Nick Desnoyer

😂😂 never been to Spain, should look into a vacation!

This is amazing

And shoutout to @amberhall.bsky.social the marker artist behind all these flower designs!

Genetic architecture of floral traits in bee- and hummingbird-pollinated sister species of Aquilegia (columbine) Abstract. Interactions with animal pollinators have helped shape the stunning diversity of flower morphologies across the angiosperms. A common evolutionar

For more on Aquilegia and it's cool hybrids check out this paper from @elenakramer.bsky.social and @science-irl.bsky.social: academic.oup.com/evolut/artic...

Friday Flower 006: Aquilegia 🌸🦋

Columbines vary in stamen number, making them a powerful model for how floral whorls expand.

Darwin marveled at their long nectar spurs, which co-evolve with hawkmoth tongues to reward pollinators that brush the stamens ✨

Woo! Viel Glück und bin gespannt woran das Neues Team arbeitet… hoffentlich Blumen 🤘

Wow that’s an amazing idea! Thanks for sharing the tip 🎄

I find that so many biologists are also talented artists.

@hsuanpai.bsky.social is a skilled technician and apparently good at any artistic media she touches.. even LB.

With the RUBY pants 🔥

Me standing on a street with trees in autumn colors. I am standing with my back to the camera. The focus of the photo is the T-shirt I am wearing , designed by Nick Desnoyer. On the back of the shirt you can see a bouquet made from engineered colorful Arabidopsis thaliana flowers in a small reaction tube, 'SynBio' is written underneath.

I finally picked up my "Epi-Bouquet 2" by @nickdesnoyer.bsky.social

As a former plant scienctist I am loving it! It's a great shirt! 💐 🧪

You can find more on Nick at his website: www.nickdesnoyer.com/about

Engineering flowers as a means for public outreach and art!

Dr. @nickdesnoyer.bsky.social reimagines Arabidopsis with new colors and shapes, blending plant biology, synthetic biology and creative arts!

Hear him speak at SB 8.0 at the iGEM Grand Jamboree! jamboree.igem.org/2025/program...

Synthetic biology and art go hand in hand 🧬 🌹

Thanks Moeez for the invitation to hang out with peeps at London Synbio network!

Yes, I know! Read your superman paper several times :)

The result: A 6mm flower scaled up 150X to 1 meter and printed on metal. A "little flower" made larger than life.

The cracks from freezing? Unintentional, but they capture the essence of a sculpture perfectly :)

Using, cryo-SEM, I froze my little flowers at –180 °C under high vacuum, coated them in platinum and captured them in exquisite detail.

Each "bubble" here is a single cell 🤯

Flowers are "sculpted" by the floral meristem, a small niche of cells that decide where and what organs to place (centre).

I'm used to this cellular scale, but how do I depict the flower as a sculpture of cells to others, like David? 🧐

Beyond the human body, flowers are also natural masterpieces forged by evolution.

Endlessly diverse and morphologically free 🌸🌻🌷

Inspiration struck while visiting renaissance sculptures like David in Florence..

Monuments of marble that put the human form on full display. Larger than life and elevating our sense of self.

Meet "Little Flower".

A genetically engineered flower, frozen in time and blown up over 150X. Here's the story (1/6 🧵)

Showing off my Arabidopsis flower shirt from @nickdesnoyer.bsky.social at @cbgpmadrid.bsky.social

Good eye! Yes, I made a mistake when assembling the animation..

First transformed with pOp6:RUBY (probably many insertions), then super-transformed with 35S:LacI-VP16 (binds to pOp6).

According to others, this black seed is common with RUBY...

Accidentally made “black” Arabidopsis seeds.

Under the microscope they look like little raisins 👀

Please count me in :)

Color changing flowers 🧬🎨- attempt #2

Older flowers (bottom) show dark red/ orange tints whereas young buds (top) display strong fuchsia color. Getting closer..

Doing my homework 📚

For more on the ABC model check out this review of the classic 1991 paper, "Whorl of the Worlds" by Coen and Meyerowitz: cambridge.org/core/journal...

Friday Flower 005: Arabidopsis thaliana 🌱✨

A tiny flower, but a giant in research, thale cress enabled our understanding of flower development through the "ABC Model".

With this knowledge, their flowers can be essentially reprogrammed to produce micro-roses 🧬🌹

You’re a hero. Already shared this with my lab 🫡

Wow, awesome!