this is how I look when I zone out
Smiling Puffer Fish in the Ocean
Alt: Smiling Puffer Fish in the Ocean
static.klipy.com
Professor Mary J O'Connell
@evol-molly.bsky.social
Evolutionary Biologist, Mammals, Phylogenies, Comparative Genomics, Art and Running
Our paper on how better amino acid substitution matrices trained on cleaned alignments improve gene tree inference, and on best practice for cleaning MSAs more broadly, is now out academic.oup.com/mbe/advance-.... New options in both IQTree and Muscle5. @phylowheeler.bsky.social
Improved gene tree inference from removing alignment errors both from focal genes and when training substitution models
Abstract. Multiple Sequence Alignment (MSA) is a key step in phylogenetic analysis and is prone to error. Unfortunately, algorithms that remove likely alig
academic.oup.com
Joanna Masel@joannamasel.bsky.social · 8mo agoSequence alignments are notoriously prone to error. Our latest preprint offers a new tool for filtering errors out, assesses it and other filtering tools, and recommends new best practice. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... @phylowheeler.bsky.social 1/10
Sperm whales rest in an unusual position, sleeping vertically underwater. In their recent paper, Freymond & co show that the whales blow bubbles in their sleep to keep themselves from shooting to the surface, letting them sleep soundly beneath the waves doi.org/10.1242/jeb....
Hot off the press @official-smbe.bsky.social MBE - a phylum-wide assessment to systematically evaluate, refine, and revise current understanding of the evolutionary dynamics of the #arthropod moulting genetic toolkit! academic.oup.com/mbe/advance-...
Evolutionary dynamics of the arthropod moulting machinery
Abstract. Exoskeletons define arthropods, providing support for segmented bodies and appendages while protecting against environmental stress and predation
academic.oup.com
Our new genome annotation method relies almost entirely on transcriptome and alignment evidence, and as a result outperforms pretty much all other de novo pipelines. Check out the just-published paper led by Aleksey Zimin: rdcu.be/frSOg
Efficient evidence-based genome annotation with EviAnn
Nature Methods - EviAnn surpasses existing genome annotation methods by leveraging gene expression and protein sequence homology evidence to achieve higher accuracy and efficiency.
rdcu.be
Evolution of genomes drives me. So does social justice. Had a blast speaking on LINE1s creating novelty in sloths genomes and Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Challenges to sequence all life on Earth with and for the benefit of all at #SMBE2026 Paper at: link.springer.com/article/10.1...
#SMBE2026 — A wake‑up call Moisés Expósito‑Alonso showed the hard truth: genetic diversity is collapsing, and global policy is still treating it as optional. Species have already lost >10% of their genetic variation — the very engine of adaptation and survival.
We hope you enjoy the latest paper from Dr Alan Beavan and the @ribocode.bsky.social team, with many thanks to the @ukri.org for BBSRC sLoLa funding: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Constructive neutral evolution explains the emergence of specialised ribosomes in diverse eukaryotes.
Throughout eukaryotic evolution, the structure of the ribosome has been highly conserved, featuring 80 common protein gene families. However, in many eukaryotes, paralogs of these proteins are present...
biorxiv.org
This is a small painting I made several years ago after visiting Algonquin Provincial Park in Ontario Algonquin Sunset 12x12 acrylic on canvas
At the university of Melbourne with my @leverhulme.ac.uk personal fellowship award. I will be giving a research seminar here on Thursday at noon if you are about and/or want to hear more!:)
Female birds more likely to sing when extended family help Territoriality modulates the coevolution of cooperative breeding and female song in songbirds🧪 www.nature.com/articles/s41... Cooperative breeding shapes the evolution of vocal communication differently based on territorial context and sex
We are recruiting ! ... the second PhD position available with us at University of Manchester: www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
MicroRNA evolution and the genetic basis of placental phenotypic diversity across mammals at The University of Manchester on FindAPhD.com
PhD Project - MicroRNA evolution and the genetic basis of placental phenotypic diversity across mammals at The University of Manchester, listed on FindAPhD.com
findaphd.com
Come join us for a PhD at the University of Manchester :
Defining the landscape of stop codon readthrough across vertebrate genomes at The University of Manchester on FindAPhD.com
PhD Project - Defining the landscape of stop codon readthrough across vertebrate genomes at The University of Manchester, listed on FindAPhD.com
findaphd.com
Application deadline this Monday!
Fiona J Whelan@whelanfj.bsky.social · 6mo ago📣 2026 PhD studentship 📣 Via @manchester.ac.uk 's President's Doctoral Scholar Awards, we are encouraging applications for a PhD on the effect of pollutant exposure on microbe-immune cross talk. This project will incorporate microbiology, immunology, & bioinformatics. Deadline: 16 March 2026!
