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. 🧵

www.science.org/content/blog...

The Assault On Science Funding Continues

science.org

Strong and correct statement about the new „science strategy“ in the U.S. published in Science www.science.org/content/blog...

Insect larvae in >200m depth! www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Crush-resistant air sacs allow insect larvae to exploit aquatic habitats at extreme depth

The absence of aquatic insects from pelagic marine habitats has been attributed to their air-filled tracheal respiratory system, which could implode at depth while undertaking diel vertical migrations...

science.org

**1/7** 🔥 New paper out in Evolution! How predictable is genome evolution? Over the past decade, my work has explored both directions of evolution: the rise of biological complexity and the genomic simplification that accompanies parasitism. lnkd.in/dRnuX-we 🧵👇

Check this amazing presentation by Tommy Leung on underwater mosquito nets and more :-)

Veeloxxy Bites@the-episiarch.bsky.social · 4w ago

I gave a presentation about the weird and wonderful world of parasitic crustaceans for the Malibu Divers. I talked about parasitic barnacles, tongue-biter parasites, monstrous copepods, and more! 🧪 You can check out the recording here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FTf...

From single-celled organisms to ciliated epithelia in metazoans, precise positioning of basal bodies (BBs), which anchor motile cilia, is essential for generating fluid flows. Here, I, @raghavan-thiaga.bsky.social, will take you on a brief tour of how cells build this spatial organization.

RNA can build. A short RNA self-assembles into a 60-subunit icosahedral cage like a viral capsid, but made entirely of RNA. The striking preprint also reveals a 57-nt RNA filament at ~2.7 Å. Congratulations, Lin Huang and colleagues! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Had a bunch of fun presenting our work on ancient RNA #paleotranscriptomics with @lovedalen.bsky.social @marmole6.bsky.social @maridehasque.bsky.social and may more at #SMBE2026

Taking a break after an amazing #ICP2026 in Stockholm with the great team of @arcecogen.bsky.social, before heading to #SMBE2026 in Copenhagen (#noflysmbe) tomorrow: looking forward to this!! #aRNA #paleotranscriptomics

#ICP2026 @marmole6.bsky.social presenting ancientRNA Talk number 3 beautifully summarizing the young field of paleotranscriptomics and showing off the cool 🦣Mammoth RNA paper we published earlier 💪🏻

#ICP2026 Very proud of PhD student Vanessa presenting her work on the RNA of a 41000 year old moth!

I know it seems like a heretical idea, but one way to figure out if a preprint is really interesting (to you) is... to read the preprint. Then, in the spirit of sharing, send a note to authors: a simple kudos or a more detailed question. I do this a dozen times a year. It's awesome. Try it.

Great presentation by @marcfriedlander.bsky.social day 1 at #icp2026 given a primer for ancient RNA and outlook for things to come (!!!!)

So happy and proud to see this paper out in @natcomms.nature.com today! We show that traces of human DNA can persist on cave walls for thousands of years. Absolutely fantastic work by the wonderful Alba Bossoms Mesa at @mpi-eva-leipzig.bsky.social and a great team! www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Investigating ancient human DNA preservation on cave walls and in rock art - Nature Communications

Ancient DNA can be preserved on materials from archaeological floor deposits such as bones, sediments and artifacts. Here, the authors investigate whether Palaeolithic wall art can preserve human DNA ...

nature.com

To all PhDs and PostDocs out there :-)

Yasin Dagdas@plantophagy.bsky.social · last mo.

The academic hiring system is simply not designed for candidates like me. It privileges a kind of performative intellectualism—the ability to stand at a whiteboard and extemporize about science as if you were some kind of 19th-century naturalist 😂 😂 😂 open.substack.com/pub/inprepar...

#icp2026 Kicks off with exciting program ahead. It will also include some cool #ancientRNA talks by @marcfriedlander.bsky.social, our PhD student Vanessa and @marmole6.bsky.social

🧬 Explore the world of microRNAs! Join our online course (6–9 Oct) with @frommlab.bsky.social and learn about small RNA-seq analysis, microRNA annotation, and curation using real datasets and best-practice workflows. From raw reads to validated microRNA candidates! #Bioinformatics #Genomics #RNAseq

Beautiful field-day to the Steindalsbreen Glacier 90min away from Tromsø with @arcecogen.bsky.social. Enjoying this breath-taking Nature, we were discussing the shocking retreat of the glacier, upcoming proposals, local flora and geology (plus some sampling for genome projects!).

Please spread the word! Only three more days to sign up! Join me and other sea monst-orians in exploring sea monsters in literature, film, and more. We also earn about the creatures of the deep (spoiler: They're not monsters) See link below. I hope to see you there! bit.ly/SummerSeaMon...

From 500 views in the first two months to over 100,000 views in the last few days. The ADA opinion piece that was too scary to be distributed at the ADA meeting has gone full Streisand. Y'all are doing the Lord's work.

Last year we collected samples in Naples @szndohrn.bsky.social and briefly chatted about a possible project together, this year Riccardo was invited by @uitnorgesarktiske.bsky.social and we are working on a proposal together!! #Tunicata #RNA #Museomics

Curious new paper entitled "miRNA modules for precise, tunable control of gene expression": Molecular Cell www.cell.com/molecular-ce...

miRNA modules for precise, tunable control of gene expression

Du et al. engineered compact, synthetic microRNA circuits that exploit multispecific miRNA targeting to enable uniform, tunable protein expression across broad gene dosages. These modular circuits sup...

cell.com

This is such a beautiful paper.

Thiago Carvalho@cyrilpedia.bsky.social · 2mo ago

'If a control experiment fails, does that mean that the entire experiment is poorly designed and you must restart from scratch? Often, yes— but not always. I present five examples where failed control experiments triggered entirely new fields of research.' link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Just arrived in Florence for CETAF59 @eurotaxonomy.cetaf.org and I am looking forward to present The Arctic University Museum of Norway as a new member! cetaf.org/cetaf59-gene...

CETAF59 to take place in Florence - Consortium of European Taxonomic Facilities - CETAF

CETAF59 will bring together the European taxonomic community to discuss strategy implementation, research collaboration, collections, and future initiatives.

cetaf.org

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

0/ 💡💡💡Had one of those slightly weird moments reading something today. Two seemingly very different research traditions—starting from opposite directions—appear to be converging on almost the same conclusion about one of biology’s biggest questions: How do genomes generate phenotypes? 👇🧵

Very happy that my article „A renaissance of microRNAs as taxonomic and phylogenetic markers in animals“ is among the top 10% read articles in 2024 of Zoologica Scripta @wiley.com onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

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