Joshua Hufton

10,000 ticks wanted for new study on TBE - Radio Sweden 10,000 ticks are needed to get a better idea of ​​TBE risk areas in Sweden.A new study conducted by The Swedish Veterinary Agency and Uppsala University ...

If you're in #Sweden and you find a tick, my friend @muriellealund.bsky.social wants to have it!

www.sverigesradio.se/artikel/10-0...

A male pied flycatcher perching on a branch

📣 @qvarnstromlab.bsky.social is hiring a research assistant for 1 year to work on the flycatcher project. Responsibilities include sample organization, data management, lab and field work + management. MSc + relevant experience required.

Apply by Apr 4 👇 #ecoevojob

www.uu.se/en/about-uu/...

Rapid evolution of recombination landscapes during the divergence of cichlid ecotypes in Lake Masoko Abstract. Variation of recombination rate along the genome is of crucial importance to rapid adaptation and organismal diversification. Many unknowns remai

I’m very proud and happy to share the first paper of my PhD with @millanek.bsky.social that is now published in the latest issue of the journal Evolution @journal-evo.bsky.social.

academic.oup.com/evolut/artic...

Experimental evolution of evolvability Evolvability—the capacity to generate adaptive variation—is a trait that can itself evolve through natural selection. However, the idea that mutation can become biased toward adaptive outcomes remains...

Experimental evolution of evolvability | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

A male pied flycatcher perching on a branch

📣 New PhD position on flycatchers with @qvarnstromlab.bsky.social — spread the word!

Combine bioinformatics, long-term datasets and field work to explore climate adaptation and speciation in the lovely flycatchers. Join us in Uppsala, Sweden! Apply by Mar 18: www.uu.se/en/about-uu/...

#ecoevojob

Helena starting her talk "Songbird MHC – so similar, yet so different, to that of other birds"

Helena explaining the experiment testing MHC-I molecule's binding ability

Various talks

This morning at our 'Revolution' symposium: we started with a fascinating talk by Prof. Helena Westerdahl on MHC diversity in songbirds at diff. levels: genomic organization, expression and antigen presentation 🛡️🧬

Talks with diverse topics and study systems followed, many from MSc students! 💪

Heterozygote advantage can explain the extraordinary diversity of immune genes An eco-evolutionary model shows that heterozygote advantage can maintain over 100 major histocompatibility complex alleles, providing a potent explanation for extraordinary immune gene diversity and c...

Eco-evolutionary model showing that heterozygote advantage can explain the extraordinary diversity of immune genes!

Our new paper (out in #eLife: doi.org/10.7554/eLif...) identifies the conditions under which heterozygote advantage can drive the evolution of such diversity, found in e.g. #MHC genes

Quantifying temperature’s effect on #diapause #termination requires fitting #TPCs to binary biological data. In our new paper, out now in #PNAS, we show how to do this, revealing the sequential nature of diapause termination and post-diapause development.

doi.org/10.1073/pnas...

Had a great time at the Evolution in Sweden Conference @scilifelab.se!

Presented a poster about my MSc focusing on The Impacts of Feralization on The Horse Gut Microbiome 🐴🦠

#microbiome #gut-microbiome
#feralization

Had a nice time presenting my postdoc project at Evolution in Sweden.

Nuclear Cooperation as a Driver of Evolutionary Transitions in Fungi 🍄

Showing how cooperation between nuclei can drives #evolutionarytransitions in individuality using #mathematicalmodelling

#heterokaryosis
#adaptivedynamics

Had a great time presenting my work @Evolution in Sweden.

Epigenetic regulation of immune response in the Swedish sand lizard 🦎

#hostparasite #sexspecific #epigenetics #reptiles
#immunity

Josh presenting the results

@joshuahufton.bsky.social closes today’s talks with a look at epigenetic regulation of immune response in the Swedish sand lizard 🦎

Our lab's first paper out in 2025!
Led by the brilliant Ella Ackroyd in collaboration with Rob Heathcote
Dynamic colour change in zebrafish (Danio rerio) across multiple contexts
royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1...
#openaccess #fishsci #zebrafish

Julbord celebration

A very merry Christmas to our colleagues and friends! God jul och gott nytt år! ✨🎅🎁🎄

Photo from our julbord/Christmas dinner (photo courtesy Gabriela Montejo-Kovacevich)

DNA origami: a new frontier in epigenetic inheritance across generations In a collaboration between two labs spanning both sides of the English Channel, scientists have discovered a new way in which the organisation of DNA within our cells affects genes for generations

In a collaboration between two labs spanning both sides of the English Channel, scientists have discovered a new way the organisation of DNA within our cells affects genes for generations bit.ly/202412-sarkies. Lead author: Max Fitz-James working with @psarkies.bsky.social & Giacomo Cavalli

Investment in immunity in this species is varied and is often trading off with other traits. When we capture the lizards we take numerous measurements, but amazingly these lizards almost always carry between 10-200 ticks around their neck, head and forelimbs. Gross & fascinating

Sand lizards can be found across Europe, but the Swedish populations are particularly fragmented and located at the northern (colder) extremes of their distribution. Warming climates raise concerns about the adaptability of the species, and epigenetics can help us understand this

Our population is an outbred island population which has been inhabiting keholmen in south west Sweden for ~20 years. This allows us to ask plenty of interesting evolutionary questions and also inform the conservation efforts of this vulnerable species.

First field season of my PhD studying Swedish sand lizards (Lacerta agilis) 🦎 My work investigates epigenetic response in immune challenge experiments. Plenty more cool projects: hormones and coloration, microbiomes, egg incubation temperatures, telomeres

Field work setup

Butterflies

❕ PhD position on 🦋 ❕

Passionate about studying the genomics of local adaptation? Join us for a fully funded 4-year PhD at Uppsala University, Sweden. Enjoy competitive salaries, full employment benefits, and a vibrant research community surrounded by nature. Apply here uu.varbi.com/en/what:job/...

Lola gives presentation

In the Conservation Biology Seminar Series yesterday, visiting PhD student María Dolores Barón Rodriguez (Lola) gave a really interesting seminar about the preen gland #microbiomes of hoopoes, wood-hoopoes and hornbills. 🐦 She had a big audience too (not visible)!

It’s happening!