Ethan (Chee Kiang) Ewe
@ethanewe.bsky.social
Postdoc, firstgen, scientist, worm breeder, cats dad 🏳️🌈
Pinned
🔥my latest paper from @odedrechavi.bsky.social lab🔥
we found small RNAs act across tissues to regulate fertlity in C. elegans 🪱. Surprisingly, we also found that O2-sensing neurons inhibit germline maintenance. Follow along our journey👇https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.08.07.669182v1
we found small RNAs act across tissues to regulate fertlity in C. elegans 🪱. Surprisingly, we also found that O2-sensing neurons inhibit germline maintenance. Follow along our journey👇https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.08.07.669182v1
Reposted by Ethan (Chee Kiang) Ewe
All hail Caenorhabditis elegans, one of the most researched organisms on Earth. Collaborative data sharing in the nematode research community led to four Nobel Prize-winning discoveries about human development and disease. In PNAS: https://ow.ly/uNqU50Xyj4e
November 26, 2025 at 7:01 PM
All hail Caenorhabditis elegans, one of the most researched organisms on Earth. Collaborative data sharing in the nematode research community led to four Nobel Prize-winning discoveries about human development and disease. In PNAS: https://ow.ly/uNqU50Xyj4e
Reposted by Ethan (Chee Kiang) Ewe
Genetic and environmental interactions outweigh mitonuclear coevolution for complex traits in Drosophila https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.11.24.689096v1
November 26, 2025 at 5:32 AM
Genetic and environmental interactions outweigh mitonuclear coevolution for complex traits in Drosophila https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.11.24.689096v1
Reposted by Ethan (Chee Kiang) Ewe
One of the most-viewed PNAS articles in the last week is “Neurodevelopmental disorder–linked Argonaute mutations permit delayed RISC formation and unusual shortening of miRNAs by 3′→5′ trimming.” Explore now: https://ow.ly/hwP450XxHM6
For more trending articles, visit https://ow.ly/q6Cl50XxHGN.
For more trending articles, visit https://ow.ly/q6Cl50XxHGN.
November 25, 2025 at 10:00 PM
One of the most-viewed PNAS articles in the last week is “Neurodevelopmental disorder–linked Argonaute mutations permit delayed RISC formation and unusual shortening of miRNAs by 3′→5′ trimming.” Explore now: https://ow.ly/hwP450XxHM6
For more trending articles, visit https://ow.ly/q6Cl50XxHGN.
For more trending articles, visit https://ow.ly/q6Cl50XxHGN.
Reposted by Ethan (Chee Kiang) Ewe
Interventions that promote healthy #aging differ in their effectiveness between individuals. This #Celegans study shows that the effect of a pro- #longevity intervention can be strongly influenced by early-life #splicing factor activity & metabolic landscape @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/49AxSOv
November 25, 2025 at 5:33 PM
Interventions that promote healthy #aging differ in their effectiveness between individuals. This #Celegans study shows that the effect of a pro- #longevity intervention can be strongly influenced by early-life #splicing factor activity & metabolic landscape @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/49AxSOv
Reposted by Ethan (Chee Kiang) Ewe
Our results also uncover an even deeper principle. Nematode and plant F-box proteins are thought to engage in arms races with parasitic elements. In this conflict, accidental targeting of self-proteins is inevitable—making the birth of selfish genes a by-product of innate immunity.
November 24, 2025 at 1:03 PM
Our results also uncover an even deeper principle. Nematode and plant F-box proteins are thought to engage in arms races with parasitic elements. In this conflict, accidental targeting of self-proteins is inevitable—making the birth of selfish genes a by-product of innate immunity.
Reposted by Ethan (Chee Kiang) Ewe
🪱 Selfish genes are everywhere and drive some of biology’s biggest innovations (CRISPR, antibody recombination, epigenetics). Yet almost no one asks the obvious question: how does a selfish gene begin? Our new manuscript uncovers how selfishness can emerge directly from the host genome.
November 24, 2025 at 1:03 PM
🪱 Selfish genes are everywhere and drive some of biology’s biggest innovations (CRISPR, antibody recombination, epigenetics). Yet almost no one asks the obvious question: how does a selfish gene begin? Our new manuscript uncovers how selfishness can emerge directly from the host genome.
Reposted by Ethan (Chee Kiang) Ewe
From nematode to Nobel: How community-shared resources fueled the rise of Caenorhabditis elegans as a research organism - a perspective written by 11 scientists, six of whom are Nobel laureates
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
PNAS
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), a peer reviewed journal of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) - an authoritative source of high-impact, original research that broadly spans...
www.pnas.org
November 24, 2025 at 11:08 PM
From nematode to Nobel: How community-shared resources fueled the rise of Caenorhabditis elegans as a research organism - a perspective written by 11 scientists, six of whom are Nobel laureates
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Love this!
