iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Dominik Handler

Maya Voichek @mayavoichek.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Super excited to share my postdoctoral work at @imbavienna.bsky.social @viennabiocenter.bsky.social - We discovered that some retrotransposons, or "jumping genes" 🧬, are able to spread from cell to cell via a new viral infectivity route. A short thread: 🧵👇 (1/7)

AI-generated illustration of the soma-to-germline transmission of retrotransposons described in our work

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Reposted by Dominik Handler

Plaschka lab @plaschkalab.bsky.social · 18/06/2026

Now published! We investigated how polyadenylated RNAs are targeted for decay in the human nucleus. www.nature.com/articles/s41... (1/5)

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Reposted by Dominik Handler

Ulrich Hohmann @hohmannulrich.bsky.social · 22/06/2026

Super cool to see the result of our collaborative work with @heick.bsky.social 's lab finally out! Shaped through many discussions with @abugai.bsky.social, @lorenzoana.bsky.social & @max2max.bsky.social, @juliusbrennecke.bsky.social & Clemens, trying to decipher LENG8's secrets!

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Reposted by Dominik Handler

Baptiste Rafanel @baptisterafanel.bsky.social · 06/05/2026

I'm super happy to finally see the paper published ! Check out the full story here: link.springer.com/article/10.1...

link.springer.com

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Reposted by Dominik Handler

The EMBO Journal @embojournal.org · 04/05/2026

Retrovirus insertions in host transcripts trigger de novo piRNA immunity: Kirsten-André Senti, @juliusbrennecke.bsky.social et al investigate the 20th-century invasion of D. melanogaster by iERV Tirant to reveal piRNA-pathway evolution in response to new threats link.springer.com/article/10.1...

link.springer.com

Retrovirus insertions in host transcripts trigger de novo piRNA immunity - The EMBO Journal

How host organisms adapt their defense systems to newly invading transposable elements remains poorly understood. Here, we show how Drosophila melanogaster acquired PIWI-interacting RNA (piRNA)-mediat...

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Dominik Handler @86dominik.bsky.social · 13/02/2026

How does the piRNA pathway solve the self vs. non-self problem? 🧬 Since piRNAs come from single-stranded RNA, how does the cell choose the right ones? For years, "piRNA clusters" were seen as THE privileged source. But are they really special and earmarked for biogenesis? (1/19)

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Reposted by Dominik Handler

Alejandro Burga @arburga.bsky.social · 24/11/2025

🪱 Selfish genes are everywhere and drive some of biology’s biggest innovations (CRISPR, antibody recombination, epigenetics). Yet almost no one asks the obvious question: how does a selfish gene begin? Our new manuscript uncovers how selfishness can emerge directly from the host genome.

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Reposted by Dominik Handler

Julius Brennecke @juliusbrennecke.bsky.social · 22/12/2025

Intrigued by a long-standing conundrum in small RNA biology—how nuclear Argonaute proteins silence transposons when they *need* target transcription for their own recruitment—we studied the piRNA pathway. And found a hidden RNA-decay axis from Piwi to the RNA exosome.

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Reposted by Dominik Handler

Plaschka lab @plaschkalab.bsky.social · 21/11/2025

How does messenger RNA (mRNA) get out of the nucleus to become a protein? Eukaryotic mRNA is packaged, exported, and then translated in the cytoplasm. But how do these steps work? And what are open questions? Check out our new review for our take: www.annualreviews.org/content/jour... (1/3)

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Reposted by Dominik Handler

Ulrich Hohmann @hohmannulrich.bsky.social · 19/11/2025

Finally out in @nature.com! We uncovered a mechanistic framework for a general and conserved mRNA nuclear export pathway. www.nature.com/articles/s41.... 1/

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Reposted by Dominik Handler

Harmit Singh Malik @harmitmalik.bsky.social · 12/11/2025

Are you an early-stage graduate student (2nd or 3rd year) or early-stage postdoc based in the US or Canada, working primarily in Drosophila? Would you like to help improve the experience of all trainees working in Drosophila research? If so, read on. (Please repost to reach a broad audience.)

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Reposted by Dominik Handler

Julius Brennecke @juliusbrennecke.bsky.social · 07/11/2025

just in time for the opening of the @hohmannulrich.bsky.social group at @imbmainz.bsky.social what started as a project on how cells export piRNA precursors, ended up as a tour de force in mRNA export. truly wonderful collaboration with @plaschkalab.bsky.social at the @viennabiocenter.bsky.social

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Dominik Handler @86dominik.bsky.social · 14/10/2025

When transposons jump, genomes diverge - even in cultured cells. I am happy to share our new preprint: a chromosome-scale genome assembly for Drosophila OSC cells, one of the key model systems in the piRNA field, especially for nuclear piRNA biology. 🧬🧵 (1/12)

Graphical abstract: The Drosophila OSC Genome as a resource for transposon and piRNA biology. The figure illustrates the workflow and key findings. Left: De novo genome assembly using Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT) long reads and Hi-C data generates a phased assembly distinguishing unique (blue) and repetitive (orange) sequences. Dot plot comparison between OSC-r1.01 and dm6 reference genomes shows overall synteny with extensive structural variation. Middle: A freely accessible UCSC genome browser session displays multi-omics data tracks including gene models, transposon insertions, chromatin accessibility, transcription, small RNAs, and histone modifications. Right: New insights into flamenco piRNA cluster biology reveal >730 kb transcribed from a single promoter without major splicing. Tethering assays demonstrate long-range silencing effects across the locus, and genome browser tracks show coordinated regulation of piRNA production, transcription, and chromatin state. This resource enables comprehensive studies of transposon regulation and piRNA pathway function in a widely-used Drosophila cell line.

