Jana Helsen
@helsenjana.bsky.social
Evolutionary cell biology, chromosomes, yeasts, and occasional SciArt🧬🧪🎨. Postdoctoral fellow at the labs of Gautam Dey (EMBL) and Gavin Sherlock (Stanford University).
Pinned
How do new centromeres evolve while staying compatible with the division machinery?
Discover it in our new Nature paper! We show centromeres transition gradually via a mix of drift, selection, and sex, reaching new states that still work with the kinetochore.
👉 doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-09779-1
Discover it in our new Nature paper! We show centromeres transition gradually via a mix of drift, selection, and sex, reaching new states that still work with the kinetochore.
👉 doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-09779-1
Reposted by Jana Helsen
(1/3) Imagine reconstructing a history over a billion years in the making.
New research from EMBL and @Stanford shows how centromeres retain their function despite their rapid rate of change, and the evolutionary constraints that govern this process.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
New research from EMBL and @Stanford shows how centromeres retain their function despite their rapid rate of change, and the evolutionary constraints that govern this process.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
November 26, 2025 at 4:06 PM
(1/3) Imagine reconstructing a history over a billion years in the making.
New research from EMBL and @Stanford shows how centromeres retain their function despite their rapid rate of change, and the evolutionary constraints that govern this process.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
New research from EMBL and @Stanford shows how centromeres retain their function despite their rapid rate of change, and the evolutionary constraints that govern this process.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
How do new centromeres evolve while staying compatible with the division machinery?
Discover it in our new Nature paper! We show centromeres transition gradually via a mix of drift, selection, and sex, reaching new states that still work with the kinetochore.
👉 doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-09779-1
Discover it in our new Nature paper! We show centromeres transition gradually via a mix of drift, selection, and sex, reaching new states that still work with the kinetochore.
👉 doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-09779-1
November 26, 2025 at 4:21 PM
How do new centromeres evolve while staying compatible with the division machinery?
Discover it in our new Nature paper! We show centromeres transition gradually via a mix of drift, selection, and sex, reaching new states that still work with the kinetochore.
👉 doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-09779-1
Discover it in our new Nature paper! We show centromeres transition gradually via a mix of drift, selection, and sex, reaching new states that still work with the kinetochore.
👉 doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-09779-1
Reposted by Jana Helsen
So happy to announce our new preprint, “A geothermal amoeba sets a new upper temperature limit for eukaryotes.” We cultured a novel amoeba from Lassen Volcanic NP (CA, USA) that divides at 63°C (145°F) 🔥 - a new record for euk growth!
#protistsonsky 🧵
#protistsonsky 🧵
November 25, 2025 at 8:41 PM
So happy to announce our new preprint, “A geothermal amoeba sets a new upper temperature limit for eukaryotes.” We cultured a novel amoeba from Lassen Volcanic NP (CA, USA) that divides at 63°C (145°F) 🔥 - a new record for euk growth!
#protistsonsky 🧵
#protistsonsky 🧵
Reposted by Jana Helsen
Happy to share that my PhD project is finally published!🪱✨
Selfish genes are found across the tree of life. They can disrupt inheritance patterns and at the same time act as units for molecular innovation. Here we tried to answer one big question: how do selfish genes emerge in the first place?
Selfish genes are found across the tree of life. They can disrupt inheritance patterns and at the same time act as units for molecular innovation. Here we tried to answer one big question: how do selfish genes emerge in the first place?
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 24, 2025 at 9:10 PM
Happy to share that my PhD project is finally published!🪱✨
Selfish genes are found across the tree of life. They can disrupt inheritance patterns and at the same time act as units for molecular innovation. Here we tried to answer one big question: how do selfish genes emerge in the first place?
Selfish genes are found across the tree of life. They can disrupt inheritance patterns and at the same time act as units for molecular innovation. Here we tried to answer one big question: how do selfish genes emerge in the first place?
