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Reposted by Richard Benton

Claudia Bank @cbank.bsky.social · 1d

Please spread the word! 10 days left to apply for this #sciencejobs as Assistant Professor Tenure Track in Quantitative Cell Biology 👩‍🔬
@izb-unibern.bsky.social @unibe.ch! ohws.prospective.ch/public/v1/jo...
#QueerInSTEM #DisabledInSTEM #BlackInSTEM #WomenInSTEM #CarersInSTEM #AcademicSky #HigherED

Uni Bern: Assistant Professor with tenure-track for Quantitative Cell Biology

Start date of employment: anticipated for August 2027

ohws.prospective.ch

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Reposted by Richard Benton

Cahir O'Kane @cahirokane.bsky.social · 1d

Sad to hear of the death of John Gurdon this morning, aged 92.

Professor Sir John Gurdon FRS (1933-2025) | Magdalene College

Magdalene College is deeply saddened to announce the death of Professor Sir John Gurdon FRS, who served as Master of the College from 1995 to 2002.

www.magd.cam.ac.uk

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Richard Benton @bentonlab.bsky.social · 2d

Thanks! Elmo always makes my day 😊

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Richard Benton @bentonlab.bsky.social · 2d

Having personally sworn for years that insects don’t use GPCRs for odour detection, Suguru Takagi (@sugurutakagi.bsky.social) discovers that, in fact, they sometimes do …

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

A GPCR signaling pathway in insect odor detection

Odor detection differs fundamentally in vertebrates, which use G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), and insects, which employ ion channels. Here, we report the first evidence for a GPCR defining tunin...

www.biorxiv.org

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Suguru Takagi @sugurutakagi.bsky.social · Aug 26

We are seeking
postdoctoral scholars funded by the NIH Chemosensory Training Program (CTP) and the Vice-President for Research at FSU. CTP is a very unique training program in chemosensory neuroscience at FSU with 30+ years of history! For details, see:
opda.fsu.edu/fellowships-...

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Suguru Takagi @sugurutakagi.bsky.social · Aug 26

On cloud nine to announce that I'll be starting my own lab at the Department of Biological Science, Florida State University in Spring 2026! We'll study neuronal circuits and sensory-guided behavior by combining comparative and functional approaches using non-model Drosophila flies 🪰

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Suguru Takagi @sugurutakagi.bsky.social · 2d

New preprint out! We identified a GPCR signaling pathway that adds a new layer of odor tuning to an otherwise ionotropic olfactory detection system.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

A GPCR signaling pathway in insect odor detection

Odor detection differs fundamentally in vertebrates, which use G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), and insects, which employ ion channels. Here, we report the first evidence for a GPCR defining tunin...

www.biorxiv.org

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Reposted by Richard Benton

FlyBase @flybase.bsky.social · 4d

There's an update on the state of FlyBase on the FlyBase.org front page. You can contribute to FlyBase at this link wiki.flybase.org/wiki/FlyBase...
We express enormous gratitude to the people, labs, groups, and foundations who have already helped us.
#FlyBase #Drosophila

FlyBase Update – October 2025
The termination of the NIH/NHGRI FlyBase grant has placed the long-term sustainability of FlyBase at risk. However, thanks to the generous support of several key individuals and institutions, we are pleased to announce that FlyBase will remain operational through the coming year. We extend our deepest gratitude to Yukiko Yamashita, Cassandra Extavour, Hugo Bellen, Thom Kaufman, the Genetics Society of America / Drosophila Board, the Bloomington Drosophila Stock Center, an anonymous donor and the Wellcome Trust. We are especially thankful for a generous gift from Seemay Chou, Jed McCaleb, and The Navigation Fund. We also greatly appreciate the continued support from the broader Drosophila community – your donations and service fees have been vital in helping us stay afloat. Special thanks also go to Jessica Manning for her tireless administrative work at Harvard, to Ruth Lehmann, Hugo Bellen, and Paul Sternberg for advice and efforts, and to the Board of the European Drosophila Society for all their efforts. Sadly, we must also share that several long-standing FlyBase team members have recently moved on. We are immensely grateful to Susan Russo-Gelbart, Lynn Crosby, Gil dos Santos, Kris Broll, Victoria Jenkins, and TyAnna Lovato for their many years of dedicated service and contributions to FlyBase. Looking ahead, ensuring FlyBase’s sustainability beyond the next year – and successfully integrating with the Alliance – will require new funding sources. We kindly ask for your continued support:
• European labs: Please consider contributing to the Cambridge, U.K. FlyBase group
• U.S. and other non-European labs: Please consider contributing to the U.S. FlyBase groups
• Both U.K. and U.S. FlyBase are working diligently to establish an invoicing system. We appreciate your continued patience.
For more information on how to support us, please visit: Contribute to FlyBase wiki page https://wiki.flybase.org/wiki/FlyBase:Contribute_to_FlyBase