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Reposted by Dominik Handler

Julius Brennecke @juliusbrennecke.bsky.social · 12/10/2025

Off he is ... Ulrich is one of the most remarkable scientists I had the pleasure to work with. I learned so much from him about biochemistry, proteins, structural biology, and so much more. Great people make great things happen. The really great people are rare. Ulrich is one of them ...

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Reposted by Dominik Handler

Ulrich Hohmann @hohmannulrich.bsky.social · 12/10/2025

Thrilled to share that I’ll be joining @imbmainz.bsky.social in February 2026 to start my own group! We will explore new mechanisms in eukaryotic gene expression, leveraging ‘evolutionary play’ to uncover how regulation, repurposing, and hijacking shape RNA biology. PhD positions available!

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Reposted by Dominik Handler

Baptiste Rafanel @baptisterafanel.bsky.social · 14/08/2025

1/ How do animals develop immunity against a newly encountered transposable element from scratch? Our study reveals that the mobility of TEs is their Achilles heel, allowing hosts to develop a powerful small RNA-mediated silencing response. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

biorxiv.org

Antisense transposon insertions into host genes trigger piRNA mediated immunity

Transposable elements pose a persistent threat to genome integrity, yet how host defense systems adapt to newly invading elements remains poorly understood. Here, we reveal how Drosophila melanogaster...

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Reposted by Dominik Handler

Julius Brennecke @juliusbrennecke.bsky.social · 03/08/2025

piRNAs are essential for transposon silencing in the animal germline. But how do hosts trap transposon sequences in genomic loci that help establish a piRNA response? Looking at a natural transposon invasion, Baptiste Rafanel and Kirsten Senti made some remarkable observations.

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Reposted by Dominik Handler

Institute of Molecular Biotechnology @imbavienna.bsky.social · 12/05/2025

Kristina Stapornwongkul and Sven Klumpe are new IMBA Group Leaders starting in 2025. Who will join IMBA in 2026? IMBA is hiring a Junior Group Leader. Apply to the position by May 18: imba.science/beagroupleader #hiring #biology #research #groupleader #europe

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Reposted by Dominik Handler

Julius Brennecke @juliusbrennecke.bsky.social · 29/03/2025

We are seeking a new colleague to join us at the Vienna BioCenter, specifically at my beloved home institution, IMBA @imbavienna.bsky.social we value collegiality and a passion for curiosity driven science. Being a great and fun human being also helps!

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Reposted by Dominik Handler

Maya Voichek @mayavoichek.bsky.social · 17/03/2025

1/ Transposable elements are often called "jumping genes" because they mobilize within genomes. 🧬 But did you know they can also jump 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘯 cells? 🤯 Our new study reveals how retrotransposons invade the germline directly from somatic cells. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... A short thread 🧵👇

Drosophila follicle showing retrotransposons (pink & yellow) expressed in somatic cells infecting the oocyte

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Reposted by Dominik Handler

Sven Klumpe @svenklumpe.bsky.social · 05/03/2025

Happy to share our manuscript on the in situ visualization of the copia retrotransposon in its final form today published in @cellcellpress.bsky.social www.cell.com/cell/fulltex.... What’s new?

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Reposted by Dominik Handler

Julius Brennecke @juliusbrennecke.bsky.social · 01/03/2025

- EMBL with EMBL outstations - Max Planck institutes in Germany (e.g. Dresden, Goettingen) - Vienna BioCenter (IMP, IMBA, GMI, Max Perutz Labs) - FMI Basel - ETH Zürich - CEITEC Brno - CRG Barcelona - Hubrecht Institute (Netherlands) - EPFL Lausanne

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Reposted by Dominik Handler

Gerlich Lab @gerlichlab.bsky.social · 12/02/2025

Our lab is now on Bluesky! 🚀 Kicking things off by sharing @fedeteloni.bsky.social latest preprint on the role of cohesin in homology search. Check out the thread for more details!

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Dominik Handler @86dominik.bsky.social · 04/10/2023

A small but intriguing update on the Kipferl discovery by Lisa Baumgartner Evolution of a specific binding mode between a ZnF protein and the HP1-variant Rhino. A wonderful project with great help from Julius Brennecke, Hohmann Ulrich, Peter Duchek, Jon Ipsaro, Alex Schleiffer and me😉

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