Reposted by Jana Helsen
I launched my lab at UMass Amherst this fall. We study the mechanisms of meiotic homolog pairing using advanced live‑cell and super‑resolution imaging. Currently in budding yeast, with plans to expand to other eukaryotes. #Chromosome #Meiosis #Mitosis
www.umass.edu/biology/abou...
www.umass.edu/biology/abou...
November 13, 2025 at 12:13 PM
I launched my lab at UMass Amherst this fall. We study the mechanisms of meiotic homolog pairing using advanced live‑cell and super‑resolution imaging. Currently in budding yeast, with plans to expand to other eukaryotes. #Chromosome #Meiosis #Mitosis
www.umass.edu/biology/abou...
www.umass.edu/biology/abou...
Reposted by Jana Helsen
An Asgard archaeon with internal membrane compartments
Brilliant study led by @fmacleod.bsky.social and Andriko von Kügelgen. Tight collaboration with @buzzbaum.bsky.social and lab. Congrats to all authors!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Brilliant study led by @fmacleod.bsky.social and Andriko von Kügelgen. Tight collaboration with @buzzbaum.bsky.social and lab. Congrats to all authors!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
November 7, 2025 at 10:44 AM
An Asgard archaeon with internal membrane compartments
Brilliant study led by @fmacleod.bsky.social and Andriko von Kügelgen. Tight collaboration with @buzzbaum.bsky.social and lab. Congrats to all authors!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Brilliant study led by @fmacleod.bsky.social and Andriko von Kügelgen. Tight collaboration with @buzzbaum.bsky.social and lab. Congrats to all authors!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Jana Helsen
🚨Our collaboration with @centriolelab.bsky.social & @gautamdey.bsky.social is out today in @cp-cell.bsky.social
We show that #Expansion #Microscopy is a broad-spectrum modality for Euks, enabling 3D phenotypic maps rooted to phylogeny.
#ProtistsOnSky #SciComm #SciSky
www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...
We show that #Expansion #Microscopy is a broad-spectrum modality for Euks, enabling 3D phenotypic maps rooted to phylogeny.
#ProtistsOnSky #SciComm #SciSky
www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...
October 31, 2025 at 2:42 PM
🚨Our collaboration with @centriolelab.bsky.social & @gautamdey.bsky.social is out today in @cp-cell.bsky.social
We show that #Expansion #Microscopy is a broad-spectrum modality for Euks, enabling 3D phenotypic maps rooted to phylogeny.
#ProtistsOnSky #SciComm #SciSky
www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...
We show that #Expansion #Microscopy is a broad-spectrum modality for Euks, enabling 3D phenotypic maps rooted to phylogeny.
#ProtistsOnSky #SciComm #SciSky
www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...
Reposted by Jana Helsen
We often talk about THE whole genome duplication in yeasts, but we find new evidence of additional whole genome duplications in other yeast species!
Check out this preprint led by @kylethedavid.bsky.social www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Check out this preprint led by @kylethedavid.bsky.social www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Discovery of additional ancient genome duplications in yeasts
Whole genome duplication (WGD) has had profound macroevolutionary impacts on diverse lineages, preceding adaptive radiations in vertebrates, teleost fish, and angiosperms. In contrast to the many know...
www.biorxiv.org
September 5, 2025 at 8:05 PM
We often talk about THE whole genome duplication in yeasts, but we find new evidence of additional whole genome duplications in other yeast species!
Check out this preprint led by @kylethedavid.bsky.social www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Check out this preprint led by @kylethedavid.bsky.social www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Jana Helsen
1/ New preprint alert!
In collaboration between the Rosen, Redding, Collepardo-Guevara & Gerlich labs, we uncover a surprising principle of chromosome organisation: electrostatic repulsion positions centromeres at the chromosome surface during mitosis.
🔗 doi.org/10.1101/2025...
In collaboration between the Rosen, Redding, Collepardo-Guevara & Gerlich labs, we uncover a surprising principle of chromosome organisation: electrostatic repulsion positions centromeres at the chromosome surface during mitosis.
🔗 doi.org/10.1101/2025...
