Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Alex de Mendoza @alexdemendoza.bsky.social · 5h

Thrilled to share that the lab has been awarded a @wellcometrust.bsky.social Discovery Award to keep exploring the evolution of 6-methyladenine #6mA in Eukaryotes. We'll open postdoc (3️⃣) and tech (1️⃣) positions to start in 2026, please share with candidates or reach out if you’d like to join us.

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Reposted by Alex de Mendoza

Thomas Mock @thomasmock.bsky.social · 6d

Our latest #preprint led by Yumary M. Vasquez & Frederik Schulz @jgi.doe.gov

The largest database of giant #virus MAGs (GVMAGs V2) with >18,000 genomes from #marine, freshwater, anthropogenic and terrestrial environments.

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

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Reposted by Alex de Mendoza

Raquel Fueyo @fueyoraquel.bsky.social · 6d

Today in @nature.com, we present our work leveraging functional genomics and human blastoids to uncover a human-specific mechanism in preimplantation development driven by the endogenous retrovirus HERVK.
Special thanks to the reviewers whose comments improved our manuscript a lot! rdcu.be/eI3tD

A human-specific regulatory mechanism revealed in a pre-implantation model

Nature - Genetic manipulation of blastoids reveals the role of recently emerged transposable elements and genes in human development.

rdcu.be

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Reposted by Alex de Mendoza

Erica Dinatale @ericadinatale.bsky.social · 7d

So happy to see my first first-author paper published! 🎈
A short thread on how Ectocarpus and its TE secrets have kept me busy lately:

rdcu.be/eITQH

Characterization of the transposable element landscape shaping the Ectocarpus genome | Genome Biology

rdcu.be

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Reposted by Alex de Mendoza

Harvard Med Cell Biology @harvardcellbio.bsky.social · 5d

Historically, viruses were thought to primarily use host cell's translational machinery. New work from @harvardcellbio.bsky.social faculty Amy Lee reveals that a giant DNA virus encodes its own IF4F initiation complex, suggesting an unexpected evolutionary innovation. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Giant DNA viruses encode a hallmark translation initiation complex of eukaryotic life

In contrast to living organisms, viruses were long thought to lack protein synthesis machinery and instead depend on host factors to translate viral transcripts. Here, we discover that giant DNA virus...

www.biorxiv.org

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Reposted by Alex de Mendoza

Dimitrije @biodimi.bsky.social · 5d

Check out our latest work on the discovery and engineering of PiggyBac transposases! 🧵

Nature Biotechnology @natbiotech.nature.com · 6d

Discovery and protein language model-guided design of hyperactive transposases - @marcguellc.bsky.social @upf.edu @icreacommunity.bsky.social @crg.eu go.nature.com/4gXLGEw

Discovery and protein language model-guided design of hyperactive transposases - Nature Biotechnology

Phylogenetic mining and protein language models uncover improved PiggyBac transposase sequences.

go.nature.com

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Reposted by Alex de Mendoza

Transposon and Cancer Epigenetics Group @deniz-lab.bsky.social · 5d

We have a new PhD studentship in the lab on the immunogenic roles of transposable elements in paediatric acute myeloid leukaemia! Come and work with us! www.colcc.ac.uk/2026-cyp-phd...

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Reposted by Alex de Mendoza

Arnau Sebé-Pedrós @arnausebe.bsky.social · 24d

Registration deadline for @embo.org workshop EvoChromo extended until September 30.

meetings.embo.org/event/24-evo...

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Reposted by Alex de Mendoza

Manuel Irimia @mirimiam.bsky.social · 16d

Last days to apply! Cool project, cool cities! :-)

(Please repost! 🙏)

Manuel Irimia @mirimiam.bsky.social · Jul 23

🚨🚨🚨

Please RT!

We're looking for a postdoc to join an exciting joint project between our lab @upf.edu & @crg.eu (Barcelona) and the Sander lab @mdc-berlin.bsky.social (Berlin) investigating how alternative splicing and microexons influences the maturation of pancreatic islets.

Deadline: 30/09/25👇

www.upf.edu

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Alex de Mendoza @alexdemendoza.bsky.social · 12d

Congrats! Great university, beautiful building, superb colleagues, enjoy!

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Vengamanaidu Modepalli @venky-vnm.bsky.social · 23d

Exciting news to share! I have started my new role as a Lecturer in Evolutionary Biology / Director of MSc Bioinformatics program at the School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol @bristolbiosci.bsky.social

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Alex de Mendoza @alexdemendoza.bsky.social · 26d

Congrats, really cool! Comparing paper length vs Bluesky 🧵 length, and how much better are the videos integrated here, maybe we should drop even BioRxiv and just post science here. The flagellum that unilaterally decides to secede (for nobody's gain) is the proof that protists are bit crazy.

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Reposted by Alex de Mendoza

Thibaut Brunet @thibautbrunet.bsky.social · 28d

New short paper from our lab @currentbiology.bsky.social, in which we discover of a new mode of cell motility for choanoflagellates: flagellar gliding. www.cell.com/current-biol... - A 🧵

Flagellar gliding in choanoflagellates

Freire-Delgado and Brunet discover a new mode of cell motility in choanoflagellates, the closest relatives of animals. Under mild confinement, choanoflagellate move over surfaces without cell deformat...

www.cell.com

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Reposted by Alex de Mendoza

ulrichtechnau.bsky.social @ulrichtechnau.bsky.social · 27d

We knew that cnidarians have stunning regenerative capacities. But the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying the self-organization of gastruloids of Nematostella surprised us. A story of cell sorting and Notch signaling. Please check out the work of Sanjay's PhD work: doi.org/10.1101/2025...

