Manuel Irimia
@mirimiam.bsky.social
ICREA Evolutionary Biologist working on transcriptomics of development and evolution at @upf.edu and @crg.eu. Coordinator of the @evomg-bcn.bsky.social Joint Program. Lab website: http://transdevolab.com
Wow! A fourth class of transmissible cancers. CONTAGIOUS FISH MELANOMA, discovered in Lake Memphremagog (Vermont / Quebec) 🎣 🧬 😷 www.nature.com/articles/s41... @uvmvermont.bsky.social
Brown bullhead catfish melanoma represents a novel transmissible cancer - Nature
Whole-genome sequencing analysis of tumour and matched non-tumour host tissues of the brown bullhead catfish reveals a type of naturally occurring transmissible cancer.
nature.com
What happens if you delete large intronic regions? In human tissue culture cells, we found many deletions that decrease growth and some that increase it. In most cases, deletion affected expression or splicing of the gene. www.cell.com/cell-reports... 1/3
A genome-wide functional analysis of conserved intronic regions reveals essential roles for speckle-associated retained introns
Farhangmehr et al. investigate functions of highly conserved intronic sequences in cell fitness using a CRISPR-based deletion screen. Deletions in FNBP4 intron lead to changes in p53 pathway genes. De...
cell.com
🚨 Early Bird registration and abstract submission deadline for #SEBD2026 extended!! 📅 Early registration and abstract submission deadline: 10th July 📅 Scholarship application deadline: 29th June www.sebd2026.com #SEBD #DevBio @sebioldev.bsky.social 👇👇👇
Paying peer reviewers Interview with @danielgorelick.bsky.social about @biologyopen.bsky.social Fast & Fair trial in which peer reviewers were paid £220/review Spoiler: it works - fast, high quality reviews www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Why paying peer reviewers works, according to a journal’s editor-in-chief
A biology journal that paid peer reviewers found that the approach cut the time to a first editorial decision by 85% and maintained high-quality reviews.
nature.com
Very excited to finally share my PhD! 🎉 Our paper, “Neuronal microexons modulate arousal via the cAMP-PKA-CREB pathway in zebrafish,” is now published in Science Advances. Many thanks to all of my co-authors, and especially to @mirimiam.bsky.social! 📄 www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Neuronal microexons modulate arousal via the cAMP-PKA-CREB pathway in zebrafish
Loss of the conserved splicing factor for neuronal microexons disrupts neuromodulatory signaling and drives hyperarousal.
science.org
🦟 Why don’t viruses kill the mosquitoes that transmit them? 🔬 A study reveals how these insects coexist with viruses such as dengue and Zika, and what this can teach us about their spread and control. Learn more: https://tuit.cat/uu8EJ @melisupf.bsky.social
Thank you to organisers to James Hombría and Antónia Monteiro @monteirolab.bsky.social and everyone who joined us at this week's Workshop on 'Novelty, Co-option and Divergence During Gene Network Evolution' biologists.com/workshops #BiologistsWorkshops
Our paper "Gene ancestries reveal diverse microbial associations during eukaryogenesis.” is finally out in Nature. Eukaryogenesis was likely a gradual process shaped by multiple microbial partners and virus-mediated gene transfer, rather than a single binary symbiosis. doi.org/10.1038/s415...
61 species, 13 phyla, one simple geometric rule that appears to set when every embryo starts speaking through its own genome. 🧬 Panagiotis Giannios highlights a recent #preprint from @mirimiam.bsky.social & collaborators. #EvolutionaryBiology #preLight: prelights.biologists.com/highlights/e...
Evolutionary landscapes of zygotic genome activation across animals - preLights
61 species, 13 phyla, one simple geometric rule that appears to set when every embryo starts speaking through its own genome.
prelights.biologists.com
Fin-catching prelight on @mirimiam.bsky.social et al.'s preprint on the animal zoo 🐟🧬
preLights@prelights.bsky.social · 2mo ago61 species, 13 phyla, one simple geometric rule that appears to set when every embryo starts speaking through its own genome. 🧬 Panagiotis Giannios highlights a recent #preprint from @mirimiam.bsky.social & collaborators. #EvolutionaryBiology #preLight: prelights.biologists.com/highlights/e...
We had a great seminar by Duncan Odom @odomlab.bsky.social today about mutagenesis and cancer evolution!
Huge congrats to the CRG's Mafalda Dias for being one of eight finalists for the 2026 Premio Vanguardia de la Ciencia, one of Spain's most visible science prizes. Voting is open now and closes on Sunday 28 June at 23:59 (peninsular time).
La IA mejora el estudio de las enfermedades raras
Vota a las finalistas del premio Vanguardia de la Ciencia
lavanguardia.com
1\ Excited to finally share some of my PhD work: OpenSplice! We measured how >590,000 mutations affect exon inclusion across 600 human exons, creating a resource to study splicing regulation, benchmark variant effect predictors, and support variant interpretation.
bioRxiv Genomics@biorxiv-genomic.bsky.social · 2mo agoOpenSplice: the impact of half a million mutations on the alternative splicing of 600 human exons https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.05.22.727141v1
New preprint! In an fun collaboration with @imaeso.bsky.social and @mirimiam.bsky.social led by Manu F-M, we set to explore the potential adaptation of transposable elements 👾 to host adenine DNA methylation by recruiting prokaryotic DAM methyltransferases: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6.... 1/6
biorxiv.org
🧬 New research from the Burga lab! We took a closer look at a rogue selfish protein and caught evolution in the act of turning something old into something radically new 💡 (a.k.a. neofunctionalization) @imbavienna.bsky.social www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... Curious? Here’s a breakdown:
Excited to share our new study on CpG islands (CGIs) regulation by transcription factors (TFs)! CGIs drive most transcription initiation with unclear regulation. We find that chromatin-opening TFs are key players—following a surprisingly simple rule. 🧵 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... 1/9
biorxiv.org
Exhausted but extremely happy for the two past days of very exciting Science! The EvoDevOmics Spanish Network gathered together in BCN to discuss about evodevo & omics, lots of great talks, discussions and future collaborations. 🤩 #evodevo
Amazing couple of days enjoying & discussing science in the best possible company during the Barcelona meeting of the 'EvoDevOmics Network', funded by @ageinves.bsky.social. Really happy to see how the EvoDevo community in Spain is thriving & fostering a fantastic new generation of PhDs & Postdocs.
