Wonderful connecting with friends, colleagues and collaborators at SEB2026 in Florence. Lots of great science on invertebrate neuropeptides.

Prebilaterian Origin of Monoaminergic Signalling is out! This paper represents four years of work, not only mine, but friends and colleagues. I am particularly grateful to Tatiana Mayorova; without her help, this paper would not have been nearly as complete. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Revised preprint on mitochondria in central brain of Drosophila now online: much new analysis + details of largest resource for analyzing neuronal mitochondria generated so far, with ~6M mitochondria, >20k neurons, >5k cell types. Much thanks to all coauthors, enjoy! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Our new paper with lead and corresponding author Luis Yañez-Guerra on placozoan monoamine GPCRs and the "Prebilaterian origin of monoaminergic signaling" […] [Original post on biologists.social]

💡New fruit fly #connectome research! #KempnerInstitute Affiliate Faculty Jan Drugowitsch (@jdrugowitsch.bsky.social), Graduate Fellow Mohammed Osman & collaborators have published the first complete connectome of the fruit fly central nervous system.🪰🧠 Read more➡️ bit.ly/4xVdS2E

Looks fantastic. Congrats! Cant wait to dig in.

Neural and Genetic Mechanisms Regulating Copulation Latency in Male Drosophila melanogaster #Drosophila

Join us!! Ask experts on how to promote health and get better sleep by strengthening your circadian rhythms. We are celebrating the inaugural World Circadian Day on June 24 by holding an "Ask Me Anything" on Reddit 🌍 🌎 🌏 👏 #SRBR #CSC #ACS #InSC #EBRS #CSBR #JSC #CCBM #biologicalrhythms #sleep

I am SO EXCITED that #DROS27 will be coming to Philadelphia! Meeting attendees and fly folks worldwide, YOU ARE IN FOR A TREAT! Stay tuned for some updates as we go on. We might be cooking up some fun things. :)

Now published - the #BANC! A full central nervous system (CNS) connectome of a limbed animal at single-synapse resolution, enabling us to follow sensory-motor arcs and understand how the CNS controls the body. rdcu.be/fncjS. #neuroscience. Video by @quorumetrix.bsky.social 1/18

Zandawala lab is looking to recruit a postdoc to work on neuromodulation of feeding in Drosophila and other arthropods at KU Leuven (Leuven, Belgium). Details for the position can be found here: www.kuleuven.be/personeel/jo... Please share!

Save the date! Excited to co-organize this 👇 event together with @nils-reinhard.bsky.social and @lhueppe.bsky.social in beautiful Aberystwyth, UK next year! If you are an early career researcher in the field of Chronobiology come join us! 🕚🌈🌊🧬 @bioclocksuk.bsky.social @aberdlsagb.bsky.social

🎉 Exciting news for our lab: we will have open positions soon #PostdoctoralResearcher #ResearchTechnician! If you are interested in #SocialBehaviour, #FearResponses, and #DrosophilaMelanogaster, get in touch with a short CV and a statement of research interests.

Dear colleagues, The 36th French Drosophila Meeting (Trégastel, Oct 5–8, 2026) website is now online! drosofrance26.sciencesconf.org We look forward to welcoming you in Brittany! Best wishes, The Organizing Committee Hadi Boukhatmi, Régis Giet, Roland Le Borgne

Can a single brain cell decide whether to eat or not? 🧠🪰 Turns out... yes. And we found it in the fruit fly. A pair of neurons called SELKs (subesophageal leucokinin neurons) can drive feeding behavior in both directions. They promote it or suppress it. Here's how: 🧵

A bidirectional brain-fat body axis for pathogen avoidance #Drosophila

Do you want to try scratching garlic on the skin to repel mosquitoes? A phytoscreen identifies a garlic compound as a deterrent of mating and egg laying in Drosophila and mosquitoes www.cell.com/cell/abstrac...

Félix Simon's paper is out in its final form 😍 When we got into (extreme) detail in the temporal and spatial patterning of neuroblasts, Félix asked a simple question "sure, but how does this translate into neuronal cell fate?". www.nature.com/articles/s41...

New @currentbiology.bsky.social paper from Dr. Leila Elabbady on neural circuits that transform a touch stimulus into spatially targeted grooming. Leila discovered a leg somatotopic map and used it to infer tactile receptive fields in the fly VNC connectome. authors.elsevier.com/a/1mvu83QW8S...

Beyond delighted to share our amazing collaboration with Thierry Alquier's lab @alquierthierry.bsky.social on a conserved role for neuronal lipid droplets in regulating energy homeostasis in vivo led by Celena Cherian, Romane Manceau, Danie Majeur, and Colin Miller www.nature.com/articles/s42... /1

🚨🚨 New preprint 🚨🚨 We found that the ovary directly controls protein appetite in Drosophila. Yes — the ovary doesn’t just make eggs… it tells the fly what to eat! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... If you want all the details, click above ☝️ If you just want the fun, GIF-guided overview, keep reading 👇

We’re hiring! Our lab is seeking a research technician interested in neurobiology. This position is ideal for recent graduates looking for a 2‑year research experience before their next academic chapter. Experience with Drosophila is a plus. Please share. indiana.peopleadmin.com/postings/32602

How does an animal choose between exploring for a better food source and taking advantage of a known one? Our recent work in Current Biology demonstrates how recent feeding and metabolic state dynamically influence fly local search. bit.ly/3PfrIv3 #Science #Neurosky #Foraging #Drosophila

After 5 years of developing, a new preprint from the lab - introducing our workflow for comparative insect connectomics, aimed at democratizing connectomics. @erc.europa.eu @lundvision.bsky.social @biologylu.bsky.social Read it here: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Our new preprint is out! A state-dependent neural circuit resolves approach–avoidance conflicts www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... Fantastic work led by Devika Bodas, with key contributions from Marine Balcou, and a great collaboration with Lisa Scheunemann Lab, fearuting Şevval Demirci.

