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Joshua Hufton

@joshuahufton.bsky.social

160 followers 230 following 7 posts

PhD student working on epigenetics, immunity, development, conservation and evolution in Swedish sand lizard (Lacerta agilis). @animecol-uu.bsky.social Uppsala university with Mette Lillie

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Joshua Hufton @joshuahufton.bsky.social · Dec 21

First field season of my PhD studying Swedish sand lizards (Lacerta agilis) 🦎 My work investigates epigenetic response in immune challenge experiments. Plenty more cool projects: hormones and coloration, microbiomes, egg incubation temperatures, telomeres

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Journal of Experimental Biology @jexpbiol.bsky.social · 28d

Water anoles take a bubble of air down when they submerge, which they breathe like a tiny scuba tank, and now @lindseyswierk.bsky.social & co reveal that the reptiles may also be using the bubble like a gill, to breathe oxygen directly from the water

journals.biologists.com/jeb/article/...

A submerged water anole (Anolis aquaticus) with a bubble of air held on its head. Photo credit: Lindsey Swierk.

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Dr. Arun Sethuraman @arunsethuraman.bsky.social · 17d

De-extinction be like.

Oded Rechavi @odedrechavi.bsky.social · 17d

CRISPR is amazing

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Pau Carazo @paucarazo.bsky.social · Sep 1

We’re offering a fully funded 4 yr PhD position to work on Sexual selection in complex environments at the @uv.es. Co-supervised by @dbergerbiol.bsky.social. Find details below 👇

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Maddi (Maji) @garate-olaizola.bsky.social · Aug 21

Happy to present my poster at #ESEB2025 on eastern Baltic cod population (or populations?), preliminary results of one of the chapters from my PhD thesis.

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Joshua Hufton @joshuahufton.bsky.social · Aug 21

#ESEB2025 @eseb.bsky.social @eseb2025.bsky.social

Joshua Hufton @joshuahufton.bsky.social · Aug 21

Come see me poster '059' today "temperature-dependent DNA methylation in the Swedish sand lizard" 🦎 #ESEB #methylation #epigenetics

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Maddi (Maji) @garate-olaizola.bsky.social · Aug 18

Animal Ecology on tour! 🦎🐟🐔🦠📈 Some masters, PhDs and post-docs (and more!) from Uppsala University are enjoying #ESEB2025 in the warm Barcelona🌞 @joshuahufton.bsky.social @cenkvist.bsky.social @madeleinebergstrom.bsky.social @estermart.bsky.social @msiljestam.bsky.social

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William Jones @jacanajones.bsky.social · Apr 15

If you're in #Sweden and you find a tick, my friend @muriellealund.bsky.social wants to have it!

www.sverigesradio.se/artikel/10-0...

10,000 ticks wanted for new study on TBE - Radio Sweden

10,000 ticks are needed to get a better idea of TBE risk areas in Sweden.A new study conducted by The Swedish Veterinary Agency and Uppsala University ...

www.sverigesradio.se

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Animal Ecology Uppsala @animecol-uu.bsky.social · Mar 26

📣 @qvarnstromlab.bsky.social is hiring a research assistant for 1 year to work on the flycatcher project. Responsibilities include sample organization, data management, lab and field work + management. MSc + relevant experience required.

Apply by Apr 4 👇 #ecoevojob

www.uu.se/en/about-uu/...

A male pied flycatcher perching on a branch

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Marion Talbi @mariontalbi.bsky.social · Mar 14

I’m very proud and happy to share the first paper of my PhD with @millanek.bsky.social that is now published in the latest issue of the journal Evolution @journal-evo.bsky.social.

academic.oup.com/evolut/artic...

Rapid evolution of recombination landscapes during the divergence of cichlid ecotypes in Lake Masoko

Abstract. Variation of recombination rate along the genome is of crucial importance to rapid adaptation and organismal diversification. Many unknowns remai

academic.oup.com

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Santiago Elena @sfelena.bsky.social · Feb 20

Experimental evolution of evolvability | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Experimental evolution of evolvability

Evolvability—the capacity to generate adaptive variation—is a trait that can itself evolve through natural selection. However, the idea that mutation can become biased toward adaptive outcomes remains...

www.science.org

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Animal Ecology Uppsala @animecol-uu.bsky.social · Feb 20

📣 New PhD position on flycatchers with @qvarnstromlab.bsky.social — spread the word!

Combine bioinformatics, long-term datasets and field work to explore climate adaptation and speciation in the lovely flycatchers. Join us in Uppsala, Sweden! Apply by Mar 18: www.uu.se/en/about-uu/...

