Diversity-generating retroelements for programmable targeted hypermutagenesis - Nature Biotechnology Diversity-generating retroelements are engineered for directed evolution in E.coli.

🔈Paper out! We turned the most fascinating phage host-switch mechanism, diversity-generating retroelements, into a programmable mutagenesis tool, DGRec. You can perform targeted hypermutation of any 50-200bp sequence directly in vivo in E. coli www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Very excited with the online publication of our modeling work on the evolution of sexual reproduction during obligate endosymbiosis: doi.org/10.1098/rstb.... The first publication of Alkmini Zania 🎉; together with Paulien Hogeweg.

Happy to have made a small contribution for @gbouras13.bsky.social's study. Hope this is just one of many examples in independent researcher collaboration with academic scientists!

#archaeasky folks, this pipeline rules for global baseline annotation for archaea

doi.org/10.64898/202...

💻🧬🧫🦠

Sign up now for the EMBO Workshop "#MolecularBiology of #Archaea: Life Through the Prism of Archaea" in Cambridge, UK, 6–10 July 2026.

Deadline: 15 April

https://meetings.embo.org/event/26-archaea
#EMBOArchaeaBiology #EMBOevents #CellBiology #StructuralBiology #ecology #evolution #biophysics 🧪

How diverse is bacterial immunity ?

We report in @science.org how language models allowed us to predict 2.4M antiphage proteins spanning >23K novel potential systems.
👏 @emordret.bsky.social, @alexhv.bsky.social & al doi.org/10.1126/scie...

Explore them here defensefinder.mdmlab.fr/wiki/refseq_...

DAY 300
SPECIES 300 - Acidianus bottle-shaped virus
STAGE: Archaea
MEDIUM: Arches Paper. Chromatic, DS & QoR watercolor, Sakura pen

NOTES: I didn't have a good way to integrate viruses, so I'm going to spread them throughout the stages that they are related to

#sciart #watercolor #archaea #art

DAY 295
SPECIES 295 - Haloarcula marismortui
STAGE: Archaea
MEDIUM: Arches Paper. Chromatic watercolor, Writech pen, Tombow pencil

H. marismortui is an extreme halophilic archaeon isolated from the Dead Sea. It is a model microorganism for studying high salt adaptation

#sciart #archaea #art #paint

Today was also the lab’s first sampling trip, hunting for archaea around Davis!

Molly Ingersoll: advocating for women's health and women's rights Molly Ingersoll has been head of a research team at the Institut Pasteur in Paris since 2012. This unfailingly optimistic microbiologist and immunologist is committed to revolutionizing our approach t...

Meet Molly Ingersoll, microbiologist & immunologist.
Her work shows how women and men can respond very differently to infections, and why sex-specific treatments are urgently needed.
She also speaks up about the invisible hurdles women face in science.
Follow her here @immunobladder.bsky.social

We are looking for outstanding scientists to develop ambitious research programs in molecular and cellular biology, with special interest in multidisciplinary projects and computational biology.More info: www.i2bc.paris-saclay.fr #MolecularBiology
#CellBiology #ComputationalBiology #TeamLeaders#I2BC

BBC Radio 4 - In Our Time, Archaea How a discovery in the 1970s changed the theory of the origin of complex life on earth.

Available now on BBC radio "In our time: Archaea" with Christa Schleper, Thorsten Allers and Buzz Baum discussing the evolution of complex cells with Misha Glenny.

www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

Having a hard time keeping up with the fast-moving field of origin of eukaryotes/Asgards archaea? Our new perspective article can help, we review the status of research over the last decade and where it's going.

The archaeal roots of eukaryotic life

www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Diversity, ecology, cell biology and evolution of the Asgard archaea Nature Reviews Microbiology, Published online: 05 March 2026; doi:10.1038/s41579-026-01288-wThe Asgard archaea have become a cornerstone of archaeal research, particularly for studies aiming to unravel the origin and early evolution of eukaryotes. This Review outlines the current state of the research field focusing on these intriguing microorganisms and discusses future research directions aiming to resolve their diversity, ecology, cell biology and evolution.

ICYMI: New online! Diversity, ecology, cell biology and evolution of the Asgard archaea

BBC Radio 4 - In Our Time, Archaea How a discovery in the 1970s changed the theory of the origin of complex life on earth.

Archaea hit prime time: www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... Amazing work by Kris and gang! For the first time we have been able to image division ring components live in Sulfolobus. And guess what - CdvA is asymmetrically inherited.

