For two weeks, our entire lab is dropping everything to focus on one mission: deploying @embl.org's Advanced Mobile Laboratory to cultivate microbial eukaryotes from Alpine ecosystems. Our dream? Isolating new #Ichthyosporeans never cultured before. Let's see what we find. 🔬🏔️

Very proud of the team, led by @baukjeje.bsky.social & @fmikus.bsky.social To all of you doing #Expansion #Microscopy #UExM Try Concanavalin A. Its cheap, easy to use & labels the #nuclear #Envelope @moorefound.bsky.social @embl.org @sciencesunige.bsky.social @erc.europa.eu @snsf.ch

Baukje Hoogenberg@baukjeje.bsky.social · 3w ago

Do you want to label the nuclear envelope? Do you work on a non-model species? Try Concanavalin A! We tested ConA on various species across the eukaryotic tree and find it is a very useful ExM-compatible marker for the NE and ER. Read all about it in our preprint: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Must admit, ever since I was a kid, I’ve dreamt of seeing microscopy images of #protists in @lemonde.fr Today, protists are everywhere, and several images were taken by the team. And seeing #ichthyosporeans there too?! 🥹 One step closer to showcasing the beauty of the invisible microbial world. 🔬✨

Le Monde@lemonde.fr · 2w ago

Plongée dans le monde fascinant de micro-organismes unicellulaires doués d’intelligence

Check out my @focalplane.bsky.social blogpost if you're curious about my live imaging set up in sea anemones!

FocalPlane @focalplane.bsky.social · 4w ago

🔬🔦In our Imaging spotlight, @inesfournon.bsky.social & team highlight their work on epithelial cell extrusion. Check it out to learn more about their experimental pipeline: from keeping the sea anemones alive during imaging to their bespoke image analysis. focalplane.biologists.com/2026/09/07/i...

Very happy to announce the start of a new chapter in my research career! 🎉 Today marks the beginning of my EIPOD-LiC Fellowship as a postdoctoral researcher working across the labs of Flora Vincent at @embl.org Heidelberg and Omaya Dudin at the @sciencesunige.bsky.social 🧬🔬

Very pleased to finally share the main story from my PhD, now published in @natcomms.nature.com ! 🎉 Using a sea anemone we discovered and characterised epithelial cell extrusion as the mechanism underlying starvation-induced cell loss. 🔗 Open-access article: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Epithelial cell extrusion underlies starvation-induced cell loss in a sea anemone - Nature Communications

Epithelial cell extrusion in a sea anemone shares key hallmarks with bilaterians and is dynamically regulated by nutritional status. During starvation-induced body shrinkage, extrusion likely contribu...

nature.com

Congratulations to Gautam Dey (EMBL) and Omaya Dudin (University of Geneva) for being awarded the EMBO Gold Medal 2026 in recognition of their outstanding contributions to the #LifeSciences in Europe! 🧪 https://www.embo.org/press-releases/embo-gold-medal-2026-awarded-to-gautam-dey-and-omaya-dudin/

Our ExM Atlas of eukaryotes is moving along with more and more images coming in - some featured in nature last month! Culture we’re provided by @ccapoban.bsky.social & Julius Lukeš during visits last year www.nature.com/immersive/d4...

See the intricate worlds of parasites and algae — March’s best science images

The month’s sharpest science shots, selected by Nature’s photo team.

nature.com

I'm happy to present our new tool, EpiCure, a napari plugin to ease correction of segmentation and tracking of epithelia movies, developed in @devstempasteur.bsky.social

Happy to share the heroic effort of @gaellel.bsky.social to reduce our segmentation pain through EpiCure (Epithelial Curation), a napari plugin easing the curation of epithelial segmentation developed with several groups of @devstempasteur.bsky.social. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... See more 👇

Gaëlle Letort@gaellel.bsky.social · 6mo ago

I'm happy to present our new tool, EpiCure, a napari plugin to ease correction of segmentation and tracking of epithelia movies, developed in @devstempasteur.bsky.social

Go check out my thread about cell extrusion 🌸 at @epimechfc.bsky.social and give them a follow for more content on epithelia-related research ✨🧫

epithelial mechanics fan club@epimechfc.bsky.social · 6mo ago

Hello epithelia enthusiasts! I’m @inesfournon.bsky.social and I study epithelial mechanics in sea anemones 🪼 Did you know epithelial cell extrusion had never been described outside bilaterian animals before? Well… not anymore 👀 Read ⬇️🧵1/9

Hello epithelia enthusiasts! I’m @inesfournon.bsky.social and I study epithelial mechanics in sea anemones 🪼 Did you know epithelial cell extrusion had never been described outside bilaterian animals before? Well… not anymore 👀 Read ⬇️🧵1/9

Fournon-Berodia, I., Bruderer, N., Christiaen, L., & Steinmetz, P. R. (2025). Epithelial cell extrusion underlies starvation-induced cell loss in a sea anemone. bioRxiv, 2025-12. #EpithelialMechanics buff.ly/VJknuUe

New paper out in @bmc.springernature.com 🤩👏 A routine 5-ethynyl uridine (EU) RNA labeling experiment in a sea anemone turned into detective work for @malinkjosavik.bsky.social, @ktgarschall.bsky.social & @prhsteinmetz.bsky.social 🕵️‍♀️

A widely used RNA assay labels the wrong molecules in several model organisms

After a routine experiment raised suspicions, Steinmetz group researchers joined forces with collaborators to highlight the limitations of a commonly used RNA labeling product.

uib.no

🔬🔦Our Imaging spotlight from @hiralshah.bsky.social & team highlights their U-ExM atlas of planktonic eukaryotes, including details on how you can explore this wonderful resource. Plus, check out Hiral’s top tips on getting started with expansion microscopy. focalplane.biologists.com/2026/01/20/i...

