iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

@bilderlab @bilderlab.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

Beyond flies, bivalves — clams, mussels, cockles — get a nasty transmissible leukemia that spreads between individuals via cells shed into seawater. Evolved independently at least 8 times. A wild parallel to Tasmanian devil facial tumor disease, and new reports of catfish melanoma. 7/10

110

@bilderlab @bilderlab.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

Even more striking: fly tumors make the fly sick the way human tumors make patients sick. Tissue wasting and clotting defects kill tumor-bearing flies, as they do people. And flies mount a real antitumor immune response, with parallels to human tumor immunity. 6/10

120

@bilderlab @bilderlab.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

But what about invertebrates? Few appreciate well-documented cancer-like phenomena in several species, including fruit flies. Flies spontaneously get gut tumors with age, and engineered fly tumors hit most classic ‘hallmarks’ using pathways often perturbed in human cancer. 5/10

120

@bilderlab @bilderlab.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

Clear that across vertebrates, cancer is everywhere, but rates vary wildly. Opossums: 56% die with a neoplasm. Fruit bats: ~1%. This variation is a gift: species with unusually low cancer rates (naked mole rats, bowhead whales) are teaching us new tumor-suppressive mechanisms. 4/10

110

@bilderlab @bilderlab.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

Non-mammalian cancer models aren’t new. Rous's Nobel-winning oncogene work started with a chicken tumor in 1909; early cancer genetics in swordtail fish (1920s). Recent success of mouse models overshadows this broader tradition. 2/10

120

@bilderlab @bilderlab.bsky.social · 18/10/2025

We got into this because I guess I have the mind of a 7 year old and didn't understand 'how does cancer kill' -- thought flies could give insight. some info in this from @natrevcancer.nature.com pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34389815/

221

@bilderlab @bilderlab.bsky.social · 29/09/2025

And so fabulous to dine out with former postdocs Anne Classen @classenlab.bsky.social, Thomas Vaccari @vaccarilab.bsky.social and Lucy O’Brien. Many laughs, fond memories, and talk of bright futures for all of them. #EDRC2025

0111

@bilderlab @bilderlab.bsky.social · 29/09/2025

Honored to share stage with all the great plenary speakers at #EDRC2025. Exciting science and great vibes from Drosophila researchers worldwide – Let’s keep the American, Euro, and APAC communities coordinated and strong!

061

@bilderlab @bilderlab.bsky.social · 11/05/2025

Thursday, May 22 from 1 – 2:15 pm ET, Wu-Min Deng, @perrimonlab.bsky.social and I will discuss fly cancer models during a #BeyondMammals webinar held by the NCI. Register for free to hear some of the many ways that Drosophila can contribute to #CancerResearch. events.cancer.gov/dcb/beyond-m....

051

@bilderlab @bilderlab.bsky.social · 25/02/2025

Anti-Hemese staining of plasmatocytes —essentially #Drosophila macrophages. Dm 1.2/1. Image by Yoshiki Sakai in the lab. (4/5)

130

@bilderlab @bilderlab.bsky.social · 25/02/2025

Anti-NimC1 staining of plasmatocytes —essentially #Drosophila macrophages. Combination of Dm N1/9 and Dm N47/7. Image by Yoshiki Sakai in the lab. (3/5)

110

@bilderlab @bilderlab.bsky.social · 25/02/2025

These donations continue the spirit of the “Fly worker ethos” —others are encouraged to do the same! (2/5) pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28684603/

1174

@bilderlab @bilderlab.bsky.social · 09/01/2025

Thursday, January 30 from 1 – 2:15 pm ET, Wu-Min Deng, @perrimonlab.bsky.social and I will discuss fly cancer models during a #BeyondMammals webinar held by the NCI. Join to hear some of the many ways that Drosophila can contribute to #CancerResearch. events.cancer.gov/dcb/beyond-m....

0124

@bilderlab @bilderlab.bsky.social · 25/03/2024

Hosted a joint lab retreat with @LOBrienLab. Shared lots of science, some lore, and a bit of history, and introduced the Stanford folks to some of the joys of Berkeley.

151

@bilderlab @bilderlab.bsky.social · 25/03/2024

New lab preprint —longtime project finished in Hong Kong by new investigator @Jung_Kim_PhD. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

045

@bilderlab @bilderlab.bsky.social · 26/02/2024

We are hiring a research technician for June here in Berkeley. Great for a post-bac interested in genetics, development or cancer biology. bilderlab.berkeley.edu Will update w/ official posting but feel free to reach out now, esp. candidates w/ model organism experience #drosophila. Please RT.

077

@bilderlab @bilderlab.bsky.social · 16/11/2023

Nice @berkeleyMCB turnout tonight for @nkwhiteman.bsky.social 's triumphant talk about his book 'Most Delicious Poison'! @gastrulateordie Don Rio Georjana Barnes @DavidGDrubin @Choano_Lab n/s @danfeldman.bsky.social @mfeller.bsky.social @nickingolia @lianafaye.bsky.social Sabeeha Merchant

061

@bilderlab @bilderlab.bsky.social · 07/10/2023

another awesome @bilderlab alumni talk. @d_y_chen, former @berkeleyMCB PhD, visits to describe his exciting work in @ZernickaGoetz lab and catch up with @MeganMartikPhD and @gastrulateordie. When he heads for the job market, grab him!

