It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Dickson D. Despommier. Dickson was one of the Directors of Parasites Without Borders, but most importantly, he was our friend. Here’s a little bit about Dickson. Dr. Dickson Despommier spent 38 years as a professor of microbiology and public health in environmental health sciences at Columbia University, where he won the Best Teacher Award six times. In 2003, he received the American Medical Student Association’s National Golden Apple Award for Teaching Excellence. His work on vertical farms was featured on such top national media as the BBC, French national television, CNN, The Colbert Report, and The Tonight Show, as well as full-length articles in The New York Times, Times magazine, Scientific American, and The Washington Post. He spoke at the TED Conference, PopTech, and the World Science Festival, and was invited by the governments of China, India, Mexico, Jordan, Brazil, Canada, and South Korea to work on their environmental problems. He was invited to speak at numerous national and international professional annual meetings as a keynote speaker, and at universities, including Harvard and MIT. He was one of the visionaries featured at the Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago. The world lost a great mentor, friend, and scientist on February 7th, 2025.

#ncRNA molecules are stranger than you think. We propose that OLE RNA is bacteria's functional mimic of #mTOR. The Das lab at Stanford proposes OLE RNA penetrates cell membranes! They also find that RNAs we called ROOL and GOLLD form 8-membered nanocages.

“Biomolecular condensates control and are defined by RNA–RNA interactions that arise in viral replication”. New results from a wonderful collaboration with @GladfelterLab and Christine Roden (who just started her lab at University of Montreal!!)

Correlative two color 3D super-resolution single molecule localization microscopy and block face electron microscopy of mitochondria and the endoplasmic reticulum in vitreously frozen COS-7 cells

DAPI-stained nuclei in an L1-stage C. elegans larva, as seen by two-photon Bessel beam structured plane illumination microscopy.

It's #NudibranchDay! These soft-bodied marine gastropod molluscs are known for their bright colors & unique shapes. Several of these cool creatures can be found in La Jolla waters! View alt text for details. 📸 Scripps Oceanography Benthic Invertebrate Manager Charlotte Seid

ExoSloNano: Multi-Modal Nanogold Tags for identi-fication of Macromolecules in Live Cells & Cryo-Electron Tomograms #biorxiv_biophys