Biophysical Society Bulletin | June 2024

Publications

Know the Editor Dmitrii Makarov

Editor's Pick

University of Texas, Austin Associate Editor Biophysical Reports

Dmitrii Makarov

What have you read lately that you found really interesting or stimulating (a paper, a book, science or not science)? Something I heard a week ago in a podcast with a cognitive scientist ( Edward Gibson ): the brain’s areas responsible for language are not really activated when we “think” (i.e., solve logical problems or do calculus). This suggests that, after all, large language models are probably not a replacement for hu man cognition, even though they can mimic it so successfully (sometimes). What a relief! Who would you like to sit next to at a dinner party (scientist or not)? I wish I’d had a chance to talk to mathematician Andrey Kolm ogorov . His work had an impact on me at every stage of my scientific life, starting with his book about mathematics that he wrote for high school students. In our current work, we often go back to his foundational work in probability theory and to the idea of Kolmogorov entropy. But what I would really have liked to ask him about is his unfinished work in which he used probability theory to analyze poetry. Grants & Opportunities AAAS Mentor Awards The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) has a Mentor Award and a Lifetime Mentor Award, both honoring those who have demonstrated extraordinary leadership to increase the participation of underrepresent ed groups in science and engineering. Who can apply: The award is open to all individuals who have mentored students at a US institution. Deadline: June 30, 2024 Website: https:/ www.aaas.org/awards/mentor/about

Biophysical Journal Binding equations for the lipid composition dependence of peripheral membrane-binding proteins Daniel Kerr, Tiffany Suwatthee, Sofiya Maltseva, and Ka Yee C. Lee “The association of peripheral membrane-binding proteins with their target membranes is important in multiple physio logical processes. These associations can be highly sensitive to the lipid composition of the membrane, but quantitative characterization of this dependence has been difficult. The authors present a general model that quantitatively describes the lipid composition dependence of protein membrane bind ing. This model gives rise to a new notion of cooperativity specific for protein-membrane binding. The authors introduce the Membrane-Hill number to quantify this cooperativity and discuss its implications for lipid composition dependence in a variety of systems.”

Version of Record Published March 2, 2024 DOI: https:/doi.org/10.1016/j.bpj.2024.02.031

The Science and SciLifeLab Prize for Young Scientists This prize is awarded to a young scientist for outstanding life science research conducted for their doctoral degree within the past two years in Cell and Molecular Biology; Genomics, Proteomics, and Systems Biology Approaches; Ecology and Environment; and Molecular Medicine. Who can apply: Applicants must have received their doctor al degree in 2022 or 2023. Deadline: July 15, 2024 Website: https:/ www.science.org/content/page/how-en ter-science-scilifelab-prize-young-scientists

June 2024

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