Nico Posnien

Cell movements around the organizer/node after stage HH4.

Fate maps of the ectodermal (dorsal) layer of the organizer/node, based on Selleck and Stern (1991) (Selleck and Stern, 1991).

Cell movements of populations contributing to the organizer.

Stages of early chick development referred to in the text. The diagrams show some of the features used to classify the stages in relation to primitive streak formation.

We often talk about what signals does the organiser release. But have you ever stopped and asked what does it mean to be the organiser? What cells make up the organiser? Where do they go? What do they do?
Well this review by Claudio Stern may give you the answers:
doi.org/10.1016/j.cd...

Here it is! Postdoctoral position to identify the progenitors sensory organs in the regenerating legs of Parhyale

apply here: www.averof-lab.org/pages/tracman

1/3

Exciting news!
The next #PopGroup meeting will take place in Lille 🍟, France, 7–9 January 2026 – just 1 hour by train from London, Brussels, and Paris.

This year, PopGroup will also host ALPHY, the annual meeting of Evolutionary Genomics.

More info: populationgeneticsgroup.org.uk

See you there !

Would be excited to chat with folks looking for a postdoc in AI to develop models for genomic prediction...

A great opportunity for funding coming up soon is the Schmidt AI in Science fellowship, due October 13th! apply.interfolio.com/173322

GönomiX - Seminar Series - HedgeDoc # GönomiX - Seminar Series 

Visit the seminar series website for details and Zoom infos: pad.gwdg.de/s/a_5KCo2cq. If you want to learn more about #Goenomix, explore this page: www.uni-goettingen.de/de/621713.html. Stay tuned and watch this place for a number of exciting PhD positions within the #Goenomix framework.

Long time no see...But we are back with a real firework 🎆. Join us tomorrow at noon for the first #Goenomix talk of the semester by Cassandra Extavour from Havard University. Talk: "One two three: developmental counting mechanisms in reproductive output and evolution". PM for Zoom details.

I'm a bit late to the party over here. I'll be advertising a BBSRC-funded postdoc position soon. So if anyone wants to solve some outstanding questions in limb development - please get in touch. We have a variety of models and approaches (everything from stem cells to sharks). towerslab.weebly.com

Scientific figure showing experiments in fruit flies testing cell ablation with Ronidazole and Nitroreductase. Top panels: images of adult flies with normal eyes vs. reduced or absent eyes after treatment, quantified in a bar graph. Middle panels: fluorescent images of eye discs showing GFP-labeled cells and Dcp1 staining, with increased cell death after treatment. Bottom panels: brain images showing targeted ablation of insulin-producing cells and cortex glia, confirmed by loss of GFP and presence of Dcp1. Graphs show significant reduction in specific cell types with Ronidazole treatment.

#DBfeature #Drosophia 🪰

Spatiotemporal control of cell ablation using Ronidazole with Nitroreductase in Drosophila

by Gary Teeters, Christina Cucolo, Sagar Kasar, Melanie Worley, and Sarah Siegrist

tiom33.short.gy/DB520,31-40

Molecular evolution of dietary shifts in ladybird beetles (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae): from fungivory to carnivory and herbivory - BMC Biology Background Dietary shifts are major evolutionary steps that shape ecological niches and biodiversity. The beetle family Coccinellidae, commonly known as ladybirds, first transitioned from a fungivorou...

Molecular evolution of dietary shifts in ladybirds 🐞 expansions of digestive & detoxifying #gene families in the herbivorous ladybirds, & absence of most plant cell wall-degrading enzymes in the ladybirds from the transition to carnivory link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Many thanks to all GEvol members for a truly wonderful annual meeting. It was really great to catch up with you all again.

How Did Evolution Halve Genome Size During an Oceanic Island Colonization? Abstract. Red devil spiders of the genus Dysdera colonized the Canary Islands and underwent an extraordinary diversification. Notably, their genomes are ne

Red devil spiders from the Canary Islands have a genome half the size of mainland counterparts - Pisarenco, @jrozasub.bsky.social et al. show how purifying selection against slightly deleterious DNA and TE insertions is the primary mechanism.

🔗 doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msaf206

#evobio #molbio #TEsky

🧪

Leaving Academia: Insights from Evolutionary Biologists on Their Career Transitions and Job Satisfaction Many who have obtained PhDs in evolutionary biology will ultimately pursue careers that fall outside a narrow definition of an academic career. At the same time, PhD students and supervisors of PhD st...

'Overall, the message from this survey is positive– evolutionary biologists are readily employable outside of academia, generally well-prepared for those jobs, and report high levels of satisfaction in their non-academic careers.'
#Preprint
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Size matters—but maybe not how we thought. Most chromosomal inversions are just a few hundred bp. Ignoring these “small players” could mean we’ve misunderstood how genomes evolve -out in TREE authors.elsevier.com/a/1ljL1cZ3X3...

