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

Excited to share the final version of our study on Nematostella cell type regulatory programs. Part of our @erc.europa.eu StG project, this was a challenging 5-year effort extraodinarily led by @aelek.bsky.social and @martaig.bsky.social. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Good to see the peer reviewed version of this published A chemo-optogenetic system for spatiotemporal control of gene expression We use it to: - Reconstruct SHH mediated neural tube patterning in vitro - Measure extracellular half-life of Shh www.cell.com/developmenta...

Apennine brown bear #genomic diversity - comparing whole #genome resequencing data from Apennine, Central European, and North American brown bears academic.oup.com/mbe/article/... #biodiversity #genomics

Want to carry a PhD in London, in one of the best Universities in the world? We have two calls for PhD students to join our lab at Imperial College. Deadline January 12th. More details for applications in the link below. Feel free to keep in touch!

Out now: we’re happy to share our new preprint on CroCoNet (Cross-species Comparison of Networks), a framework for robust comparative network analyses. 👉 doi.org/10.1101/2025...

Also have a few other projects available (ranging from ecology/behaviour to genomics and neuroscience) for applications through the NERC and BBSRC Doctoral Training programs, some details here www.shmontgomery.co.uk/opportunitie... but feel free to get in touch!

In the summer (you can tell by the shirt) I had a fabulous conversation about embryology and stem cells with @nmoris.bsky.social at the Crick Institute. Here's the first part of it. www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WB0...

Out today, our take on 6-methyladenine #6mA evolution in Eukaryotes @natgenet.nature.com. We asked a simple question, is really DNA 6mA common across the eukaryotes? The answer is "yes" if you're a unicellular eukaryote 🦠, not so if you're multicellular 🐝🌱🍄. www.nature.com/articles/s41... 1/9

Our study on the role of LTR5HS and SVAs in regulation of human neural crest migration is now published as peer-reviewed paper on @molsystbiol.org! Congrats to first author brilliant postdoc Laura Deelen, and all the authors involved! @imperialsci.bsky.social www.embopress.org/doi/full/10....

Happy to share Jialin's first publication. She did a great job exploring the transition to land in animals. Co-supervised by the great Jordi Paps and me and in collaboration with Davide Pisani and @phil-donoghue.bsky.social

Nature research paper: Convergent genome evolution shaped the emergence of terrestrial animals go.nature.com/4i0i61w

Just gonna put this here for now www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... bsky.app/profile/jlst...

Working in a biomed institute, its natural to think about health & medical impact of dev bio but there's more to dev bio Agriculture is dev bio (plant growth, livestock breeding) And dev bio is important to understand environment & climate impact. See e.g: journals.biologists.com/dev/article/...

A productive month for the lab — between new preprints and papers! Monoaminergic neurons evo and devo www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... Opsin evolution in plankton academic.oup.com/gbe/article/... Mosquito Cell Atlas (small contrib.) www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...

Excited to announce the final version of the Mosquito Cell Atlas is out now in @cellpress.bsky.social!! 🦟🩸 There is SO much left to find & investigate in this dataset (& the rich biology of the Aedes aegypti mosquito)! We hope this helps scientists in many fields! www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...

New preprint out! Evolutionarily conserved transcriptional regulators control monoaminergic neuron development. We uncover how ancient regulatory programs orchestrate the neurons that produce serotonin and dopamine across 550 million years of evolution. doi.org/10.1101/2025...

Come join the #LondonEvoDevo network half day meeting, hosted at @ucl.ac.uk on Friday November 7th, 2025. Submit your abstract by Oct 27th (or your interest in joining) here: forms.gle/TRbdrCkQTcY2.... Friendly vibes and free registration. More info here: londonevodevo.co.uk.

We have a fully funded PhD to study mosquito vision — combining single-cell genomics, evolutionary genomics & high-resolution imaging. Discover how these tiny hunters see the world. RP, apply and contact me if interested! warwick.ac.uk/fac/cross_fa...

The version of record of our paper on the emergence of metachronal waves in the #Platynereis larval ciliary band is now out. Together with Rebecca Poon and Kirsty Wan @micromotility.bsky.social#platynereis https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adw4067 funded by @ERC_Research @wellcometrust @bbsrc

We are happy to share our latest work in @nature.com . We study the genomic and cellular basis of facultative symbiosis in Oculina patagonica - a Mediterranean coral remarkable for its ability to survive long periods without algal symbionts. Led by Shani Levy and @xgrau.bsky.social rdcu.be/eLbaZ

Interested in joining my lab to study the evolution and development of monoaminergic neurons? You can now apply for the Giuseppe Levi Post-Doc Fellowship (2 years, Neurobiology, EU citizens). Deadline: 10 Nov 2025 – 18:00 For more info selezionionline.lincei.it and email me!

Thrilled to share that the lab has been awarded a @wellcometrust.bsky.social Discovery Award to keep exploring the evolution of 6-methyladenine #6mA in Eukaryotes. We'll open postdoc (3️⃣) and tech (1️⃣) positions to start in 2026, please share with candidates or reach out if you’d like to join us.

The @crick.ac.uk is recruiting Early Career Group Leaders - Lab set-up, research costs, salaries for up to 5 researchers - Support for up to 12 years - Access to our core facilities - Competitive salary - Fantastic colleagues - All areas of biology Deadline 27 Nov www.crick.ac.uk/careers-stud...

