We are thrilled to announce the 2026 Zara Weinberg Leading Edge Fellows! 40 remarkable postdocs pursuing transformative research in biological/biomedical sciences. This is the 7th Leading Edge cohort and we are so excited to welcome them! www.leadingedgesymposium.org/fellows/
Alice Accorsi
@accorsi-alice.bsky.social
Assistant Professor at UC Davis studying snail eyes
🐌 Apple Snail (Pomacea canaliculata). A powerful model for eye regeneration! 👁️Can fully regenerate complex eyes, even after removal. 🌎 Offers insight into how complex organs regenerate #ModelMonday #DevBio #EvoDevo #Regeneration 📸 Image by @accorsi-alice.bsky.social
I am very excited to share the first Accorsi lab publication: a collection of detailed protocols to maintain an apple snail 🐌 colony and generate stable mutant lines. The video is coming soon @ JoVE! We hope this will be a valuable resource for the community. app.jove.com/t/69267/the-...
The Golden Apple Snail Pomacea canaliculata: From Zygotes to Stable Mutant Lines
University of California, Davis. This study developed a workflow for the generation and maintenance of stable mutant lines for the freshwater apple snail, Pomacea canaliculata. The protocols include ...
app.jove.com
Regrowing eyes? Yes. 🐌 A new feature in @the-node.bsky.social spotlights how former Stowers postdoc @accorsi-alice.bsky.social (now @ucdavis.bsky.social) and @planaria1.bsky.social uncovered the apple snail’s astonishing ability to #regenerate complex, camera-type eyes. 👀 👉Read here bit.ly/3VyAHY7
In the apple eye of evolution: Camera-type eye regeneration - the Node
Behind the paper stories from "A genetically tractable non-vertebrate system to study complete camera-type eye regeneration" We are all stepping into a
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#Behindthepaper stories: @accorsi-alice.bsky.social & @planaria1.bsky.social share how curiosity & passion driven research revealed that apple snails can regenerate full camera type eyes. @the-node.bsky.social @ucdavis.bsky.social @stowersinstitute.bsky.social #regeneration #applesnails #devbio
In the apple eye of evolution: Camera-type eye regeneration - the Node
Behind the paper stories from "A genetically tractable non-vertebrate system to study complete camera-type eye regeneration" We are all stepping into a
thenode.biologists.com
Excited to announce the opening of the @fitzsimmonslab.bsky.social at @michiganstateu.bsky.social dept. of biochemistry & molecular biology! (1/3)
@accorsi-alice.bsky.social studies how freshwater apple snails regrow their eyes—with the goal of helping to restore vision in people with eye injuries. Her team developed methods for editing the snail’s genome, allowing them to explore the genetic and molecular mechanisms behind eye regeneration.
Congratulations to @socdevbio.bsky.social 2025 West Coast Regional Meeting graduate student poster competition winners (left to right): 1st place- Justine Ramos (not pictured), 2nd place- Ashley Arancio (Farmer lab), honorable mentions- Julia Godinez (Rogers Lab) and Samantha Medina (Accorsi lab).
Congratulations to the @socdevbio.bsky.social 2025 West Coast Regional Meeting postdoc poster winners (left to right): 1st place- Celja Uebel (Villeneuve lab), 2nd place- Kira Heikes (Munjal lab), honorable mention- Hailey Edward's (Yelon lab)!
The Accorsi Lab is on its way to San Luis Obispo! 🐌
🎉 The SDB West Coast Regional Meeting is starting today! Excited to connect, share groundbreaking developmental biology research, and spark new collaborations. Let’s make this an inspiring event! 🚀🔬 #WCSDB2025 #DevBio
Check out this awesome study from my phenomenally talented colleague @accorsi-alice.bsky.social ! Apple snails can regrow their eyes! How do they do this? 👀 Read below ⬇️ to find out more! #regeneration
Snails with human-like eyes?! Published in @natcomms.nature.com, the @planaria1.bsky.social & @accorsi-alice.bsky.social Labs have established apple snails as a novel model for studying vision restoration. They have complex camera-type eyes & the ability to regrow them in 28 days: bit.ly/4mvaxkq
A new feature in @iflscience.com explores how researchers in the @planaria1.bsky.social & @accorsi-alice.bsky.social Labs uncovered the apple snail’s remarkable ability to regrow its eyes & what that could mean for human #medicine. Originally published in @natcomms.nature.com. 🔗 bit.ly/4lbdTId
Snails with human-like eyes?! Published in @natcomms.nature.com, the @planaria1.bsky.social & @accorsi-alice.bsky.social Labs have established apple snails as a novel model for studying vision restoration. They have complex camera-type eyes & the ability to regrow them in 28 days: bit.ly/4mvaxkq
Apple snails can regrow their eyes & @popsci.com is talking about it. #Research published in @natcomms.nature.com from the @planaria1.bsky.social and @accorsi-alice.bsky.social Labs reveals how these snails rebuild complex, camera-like eyes after injury. 📰 Read the feature: bit.ly/45kXdIn
Apple snails can regrow their eyeballs
Even without this genetic superpower, human eyes and genes are very similar.
