweeted
11 Apr 2025
Dual-colour fluorescence system dFLASH reports transcription factor activity in the nuclei of live cells –multiple possible applications eg. drug screening
📹 Timothy P. Allen et al @davidbersten lab @UniofAdelaide in @NatureComms
➡️ bpod.org.uk/archive/2025/4/1…
3
30
150
11,662