banner
marakat.bsky.social
mara lawniczak
@marakat.bsky.social
730 followers 350 following 44 posts
senior group leader @sangerinstitute. evolutionary geneticist malaria & biodiversity. lifetime member of darwin's posse. obsessive tidepooler. hearts cephalopods. our lab leads the Malaria Cell Atlas, UK BIOSCAN, and ANOSPP projects.
Posts Media Videos Starter Packs
Pinned
marakat.bsky.social
mara lawniczak @marakat.bsky.social · Feb 24
if you have an interest in improving the genomic resources available for mosquitoes, please fill in our google form at tinyurl.com/MosquitoReferenceGenomes. please share this with colleagues who might be interested. thank you! [3/3]
Register your interest in participating in the Global Culicidae Reference Genomes Project
We are seeking mosquito biologists around the world who would be interested in collecting and contributing specimens of any vector species that currently lacks a reference genome. Aim: We are aiming ...
tinyurl.com
2 16 16
marakat.bsky.social
mara lawniczak @marakat.bsky.social · 23h
The fight against #malaria is at a crossroads.

Together with colleagues worldwide, I’ve signed an Open Letter urging #IUCN members to keep the door open to responsible research and new tools that could help reverse stalled progress and save lives.

Add your voice here scienceforbiodiversity.org
Science for Biodiversity
Synthetic biology: Hope for conservation requires keeping all options on the table.
scienceforbiodiversity.org
1 2
Reposted by mara lawniczak
arnausebe.bsky.social
Arnau Sebé-Pedrós @arnausebe.bsky.social · 14d
Happy to share the Biodiversity Cell Atlas white paper, out today in @nature.com. We look at the possibilities, challenges, and potential impacts of molecularly mapping cells across the tree of life.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
2 110 220
Reposted by mara lawniczak
flygirlnhm.bsky.social
Erica McAlister @flygirlnhm.bsky.social · 19d
www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/new...

Mosquitoes that have been in the collection for nearly a hundred years are helping us in dealing with an even older but also current problem - malaria

@sangerinstitute.bsky.social @nhm-london.bsky.social
Genetic study of malaria-carrying mosquitoes tracks evolution of insecticide resistance | Natural History Museum
It crucially also reveals promising genetic targets for potential control.
www.nhm.ac.uk
10 26
Reposted by mara lawniczak
sangerinstitute.bsky.social
Wellcome Sanger Institute @sangerinstitute.bsky.social · 19d
One of the most dangerous malaria-carrying mosquitoes is rapidly evolving in response to control efforts, genetics has revealed.

Findings could inform smarter tools to monitor for and fight malaria. 🦟

Read more here ⤵️
http://bit.ly/4pwQKDv
Genomic evolution of major malaria-transmitting mosquito species uncovered
Sequencing hundreds of Anopheles funestus mosquitoes provides new insights into the evolutionary patterns of this important human malaria-transmitting species.
bit.ly
1 7 7
Reposted by mara lawniczak
mariloumercedes.bsky.social
marilou boddé @mariloumercedes.bsky.social · 20d
Our paper Genomic diversity of the African malaria vector Anopheles funestus was published in Science today! It features inversions, selection in action, museum specimens and putative new ecotypes. doi.org/10.1126/scie...
3 33 62
Reposted by mara lawniczak
charlottewright.bsky.social
Charlotte Wright @charlottewright.bsky.social · 27d
How many chromosomes can an animal have?

In our paper out now in @currentbiology.bsky.social we show that the Atlas blue butterfly has 229 chromosome pairs- the highest in diploid Metazoa! These arose by rapid autosome fragmentation while sex chromosomes stayed intact.
www.cell.com/current-biol...
Constraints on chromosome evolution revealed by the 229 chromosome pairs of the Atlas blue butterfly
The genome of the Atlas blue butterfly contains ten times more chromosomes than most butterflies, and more than any other known diploid animal. Wright et al. show that this extraordinary karyotype is ...
tinyurl.com
4 99 210
Reposted by mara lawniczak
ebpgenome.bsky.social
Earth BioGenome Project 🌍 @ebpgenome.bsky.social · Sep 4
🚀🧬🔥 Hot off the press — 2025!
Don’t miss this must-read publication: bit.ly/4mJwFb7

