Jaanus Suurväli
jsuurvali.bsky.social
Jaanus Suurväli
@jsuurvali.bsky.social
Estonian geneticist in Canada. Genetics, genomics, molecular ecology, conservation, evolution and immunity. Opinions are my own. Comfortable with they/them or he/him.
Reposted by Jaanus Suurväli
Old sausages with teeth.

A new study of the bizarre naked mole rat shows they evolved a DNA repair mechanism that may explain their longevity.

These burrow-dwelling rats have a maximum life span of nearly 40 years, making them the world's longest-lived rodent.

🧪🧬🐀
www.bbc.com/news/article...
Naked mole rats reveal genetic secret to long life
The bald, subterranean rats are the world's longest-lived rodent.
www.bbc.com
October 12, 2025 at 7:37 AM
Reposted by Jaanus Suurväli
Cover of the new issue of Evolution Letters @evolletters.bsky.social featuring our stickleback-tapeworm paper. academic.oup.com/evlett
What happens to immunity and infection prevalence in the 50 years after a host invades a new location
September 13, 2025 at 4:28 PM
Reposted by Jaanus Suurväli
DNA from deep reveals a hidden ocean “superhighway”
Ancient creatures have migrated across planet's seafloor for millions of years, forming a vast evolutionary network from Iceland to Tasmania
This fragile life will be obliterated by Deep Sea mining
www.sciencedaily.com/releases/202...
DNA from the deep reveals a hidden ocean “superhighway”
Deep beneath the ocean's surface, a groundbreaking DNA study reveals that the deep sea is far more globally connected than once thought. By analyzing thousands of brittle stars preserved in museum col...
www.sciencedaily.com
August 8, 2025 at 8:18 PM
Reposted by Jaanus Suurväli
"It's astonishing" - animal in India sings when sun is precisely 3.8° below horizon every dawn.

Cicadas in southern India start their dawn chorus with remarkable accuracy, timing their song to a precise level of light during the pre-dawn hours.

🧪🪲

www.discoverwildlife.com/animal-facts...
"It's astonishing": animal in India sings when sun is precisely 3.8° below horizon every dawn, say scientists | Discover Wildlife
Researchers reveal that cicadas time their early morning chorus to a precise light threshold, offering new insights into collective animal behaviour.
www.discoverwildlife.com
August 9, 2025 at 11:03 AM
Reposted by Jaanus Suurväli
Did you know that some species of ants only live indoors in cooler regions? According to a new #UTSC study, these ants could start invading outdoors due to climate change. Read more about the research by postdoc Toby Tsang from the biology department. 🐜 #UofT utsc.utoronto.ca/news-events/...
Indoor ant populations might start invading outdoors due to global warming: Study
Some ant species that can only survive indoors in cooler regions could begin to move outdoors due to climate change, according to a new U of T Scarborough study.   The study, published in the journal ...
utsc.utoronto.ca
August 8, 2025 at 7:34 PM
Reposted by Jaanus Suurväli
The Nichols Lab at the University of Denver seeks PhD students, postdocs, and research technicians for a sponge immunology project. Email Scott Nichols at [email protected] to apply. [Lab homepage](http://nicholslab.com) #postdoc
Anthony Nichols Lab
Anthony Nichols Lab
nicholslab.com
July 26, 2025 at 7:13 AM
Reposted by Jaanus Suurväli
Born #OnThisDay in 1920 was Rosalind Franklin. Her work on X-ray diffraction images of DNA helped lead to the discovery of its structure, but her efforts were only recognised posthumously. Liz Sockett FRS and Isabelle Moss reflect on her enduring legacy:
From molecular structures to research culture: Celebrating Rosalind Franklin’s legacy | Royal Society
Rosalind Franklin never lived to see the full impact of her discoveries. She didn’t witness how her work on DNA would revolutionise biology, nor did she witness the impact she would have in…
royalsociety.org
July 25, 2025 at 8:56 AM
Reposted by Jaanus Suurväli
Too much light at night is bad for everyone. But most of the light polluting our night skies has nothing to do with safety on our roads and urban streets. It's mostly caused by advertising and poorly-mounted floodlights.