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Reposted by Alex de Mendoza

Casey Dunn @caseywdunn.bsky.social · 27d

Interested in joining our lab (dunnlab.org) as a postdoc to work on siphonophores, processes that structure diversity in the open ocean, or natural history? If so, please reach out to discuss a nomination for the Donnelley Postdoctoral Fellowship - yibs.yale.edu/donnelley-fe...

The Dunn Lab

Casey Dunn's laboratory in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Yale University.

dunnlab.org

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Alex de Mendoza @alexdemendoza.bsky.social · 27d

Very happy to have contributed to this review on "non-CG" #methylation in animals now out in @natgenet.nature.com. Working again with @obog.bsky.social and Tirsa is always a pleasure. We think this not so well studied form of methylation should be more widely considered, please read: rdcu.be/eFAEk

Non-CG DNA methylation in animal genomes

Nature Genetics - This Review discusses noncanonical DNA methylation (mCH) in animal genomes and highlights the remaining need to clarify whether mCH represents a conserved regulatory layer or a...

rdcu.be

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Reposted by Alex de Mendoza

Molecular Biology and Evolution @molbioevol.bsky.social · Sep 5

Red devil spiders from the Canary Islands have a genome half the size of mainland counterparts - Pisarenco, @jrozasub.bsky.social et al. show how purifying selection against slightly deleterious DNA and TE insertions is the primary mechanism.

🔗 doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msaf206

#evobio #molbio #TEsky

How Did Evolution Halve Genome Size During an Oceanic Island Colonization?

Abstract. Red devil spiders of the genus Dysdera colonized the Canary Islands and underwent an extraordinary diversification. Notably, their genomes are ne

doi.org

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Reposted by Alex de Mendoza

Antonio Camargo @apcamargo.bsky.social · Sep 6

A BLAST update adding support for compressed files and csv output with headers is a Good Friday night surprise!

blast.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/doc/blast-ne...

2025 BLAST NEWS — BlastNews 0.1.1 documentation

blast.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

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Alex de Mendoza @alexdemendoza.bsky.social · Sep 4

Yes, it is great. This said, if I was one of these ants, I'd develop a ESC system to directly differentiate the male gametes from the other species, but I guess making the whole males is easier.

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Alex de Mendoza @alexdemendoza.bsky.social · Sep 4

Not everybody is elated, open reviewers comments, see how reviewer 2 is far from impressed... Just keep that in mind when you think you have a mind blowing result. Someone, somewhere, will always say "meh, whatever dude".

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dfachinetti.bsky.social @dfachinetti.bsky.social · Sep 4

#1 Centromeres are epigenetic loci defined by CENP-A, positioned in unmethylated DNA flanked by highly methylated regions. Our work, published in @natgenet.nature.com in collaboration with @naltemose.bsky.social investigates the role of DNAme at human centromeres www.nature.com/articles/s41...

DNA methylation influences human centromere positioning and function - Nature Genetics

Genome-wide and targeted perturbation of DNA methylation at centromeres affects CENP-A positioning and centromere structure, resulting in aneuploidy and reduced cell viability.

www.nature.com

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Reposted by Alex de Mendoza

Physalia-courses@Online @physaliacourses.bsky.social · Sep 3

🚨 Registrations are now open! 🚨
Join the next edition of DNA Methylation in Ecology and Evolution 🧬🌱🦋 with an amazing team of instructors.
@alexdemendoza.bsky.social Hollie Marshall and James
@nanoporetech.com @pacbio.bsky.social

#epigenetics

www.physalia-courses.org/courses-work...

DNA Methylation in Ecology and Evolution

20th-24th April 2026 To foster international participation, this course will be held online

www.physalia-courses.org

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Reposted by Alex de Mendoza

Transposon and Cancer Epigenetics Group @deniz-lab.bsky.social · Sep 3

Our new review is out in Trends in Cancer. We had fund writing this :) We discuss the roles of retrotransposons in immune modulation in normal and malignant
hematopoiesis. www.cell.com/trends/cance...

Reawakening retrotransposons: immune modulation in normal and malignant hematopoiesis

Retrotransposons are mobile repetitive elements that constitute around 43% of the human genome. Normally silenced through epigenetic mechanisms, retrotransposons can become reactivated in response to ...

www.cell.com

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Reposted by Alex de Mendoza

Steve Haddock @stevehaddock.bsky.social · Aug 28

Our science photo book The Radiant Sea is out Sept 2nd!!
30 years of research, 10 years of "we should", and a year of collating pix and writing.
Sönke and I show (mostly for the first time) images of how organisms produce, use, and interact with light in the sea. #bioluminescence #fluorescence 🦑🧪🌊

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Reposted by Alex de Mendoza

MPI for Biology Tübingen & Friedrich Miescher Laboratory @mpi-bio-fml.bsky.social · Aug 27

New research: With ancient origins & surprising flexibility, #BrownAlgae reveal a compelling story of sex chromosome evolution. This could rewrite how we view sex determination. Learn more: s.gwdg.de/YDoZ3L
Congrats to @agalip.bsky.social & Josue Barrera for their work in @natecoevo.nature.com

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