#ecoevojob

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Animal Ecology Uppsala @animecol-uu.bsky.social · Feb 13

This morning at our 'Revolution' symposium: we started with a fascinating talk by Prof. Helena Westerdahl on MHC diversity in songbirds at diff. levels: genomic organization, expression and antigen presentation 🛡️🧬

Talks with diverse topics and study systems followed, many from MSc students! 💪

Helena starting her talk "Songbird MHC – so similar, yet so different, to that of other birds"

Helena explaining the experiment testing MHC-I molecule's binding ability

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Mattias Siljestam @msiljestam.bsky.social · Jan 20

Eco-evolutionary model showing that heterozygote advantage can explain the extraordinary diversity of immune genes!

Our new paper (out in #eLife: doi.org/10.7554/eLif...) identifies the conditions under which heterozygote advantage can drive the evolution of such diversity, found in e.g. #MHC genes

Heterozygote advantage can explain the extraordinary diversity of immune genes

An eco-evolutionary model shows that heterozygote advantage can maintain over 100 major histocompatibility complex alleles, providing a potent explanation for extraordinary immune gene diversity and c...

doi.org

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Loke von Schmalensee @vonschmalensee.bsky.social · Oct 2

Quantifying temperature’s effect on #diapause #termination requires fitting #TPCs to binary biological data. In our new paper, out now in #PNAS, we show how to do this, revealing the sequential nature of diapause termination and post-diapause development.

doi.org/10.1073/pnas...

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Madeleine Van Well Bergström @madeleinebergstrom.bsky.social · Jan 15

Had a great time at the Evolution in Sweden Conference @scilifelab.se!

Presented a poster about my MSc focusing on The Impacts of Feralization on The Horse Gut Microbiome 🐴🦠

#microbiome #gut-microbiome
#feralization

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Mattias Siljestam @msiljestam.bsky.social · Jan 15

Had a nice time presenting my postdoc project at Evolution in Sweden.

Nuclear Cooperation as a Driver of Evolutionary Transitions in Fungi 🍄

Showing how cooperation between nuclei can drives #evolutionarytransitions in individuality using #mathematicalmodelling

#heterokaryosis
#adaptivedynamics

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Joshua Hufton @joshuahufton.bsky.social · Jan 15

Had a great time presenting my work @Evolution in Sweden.

Epigenetic regulation of immune response in the Swedish sand lizard 🦎

#hostparasite #sexspecific #epigenetics #reptiles
#immunity

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Animal Ecology Uppsala @animecol-uu.bsky.social · Jan 14

@joshuahufton.bsky.social closes today’s talks with a look at epigenetic regulation of immune response in the Swedish sand lizard 🦎

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Christos C. Ioannou @ccioannou.bsky.social · Jan 10

Our lab's first paper out in 2025!
Led by the brilliant Ella Ackroyd in collaboration with Rob Heathcote
Dynamic colour change in zebrafish (Danio rerio) across multiple contexts
royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1...
#openaccess #fishsci #zebrafish

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Animal Ecology Uppsala @animecol-uu.bsky.social · Dec 24

A very merry Christmas to our colleagues and friends! God jul och gott nytt år! ✨🎅🎁🎄

Photo from our julbord/Christmas dinner (photo courtesy Gabriela Montejo-Kovacevich)

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Oxford Biochemistry @oxfordbiochemistry.bsky.social · Dec 16

In a collaboration between two labs spanning both sides of the English Channel, scientists have discovered a new way the organisation of DNA within our cells affects genes for generations bit.ly/202412-sarkies. Lead author: Max Fitz-James working with @psarkies.bsky.social & Giacomo Cavalli

DNA origami: a new frontier in epigenetic inheritance across generations

In a collaboration between two labs spanning both sides of the English Channel, scientists have discovered a new way in which the organisation of DNA within our cells affects genes for generations

bit.ly

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Joshua Hufton @joshuahufton.bsky.social · Dec 21

Investment in immunity in this species is varied and is often trading off with other traits. When we capture the lizards we take numerous measurements, but amazingly these lizards almost always carry between 10-200 ticks around their neck, head and forelimbs. Gross & fascinating

Joshua Hufton @joshuahufton.bsky.social · Dec 21

Sand lizards can be found across Europe, but the Swedish populations are particularly fragmented and located at the northern (colder) extremes of their distribution. Warming climates raise concerns about the adaptability of the species, and epigenetics can help us understand this

Joshua Hufton @joshuahufton.bsky.social · Dec 21

Our population is an outbred island population which has been inhabiting keholmen in south west Sweden for ~20 years. This allows us to ask plenty of interesting evolutionary questions and also inform the conservation efforts of this vulnerable species.