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Jonathan Fenn

@jfennbio.bsky.social

150 followers 200 following 14 posts

Postdoctoral Research Associate at the University of Nottingham - looking at the evolution of microRNA and its impact on phenotypes.

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Reposted by Jonathan Fenn

Journal of Molecular Evolution @jmolev.bsky.social · Aug 20

Talk from @jfennbio.bsky.social at #ESEB2025 on this work. I didn't catch the actual predictive accuracy in the talk - from the paper, I glean that it's >90%!

Jonathan Fenn @jfennbio.bsky.social · Jul 2

Take a look at our work on miRNAs and their involvement with placental phenotypes. It's great to see this work finally see the light of day - huge thanks to everyone involved with the manuscript.

Professor Mary J O'Connell @evol-molly.bsky.social · Jun 30

How did mammal placental diversity evolve? miRNAs play a significant role - indeed their repertoire is predictive of phenotype. Congrats to all: esp 1st author @jfennbio.bsky.social & all in @niamhforde.bsky.social group. Thanks to @ukri.org and @leverhulme.ac.uk. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Reposted by Jonathan Fenn

Tilly S Scott @tillysscott.bsky.social · Aug 19

The day finished off strong with loads of great talks in the Genomics of Evolutionary Innovations symposium!

I'm pleased to report that my talk went well ☺️ 🎨🖌️

#eseb2025 #eseb #esebconference
@eseb2025.bsky.social @jfenn.bsky.social @timothyfuqua.bsky.social

Reposted by Jonathan Fenn

Jonathan Fenn @jfennbio.bsky.social · Aug 17

I have arrived in Barcelona for ESEB 2025!

I will be talking about microRNA and the evolution of the mammalian placenta on Tuesday at 14:30 in Meeting Room 113
@eseb2025.bsky.social

Jonathan Fenn @jfennbio.bsky.social · Aug 17

Jeni Sidwell @jsidwell.bsky.social in Poster Session 2 on Tuesday, at poster number P02.238:
'Milk transcriptomes provide insights into the evolution of pinniped lactation traits'

Jonathan Fenn @jfennbio.bsky.social · Aug 17

And some poster presentations too!

Christopher Taylor @mimicryin3d.bsky.social in Poster Session 1 on Monday, at poster number P01.261:
'Convergent molecular evolution of thermal tolerance in mammals '

Jonathan Fenn @jfennbio.bsky.social · Aug 17

Alan Beavan on Tuesday at 14:35 in Meeting Room 116:
'Repeated emergence of specialised ribosomes suggests a complex role for deterministic evolutionary forces across eukaryotes'

Jonathan Fenn @jfennbio.bsky.social · Aug 17

Also look out for other talks from our group:

Mary O'Connell @evol-molly.bsky.social on Monday at 10.30 in Meeting Room 131:
'Animal Phylogenomics: Navigating Data, Paralogy, and Non-Tree-like Events'

Jonathan Fenn @jfennbio.bsky.social · Aug 17

I have arrived in Barcelona for ESEB 2025!

I will be talking about microRNA and the evolution of the mammalian placenta on Tuesday at 14:30 in Meeting Room 113
@eseb2025.bsky.social

Reposted by Jonathan Fenn

Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics @molgen.mpg.de · Jul 3

In Nature Genetics, @danielibrahim.bsky.social (MPIMG/BIH) and his team have developed a bioinformatic tool to identify evolutionary conserved regulatory regions of the genome that have transformed so much over time that their DNA sequences have changed completely.

👉 www.molgen.mpg.de/4927054

Reposted by Jonathan Fenn

Dr Christopher Taylor @mimicryin3d.bsky.social · Jul 2

Why do imperfect mimics (such as many hoverflies) exist? We created 3D printed replicas of flies, wasps and our own custom intermediates and then "asked" various predators what they thought of our 3D stimuli. Read all about it here: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Mapping the adaptive landscape of Batesian mimicry using 3D-printed stimuli - Nature

Birds have an excellent ability to learn to discriminate harmless insects from those that they mimic on the basis of subtle differences in appearance.

Jonathan Fenn @jfennbio.bsky.social · Jul 2

Take a look at our work on miRNAs and their involvement with placental phenotypes. It's great to see this work finally see the light of day - huge thanks to everyone involved with the manuscript.

Professor Mary J O'Connell @evol-molly.bsky.social · Jun 30

How did mammal placental diversity evolve? miRNAs play a significant role - indeed their repertoire is predictive of phenotype. Congrats to all: esp 1st author @jfennbio.bsky.social & all in @niamhforde.bsky.social group. Thanks to @ukri.org and @leverhulme.ac.uk. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Mammal placental phenotypes are predictable from microRNA repertoires.

Despite >100 million years of mammal diversification, similar placental morphologies have independently evolved multiple times, presenting a long-standing evolutionary puzzle: what genetic mechanisms ...

www.biorxiv.org

Reposted by Jonathan Fenn

Professor Mary J O'Connell @evol-molly.bsky.social · Jun 30

How did mammal placental diversity evolve? miRNAs play a significant role - indeed their repertoire is predictive of phenotype. Congrats to all: esp 1st author @jfennbio.bsky.social & all in @niamhforde.bsky.social group. Thanks to @ukri.org and @leverhulme.ac.uk. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Mammal placental phenotypes are predictable from microRNA repertoires.

