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Margarida Cardoso Moreira @margaridamcm.bsky.social · 1d

Interested in understanding how new cell types evolve? Consider joining our group for a PhD!

The Francis Crick Institute @crick.ac.uk · 1d

2026 PhD recruitment is now open.

As well as our main PhD recruitment, which is open to all, we are pleased to be offering scholarships for candidates of Black or mixed Black heritage. Learn more and apply on our website:

www.crick.ac.uk/careers-stud...

PhD student recruitment

PhD recruitment information.

www.crick.ac.uk

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Margarida Cardoso Moreira @margaridamcm.bsky.social · 8d

I very much enjoyed reading it. Thank you for sharing your thoughts.

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Corrie Moreau @corriemoreau.bsky.social · 19d

UPDATE: The 2025-2026 list of faculty and postdoc positions in ecology and evolutionary biology is out! Be sure to check out this active and helpful community run resources! docs.google.com/spreadsheets...

ecoevojobs.net 2025-26

docs.google.com

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The Francis Crick Institute @crick.ac.uk · 28d

Edith Heard our new CEO shares ten lessons from her life in science, from curiosity, courage and coffee to the secrets of our genetic code.

www.crick.ac.uk/news/2025-09...

Edith Heard life lessons

Edith Heard, the Crick’s new Director and CEO, shares ten lessons from a life in science, spanning curiosity, courage, coffee, and the secrets of our genetic code.

www.crick.ac.uk

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Stephen Montgomery @ebablab.bsky.social · Sep 9

Happening tomorrow! 👀

The Integrative Biology of Brain Evolution (TIBBE)- Network @tibbe-evolneuro.bsky.social · Sep 4

🤩 Join us for the next TIBBE seminar:
Evolution of brain cell types.
September 10, 2–3pm UTC

This event brings together 2 outstanding evolutionary and developmental neuroscientists who will present their work, followed by an interactive discussion with the audience: www.crowdcast.io/c/evolution-...

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Margarida Cardoso Moreira @margaridamcm.bsky.social · Sep 4

Congratulations!! The science is super exciting!

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Margarida Cardoso Moreira @margaridamcm.bsky.social · Sep 4

Wooohoooo!!! Huge congrats, Greg!!

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Joaquina Delas @joadelas.bsky.social · Aug 21

Read more about @sermenchero.bsky.social 's work in this PNAS Journal Club. #opossums!

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences @pnas.org · Aug 21

In #opossums and other #marsupials, #GeneExpression follows familiar rules, but at an unusual pace. In PNAS Journal Club: www.pnas.org/post/journal...

#DevelopmentalBiology #evolution #embryo #transcriptome

The arms and heads of opossums (pictured here one day before birth ) and other marsupials develop faster than their legs and back bodies.
Image credit: Sergio Menchero Fernandez/ Francis Crick Institute, London.

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Alex de Mendoza @alexdemendoza.bsky.social · Aug 14

Chaetognaths have lost gene body methylation and shifted #5mC back to Transposable Elements. This reversion to the ancestral state is coupled with a simplification of DNMT3 architecture. We posit that trans-splicing might compensate.

It is an honour to have contributed to this 20y struggle ⛰️.

Ferdinand Marlétaz @ferdix.bsky.social · Aug 13

After nearly twenty years in the making, our attempt at understanding what makes the chaetognath phylum so unique has finally been published! www.nature.com/articles/s41...
with #LauraPiovani @dariagavr.bsky.social @alexdemendoza.bsky.social @chemamd.bsky.social and others /1

The genomic origin of the unique chaetognath body plan - Nature

Genomic, single-cell transcriptomic and epigenetic analyses show that chaetognaths, following extensive gene loss in the gnathiferan lineage, relied on newly evolved genes and lineage-specific tandem ...

www.nature.com

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Margarida Cardoso Moreira @margaridamcm.bsky.social · Aug 19

I am in awe of the beautiful and weird genomics of chaetognaths. Extreme levels of genetic innovation, trans-splicing, and much more. So much to learn!

Extraordinary work @ferdix.bsky.social‬, Laura Piovani, @alexdemendoza.bsky.social and @chemamd.bsky.social!

Ferdinand Marlétaz @ferdix.bsky.social · Aug 13

After nearly twenty years in the making, our attempt at understanding what makes the chaetognath phylum so unique has finally been published! www.nature.com/articles/s41...
with #LauraPiovani @dariagavr.bsky.social @alexdemendoza.bsky.social @chemamd.bsky.social and others /1

The genomic origin of the unique chaetognath body plan - Nature

Genomic, single-cell transcriptomic and epigenetic analyses show that chaetognaths, following extensive gene loss in the gnathiferan lineage, relied on newly evolved genes and lineage-specific tandem ...

www.nature.com

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The Transmitter @thetransmitter.bsky.social · Aug 1

Some parts of the Drosophila olfactory circuit have evolved more than others, according to a new comparison of two fruit fly species’ connectomes.

By @martajhill.bsky.social

#neuroskyence

www.thetransmitter.org/connectome/c...

Cross-species connectome comparison shows uneven olfactory circuit evolution in flies

The findings start to reveal evolutionary changes that may have helped two species develop different olfactory preferences and adapt to their particular environments.

www.thetransmitter.org

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Caetano Reis e Sousa @reisesousalab.bsky.social · Aug 4

My "Crash Course in …Immunology" is now posted on YouTube youtu.be/nBC9vvlTxF8. Taken from a public lecture @crick.ac.uk on history and basic concepts in immunity. Aimed at the lay public and those seeking an introductory overview.

