Fany M. Real (@fany-real) Bsky

More than meets the eye(spot): evolution through co-option of developmental programmes - Nature Reviews Genetics In this Journal Club, Francisca Real recalls a 1999 paper by Keys et al. that dissected the mechanistic underpinnings of butterfly wing spot development, which ultimately provided one of the earliest ...

I had fun writing this JC on the butterfly eyespots, one of my favorite examples of co-option! 🦋🦋👁️

Always nice to revisit the papers and people behind concepts we use all the time nowdays! www.nature.com/articles/s41...

13 hours ago 4 0 0 0

Fantastic! Congrats Adri 🥂

2 weeks ago 0 0 1 0

A dual role for CTCF in development CTCF is an essential DNA binding protein whose absence leads to embryonic lethality. CTCF is primarily known for its role in 3D genome organization where its N-terminal domain interacts with cohesin to anchor chromatin loops. How CTCF facilitates proper embryonic development remains unclear, necessitating temporal control to resolve its stage-specific functions. By combining gastruloids, an in vitro model of embryonic development, with a degron system to rapidly deplete CTCF at defined timepoints, we show that early CTCF depletion impairs early gastruloid morphogenesis. Surprisingly, ATAC-seq and time-resolved RNA-seq revealed that differentiation was unaffected. CTCF binding is strongly enriched at promoters of downregulated genes. Re-expression of a CTCF variant with an N-terminal truncation, incapable of looping, was sufficient to rescue the expression of CTCF-promoter bound genes and the defects in morphogenesis. However, extended culture (up to 168 hours) of gastruloids reconstituted with N-terminal truncated CTCF led to their collapse. Our work shows that CTCF has a dual function in early mammalian development: at early stages CTCF regulates developmentally important genes through promoter binding, while at later stages its looping function is required for correct development. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest. European Research Council, https://ror.org/0472cxd90, 637587, 865459 Dutch Research Council, https://ror.org/04jsz6e67, 016.161.316, VI.C.222.049 Dutch Cancer Society, https://ror.org/0368jnd28, N/A

🧵 CTCF is essential for embryonic development, but why has remained unclear. By combining gastruloids with a temporal degron system, we uncovered a surprising dual function — and it changes how we think about CTCF's role in development. 1/8 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

1 month ago 112 55 7 4

🚨 Job Alert - Please share! 🙏

Interested in 3D gene regulation in development & evolution? 🤓🧬

💥 Our lab at @cabd-upo-csic.bsky.social is expanding!

We’re recruiting:
✅ PhD students
✅ Postdocs
💻🧪 Experimental or computational backgrounds welcome

👇 Details below

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Convergent and lineage-specific genomic changes shape adaptations in sugar-consuming birds High-sugar diets cause human metabolic diseases, yet several bird lineages convergently adapted to feeding on sugar-rich nectar or fruits. We investigated the underlying molecular mechanisms in hummin...

Happy to share that our work with Ekaterina Osipova, @maggiemcko.bsky.social, Tim Sackton, Maude Baldwin & fantastic collaborators on convergent and lineage-specific genomic adaptations in sugar-feeding birds is published in Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/.... While high sugar intake ...

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Beautiful work! Congratulations to everyone involved!!

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The molecular evolution of vertebrate organs Nature Ecology & Evolution - This Review discusses recent advances in the molecular evolution of vertebrate organs, including rates of evolution of organs and cell types, molecular mechanisms...

Our internal organs are evolutionary marvels. New technologies are transforming our understanding of the evolution of vertebrate organs. You can find more by reading here:
rdcu.be/e5EgU
#EvoBio #EvoDevo 🐟🦎🐢🦇🐊🦜

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We wrote a perspective "How to build the regulatory genome: a constructionist guide to the cis-regulatory code", out in Development yesterday. Title says it all. Find it here:

journals.biologists.com/dev/article/...

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Chromatin spatial analysis by METALoci unveils sex-determining 3D regulatory hubs Nature Structural & Molecular Biology - METALoci, a new three-dimensional genome computational tool, reveals a major rewiring of regulatory interactions during sex determination. By combining...