Our latest: combining single-cell RNA-seq from 16 species and HCR validation, we show that monoaminergic neurons share a conserved transcriptional identity across Bilateria. In contrast, we find no evidence for this program in non-bilaterian metazoans. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

I adored writing this piece. It brings together several of the things preoccupying me right now, like chromatin organization and gene regulation. There's so much more to be said on that. Also, these marine critters look gorgeous. www.quantamagazine.org/loops-of-dna...

New short paper from our lab @currentbiology.bsky.social, in which we discover of a new mode of cell motility for choanoflagellates: flagellar gliding. www.cell.com/current-biol... - A 🧵

Our latest: We optimized SPLiT-Seq for insect brains! Check out our new protocol in Methods in Molecular Biology—tailored single-cell transcriptomics for insect neuroscience link.springer.com/protocol/10....

After nearly twenty years in the making, our attempt at understanding what makes the chaetognath phylum so unique has finally been published! www.nature.com/articles/s41... with #LauraPiovani @dariagavr.bsky.social @alexdemendoza.bsky.social @chemamd.bsky.social and others /1

A Summer reading recommendation: new primer in @dev-journal.bsky.social explains how dynamical systems theory unlocks the logic of developmental patterning Everything from bistable switches & oscillators to phase portraits & more with Python code to explore journals.biologists.com/dev/article/...

Happy to see our latest work out in @molbioevol.bsky.social. We revisit the evolution of 5-methylcytosine across neglected eukaryotic supergroups, establishing an ancestral repressive role silencing genome invaders, both transposons and viral elements👾: academic.oup.com/mbe/advance-... 🧵 1/7

✨Animal evolution fans, rejoice! CRISPR-Cas9 is now in Corallochytrium ready to unlock secrets of animal origins! 🔬Led by @patriciasuarez.bsky.social & @sebasn1.bsky.social royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/... @royalsociety.org @ibe-barcelona.bsky.social#holozoans #ProtistsonSky

Ireland launches global talent fund! www.researchireland.ie/funding/glob... If you're a neuroscience professor (assistant/associate/full) and would consider relocating to the vibrant and booming city of Dublin, please get in touch!

We are looking for new colleagues to come join us in Galway as group leaders (Junior and Senior). The Centre for Chromosome Biology is a great place and it is a good time to join. Please reach out if you want to chat about the opportunity! www.nature.com/naturecareer...

Neuron programming! Pro-neural TFs + 480 morphogen conditions + scRNA-seq --> Diverse iN subtypes of forebrain, midbrain, hindbrain, spinal cord, and PNS. @hsiuchuanlin.bsky.social‬ @jasperjanssens.bsky.social‬ and Treutlein Lab! @science.org www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... #NGN2 #ASCL1

Can using synthetic approaches to build biology help teach us the design principles of how embryos build themselves? 👷‍♀️🔧 If this is a question that interests you, come and share your thoughts at this Royal Society Workshop on Generative Biology royalsociety.org/science-even...

The decades-old limit on how long human embryos can be grown in culture is under debate https://go.nature.com/448yuYw

Our new paper is out: "The 3D architecture of the ctenophore aboral organ & the evolution of complex integrative centers in animals. We reveal a remarkable cell type diversity, nerve net condensation, a multilayered circuit & gene expression profiles. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... #ctenophores

'(...) there is no established resource for group leaders to improve their lab culture with concrete action points for implementation. Here, we introduce the SAFE Labs Handbook: a collection of thirty “commitments” which can be verifiably actioned without requiring institutional support.' #Preprint

🚨Postdoc opportunity🚨: LepEU postdoc: comparative population genomics of European scale adaptation in butterflies 2 year, full-time PD in my group, Stockholm Univ. Applications assed on rolling basis, deadline: 23 August 2025. Planned start 1 Oct. Details: christopherwheatlab.wordpress.com

New preprint from the lab www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... A molecular atlas of the Drosophila central brain links transcriptional identity to development, anatomy, and behaviour, revealing stable transcription factor codes and a temporal cascade marking birth order.

New preprint from lab: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... Sexual dimorphism arises not through wholesale transcriptional reprogramming, but via selective sex-specific survival of neurons defined by birth order and shared developmental programs.

If you love Daniocell, but wish it could generate analyses specific to YOUR genes & cell types of interest, check out DaniocellDesktop - a new point-and-click app for Mac and Windows that enables reanalysis of the Daniocell data without programming: daniocell.nichd.nih.gov/desktop/ (1/4)

Towards more sustainable research: reducing the environmental impact when working with #Drosophila. Challiner, Saurya., Patel, Raff, Fostier, Prokop, A. (2025) @genetics-gsa.bsky.social‬, in press -- doi.org/10.1093/gene... - Always happy to discuss and hear your ideas and views!

How do brain circuits evolve? We started looking for some answers by using synapse-resolution cross-species comparative connectomics on an entire olfactory circuit 👇 bit.ly/44aVm9E

It's that time of year www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Check out our latest work‼️Fantastic study with really cool data and findings led by @allancarbal.bsky.social in collaborarion with Stephan’s lab. The one and many ways of getting a belly…

🚨 We’re recruiting PhD students! 🚨 Join the Stem Cell Biology and Evolution lab at @lsiexeter.bsky.social to study planarians, stem cells & evolution. 2 projects available - 1 week left to apply! Interested and no PhD yet? Apply now. Or help us spread the word! 🙌 www.exeter.ac.uk/research/ins...

90% of doing science is being open to new ideas.

Our latest "Dynamic Landscape Analysis of Cell Fate Decisions: Predictive Models of Neural Development From Single-Cell Data" A rigorous mathematical foundation for Waddington's landscape to study cell fate decision making Applied to ventral neural tube development www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...