How does the piRNA pathway solve the self vs. non-self problem? 🧬
Since piRNAs come from single-stranded RNA, how does the cell choose the right ones? For years, "piRNA clusters" were seen as THE privileged source. But are they really special and earmarked for biogenesis? (1/19)
Sex cells made from scratch could revolutionize human reproduction, but researchers are struggling to translate promising results in mice into benefits for humans, according to a feature in Nature. 🧪
Happy Birthday to @valeriyk1.bsky.social !🎉🎂🥳
“report the first 3D-printed artificial mini-placentas. These “placental organoids” are an advance over earlier efforts, and will give scientists new ways to study pregnancy and shed light on complications like preeclampsia.”
#Placenta #BioPrinting 🧪
theconversation.com/3d-printed-m...
best conference swag ever from the Prague Argonautes meeting from @svobodalab.bsky.social. Ago playing cards with helpful data on each one, bottle of Argonaut gin. special thing for poster winners, cards signed by the speakers, including @vambros.bsky.social! (+ian macrae @astridhaase.bsky.social).
#argonautes2025
What to say: RNA U come around
So happy to be at #argonautes2025!
Big thanks to NYRA (@youngandrology.bsky.social) and EAA for letting me join the club!
Disaster strikes today. Czechia is mourning.
piRNAs are essential for transposon silencing in the animal germline.
But how do hosts trap transposon sequences in genomic loci that help establish a piRNA response?
Looking at a natural transposon invasion, Baptiste Rafanel and Kirsten Senti made some remarkable observations.
We are hiring! "Researcher in DNA-Based Information Processing Systems" (PhD or postdoc level). Co-supervision by Prof. Ralf Reussner (KIT computer science) and myself (biological systems). Combination of experiments and computational work. Please Apply / Repost!
www.pse.kit.edu/english/karr...
Czech readers, this one is for you!
A good read and an important research:
I love a good animal communication article.
New research by @kaylakolff.bsky.social & Simone Pika highlighted in @us.theconversation.com suggests turn-taking, a core feature of human language, also plays a role in how chimpanzees communicate.
🔗 tinyurl.com/atdjn6mb
#langsky #linguistics
TLDR 👇
Tak ještě za vyzkumniky dodám Perplexity :)
A o ktere slychas nejcasteji?
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 🧵👇
In the ‘90s, Pelisson et al. found that gypsy retrotransposons in flies can go viral—literally—thanks to an envelope gene. Now, @mayavoichek.bsky.social uncovers a wild new path to retrotransposon infectivity. A fascinating story—see Maya's thread
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.03.14.642691v2
The Burga lab discovered a selfish genetic element that is silenced only when inherited paternally, a potential evolutionary origin for genomic imprinting. bit.ly/ImprintingEN
At my home town and on my birthday. Cannot wait!
#Argonautes2025 update ... it will happen this August (27-30) @imgprague.bsky.social. Our ITs are finishing and testing the website, the registration will open on March 1st. More info will be provided later (once all speakers reply to my e-mail, just saying, not pushing 😁). Poster announcement:
