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

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. 🧵

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

Roberto is great ... the project is great ... the food is great ...

RobertoFeuda@robertofeuda.bsky.social · 6d ago

We're hiring 4 postdocs at @unibo.it to study nervous system evolution. Seeking expertise in single-cell genomics, molecular or developmental biology in ctenophores, cnidarians, echinoderms, flies or human stem cells. 2+2 yrs contract. Deadline: 26 Aug. Please share! bandi.unibo.it/s/apos7/proc...

If you are interested in nervous system evolution you may want to read our review with Kei Jokura on nerve nets: "Revisiting nerve nets: functional organization and evolutionary implication" https://link.springer.com/article/10.1038/s44318-026-00879-w […] [Original post on biologists.social]

Lipids build the membranes of all cells, but identifying their precise functions is extremely challenging. Here’s our attempt to change that: How to find and understand lipid-protein interactions, by Katelyn Cook & company. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

'The Decline & Fall of the Human Empire', now in paperback in a land misruled by ignorant warlords. where pestilence scythes its way unchecked across the burning land, and purveyors of knowledge are persecuted like witches. Also, Canada.

No, these images are not AI-generated, not even photoshopped. They do look artificial because there is something artificial about them: the extra 150 ppm of CO2 resulting from human activity, which has irretrievably transformed the world.

Auke-Florian 🪹@aukeflorian.nl · 2w ago

Welcome to the Anthropocene 🔥

Had a lot of fun writing this dispatch article for @currentbiology.bsky.social with PhD student Caitlin Doyle www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti..., highlighting cell morphogenesis and recent work on suctorian growth control principles. 1/3

I'm happy to share our latest on #coral single-cell biology: a transcriptomic timecourse of heat stress in Stylophora pistillata, from bleaching to recovery 🪸🌊 This project was spearheaded by Shani Levy and carried through in @arnausebe.bsky.social's lab at @crg.eu. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Congrats @theeliaslab.bsky.social !!

Salah Elias@theeliaslab.bsky.social · 3w ago

I am delighted to share the final version of our latest study, led by the extraordinary PhD student Jiaoqi Cheng. We developed CenSegNet, a generalist AI framework for large-scale mapping of centrosome phenotypes at both spatial and single-cell resolution. (1/6) www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Look who is starting next door ! Super excited to have @helsenjana.bsky.social at less than 3min walk from my lab ! We are starting to have a "small fish but big teeth" Evolutionary Cell Biology hub at @sciencesunige.bsky.social

Jana Helsen@helsenjana.bsky.social · 3w ago

I am starting my lab at the University of Geneva next January! Incredibly excited to soon be joining the MOCEL department as an Asst. Professor. The lab will use evolutionary cell biology to study chromosomes, centromeres & speciation 🧬🔬🌱 Intrigued, want to join or collaborate? 🔗 helsenlab.org

Very excited to dive into the diversity of FRESHWATER perkinsids of the Masurian Lakeland together with Anna Karnkwoska - supported by a joint grant from the Polish and Czech grant agencies NCN & GAČR! #perkinsids #freshwater #protistsonsky

Anna Karnkowska@ankarn.bsky.social · 3w ago

🎉 Excited to share that Elisabeth Hehenberger and I have been awarded a 🇵🇱🇨🇿 NCN–GAČR grant! We'll explore the diversity, ecology, and interactions of Perkinsea, a fascinating and largely overlooked group of parasitic #protists in #freshwaters. Looking forward to this exciting collaboration!

As always @burnsajohn.bsky.social you are too nice ! It was/is a pleasure working with you mate.

John Burns@burnsajohn.bsky.social · 4w ago

I recently did this interview with NEB covering a lot of the work I've been involved with lately (e.g. @dudinlab.bsky.social) Hopefully there's something interesting in there and nothing too egregious! Some of the work fits #protistsonsky. Enjoy? www.neb.com/en-us/podcas...

Cell-cell junctions are everywhere for whoever wanna find them ! Amazing story. I wonder how many "non-typical" junctions exist outthere !

Gregor Weiss@weiss-lab.bsky.social · 4w ago

Some bacteria do not live as individuals. They build multicellular filaments and connect neighboring cells through tiny cell-cell junctions. Cyanobacteria are among the most beautiful examples 😍 In our new paper, we reveal first molecuar insights on the cyanobacterial septal junction architecture 🧵

Thanks @luisjagago.bsky.social for all your efforts in making this an awesome trip to the team. We can't wait to start expanding and imaging ;)

Luis Javier Galindo@luisjagago.bsky.social · 4w ago

In September we will have the pleasure of hosting Karla and @fmikus.bsky.social from the labs of @dudinlab.bsky.social and @gautamdey.bsky.social. If you are around Granada please join us for their talk! They will present ExÂME, an incredible initiative to build a 3D atlas of protists diversity!

