Well. This will provoke some discussion. Given that MRC was actively recruiting new board members 6 months ago, boards which all have now been abolished, I am worried about the amount of thought that has gone into this new approach, that marks a sea-change in funding. So many questions...

Job alert: open position for a Professor or Associate Professor of Computational Genomics in Health and Disease at University College London. Based in the Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment of UCL, and UGI, and funded by the UCL Health Strategy. www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/... 🧪

Another update from #UKRI CEO on #UKsciencefunding #UKRI www.ukri.org/news/ukri-ce... No new information and fails to address/explain the severe funding rate cuts taking place at MRC for the round currently under review (Sept2025). That's 2025/26 budget so should *not* be affected by SR.

This week, two of our PhD students successfully passed their PhD VIVA! Congratulations Dr. Zoe Mitchell and Dr. Martina Demurtas! We are so proud of you both!

We are in EMBO J. See DNA and non-octameric nucleosome-like particles in situ link.springer.com/article/10.1...

My goodness 😞

So now we have it- not only the reduction from 12-13 to 3 grants from each board recommended for funding but the budget for applicant-led research to be reduced from £200 million to £113 million per year. This is appalling, Especially given all that is happening with medical research in the US.

Genomic clues to the origin of eukaryotic cells www.nature.com/articles/d41...

I watched much of Ian Chapman's (Head of @ukri.org) appearance this morning at @ukparliament.parliament.uk Science, Innovation and Technology Committee.. A few points and new information that bioscientists may find interesting... A 🧵

Leaks everywhere and finally we get an official statement, one that somehow manages to say a lot while; No timelines. No clarity. No acknowledgement of impact on ECRs whose careers depend UKRI funding. “Later this year” isn’t a plan. And the sector deserves better than reassurance without detail.

I worry this is going to kill a lot of careers. Mine being one of them. But beyond the selfish...there's going to be a whole generation of scientists who are not going to be able to support their careers, this is going to affect UK research in a big way...

1 budget for 26-30 is rising 🎉 2 quota for basic research stable 🙂 BUT 3 we're slashing success rate for currently assessed grants 🫠 4 next call hopefully in Apri 2027 (with £s for lucky few going out months later, suppose) 💀 How does this make us more competitive? www.ukri.org/news/open-le...

Today, we're sharing an open letter from our Chief Executive, Professor Sir Ian Chapman, outlining changes to UKRI investment approach, and addressing concerns about research funding and the financial position of STFC. Read his letter here: www.ukri.org/news/open-le...

This UKRI situation is batshit insane.

New preprint from the lab! We dig into the regulatory roles of TEs in the mouse placenta, with some surprising findings. Led by the awesome @smamante.bsky.social. Particular kudos to him for navigating the many twists and turns of the project.

Check out our new findings showing BRD4's role in preventing the premature activation of developmental transcription factors via #Polycomb, providing new mechanistic insights into the pathogenesis of neurodevelopmental disorder #CdLS #NDDs, #chromatinopathies www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Academics vying for a spot in Epstein‘s world. There are so many. I feel the need to make a thread, so I don’t keep confusing them. 1/

New NIH funding strategy has been formalized. I really do hope scientists understand what this means for the future of science (funding) - it's not subtle. www.niaid.nih.gov/about/unifie...

New goal for life: being able to play this (well not this good) even if it takes 20 years of practice www.youtube.com/watch?v=wj1x...

I wrote this song on Saturday, recorded it yesterday and released it to you today in response to the state terror being visited on the city of Minneapolis. It’s dedicated to the people of Minneapolis, our innocent immigrant neighbors and in memory of Alex Pretti and Renee Good. Stay free

UKRI pauses several funding calls amid priorities shake-up www.researchprofessional.com/news-article...

Happy to share with you our work on how the interferon response impacts embryonic development 🦠Mammalian embryos contain endogenous dsRNAs that resemble viruses and can be misrecognised by the dsRNA sensor MDA5. Thanks to all collaborators, we could not have done it without you 🤩 rdcu.be/eWMfA

Cell migration is a key cellular process that drives major developmental programs and diseases. Different assays have been developed, but they are often used interchangeably. In our new paper, we describe how to select the optimal assay. More details here: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

This is now a published peer-reviewed paper, in which we show, for the first time (to my knowledge) an interaction and co-operation between SALL4 and BAF (SWI/SNF). Together, they induce neural crest fate early on, by priming thousands of enhancers in the neuroectoderm. doi.org/10.1242/dev....