My latest for @forbes.com 👩‍🔬🧪

www.forbes.com/sites/laurie...
Street Lamps Aren’t The Main Source Of Light Pollution In Cities
New studies from Germany and Hong Kong pinpoint specific sources of light pollution keeping our cities excessively bright at night.
www.forbes.com
July 25, 2025 at 9:58 AM
Reposted by Jaanus Suurväli
🦁 Carnivores are running out of space

A global study finds that 64% of land carnivores live in areas with high human pressure. Indigenous lands are key to their survival; protecting more space is urgent.

🔗 doi.org/10.1126/scia...

#SciComm #Conservation #Biodiversity 🧪
Global scale assessment of the human-induced extinction crisis of terrestrial carnivores
Conservation lands and human-affected biomes with quality habitats are vital for the persistence of carnivores worldwide.
doi.org
July 20, 2025 at 6:27 PM
Reposted by Jaanus Suurväli
Happy birthday to Gregor Mendel (1822-1884), scientist & Augustinian friar who posthumously gained fame for establishing many of the rules of heredity, fundamental to modern genetics. 🧪🐡 #histsci By carefully crossbreeding pea plants & tracing 7 characteristics (plant height, pod shape and colour, 🧵
July 20, 2025 at 12:02 PM
Reposted by Jaanus Suurväli
The Maria Leptin | EMBO Science Journalism Fellowships provides journalists with placements at #research institutions.

Photographed is science journalist Maria Bolevich @mariabolevich89.bsky.social during her placement in Brussels.

Apply now:
www.embo.org/funding/fell...
#ScienceCommunication 🧪
July 17, 2025 at 8:39 AM
Reposted by Jaanus Suurväli
A little belated posting, but we (Emily Navarrete, Leonid Mirny, me) have an updated preprint in collaboration the Ines Drinnenberg, Héloïse Muller, José Gil Jr, + others on the strange and striking compartmentalization of silkworm chromatin: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Unique territorial and compartmental organization of chromosomes in the holocentric silkworm
Hallmarks of multicellular eukaryotic genome organization are chromosome territories, compartments, and loop-extrusion-mediated structures, including TADs. However, these are mainly observed in model organisms, and most eukaryotes remain unexplored. Using Hi-C in the silkworm Bombyx mori we discover a novel chromatin folding structure, compartment S, which is “secluded” from the rest of the chromosome. This compartment exhibits loop extrusion features and a unique genetic and epigenetic landscape, and it localizes towards the periphery of chromosome territories. While euchromatin and heterochromatin display preferential compartmental contacts, S domains are remarkably devoid of contacts with other regions, including with other S domains. Polymer simulations show that this contact pattern can only be explained by high loop-extrusion activity within compartment S, combined with low extrusion elsewhere through the genome. This unique, targeted extrusion represents a novel phenomenon and underscores how evolutionarily conserved mechanisms—compartmentalization and loop extrusion—can be repurposed to create new 3D genome architectures. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest.
www.biorxiv.org
July 8, 2025 at 3:14 PM
Reposted by Jaanus Suurväli
Katy writes extraordinary and timely Snippets for @lifescienceeditors.bsky.social Check out her latest: A trove of antiviral TRIM family E3 ligases in reptiles www.lifescienceeditors.com/2025/06/30/a...
A trove of antiviral TRIM family E3 ligases in reptiles - Scientific editing and writing experts - Life Science Editors
Scientific editing and writing experts for manuscripts and grants
www.lifescienceeditors.com
July 3, 2025 at 1:58 PM
Reposted by Jaanus Suurväli
“Laulupidu is not just one of the largest choral events in the world. It's a more than 150-year-old Estonian tradition born out of an aspiration to attain national self-determination after centuries of being ruled over by foreign powers.” news.err.ee/1609724700/u...
Unity and strength: The history of Estonia's Song Festival
This weekend, tens of thousands of Estonians from every corner of the country will flock to the Tallinn Song Festival Grounds for the 28th laulupidu (Song Festival). ERR News outlines the history of t...
news.err.ee
July 4, 2025 at 10:57 AM
Reposted by Jaanus Suurväli
📢 Now #hiring: @canjzoology.bsky.social is recruiting an #ECR Associate Editor! This is a great volunteer opportunity for a postdoc or early-career faculty member to gain editorial experience and build connections!

