In the 2nd preprint from @mlodziklab.bsky.social, Weber et al. show that LRP5/6/arrow, the Wnt/bcatenin signaling specific co-receptor, is also required for Wnt/planar cell polarity establishment, a challenge and eye-opener for the Wnt field. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Two exciting preprints from @mlodziklab.bsky.social lab. In the first preprint, Vuong and Mlodzik describe a novel, essential factor for bcatenin translocation to the nucleus, a big step forward to understand nuclear bcatenin localization. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

The @fly-eds.bsky.social is having its general assembly this saturday at 13:30 at #EDRC2025 , please join us to discuss our society and to find out more about @flybase.bsky.social and the current funding crisis

There are only 8 days left to register to @edrc2025.bsky.social and we would like to thank all our sponsorss! We start acknowledging the support received from @biologists.bsky.social to #EDRC2025 Thank you!

Registration is officially open for the 2026 EMBO Drosophila Meeting in Crete 🪰☀️. This flagship meeting brings together researchers from around the world to share discoveries, foster collaborations, and celebrate the power of Drosophila in advancing biology. Consider applying!

EMBO meeting on "Molecular and Developmental Biology of Drosophila" 21 – 27 June 2026 Registration is now open! Deadline next November 3rd! meetings.embo.org/event/26-dro...

Actin up: Mrtfa regulates actomyosin and apical constriction This Research Highlight showcases the work from Keiji Itoh, Olga Ossipova, Sergei Y. Sokol: journals.biologists.com/dev/article/...

Here's the NIH's proposed budget - from $48 billion to $27 billion. NIAID, current ~$7 billion cut to ~$4.2 billion. The proposed 15% cap on indirect costs remains. Again, these budgets are passed, and our leadership in science, technology, and innovation is gone. www.hhs.gov/sites/defaul...

The end of US leadership in science, technology, and innovation. All in one little table. A tremendous gift to China, courtesy of the GOP. nsf-gov-resources.nsf.gov/files/00-NSF...

Science is under attack. The NIH, the NSF, and our research universities. So today, I have a message for America's scientists: youtu.be/MeoZDPy5cIY?...

www.sciencefriday.com/segments/the... @hypothesisfund.bsky.social @kacarlab.bsky.social

“Remember that all through history, there have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time, they seem invincible. But in the end, they always fall. Always.” —Mahatma Gandhi

All of NIH funding to Northwestern University is frozen. This pause includes noncompeting approved funding, new and competing grants with fundable scores. No reimbursements for money already spent have been received since March. This situation is rarely reported so please Please get the word out!

David Liu @harvard.edu beautifully articulates the criticality of basic science funding for developing revolutionary therapeutics like life-saving base editors 👏 youtu.be/8YhJM6zxYDw?...

Congratulations to the next Chair of the Dept. of Molecular Biology: Elizabeth (Liz) R. Gavis, the Damon B. Pfeiffer Professor in the Life Sciences and Assoc. Faculty in the Program in Quantitative and Computational Biology. Her term begins on July 1, 2025. molbio.princeton.edu/news/2025/ga...

Congrats Yukiko!

Drosophila folks at the @genetics-gsa.bsky.social Fly meeting please take some time to thank the amazing organizers who put in a lot of hard work: genetics-gsa.org/drosophila-2... Special thanks to GSA folks especially the tireless Suzy Brown (who appears to run entirely on diet Mountain Dew)

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 🧵👇

Sign up & spread the word to trainees about the 🪱C. elegans🪱 mentor match program! They're also setting up peer-mentoring groups at ALL stages (even faculty!). Peer mentors have helped me keep my sanity & resolve in the tough times, and cheered me on in the good times. 🙌 Sign up to find your own!

TORC1-driven translation of Nucleoporin 44A promotes chromatin remodeling and germ cell-to-maternal transition in Drosophila https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.03.14.643309v1

New preprint from our lab!

We are in a biotech space race, cutting off basic science via slashing NIH and NSF funding robs the US of our competitive advantage: early innovation.

THIS IS AWESOME - shame on universites and even foundations (looking at you @hhmi.bsky.social) for your cowardly anticipatory obedience!!!! www.huffpost.com/entry/us-tru...

““This crisis — and I’m not exaggerating by calling it a crisis — has already consumed one funding cycle…But if this block to publishing in the register continues on much longer, it’s going to swallow two funding cycles, and that will put many labs out of business.” @labonnelab.bsky.social

Follow!

