Group leader at the Francis Crick institute and head of the Protein Biogenesis lab. Interested in protein folding, ribosomes and molecular chaperones.https://bsky.app/profile/davidbalchin.bsky.socialhttps://bsky.app/profile/davidbalchin.bsky.social/post/3mk3kunpdwk26New from our lab @crick.ac.uk. Nascent proteins emerge from the human ribosome into a cytosol packed with hundreds of different molecular chaperones. Which chaperones recognise specific nascent chains, and what dictates their binding preferences? https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.04.17.719227v122 Apr 2026 13:07 +0000at://did:plc:mrqrdamt5pbeaxtl4cs4bmab/app.bsky.feed.post/3mk3kunpdwk26https://bsky.app/profile/davidbalchin.bsky.social/post/3meqntxzuxs2sJoin us at the @crick.ac.uk for the 2026 meeting of the UK proteostasis community! We especially encourage students and postdocs to attend and share their work. All talks (except the keynotes) will be selected from abstracts. [contains quote post or other embedded content]13 Feb 2026 13:55 +0000at://did:plc:mrqrdamt5pbeaxtl4cs4bmab/app.bsky.feed.post/3meqntxzuxs2shttps://bsky.app/profile/davidbalchin.bsky.social/post/3mcs5dejblc2bOur latest cotranslational folding story is now published @cp-molcell.bsky.social. Really cool (I think) new ideas about how exactly the ribosome directs folding and assembly to make sure complicated proteins mature efficiently in cells. https://www.cell.com/molecular-cell/fulltext/S1097-2765(25)01021-419 Jan 2026 17:14 +0000at://did:plc:mrqrdamt5pbeaxtl4cs4bmab/app.bsky.feed.post/3mcs5dejblc2bhttps://bsky.app/profile/davidbalchin.bsky.social/post/3mca5ij7nkk2uIf anyone is interested in making bacterial ribosome-nascent chain complexes and studying them using HDX-MS, we have written up a detailed protocol. rdcu.be/eYFx4 Characterise the conformational dynamics of the ribosome, nascent polypeptide and bound chaperones, label-free and at peptide-level https://rdcu.be/eYFx412 Jan 2026 13:29 +0000at://did:plc:mrqrdamt5pbeaxtl4cs4bmab/app.bsky.feed.post/3mca5ij7nkk2uhttps://bsky.app/profile/davidbalchin.bsky.social/post/3m5lt4n4z622nOur story on GroEL/ES action during cotranslational folding is now published @natcomms.nature.com. Led by former-student Alzbeta Roeselova, and in collaboration with Rado Enchev's lab @crick.ac.uk. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-64968-w14 Nov 2025 13:49 +0000at://did:plc:mrqrdamt5pbeaxtl4cs4bmab/app.bsky.feed.post/3m5lt4n4z622nhttps://bsky.app/profile/davidbalchin.bsky.social/post/3lz6z56ry7k2pOur article on human multidomain protein biogenesis is now published in @natsmb.nature.com https://www.nature.com/articles/s41594-025-01676-519 Sep 2025 13:52 +0000at://did:plc:mrqrdamt5pbeaxtl4cs4bmab/app.bsky.feed.post/3lz6z56ry7k2p