This groundbreaking paper sets the stage for Earth BioGenome Project Phase II — where EBP is gearing up to scale genome sequencing 10× faster than ever before! 🌍✨
1 21 33
Reposted by mara lawniczak
sheencr.bsky.social
Prof Sheena Cruickshank @sheencr.bsky.social · Jul 19
Malaria cases surge in Zimbabwe largely due to abrupt cut in USAID that affected mosquito net provision and surveillance measures. The Zimbabwean government trying to step up but can’t make up for the damage the sudden cessation. Climate change further increases mosquito burden too
Malaria ‘back with a vengeance’ in Zimbabwe as number of deaths from the disease triple
Withdrawal of USAID funds threatens decades of progress, say experts, with cuts to research and shortage of mosquito nets putting thousands at risk across the country
www.theguardian.com
10 130 230
Reposted by mara lawniczak
thinks.lol
Erik Garrison @thinks.lol · Jul 17
Postdoc position opening in my group! Research projects: pangenomes for diverse organisms, genome evolution, biocomputing, language models. Please reach out if interested!
1 30 28
Reposted by mara lawniczak
marakat.bsky.social
mara lawniczak @marakat.bsky.social · Jul 7
new from the lab -- we investigate 100% ethanol, DMSO salt solution (DESS), EDTA, RNAlater, and AllProtect as possible approaches for short term room temperature preservation of mosquito HMW DNA, nuclei for Hi-C, and RNA towards high quality reference genome creation. the key findings/tips are ....
biorxiv-genomic.bsky.social
bioRxiv Genomics @biorxiv-genomic.bsky.social · Jul 6
Breaking the cold chain: solutions for room temperature preservation of mosquitoes leading to high quality reference genomes https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.07.03.662936v1
3 13 24
marakat.bsky.social
mara lawniczak @marakat.bsky.social · Jul 7
need to avoid letting other organisms take over. e.g. suspect something like killing in ethanol to kill microbes too and then desiccating might be better than outright desiccation.
1
marakat.bsky.social
mara lawniczak @marakat.bsky.social · Jul 7
we did not study this in a controlled fashion but very limited experience with wild caught desiccated samples was not great -- the HMW DNA we saw was predominantly bacterial/fungal rather than insect in origin. think it will depend a lot on how specimens are killed and stored right after --
1 1
marakat.bsky.social
mara lawniczak @marakat.bsky.social · Jul 7
great work from team coauthors Fiona, @petrathepostdoc.bsky.social, @zoologistedel.bsky.social, and @amakunin.bsky.social -- hopefully some useful nuggets towards reaching @ebpgenome.bsky.social genomes for eukaryotic diversity, a huge amount of which is arthropods!
2 3
marakat.bsky.social
mara lawniczak @marakat.bsky.social · Jul 7
3. we left specimens for 1 week at room temperature, simulating a field collection trip and/or shipping. our advice is whatever you do, keep your specimens at the coldest temperature you have access to anytime cold chain is available.
1 1 2
marakat.bsky.social
mara lawniczak @marakat.bsky.social · Jul 7
1. whatever you preserve your insects in, make sure to compromise their cuticle e.g. with a light squish or cutting into pieces; 2. AllProtect does very well but is expensive -- if you are on a budget or collecting a very large number of specimens, 100% ethanol and RNAlater might be a better combo;
1 1 2
marakat.bsky.social
mara lawniczak @marakat.bsky.social · Jul 7
new from the lab -- we investigate 100% ethanol, DMSO salt solution (DESS), EDTA, RNAlater, and AllProtect as possible approaches for short term room temperature preservation of mosquito HMW DNA, nuclei for Hi-C, and RNA towards high quality reference genome creation. the key findings/tips are ....
biorxiv-genomic.bsky.social
bioRxiv Genomics @biorxiv-genomic.bsky.social · Jul 6
Breaking the cold chain: solutions for room temperature preservation of mosquitoes leading to high quality reference genomes https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.07.03.662936v1
3 13 24
marakat.bsky.social
mara lawniczak @marakat.bsky.social · Jun 4
thanks to all coauthors on that work! and finally, a shout out to the two hoodie winners Elena Hilario in New Zealand and Emily Hornett @bolinabug.bsky.social from the UK from a couple years ago and thanks to many of you who filled in that survey (via twitter before it went black). happy sequencing!
2
marakat.bsky.social
mara lawniczak @marakat.bsky.social · Jun 4
and that the @ebpgenome.bsky.social subcommittee has finally published our general guidance on collecting and processing for reference genomes at @gigascience.bsky.social, which you can find here academic.oup.com/gigascience/...
Validate User
academic.oup.com
1 1 3
marakat.bsky.social
mara lawniczak @marakat.bsky.social · Jun 4
tree of life core lab has put together such a manuscript, detailing a lot of information on the lab work needed for reference genomes for biodiversity which you can find here: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
On the path to reference genomes for all biodiversity: lessons learned and laboratory protocols created in the Sanger Tree of Life core laboratory over the first 2000 species
Since its inception in 2019, the Tree of Life programme at the Wellcome Sanger Institute has released high-quality, chromosomally-resolved reference genome assemblies for over 2000 species. Tree of Li...
www.biorxiv.org
1 3 9
marakat.bsky.social
mara lawniczak @marakat.bsky.social · Jun 4
winners of two tree of life hoodies. in the end, the survey helped us realise that what was needed was a more systematic view on extractions across the tree of life beyond what we could provide as a volunteer committee. however, i am pleased to say that the @sangerinstitute.bsky.social ...
1
marakat.bsky.social
mara lawniczak @marakat.bsky.social · Jun 4
several years ago, the @ebpgenome.bsky.social sample collection and processing subcommittee ran a survey to understand more about people's successes and failures with HMW DNA extractions across the tree of life -- we planned to publish the results of this survey alongside the randomly drawn ...
1 1 3
marakat.bsky.social
mara lawniczak @marakat.bsky.social · Jun 4
Cambridge-Africa ALBORADA research funding call is now open - great for getting new collaborations started www.cambridge-africa.cam.ac.uk
Supporting research on African priorities :: Cambridge-Africa
Cambridge-Africa is a University programme that supports African researchers and promotes mutually beneficial collaborations and equitable partnerships between Africa and Cambridge
www.cambridge-africa.cam.ac.uk
2
Reposted by mara lawniczak
maxkozlov.bsky.social
Max Kozlov @maxkozlov.bsky.social · Jun 2
Researcher Amita Gupta has spent more than a decade planning and running a $70-million trial to study a new tuberculosis drug, enrolling ~6,000 participants in 13 countries. It might all have been for nothing.

