🪱 Selfish genes are everywhere and drive some of biology’s biggest innovations (CRISPR, antibody recombination, epigenetics). Yet almost no one asks the obvious question: how does a selfish gene begin? Our new manuscript uncovers how selfishness can emerge directly from the host genome.

Intrigued by a long-standing conundrum in small RNA biology—how nuclear Argonaute proteins silence transposons when they *need* target transcription for their own recruitment—we studied the piRNA pathway. And found a hidden RNA-decay axis from Piwi to the RNA exosome.

How does messenger RNA (mRNA) get out of the nucleus to become a protein? Eukaryotic mRNA is packaged, exported, and then translated in the cytoplasm. But how do these steps work? And what are open questions? Check out our new review for our take: www.annualreviews.org/content/jour... (1/3)

Finally out in @nature.com! We uncovered a mechanistic framework for a general and conserved mRNA nuclear export pathway. www.nature.com/articles/s41.... 1/

Are you an early-stage graduate student (2nd or 3rd year) or early-stage postdoc based in the US or Canada, working primarily in Drosophila? Would you like to help improve the experience of all trainees working in Drosophila research? If so, read on. (Please repost to reach a broad audience.)

just in time for the opening of the @hohmannulrich.bsky.social group at @imbmainz.bsky.social what started as a project on how cells export piRNA precursors, ended up as a tour de force in mRNA export. truly wonderful collaboration with @plaschkalab.bsky.social at the @viennabiocenter.bsky.social

When transposons jump, genomes diverge - even in cultured cells. I am happy to share our new preprint: a chromosome-scale genome assembly for Drosophila OSC cells, one of the key model systems in the piRNA field, especially for nuclear piRNA biology. 🧬🧵 (1/12)

Off he is ... Ulrich is one of the most remarkable scientists I had the pleasure to work with. I learned so much from him about biochemistry, proteins, structural biology, and so much more. Great people make great things happen. The really great people are rare. Ulrich is one of them ...

Thrilled to share that I’ll be joining @imbmainz.bsky.social in February 2026 to start my own group! We will explore new mechanisms in eukaryotic gene expression, leveraging ‘evolutionary play’ to uncover how regulation, repurposing, and hijacking shape RNA biology. PhD positions available!

1/ How do animals develop immunity against a newly encountered transposable element from scratch? Our study reveals that the mobility of TEs is their Achilles heel, allowing hosts to develop a powerful small RNA-mediated silencing response. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

piRNAs are essential for transposon silencing in the animal germline. But how do hosts trap transposon sequences in genomic loci that help establish a piRNA response? Looking at a natural transposon invasion, Baptiste Rafanel and Kirsten Senti made some remarkable observations.

Kristina Stapornwongkul and Sven Klumpe are new IMBA Group Leaders starting in 2025. Who will join IMBA in 2026? IMBA is hiring a Junior Group Leader. Apply to the position by May 18: imba.science/beagroupleader #hiring #biology #research #groupleader #europe

We are seeking a new colleague to join us at the Vienna BioCenter, specifically at my beloved home institution, IMBA @imbavienna.bsky.social we value collegiality and a passion for curiosity driven science. Being a great and fun human being also helps!

1/ Transposable elements are often called "jumping genes" because they mobilize within genomes. 🧬 But did you know they can also jump 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘯 cells? 🤯 Our new study reveals how retrotransposons invade the germline directly from somatic cells. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... A short thread 🧵👇

Happy to share our manuscript on the in situ visualization of the copia retrotransposon in its final form today published in @cellcellpress.bsky.social www.cell.com/cell/fulltex.... What’s new?

- EMBL with EMBL outstations - Max Planck institutes in Germany (e.g. Dresden, Goettingen) - Vienna BioCenter (IMP, IMBA, GMI, Max Perutz Labs) - FMI Basel - ETH Zürich - CEITEC Brno - CRG Barcelona - Hubrecht Institute (Netherlands) - EPFL Lausanne

Our lab is now on Bluesky! 🚀 Kicking things off by sharing @fedeteloni.bsky.social latest preprint on the role of cohesin in homology search. Check out the thread for more details!

A small but intriguing update on the Kipferl discovery by Lisa Baumgartner Evolution of a specific binding mode between a ZnF protein and the HP1-variant Rhino. A wonderful project with great help from Julius Brennecke, Hohmann Ulrich, Peter Duchek, Jon Ipsaro, Alex Schleiffer and me😉