Curious about the origin of development during the transition to multicellularity?

A very belated preprint alert: bit.ly/4rr2mHU
Reproduction emerges from ecological interactions at the onset of multicellularity.

A short 🧵 with lots of videos...

DAY 276
SPECIES 276 - Saccharolobus solfataricus
STAGE: Archaea
MEDIUM: Arches Paper. DS , QoR & HWC watercolor, Sakura pen

NOTES: I have 3 colors that I want to keep using over and over.

#sciart #watercolor #archaea #painting #art #paint

Diversity, ecology, cell biology and evolution of the Asgard archaea - Nature Reviews Microbiology The Asgard archaea have become a cornerstone of archaeal research, particularly for studies aiming to unravel the origin and early evolution of eukaryotes. This Review outlines the current state of th...

Just over ten years after the discovery of the first Asgard archaeal genomes, we revisit the rapid expansion of this remarkable archaeal lineage. From diverse genomes and metabolisms to eukaryotic signature proteins and the first cultured representatives.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

With Eugene Koonin, we propose a concept of “the selfish ribosome”, under which evolution of life is viewed as a ribosomal takeover, where the ribosome evolved to consume most of the cell’s resources, while other cellular componentry ensures the propagation of the ribosome. arxiv.org/abs/2602.23268

Clonal-aggregative multicellularity tuned by salinity in a choanoflagellate - Nature The choanoflagellate Choanoeca flexa forms motile and contractile cell monolayers purely clonally, purely aggregatively or through a combination of both processes depending on environmental conditions.

A study in Nature shows that the single-celled form of a tiny, aquatic organism can turn into a multicellular version by three different routes. The discovery adds insight to the possible origins of multicellular life, suggesting a previously unrecognized degree of flexibility. 🧪

Screenshot of the title and author list of the preprint entitled "Deep learning extracts MoA-specific signatures from high-throughput images of chemically and genetically perturbed Corynebacteria"

Our preprint outlining a deep learning-based phenotypic screening approach for the discovery of new TB drugs is out on bioRxiv now 💊🦠

🔗 doi.org/10.64898/202...

Thank you @awehenkel.bsky.social @chzimmer.bsky.social @spetrella.bsky.social @curieuseny.bsky.social and everyone else not on bsky (yet)🙏

The evolutionary origins of synaptic proteins and their changing roles in different organisms across evolution Nature Reviews Neuroscience - Recent studies have shed further light on the evolutionary origins of chemical synapses, In this Review, Colgren and Burkhardt explore how ancient proteins were...

First neurons didn’t appear overnight. We trace their roots to ancient secretory cells - showing how lifestyle & behavior shaped the evolution of first synapses.🧠🌊 #Evolution #Neuroscience

Our latest in @natrevneuro.nature.com
Link: rdcu.be/eMX3E

@jeffcolgren.bsky.social @msarscentre.bsky.social

Congrats Katy so excitiiing!!! 🌝🎉

Beyond thrilled to share that our study has been published!
This project encompasses years of work, including my thesis research on Asgard archaea in the @archaeal.bsky.social lab at @utmsi.bsky.social and
@texasscience.bsky.social!!!
#MicroSky #ArchaeaSky 1/12

Finally out in @nature.com: a new piece of the puzzle of how complex life evolved. Lead by @archaeal.bsky.social & @katyappler.bsky.social. Great collab with @greening.bsky.social and @kassipan.bsky.social. More pieces to follow soon! www.nature.com/articles/s41...

A 🆕 #Ichthyosporea story
Led by@margaridaaraujo.bsky.social, in Co. @gautamdey.bsky.social & @hiralshah.bsky.social+🔥team across @embl.org & @sciencesunige.bsky.social
We finally have a look at what #microtubules are doing during #cellularization in #Sphaeroforma
▶️ tinyurl.com/MTSARC
#ProtistsOnSky

We are happy to share our newest preprint on a novel strain of Ca. Lokiarchaeum ossiferum, that contains an active provirus, capable of excision and independent replication! We propose a novel virus family: Fylgjaviridae.

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Our latest preprint: Together with the team of Jan Löwe, @danieltamarit.bsky.social and many others we discovered and characterized several Asgard tubulin genes and propose that microtubule architecture and dynamics evolved in Asgard archaea prior to eukaryogenesis
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Active virus-host system in a Lokiarchaeon culture www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.02...

Olee!! Muchas felicidades a los dos!!!