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Reposted by Richard Benton

Julien Richard Albert @jrichardalbert.bsky.social · 5d

I didn't think I could admire Azim Surani more than I already did
journals.biologists.com/dev/article/...

An interview with Azim Surani

Professor Azim Surani is the Director of Epigenomics and Germline Imprinting at the Gurdon Institute in Cambridge, UK. He is this year's recipient of both the prestigious Kyoto Prize and the Paul Ehrl...

journals.biologists.com

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Reposted by Richard Benton

Ben Engel @cellarchlab.com · 8d

EXCITING NEWS!! We're searching for a new professor colleague at the Biozentrum🇨🇭. Ideal candidates are exploring novel biological questions with structure, biophysics, or high-resolution imaging. 🧪 🧶🧬 🔬

The call closes Nov 3. Please get in touch if you would like more information. Come join us! 👩‍🔬🤓

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Ana Marija Jakšić @merianelion.bsky.social · 8d

🚨Preprint🚨
What started as an attempt to compare CT scans of diverse fly brains, ended up a new concept for analysis & segmentation of difficult tomographic data. No ground truths, no training, just maths. This is TopoTome, topological data analysis of 3D images

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

Figure showing 3 panels. Panel A: workflow of a classical deep learning model vs TopoTome workflow, with marked differences between the methods, including manual segmentation of images, design and optimization of neural network and data post processing that is needed in deep learning workflow but not in TopoTome. Panel B: core concepts behind TopoTome shown connected by arrows. From left to right, there is a microCT scan of a fly brain (3D reconstruction), a persistence barcode of H2 homologies, an image of how persistent barcodes map to the original CT brain scan, and a segmentation of a CT scan. Panel C shows the concept of cubical complex filtration of 2D and 3D image data.

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Nate Himmel @natehimmel.bsky.social · Jul 4

In Fall '26 the Himmel Lab will open at NJIT Biological Sciences. I'm beyond stoked!

Interested in a PhD/postdoc in the function/evolution/origins of the senses (computation or experimentation)? Message me and come join a great department in the NY metro! Sharing is appreciated. Info: himmellab.org

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fbm-unil.bsky.social @fbm-unil.bsky.social · 20d

Apply now for FBM #PhD #Fellowships in #Life #Sciences – join one of the Faculty’s leading laboratories.

🚨 Application deadline for fellowships: October 6, 2025.
➡️ www.unil.ch/news/en/1756...

@unil.bsky.social @dmf-unil.bsky.social @dee-unil.bsky.social @dib-unil.bsky.social #fbm #unil

PhD Fellowships in Life Sciences: a competition open to future doctoral students.

Apply now for FBM PhD Fellowships in Life Sciences – join one of the Faculty’s leading laboratories.

www.unil.ch

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Johanna Joyce @johannajoyce.bsky.social · 26d

Dear friends at the University of Lausanne - please consider signing this petition

This is to say NO to the funding cut of 24 million CHF that will negatively impact the quality of our teaching & research 🧪🧑🏼‍🎓 - and have a knock-on effect on the local economy

All students, staff, faculty can sign ⏬

Let’s reject budget cuts in education and research!

We, researchers, students, and members of the administrative and technical staff of the University of Lausanne (UNIL), firmly oppose the budget cuts announced for UNIL by the government of Vaud on 24t...

vaud.ssp-vpod.ch

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Reposted by Richard Benton

Nadine Vastenhouw @nvastenhouw.bsky.social · 27d

This is an amazing opportunity! If you’re ready you should definitely apply. Very competitive package and you can choose your Max Planck insititute.

