Thrilled to see this published today! Truly special because we made the initial discovery >15 yrs ago! We found two copies of a human gene called BC200 embedded in a human poxvirus. BC200 blurs the line between gene & transposon—both functional & mutagenic! www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... 🧵1/n

Escape of the BC200 gene to a human poxvirus reveals its persistent transposition in primates

Transposable elements mobilize within and occasionally between genomes, including from host to virus. We identified two insertions of the human BC200 noncoding RNA gene in the poxvirus molluscum conta...

science.org

Super excited to share my postdoctoral work at @imbavienna.bsky.social @viennabiocenter.bsky.social - We discovered that some retrotransposons, or "jumping genes" 🧬, are able to spread from cell to cell via a new viral infectivity route. A short thread: 🧵👇 (1/7)

My latest Lake Malawi ID guide, open access 'permanent preprint'. A work in progress. Warning- it is 400 pages long! ecoevorxiv.org/repository/v...

We are recruiting a PhD student 🥼🙋 Topic: how germ cells bend gene expression dogmas Fly genetics + proteomics + genomics. Fully funded. Aarhus University 🇩🇰 info on the project and how to apply👇 mbg.au.dk/en/peter-and... I'd really appreciate it if you'd help spread the word. Thanks

Happy to share PhD work of @shamithagovind.bsky.social She unraveled how GTSF1, a protein known from the Piwi field, regulates RdRP in nematodes. Thanks also to @psarkies.bsky.social @sebastianfalk.bsky.social Ralf Sommer, Falk Butter, @migueldvalmeida.bsky.social link.springer.com/article/10.1...

An evolutionarily conserved N-terminal domain of RRF-3 governs GTSF-1 binding in nematodes - EMBO Reports

GTSF1 is an essential activating cofactor for PIWI proteins in many metazoans. In the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, however, GTSF-1 does not bind PIWI, but is associated with the RNA-dependent RNA ...

link.springer.com

Finally - the 🧵! So, the piRNA pathway defends the animal germline from transposons. But most of what we know comes from narrow developmental windows like late oogenesis, where it's easiest to study. We asked if the pathway is the same across development. It is not! /+

Peter Andersen@germline.bsky.social · last mo.

We watched piRNAs and transposons across development, saw them dance tightly and wrote a paper about it. It's so cool to see it online and we will make a thread about it all very soon. Stay tuned :-)

We watched piRNAs and transposons across development, saw them dance tightly and wrote a paper about it. It's so cool to see it online and we will make a thread about it all very soon. Stay tuned :-)

bioRxiv Genetics@biorxiv-genetic.bsky.social · last mo.

A developmental switch in the piRNA pathway ensures stage-specific transposon silencing https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.08.28.747770v1

Evolution of transposons as controlling elements https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.08.24.746577v1

Transposable elements drive phenotypic variation and shape the response to environmental changes in Drosophila melanogaster https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.08.24.746693v1

Delighted and very proud to see our study (and Anna-Maria's first first-author paper) recently out in PNAS: www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/... @cambiochem.bsky.social @cruk-ci.bsky.social 1/5

Lifestyles of Gypsy-family transposons shape their regulatory mechanisms | PNAS

Transposable elements (TEs) are a highly diverse group of selfish genomic elements, prevalent across the tree of life, whose uncontrolled propagati...

pnas.org

CRISPR-mediated centromere fission generates neochromosomes with distorted meiotic inheritance in Arabidopsis biorxiv.org/content/10.6... new preprint from us - includes changing the Arabidopsis karyotype from 5 -> 6 chromosomes using Cas9 & outcomes of 5/6 chromosome hybrid meiosis

1st genome sequenced (Sanger 1977), 1st genome synthesised (Venter 2003), 1st genome + proteome fully mutated (Huijin Xiangua 2026!) @crg.eu @sangerinstitute.bsky.social Complete Mutagenesis of the Genome and Proteome of ΦX174 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Complete Mutagenesis of the Genome and Proteome of ΦX174

The bacteriophage ΦX174 was the first genome to be sequenced and the first to be chemically synthesised. Here we present a complete map of the consequences of changing every nucleotide in the ΦX174 ge...

biorxiv.org

Sailing in @biorxivpreprint.bsky.social ready for summer, our study on the iconic Portuguese man o' war 🪼 is out: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6.... We use (epi)genomics to understand a critter that fascinates me since childhood. Massive team effort with @obog.bsky.social, Cummins and Neely groups. 🧵

Our study published today @science.org shows that X-chromosome inactivation (XCI) attracts L1 mutations to the human X chromosome: doi.org/10.1126/scie... With outstanding Perspective from @aurelien-doucet.bsky.social & @retrogenomics.bsky.social: doi.org/10.1126/scie...

🎨 job alert 🐠 Come join us! We have two positions open! These are part of our @erc.europa.eu funded project on the mechanisms underpinning convergence of colour patterns in cichlid fishes! Closing date: 16th August. Postdoc: www.cam.ac.uk/jobs/researc... Technician: www.cam.ac.uk/jobs/researc...

Callipterus Cichlid Collecting Shell

ALT: Callipterus Cichlid Collecting Shell

static.klipy.com

Hi #TEsky, please remember that we have an amazing community in the TransposonsWorldWide slack channel (join.slack.com/t/transposon...), which I encourage you to join. Another great resource is tehub.org. Please share !