Despite >100 million years of mammal diversification, similar placental morphologies have independently evolved multiple times, presenting a long-standing evolutionary puzzle: what genetic mechanisms ...

www.biorxiv.org

Reposted by Jonathan Fenn

Jonathan Fenn @jfennbio.bsky.social · May 6

It's great to see this work lead by @klarawanelik.bsky.social published - voles which are superspreaders of pathogenic bacteria have distinct gut microbiota:
doi.org/10.1186/s425...

Superspreaders have lower gut microbial alpha-diversity and distinct gut microbial composition in a natural rodent population - Animal Microbiome

The microbiome is well known to drive variation in host states (e.g. behaviour, immunity) that would be expected to modulate the spread of infectious disease—but the role of microbiotal interactions i...

Jonathan Fenn @jfennbio.bsky.social · May 6

It's great to see this work lead by @klarawanelik.bsky.social published - voles which are superspreaders of pathogenic bacteria have distinct gut microbiota:
doi.org/10.1186/s425...

Superspreaders have lower gut microbial alpha-diversity and distinct gut microbial composition in a natural rodent population - Animal Microbiome

The microbiome is well known to drive variation in host states (e.g. behaviour, immunity) that would be expected to modulate the spread of infectious disease—but the role of microbiotal interactions i...

Jonathan Fenn @jfennbio.bsky.social · Mar 6

Great to see this review of specialised ribosomes from Alan in our group, and his colleagues in RiboCode, published today.

royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...

Specialized ribosomes: integrating new insights and current challenges | Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences

Variation in the composition of different ribosomes, termed ribosome heterogeneity, is a now well established phenomenon. However, the functional implications of this heterogeneity on the regulation of protein synthesis are only now beginning to be ...

royalsocietypublishing.org

Jonathan Fenn @jfennbio.bsky.social · Jan 8

I will be speaking about miRNAs and placental phenotypes at PopGroup this afternoon at 14.15 in LT3 - come along if you're here!

Jonathan Fenn @jfennbio.bsky.social · Dec 6

miRNA back in the news!

Shen Tian 田申 @tianshenbio.bsky.social · Dec 5

Our miRNA story is now in @science.org ! We found a microRNA, not a protein, that finally solved a long-standing evolutionary mystery of wing coloration in butterflies and moths. (1/n)
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

A microRNA is the effector gene of a classic evolutionary hotspot locus

In Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths), the genomic region around the gene cortex is a “hotspot” locus, repeatedly implicated in generating intraspecific melanic wing color polymorphisms across 100 mi...

www.science.org

Jonathan Fenn @jfennbio.bsky.social · Dec 4

When I'm not doing research, I occasionally write about video games, and in this piece that just went up @unwinnable.com I try to combine the two. Specifically, I look at the difficulties of simulating the natural world in a game. Have a read if that sounds at all interesting!

Unwinnable @unwinnable.com · Dec 4

"So how can we bridge the gap between the complexity of the real natural world, and the games which attempt to emulate it: beautiful, impressive, but ultimately shallow simulacra?"

@jfenn.bsky.social imagines how games can incorporate more realistic ecosystems:

Shadows of Worlds Unto Themselves - Unwinnable

A big limitation of videogame ecosystems is their strong focus on predation and conflict.

Reposted by Jonathan Fenn

Magdalena Skipper @magdalenaskipper.bsky.social · Nov 22

‘A place of joy’: why scientists are joining the rush to Bluesky

For me, it certainly feels good to be here!

@natureportfolio.bsky.social @bsky.app

www.nature.com/articles/d41...

‘A place of joy’: why scientists are joining the rush to Bluesky

Researchers say the social-media platform — an alternative to X — offers more control over the content they see and the people they engage with.

Jonathan Fenn @jfennbio.bsky.social · Oct 14

Will do, thanks!

Jonathan Fenn @jfennbio.bsky.social · Oct 14

Hopefully we'll soon be able to share some of our own work on the connections between miRNA and reproductive phenotypes in mammals.

In the mean time, take a look at the paper lead by our colleagues in Leeds on tools for investigating maternal-embryo interactions:

doi.org/10.1071/RD23181

Understanding conceptus–maternal interactions: what tools do we need to develop?

Communication between the maternal endometrium and developing embryo/conceptus is critical to support successful pregnancy to term. Studying the peri-implantation period of pregnancy is critical as th...

Jonathan Fenn @jfennbio.bsky.social · Oct 14

In my ongoing quest to leave Twitter, I'm hoping use this account for sharing my research, and publicising the work of the O'Connell lab here at the University of Nottingham.

I'm looking at the evolution of microRNA - the discovery of which recently earned a Nobel Prize!

tinyurl.com/552ph6xh

Nobel Prize goes to microRNA researchers

US scientists Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun helped explain how genes work inside the human body.