Happy to share the final version of our study on the evolution of chromatin states across eukaryotes, out today in @natgenet.nature.com Led by @crisnava.bsky.social and @seanamontgomery.bsky.social www.nature.com/articles/s41... Some highlights below

Diversity and evolution of chromatin regulatory states across eukaryotes - Nature Genetics

This study introduces iChIP2, a low-input chromatin immunoprecipitation followed by sequencing method that profiles histone post-translational modifications (hPTMs) simultaneously across diverse eukar...

nature.com

Evolution of a genome-architecture-encoded gene regulation system in trypanosomatids https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.07.29.740908v1

Ruibao's first paper from the lab is out in @nature.com . www.nature.com/articles/s41.... Collab with @multicellgenome.bsky.social & @jennahed.bsky.social. How did cells stick together and form the first animals? The protist Ministeria suggests cellular aggregation had a role. @iuqcb.bsky.social

A unicellular relative links aggregative multicellularity to animal origins - Nature

Aggregative multicellularity was key to the evolution of the multicellular animal genetic toolkit.

nature.com

Join us in Budapest in October! There is still time to register with an abstract. Talk and flash talk slots, a great speaker line up at an informal meeting on epigenetics, gene and genome regulation etc. in a beautiful city. shorturl.at/fOuCZ. For that to do list before the holidays!

Preprint alert! 🚨 We are very excited to share our new manuscript on Bohring-Opitz syndrome, a devastating rare monogenic disorder driven by truncating variants in ASXL1. This project was led by PhD student Emma Doyle, one of the OG Conway lab members 💪. 1/6 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Divergent Pathogenic PR-DUB Complex Variants Converge Functionally Via PRC2 Displacement From Chromatin

The PR-DUB complex is responsible for erasing the repressive histone modification, H2AK119ub1. ASXL1-3 proteins are mutually exclusive catalytic partners of BAP1 in the PR-DUB complex. Somatic heteroz...

biorxiv.org

Transcription-dependent heterochromatin at the Xist promoter shapes the random choice of the inactive X chromosome https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.07.22.737064v1

This is Lamine Yamal the 19 year old star of the Spanish National team & FC Barcelona. He did this in May at the parade when Barca won the league. In case you’re not sure whom to root for tomorrow. ⚽️

The Origin of Life in the Light of Evolution Another food for thought paper with @lauraeme.bsky.social and a lot of fantastic scientists. arxiv.org/abs/2605.05464

The Origin of Life in the Light of Evolution

The origin of life is often framed primarily as a chemical problem, yet life's defining feature is evolution. Advances in geochemistry, prebiotic chemistry, and molecular biology have produced diverse...

arxiv.org

The 2nd part of my postdoc is now out as a preprint! A challenging but fulfilling team effort to perform genome editing in opossums. We found that the lncRNA RSX is essential to initiate X-inactivation in marsupials 🦘 A long-standing question since the discovery that Xist is absent in marsupials 👇

Turner Lab@lab-turner.bsky.social · 4w ago

New preprint 📢 Thrilled to share our long-awaited work on the role of RSX in marsupial X-inactivation. This was a huge team effort over the years, led by @aureliencourtois.bsky.social @sermenchero.bsky.social Sugako Ogushi and Waz Varsally, that allowed us to set up genome editing in opossum embryos

Beautiful work on the establishment of symbiosis in anthozoans. www.cell.com/cell/fulltex... And a good opportunity to re-read an exciting related paper from last year. www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...

Co-option of lysosomal machinery shapes the evolution of the intracellular photosymbiosis supporting coral reefs

Corals harbor intracellular algal symbionts in specialized organelles that enable them to build diverse reef ecosystems. Corals and other cnidarians have repeatedly evolved this symbiosis through the ...

cell.com

⏰ One week to go! ISRB Webinar | Zone 2 (Europe, West Asia, Africa): 🗓 July 14, 2026 at 16:00 Europe/Berlin 🎤 Eric Röttinger, PhD 🎤 Ulrich Technau More info: isrbio.org/webinars

Excited to share our new preprint led by Fred and me in collaboration with the archaeal community! We found that the molecular foundation of histone-based chromatin has pre-eukaryotic roots in Asgard archaea. (1/4) #ArchaeaSky www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Emergence of histone-based chromatin complexity in Asgard archaea

The emergence of the eukaryotes coincided with the diversification of histone proteins and their post-translational modifications by enzymes that constitute the core of eukaryotic chromatin. Yet the e...

biorxiv.org

Minicollagen expression dynamics reveal a transcriptional program for cnidogenesis in the sea anemone Nematostella vectensis https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.06.23.733813v1

Come join the new Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Protein Design as a group leader Cool science in a great scientific environment in wonderful and very family friendly Copenhagen There are two positions that can either be at TT assistant or associate prof level employment.ku.dk/tenure-track...

Tenure-track Assistant Professor or Associate Professor of De novo Protein Design

The Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Protein Design at the University of Copenhagen seeks to appoint two new group leaders in de novo protein design from 1 February 2027 or as soon as possible thereafter. These positions will be at the Assistant or Associate Professor level and associated with the Department of Biology (Faculty of Science) or the Department of Drug Design and Pharmacology (Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences).

employment.ku.dk

I know it seems like a heretical idea, but one way to figure out if a preprint is really interesting (to you) is... to read the preprint. Then, in the spirit of sharing, send a note to authors: a simple kudos or a more detailed question. I do this a dozen times a year. It's awesome. Try it.