Join TransposonsWorldwide on Slack

Slack is a new way to communicate with your team. It’s faster, better organized, and more secure than email.

join.slack.com

1/2 Hot off the press in Molecular Cell! 🎉 Using some genome-editing gymnastics, we show that ChAHP’s chromatin-remodeling activity is critical for transposon repression and antagonizing CTCF recruitment. www.cell.com/molecular-ce... Huge thanks to all the co-authors for the wonderful work! 🙏

Remodeling activity of ChAHP restricts transcription factor access to chromatin

Ahel et al. show that the ChAHP complex drives SINE B2 repression independently of HP1 and not through steric occlusion. Instead, CHD4-dependent chromatin-remodeling activity repositions nucleosomes, ...

cell.com

It's not too late to share the clicks from the last “RNA-guided genome protection” @embo.org in Switzerland 🇨🇭 what a great time! A dream come true meeting the RNAi guys that I’ve cited in my works since 2016 🥹 #RNAsky #genomeevolution

A New Open Foundation for TE Research: GIRI is transitioning the full Repbase collection to an open-access license and joining the Dfam effort to help build a unified open resource for transposable element research. Full announcement: tinyurl.com/48665xss

Really great to see this preprint out! Amazing effort by @camillecornet.bsky.social, and a privilege to have been involved in this one, thanks for beginning me back to butterflies, Camille! 😉 #TEsky #TEworldwide #Genomics #Bioinformatics #Chromosome #Evolution #Butterflies

bioRxiv Evolutionary Biology@biorxiv-evobio.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Transposable elements underlie chromosomal fusions and fissions in a highly species-rich group of butterflies https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.06.15.732387v1

High quality genomes for sloths and anteaters and great mammalian biology findings alert! 🦥🧬 @sangerinstitute.bsky.social @ebpgenome.bsky.social @vertebrategenomes.bsky.social link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Elevated retrocopy burden and sloth-specific expansions illuminate mammalian genome evolution - BMC Biology

Background Xenarthrans, comprising sloths, anteaters, and armadillos, represent one of the most morphologically and physiologically specialized mammalian clades, yet the genomic basis of their adaptat...

link.springer.com

We just published our new paper about an active Helitron transposon in wheat 🌾🧬 We found that it can be mobilised by heat stress when DNA methylation is reduced. We document its full lifecycle: RNA -> circular DNA -> integration www.nature.com/articles/s41... #TEsky

An active Helitron transposon family in wheat - Nature Plants

Helitrons are a recently identified category of transposons. This study reveals that heat stress combined with reduced DNA methylation can mobilize a Helitron family in wheat. Its mobilization is gene...

nature.com

#TEsky Transposons drove the evolution of a male sex-determining gene from a female gene with deep introgression across cichlids doi.org/10.1126/scia...

Transposons drove the evolution of a male sex-determining gene from a female gene with deep introgression across cichlids

A gene from the female pathway was repurposed to determine male sex in tilapia, revealing an unusual evolutionary mechanism.

doi.org

Have you ever wondered if fish yawn? (and if they do, what that tells us about yawning?) The first preprint from the lab and a serendipitous observation ⬇️ www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Capolavoro 🎨 alert 🚨! What is the role of gene body methylation in invertebrates? Despite extensive speculation linking it to plasticity and environmental responses, its mechanistic effects and heritability remain unclear. Our take out in @natecoevo.nature.com: www.nature.com/articles/s41... 1/

Gene body methylation suppresses intragenic transcription and permits epigenetic inheritance in a cnidarian - Nature Ecology & Evolution

Experiments in the cnidarian Nematostella vectensis show a role of gene body methylation in transposable element suppression and that epigenetic inheritance is constrained by chromatin context and tra...

nature.com

📣 POSTDOC position available in the Feschotte Lab at Cornell to work on #TRANSPOSONS! More details below. Pls send informal application or inquiry ASAP by DM or email to cf458_at_cornell.edu. Pls spread the word 🙏 #TEsky www.thefeschottelabatcornell.com

Wrote a short piece on Transposable Elements as catalysts of evolutionary innovation for a forthcoming special issue of @naturerevgenet.bsky.social on, duh, Evolutionary Innovation! www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Transposable elements as catalysts of evolutionary innovation - Nature Reviews Genetics

In this Comment, Cedric Feschotte highlights evidence from diverse lineages showing that transposable elements are key drivers of evolutionary innovation, repeatedly introducing regulatory and coding ...

nature.com

🔥🔥🔥PREPRINT OUT🔥🔥🔥 microRNA annotation gets much easier!!! MirMachine 2 is out! Preprint: doi.org/10.64898/202...

Our latest work is now online in NSMB: maternal yolk carries microRNAs from the intestine to embryos, shaping gene regulation and stress resilience in the next generation. rdcu.be/fj8Er #Epigenetics #microRNA #Inheritance @pasteur.fr @devstempasteur.bsky.social @erc.europa.eu

Soma-to-germline miRNA inheritance through yolk promotes stress resilience in progeny - Nature Structural & Molecular Biology

In this study, the authors use the Caenorhabditis elegans model organism to show that maternal microRNAs are delivered from the intestine to embryos by the yolk, where they regulate gene expression an...

nature.com

Excited to share this new pre-print from the fantastic @kelsiehunnicutt.bsky.social! Kelsie put together a thoughtful and thorough review on hybridization in animal evolution: ecoevorxiv.org/repository/v.... She tracks notable shifts in perspectives on the study of hybridization through time.