The Past, Present and Future of Immunology Research – with Caetano Reis e Sousa

YouTube video by Francis Crick Institute

youtu.be

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Petr Znamenskiy @petrznam.bsky.social · Jul 21

1/ Mapping synaptic connectivity between individual neurons is extremely laborious. We developed BRISC, a new method that makes it possible to map inputs onto 100s of neurons in the same animal in a matter of weeks! Led by Alex Becalick and @antblot.bsky.social. 🧵

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

Barcoded Rabies In Situ Connectomics for high-throughput reconstruction of neural circuits

Sequencing of oligonucleotide barcodes holds promise as a high-throughput approach for reconstructing synaptic connectivity at scale. Rabies viruses can act as a vehicle for barcode transmission, than...

www.biorxiv.org

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Flor Iacaruso @flor-iacaruso.bsky.social · Aug 1

1/N What are the organizational principles underlying crossmodal cortical connections?
We address this in this new preprint, led by @alexegeaweiss.bsky.social & ‪@bturner-bridger.bsky.social‬ in collab w/ ‪@petrznam.bsky.social‬ @crick.ac.uk
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

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Margarida Cardoso Moreira @margaridamcm.bsky.social · Aug 1

Congratulations, Ben!!!

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Margarida Cardoso Moreira @margaridamcm.bsky.social · Jul 24

Very beautiful new work 🚨

Sergio Menchero @sermenchero.bsky.social · Jul 24

Thrilled to share that our latest work on marsupial heterochrony is now online at @cp-devcell.bsky.social @cellpress.bsky.social @lab-turner.bsky.social @crick.ac.uk We used scRNAseq to understand the asynchronous progression of developmental programmes in marsupials www.cell.com/developmenta...

Marsupial single-cell transcriptomics identifies temporal diversity in mammalian developmental programs

Menchero et al. generate a single-cell transcriptomic atlas in the opossum and show rapid progression of transcriptional programs in specific tissues relative to morphological landmarks. This shift in...

www.cell.com

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Margarida Cardoso Moreira @margaridamcm.bsky.social · Jul 23

👏👏👏👏👏👏👏
Congratulations Igor @ischneider.bsky.social!

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Johannes Larsch @jlarsch.bsky.social · Jul 21

Become our colleague! Tenure-track Assistant Professor position at The Center for Integrative Genomics, University of Lausanne, Switzerland. unil.ch/cig/en/home....
More details for how to apply are here:
www.nature.com/naturecareer...

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Margarida Cardoso Moreira @margaridamcm.bsky.social · Jul 19

Exciting new work on developmental system drift! #EvoDevo

Allan (@allancarbal.bsky.social) and Chema (@chemamd.bsky.social) are making key contributions to our understanding of the evolution of developmental system drift.

Allan Carrillo-Baltodano @allancarbal.bsky.social · Jun 2

It's finally here! Great start of the summer. We got our latest preprint from @chemamd.bsky.social in @qmulsbbs.bsky.social @qmulse.bsky.social, showing evidence of developmental system drift in the specification of dorsoventral (belly vs back) axis in annelids 🪱🪱🪱
#DevBio #EvoDevo

Image shows larvae of four different species of marine annelid worms, stained for muscle (magenta) and cilia (yellow). All with lateral views, with the mouth towards the left, and the future head pointing up. Images are to scale.

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Margarida Cardoso Moreira @margaridamcm.bsky.social · Jul 19

Cool new paper alert!

Queen Mary Faculty of Science and Engineering @qmulse.bsky.social · Jul 18

Big insights into how animals adapt to a changing climate, published in @cp-iscience.bsky.social by Dr Roman Arguello & team at @qmulsbbs.bsky.social!

www.cell.com/iscience/abs...

Evolution of temperature preference behaviour among Drosophila larvae

Biological sciences; Entomology; Evolutionary biology

www.cell.com

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Arnau Sebé-Pedrós @arnausebe.bsky.social · Jul 15

We are looking for a student to continue our work on chromatin evolution:
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

The project with @seanamontgomery.bsky.social will focus on chromatin state readers across eukaryotes.

More info: recruitment.crg.eu/content/jobs...

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Margarida Cardoso Moreira @margaridamcm.bsky.social · Jul 16

I loved collaborating on this work. @amir-f.bsky.social and @kaessmannlab.bsky.social discovered that a microRNA (!!!) is key for dosage compensation in birds. The biology is beautiful, and the implications far-reaching. As with all great work, it generates fascinating new questions.

Kaessmann Lab @kaessmannlab.bsky.social · Jul 16

Our study on a male-essential microRNA and the evolution of other dosage compensation mechanisms in birds is now out in Nature! www.nature.com/articles/s41...

A male-essential miRNA is key for avian sex chromosome dosage compensation - Nature

Birds have evolved a unique sex chromosome dosage compensation mechanism involving the male-biased microRNA (miR-2954), which is essential for male survival by regulating the expression of dosage-sens...

www.nature.com

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Peter Fabian @fabianlab.bsky.social · Jul 14

🧬🇬🇧 UK Evo-Devo Starter Pack go.bsky.app/SgRdF9T

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Peter Fabian @fabianlab.bsky.social · Jul 11

Hello from London! #UKEVODEVO

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Adria LeBoeuf @adriatica.bsky.social · Jul 12

I had a great time speaking at the UK EvoDevo meeting yesterday. Great curious community! Such incredible systems! Thanks @chemamd.bsky.social @margaridamcm.bsky.social and the rest of the organising team

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