What’s the answer to “What’s worse that impact factor”…Id argue that letting AI rank papers and picking the top 1% would be a fine answer!

Oded Rechavi@odedrechavi.bsky.social · last mo.

Gloves are off! TODAY WE RELEASE THE 1% A list of the year’s very best papers 👇 (see thread)

This 100%, I’d I have a preprint out then getting an email from someone who ready it would make my day!

Harmit Singh Malik@harmitmalik.bsky.social · last mo.

I know it seems like a heretical idea, but one way to figure out if a preprint is really interesting (to you) is... to read the preprint. Then, in the spirit of sharing, send a note to authors: a simple kudos or a more detailed question. I do this a dozen times a year. It's awesome. Try it.

Very saddened to learn that @wellcometrust.bsky.social has decided to no longer fund Irish researchers through their discovery grants. This is a major blow for those who do truly blue skies research in Ireland as the ecosystem (i.e. @researchireland.ie) only funds research with perceived "impact"!

Hi Cnidarian Enthusiasts! Friendly reminder that Cnidofest 2026 will take place at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, MA, September 23-27. The abstract submission deadline is July 1 and the registration deadline is September 2. Submit and find full details at www.cnidofest.org

Cool new work on cnidocyte development/evolution from Leslie Babonis's group and colleagues!

bioRxiv Evolutionary Biology@biorxiv-evobio.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Extreme conservation of cnidarian stinging cell identity despite 600 million years of evolution https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.06.16.732747v1

New preprint from the Burkhardt lab 🚨The work explores the origins of sensory system components by looking at the closest relatives to animals, choanoflagellates ⤵️ Congratulations @smannsaker.bsky.social, @jeffcolgren.bsky.social & @pawelburkhardt.bsky.social!

Pawel Burkhardt@pawelburkhardt.bsky.social · 2mo ago

How ancient are the building blocks of animal sensory systems? Key components of animal sensory systems evolved before animals. We find that choanoflagellates possess diverse & spatially segregated TRP channels, pointing to ancient origins of sensory specialization. doi.org/10.64898/202...

1/10 For decades, cellular aggregation was considered an evolutionary dead end. Cells could come together temporarily. But complex multicellular organisms like animals? Our study, led by JP Gerdt, with Ruibao & @jennahed.bsky.social suggests it may be time to rethink that🧵 #ProtistsOnSKy

Very cool new work on the origins of animal multicullularity!

Iñaki Ruiz-Trillo@multicellgenome.bsky.social · 2mo ago

1/10 For decades, cellular aggregation was considered an evolutionary dead end. Cells could come together temporarily. But complex multicellular organisms like animals? Our study, led by JP Gerdt, with Ruibao & @jennahed.bsky.social suggests it may be time to rethink that🧵 #ProtistsOnSKy

@biologists.bsky.social do an enormous amount to support ECRs. I have certainly benefited from some of this work thought their workshop program and the Pathway to Independence fellowship.

The Company of Biologists@biologists.bsky.social · 2mo ago

We believe that, as our future leaders in biology, it's vital to provide ECRs with the right support during the early stages of your academic career. We offer practical ways to help you meet the unique needs & challenges you may encounter as an ECR.

Unacceptable! Have people started asking for refunds? We don't use Thermo antibodies much but have a couple in the freezer (one I have to admit is good!)

Reese Richardson@reeserichardson.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Thermo Fisher now has a page up in response to our observations. They flatly deny that images were manipulated or fabricated while repeating that images were "optimized for presentation and clarity on the website", no lie, six times. www.thermofisher.com/us/en/home/l...

Thermo Fisher now has a page up in response to our observations. They flatly deny that images were manipulated or fabricated while repeating that images were "optimized for presentation and clarity on the website", no lie, six times. www.thermofisher.com/us/en/home/l...

Reese Richardson@reeserichardson.bsky.social · 2mo ago

The Thermo Fisher situation keeps getting worse. We've now collected 450+ problematic images presented as verification data in TF's antibody catalog. This includes: 🖌️ Dozens more images with duplications or painting 🖨️ Hundreds of blots that all share the same background (behold slideshow below)

ECRs – apply by 12 June for a funded place at our Workshop on Rethinking Cell Differentiation and Development: A Unicellular Perspective, organised by Elena Casacuberta & James Gahan @jgahan.bsky.social Find out more at biologists.com/workshops/de... #BiologistsWorkshops

Are you a professor / group leader looking for a course to teach that would be extremely welcomed by graduate students & postdocs? Come train with us in how to teach the tools of the creative scientific process in our European train the trainer event in Heidelberg. night-science.org/train-the-tr...

As well as the permanent lecturer position we also currently have a 3-year fixed-term lecturer position available. universityvacancies.com/university-g...

James Gahan@jgahan.bsky.social · 3mo ago

We are looking for a new colleague to join us in Galway. The position is in Biochemistry and if research focus lines up we hope the successful person will join us in the Centre for Chromosome biology (chromosome.ie). Reach out if you are interested in applying! tinyurl.com/2jy4rj3r

PhD committee trying to help a struggling student