Ian Henderson
@hendersi.bsky.social
Plant genetics and epigenetics @ University of Cambridge, Department of Plant Sciences
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
Testing Weismann’s germ plasm theory in Arabidopsis www.cell.com/current-biol... super nice lineage tracing work - do plants have a germline? @currentbiology.bsky.social
cell.com
We have been cooking up this story for a while and we are excited to finally be able to share! Read on if you're interested in whole plant regeneration WITHOUT the application of hormones!
Having a hard time keeping up with the fast-moving field of origin of eukaryotes/Asgards archaea? Our new perspective article can help, we review the status of research over the last decade and where it's going. The archaeal roots of eukaryotic life www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Why do the chromosomes of cyperids (sedges & rushes) split and fuse so regularly on evolutionary timescales? Is it because they have so many centromeres? Our new preprint, the first major paper of my PhD, addresses this question. 🧵⬇️ 1/12 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Thank you to my co-authors: @marcelauliano.bsky.social, @charlottewright.bsky.social, @hendersi.bsky.social, Sam Ebdon, @kamilsjaron.bsky.social & Mark Blaxter. Finally, this would not have been possible without the Darwin Tree of Life sequencing & assembly teams @sangerinstitute.bsky.social! 🧵12/12
Exciting News! 🚀 Registration Open! | Loke CTR Annual Meeting 2026 🎉 📅 16-17 July 2026 📍 St John’s College, Cambridge | 💻 Hybrid conference (in-person & online) 🔬 Epigenetics of embryogenesis and placentation 📌 To find out more and to register www.trophoblast.cam.ac.uk/ctrconferenc...
A new study in #GENETICS from @hendersi.bsky.social’s group explores how natural variation in #Arabidopsis influences centromere-proximal crossover frequency and segregation distortion when #centromeres are heterozygous. buff.ly/Ev5Xrro
Come celebrate our Anniversary Day in Edinburgh, 25 & 26 June! Join us for talks from our Honorary Members, Prize & Medal winners, and our Summer Students. Programme & registration details: genetics.org.uk/events/anniv...
Manchester Institute of Biotechnology is looking for a new Professor. There are a few priority areas including microbial engineering (broadly defined, from pathways to cells to microbiomes). Closing 12 Jan. Join us in the best city in the UK 😜 www.jobs.manchester.ac.uk/Job/JobDetai...
Professorial Appointment within the Manchester Institute of Biotechnology:Manchester Institute of Biotechnology
Applications are invited for a professorial appointment to be based in the Manchester Institute of Biotechnology (MIB) at the University of Manchester (UoM). The successful candidate will join a dynamic research environment at an exciting time and will help shape the institute research priorities and national/international profile. We are open to high quality applications from across the broad engineering biology and biotechnology landscape. Specific areas of interest include but are not limited to chemical biology of disease related proteins, natural product biosynthesis and enzyme discovery; structural biology and mechanistic enzymology; and microbial engineering.
jobs.manchester.ac.uk
Read more about the projects: www.cam.ac.uk/research/new...
Eight Cambridge researchers awarded €17 million in ERC Consolidator Grants
Funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe programme will support promising mid-career scientists to pursue creative research ideas across a broad range
cam.ac.uk
Interesting study suggesting that nucleus, cytoskeleton, and endomembranes preceded acquisition of mitochondria, during eukaryogenesis www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Dated gene duplications elucidate the evolutionary assembly of eukaryotes - Nature
Analysis of eukaryotic gene sequences using a relaxed molecular clock methodology indicate that eukaryotes emerged 3.0–2.25 billion years ago as a result of mitochondrial endosymbiosis with complex ar...
nature.com
Rapid compensatory evolution within a multiprotein complex preserves telomere integrity www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... @levine-lab.bsky.social very cool work
Rapid compensatory evolution within a multiprotein complex preserves telomere integrity
Intragenomic conflict with selfish genetic elements spurs adaptive changes in subunits of essential multiprotein complexes. Whether and how these adaptive changes disrupt interactions within such comp...
science.org
A new and fascinating story from @bencarty.bsky.social and the group, with crucial help from the teams of @naltemose.bsky.social, Simona Giunta, and @dfachinetti.bsky.social. Many thanks to all for a fantastic collaboration. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
What a nice coincidence to have Kelly Dawe present his work on karyotype engineering for todays seminar @thesainsburylab.bsky.social @johninnescentre.bsky.social
Maddy Seale@maddyseale.bsky.social · 9mo agoAnd now we have Arabidopsis plants with 8 chromosomes instead of 10 and no obvious phenotypic differences, this week in @science.org #PlantScience Paper here: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... Perspective here: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Genetics Society Anniversary Day 25-26th June, Edinburgh genetics.org.uk/events/anniv... Society Prize Winners: Hilary Martin, Joe Felsenstein, Richard Durbin, Zam Iqbal Honorary Members: Brian Charlesworth, Deborah Charlesworth, Kay Davies, Paul Nurse, David Sherratt, Veronica van Heyningen
Anniversary Day 2026 | Genetics Society
We will celebrate the Genetics Society Anniversary Day in Edinburgh, June 25th-26th, 2026. The event will celebrate with talks from our Honorary Members, 2026 Prize and Medal winners, and Summer Stud...
genetics.org.uk
CRISPR-Cas–mediated heritable chromosome fusions in Arabidopsis | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... Very nice work from Holger Puchta & colleagues
CRISPR-Cas–mediated heritable chromosome fusions in Arabidopsis
The genome of Arabidopsis thaliana consists of 10 chromosomes. By inducing CRISPR-Cas–mediated breaks at subcentromeric and subtelomeric sequences, we fused entire chromosome arms, obtaining two eight...
science.org
Nobel Prize winner Svante Pääbo giving the Genetics Society public lecture at @crick.ac.uk. Svante is recounting how Neandertals and Denisovans live on in many of us!
Congratulations @hilarycmartin.bsky.social from @sangerinstitute.bsky.social on being awarded the 2026 Balfour Lecture!
Congratulations to @zaminiqbal.bsky.social from @milnerevolution.bsky.social on being awarded the 2026 Mary Lyon Medal!
Congratulations to @vinuesalab.bsky.social from @crick.ac.uk on winning the 2026 JBS Haldane Lecture. Carola will present her JBS Haldane Lecture next year at @rigb.org!