Read the #OpenAccess Research Article ‘Neural crest induction requires SALL4-mediated BAF recruitment to lineage specific enhancers’ here: doi.org/10.1242/dev....

Saving face: SALL4 is required for early specification of craniofacial precursors This Research Highlight showcases work by Martina Demurtas, Marco Trizzino (@marcotrizzino.bsky.social) and colleagues: journals.biologists.com/dev/article/...

Check out our new paper! @imperialsci.bsky.social

To learn more about this work and the people behind it, we talked to first author Martina Demurtas and corresponding author Marco Trizzino (@marcotrizzino.bsky.social), Associate Professor at Imperial College London @imperialcollegeldn.bsky.social, UK. doi.org/10.1242/dev....

Huge congrats to first author, brilliant PhD student Martina Demurtas, who is now on the hunt for postdoc positions in London, she is super talented! Also, this was another great experience with @reviewcommons.org and @biologists.bsky.social @Development!

This is now a published peer-reviewed paper, in which we show, for the first time (to my knowledge) an interaction and co-operation between SALL4 and BAF (SWI/SNF). Together, they induce neural crest fate early on, by priming thousands of enhancers in the neuroectoderm. doi.org/10.1242/dev....

New work from the Treutlein lab & @graycamplab.bsky.social, examining neural organoid response to morphogens 🧪🧠🧫🧬 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

A palp-able conservation of Wnt signalling in neuroectoderm patterning This Research Highlight showcases the work of @agnesroure.bsky.social, Rafath Chowdhury and @darras-sebastien.bsky.social journals.biologists.com/dev/article/...

In this episode we talked with @epign.bsky.social from the École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne about her work on transgenerational inheritance in Drosophila and brain organoids for human development insights. #podcast #epigenetics Listen here: activemotif.com/podcasts-fid...

We have just published a tribute to John Gurdon, reflecting on his scientific legacy and the profound influence he had on generations of developmental biologists. The piece is available open access in Nature Communications: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

So exciting to see this in print! Ever wondered how embryonic cells know what (fate) to become during early development? In particular when they might see different signaling cues? We investigated this! And a lovely cover from Zoe Ruiz and @oliveringe.bsky.social! www.cell.com/developmenta...

How to keep in step when your (protein) partner speeds up… Here we investigated the adaptive remodeling of a protein-protein interaction surface essential for telomere protection. Congrats to whole team! www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Thank you Radiohead you will always be the best for me!

Now “The Big Beautiful Bill” makes a lot more sense

Thrilled to share our new review in Current Opinion in Genetics & Development on TE driven innovation in gene regulation🤘. I am honored to be part of this with two major TE aficionados @cedricfeschotte.bsky.social and @trono-lab.bsky.social #TEsky #TEworldwide authors.elsevier.com/c/1m6MC,LqAZ...

This image shows a mass of human stem cells, collectively known as an ‘organoid’. We stained the neural crest cells of this organoid to better understand diseases related to defects in their development, such as Hirschsprung's disease and Neuroblastoma. Image credit: @carmenmorenogon.bsky.social

“I want you to understand what it is like to live in Chicago during this time.” aphyr.com/posts/397-i-...

Congratulations @fueyoraquel.bsky.social !!

The new album by Rosalia is MIND BLOWING.

Please repost - Multiple PhDs available www.findaphd.com/phds/project... www.findaphd.com/phds/project... www.findaphd.com/phds/project...

I have been living in the UK for several years, and still can't wrap my head around the fact that half the country calls lunch "dinner" and dinner "tea", while the other half of the country calls lunch "lunch" and dinner "dinner" with the exception of school lunches, that are called school dinners

One month left for early-career researchers to apply for a funded place at our Workshop 'Novelty, Co-option and Divergence During Gene Network Evolution' organised by James Hombría & Antónia Monteiro Deadline 5 Dec. biologists.com/workshops/ju... @isabelalmudi.bsky.social @jlopezrios.bsky.social

📢 Open Call! The Max Perutz Labs invite applications for a Tenure-Track Professorship in Genome Biology. We are particularly interested in researchers investigating the molecular and biophysical mechanisms underlying genome function and regulation. More details ➡️ tinyurl.com/3t7vvdct

@andreaserio.bsky.social and I are recruiting a postdoc to lead an exciting MNDA-funded project using multi-omics to study long axons in motor neurons and how they shape susceptibility to #ALS. Get in touch for any questions and apply by 2 December: my.corehr.com/pls/kclrecru...