"Fermentation Club" Lab Day.

Discovery of an adhesion GPCR regulating mating in choanoflagellates, by Alain Garcia de las Bayonas & Nicole King. Absolutely stunning work - choano cell biology is going next level www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

A tiny note: we receive many messages every week from people hoping to join the lab. I know how hard the job market is, & I try my best to reply when I can. Plz if you are really interested, check the dedicated page online, read it carefully, and follow the instructions. www.dudinlab.com/contact-1

Research

dudinlab.com

Dear fellow researchers. I think we need to discuss this: www.newscientist.com/article/2532... While peer review is flawed, and while preprints are a great way to share data before publication, as a community we mustn’t trade rigour for hype. This paper was peer reviewed and rejected.

What is 'SpudCell'? Arguably the greatest bioengineering feat yet

A prototype cell partly capable of replicating itself has been created using 36 existing bacterial genes, but it's not really a living organism – yet

newscientist.com

"Our scope room is getting cosy" By: @baukjeje.bsky.social

Honored and delighted to be elected an EMBO Member. A huge thank you to our amazing team, this recognition wouldn't be possible without you. Perfect day to celebrate together during our lab outing! 🎉 - Virginie

EMBO@embo.org · last mo.

Welcome and congratulations to the 60 new members and 11 associate members who have been elected to the EMBO Membership! They join a community of more than 2,200 leading scientists. 🧪 https://www.embo.org/press-releases/seventy-one-leading-scientists-elected-to-the-embo-membership/ #EMBOMembers2026

Happy to see many admired colleagues in here! congrats @audeber.bsky.social @frelab.bsky.social @centriolelab.bsky.social @sulianamanley.bsky.social @minclab.bsky.social @yehumoran.bsky.social @matosches.bsky.social (and many healthily offline ones)

EMBO@embo.org · last mo.

Welcome and congratulations to the 60 new members and 11 associate members who have been elected to the EMBO Membership! They join a community of more than 2,200 leading scientists. 🧪 https://www.embo.org/press-releases/seventy-one-leading-scientists-elected-to-the-embo-membership/ #EMBOMembers2026

1/11 🤩Sooooo happy to see this work on a new new group #algae. Looks like #centrohelids - predatory ancient eukaryotic lineage sometimes harbor vertically-inherited plastids from #dictyochophytes. Amazing work, @annewalraven.bsky.social, glad to be on board! More below:

Anne Walraven@annewalraven.bsky.social · last mo.

Very excited that the preprint of the main paper of my PhD is now out! We show that Meringosphaera is the first centrohelid with permanent plastids: doi.org/10.64898/202... @zlatogursky.bsky.social, @pjkeelinglab.bsky.social, prof. Rachel A. Foster, and @fburki.bsky.social #protistsonsky

I wanted to like QED's new 1% preprint ranking. I really did. But the more I looked at the data, the more uncomfortable it made me. Here is my full peer review. open.substack.com/pub/blekhman...

My Peer Review of The 1%

I wanted to like QED's new 1% ranking. I don't.

open.substack.com

We are defnietly at the *Fuck* phase.

Gale Sinatra@galesinatra.bsky.social · last mo.

I think we just passed oops.

Archaeaophiles! Last chance to sign up as a virtual attendee for MBoA2026. It’s cheap and you will have access to all the talks include our archaea@50 celebration with a special guest: meetings.embo.org/event/26-arc...

I had a ton of fun the other day talking with @nonresidentdesi.bsky.social and @scifri.bsky.social 's Flora Lichtman and Rasha Aridi about murderous microbes and the things that we are trying to learn from them. Happy for the opportunity to bring some new awareness to the world of protists!

Science Friday@scifri.bsky.social · last mo.

Researchers like Ben Larson and Glen D’Souza are piecing together the world of killer microbes, including why they turn on each other and if their tiny weapons could be harnessed to fight disease. Listen to the podcast now: www.sciencefriday.com/segments/kil...

Happy to finally share that I will be starting my independent group at the @fmiscience.bsky.social in Feb 2027 in a vibrant new environment. We will use integrative in situ structural cell biology methods to investigate ciliary structure and dynamics in several model (and non-model 👀) systems!!