What should Europe do when demand for #ERC funding keeps rising? Restrict access or invest in excellence? Please read our open letter calling for reconsideration of the ERC 2027 resubmission restrictions & for constructive alternatives that preserve openness Consider to share & sign - see below 🧪
#erc | Johanna Joyce
What should Europe do when demand for its most successful frontier research programme keeps rising? Restrict access, or invest in the excellence it has created? A new open letter, spearheaded by Sara...
linkedin.com
Really cool work ! Love the strong scaling of ZGA timing to genome size and egg volume. It's so simple and elegant. Highlights the strength of taking a comparative approach
Manuel Irimia@mirimiam.bsky.social · 4mo agoThrilled to present our comparative study on the evolution of zygotic genome activation (ZGA)!! 🥚🧬 Amazing PhD work of @campobes.bsky.social together with @fedemantica.bsky.social and many collaborators! @melisupf.bsky.social @crg.eu. Thread below 1/15 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Do you want to know when your favorite species activates its genome? Just input its genome size (🧬 in bp) and egg volumen (🥚 in um3) here! ZGA_onset = -2.37 * log10(gDNA/EggVol) + 11.74
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media.tenor.com
Manuel Irimia@mirimiam.bsky.social · 4mo agoThen, what determines ZGA onset?? We correlated multiple genomic, developmental and ecological features with ZGA timing and, cutting to the chase, we found that the log ratio of genome size vs. egg volume very strongly scaled negatively with ZGA onset in cell cycles! 7/15
This fits the general principle of ZGA being triggered by a 'universal' Genome: Cytoplasm ratio across animals! - and thus a highly conserved mechanism involving titration of a maternal cytoplasmic factor on chromatin.
Manuel Irimia@mirimiam.bsky.social · 4mo agoThen, what determines ZGA onset?? We correlated multiple genomic, developmental and ecological features with ZGA timing and, cutting to the chase, we found that the log ratio of genome size vs. egg volume very strongly scaled negatively with ZGA onset in cell cycles! 7/15
So, by providing staged embryo mRNA for this beautiful wide comparative study, we now know that zygotic gene activation in Clytia occurs in the early blastula with 512 cells, at around 5hpf (Here termed ZGA cell cycle 9).
Manuel Irimia@mirimiam.bsky.social · 4mo agoThrilled to present our comparative study on the evolution of zygotic genome activation (ZGA)!! 🥚🧬 Amazing PhD work of @campobes.bsky.social together with @fedemantica.bsky.social and many collaborators! @melisupf.bsky.social @crg.eu. Thread below 1/15 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
“Here, we generated a comprehensive transcriptomic atlas of early embryogenesis from 61 animal species, spanning 13 phyla. By applying a unified computational framework, we systematically inferred the timing of ZGA across species.” This is a big one from @mirimiam.bsky.social et al. 🔥🧪
Manuel Irimia@mirimiam.bsky.social · 4mo agoThrilled to present our comparative study on the evolution of zygotic genome activation (ZGA)!! 🥚🧬 Amazing PhD work of @campobes.bsky.social together with @fedemantica.bsky.social and many collaborators! @melisupf.bsky.social @crg.eu. Thread below 1/15 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Thrilled to present our comparative study on the evolution of zygotic genome activation (ZGA)!! 🥚🧬 Amazing PhD work of @campobes.bsky.social together with @fedemantica.bsky.social and many collaborators! @melisupf.bsky.social @crg.eu. Thread below 1/15 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
biorxiv.org
A terrible, unfair solution to a real, pressing problem.
Dr Ino Agrafioti@inoagrafioti.bsky.social · 4mo agoI don’t know if you saw the MASSIVE news announced by @erc.europa.eu today: from now on, if you get a B at step 1 you are eligible to apply at N+3(!!!) years. Say you got a B in STG2026 step 1, you thought you could apply in STG2028, but no: only in STG2029! erc.europa.eu/news-events/...
We’ve reopened the call for a PhD position with Juana Diez at @melisupf.bsky.social within the EVOMG-DN project. 🧬 Viral Codon Usage: A Novel Readout of Virus Evolution and Host Interaction 🗓 Deadline: 10 May 2026 👉 Apply here: www.evomg-dn.eu/call-for-app...
Alu repeats have played important roles in the evolution of (alternative) splicing via exonization and in other ways. In this paper, we show that they mediate interactions across exons to loop them out. Alus inserted this way in evolution render exons alternative. bit.ly/4t8Yahh 1/2
Alu-mediated RNA duplexes are associated with widespread exon skipping across primate transcriptomes - Genome Biology
Alternative splicing patterns have diverged rapidly during vertebrate evolution. By integrating genome-wide predictions of stable RNA duplexes, alternative splicing profiles, and proximity ligation-de...
bit.ly
🚨 Job Alert - Please share! 🙏 Interested in 3D gene regulation in development & evolution? 🤓🧬 💥 Our lab at @cabd-upo-csic.bsky.social is expanding! We’re recruiting: ✅ PhD students ✅ Postdocs 💻🧪 Experimental or computational backgrounds welcome 👇 Details below
