Mengtong (Tom) Duan

Graduate Student @Caltech, BS @UWBiochemistry. Membrane traffic and fusion, acoustic biomolecule engineering.

[Mikhail Shapiro (same on bsky) @mikhailshapiro]

SEMPER out at @CellSystemsCP! 📜
What is SEMPER? A way to tunably co-express multiple genes from the same mammamlian mRNA.
The final paper adds a model & expr. of a two-chain antibody w/heavy-light tuning. Congrats @mtduan, @ishaanjdev and colleagues!

https://t.co/1ev999MvAt

[Journal of Cell Biology @JCellBiol]

SM proteins are essential SNARE cofactors for membrane fusion. The ER–Golgi SM, Sly1, has several different activities reported to promote fusion. Here, Duan, Merz et al @UW test each function in parallel genetic and biochemical reconstitution experiments. https://t.co/wSg5eJqoq0

[Journal of Cell Biology @JCellBiol]

The series of events leading from vesicle tethering to assembly of pre-fusion SNARE complexes is poorly understood. Duan, Merz and coworkers @UW discovered a latent, short-range tethering activity in the essential SNARE chaperone Sly1 https://t.co/PFt1CmxbtC

#Trafficking

[Mikhail Shapiro (same on bsky) @mikhailshapiro]

Thanks @NatureBiotech for highlighting our work on this month's cover! Congrats to @robertchurt, Marjorie Buss, @mtduan and colleagues, and the talented @maayanvisuals who created the artwork.
https://t.co/oG6bTEIc6l

[Mikhail Shapiro (same on bsky) @mikhailshapiro]

Can you express multiple genes from a single mRNA at programmable ratios without long intervening sequences or peptide overhangs? 🤔 Yes, with SEMPER! 😉 Congrats @mtduan, @ishaanjdev and coauthors on this new tech for mammalian synbio & gene therapy. https://t.co/iJgHuNmMR2

[Addgene @Addgene]

If light scattering in tissue is causing issues in your research, perhaps it's time to consider acoustic reporter genes (ARGs). @mikhailshapiro's lab shares the newest generation of bacterial and mammalian ARGs in our latest blog post.

https://t.co/m0i2L0BB80

[Sir Douchebag @SirDoucher]

@rainyalexandria Saw a high-speed chase with a guy in a silver truck pulled into the PCC parking lot going about 40 miles an hour and made a hard right into the parking building on the on the south parking structure by Delmar/ Hill. Literally over 30 cop cars surrounded it.

[Mikhail Shapiro (same on bsky) @mikhailshapiro]

Going from GFP to EnhancedGFP made fluorescent reporters much more useful.
Excited to take a similar step with second-generation Acoustic Reporter Genes based on #gasvesicles.
Congrats to @mtduan, @MarjorieBuss, @robertchurt et al on this updated preprint.
https://t.co/U3sF2I34Rj

[HHMI @hhmi_science]

HHMI News: We are proud to announce our 33 new #HHMIInvestigators. These individuals have the potential to make transformative discoveries over time and we look forward to seeing where their ideas lead them. https://t.co/HziK6G5Q6y

[Harmit S. Malik @HarmitMalik]

Lots of lucky folks are getting news about admission into grad school. Choosing the right mentor/ program can be a difficult but very important decision. Trust your intuition but get more info if needed; kindness is not sufficient but is necessary to be a good mentor. Good luck!

[Mengtong (Tom) Duan @mtduan]

@macroliter @Merz I'm blushing 😊

[Mengtong (Tom) Duan @mtduan]

Was afraid of this

[Elinor Hortle 🐟🐀🔬🧫 @ElinorHortle]

I used to think there were 2 types of scientist:
-Those who naturally had heaps of great ideas for new projects
-Those who didn’t have that ability.

I ‘knew’ I was the 2nd type & would never be a great scientist because of it.

Ever felt the same? Read on 🧵#phdchat

[Geoff Bennett @GeoffRBennett]

"Everything we do before a pandemic will seem alarmist. Everything we do after will seem inadequate." - Michael Leavitt, former HHS Secretary under President George W. Bush

[Mengtong (Tom) Duan @mtduan]

So cool!

[Lexi Walls @coronalexington]

Amazing things @UWproteindesign @UWBiochemistry Here we check out what @Foldit players have come up with to help design binders against the SARS-CoV-2 receptor binding domain... goal is to block the interaction with human receptor ACE2! Thanks @ichaydon for the video magic!

[Mengtong (Tom) Duan @mtduan]

Nicely formatted COVID-19 data aggregated from each state

[The COVID Tracking Project @COVID19Tracking]

If you are interested in using the data, you can. There's an API or you can just download a file (.csv).

https://t.co/SdyPXhRHRR

[rach_w @rachw852]

@nytimes Same issue, Similar measures, Quite OPPOSITE comments from NYT! What better words than “double standards “?

[Liz Specht @LizSpecht]

I think most people aren’t aware of the risk of systemic healthcare failure due to #COVID19 because they simply haven’t run the numbers yet. Let’s talk math. 1/n

[Mengtong (Tom) Duan @mtduan]

@Merz I can hear the clicking from Pasadena :D

[Iain Cheeseman @iaincheeseman]

I’m trying to interpret this hotel sign. The closest I can get is “don’t hide in a hanging box if C. elegans are attacking you”.