Max-Planck-Gesellschaft @maxplanck.de · 29d

Springboard for an international scientific career! 🧬🧪🔭⚛️🧠🌱 Call for #MaxPlanckResearchGroups launched; applications are possible until October 14, 2025 www.mpg.de/max-planck-r... #ScienceCareer

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Reposted by Richard Benton

European Drosophila Society @fly-eds.bsky.social · Sep 5

Attention #Drosophila PIs: registration for the 2026 #EMBO Crete Molecular and Developmental Biology of Drosophila meeting is open!
👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻

Marco MILAN LAB @milanlab.bsky.social · Sep 4

EMBO meeting on "Molecular and Developmental Biology of Drosophila" 21 – 27 June 2026
Registration is now open!
Deadline next November 3rd!
meetings.embo.org/event/26-dro...

Molecular and Developmental Biology of Drosophila

The principal theme of the EMBO Workshop is the Molecular and Developmental Biology of Drosophila. Supported by EMBO over four decades, this will be the 24th biennial “Crete meeting”. With the a…

meetings.embo.org

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Reposted by Richard Benton

Suguru Takagi @sugurutakagi.bsky.social · Sep 1

Our lab webpage is out!
takagilab.org

Takagi lab @FSU

takagilab.org

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Richard Benton @bentonlab.bsky.social · Aug 20

New preprint, taking our lab into ecotoxicology, with a nifty combination of experimental evolution and CRISPR screening in cells, to help unravel the still-mysterious resistance of Drosophila sechellia to its favorite fruit: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Intersecting experimental evolution and CRISPR screens to identify novel toxin resistance loci

Understanding toxin resistance in insects is key to appreciate niche adaptations and for pest management, but remains challenging due to complex genetics. To investigate how Drosophila sechellia evolv...

www.biorxiv.org

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Richard Benton @bentonlab.bsky.social · Jun 20

Also Jan Ache! (For organising and beard)

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Christian Fankhauser @chfankhauser.bsky.social · Jun 16

Great job opportunity at The Center for Integrative Genomics, Lausanne University, Switzerland unil.ch/cig/en/home....
For a tenure-track Assistant Professor position. More details for how to apply are here nature.com/naturecareer...

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Dmitri Petrov @petrovadmitri.bsky.social · Jun 3

Flybase lost all of the NIH support overnight - it is a disaster for the community. Please consider donating. I just did! www.philanthropy.cam.ac.uk/give-to-camb...

Drosophila Genetic Database

The Drosophila Genetic Database, FlyBase, is on the brink of collapse due to the sudden termination of the FlyBase NIH grant, which includes salaries for 5 literature curators based at the University ...

www.philanthropy.cam.ac.uk

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Richard Benton @bentonlab.bsky.social · May 20

New paper: one-shop stop for the Drosophila olfactory system, a great collaboration with Karen Menuz:
www.embopress.org/doi/full/10....

An integrated anatomical, functional and evolutionary view of the Drosophila olfactory system | EMBO reports

imageimageIdentification of a new antennal Or and an unusual hybrid Or/Ir neuron “complete” the olfactory map in Drosophila melanogaster. Numerous features of this species’ olfactory system are synthe...

www.embopress.org

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tomtom-auer.bsky.social @tomtom-auer.bsky.social · Apr 28

Happy to see this out now:
Olfactory projection neuron rewiring in the brain of an ecological specialist: Cell Reports www.cell.com/cell-reports...

In a team effort with @bentonlab.bsky.social 's lab we establish new genetic tools in #drosophila sechellia and compare single central brain neurons.

Olfactory projection neuron rewiring in the brain of an ecological specialist

Dürr et al. develop advanced genetic tools in the host specialist D. sechellia to study its olfactory system neuroanatomy. They show via single-cell labeling, tracing, and quantitative comparison of o...

www.cell.com

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Reposted by Richard Benton

Michael Shahandeh @mshahandeh.bsky.social · Apr 30

Creating the first comparative single-cell brain atlases for 3 Drosophila species was a huge effort by Daehan Lee in @bentonlab.bsky.social. With it, we describe glial cell evolution potentially associated with D. sechellia's specialization.

Explore the atlases: scope.aertslab.org#/DmelDsimDse...

Comparative single-cell transcriptomic atlases of drosophilid brains suggest glial evolution during ecological adaptation

How do diverse brain cells change over evolution? By comparing single-cell transcriptomic atlases from ecologically-distinct drosophilid species, this work identifies changes in the composition and ge...

journals.plos.org

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