🥳Just published @nature.com. Over 25 years after the discovery of SPO11 as the enzyme responsible for initiating meiotic recombination, we finally succeeded in reconstituting its DNA cleavage activity.🧵 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

@ossoff.senate.gov @hankjohnson.house.gov Emory researcher here 👋 By cancelling grant review and council sessions, the administration is in open defiance of court rulings to unfreeze NIH grants. They are playing games and impeding health research! www.thetransmitter.org/funding/fede...

Abrupt Dismissal of NIH and NSF Staff Undermines Government Efficiency

ACTION THIS WEDNESDAY: Researchers from New York universities are holding a rally to protest the funding cuts at Washington Square Park at 4 pm. This will be part of a national day of action, with rallies at HHS in DC and all around the country. RSVP HERE: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

I Used to Run the N.I.H. Here’s What Worries Me. www.nytimes.com/2025/02/14/o...

If only some university/ research institute/ philanthropy in the world had the courage, they could hire some very amazing scientists who are going to blaze new trails in science (if they can get a chance). And I’m sorry for not defending tenure in academia & government more vociferously in the past

@altnih4science.bsky.social if you are a probationary NIH employee who is losing your job today, reach out to me on Signal meredithwadman.13 to help @science.org tell this important story.

Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s idea of efficiency is stopping research on curing cancer.

Congratulations to the Peoples’ Republic of China which, at this moment, became the unambiguous world leader in life science research.

i ❤️ science @standupforscience.bsky.social #standupforscience2025 #scienceforall #sciencenotsilence

What I have heard is that IC directors (and perhaps other highly ranked folks in each IC) will be asked to submit letters of resignation, BUT THESE WILL NOT NECESSARILY BE ACCEPTED. This is what had me so alarmed all day yesterday. 1/n

US science is under attack ‘Americans who value the spirit of discovery — and eagerly await new ways to confront disease, strengthen our economy and improve the quality of human life — need to issue a strong outcry.’ www.nytimes.com/2025/02/14/o...

My choice this week in @science.org Cell (2025) 10.1016/j.cell.2024.12.008

Congrats to the 2025 SDB Award Winners! Conklin Medal: Blanche Capel DB-SDB Lifetime Achievement Award: Billie Swalla Hamburger Outstanding Educator Prize: Erica Crespi Hay New Investigator Award: Mubarak Syed SDB Trainee Science Communication Award: Joaquin Navajas Acedo bit.ly/4bcrFap

Very clever!

“‘Science can and should as a community organise itself to maximise its ability to act collectively, ethically and – when necessary – politically.’ The scientific community needs to speak up – not just for the sake of science, but of human decency, dignity and morality.”

Decimating the NSF would be an act of violence against USA competitiveness in science, technology and innovation. Have any of these people seen Shanghai lately? arstechnica.com/science/2025...

We did a thing... We purified native transcriptional complexes from Drosophila embryos, obtaining +/- stalk Pol II elongation complexes, native nucleosomes, as well as a nucleosome elongation complex. For more details please check out: doi.org/10.1101/2025...

The Institute mourns the loss of R. Scott Hawley, PhD. A brilliant scientist, cherished colleague, and true mentor. Scott's contributions to our understanding of genetics and passion for training the next generation of scientists will forever be remembered. bit.ly/3WPqqYG

Thrilled to share our paper is out in @plosbiology.org! 🎉 We explore how satellite DNA organization is linked to transposon repression. A huge thanks to my amazing co-first author Ankita Chavan and all the collaborators who made this possible! 💕 jagannathanlab.com #Proteomics Check it out here 👇👇

Epigenetic memory that couples 5mC and H3K9 methylation, enables chromatin state inheritance across lifetimes and evolution. New excellent review by @hitenmadhani.bsky.social highlights inheritance mechanisms including roles for histone chaperones and nucleosome recycling. tinyurl.com/42ddhj4a

The birth of fruit fly's central nervous system imaged with multicolor #adaptive #lightsheet microscopy. The microscope self-aligns to a signal that appears during imaging. www.nature.com/articles/nbt...

ÅNGSTRÖM-RESOLUTION FLUORESCENCE MICROSCOPY. Can we do structural biology with an optical microscope? Yes! Check out how we resolved *single bases of DNA* and much more using fluorescence microscopy, out on 24.05.2023 in Nature! @natureportfolio.bsky.social [re-post from Twitter]