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🐌👀What do apple snails have to do with human vision? Stowers scientists took a chance on a tiny creature, with big results. Learn how @planaria1.bsky.social & then postdoc @accorsi-alice.bsky.social brought apple snails to the Institute. ⬇️ #ResearchSky #SciSky Learn more: youtu.be/U-yQ7z1e6nA
How Apple Snail research began at the Stowers Institute: unlocking the secrets of eye regeneration
YouTube video by Stowers Institute for Medical Research
youtu.be
Evolution’s eye game is wild, but mollusks take it to another level CRISPR in apple snails gives us a new model to dissect how nature rebuilds complex organs like the camera-type eyes we humans possess It turns out Evolution doesn’t just innovate, it rewinds, remixes, & regenerates rdcu.be/ezw0t
A genetically tractable non-vertebrate system to study complete camera-type eye regeneration
Nature Communications - Accorsi et al. show that the apple snail Pomacea canaliculata has eyes similar to humans and can fully regenerate them. They then developed genetic tools to establish these...
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This #MicroscopyMonday is a developing Apple Snail embryo. On the left is the shell, the middle the body & the foot at the bottom. On the right the head with the eye (green circle) & the tentacle bud. (@planaria1.bsky.social lab) #ResearchSky #SciSky
#wcsdb2025 Keynote speaker will be the fabulous Debbie Yelon (UCSD)! Other confirmed speakers are: Ahmad Nabhan (UCB) Alice Accorsi @accorsi-alice.bsky.social (UCD) Ben Vincent (UCLA) Dae Seok Eom (UCI) Emily Kolenbrander Ho @emkolen.bsky.social (Claremont McKenna) 2/4
We are thrilled to announce the 2025 Leading Edge Fellows! 40 outstanding postdoctoral fellows doing pioneering research in a wide range of biological and biomedical disciplines. Learn more about these exceptional scientists: www.leadingedgesymposium.org/fellows
I attended the @accorsi-alice.bsky.social seminar yesterday. She is so well-deserving this award www.transtechsociety.org/index.php?sr...
International Society for Transgenic Technologies - News
transtechsociety.org
Leading Edge is celebrating a milestone: 100 (actually 102!) new assistant professors!!! 🎉🥳🎊 Learn more about them: www.leadingedgesymposium.org/fellows/ Applications are now open for the 2025 Leading Edge cohort! (Deadline Feb 3). You do NOT need to be ready for the job market to apply.
The Accorsi Lab received the best Christmas gift ever: apple snails! 🐌 There are so many wonderful people @ucdavis.bsky.social and @stowersinstitute.bsky.social that we want to thank for making this possible. They love their new home! Stay tuned to learn more about eye regeneration in this system.
Registration for “ReBilD 2025” (Emerging Leaders in Regenerative Biology and Development) is now open! Gain hands-on training with diverse regenerating animal models and attend daily lectures by leaders in the field. Please RT. mdibl.org/course/rebil... @mdibiolab.bsky.social
ReBilD: Emerging Leaders in Regenerative Biology and Development 2025 – MDI Biological Laboratory
mdibl.org
Thank you! This was such a great visit and I loved hearing so much great science about sensory organs 👀👅👃👂🦷! Thank you for having me.
Amazing talk @accorsi-alice.bsky.social!! So excited to see what you will discover at UCDavis #cpod
The @leadingedgeprogram.bsky.social app is live! Deadline: Feb 3, 2025 leadingedgesymposium.org/apply/ This is the best community I’ve been a part of - words truly can’t describe how special this program is!! I was in the 2020 cohort and it keeps evolving with our needs; you won’t regret it!!!
Coming Soon
leadingedgesymposium.org
The Accorsi Lab will open this Spring at UC Davis to study the development and regeneration of the Apple Snail visual system 🐌. We are hiring a tech to join us in creating a collaborative and inclusive environment and exploring cool biology! Apply here: recruit.ucdavis.edu/JPF06290