Recurrent evolution of selfishness from an essential tRNA synthetase in Caenorhabditis tropicalis
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Recurrent evolution of selfishness from an essential tRNA synthetase in Caenorhabditis tropicalis - Nature Ecology & Evolution
In Caenorhabditis tropicalis, three toxin–antidote elements arose via gene duplication from the essential tRNA-synthetase subunit FARS-3. The ancestral antidote probably acquired affinity for FARS-3, ...
www.nature.com
November 23, 2025 at 4:57 PM
Love this!
Reposted by Ethan (Chee Kiang) Ewe
The students in my "Working with the Worm" course had an in-lab session where they went from picking their first worm to DAPI staining all in the span of 2 hours! Here's a poster on C. elegans life stages created from their awesome DAPI-stained worms :)
November 21, 2025 at 9:14 PM
The students in my "Working with the Worm" course had an in-lab session where they went from picking their first worm to DAPI staining all in the span of 2 hours! Here's a poster on C. elegans life stages created from their awesome DAPI-stained worms :)
Beautiful!
With this working, as a first test we took two plasmids, identical save for 8 point mutations changing the color, and competed them against one another. Here’s a video of what it looked like when we activated the recombinase. You can see the two compete in real time: 4/
November 21, 2025 at 4:44 PM
Beautiful!
Reposted by Ethan (Chee Kiang) Ewe
Brand new preprint from my lab, showing that TnpB, the ancestor of Cas12, acts as a gene drive in plasmids! And it turns out in conjugative plasmids that it acts as a primitive anti-self defense system, providing a potential link between its transposon effect and becoming CRISPR!
What is the best strategy to win any contest?
Eliminate your opponents of course.
Recently, my friend @fernpizza.bsky.social showed how plasmids compete intracellularly (check out his paper published in Science today!). With @baym.lol, we now know they can fight.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Eliminate your opponents of course.
Recently, my friend @fernpizza.bsky.social showed how plasmids compete intracellularly (check out his paper published in Science today!). With @baym.lol, we now know they can fight.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
November 20, 2025 at 10:17 PM
Brand new preprint from my lab, showing that TnpB, the ancestor of Cas12, acts as a gene drive in plasmids! And it turns out in conjugative plasmids that it acts as a primitive anti-self defense system, providing a potential link between its transposon effect and becoming CRISPR!
Reposted by Ethan (Chee Kiang) Ewe
this holds for academic community as well. there's been a remarkable increase in bad faith forward culture. we gotta actively work to rebuild trust in each other. we gotta stop pretending that if can automate things and take the human out of science, we can have a better, more trustworthy science.
November 21, 2025 at 4:31 PM
this holds for academic community as well. there's been a remarkable increase in bad faith forward culture. we gotta actively work to rebuild trust in each other. we gotta stop pretending that if can automate things and take the human out of science, we can have a better, more trustworthy science.
Reposted by Ethan (Chee Kiang) Ewe
Marturano et al. surveyed the presence and biological features of smithRNAs - a novel class of small noncoding RNAs - across Metazoa, identifying their presence in all species studied, including vertebrates, cnidarians, and arthropods.
🔗 doi.org/10.1093/gbe/evaf208
#genome #evolution
🔗 doi.org/10.1093/gbe/evaf208
#genome #evolution
November 21, 2025 at 12:34 PM
Marturano et al. surveyed the presence and biological features of smithRNAs - a novel class of small noncoding RNAs - across Metazoa, identifying their presence in all species studied, including vertebrates, cnidarians, and arthropods.
🔗 doi.org/10.1093/gbe/evaf208
#genome #evolution
🔗 doi.org/10.1093/gbe/evaf208
#genome #evolution
Reposted by Ethan (Chee Kiang) Ewe
🚨 New preprint alert! We uncovered a link between Parkinson’s protein α-synuclein and fat metabolism. α-syn inclusions disrupt lipid droplets and deplete TAGs during aging & MCFAs restore movement in α-synuclein worms.
👉 Targeting fat metabolism could help to combat Parkinson’s! shorturl.at/2mVG6
👉 Targeting fat metabolism could help to combat Parkinson’s! shorturl.at/2mVG6
Condensate-Driven Triglyceride Depletion Links α-Synuclein to Mitochondrial Dysfunction
Inclusions of α-Synuclein (αSyn) characterize multiple age-related neurodegenerative diseases, including Parkinson’s disease (PD) and Multiple System Atrophy (MSA). While interactions between αSyn and...
shorturl.at
November 21, 2025 at 8:15 AM
🚨 New preprint alert! We uncovered a link between Parkinson’s protein α-synuclein and fat metabolism. α-syn inclusions disrupt lipid droplets and deplete TAGs during aging & MCFAs restore movement in α-synuclein worms.