Nice presentations by our PhD students Chetan and Dugcar at the final meeting of phase 1 of @gevol.bsky.social. Great omics results on #spider #genome duplication. Great collab with @pechmannm.bsky.social, @nturetz.bsky.social, @mcordellier.bsky.social and Niko Pripc-Schäper

Pls. share widely

Calling all transposon fans & lovers of genetic innovation

MOBILE GENOME welcomes you in Heidelberg, Nov. 4–7 2025

→ Vibrant & friendly community
→ Cutting-edge talks from mechanisms to physiology
→ Plenty of surprises (TEs never stop innovating)

submit abstract by July 29

At long last, the version of record of our paper on the #Platynereis #connectome

"Whole-body connectome of a segmented annelid larva" is out.

Explore the rich online presentation with all the videos, figures and source data here:

https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.97964

@eLife
@biology […]

Finally, the excellent postdoc work of Emmanuel Haillot is out, where he dissected the integration of Wnt, MAPK and Notch signaling in defining mesoderm and endoderm identities in the diploblast Nematostella. Strikingly similar to sea urchins. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

🚨 We are hiring!
🧬 PhD Position – Genomic Architecture & Evolution
Join our team at UAB (Barcelona) in an international project
🔬 4-year FPI contract
🎓 Biology/Genetics background + Master’s + English
📅 Apply by Sept 30, 2025
📧 aurora.ruizherrera@uab.cat
🔗 grupsderecerca.uab.cat/evolgenom

One mother for two species via obligate cross-species cloning in ants - Nature In a case of obligate cross-species cloning, female ants of Messor ibericus need to clone males of Messor structor to obtain sperm for producing the worker caste, resulting in males from the same moth...

Look at this crazy thing!
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Nice to see @droseu.bsky.social here on Bkuesky! Welcome!

Group photo of postdocs conducting research at a Max Planck Institute

The #MaxPlanckPostdocProgram offers a guaranteed contract of at least 3 years, targeted mentoring, and career workshops. The call for applications is open now! 🚀 Take advantage of this opportunity and browse the job vacancies. www.mpg.de/en/max-planc...

🎯 We are so thrilled our new paper @narjournal.bsky.social is out! Fantastic collab with the labs of Gordon Hager NIH & Franck Dequiedt. Heaviest lifting from Greg Fettweiss, Kaustub Wagh, Diana Stavreva & Alba Jiménez-Panizo. Big thanks to Andrea Alegre-Marti JdC 🥳✨️
academic.oup.com/nar/article/...

Group Leader - Genome Biology Unit Are you ready to lead groundbreaking research in Genome Biology? Join us at EMBL! We are seeking a motivated scientist to lead an independent research group addressing exciting and original biological...

To all post-docs: The Genome Biology dept ‪@embl.org
has an Independent faculty position. Fantastic place to set up your lab –great package: core funding, fantastic Ph.D. students, cutting edge core facilities & great colleagues. Closing date Sept 19th
embl.wd103.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/EMBL/j...

Fly labs — Now is the time to show some solidarity and chip in support for this vital resource!

Devastating consequences ahead! Please contribute some money. It is as easy as online shopping! Not only relevant for fly researchers as most emerging model system work (specifically #arthropds) ends up checking @flybase.bsky.social at some point for otholog gene function. Spread the word!

Erich and Marie travelled to Barcelona for #ESEB2025. Erich gave two talks: one exploring de novo and random proteins, and another discussing gene family losses in slave-maker ants. Marie presented her work on neORF emergence in Drosophila at Symposium 29, organised by @gevol.bsky.social. 🧬🪰🐜

Cartoon illustrating, how traffic induces more traffic. “There is too much traffic for Billy to walk to school, so we drive him.”

As our kids go #BackToSchool, never forget that we ARE the traffic that we’re afraid of. If more kids walked, biked or rode transit to school, it would erase a massive number of car trips each day, and our kids would be safer, healthier and better at school. HT Ian Lockwood.

Spread the word.

Evolution has produced an incredible array of ways to be male & female. In some tiny cave-dwelling insect species, the female is the one with a penis. She uses it to hook into the male's vagina-like structure (for up to 70hrs) while "voluminous & probably nutritious semen is passed to the female"🧪🧬🪲

LINE-1 retrotransposons mediate cis-acting transcriptional control in human pluripotent stem cells and regulate early brain development Adami et al. demonstrate that evolutionarily young L1s are expressed in human pluripotent stem cells and are dynamically regulated throughout neural differentiation. The study examines the role of L1s...

New paper from our lab! We found that LINE-1 transposons contribute to early human brain development.

Funded by @asapresearch.parkinsonsroadmap.org

www.cell.com/cell-genomic...