▶️ buff.ly/hpVApYd

#AcademicSky #SciComm 🧪 #AcWri #PHDSky #ScholComms
July 4, 2025 at 1:25 PM
Reposted by Jaanus Suurväli
Most prevalent drivers of decline for vertebrates: agriculture & aquaculture (56.4%), invasive alien species (42.9%), and logging (35.6%).
For invertebrates: invasive alien species (32.5%), followed by agriculture & aquaculture (29.9%) and pollution (27%).
www.nature.com/articles/s44...
The status, threats and conservation of Critically Endangered species - Nature Reviews Biodiversity
Species classified as Critically Endangered are at greatest risk of extinction, and their preservation and recovery are crucial to meeting global biodiversity aims. This Review assesses the geographic...
www.nature.com
July 3, 2025 at 10:05 PM
Reposted by Jaanus Suurväli
Please share! For Disability Pride Month, we are seeking neurodivergent academic faculty, instructors, & researchers at all levels to participate in a brief anonymous survey about their work experiences, coping strategies, & well-being. For info, go to: salisbury.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...
July 2, 2025 at 11:26 PM
Reposted by Jaanus Suurväli
Our new preprint @scottvedwards.bsky.social 🧬🐦 Long-read genomes show songbird germline-restricted chromosomes (GRCs; expelled from somatic cells) are 70 % repeats and packed with active LTR retroviruses. A hidden reservoir for TE-driven innovation/diversification! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
July 2, 2025 at 11:31 PM
Reposted by Jaanus Suurväli
BEAST X v10.5.0 finally released – you can't just do beta releases forever. github.com/beast-dev/be...

Details and instructions for installing on the BEAST website: beast.community
July 2, 2025 at 8:32 PM
Reposted by Jaanus Suurväli
Job alert! We have a postdoc position available in the Stelkens Lab at Stockholm University. Join us and apply experimental evolution and comparative genomics in the model system yeast to test for parallel climate adaptation. Apply through this link: su.varbi.com/en/what:job/... Deadline 15 August.
June 30, 2025 at 1:32 PM
Reposted by Jaanus Suurväli
A look at the average global mean temperature for each March to May period since the year 1850...

Data from NOAAGlobalTemp v6.0.0 at www.ncei.noaa.gov/products/lan...
June 29, 2025 at 8:08 PM
Reposted by Jaanus Suurväli
Are you from the US and would like to work as a postdoc in Austria, maybe in our lab? 25 new fellowships will be available in July from the @oeaw.bsky.social: www.oeaw.ac.at/en/news/25-n...

If you are interested; get in touch!
25 new scholarships for US researchers
Fonds Zukunft Österreich (FZÖ) is providing €10 million in funding for an academy program to bring postdocs from the USA to Austria ++ Faßmann: “The right signal in these turbulent times”
www.oeaw.ac.at
June 29, 2025 at 1:28 PM
Reposted by Jaanus Suurväli
This week, researchers uncovered an underground trove of invertebrates in caves under the Nullarbor - including a unique species of parasitic, cave-adapted wasp with no eyes.

Scientists warn the fragile cave ecosystems face high extinction risks from development and human impacts.

#insects
June 27, 2025 at 2:45 AM