An electrostatic repulsion model of centromere organisation
During cell division, chromosomes reorganise into compact bodies in which centromeres localise precisely at the chromatin surface to enable kinetochore-microtubule interactions essential for genome se...
doi.org
September 3, 2025 at 8:12 AM
1/ New preprint alert!
In collaboration between the Rosen, Redding, Collepardo-Guevara & Gerlich labs, we uncover a surprising principle of chromosome organisation: electrostatic repulsion positions centromeres at the chromosome surface during mitosis.
🔗 doi.org/10.1101/2025...
In collaboration between the Rosen, Redding, Collepardo-Guevara & Gerlich labs, we uncover a surprising principle of chromosome organisation: electrostatic repulsion positions centromeres at the chromosome surface during mitosis.
🔗 doi.org/10.1101/2025...
Reposted by Jana Helsen
What could be more exciting than watching Euplotes scurry around under the microscope? How about adding some raptorial predation by supergiant cannibal cells?
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Video by Vittorio Boscaro.
1/n
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Video by Vittorio Boscaro.
1/n
August 26, 2025 at 8:56 PM
What could be more exciting than watching Euplotes scurry around under the microscope? How about adding some raptorial predation by supergiant cannibal cells?
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Video by Vittorio Boscaro.
1/n
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Video by Vittorio Boscaro.
1/n
Reposted by Jana Helsen
Want to acquire #ExM images like this and help us understand the true extent of cytoskeletal diversity across the tree of life? This position might be for you!
embl.wd103.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/EMBL/j...
With @dudinlab.bsky.social
@embl.org @biology-unige.bsky.social @moorefound.bsky.social
embl.wd103.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/EMBL/j...
With @dudinlab.bsky.social
@embl.org @biology-unige.bsky.social @moorefound.bsky.social
August 7, 2025 at 6:12 PM
Want to acquire #ExM images like this and help us understand the true extent of cytoskeletal diversity across the tree of life? This position might be for you!
embl.wd103.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/EMBL/j...
With @dudinlab.bsky.social
@embl.org @biology-unige.bsky.social @moorefound.bsky.social
embl.wd103.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/EMBL/j...
With @dudinlab.bsky.social
@embl.org @biology-unige.bsky.social @moorefound.bsky.social
Reposted by Jana Helsen
Hello! Very excited to share our latest preprint, which is great news for us but terrible news for any diehard fans of PSNR and SSIM as image quality metrics in microscopy... (1/5)
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Image quality metrics fail to accurately represent biological information in fluorescence microscopy
Image processing methods offer the potential to improve the quality of fluorescence microscopy data, allowing for image acquisition at lower, less phototoxic illumination doses. The training and evalu...
www.biorxiv.org
August 7, 2025 at 1:00 PM
Hello! Very excited to share our latest preprint, which is great news for us but terrible news for any diehard fans of PSNR and SSIM as image quality metrics in microscopy... (1/5)
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Jana Helsen
I'm excited to announce our new biorxiv preprint, wherein we investigate the evolution of the weirdest genetic locus I've ever seen! Behold the tgr genes of the social amoeba, which mediate self/non-self discrimination during facultative multicellularity 🐅 🧵 1/
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Hypermutable hotspot enables the rapid evolution of self/non-self recognition genes in Dictyostelium
Cells require highly polymorphic receptors to perform accurate self/non-self recognition. In the amoeba Dicytostelium discoideum, polymorphic TgrB1 & TgrC1 proteins are used to bind sister cells and e...
www.biorxiv.org
August 5, 2025 at 12:56 AM
I'm excited to announce our new biorxiv preprint, wherein we investigate the evolution of the weirdest genetic locus I've ever seen! Behold the tgr genes of the social amoeba, which mediate self/non-self discrimination during facultative multicellularity 🐅 🧵 1/
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Jana Helsen
How does evolution shape ancient cellular processes? Our new paper uncovers the mosaic evolution of conserved and diverging endocytic traits in fungi!
www.cell.com/current-biol...
www.cell.com/current-biol...