030

@bilderlab @bilderlab.bsky.social · 27/09/2023

from @CajulaoJan: Fun @bilderlab outing at the ballpark last night! So far, the @SFGiantshave a 100% win rate whenever the lab is at the game😉😉

021

@bilderlab @bilderlab.bsky.social · 22/09/2023

At group meeting this week, we introduced the three @bilderlab expat postdocs (Hui-yu Ku, Yoshiki Sanai, Stephan Gerlach) to good old American #Twinkies. Check out the before and after.

271

@bilderlab @bilderlab.bsky.social · 22/09/2023

Welcome Cody Doubravsky, @berkeleyMCB grad student and @Olzmannlab alum, for the first rotation!

040

@bilderlab @bilderlab.bsky.social · 19/08/2023

Golden Dragon pluots edge out Dapple Jack pluots for overall best. Birthday celebrant @KatyOng1 and @CajulaoJan provide the tie breaking votes. O'Henry yellows from JJ Ramos orchard take the peach/ nectarine category. @BerkeleyBowl

030

@bilderlab @bilderlab.bsky.social · 18/08/2023

Some labs do whiskey tastings… Preparing for @KatyOng1’s birthday celebration, which always coincides with stone fruit season. Here’s a partial guide to today's buy from @BerekelyBowl. White peaches and white nectarines underrepresented, b/c really? Will post lab favorites

020

@bilderlab @bilderlab.bsky.social · 10/08/2023

Reminded to post this: before @HSCRB seminar in May. I first learned to be a scientist here in the Biolabs working with @StainierLab and Wally Gilbert. Knew I had the ‘bug’ when I found myself going into lab even when I didn’t have experiments to do….

020

@bilderlab @bilderlab.bsky.social · 05/08/2023

Wrap here with thank yous to @DamonRunyon and @TheMarkFdn for funding @katyong1's work! Fruit flies are a pretty unconventional cancer model, but these folks took the risk to support it. Looking forward to sharing more as@katyong1 continues to work towards an independent lab!

000

@bilderlab @bilderlab.bsky.social · 05/08/2023

Here ends another lesson on how powerful the fly is for studying human health. Even long-time Drosophilists can be surprised -- blood physiology wasn’t on my radar! It also illuminates that the mechanisms of host response to malignancy are truly ancient. Img credit: Joseph Hill

100

@bilderlab @bilderlab.bsky.social · 05/08/2023

This is neat b/c the fly has an open circulatory system (no vessels), so can’t be dying from ischemic blockage. Given this, our tumor model offers a unique angle from which to approach the mysterious link between cancer coagulopathy and patient survival. Img credit: Magnus Muhr

100

@bilderlab @bilderlab.bsky.social · 05/08/2023

We could rescue coagulopathy phenotypes by knocking down one upregulated clotting factor specifically in the tumor. Excitingly, this also extended host lifespan! So coagulopathy is a significant contributor to host mortality in this cancer model.

100

@bilderlab @bilderlab.bsky.social · 05/08/2023

This HYPERcoagulation is transient and later followed by HYPOcoagulation and loss of wound healing processes. See Fig. 3 for details but the mechanism is similar to the ‘consumptive coagulopathies’ such as DIC seen in human patients. (Img source: Osmosis.org)

100

@bilderlab @bilderlab.bsky.social · 05/08/2023

Both human & fly blood (hemolymph) undergo phase transition to produce clots. We measured fly clotting by mixing hemolymph with beads (h/t Theopold lab). Larger aggregates = more clotting activity. The result? Tumor-bearing flies have dramatically increased clotting early on!

100

@bilderlab @bilderlab.bsky.social · 05/08/2023

But even in the absence of thrombosis, high levels of clotting markers in circulation are correlated with poor prognosis for unknown reasons. So we asked if our tumor-bearing flies have clotting defects and whether this contributes to their premature deaths. (Img source: Janssen)

100

@bilderlab @bilderlab.bsky.social · 05/08/2023

This led us down the rabbit hole of cancer coagulopathy. It’s been known for a century+ that tumors can cause blood clotting dysfunction. Thrombosis is a frequent and fatal complication in cancer patients. Indeed, it’s listed as the #2 cause of death in some studies.

100

@bilderlab @bilderlab.bsky.social · 05/08/2023

To search for novel signals from the tumor ("oncokines") that cause these phenotypes, we did RNA-seq on the ovarian tumors. In the upregulated secreted factors, we found many clotting-related genes.

100

@bilderlab @bilderlab.bsky.social · 05/08/2023

David, Tsai-Ching & @Jung_Kim_PhD had developed a genetic tumor model in the fly ovarian epithelium that exhibits many cancer hallmarks: overproliferation, polarity loss, de-differentiation, etc. It also induces host phenotypes incl. cachexia, edema, and a 50% drop in lifespan.

100

@bilderlab @bilderlab.bsky.social · 05/08/2023

from @katyong1: My 1st postdoc paper is out @CurrentBiology. Co-authored w/Tsai-Ching Hsi, this was a fun journey: a new Drosophila tumor model, an unexpected phenotype, insight into cancer mortality & ancient origins of host response to malignancy 1/n authors.elsevier.com/a/1hIb53QW8S2Q…

130