Imaging spotlight: U-ExM atlas of microbial eukaryotes - FocalPlane

Imaging spotlight: U-ExM atlas of microbial eukaryotes - News

focalplane.biologists.com

Another #notTHECover unfortunately. But this gorgeous, Tron-like vibe, drawn by the amazing @munafomarzia.bsky.social for our recent #ExM work with @gautamdey.bsky.social & @centriolelab.bsky.social will still be printed out in the lab. Read here: www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...

Thrilled to share the preprint from my PhD! 🥳 Where I characterised epithelial cell extrusion in a sea anemone 🔗 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... Big thanks to my supervisor @prhsteinmetz.bsky.social and coauthors @noahbruderer.bsky.social @lionlchristiaen.bsky.social at🇳🇴 @msarscentre.bsky.social ⬇️🧵

How do animals with lifelong growth modulate cell #proliferation? @eudaldpascual.bsky.social @ktgarschall.bsky.social @prhsteinmetz.bsky.social show that starvation induces G1/G0 #CellCycle arrest in Vasa2+/Piwi1+ #SeaAnemone cells; cycle re-entry is TOR-dependent @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/48J2o6P

Congratulations to @inesfournon.bsky.social and @ruthstyfhals.bsky.social on their amazing talks at the very first BIO-Early Career Community Conference at @unibergen.bsky.social ✨ We are proud to support this fantastic initiative that brought our local community of young scientists together 👏

Congrats to all authors! 🎉 Very happy to see this paper out where I had the chance to finish off a small part on this crazy story on what happens if you kill all the neurons and then chop off the head of a sea anemone 🪸👾

Fabian Rentzsch@fabianrentzsch.bsky.social · 11mo ago

Our paper on the role of neurons in Nematostella head regeneration is now out at @currentbiology.bsky.social Big thank you to all collaborators, it was a pleasure! Ectopic head regeneration after nervous system ablation in a sea anemone: Current Biology www.cell.com/current-biol...

Our paper on the role of neurons in Nematostella head regeneration is now out at @currentbiology.bsky.social Big thank you to all collaborators, it was a pleasure! Ectopic head regeneration after nervous system ablation in a sea anemone: Current Biology www.cell.com/current-biol...

Ectopic head regeneration after nervous system ablation in a sea anemone

Via genetic ablation of neurons, Mazloumi Gavgani et al. show that the nervous system is essential for defining axial polarity during whole-body regeneration in the sea anemone Nematostella vectensis.

cell.com

🚨Our collaboration with @centriolelab.bsky.social & @gautamdey.bsky.social is out today in @cp-cell.bsky.social We show that #Expansion #Microscopy is a broad-spectrum modality for Euks, enabling 3D phenotypic maps rooted to phylogeny. #ProtistsOnSky #SciComm #SciSky www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...

Exciting day for the lab: our 1rst paper is officially out in @currentbiology.bsky.social 🥳 Wonderful collaboration wt @gautamdey.bsky.social showing how Cryo-ExM achieves consistent immunostaining in diverse diatoms, from the lab and the natural environment 1/n #ProtistsOnSky tinyurl.com/2zxaund7

First neurons didn’t appear overnight. We trace their roots to ancient secretory cells - showing how lifestyle & behavior shaped the evolution of first synapses.🧠🌊 #Evolution #Neuroscience Our latest in @natrevneuro.nature.com Link: rdcu.be/eMX3E @jeffcolgren.bsky.social @msarscentre.bsky.social

The evolutionary origins of synaptic proteins and their changing roles in different organisms across evolution

Nature Reviews Neuroscience - Recent studies have shed further light on the evolutionary origins of chemical synapses, In this Review, Colgren and Burkhardt explore how ancient proteins were...

rdcu.be

What are these? You are looking at embryos of a sea squirt. Each of the 'soap bubbles' is a living cell, about a fourtieth of a millimetre in size. The outlines of the cells are visible thanks to fluorescent markers identified by Hitoyoshi Yasuo @hitoyas.bsky.social see doi.org/10.1101/2024... 🧵

Still can’t quite believe it 💫 I’ve received the L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science “Jeunes Talents” France 2025 award! I’m so deeply honored — this recognition means so much to me, both as a scientist and as a woman who loves research. 💙🔬 1/3

Happy Ctenophore Day! These glowing ocean drifters look like jellyfish but aren’t! They’re comb jellies, shimmering creatures that light up the sea with rows of beating cilia 💙🌈 Which species can you identify? 👀 Most are raised in @pawelburkhardt.bsky.social lab #CtenophoreDay #CombJelly #Ctenophore

Sad news: Jane Goodall has died. She did more than any other human for our understanding and appreciation of our closest relatives, the chimpanzees. That chimpanzees are Endangered tells you everything about our species and about what made her so exceptional. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/01/o...

Jane Goodall, Eminent Primatologist Who Chronicled the Lives of Chimps, Dies at 91

nytimes.com

Fantastic presentation by @malinkjosavik.bsky.social at the Tutzing basal metazoan workshop 👏 She shared her work on starvation and metabolism in Nematostella, conducted in collaboration between the @prhsteinmetz.bsky.social lab and the Dept of Biomedicine @unibergen.bsky.social ✨

Happy to share the Biodiversity Cell Atlas white paper, out today in @nature.com. We look at the possibilities, challenges, and potential impacts of molecularly mapping cells across the tree of life. www.nature.com/articles/s41...