Mosaic evolution of clathrin-mediated endocytosis in fungi
Picco et al. take an evolutionary approach to study clathrin-mediated endocytosis
in a fungal clade and discover that the process is evolving in a mosaic fashion. The
early phase of endocytosis has sh...
www.cell.com
July 10, 2025 at 3:31 PM
How does evolution shape ancient cellular processes? Our new paper uncovers the mosaic evolution of conserved and diverging endocytic traits in fungi!
www.cell.com/current-biol...
www.cell.com/current-biol...
Reposted by Jana Helsen
It’s out! The evolutionary origins of yeast point centromeres uncovered!
“Ancient co-option of LTR retrotransposons as yeast centromeres”
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
“Ancient co-option of LTR retrotransposons as yeast centromeres”
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Ancient co-option of LTR retrotransposons as yeast centromeres
The evolutionary origins of the genetic point centromere in the brewer's yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, a member of the order Saccharomycetales, are still unknown. Competing hypotheses suggest that t...
www.biorxiv.org
April 25, 2025 at 1:59 PM
It’s out! The evolutionary origins of yeast point centromeres uncovered!
“Ancient co-option of LTR retrotransposons as yeast centromeres”
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
“Ancient co-option of LTR retrotransposons as yeast centromeres”
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Jana Helsen
📢Excited to share our new paper in Nature Physics
@naturephysics.bsky.social: Cooperative hydrodynamics accompany multicellular-like colonial organization in the unicellular Stentor!
How do single-celled organisms benefit from teamwork? Let’s dive in! #Multicellularity nature.com/articles/s41...?
@naturephysics.bsky.social: Cooperative hydrodynamics accompany multicellular-like colonial organization in the unicellular Stentor!
How do single-celled organisms benefit from teamwork? Let’s dive in! #Multicellularity nature.com/articles/s41...?
April 2, 2025 at 12:14 PM
📢Excited to share our new paper in Nature Physics
@naturephysics.bsky.social: Cooperative hydrodynamics accompany multicellular-like colonial organization in the unicellular Stentor!
How do single-celled organisms benefit from teamwork? Let’s dive in! #Multicellularity nature.com/articles/s41...?
@naturephysics.bsky.social: Cooperative hydrodynamics accompany multicellular-like colonial organization in the unicellular Stentor!
How do single-celled organisms benefit from teamwork? Let’s dive in! #Multicellularity nature.com/articles/s41...?
Reposted by Jana Helsen
My postdoctoral work on the non-canonical role of an autophagy-related protein at the spindle pole body (SPB) is now out in @plosbiology.org (doi.org/10.1371/jour...).
Autophagy-related protein Atg11 is essential for microtubule-mediated chromosome segregation
Autophagy-related proteins have roles in several cellular processes, but their function in genome stability remains unclear. Here, the authors show that Atg11 has an essential non-canonical function i...
doi.org
April 3, 2025 at 5:15 AM
My postdoctoral work on the non-canonical role of an autophagy-related protein at the spindle pole body (SPB) is now out in @plosbiology.org (doi.org/10.1371/jour...).
Reposted by Jana Helsen
Happy to share our paper’s final version on the evolution, structure, and membrane binding / remodeling of Asgard ESCRT-III proteins! And my first 🦋 post! www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Asgard archaea reveal the conserved principles of ESCRT-III membrane remodeling
Asgard archaea have two ESCRT-III subunits with the conserved traits that drive stepwise membrane remodeling in eukaryotes.
www.science.org
February 8, 2025 at 5:27 AM
Happy to share our paper’s final version on the evolution, structure, and membrane binding / remodeling of Asgard ESCRT-III proteins! And my first 🦋 post! www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Reposted by Jana Helsen
Cool paper on evolutionary constraints and trajectories shaping point centromere evolution in budding yeasts by @helsenjana.bsky.social @gautamdey.bsky.social @gsherloc.bsky.social
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Centromeres evolve progressively through selection at the kinetochore interface
During mitosis, stable but dynamic interactions between the centromere DNA and kinetochore complex enable accurate and efficient chromosome segregation. Even though many proteins of the kinetochore ar...
www.biorxiv.org
January 17, 2025 at 1:25 PM
Cool paper on evolutionary constraints and trajectories shaping point centromere evolution in budding yeasts by @helsenjana.bsky.social @gautamdey.bsky.social @gsherloc.bsky.social
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Centromere evolution isn't a sudden switch!
