Nat Clarke
@natclarke.bsky.social
Assistant Prof @univmiami.bsky.social. Cellular and Developmental Biology / Evo-Devo / Animal Multicellularity / Cell adhesion. Lover of weird invertebrates. Learn more: clarkelab.com
Pinned
Nat Clarke
@natclarke.bsky.social
· Oct 8
🚨 My lab is hiring at all levels!
Interested in animal origins & evolutionary cell biology?
I'm recruiting a postdoc, PhD students & a research assistant to study the molecular evolution of cell adhesion using marine invertebrates + comparative genomics.
🔗: clarkelab.com/join/
Please repost!
Interested in animal origins & evolutionary cell biology?
I'm recruiting a postdoc, PhD students & a research assistant to study the molecular evolution of cell adhesion using marine invertebrates + comparative genomics.
🔗: clarkelab.com/join/
Please repost!
Reposted by Nat Clarke
Nature research paper: Rewiring an olfactory circuit by altering cell-surface combinatorial code
go.nature.com/3MbCoZT
go.nature.com/3MbCoZT
Rewiring an olfactory circuit by altering cell-surface combinatorial code - Nature
In Drosophila, changing the expression of a small set of cell-surface proteins in just one type of olfactory neuron rewires its connections almost entirely to a new postsynaptic partner neuron type, altering the fly’s odour response and courtship behaviour.
go.nature.com
November 21, 2025 at 11:12 AM
Nature research paper: Rewiring an olfactory circuit by altering cell-surface combinatorial code
go.nature.com/3MbCoZT
go.nature.com/3MbCoZT
Reposted by Nat Clarke
Check out our latest issue where we interview Cassandra Extavour, who studies the evolution of the genetic mechanisms employed during early animal embryogenesis to specify cell fate, development, and differentiation at Harvard University. www.cell.com/current-biol...
Q & A
Interview with Cassandra Extavour, who studies the evolution of the genetic mechanisms
employed during early animal embryogenesis to specify cell fate, development, and
differentiation at Harvard Univ...
www.cell.com
November 20, 2025 at 10:34 AM
Check out our latest issue where we interview Cassandra Extavour, who studies the evolution of the genetic mechanisms employed during early animal embryogenesis to specify cell fate, development, and differentiation at Harvard University. www.cell.com/current-biol...
Reposted by Nat Clarke
Drawing together findings from several projects over many years, we make a case that neural cell types in the Clytia larva have two embryological origins: i-cells and ectodermal.
bioRxiv 2025.11.17.688882; doi: doi.org/10.1101/2025...
bioRxiv 2025.11.17.688882; doi: doi.org/10.1101/2025...
November 19, 2025 at 7:43 AM
Drawing together findings from several projects over many years, we make a case that neural cell types in the Clytia larva have two embryological origins: i-cells and ectodermal.
bioRxiv 2025.11.17.688882; doi: doi.org/10.1101/2025...
bioRxiv 2025.11.17.688882; doi: doi.org/10.1101/2025...
Reposted by Nat Clarke
SAVE THE DATE! Stoked to organize the 2026 Santa Cruz Developmental Biology Meeting with @rashmi-priya.bsky.social, @lowelab.bsky.social, and Shelbi Russell. Come learn about Biomedicine, Biomechanics, and the Biosphere, August 24-28, 2026. Registration dates, etc., coming soon! Please RT
November 19, 2025 at 8:23 PM
SAVE THE DATE! Stoked to organize the 2026 Santa Cruz Developmental Biology Meeting with @rashmi-priya.bsky.social, @lowelab.bsky.social, and Shelbi Russell. Come learn about Biomedicine, Biomechanics, and the Biosphere, August 24-28, 2026. Registration dates, etc., coming soon! Please RT
Reposted by Nat Clarke
Searching for physical principles of morphogenesis
In this #OpenAccess Spotlight, Nikolas Claussen, Fridtjof Brauns and @streichan.bsky.social highlight the ‘physics of development’, focusing on the interplay between quantitative experiments and mathematical theory
doi.org/10.1242/dev....
In this #OpenAccess Spotlight, Nikolas Claussen, Fridtjof Brauns and @streichan.bsky.social highlight the ‘physics of development’, focusing on the interplay between quantitative experiments and mathematical theory
doi.org/10.1242/dev....
