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Yehu Moran @yehumoran.bsky.social · 1d

3/3 this is a co demonstration how adaptation of experimental methods in genomics and cell biology into less conventional model organisms can shed light on evolutionary questions. Kudos to Itamar and to Daria Aleshkina, Adrian Jaimes-Becerra & Matan Levy from our lab who helped him.

a man is holding a microphone and saying yes i love technology

ALT: a man is holding a microphone and saying yes i love technology

media.tenor.com

Yehu Moran @yehumoran.bsky.social · 1d

2/3 stinging cells, aka cnidocytes, are the cells that define Cnidaria. Their organelles are the ones injecting venom when you are stung by a 🪼 or 🪸. Itamar's work highlights their molecular complexity and how they can be divided epigenetically into distinct populations. >>>

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Yehu Moran @yehumoran.bsky.social · 1d

1/3 🔥🚨 We have a new @biorxiv-evobio.bsky.social #preprint from our lab! Itamar Kozlovski, an excellent PhD student, established CUT&TAG in #Nematostella. He used this technique to map the transcriptional activation mark H3K27ac in two stinging cell populations
www.biorxiv.org/cgi/content/...

Epigenomic and transcriptomic analyses reveal cnidocyte specialization in a sea anemone

Cnidarians, including corals, hydras, jellyfish, and sea anemones, possess specialized stinging cells called cnidocytes that function in prey capture and defense. These cells represent a striking evol...

www.biorxiv.org

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Yehu Moran @yehumoran.bsky.social · 5d

bsky.app/profile/yehu...

Yehu Moran @yehumoran.bsky.social · 5d

My first ever non-peer reviewed science-related piece. Together with Howard Wolinsky and Holger Breithaupt @embopress.org

It's about how scientists critical of de-extinction are targeted by dark PR tactics: www.embopress.org/doi/full/10....

Scientists targeted by dark PR tactics: Several academic scientists critical of de-extinction projects have become the targets of anonymous smear articles and weaponized copyright infringement claims:...

EMBO Press is an editorially independent publishing platform for the development of EMBO scientific publications.

www.embopress.org

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Yehu Moran @yehumoran.bsky.social · 5d

My first ever non-peer reviewed science-related piece. Together with Howard Wolinsky and Holger Breithaupt @embopress.org

It's about how scientists critical of de-extinction are targeted by dark PR tactics: www.embopress.org/doi/full/10....

Scientists targeted by dark PR tactics: Several academic scientists critical of de-extinction projects have become the targets of anonymous smear articles and weaponized copyright infringement claims:...

EMBO Press is an editorially independent publishing platform for the development of EMBO scientific publications.

www.embopress.org

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Yehu Moran @yehumoran.bsky.social · 22d

There’s a reason no one remembers philosophers from Sparta: they had none. Athens valued ideas, Sparta only force.

A 21st-century leader dreaming of a “super-Sparta” isn’t being visionary, he’s showing deeply flawed judgement.

Oh, my country, what a train wreck you’ve become.

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Yehu Moran @yehumoran.bsky.social · 23d

I'm super proud of this guy!!! 👇

Vengamanaidu Modepalli @venky-vnm.bsky.social · 23d

Exciting news to share! I have started my new role as a Lecturer in Evolutionary Biology / Director of MSc Bioinformatics program at the School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol @bristolbiosci.bsky.social

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Yehu Moran @yehumoran.bsky.social · Sep 8

Our paper about the interplay between heat stress, viral and antiviral response in sea anemones and #corals 🪸 is finally out!
#OpenAccess

Collaboration between my lab, Maoz Fine and @reefgenomics.bsky.social

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Heat Stress Drives Rapid Viral and Antiviral Innate Immunity Activation in Hexacorallia

The class Hexacorallia, encompassing stony corals and sea anemones, plays a critical role in marine ecosystems. Coral bleaching, the disruption of the symbiosis between stony corals and zooxanthellat...

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

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Yehu Moran @yehumoran.bsky.social · Sep 7

Very interesting results and a technical breakthrough in gene silencing in Trichoplax:

Dissecting a peptidergic signaling pathway in Trichoplax adhaerens by gene silencing: Current Biology www.cell.com/current-biol...

Dissecting a peptidergic signaling pathway in Trichoplax adhaerens by gene silencing

The simple marine animal Trichoplax adhaerens provides a unique window into early metazoan evolution. Li et al. develop an efficient RNAi-based gene knockdown method and uncover how neuropeptide-recep...

www.cell.com

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Yehu Moran @yehumoran.bsky.social · Sep 5

A journal drags our review process for months over months. Even the final round after "accepted in principle" with some light text editing drags for weeks. Then the proofs come in, in the least convenient time possible, "we expect you to return your comments within 48 hours" 😖

two men are standing next to each other with blood on their faces . one of the men is wearing a plaid shirt .

ALT: two men are standing next to each other with blood on their faces . one of the men is wearing a plaid shirt .

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Reposted by Yehu Moran

Luisa Cochella @lcochella.bsky.social · Sep 3

Our work on the function of miR-51/miR-100 is out! miR-100 is widely conserved across eumetazoans but its function has been mysterious. Emilio Santillán found in worms it regulates signaling and extracellular matrix genes, some of which seem to be conserved targets! www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

An ancient and essential miRNA family controls cellular interaction pathways in C. elegans

A microRNA that arose at the origin of eumetazoans regulates cell adhesion and signaling in C. elegans through conserved targets.

www.science.org

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Yehu Moran @yehumoran.bsky.social · Sep 3

Very cool! Congratulations, Luisa!