Our study shows centromere transitions are a step-by-step process driven by a combination of drift and selection. Discover how the kinetochore interface shapes this gradual change in our new preprint 🥳 doi.org/10.1101/2025.01.16.633479 🧵(1/8)
Our study shows centromere transitions are a step-by-step process driven by a combination of drift and selection. Discover how the kinetochore interface shapes this gradual change in our new preprint 🥳 doi.org/10.1101/2025.01.16.633479 🧵(1/8)
January 17, 2025 at 11:17 AM
Centromere evolution isn't a sudden switch!
Our study shows centromere transitions are a step-by-step process driven by a combination of drift and selection. Discover how the kinetochore interface shapes this gradual change in our new preprint 🥳 doi.org/10.1101/2025.01.16.633479 🧵(1/8)
Our study shows centromere transitions are a step-by-step process driven by a combination of drift and selection. Discover how the kinetochore interface shapes this gradual change in our new preprint 🥳 doi.org/10.1101/2025.01.16.633479 🧵(1/8)
Reposted by Jana Helsen
Happy holidays from the #DeyLab and 🥂 to a wonderful 2025!
(If you haven’t seen one of our cards before, you’re thinking, oh that’s sort of vaguely unsettling, YES! And we are here for it 😊)
(If you haven’t seen one of our cards before, you’re thinking, oh that’s sort of vaguely unsettling, YES! And we are here for it 😊)
December 25, 2024 at 2:42 PM
Happy holidays from the #DeyLab and 🥂 to a wonderful 2025!
(If you haven’t seen one of our cards before, you’re thinking, oh that’s sort of vaguely unsettling, YES! And we are here for it 😊)
(If you haven’t seen one of our cards before, you’re thinking, oh that’s sort of vaguely unsettling, YES! And we are here for it 😊)
Reposted by Jana Helsen
I am excited to share this animation of the budding yeast inner kinetochore. Created for David Barford's lab @mrclmb.bsky.social
This DNA-binding protein complex acts as an anchor for the spindles that pull chromosomes apart during mitosis.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
#blender #animation #b3d
This DNA-binding protein complex acts as an anchor for the spindles that pull chromosomes apart during mitosis.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
#blender #animation #b3d
November 25, 2024 at 10:30 AM
I am excited to share this animation of the budding yeast inner kinetochore. Created for David Barford's lab @mrclmb.bsky.social
This DNA-binding protein complex acts as an anchor for the spindles that pull chromosomes apart during mitosis.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
#blender #animation #b3d
This DNA-binding protein complex acts as an anchor for the spindles that pull chromosomes apart during mitosis.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
#blender #animation #b3d
Reposted by Jana Helsen
Haven't seen a yeast pack yet, so I made one! Help the yeast people flocculate, share, and send me your name if you like to be added.
go.bsky.app/PyUwqLU
go.bsky.app/PyUwqLU
October 22, 2024 at 8:11 AM
Haven't seen a yeast pack yet, so I made one! Help the yeast people flocculate, share, and send me your name if you like to be added.
go.bsky.app/PyUwqLU
go.bsky.app/PyUwqLU
Reposted by Jana Helsen
I put together a list of profiles in somehow related subjects of chromosome biology
go.bsky.app/KqsM3kd
go.bsky.app/KqsM3kd
November 12, 2024 at 12:00 PM
I put together a list of profiles in somehow related subjects of chromosome biology
go.bsky.app/KqsM3kd
go.bsky.app/KqsM3kd