Educators, the deadline to apply for our python workshop is approaching quickly! Apply by February 2 to join us in Seattle for this hands-on workshop. 💻 No prior coding experience needed. ✈️ Travel, meals, & stipend included. 🔗 https://alleninstitute.org/events/educator-coding-workshop-2026/

The second paper from the lab is now available on bioRxiv: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... We discovered that cannibalistic behavior in fly larvae is social-context dependent. Larval groups avoid dead conspecifics; individuals show high attraction. They only do it when no one is watching 😉

📣First preprint of the lab📣 Did that really happen?😅 Enteric neurons, aka somatic postmitotic cells, must hold on to their sex identity tight, to deliver a tuned response to signals from the ovary that instruct the animal to engage sex-matched behavioural programmes. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

I ignored the strip.clip argument in #ggplot2 for way too long 😲 Combined with a small negative margin tweak, you can place facet labels inside each panel. A tiny trick that makes small multiples feel so much cleaner. 🔵 no manual coordinates 🔵 inherits theme styling 🔵 scales nicely when resizing

How do neural circuits generate the walking rhythm? Using connectome simulations, @sarahpugly.bsky.social found a minimal central pattern generator (CPG) that produces oscillations in leg motor neurons. Same circuit motif for each 🪰 leg. w @bingbrunton.bsky.social www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

New work reveals Gyc76C as the receptor for the anti-diuretic hormone ITPa in flies, uncovering how it helps control hydration and metabolic balance. buff.ly/iTlvevz

Highly recommend!

Our python workshop is returning! Undergraduate educators, join us on July 27-30 for "Coding with Allen Institute Data." No prior coding experience needed. Travel, meals, & stipend included. Apply by Feb. 2 at: https://alleninstitute.org/events/educator-coding-workshop-2026/ #iTeachBio #EduSky

High-resolution single-cell analyses reveal evolutionary constraints and evolvability of sexual circuits in Drosophila | PNAS www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

🚨 Postdoc openings! We’re looking for postdocs excited about sleep, synapses & cellular neurophysiology (fly or mouse). Yes, we also have mouse projects! See details: www.flysleeplab.com/positions

🚀 New paper alert! Thrilled to share our latest study led by postdoc @gera_jayati published in eLife. 👉 doi.org/10.7554/eLif... Continue reading for a summary. 🧵

Preparations for the next JEDI meeting are underway! The upcoming Junior European #Drosophila Investigator / #NewPI meeting is planned for Portugal in June. Final dates and additional details will be announced soon - stay tuned for updates!​

Excited to return as co-director of the CSHL Drosophila 🪰Neurobiology course in 2026! Application Deadline: March 27 meetings.cshl.edu/courses.aspx... @cshlnews.bsky.social @cshlaboratory.bsky.social @cshlcourses.bsky.social #cshlflycourse #scicomm #drosophila 🪰🧪

I am glad to say that the first manuscript from the lab is now available on BioRxiv https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.10.30.685496v1 We set out to answer a simple question: If the fruit fly #drosophila cannot see clearly, how would they #sleep?

Do flies feel pain? Spooky new preprint from our lab on the cells and circuits that mediate nociceptive behaviors in adult Drosophila, led by graduate student (and newly minted PhD!) @jonesjes.bsky.social. 🪰⚡👻🎃 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

A functional clock in only two dorsal clock neurons is sufficient to restore the basal circadian activity pattern of Drosophila melanogaster | PNAS www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

We are thrilled to announce the inaugural Metabolism in Development & Physiology virtual seminar, a new series connecting researchers across all stages & disciplines in metabolism! 🗓 13 Nov 2025, 16:00 CET 🎙 Alexander Aulehla (EMBL Heidelberg), & 🎙 Christopher Bell (Uni of Oxford) See you there!

Excited to share our new #biorxivpreprint: “Sexual dimorphism in the complete connectome of the Drosophila male central nervous system” www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... We describe the #connectomics reconstruction and analysis of an entire adult #maleCNS #drosophila central nervous system. 1/10

Exciting news for #drosophila #connectomics and #neuroscience enthusiasts: the Drosophila male central nervous system connectome is now live for exploration. Find out more at the landing page hosted by our Janelia FlyEM collaborators www.janelia.org/project-team....

Any fly neuroscience folks going to SfN this year?

Neuronal diversity is written in transcriptional codes 🧬. But what is the logic of these codes that define cell types and wiring patterns? To find out we built a #scRNAseq developmental atlas of the Drosophila nerve cord and linked it to the #connectome 🪰🧠 #preprint thread ⬇️1/8

Comparative transcriptomics of lateral hypothalamic cell types reveals conserved growth hormone-tachykinin dynamics in feeding https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.07.28.667087v1

With @megyounger.bsky.social's lab, et al., we present the first connectomics work in the disease-vector mosquito Aedes aegypti, revealing how its brain is wired to detect host cues. Preprint: doi.org/10.1101/2025... #Neuroscience #Connectomics #vEM #VectorBiology 🧪

How is the nervous system organized to coordinate behavior? To approach this massive question, a team led by @asbates.bsky.social, @jasper-tms.bsky.social, @mindyisminsu.bsky.social, & Helen Yang present the BANC: a Brain and Nerve Cord connectome. Preprint: doi.org/10.1101/2025... 🧪#Neuroskyence

Public access to the first fly connectome that spans the whole CNS - BANC!: codex.flywire.ai?dataset=banc Different from prior connectomes - it is brain + cord (think spinal cord) We use it to ‘embody’ the system and find it resembles ‘subsumption architecture’ doi.org/10.1101/2025...