Offering a few free commissions to improve my sci comm skills & portfolio. I can do hand-painted illustrations for figures, design infographics, and even sound design and music for research promotion or podcasts. jenisidwell.com #sciencecommunication #marinemammals #lifesciences #datavisualization
If you are looking for activities to do for the #BritishScienceWeek, take a look at our “How are proteins made?” from RiboCode sLoLa project. Designed for schools in the UK and Ireland, ages 7-11 (~KS2/Second to Fifth Class/P4-7). Download the free resources and enjoy:) ribocode.org/resources/
Emerling, @freddelsuc.bsky.social et al. investigated candidate genes related to dentition, gustation, and mastication in nine convergent myrmecophagous mammalian lineages, finding that convergent evolution of myrmecophagy was a protracted process. 🔗 doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msag009 #evobio #molbio
Pseudogenes document protracted parallel regression of oral anatomy in myrmecophagous mammals
Abstract. Adaptation to ant and/or termite consumption (myrmecophagy) in mammals constitutes a textbook example of convergent evolution, being independentl
doi.org
Reflecting on what has been a thought provoking and enjoyable experience at my first SBS research away day today at UoManchester. First up was a fantastic talk from @whelanfj.bsky.social and the day just kept on giving! Feeling hugely excited for what is to come in my new academic home :)
Join the online course "A Hands-on Course in Bayesian Modelling and Evolutionary Analysis using RevBayes" from April 21-24. More details at https://www.physalia-courses.org/courses-workshops/bayesian-phylogenetics/. #course
A hands-on course in Bayesian modelling and evolutionary analysis using RevBayes
21-24 April 2026
physalia-courses.org
Leverhulme Early Career Fellow, Dr Katherine Davey, conducts new research @manmetuni.bsky.social offering the first national picture of how inequalities emerge for academically successful working-class women. media.leverhulme.ac.uk/feature/kdavey
Degrees of opportunity? Working-class women’s lives beyond the elite university
Employing innovatively creative methods, Katherine Davey’s research interrogates the nuanced relationship between social class and gender, offering the first national picture of how inequalities emerg...
media.leverhulme.ac.uk
Congratulations to Eilidh Ward (first author and PhD student co-supervised by co-authors Julie Aspden, David Westhead and yours truly) on this lovely contribution - a method to visually inspect reads from novel open reading frames: doi.org/10.1093/bioa...
InspectorORF: a tool for visualising Ribo-Seq and additional genomic or transcriptomic data
AbstractMotivation. The advent of ribosome profiling (an adaptation of RNA sequencing) to determine the translatome, has led to a huge improvement in our u
doi.org
Join us at the Evolutionary Biology Centre at Uppsala University. We’re searching for an Assistant Professor in Biology. www.uu.se/en/about-uu/...
Pre-announcement ... keep an eye out for news of our upcoming #Biodiversity #Bioinformatics Summer School 21-26 June in Germany co-organised by @sib.swiss & @denbi.bsky.social ... sign up to the mailing list to be sure not to miss it! www.sib.swiss/training/upc...
Upcoming training courses
The SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics is an academic not-for-profit organization whose mission is to lead and coordinate the field of bioinformatics in Switzerland.
sib.swiss
The abstract submission deadline (Jan 31st) for the 2026 Mathematical and Computational Evolutionary Biology Meeting on Crete mceb2026.sciencesconf.org is this Saturday!
Last chance to apply for our funded PhD opportunity. w. Prof. Fredric Coulon @ Cranfield University. This will investigate expansion of ML models for AMR phenotype detection to agriculture settings to create a sensor-ready hit list. Detail here: www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
From Genomic Context to Sensor Design: Computational Identification of AMR Biomarkers in Agriculture (project at Queen's University Belfast) at University of Reading on FindAPhD.com
PhD Project - From Genomic Context to Sensor Design: Computational Identification of AMR Biomarkers in Agriculture (project at Queen's University Belfast) at University of Reading, listed on FindAPhD....
findaphd.com
📣 Please spread: we’re hiring a Lab Manager! It is a critical position in our new lab. As our lab moves to Barcelona and joins the @crg.eu, we’re looking for a Lab Manager to help build the lab and set the lab atmosphere. 🔗 Apply here 👉 recruitment.crg.eu/content/jobs...
A new study by Philip Leverhulme Prize Winner Harrison Steel, @gabriel-abrahams.bsky.social and others has proved for the first time that it is possible to deliberately engineer quantum mechanical processes occurring inside a protein, and use these to create new sensing technologies.
Gabriel Abrahams@gabriel-abrahams.bsky.social · 7mo agoOur research on magneto-sensitive fluorescent proteins and some of their applications has now been published! Huge thank you to the many many people involved in making this happen. 🧪 www.nature.com/articles/s41...
The submission deadline (Jan 31st) for the 2026 Mathematical and Computational Evolutionary Biology Meeting in Crete mceb2026.sciencesconf.org is getting closer!