November 19, 2025 at 10:28 AM
Searching for physical principles of morphogenesis
In this #OpenAccess Spotlight, Nikolas Claussen, Fridtjof Brauns and @streichan.bsky.social highlight the ‘physics of development’, focusing on the interplay between quantitative experiments and mathematical theory
doi.org/10.1242/dev....
In this #OpenAccess Spotlight, Nikolas Claussen, Fridtjof Brauns and @streichan.bsky.social highlight the ‘physics of development’, focusing on the interplay between quantitative experiments and mathematical theory
doi.org/10.1242/dev....
Reposted by Nat Clarke
Our paper on the role of neurons in Nematostella head regeneration is now out at @currentbiology.bsky.social Big thank you to all collaborators, it was a pleasure!
Ectopic head regeneration after nervous system ablation in a sea anemone: Current Biology www.cell.com/current-biol...
Ectopic head regeneration after nervous system ablation in a sea anemone: Current Biology www.cell.com/current-biol...
Ectopic head regeneration after nervous system ablation in a sea anemone
Via genetic ablation of neurons, Mazloumi Gavgani et al. show that the nervous system
is essential for defining axial polarity during whole-body regeneration in the sea
anemone Nematostella vectensis.
www.cell.com
November 18, 2025 at 10:00 AM
Our paper on the role of neurons in Nematostella head regeneration is now out at @currentbiology.bsky.social Big thank you to all collaborators, it was a pleasure!
Ectopic head regeneration after nervous system ablation in a sea anemone: Current Biology www.cell.com/current-biol...
Ectopic head regeneration after nervous system ablation in a sea anemone: Current Biology www.cell.com/current-biol...
Reposted by Nat Clarke
Out today, our take on 6-methyladenine #6mA evolution in Eukaryotes @natgenet.nature.com. We asked a simple question, is really DNA 6mA common across the eukaryotes? The answer is "yes" if you're a unicellular eukaryote 🦠, not so if you're multicellular 🐝🌱🍄. www.nature.com/articles/s41... 1/9
Adenine DNA methylation associated with transcriptionally permissive chromatin is widespread across eukaryotes - Nature Genetics
Long-read sequencing in 18 unicellular eukaryotes reveals that 6mA is widespread across eukaryotes and is enriched at transcriptionally permissive regions, which are also marked by H3K4me3.
www.nature.com
November 18, 2025 at 12:00 PM
Out today, our take on 6-methyladenine #6mA evolution in Eukaryotes @natgenet.nature.com. We asked a simple question, is really DNA 6mA common across the eukaryotes? The answer is "yes" if you're a unicellular eukaryote 🦠, not so if you're multicellular 🐝🌱🍄. www.nature.com/articles/s41... 1/9
Reposted by Nat Clarke
Our work on Naegleria Myosin 2 is out!
Naegleria encodes 3 Myo2s which contract its actin network—the first evidence of contractile Myo2 outside of Amorphea.
Myo2 is actually widespread in Naegleria's relatives and correlates with fast cell crawling.
Read more: www.cell.com/current-biol...
Naegleria encodes 3 Myo2s which contract its actin network—the first evidence of contractile Myo2 outside of Amorphea.
Myo2 is actually widespread in Naegleria's relatives and correlates with fast cell crawling.
Read more: www.cell.com/current-biol...
Myosin 2 drives actin contractility in fast-crawling species outside of the amorphean lineage
Myosin 2-dependent actin contractility—the force that powers cell division and migration
in animals, fungi, and other Amorphea—had been previously unknown outside this single
eukaryotic group. Guest e...
www.cell.com
November 17, 2025 at 5:19 PM
Our work on Naegleria Myosin 2 is out!
Naegleria encodes 3 Myo2s which contract its actin network—the first evidence of contractile Myo2 outside of Amorphea.
Myo2 is actually widespread in Naegleria's relatives and correlates with fast cell crawling.
Read more: www.cell.com/current-biol...
Naegleria encodes 3 Myo2s which contract its actin network—the first evidence of contractile Myo2 outside of Amorphea.
Myo2 is actually widespread in Naegleria's relatives and correlates with fast cell crawling.
Read more: www.cell.com/current-biol...
Reposted by Nat Clarke
Happy to present the final version of our Cadherin and gastruloid manuscript, online at @cp-cellreports.bsky.social.
www.cell.com/cell-reports...
Initially in BiorXiv (www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...) 1/12
www.cell.com/cell-reports...
Initially in BiorXiv (www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...) 1/12
Cadherins modulate the self-organizing potential of pseudo-embryos
Gastruloids derived from ES cells mimic embryonic patterning through robust self-organization.
