Whole-embryo spatial transcriptomics at subcellular resolution from gastrulation to organogenesis Gene expression patterns underlie development, but their systematic detection in whole embryos has remained elusive. We introduce a whole-embryo imaging platform using multiplexed error-robust fluores...

Very happy to see this out. 👏 @yinanwan.bsky.social
Bogdan Bintu and team.
Whole-embryo spatial transcriptomics at subcellular resolution from gastrulation to organogenesis | free link Science www.science.org/eprint/5MHTM...

Bipartite network of ncORF-CDS co-translation in mice

🧬 A major data reanalysis in December's most-read Genetics paper uncovers thousands of previously hidden protein-coding regions in human and mouse genomes: buff.ly/wDJrzLu

U.S. government has lost more than 10,000 STEM Ph.D.s since Trump took office A Science analysis reveals how many were fired, retired, or quit across 14 agencies

U.S. government has lost more than 10,000 STEM Ph.D.s since Trump took office | Science | AAAS www.science.org/content/arti... via @science.org

Hypothetical scenario of eukaryogenesis.

Dominant contribution of Asgard archaea to eukaryogenesis 🧪
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

The findings imply a model of eukaryogenesis in which key features of eukaryotic cell organization evolved in the Asgard lineage leading to the LECA the last eukaryotic common ancestor.

Beyond the niche - unlocking the full potential of synthetic riboswitches
doi.org/10.1038/s414...

I always wanted to know this! Awesome work, thank you!

Lab’s first paper is out!! We show the first structures of #Asgard #chromatin by #cryo-EM 🧬❄️
Asgard histones form closed and open hypernucleosomes. Closed are conserved across #Archaea, while open resemble eukaryotic H3–H4 octasomes and are Asgard-specific. More here: www.cell.com/molecular-ce...

New preprint from the lab! We discovered a transient fluidization in the basal region of human forebrains by tracking microdroplets in cerebral organoids.This “basal fluidization”, absent in gorilla and mouse, may contribute to greater surface expansion in human forebrains
1/
doi.org/10.1101/2025...

Our Legacy of Science - Jane Goodall Institute USA With open eyes and an open mind, Dr. Jane Goodall made discoveries that rocked the scientific world, forever changing the way we look at our closest living relatives—and ourselves.The revolutionary di...

"What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make."

Jane Goodall

Histone acetylation - not always about transcriptional activation: H4K16ac safeguards the genome replication program by repressing premature replication of heterochromatin. Well done Marta Milan! tinyurl.com/yuy9m8t3

We are all super happy and proud to see our work on the function and evolution of the #cephalic #furrow published in @nature.com. Let me say a few things about the background and history of this work on the #Evolution_of_Morphogenesis (1/12)

The image shows a false-colored confocal microscopy image of the locus coeruleus of a Th-cre mouse. LC-NE neurons have been visualized by an antibody staining against tyrosine hydroxylase (cyan), while cre mediated expression of a reporter protein is visible around the LC (red). Image Credit: Lena S. Eschholz, Alexander Dieter, Chantal Wissing.

This study reveals substantial heterogeneity in #transgene expression patterns when using different strategies to virally transduce #NoradrenergicNeurons of the #LocusCoeruleus, highlighting the need for caution to avoid misinterpretations when studying LC function @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/3IehTKb

Reactivation of mammalian regeneration by turning on an evolutionarily disabled genetic switch Mammals display prominent diversity in the ability to regenerate damaged ear pinna, but the genetic changes underlying the failure of regeneration remain elusive. We performed comparative single-cell ...

"Importantly, activation of Aldh1a2 driven by a single rabbit enhancer was sufficient to promote ear pinna regeneration in transgenic mice."

How cool is that. From: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Private funder HHMI pauses postdoc fellowship As HHMI pauses Hanna Gray fellowship applications, opportunities for young scientists shrink further, making them look overseas.

"to run a contest that you end up not funding as a private organization at this time is… both extremely wasteful of these people’s time, and just devastating in terms of morale."

I spoke with @aniloza.bsky.social at STAT today about HHMI's decision not to fund this round of Hanna Gray applicants.

Overwork and changes in brain structure: a pilot study Objectives To investigate the effects of overwork on brain structure to better understand its impact on workers’ cognitive and emotional health. The goal was to provide evidence for the potential neur...

🧠⏰ Do long hours of work change our brains?

A new study finds overwork may alter brain regions linked to thinking and emotions – raising concerns for worker health.

🔗 oem.bmj.com/content/earl...

#SciComm #BrainHealth #Work 🧪

Meet GEQO: Genetically-encoded biosensors for absolute small-molecule quantification in single cells brought to you by @sascha-kuhn.bsky.social. For simple absolute quantification of your favourite small molecule or ion, head on over to @bioarxiv and read our new preprint: doi.org/10.1101/2025...