🤩💪 Out now! 3D regulatory hubs in sex determination

With @mamartirenom.bsky.social & Capel labs, led by @imotagom.bsky.social & @jrotwitguez.bsky.social

1️⃣ METALoci – explore #3DGenome 🧬
2️⃣ Non-coding region controlling Fgf9 🧩
3️⃣ Meis genes = new key players 🌟

👉 rdcu.be/e5sm2

1/n Bluetorial 👇

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Welcome! You are invited to join a webinar: The 3D Regulatory Genome: Evolution of 3D of 3D chromatin organization in metazoan species. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about j... Join our guest speaker, Dr. Darío Lupianez, in this exciting seminar on the 3D Regulatory Genome, sponsored by Enhanced Genomics.

I am very excited to host @dariloops.bsky.social today for this talk on “Evolution of 3D chromatin organization in metazoan species” in our @enhancedgenomics.bsky.social seminar series ‘The 3D Regulatory Genome’.

📅 12 Feb 2026 (today!)

⏰ 4 pm GMT

Please join us:
us02web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

2 months ago 3 1 0 0

Happy International Day of Women and Girls in Science! #11F #NoMoreMatildas 🧑‍💻🧑‍🔬🧑‍🏫🧑‍🔧🧑‍⚕️

2 months ago 6 1 1 0

Beautiful work showing how useful are the comparative single cell analyses to understand cell type evolution and functional diversity! Congrats 🥂🥂

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1st #EvoDevOmics meeting🍊
What a terrific team
@isabelalmudi.bsky.social @mirimiam.bsky.social @anariesgo.bsky.social @patrialvarezcam.bsky.social @jpascualanaya.bsky.social @phylobrain.bsky.social @fany-real.bsky.social Núria🔥 Nacho and more.
What great hosts🥘 @hector-escriva.bsky.social & Steph

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Deep conservation of cis-regulatory elements and chromatin organization in echinoderms uncover ancestral regulatory features of animal genomes Nature Ecology & Evolution - Analysis of the 3D chromatin architecture and cis-regulatory elements in a sea urchin and a sea star reveals mechanisms of 3D chromatin organization in echinoderms...

Our work on the evolution of the regulatory genome of echinoderms is now out in @natecoevo.nature.com. Led by my former PhD Marta Magri, Danila Voronov & Saoirse Foley. Great collaboration of Arnone, Hinman & Maeso labs, started long time ago with our missed José Luis Gomez-Skarmeta: rdcu.be/eXX8l

3 months ago 71 32 7 1

Congratulations! Beautiful work!!

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An expanded registry of candidate cis-regulatory elements - Nature The existing ENCODE registry of candidate human and mouse cis-regulatory elements is expanded with the addition of new ENCODE data, integrating new functional data as well as new cell and tissue types.

Nature research paper: An expanded registry of candidate cis-regulatory elements

go.nature.com/4pAbARf

3 months ago 14 4 0 2

Honored to be a small part of your vocabulary!! 😆

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Predictive design of tissue-specific mammalian enhancers that function in vivo in the mouse embryo Enhancers control tissue-specific gene expression across metazoans. Although deep learning has enabled enhancer prediction and design in mammalian cell lines and invertebrate systems, it remains uncle...

Our preprint "Predictive design of tissue-specific mammalian enhancers that function in vivo in the mouse embryo" is on bioRxiv: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... . Amazing collaboration by @shenzhichen1999.bsky.social, Vincent Loubiere (@impvienna.bsky.social,@viennabiocenter.bsky.social),... (1/2)

3 months ago 103 47 2 3

Glad to share our latest work that came out recently. We dive into the mechanisms of how Transcription Factors (TFs) like the nuclear receptor, ERα navigate the genome to find their targets.

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Big congrats!! 🥂

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Register now for the EMBO Workshop "Limb development and regeneration: Quantitative, ecological, and diversification studies" in #Tokyo, Japan, 23–27 March 2026.

Abstract submission/Registration deadline:
12/15 December 2025

https://meetings.embo.org/event/26-limb-dev
#EMBOLimbDev #EMBOevents 🧪

4 months ago 15 9 0 0

Gracias Elena! 🤗

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Merci Marc!!! 🤗

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Vielen Dank dear friend!

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Thank you very much Denis!! I’m really thrilled about it 🤗

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Muchas gracias Joaquina! 🤗

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Muchas gracias! 😉

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Thank you very much Juliane! 😘

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Thank you Sedona! 🤗

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Thank you Jesse!! And congratulations to you too! Yes, indeed! Looking forward to see you soon! 🤗

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Posts by Fany M. Real