I defended my PhD 10 years ago today. That was the least remarkable thing that happened that day. Sharing something I wrote about it last year. Since then "the horrors persist but so do we." And with dignity.
Honoured and overwhelmed to receive the 2026 Waddington Medal. Science is a team effort, and I've been fortunate to work alongside exceptional people asking hard questions. Thank you to the BSDB and to everyone who has been part of the journey.
bsdb.org/2026/03/24/2...
Amazing new work from the Hurd lab:Sperm keep their mitochondria but lose their mitochondrial genomes. This new preprint identifies the nuclease responsible — and shows it reads DNA structure, not sequence. tinyurl.com/3npwwk37
My paper on how the fruit fly foregut uses a modified cell cycle to respond to tissue damage and cell loss is now published :)
www.nature.com/articles/s41... #proventriculus #drosophila
The last two days to vote for the Flyboard elections. Don't put it off any longer. Vote now!!!
Also, if you are on the fence, please register for #Dros26. I just did!
Developmentally programmed nuclear pore complex replacement enables oocyte specification www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.02...
New preprint in collab with Capelson & Schindler labs):
Nuclear pore complexes are developmentally removed and rebuilt during oocyte specification. Blocking turnover prevents gene silencing and meiotic entry.
Nuclear architecture renewal is required for cell fate.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
In the 2nd preprint from @mlodziklab.bsky.social, Weber et al. show that LRP5/6/arrow, the Wnt/bcatenin signaling specific co-receptor, is also required for Wnt/planar cell polarity establishment, a challenge and eye-opener for the Wnt field.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Two exciting preprints from @mlodziklab.bsky.social lab. In the first preprint, Vuong and Mlodzik describe a novel, essential factor for bcatenin translocation to the nucleus, a big step forward to understand nuclear bcatenin localization. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
The @fly-eds.bsky.social is having its general assembly this saturday at 13:30 at #EDRC2025 , please join us to discuss our society and to find out more about @flybase.bsky.social and the current funding crisis
There are only 8 days left to register to @edrc2025.bsky.social and we would like to thank all our sponsorss! We start acknowledging the support received from @biologists.bsky.social to #EDRC2025 Thank you!
Registration is officially open for the 2026 EMBO Drosophila Meeting in Crete 🪰☀️. This flagship meeting brings together researchers from around the world to share discoveries, foster collaborations, and celebrate the power of Drosophila in advancing biology. Consider applying!
EMBO meeting on "Molecular and Developmental Biology of Drosophila" 21 – 27 June 2026
Registration is now open!
Deadline next November 3rd!
meetings.embo.org/event/26-dro...
Fig. 3. Mrtfa depletion leads to reduced F-actin levels and increases apical domain size in the neural plate. (A) One dorso-animal site of eight-cell embryos was injected with control MO (Co MO) or Mrtfa-MOsp (40 ng each) with lineage tracer MyrGFP (10 pg) and allowed to develop until control embryos reached stage 16-17. (B-E) Neural plate was dissected from the injected embryos. Neural plate images from the CoMO- (B-B″) or Mrtf-MOsp (C-C″) -injected embryos at low (B,C) or high (B′,B″,C′,C″) magnification at the level of hindbrain. Midline is indicated with a white dashed line (B′,B″,C′,C″). Scale bars: 100 µm for B,C; 50 µm for B′,B″,C′,C″. (D) Quantification of F-actin intensity at the bicellular junctions (BCJs). Injected (GFP) and uninjected (Uni.) cells were scored in the neural plate at the hindbrain region, as indicated. N=numbers of junctions scored. (E) Quantification of apical domain size. N=numbers of cells scored. Kruskal–Wallis test: ****P<0.0001; n.s., not significant. The box plots indicate the median and quartiles.
Actin up: Mrtfa regulates actomyosin and apical constriction This Research Highlight showcases the work from Keiji Itoh, Olga Ossipova, Sergei Y. Sokol:
journals.biologists.com/dev/article/...
Here's the NIH's proposed budget - from $48 billion to $27 billion. NIAID, current ~$7 billion cut to ~$4.2 billion.
The proposed 15% cap on indirect costs remains.
Again, these budgets are passed, and our leadership in science, technology, and innovation is gone.
www.hhs.gov/sites/defaul...
The end of US leadership in science, technology, and innovation.
All in one little table.
A tremendous gift to China, courtesy of the GOP.
nsf-gov-resources.nsf.gov/files/00-NSF...
Science is under attack. The NIH, the NSF, and our research universities.
So today, I have a message for America's scientists:
youtu.be/MeoZDPy5cIY?...
“Remember that all through history, there have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time, they seem invincible. But in the end, they always fall. Always.”
—Mahatma Gandhi
All of NIH funding to Northwestern University is frozen. This pause includes noncompeting approved funding, new and competing grants with fundable scores. No reimbursements for money already spent have been received since March. This situation is rarely reported so please Please get the word out!
David Liu @harvard.edu beautifully articulates the criticality of basic science funding for developing revolutionary therapeutics like life-saving base editors 👏
youtu.be/8YhJM6zxYDw?...
Congratulations to the next Chair of the Dept. of Molecular Biology: Elizabeth (Liz) R. Gavis, the Damon B. Pfeiffer Professor in the Life Sciences and Assoc. Faculty in the Program in Quantitative and Computational Biology. Her term begins on July 1, 2025. molbio.princeton.edu/news/2025/ga...
Congrats Yukiko!
Drosophila folks at the @genetics-gsa.bsky.social Fly meeting please take some time to thank the amazing organizers who put in a lot of hard work:
genetics-gsa.org/drosophila-2...
Special thanks to GSA folks especially the tireless Suzy Brown (who appears to run entirely on diet Mountain Dew)
Drosophila follicle showing retrotransposons (pink & yellow) expressed in somatic cells infecting the oocyte
1/ Transposable elements are often called "jumping genes" because they mobilize within genomes. 🧬
But did you know they can also jump 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘯 cells? 🤯
Our new study reveals how retrotransposons invade the germline directly from somatic cells.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
A short thread 🧵👇
Sign up & spread the word to trainees about the 🪱C. elegans🪱 mentor match program!
They're also setting up peer-mentoring groups at ALL stages (even faculty!). Peer mentors have helped me keep my sanity & resolve in the tough times, and cheered me on in the good times. 🙌 Sign up to find your own!
TORC1-driven translation of Nucleoporin 44A promotes chromatin remodeling and germ cell-to-maternal transition in Drosophila www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.03....
New preprint from our lab!
We are in a biotech space race, cutting off basic science via slashing NIH and NSF funding robs the US of our competitive advantage: early innovation.