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Yehu Moran @yehumoran.bsky.social · Aug 13

We sent a paper to a "posh" journal. Waited for more than a month, Finally today the editor rejects the paper without external review. The logic is as follows: "I wanted 🍕, but you sent me a 🍔, and despite my expectations, there was no 🍕! I admit it's a fine 🍔, but where is the 🍕 I was expecting?"

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Yehu Moran @yehumoran.bsky.social · Jul 12

Achievement unlocked!
Now, I can finally rest 🤪

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Yehu Moran @yehumoran.bsky.social · Jul 12

Hello, old friend.
Didn't expect to meet you here...
#Berlin #aquarium #Anemonia

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Yehu Moran @yehumoran.bsky.social · Jun 21

Well, I would say that relying on where a paper was published is still not a good proxy (that's an understatement), for the quality of a paper but far less terrible than thinking that high impact factor equals a "good" journal while low impact factor equals a "bad" journal.

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Yehu Moran @yehumoran.bsky.social · Jun 21

2/2 2/2 things that carry "Science" and "Cell" in their titles mostly went up. Everything else? Well, it just crashed and burned. What does it mean? Absolutely nothing. Scientists that continue relying on these archaic metrics should be ashamed of themselves cause they are just lazy SOBs...

a woman in a blue dress says " i 'm ashamed of you " while pointing her finger

ALT: a woman in a blue dress says " i 'm ashamed of you " while pointing her finger

media.tenor.com

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Yehu Moran @yehumoran.bsky.social · Jun 21

1/2 The new impact factor numbers are out. No sane person should use them as a proxy for anything, multiple organizations and institutes signed DORA, and still many people rely on them: I'll make it short and sweet: everything that carries "Nature" in its title went up. Sometimes crazily so -->

a man with a mustache says nature is amazing in a store

ALT: a man with a mustache says nature is amazing in a store

media.tenor.com

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Reposted by Yehu Moran

Petr Svoboda @svobodalab.bsky.social · Jun 18

#TCTeAC ... what's more than organizing one conference? Two conferences! This one is more Day Science on biology of Argonaute proteins from prokaryotes to Metazoa. Great line up of invited speakers. Some special fun included!

Petr Svoboda @svobodalab.bsky.social · Jun 18

#Argonautes2025 - argonautes.img.cas.cz
Join us in Prague 27-30/8/2025 for the next edition of the Argonaute meeting #miRNA #siRNA #piRNA & #PIWI

Abstract submission for talk selection deadline is 30/6!

Please, spread the word @rnasociety.bsky.social @rti-umasschan.bsky.social

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Reposted by Yehu Moran

Julius Brennecke @juliusbrennecke.bsky.social · Jun 17

The fascinating work spearheaded by Kirsten Senti on the diversification and adaptation of endogenous retroviruses in the host gonad 'ecosystem'' is officially published.

Institute of Molecular Biotechnology @imbavienna.bsky.social · Jun 16

🚨📢 New paper alert!
A study led by Kirsten Senti and Julius Brennecke offers new insights into how ancient endogenous retroviruses diversified to exploit different cell “niches” in the fruit fly ovary, and how the host’s defenses adapted in return. https://imba.science/Brennecke_EMBOJ

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Yehu Moran @yehumoran.bsky.social · Jun 13

Very cool! Congratulations, David and Grisha!

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Yehu Moran @yehumoran.bsky.social · Jun 12

After more than 11 years, a long-due "postdocs reunion" with @xxxmichixxx.bsky.social at the @fmiscience.bsky.social
Many thanks for the invitation, Michi! It was great meeting you and your colleagues and catching up on some cool science!

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Reposted by Yehu Moran

Asaf Levy @asaflevylab.bsky.social · Jun 11

Our new paper is online in Genome Biology:
"Plasmids, prophages, and defense systems are depleted from plant microbiota genomes"
genomebiology.biomedcentral.com/articles/10....

Plasmids, prophages, and defense systems are depleted from plant microbiota genomes - Genome Biology

Plant-associated bacteria significantly impact plant growth and health. Understanding how bacterial genomes adapt to plants can provide insights into their growth promotion and virulence functions. He...

genomebiology.biomedcentral.com

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Yehu Moran @yehumoran.bsky.social · Jun 1

Peer Review can be of great value when done properly and awful when done badly. We waited 3.5 months for the decision, Reviewer #2: "Looking on the figures, I get the feeling their antibody is not specific". That's so insightful & informative! It was worth waiting just for this!!! 🙏🤪🤦😱

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Reposted by Yehu Moran

Iana V. Kim @ianakim.bsky.social · May 7

I’m very excited to share our work on the early evolution of animal regulatory genome architecture - the main project of my postdoc, carried out across two wonderful and inspirational labs of @arnausebe.bsky.social and @mamartirenom.bsky.social. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Chromatin loops are an ancestral hallmark of the animal regulatory genome - Nature

The physical organization of the genome in non-bilaterian animals and their closest unicellular relatives is characterized; comparative analysis shows chromatin looping is a conserved feature of ...

www.nature.com

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