Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Chris Jiggins @chrisjiggins.bsky.social · 1d

I remember watching that female H. telesiphe fluttering around the purple Passiflora - it was an amazing sight for a budding Heliconius biologist in awe of all the new things I was learning. I didn’t know that you had propagated the plant…

Reposted by Chris Jiggins

Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · 8d

Jane Goodall, Eminent Primatologist Who Chronicled the Lives of Chimps, Dies at 91. Gift link: nyti.ms/48FOuUn

nyti.ms

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POPGROUP59 @popgroup2026.bsky.social · 10d

Exciting news!
The next #PopGroup meeting will take place in Lille 🍟, France, 7–9 January 2026 – just 1 hour by train from London, Brussels, and Paris.

This year, PopGroup will also host ALPHY, the annual meeting of Evolutionary Genomics.

More info: populationgeneticsgroup.org.uk

See you there !

Population Genetics group 59

populationgeneticsgroup.org.uk

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Dave Vanness @djvanness.bsky.social · 10d

A lot of people think that every international student admitted means one fewer spot for domestic students, when the opposite is more likely true - the tuition revenue international students bring allows public universities to provide substantial discounts to domestic students, improving access.

Nick Fleisher @nickfleisher.bsky.social · 10d

30% drop year over year!

Amid visa restrictions, international freshmen enrollment plummets at UW-Madison

This year’s number of international freshmen is the lowest recorded since at least 2015.

www.jsonline.com

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Ben Longdon @blongdon.bsky.social · 14d

2 job adverts on a NERC project w myself + @darrenobbard.bsky.social on “What determines the virome: ecology and the environment, evolution, or species history?” early 2026 in
@uniexecec.bsky.social
- Postdoc: jobs.exeter.ac.uk/hrpr_webrecr...
- RA: jobs.exeter.ac.uk/hrpr_webrecr...
Pls share!

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Adria LeBoeuf @adriatica.bsky.social · 19d

If you are from the US and interested in applying for a PhD with me (or anyone else @camzoology.bsky.social @cambridgebiosci.bsky.social), your deadline for the gates scholarship is October 15!
(You’ll need to write a research proposal, so contact PIs now) www.gatescambridge.org/programme/th...

Postgraduate Cambridge University Scholarship | Gates Cambridge

A fully funded graduate education for future leaders committed to improving the lives of others.

www.gatescambridge.org

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Elizabeth Rideout @ejrideout.bsky.social · 19d

I have gotten a bit behind at sharing the lab’s latest work - this paper is now published - check it out! www.cell.com/cell-reports... Long story short: insulin is the major determinant of female fat storage, with a relatively minor effect on males.

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Sam Yeaman @samyeaman.bsky.social · 20d

I'll start reviewing applications in a little over 3 weeks for this PhD position. You could be doing fieldwork here! (or focus only on dry lab work if that floats your boat)

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marilou boddé @mariloumercedes.bsky.social · 21d

Our paper Genomic diversity of the African malaria vector Anopheles funestus was published in Science today! It features inversions, selection in action, museum specimens and putative new ecotypes. doi.org/10.1126/scie...

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Reposted by Chris Jiggins

Charlotte Wright @charlottewright.bsky.social · 21d

To celebrate the genomes for 1,000 (!) species of Lepidoptera in Europe, Project Psyche has released a preprint outlining our ambitions to jointly sequence & leverage genomes of all 11,000 species in Europe to propel science, conservation & society.

This was a joy to write together as a community!

Project Psyche @projectpsyche.bsky.social · 26d

(6/6)📄 In our new whitepaper (EcoEvoRxiv) we discuss our aims to coordinate this collaborative analysis of Lepidoptera genomes, turning data into impact for science, conservation and society.
Now available at 👉 ecoevorxiv.org/repository/v...

#ProjectPsyche #Genomics

Project Psyche: Generating and utilising reference genomes for all Lepidoptera in Europe

ecoevorxiv.org

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Oxford University Museum of Natural History @morethanadodo.bsky.social · 22d

Maria Sibylla Merian (1647-1717) was a scientific illustrator most famous for her 'Metamorphosis Insectorum Surinamensium'. In this book filled with beautifully illustrated plates she explored the then poorly understood concept of insect metamorphosis.

Owl butterfly in all its life stages on a branch of cardinals guard that has twisting red flowers. The butterfly, shown in two positions, has large golden brown eyespots on the outer part of the wings whereas the inside are blue and brown. The caterpillar is orange with grey hairs, and the chrysalis is light green and pink with a slight fishhook shape. The butterfly’s eggs are also shown on the leaves of the plant. A small dark red wasp flies in the background

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Marianna Karageorgi @mkarag.bsky.social · 24d

How do populations maintain an evolutionary memory? I am happy to share that our work with Dmitri Petrov @petrovadmitri.bsky.social, Paul Schmidt, and colleagues on dominance reversal and stabilization of insecticide resistance in changing environments over time is now published at Nature EE.

Beneficial reversal of dominance maintains a large-effect resistance polymorphism under fluctuating insecticide selection - Nature Ecology & Evolution

Measuring selection and dominance in fitness of the insecticide-resistant Ace alleles in Drosophila melanogaster, the authors show evidence for beneficial reversal of dominance, a mechanism that can s...

www.nature.com

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Kathy Darragh @kdarragh.bsky.social · 28d

I'm looking for PhD students to join the lab starting August 2026. We study the evolution of insect chemical signals so if you're interested in evolutionary biology, chemical ecology, molecular biology, behavior, or genetics, this could be a good fit for you! More info here: tinyurl.com/mrxchwfm

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Ian Dunt @iandunt.bsky.social · 27d

This is how you protect your democracy. The US is a demonstration of what happens when you don't. www.theguardian.com/world/2025/s...