Mayran et al. uncover that this competence depends on a cadherin switch regulated
by Snai1-driven E-cadhe...
www.cell.com
November 17, 2025 at 10:37 AM
Happy to present the final version of our Cadherin and gastruloid manuscript, online at @cp-cellreports.bsky.social.
www.cell.com/cell-reports...
Initially in BiorXiv (www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...) 1/12
www.cell.com/cell-reports...
Initially in BiorXiv (www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...) 1/12
Reposted by Nat Clarke
Happy to share Jialin's first publication. She did a great job exploring the transition to land in animals. Co-supervised by the great Jordi Paps and me and in collaboration with Davide Pisani and @phil-donoghue.bsky.social
Nature research paper: Convergent genome evolution shaped the emergence of terrestrial animals
go.nature.com/4i0i61w
go.nature.com/4i0i61w
Convergent genome evolution shaped the emergence of terrestrial animals - Nature
Comparisons of 154 genomes from 21 animal phyla and outgroups have been used to reconstruct ancestral adaptation to life on land across 11 distinct terrestrialization events, revealing strong evidence for convergent genomic evolution across the animal kingdom and recurring periods of terrestrial colonization.
go.nature.com
November 13, 2025 at 3:18 PM
Happy to share Jialin's first publication. She did a great job exploring the transition to land in animals. Co-supervised by the great Jordi Paps and me and in collaboration with Davide Pisani and @phil-donoghue.bsky.social
Reposted by Nat Clarke
NEW pub in @science.org 🥳
Is it sponges (panels A & B) or comb jellies (C & D) that root the animal tree of life?
For over 15 years, #phylogenomic studies have been divided.
We provide new evidence suggesting that...
🔗: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Is it sponges (panels A & B) or comb jellies (C & D) that root the animal tree of life?
For over 15 years, #phylogenomic studies have been divided.
We provide new evidence suggesting that...
🔗: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
November 13, 2025 at 8:34 PM
NEW pub in @science.org 🥳
Is it sponges (panels A & B) or comb jellies (C & D) that root the animal tree of life?
For over 15 years, #phylogenomic studies have been divided.
We provide new evidence suggesting that...
🔗: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Is it sponges (panels A & B) or comb jellies (C & D) that root the animal tree of life?
For over 15 years, #phylogenomic studies have been divided.
We provide new evidence suggesting that...
🔗: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Reposted by Nat Clarke
The Lariviere lab at UMiami is recruiting PhD students! Incoming students will join us in studying host-microbe interactions in the honey bee gut, using molecular and genetic approaches. Please see the attached flyer for more details.
#Symbiosis #SymbioSky #MicroSky #PhDOpportunity #AcademicJobs
#Symbiosis #SymbioSky #MicroSky #PhDOpportunity #AcademicJobs
November 13, 2025 at 3:14 PM
The Lariviere lab at UMiami is recruiting PhD students! Incoming students will join us in studying host-microbe interactions in the honey bee gut, using molecular and genetic approaches. Please see the attached flyer for more details.
#Symbiosis #SymbioSky #MicroSky #PhDOpportunity #AcademicJobs
#Symbiosis #SymbioSky #MicroSky #PhDOpportunity #AcademicJobs
Reposted by Nat Clarke
My book 'The Tree of Life' is published in the USA and Canada today.
Available as book, on kindle and as audio.
I would be really grateful for reposts.
www.amazon.com/Tree-Life-So...
www.amazon.ca/Tree-Life-So...
Available as book, on kindle and as audio.
I would be really grateful for reposts.
www.amazon.com/Tree-Life-So...
www.amazon.ca/Tree-Life-So...
November 11, 2025 at 12:01 PM
My book 'The Tree of Life' is published in the USA and Canada today.
Available as book, on kindle and as audio.
I would be really grateful for reposts.
www.amazon.com/Tree-Life-So...
www.amazon.ca/Tree-Life-So...
Available as book, on kindle and as audio.
I would be really grateful for reposts.
www.amazon.com/Tree-Life-So...
www.amazon.ca/Tree-Life-So...
