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Nick Desnoyer

@nickdesnoyer.bsky.social

1.7K followers 300 following 270 posts

Postdoc and level 5 Plant Programmer 🧬 Engineering new types of flowers for art and education 🌹 www.nickdesnoyer.com

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Nick Desnoyer @nickdesnoyer.bsky.social · Dec 12

In one year, I genetically engineered the boring Arabidopsis into a beautiful ornamental flower 🧬🌹

Here is how and why I gave this model organism a visual upgrade 🧵(1/7)

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Nick Desnoyer @nickdesnoyer.bsky.social · 57m

Thanks so much and glad you could join!

Nick Desnoyer @nickdesnoyer.bsky.social · 10h

This little Arabidopsis fighting to keep up with the big ones 🥺

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Nick Desnoyer @nickdesnoyer.bsky.social · 2d

Fantastical flowers, synthetic biology, and storytelling.

Giving an accessible science talk tomorrow at 10:40 UK time... come join!

Register here for the link 👉 jic.link/NBIAST2025

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Nick Desnoyer @nickdesnoyer.bsky.social · 4d

😂😂 never been to Spain, should look into a vacation!

Nick Desnoyer @nickdesnoyer.bsky.social · 4d

This is amazing

Felix Martinez @laskotillean.bsky.social · 5d

Today there were two researchers proud of their @nickdesnoyer.bsky.social shirts around Madrid!

Kudos to Adri! We kind of look alike, right?

@cbgpmadrid.bsky.social

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Nick Desnoyer @nickdesnoyer.bsky.social · 5d

And shoutout to @amberhall.bsky.social the marker artist behind all these flower designs!

Nick Desnoyer @nickdesnoyer.bsky.social · 5d

For more on Aquilegia and it's cool hybrids check out this paper from @elenakramer.bsky.social and @science-irl.bsky.social: academic.oup.com/evolut/artic...

Genetic architecture of floral traits in bee- and hummingbird-pollinated sister species of Aquilegia (columbine)

Abstract. Interactions with animal pollinators have helped shape the stunning diversity of flower morphologies across the angiosperms. A common evolutionar

academic.oup.com

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Nick Desnoyer @nickdesnoyer.bsky.social · 5d

Friday Flower 006: Aquilegia 🌸🦋

Columbines vary in stamen number, making them a powerful model for how floral whorls expand.

Darwin marveled at their long nectar spurs, which co-evolve with hawkmoth tongues to reward pollinators that brush the stamens ✨

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Nick Desnoyer @nickdesnoyer.bsky.social · 6d

Woo! Viel Glück und bin gespannt woran das Neues Team arbeitet… hoffentlich Blumen 🤘

Nick Desnoyer @nickdesnoyer.bsky.social · 6d

Wow that’s an amazing idea! Thanks for sharing the tip 🎄

Nick Desnoyer @nickdesnoyer.bsky.social · 7d

I find that so many biologists are also talented artists.

@hsuanpai.bsky.social is a skilled technician and apparently good at any artistic media she touches.. even LB.

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Nick Desnoyer @nickdesnoyer.bsky.social · 8d

With the RUBY pants 🔥

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Reposted by Nick Desnoyer

Gerrich @gerrich.bsky.social · 9d

I finally picked up my "Epi-Bouquet 2" by @nickdesnoyer.bsky.social

As a former plant scienctist I am loving it! It's a great shirt! 💐 🧪

You can find more on Nick at his website: www.nickdesnoyer.com/about

Me standing on a street with trees in autumn colors. I am standing with my back to the camera. The focus of the photo is the T-shirt I am wearing , designed by Nick Desnoyer. On the back of the shirt you can see a bouquet made from engineered colorful Arabidopsis thaliana flowers in a small reaction tube, 'SynBio' is written underneath.

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Reposted by Nick Desnoyer

iGEM @igemhq.bsky.social · 12d

Engineering flowers as a means for public outreach and art!

Dr. @nickdesnoyer.bsky.social reimagines Arabidopsis with new colors and shapes, blending plant biology, synthetic biology and creative arts!

Hear him speak at SB 8.0 at the iGEM Grand Jamboree! jamboree.igem.org/2025/program...

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Nick Desnoyer @nickdesnoyer.bsky.social · 12d

Synthetic biology and art go hand in hand 🧬 🌹

Thanks Moeez for the invitation to hang out with peeps at London Synbio network!

Nick Desnoyer @nickdesnoyer.bsky.social · 13d

Yes, I know! Read your superman paper several times :)

Nick Desnoyer @nickdesnoyer.bsky.social · 15d

The result: A 6mm flower scaled up 150X to 1 meter and printed on metal. A "little flower" made larger than life.

The cracks from freezing? Unintentional, but they capture the essence of a sculpture perfectly :)

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Nick Desnoyer @nickdesnoyer.bsky.social · 15d

Using, cryo-SEM, I froze my little flowers at –180 °C under high vacuum, coated them in platinum and captured them in exquisite detail.

Each "bubble" here is a single cell 🤯

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Nick Desnoyer @nickdesnoyer.bsky.social · 15d

Flowers are "sculpted" by the floral meristem, a small niche of cells that decide where and what organs to place (centre).

I'm used to this cellular scale, but how do I depict the flower as a sculpture of cells to others, like David? 🧐

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Nick Desnoyer @nickdesnoyer.bsky.social · 15d

Beyond the human body, flowers are also natural masterpieces forged by evolution.

Endlessly diverse and morphologically free 🌸🌻🌷

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Nick Desnoyer @nickdesnoyer.bsky.social · 15d

Inspiration struck while visiting renaissance sculptures like David in Florence..

Monuments of marble that put the human form on full display. Larger than life and elevating our sense of self.

Nick Desnoyer @nickdesnoyer.bsky.social · 15d

Meet "Little Flower".

A genetically engineered flower, frozen in time and blown up over 150X. Here's the story (1/6 🧵)

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Reposted by Nick Desnoyer

Felix Martinez @laskotillean.bsky.social · 15d

Showing off my Arabidopsis flower shirt from @nickdesnoyer.bsky.social at @cbgpmadrid.bsky.social

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Nick Desnoyer @nickdesnoyer.bsky.social · 15d

Good eye! Yes, I made a mistake when assembling the animation..

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Nick Desnoyer @nickdesnoyer.bsky.social · 16d

First transformed with pOp6:RUBY (probably many insertions), then super-transformed with 35S:LacI-VP16 (binds to pOp6).

According to others, this black seed is common with RUBY...