👉 Targeting fat metabolism could help to combat Parkinson’s! shorturl.at/2mVG6
👉 Targeting fat metabolism could help to combat Parkinson’s! shorturl.at/2mVG6
Reposted by Ethan (Chee Kiang) Ewe
Hot off the press! Our latest paper led by @fernpizza.bsky.social, understanding how plasmids evolve inside cells. These small, self-replicating DNA circles live inside bacteria and carry antibiotic resistance genes, but also compete with one another to replicate. 1/
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Intracellular competition shapes plasmid population dynamics
From populations of multicellular organisms to selfish genetic elements, conflicts between levels of biological organization are central to evolution. Plasmids are extrachromosomal, self-replicating g...
www.science.org
November 20, 2025 at 9:42 PM
Hot off the press! Our latest paper led by @fernpizza.bsky.social, understanding how plasmids evolve inside cells. These small, self-replicating DNA circles live inside bacteria and carry antibiotic resistance genes, but also compete with one another to replicate. 1/
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Reposted by Ethan (Chee Kiang) Ewe
Looking for a PhD in RNA biology? The deadline is approaching fast! This is a great opportunity to do a PhD together with an industry partner fully funded by @nrpdtp.bsky.social BBSRC Case studentship.
New BBSRC funded PhD opportunity in my group with Inspiralis Ltd and @conradn.bsky.social. If you are interested in RNA - protein interactions and RNA modifications check the details below for how to apply. @nrpdtp.bsky.social @biouea.bsky.social @earlhaminst.bsky.social tinyurl.com/bdzvn4dr
How do RNA molecules shape genome regulation in the nervous system? (AKAY_U26CASE) | Doctoral Training Partnership
This PhD project will investigate how RNA modifications influence the activity of topoisomerase I (TOP1), a crucial enzyme that regulates DNA supercoiling during replication and transcription. Using C...
biodtp.norwichresearchpark.ac.uk
November 20, 2025 at 8:05 AM
Looking for a PhD in RNA biology? The deadline is approaching fast! This is a great opportunity to do a PhD together with an industry partner fully funded by @nrpdtp.bsky.social BBSRC Case studentship.
Reposted by Ethan (Chee Kiang) Ewe
How can gut microbes modulate host lifespan?
@jogender-singh.bsky.social & coworkers show that in C. elegans, lifespan extension arises from microbial perturbation of iron homeostasis and oxidative stress response activation
#RefereedPreprint c/o @reviewcommons.org
www.embopress.org/doi/full/10....
@jogender-singh.bsky.social & coworkers show that in C. elegans, lifespan extension arises from microbial perturbation of iron homeostasis and oxidative stress response activation
#RefereedPreprint c/o @reviewcommons.org
www.embopress.org/doi/full/10....
November 17, 2025 at 1:22 PM
How can gut microbes modulate host lifespan?
@jogender-singh.bsky.social & coworkers show that in C. elegans, lifespan extension arises from microbial perturbation of iron homeostasis and oxidative stress response activation
#RefereedPreprint c/o @reviewcommons.org
www.embopress.org/doi/full/10....
@jogender-singh.bsky.social & coworkers show that in C. elegans, lifespan extension arises from microbial perturbation of iron homeostasis and oxidative stress response activation
#RefereedPreprint c/o @reviewcommons.org
www.embopress.org/doi/full/10....
Reposted by Ethan (Chee Kiang) Ewe
🚨 New preprint alert!
Our latest work from @immler.bsky.social lab 🐟🧬
Sex-specific responses of small RNAs and transposable elements to thermal stress in zebrafish germ cells
#TESky #TE #piRNA #miRNA #zebrafish #DanioDigest
🔗 Read here www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
A thread 🧵...
Our latest work from @immler.bsky.social lab 🐟🧬
Sex-specific responses of small RNAs and transposable elements to thermal stress in zebrafish germ cells
#TESky #TE #piRNA #miRNA #zebrafish #DanioDigest
🔗 Read here www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
A thread 🧵...
Sex-specific responses of small RNAs and transposable elements to thermal stress in zebrafish germ cells
Environmental fluctuations influence heritable phenotypes through complex molecular mechanisms. In zebrafish (Danio rerio), the interplay between temperature variation, transposable element (TE) activ...
www.biorxiv.org
November 16, 2025 at 10:18 AM
🚨 New preprint alert!
Our latest work from @immler.bsky.social lab 🐟🧬
Sex-specific responses of small RNAs and transposable elements to thermal stress in zebrafish germ cells
#TESky #TE #piRNA #miRNA #zebrafish #DanioDigest
🔗 Read here www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
A thread 🧵...