Reposted by Nat Clarke
"Saving Science by the Sea" – a piece on the importance of marine laboratories in advancing biomedical science, including the beginning of the Meselson-Stahl collaboration that ultimately elucidated the process of DNA replication:
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Saving science by the sea
As funding for science tightens across the United States, attention has turned to pressures faced by universities and biomedical research institutions. An often overlooked part of the nation’s science...
www.science.org
November 10, 2025 at 1:17 AM
"Saving Science by the Sea" – a piece on the importance of marine laboratories in advancing biomedical science, including the beginning of the Meselson-Stahl collaboration that ultimately elucidated the process of DNA replication:
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Reposted by Nat Clarke
We’re hiring! 🚨
Assistant Professor (TT) in Theoretical or Computational Biological Physics @univmiami.bsky.social 😀
Come build the future of interdisciplinary biophysics with us!
Apply by Dec 15 → tinyurl.com/5n9bk836
#Biophysics #PhysicsJobs #AcademicJobs #UMiami
Assistant Professor (TT) in Theoretical or Computational Biological Physics @univmiami.bsky.social 😀
Come build the future of interdisciplinary biophysics with us!
Apply by Dec 15 → tinyurl.com/5n9bk836
#Biophysics #PhysicsJobs #AcademicJobs #UMiami
November 8, 2025 at 5:54 PM
We’re hiring! 🚨
Assistant Professor (TT) in Theoretical or Computational Biological Physics @univmiami.bsky.social 😀
Come build the future of interdisciplinary biophysics with us!
Apply by Dec 15 → tinyurl.com/5n9bk836
#Biophysics #PhysicsJobs #AcademicJobs #UMiami
Assistant Professor (TT) in Theoretical or Computational Biological Physics @univmiami.bsky.social 😀
Come build the future of interdisciplinary biophysics with us!
Apply by Dec 15 → tinyurl.com/5n9bk836
#Biophysics #PhysicsJobs #AcademicJobs #UMiami
Reposted by Nat Clarke
Pleased to share our latest paper led by @tomlewin.bsky.social, now out in @currentbiology.bsky.social! We present the first chromosome-level genome of a phoronid and show that shared chromosomal fusions unite phoronids and bryozoans as sister groups.
www.cell.com/current-biol...
www.cell.com/current-biol...
November 7, 2025 at 4:21 PM
Pleased to share our latest paper led by @tomlewin.bsky.social, now out in @currentbiology.bsky.social! We present the first chromosome-level genome of a phoronid and show that shared chromosomal fusions unite phoronids and bryozoans as sister groups.
www.cell.com/current-biol...
www.cell.com/current-biol...
Reposted by Nat Clarke
I am beyond excited to share that my postdoc project @szndohrn.bsky.social and the @arnonelab.bsky.social is now available in #ScienceAdvances @science.org. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
November 5, 2025 at 7:02 PM
I am beyond excited to share that my postdoc project @szndohrn.bsky.social and the @arnonelab.bsky.social is now available in #ScienceAdvances @science.org. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Reposted by Nat Clarke
Major cell type differences between larval and adult hemichordate body plans https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.10.31.685866v1
November 3, 2025 at 7:31 PM
Major cell type differences between larval and adult hemichordate body plans https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.10.31.685866v1
Reposted by Nat Clarke
🚨 We're hiring! 🚨 Our lab at the University of Málaga, Spain🇪🇸 is looking for a bioinformatician researcher for a postdoc position (1+1 years). Check the ad, and if you're interested, get in touch!
📅 Starting date early 2026, with some flexibility.
🙏Please, RT!
📅 Starting date early 2026, with some flexibility.
🙏Please, RT!
October 30, 2025 at 5:50 PM
🚨 We're hiring! 🚨 Our lab at the University of Málaga, Spain🇪🇸 is looking for a bioinformatician researcher for a postdoc position (1+1 years). Check the ad, and if you're interested, get in touch!
📅 Starting date early 2026, with some flexibility.
🙏Please, RT!
📅 Starting date early 2026, with some flexibility.
🙏Please, RT!
Reposted by Nat Clarke
🚨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 Nat Clarke
Very happy to see our paper published online natcomms.nature.com. Thank you to @wellcometrust.bsky.social for funding this work during my time with @robklose.bsky.social and David Booth! Thanks also to collaborators @garcialabms.bsky.social @alexdemendoza.bsky.social and the other authors!
Chromatin profiling identifies putative dual roles for H3K27me3 in regulating cell type-specific genes and transposable elements in choanoflagellates
Nature Communications - Here, the authors investigate chromatin-based gene regulation in the closest relative of animal, choanoflagellates. They uncover a putative dual role for the histone...
rdcu.be
October 29, 2025 at 1:40 PM
Very happy to see our paper published online natcomms.nature.com. Thank you to @wellcometrust.bsky.social for funding this work during my time with @robklose.bsky.social and David Booth! Thanks also to collaborators @garcialabms.bsky.social @alexdemendoza.bsky.social and the other authors!
