Ben Barad

For #teamtomo folks, I just pushed beta 6 for Surface Morphometrics. We're probably on our second to last beta before 2.0 full release. For adventurous types, check out the `statistics` branch, which has a LOT of new toys that will be coming in the next beta, including yml configurable stats!

I'm excited to share our new preprint, where we show that fine-tuning gold nanoparticle conjugation to different Fab structural elements can produce powerful, rigidly coupled, labeling tools for in-situ cryo-ET. Take a look if you want to see an AuNP in an EM map!🔬🧠 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

FT 1-1 #BAONPDX #NWSL Portland Thorns have dropped 21 points from winning positions and today is no different. Chicago Stars earned that late-stoppage time equalizer. Atrocious performance from the home side and look every bit like a one-and-done playoff team. THIS IS A LOSS.

I am looking for a lab manager for my group that I will be starting at the @fmiscience.bsky.social in February! We will use in situ structural biology to investigate dynamic ciliary processes. More info here —> bsky.app/profile/comp... #cilia #teamtomo #proteomics #protistsky

@tinalope.bsky.social you getting royalties for Rose the Dragon stealing your crown?

Interested in a career in industry cryoEM? We're hiring! We seek a cryoEM/cryoET expert to join our team at Genentech advance our mission to provide high-resolution structural insights into biological macromolecules involved in health and disease. Apply at: careers.gene.com/us/en/job/20...

Small new user-requested feature in 2.0 beta 5 - Surface Morphometrics can export obj in arbitrary voxel coordinates to make tools like Surforama easier to use.

Do any of the CryoET national centers have SPACEtomo set up for users? I've got several montaging and/or bigsmall projects I'd like to try but we have no support for either at PNCC. #teamtomo

Just uploaded a new Geopickr version with improved oversampling on surfaces, including automatic even/odd splitting by connected component when using a morphometrics surface. This is much less prone to half set particle overlap leading to overfitting. cxtoolshed.rbvi.ucsf.edu/apps/chimera...

New tools for membrane annotation (especially the painful cleanup step) are always so welcome!

Geopickr works perfectly with MorphometricsX - and is especially powerful with morphometrics preprocessing like extracting only high curvature regions or mitochondria-ER contact sites!

A new ChimeraX tool MorphometricsX from Ben Barad's lab colors cell membranes in electron tomography according to thickness, curvature and other properties. Available from ChimeraX menu Tools / More Tools....

Some bacteria do not live as individuals. They build multicellular filaments and connect neighboring cells through tiny cell-cell junctions. Cyanobacteria are among the most beautiful examples 😍 In our new paper, we reveal first molecuar insights on the cyanobacterial septal junction architecture 🧵

cxtoolshed.rbvi.ucsf.edu/apps/chimera... Available through the toolshed now! Thanks to the chimera team for reviewing this one very quickly.

My personal summer of code continues with another ChimeraX plugin - this time, MorphometricsX! Load quantified meshes from morphometrics (or pycurv) in ChimeraX with color-by-quantification and display alongside tomos and particles. Coming to the toolshed soon! #teamtomo github.com/baradlab/mor...

I love weird membranes!

This is what cryo-ET is made for!

Just in time for the weekend, the 2nd beta for our Surface Morphometrics 2.0 release: github.com/GrotjahnLab/.... Beyond the major API change from the first beta (which used for the michigan class!), this one includes a major overhaul of the dual gaussian fitting for thickness and refinement.

Anyone got a recommendation for someone I could commission for a lab logo?

Inspired by Utz, I ported the old Briggs lab tools to ChimeraX in a single bundle named Geopickr, with some extra utilities (geopicking on morphometrics surfaces!). I've submitted it to the toolshed, but in the meantime: github.com/baradlab/Geo...

Cryo-ET is often framed as a tool for in situ protein structure. But what if the real revolution is contextualization? I explore how #teamtomo is redefining what "local" means in organelle biology, revealing membrane states rather than just protein structures. tinyurl.com/localmembrane

BTW, this tutorial includes a bit of Mosaic, a membrane modeling software from the Kosinski lab a lot of tomo labs may have missed, but which I absolutely love!

Kvelling (reverse kvelling?) for my mom today!

Very excited about our new work highlighting the role of lipids in mediating multi-channel assemblies of Cx-46/50!

Interested in microbiology, immunology, and host-pathogen interactions? Come work with us! Our department at OHSU is opening a search for a new tenure-track faculty position. See the job advertisement for details. Please share within your networks! www.nature.com/naturecareer...

BIGSMALL is now implemented in SPACEtomo. Setup is easy: - define low mag parameters with SerialEM Search preset - add LM + HM targets in the same beam-shift group - acquire! (5/6)

New work from my team: pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/... We used probes to ID targets of carbapenems in M. abscessus. 17 targets active in both carbon starved and replicating cultures. Includes validation of 9 targets. Part of a special issue ("NTM Pathogens – Biology, Infection, and Drug Discovery).

I've been working on Surface Morphometrics for a new version (coming soon), and made some significant (AI-assisted) performance improvements, especially in pycurv (20-50x!). If you've had technical issues or just felt like it was too slow, give it another try! #teamtomo github.com/GrotjahnLab/...

We are running the cryo-ET image processing workshop again this year! Come learn everything tomo: STA, segmentation, heterogeneity analysis from @baradlab.com @williamnwan.bsky.social and others! Apply!

We resolved the molecular architecture of a condensate—inside cells. 🤯 By combining in situ cryoET with multiscale simulations, we show how a single point mutation modifies molecular interactions, shifts the condensate’s material properties, and alters its biological function. Preprint 👇