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Simon Sprecher @simon-sprecher.bsky.social · Mar 19

We have open PhD positions in the lab to work in the Neuroscience of #Cephalopods #Cnidaria and #Drosophila-
please RT

www.sprecherlab.com

Home

www.sprecherlab.com

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Simon Sprecher @simon-sprecher.bsky.social · Mar 9

Fabulous! Congratulations Silke!!!

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Reposted by Simon Sprecher

European Drosophila Society @fly-eds.bsky.social · Feb 20

Recently completed your #PhD using #Drosophila in a European lab? Apply for the European Drosophila Society best thesis prize!
🏆🪰
Deadline: 28 Feb 2025.
Prize = €1000 & keynote presentation at the EDRC in Alicante @edrc2025.bsky.social!
Info here: europeandrosophilasociety.org/eds-best-phd...

EDS best PhD thesis prize | European Drosophila SocietyHome

europeandrosophilasociety.org

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Simon Sprecher @simon-sprecher.bsky.social · Feb 15

We definitely should- ok, we will 👍😉

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Simon Sprecher @simon-sprecher.bsky.social · Feb 15

Congratulations Dion et al!

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Simon Sprecher @simon-sprecher.bsky.social · Feb 1

Thanks Eric! Really nice that NPR picked it up…!

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Reposted by Simon Sprecher

Katrin Vogt @katrinvogt.bsky.social · Jan 31

Creamy potato chips and slimy apples - at least for humans, that doesn't seem tasty. Also the fruit fly larva is picky and prefers a certain food hardness: enjoy reading more about that in the primer I wrote for the recent paper from the @simon-sprecher.bsky.social lab.

PLOS Biology @plosbiology.org · Jan 31

Food’s smell, look & texture are as important as taste. @katrinvogt.bsky.social explores a @plosbiology.org study showing that fly larvae respond to food texture and integrate information from different modalities within a single neuron 🧪 Primer: plos.io/3CFhaiI Paper: plos.io/3CEv5FJ

This schematic shows how fly larvae evaluate food texture and choose soft rotten fruits over harder ripe ones, even though both contain sweet fructose. Sweet taste and soft texture information activate a single bilaterally expressing sensory neuron type in the larval head, projecting to the larval brain.

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Reposted by Simon Sprecher

Roli Roberts @roliroberts.bsky.social · Jan 31

This is a fascinating paper that handled at @plosbiology.org (with thanks to Matthieu Louis as guest ed). The quotation that springs to mind is "Is it nice, my preciousss? Is it juicy? Is it scrumptiously crunchable?" - @simon-sprecher.bsky.social and colleagues titrate agarose to find out...

PLOS Biology @plosbiology.org · Jan 30

Sensing food is a complex multisensory experience. A study of food hardness preference in #FruitFly larvae by @simon-sprecher.bsky.social &co reveals that gustatory organ sensory neurons can perceive cues of both chemical & mechanical stimulation 🧪 @plosbiology.org plos.io/3CEv5FJ

Top left: Top—cartoon of larval food environment, showing a harder (fresh) fruit and a softer (ripe) fruit. Bottom—larval ingestion can be visualised by blue-dyed agarose present and visible in the digestive system. Top right: Experimental paradigm involving a range of decaying fruit for mechanical analysis. Bottom: Immunofluorescence stainings showing the expression of the transgenic 3xP3-RFP and generated pb/peb-split-GAL4 driving a UAS-myrGFP reporter in the taste organs, but not the DOG (left). With expression in the embryonic phase (right) mirroring that of the larva.

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Simon Sprecher @simon-sprecher.bsky.social · Jan 31

Thanks Matthias! “Sensing” food is a feast for the senses 😉👍

Reposted by Simon Sprecher

PLOS Biology @plosbiology.org · Jan 30

Sensing food is a complex multisensory experience. A study of food hardness preference in #FruitFly larvae by @simon-sprecher.bsky.social &co reveals that gustatory organ sensory neurons can perceive cues of both chemical & mechanical stimulation 🧪 @plosbiology.org plos.io/3CEv5FJ

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Reposted by Simon Sprecher

Pedro Martinez @pedromartinezserra.bsky.social · Jan 29

Tackling sensory discrimination in one acoel, with @simon-sprecher.bsky.social and many more friends: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

www.biorxiv.org

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Reposted by Simon Sprecher

Silke Sachse @silkesachse.bsky.social · Jan 28

Dear colleagues fascinated by olfaction and taste! 👃🏾👅
We’ll organize the next ESITO (Symposium of Insect Taste and Olfaction) from September 19-24 2025 in Sardinia at the beautiful Hotel Cormoran again. We are currently updating the website and will start the registration soon! Please stay tuned!

Hotel Cormoran in Villasimius, Sardinia.

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Reposted by Simon Sprecher

EDRC2025 @edrc2025.bsky.social · Jan 7

We are excited to announce the opening of registrations for the upcoming #EDRC2025 conference (25th-28th September 2025) in Alicante to showcase the latest advances in #Drosophila biology and technology edrc2025alicante.com

EDRC 2025 Alicante

edrc2025alicante.com

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Simon Sprecher @simon-sprecher.bsky.social · Jan 1

To understand how brains do their amazing job, we ultimately need to know how they are wired up. This remains impossible in "large" brains, however FlyWire allows everyone to browse the fruit fly the connectome!
Here my take on what makes this so impacting-
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Disentangling how the brain is wired

Published in Fly (Vol. 19, No. 1, 2025)

www.tandfonline.com

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Simon Sprecher @simon-sprecher.bsky.social · Dec 11

And so much science still to do 👍😉

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Reposted by Simon Sprecher

European Drosophila Society @fly-eds.bsky.social · Dec 10

The European Drosophila Society is delighted to join Bluesky! Follow us for the latest European fly news.
#EDRC2025
#Drosophila
#Drosofeed

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Simon Sprecher @simon-sprecher.bsky.social · Dec 8

Very cool work: interfere between classic and operant conditioning!

mosheparnas.bsky.social @mosheparnas.bsky.social · Dec 8

1/ How do animals integrate different forms of learning? Our
@eyalrozenfeld.bsky.social new study in Science Advances
shows that active mechanisms prevent the co-formation of competing memories. Here’s what we found! 🧵👇
science.org/doi/10.1126/...

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Simon Sprecher @simon-sprecher.bsky.social · Dec 3

That’s it! We’re obsolete …. 😉

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Simon Sprecher @simon-sprecher.bsky.social · Nov 25

There is indeed (but it is not filled with melted cheese - 🫕🫕) 😉

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Simon Sprecher @simon-sprecher.bsky.social · Nov 24

Sunrise at the Lake of Gruyère; winter has arrived in Fribourg

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Simon Sprecher @simon-sprecher.bsky.social · Nov 15

Some news about one of my favorite critters: Xenoturbella!
A most complete version of its genome provides insight into a surprisingly „complex“ gene repertoire and molecular features- and raises questions on its phylogenetic position-
Congrats to an exciting paper!
elifesciences.org/digests/9494...