Reposted by Nat Clarke
How can we see the cells that make up a living organism? Membrane-localising tags can drive fluorescent proteins to the cell's outer membrane, making their outlines visible. But the tags don't work well in all organisms. How do you find one for your species of interest? 🧵
Check our latest preprint
Check our latest preprint
A toolkit for testing membrane-localising tags across species
Transgenic markers and tools have revolutionised how we study cells and developing organisms. Some of the elements needed to construct those tools are universally applicable (e.g. fluorescent proteins...
www.biorxiv.org
October 23, 2025 at 8:16 AM
How can we see the cells that make up a living organism? Membrane-localising tags can drive fluorescent proteins to the cell's outer membrane, making their outlines visible. But the tags don't work well in all organisms. How do you find one for your species of interest? 🧵
Check our latest preprint
Check our latest preprint
Reposted by Nat Clarke
Two tenure-track faculty positions open in our department:
1) Microbial Ecology and Evolution careers.rpi.edu/en-us/job/49...
2) Cellular Neuroscience careers.rpi.edu/en-us/job/49...
Join our collaborative, interdisciplinary community, which has proved to be a fantastic place to start a lab!
1) Microbial Ecology and Evolution careers.rpi.edu/en-us/job/49...
2) Cellular Neuroscience careers.rpi.edu/en-us/job/49...
Join our collaborative, interdisciplinary community, which has proved to be a fantastic place to start a lab!
Details - Assistant Professor, Microbial Ecology - RPI Jobs
careers.rpi.edu
October 22, 2025 at 4:46 PM
Two tenure-track faculty positions open in our department:
1) Microbial Ecology and Evolution careers.rpi.edu/en-us/job/49...
2) Cellular Neuroscience careers.rpi.edu/en-us/job/49...
Join our collaborative, interdisciplinary community, which has proved to be a fantastic place to start a lab!
1) Microbial Ecology and Evolution careers.rpi.edu/en-us/job/49...
2) Cellular Neuroscience careers.rpi.edu/en-us/job/49...
Join our collaborative, interdisciplinary community, which has proved to be a fantastic place to start a lab!
Reposted by Nat Clarke
📣 Fully-funded PhD opportunity in my Lab @bristolbiosci.bsky.social @bristoluni.bsky.social
🔬We will explore how coral larvae sense their environment and guide settlement.
Check out the details! 👇
www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
#Coral #SensoryEcology #PhD #MarineScience
🔬We will explore how coral larvae sense their environment and guide settlement.
Check out the details! 👇
www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
#Coral #SensoryEcology #PhD #MarineScience
October 21, 2025 at 6:57 PM
📣 Fully-funded PhD opportunity in my Lab @bristolbiosci.bsky.social @bristoluni.bsky.social
🔬We will explore how coral larvae sense their environment and guide settlement.
Check out the details! 👇
www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
#Coral #SensoryEcology #PhD #MarineScience
🔬We will explore how coral larvae sense their environment and guide settlement.
Check out the details! 👇
www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
#Coral #SensoryEcology #PhD #MarineScience
Reposted by Nat Clarke
Sea cucumbers are beautiful! 🥒
This image shows the skeleton of a baby sea cucumber. Very happy that it got awarded by #NikonSmallWorld 😊
👇 Check the preprint by @PranavVyas and @prakashlab.bsky.social if you want to learn more about skeleton development in these animals:
shorturl.at/J3g1h
This image shows the skeleton of a baby sea cucumber. Very happy that it got awarded by #NikonSmallWorld 😊
👇 Check the preprint by @PranavVyas and @prakashlab.bsky.social if you want to learn more about skeleton development in these animals:
shorturl.at/J3g1h
October 16, 2025 at 3:29 PM
Sea cucumbers are beautiful! 🥒
This image shows the skeleton of a baby sea cucumber. Very happy that it got awarded by #NikonSmallWorld 😊
👇 Check the preprint by @PranavVyas and @prakashlab.bsky.social if you want to learn more about skeleton development in these animals:
shorturl.at/J3g1h
This image shows the skeleton of a baby sea cucumber. Very happy that it got awarded by #NikonSmallWorld 😊
👇 Check the preprint by @PranavVyas and @prakashlab.bsky.social if you want to learn more about skeleton development in these animals:
shorturl.at/J3g1h