Plasma membrane labelling efficiency, internalization and partitioning of functionalized fluorescent lipids as a function of lipid structure Labeling the plasma membrane for advanced imaging remains a significant challenge. For time-lapse live cell imaging, probe internalization and photobleaching are major limitations affecting most membr...

New paper out! Would you like to fluorescently label the plasma membrane in live, fixed or permeabilized cells? I tested different lipid structures and labelling approaches to decide what makes a good membrane labelling probe for such imaging experiments!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

You guys, a conclave of old cardinals can decide on a POPE faster than an academic search committee can decide on the four people we're bringing to campus for an assistant professor search.

I'm disappointed to resign from the editorial board of @royalsocietypublishing.org @royalsociety.org journal Biology Letters. I won't give my time and labour away to an organisation that - through inaction - condones the destruction of US science by one of its own, Elon Musk FRS.

🧪⚒️

Exclusive: NSF stops awarding new grants and funding existing ones US science funder also plans to screen grant applications for compliance with ‘agency priorities’.

NSF stops awarding new grants and funding existing ones. US science funder also plans to screen grant applications for compliance with ‘agency priorities’.

In vitro reconstitution of meiotic DNA double-strand-break formation | Nature The Spo11 complex catalyses the formation of DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs), initiating meiotic recombination—a process that is essential for fertility and genetic diversity1,2. Although the function of Spo11 has been known for 27 years, previous efforts to reconstitute DSB formation in vitro have been unsuccessful. Here we biochemically characterize the mouse SPO11–TOP6BL protein complex, and show that this complex cleaves DNA and covalently attaches to the 5′ terminus of DNA breaks in vitro. Using a point-mutation strategy, we reveal that Mg2+ is essential for the DNA-cleavage activity of this complex in vitro, as confirmed by knock-in mice carrying a point mutation in SPO11 that disrupts its binding to Mg2+, thereby abolishing DSB formation. However, the activity of the SPO11 complex is ATP-independent. We also present evidence that the mouse SPO11 complex is biochemically distinct from the ancestral topoisomerase VI. Our findings establish a mechanistic framework for understanding

Spo11 complex successfully reconstituted in vitro after 27 years! Catalyzes DNA DSBs for meiotic recombination. Key to fertility & diversity. #Meiosis PMID:39972125, Nature 2025, @Nature https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-08551-1 #Medsky #Pharmsky #RNA #ASHG #ESHG 🧪

Here’s a story with some numbers. The proposed cuts are unfathomable: a 60% reduction to NSF would be the end of American science as we know it.

list of banned keywords

🚨BREAKING. From a program officer at the National Science Foundation, a list of keywords that can cause a grant to be pulled. I will be sharing screenshots of these keywords along with a decision tree. Please share widely. This is a crisis for academic freedom & science.

Bluesky’s science takeover: 70% of Nature poll respondents use platform Roughly 6,000 readers answered our poll, with many declaring that Bluesky was nicer, kinder and less antagonistic to science than X.

On the migration of the scientific community to Bluesky:
www.nature.com/articles/d41... 🧪

A fascinating 2023/24 study of publishing timelines over 140,000 academics in STEMM showing discipline & country-specific attrition of academic careers from the publication of first paper. The probability of continuing after 19y just 38-43%. Interactive maps at:
public.tableau.com/app/profile/...
🧪

Cool story!

Neanderthal ancestry in modern humans. Using Neanderthal (red) and present-day Africans as references, we identified regions of Neanderthal ancestry in >300 ancient and present-day modern humans (gray). We assessed the sharing of Neanderthal segments between populations, inferred the mean time and duration of the gene flow, and examined the variation in frequency across the genome to identify candidates of positive and negative selection. ya, years ago. [Figure created with BioRender.com]

Gene flow from Neanderthals has shaped genetic and phenotypic variation in modern humans.

Neanderthal ancestry through time:
Insights from genomes of ancient and present-day humans 🏺🧪
Leonardo N. M. Iasi, Mateja Hajdinjak @matejahajdi.bsky.social et al
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Very excited (and a bit nervous) to announce that I will be hiring two Postdocs for my new group(!) in Copenhagen to study the Neanderthal and Denisovan DNA which survives in present-day humans. Retweet will be much appreciated :)

Link for application:
candidate.hr-manager.net/ApplicationI...

Is BlueSky the new “Science Twitter” for real this time? At least it feels a lot like old science Twitter, and now science journals and organisations are joining as well.

It's happening! By @easternblot.bsky.social #scicomm 🧪🐡

You can find more about the Barth Sextic and how this assemblable model was developed here: silviana.org/gallery/sext...