A new review article published in ACS Nano by a research team at the Durham’s Centre for Programmable Biological matter (CPBM) maps the rapidly advancing toolkit that could help scientists design and build artificial biological nanostructures — tiny systems made from the same kinds of molecules that constitute life itself. The review, “Tools For Building…
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The Centre for Programmable Biological Matter is proud to be hosting the first ever Biomeccano Protein Design Competition this summer. Aimed at PhD students studying in the Department of Biosciences at Durham University with an interest in biochemistry and computational design, the competition provides a unique learning opportunity. The Biomeccano Protein Design Competition will run for 16 weeks throughout Summer 2026, giving every student involved access…
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About the Conference We are holding our sixth biennial BIONANO Meeting at Durham University. BIONANO 2026 follows the previous highly successful meeting held at the Centre for Programmable Biological Matter in Durham in 2024. This year we will be meeting to discuss new ideas and share our progress in the latest research in designing, building and testing artificial biological nanomachines. This year’s conference will be held…
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Earlier this year, the group of researchers at the Centre for Programmable Biological Matter working on RNA attended the annual RNA UK conference hosted in Windermere. Dr. Ting-Yu Lin delivered a fantastic talk on the context-dependent effects of pseudouridylation on tRNA structural integrity and stability. CPBM PhD students Yasmin and Ethan, and our visiting student…
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During the last week of March, CPBM members had the privilege of taking part in Durham University’s annual Schools Science Festival. The festival invites groups of schoolchildren from across Durham and the wider region to take part in interactive activities explaining the research conducted by scientists at the university. Over the three days, this year’s…
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Everyone at the CPBM is very pleased to share that we have been awarded a platinum certification from My Green Lab for our efforts to be as sustainable as possible! My Green Lab is the industry’s most widely recognized lab sustainability certification program, and platinum is the second-highest degree of certification. My Green Lab measures sustainability for labs across 14 different categories, taking…
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During the October half-term, CPBM had the privilege of taking part in the annual Celebrate Science Festival, at Locomotion in Shildon. Aiming to inspire the curious minds of children, our team hosted a special section on the work of CPBM that featured immersive virtual reality experiences, engaging puzzles, educational models and more. The enthusiasm and…
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On 8th October the CPBM welcomed Professor Jamie Blaza from the University of York to give a seminar and a workshop based on his work with cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM). Jamie’s seminar on “Using Cryo-EM and symmetry expansion to understand how Rubisco is bound together to accelerate carbon fixation” drew a full house and prompted lots…
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The Centre for Programmable Biological Matter remains deeply committed to training the next generation of scientists. Each summer, we welcome a cohort of enthusiastic interns who bring fresh perspectives and energy to our research environment. This year, we’ve been fortunate to host a diverse group of students from various academic levels and institutions, all eager…
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