Bolsonaro sentenced to 27 years for plotting military coup in Brazil

Former president sought to ‘annihilate’ country’s democracy after losing 2022 election

www.theguardian.com

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Charlotte Wright @charlottewright.bsky.social · 28d

How many chromosomes can an animal have?

In our paper out now in @currentbiology.bsky.social we show that the Atlas blue butterfly has 229 chromosome pairs- the highest in diploid Metazoa! These arose by rapid autosome fragmentation while sex chromosomes stayed intact.
www.cell.com/current-biol...

Constraints on chromosome evolution revealed by the 229 chromosome pairs of the Atlas blue butterfly

The genome of the Atlas blue butterfly contains ten times more chromosomes than most butterflies, and more than any other known diploid animal. Wright et al. show that this extraordinary karyotype is ...

tinyurl.com

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Yun S. Song @yun-s-song.bsky.social · 29d

SINGER, our ARG inference method, is finally published and freely available online:

doi.org/10.1038/s415...

It was a long journey – 16 months from initial submission to acceptance. Is it just me, or has peer review gotten more arduous lately? 4+ rounds of review isn't so unusual these days...

Robust and accurate Bayesian inference of genome-wide genealogies for hundreds of genomes - Nature Genetics

SINGER is a method for creating ancestral recombination graphs to understand the genealogical history of genomes. The method has increased speed, and thus scalability, without sacrificing accuracy.

doi.org

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Chris Jiggins @chrisjiggins.bsky.social · 29d

Lots of great talks at #BSFCon in Cambridge.

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Chris Jiggins @chrisjiggins.bsky.social · 29d

Looking for a PhD? I am advertising two industry sponsored PhD projects. One on black soldier fly genetics with #betabugs and another on searching insect biodiversity for novel enzymes #Syngenta. Get in touch if you are interested!! bbsrcdtp.lifesci.cam.ac.uk/available-ic...

Available iCASE projects | Cambridge Biosciences DTP PhD Programme

iCASE projects for academic year 2026-2027 line_divider.png Project: Understanding cellulose digestion by cryo-EM structure of cellulose microfibril-enzyme complexes Project reference: ICS-BIO-PD26 S...

bbsrcdtp.lifesci.cam.ac.uk

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Leverhulme Centre for Anthropocene Biodiversity @anthropocenebio.bsky.social · Sep 4

A lively and light hearted moth vs butterfly discussion on The Infinite Monkey Cage with @janehillyork.bsky.social, @chrisjiggins.bsky.social, Katy Brand, @profbriancox.bsky.social & Robin Ince.

Are you team butterfly or team moth 🦋💡?

Listen to the episode in full: www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

The Infinite Monkey Cage - Series 33 - Moths v Butterflies - Katy Brand, Jane Hill and Chris Jiggins - BBC Sounds

Brian Cox and Robin Ince adjudicate a fluttery face off!

www.bbc.co.uk

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Scott Bryan @scottygb.bsky.social · Sep 4

Hugh Bonneville started his live ITV London News interview on Downton Abbey by talking about Gaza.

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Chris Jiggins @chrisjiggins.bsky.social · Sep 3

This is quite extraordinary!

Arne Elofsson @bioinfo.se · Sep 3

www.nature.com/articles/d41...

‘Almost unimaginable’: these ants are different species but share a mother

Ant queens of one species clone ants of another to create hybrid workers that do their bidding.

www.nature.com

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UBC Science @science.ubc.ca · Aug 27

Congratulations to Dr. Kayla King who was awarded the 2025 Francis Crick Medal & Lecture by the Royal Society for contributions to the fields of evolutionary biology & genetics of infectious disease. @zoology.ubc.ca @ubcmicroimmuno.bsky.social @kayla-king.bsky.social @royalsociety.org bit.ly/4lGJrWB

Dr. Kayla King awarded Royal Society’s Francis Crick Medal

Evolutionary biologist Dr. Kayla King has been awarded the 2025 Francis Crick Medal and Lecture by the Royal Society of London for contributions to the fields of evolutionary biology and genetics of i...

bit.ly

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The Royal Society @royalsociety.org · Aug 20

#OnThisDay in 1858, a seminal journal article comprised of papers by Alfred Russel Wallace FRS and Charles Darwin FRS on the theory of evolution by natural selection was published by the Linnean Society, the first public announcement of the theory of evolution. bit.ly/3k8fq4u

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PlantEvolution 🌱🌾 @plantevolution.bsky.social · Aug 20

Out after peer review, collaborative study from Nordborg & Weigel labs with help from many others. Not the largest collection of new Arabidopsis thaliana genomes, but we hopefully put forward some good ideas for how to think about pangenomes and their analysis!
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

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Henry North @henrylnorth.bsky.social · Aug 16

On my way to #ESEB2025 ! I’ll share some new results showing bi-directional introgression of structural variants, which cause resistance to different insecticides, between native and invasive agricultural pests 🐛 Monday 10:30am, S05 rooms 120-121

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