Rafael D. Acemel

Happy to share our new preprint on lens morphogenesis in ocular organoids. All thanks to Elin Stahl, Miguel Angel Delgado-Toscano, Ishwariya Saravanan, Anastasija Paneva and Jochen Wittbrodt @wittbrodtlab.bsky.social

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Hox clusters and junk DNA. Prove me wrong 😂

The cover of Nature Genetics July 2025 issue. Digital art of a mouse paw skeletal prep on dark background, digits I to IV disintegrating into viral particles. A caption says “An endogenous retrovirus causes limb malformation”.

Pretty surreal to see my artwork on the cover of Nature Genetics! Big congrats to @julianeg.bsky.social, @stemundi.bsky.social and the others, and thank you Juliane for letting me help bring your research to life visually.

www.nature.com/ng/volumes/5...

Marsupial single-cell transcriptomics identifies temporal diversity in mammalian developmental programs Menchero et al. generate a single-cell transcriptomic atlas in the opossum and show rapid progression of transcriptional programs in specific tissues relative to morphological landmarks. This shift in...

Thrilled to share that our latest work on marsupial heterochrony is now online at @cp-devcell.bsky.social @cellpress.bsky.social @lab-turner.bsky.social @crick.ac.uk We used scRNAseq to understand the asynchronous progression of developmental programmes in marsupials www.cell.com/developmenta...

our work on the molecular differences between transcription factor isoforms is out now in Molecular Cell!

key point: 2/3rds of TF isos differ in properties like DNA binding & transcriptional activity

many are "negative regulators" & misexpressed in cancer

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Honored to receive the City Medal 🎖️ of Algeciras, my hometown.

Thanks to all group members, past and present, who make our research possible. Also mentors, institutions and funding agencies for support.

I hope this will stimulate further generations to follow the path of discovery and innovation.

A single-cell multiomics roadmap of zebrafish spermatogenesis reveals regulatory principles of male germline formation Spermatogenesis is the biological process by which male sperm cells (spermatozoa) are produced in the testes. Beyond facilitating the transmission of genetic information, spermatogenesis also provides...

Ever wondered how sperm are formed? Spermatogenesis is a microscopic marathon that starts in the testes and ends with fully functional sperm! Our new preprint bitly.cx/jC4Qg takes a deep dive into zebrafish spermatogenesis, mapping out every fascinating step. 🧵👇 1/7

Extinction is forever: de-extinction can’t save what we had | Aeon Ideas Even if it works, genetic resuscitation would begin something new; it can’t restore what we lost. Extinction is forever

Extinction is forever: de-extinction can’t save what we had

aeon.co/ideas/extinc...

Francis Collins, the NIH Director for 12 years, led the Human Genome Project and other NIH efforts for 32 years, resigned today. Key words from his resignation letter
www.nytimes.com/2025/03/01/u...

As the world of science wakes up to modern fascism, it's worth remembering older generations who stood up for humanity in much harsher circumstances. Jacques Monod worked actively for the resistance in WWII, while pursuing early stages of his research in occupied Paris. @standupforscifr.bsky.social

Congratulations to the new PhD at #CABD: Marta Magri!
Dr. Magri presented her PhD work in a wonderful way! Marta's thesis was done with PhD program from University Pablo de Olavide and was supervised by Nacho Maeso (now at @irbio-ub.bsky.social ) !

Me presenting my project titled ‘Understanding evolutionary novelties: a single-cell perspective on the turbinate eye in mayflies’ at the XII Jornada de Bioinformàtica i Genòmica in Lleida. The slide features a detailed image of a mayfly, highlighting the focus of my research.

Thrilled to have shared my mayfly research from @isabelalmudi.bsky.social lab at the #XIIJornadadeBioinformàticaiGenòmica in Lleida, organised by @scb.iec.cat. An inspiring day of brilliant talks and meaningful discussions! #EvoDevo #Bioinformatics #scRNAseq

A microRNA is the effector gene of a classic evolutionary hotspot locus In Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths), the genomic region around the gene cortex is a “hotspot” locus, repeatedly implicated in generating intraspecific melanic wing color polymorphisms across 100 mi...

Our miRNA story is now in @science.org ! We found a microRNA, not a protein, that finally solved a long-standing evolutionary mystery of wing coloration in butterflies and moths. (1/n)
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

In case you missed it, some really cool findings about gene regulation in echinoderms. Including some nice Hi-C maps of sea urchins and sea stars :) Happy to have contributed a little. Big congrats to all, specially to my bench colleague during my thesis times #MartaMagri.

Congrats!!!

Comparative single-cell analyses reveal evolutionary repurposing of a conserved gene program in bat wing development Bats are the only mammals capable of self-powered flight, an evolutionary innovation based on the transformation of forelimbs into wings. The bat wing is characterized by an extreme elongation of the ...

Ever wondered how bats develop wings from their hands? 🦇✨

Check out our new preprint and the thread below! 🤓

👏Big applause to our amazing first authors Magdalena Schindler and Christian Feregrino and thanks to all our co-authors for their help! 🥂

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Congrats!! Also to Carlos ☺️

Gill regeneration in the mayfly Cloeon uncovers new molecular pathways in insect regeneration | Open Biology The capacity to regenerate lost organs is widespread among animals, and yet the number of species in which regeneration has been experimentally probed using molecular and functional assays is very sma...

Happy to share our latest work, together with the Casares lab, studying the outstanding regenerative capabilities of mayflies
royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
@geneticsub.bsky.social @irbio-ub.bsky.social @cabd-upo-csic.bsky.social @sebioldev.bsky.social

The dawn of a new medicine: Researchers use the theory of evolution to fight cancer The world’s first joint research program in evolutionary medical genomics has been launched in Barcelona, under the direction of biologist Manuel Irimia

Big 🧬 news this week: we have launched the first Joint Program on Evolutionary Medical Genomics. Spearheaded by @mirimiam.bsky.social, Barcelona researchers will study and exploit the vast genomic diversity of life on Earth to enhance precision medicine. Full story in @elpais.com

Cartas hechas por la editorial Anaya con la información sobre el descubrimiento del Escutoide. Sale Clara Grima, salgo yo… sale un dibujo del Escutoide.

Oye @larevueltatve.bsky.social que estoy preparando un hilo para convenceros de que sería un acierto llevarnos a @claragrima.bsky.social y a mí para contaros la historia del descubrimiento de los #escutoides. Os garantizamos que no tenemos ningún contrato en exclusiva con “otra gente” y vamos fijo.