That's because a new NIH policy has abruptly cut off billions to trials abroad. 🧪
NIH grant cuts will axe clinical trials abroad — and could leave thousands without care
US agency’s new policy could abruptly end studies of infectious diseases and cancer, leaving researchers scrambling for funds.
www.nature.com
7 320 470
Reposted by mara lawniczak
amjadkhalaf.bsky.social
Amjad Khalaf 🇵🇸 @amjadkhalaf.bsky.social · May 16
New preprint! We generate 40 new high-quality microsporidian genomes from infected arthropod hosts that were sequenced to create reference genomes by the Darwin Tree of Life project. 8 of our genomes are chromosome-level, and we’re able to generate Hi-C data for 7! 🧬
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Forty New Genomes Shed Light on Sexual Reproduction and the Origin of Tetraploidy in Microsporidia
Microsporidia are single-celled, obligately intracellular parasites with growing public health, agricultural, and economic importance. Despite this, Microsporidia remain relatively enigmatic, with man...
www.biorxiv.org
1 9 21
marakat.bsky.social
mara lawniczak @marakat.bsky.social · May 8
a bit of light in dark times for infectious disease research and ultimately control www.gatesfoundation.org/ideas/articl...
My new deadline: 20 years to give away virtually all my wealth
During the first 25 years of the Gates Foundation, we gave away more than $100 billion. Over the next two decades, we will double our giving.
www.gatesfoundation.org
1