Our latest work from @immler.bsky.social lab 🐟🧬
Sex-specific responses of small RNAs and transposable elements to thermal stress in zebrafish germ cells
#TESky #TE #piRNA #miRNA #zebrafish #DanioDigest
🔗 Read here www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
A thread 🧵...
Reposted by Ethan (Chee Kiang) Ewe
New paper with @statsepi.bsky.social and @deevybee.bsky.social in which we show there's really no evidence for a link between the gut microbiome and autism www.cell.com/neuron/fullt...
Conceptual and methodological flaws undermine claims of a link between the gut microbiome and autism
Claims that the gut microbiome causally contributes to autism regularly appear in
the scientific literature and popular press. Mitchell et al. critically examine influential
studies underpinning these...
www.cell.com
November 13, 2025 at 4:10 PM
New paper with @statsepi.bsky.social and @deevybee.bsky.social in which we show there's really no evidence for a link between the gut microbiome and autism www.cell.com/neuron/fullt...
Reposted by Ethan (Chee Kiang) Ewe
New preprint!
It turns out you can integrate arrays with super high efficiency using PhiC31.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
It turns out you can integrate arrays with super high efficiency using PhiC31.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
High-efficiency targeted integration of extrachromosomal arrays in C. elegans using PhiC31 integrase
Extrachromosomal arrays are unique chromosome-like structures created from DNA injected into the C. elegans germline. Arrays are easy to create and allow for high expression of multiple transgenes. Th...
www.biorxiv.org
November 13, 2025 at 2:59 AM
New preprint!
It turns out you can integrate arrays with super high efficiency using PhiC31.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
It turns out you can integrate arrays with super high efficiency using PhiC31.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Ethan (Chee Kiang) Ewe
C. elegans enthusiasts- save the date for two consecutive C. elegans meetings, taking place in Bordeaux, 29 June–3 July 2026.
Abstract submission will open around January, with many opportunities for oral presentations.
Check out our website for more details: ceneuroeuro2026.sciencesconf.org.
Abstract submission will open around January, with many opportunities for oral presentations.
Check out our website for more details: ceneuroeuro2026.sciencesconf.org.
European C. elegans and CeNEURO Meeting 2026 - Sciencesconf.org
2026 European C. elegans and CeNEURO meeting
ceneuroeuro2026.sciencesconf.org
November 13, 2025 at 1:08 PM
C. elegans enthusiasts- save the date for two consecutive C. elegans meetings, taking place in Bordeaux, 29 June–3 July 2026.
Abstract submission will open around January, with many opportunities for oral presentations.
Check out our website for more details: ceneuroeuro2026.sciencesconf.org.
Abstract submission will open around January, with many opportunities for oral presentations.
Check out our website for more details: ceneuroeuro2026.sciencesconf.org.
Reposted by Ethan (Chee Kiang) Ewe
The C. elegans community is amazing. I email a Nobel laureate for a favor. He immediately responds yes and offers additional help!
a woman with a big hairdo is singing and the words simply the best are above her
ALT: a woman with a big hairdo is singing and the words simply the best are above her
media.tenor.com
November 11, 2025 at 10:48 PM
The C. elegans community is amazing. I email a Nobel laureate for a favor. He immediately responds yes and offers additional help!
Reposted by Ethan (Chee Kiang) Ewe
DAF-16/FOXO and HLH-30/TFEB comprise a cooperative regulatory axis controlling tubular lysosome induction in C. elegans
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
DAF-16/FOXO and HLH-30/TFEB comprise a cooperative regulatory axis controlling tubular lysosome induction in C. elegans - Nature Communications
This study reveals that transcription factors DAF-16/FOXO and HLH-30/TFEB promote healthy aging in C. elegans, in part, by activating lipid metabolism genes that remodel lysosomes into tubular network...
www.nature.com
November 10, 2025 at 3:16 PM
DAF-16/FOXO and HLH-30/TFEB comprise a cooperative regulatory axis controlling tubular lysosome induction in C. elegans
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Ethan (Chee Kiang) Ewe
Just channeling Stephen J Gould: "I am, somehow, less interested in the weight and convolutions of Einstein's brain than in the near certainty that people of equal talent have lived and died in cotton fields and sweatshops"
November 8, 2025 at 12:12 AM
Just channeling Stephen J Gould: "I am, somehow, less interested in the weight and convolutions of Einstein's brain than in the near certainty that people of equal talent have lived and died in cotton fields and sweatshops"
Reposted by Ethan (Chee Kiang) Ewe
Harmit is the anti-toxin to Watson
When people celebrate the individual genius of folks in science, they should also
mourn the collective loss of genius of folks who were actively discouraged or disadvantaged from a career in science because of the same person(s)
mourn the collective loss of genius of folks who were actively discouraged or disadvantaged from a career in science because of the same person(s)
November 7, 2025 at 11:51 PM
Harmit is the anti-toxin to Watson