Manuel Irimia @mirimiam.bsky.social · 05/10/2026We then asked how conserved these regulatory programs are. Overall, TS-GE was substantially more conserved than TS-AS, while neural tissue showed the highest conservation for both mechanisms. 7/11 100
Manuel Irimia @mirimiam.bsky.social · 05/10/2026But here came a first surprise: at the origins of both vertebrates and insects, gains of neural-specific splicing actually outnumbered gains of neural-specific gene expression, pointing to a major early contribution of TS-AS to nervous-system diversification. 8/11 100
Manuel Irimia @mirimiam.bsky.social · 05/10/2026Exon-level orthology revealed a second striking surprise. Most neural-specific exons lacking direct conservation were not unique events: neural exons repeatedly evolved in the same ancestral genes across distant bilaterian lineages. 9/11 100
