https://ericzizzi.com/notes/ Science in plain language, and anything else worth writing down. en Thu, 29 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://ericzizzi.com/notes/rose-bengal-carriers/ https://ericzizzi.com/notes/rose-bengal-carriers/ Thu, 29 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMT Rose bengal can kill cancer cells when lit, but struggles to get inside them. Our simulations show how branched carrier molecules grab hold of it. drug delivery dendrimers molecular dynamics https://ericzizzi.com/notes/how-long-drugs-stay/ https://ericzizzi.com/notes/how-long-drugs-stay/ Thu, 29 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMT Predicting how long a drug stays on its target usually calls for a 3D structure. We asked whether models that read sequences and chemical strings can capture some of it anyway. drug discovery machine learning binding kinetics https://ericzizzi.com/notes/microtubule-architecture/ https://ericzizzi.com/notes/microtubule-architecture/ Thu, 29 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMT Microtubules can be built from different numbers of strands. Our simulations suggest the choice trades structural support against how well mechanical signals travel. microtubules molecular dynamics mechanobiology https://ericzizzi.com/notes/taxol-microtubule-mechanics/ https://ericzizzi.com/notes/taxol-microtubule-mechanics/ Thu, 29 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMT One of the most used cancer drugs works on the cell’s skeleton. We followed its effect from the binding pocket to the way the whole tube flexes. taxol microtubules molecular dynamics mechanics https://ericzizzi.com/notes/predicting-bitterness/ https://ericzizzi.com/notes/predicting-bitterness/ Thu, 29 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMT How we built machine-learning models that predict which bitter receptor a molecule will activate, and that show which parts of the molecule drove the answer. taste machine learning receptors https://ericzizzi.com/notes/microtubule-nanocapsules/ https://ericzizzi.com/notes/microtubule-nanocapsules/ Thu, 29 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMT How a team in Japan rebuilt tubulin, the protein of microtubules, into hollow capsules that open in response to GTP, and what our simulations added. drug delivery tubulin molecular dynamics https://ericzizzi.com/notes/anaesthetics-soften-membranes/ https://ericzizzi.com/notes/anaesthetics-soften-membranes/ Wed, 28 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMT Volatile anaesthetics are chemically very different, yet they act alike. Our simulations show what they do to the membrane around the proteins they target. anaesthetics molecular dynamics membranes