iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Christophe Dessimoz @dessimoz.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

ISMB is ranked A in CORE largely thanks to @yannponty.bsky.social ‘s tireless efforts. I believe ECCB could/should also be ranked A considering the scientific committee’s qualifications, acceptance rate etc. But it takes a lot of work to do the advocacy….

152

Reposted by Christophe Dessimoz

SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics @sib.swiss · 17/09/2026

Advances for health, biodiversity & trustworthy AI; new connections; a unique artistic performance; Geneva-wide celebrations – and cross-societal recognition of the value of life-science data. See highlights from the record 2026 ECCB @eccb-europe.bsky.social

sib.swiss

Academic, government and industry leaders stress strategic value of data

Over 1,500 experts from 63 countries advanced health, environmental protection and trustworthy AI in Geneva at the 25th European Conference on Computational Biology (ECCB), from 31 August to 4 Septemb...

013

Reposted by Christophe Dessimoz

Janani Durairaj (Jay) @ninjani.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

The PhD and Postdoc application links are now live! Come join me at UNIL to work on deep learning for protein structure, interactions & design. pickybinders.org#open-positions

career5.successfactors.eu

Career Opportunities: PhD student position in deep learning for enzyme structure & catalysis (22980)

03928

Reposted by Christophe Dessimoz

European Conference on Computational Biology @eccb-europe.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

From tracing human migrations with ancient DNA to uncovering how one genome gives rise to many cell types: the insights & networking continued on ECCB day 2. Keynotes: Anna-Sapfo Malaspinas, University of Lausanne; Stephen Quake, Stanford University eccb2026.org/schedule/int... #ECCB2026

011

Reposted by Christophe Dessimoz

SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics @sib.swiss · 03/09/2026

SIB Biodata Resources were on show at ECCB @eccb-europe.bsky.social, through posters and info sessions by experts across our network. The programme also featured SIB scientists presenting on pathogen surveillance, new AI tools and more: eccb2026.org/schedule/int... #ECCB2026

154

Reposted by Christophe Dessimoz

European Conference on Computational Biology @eccb-europe.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

ECCB’s record 980 scientific talks and posters ended yesterday with a keynote on large-scale immune data from Aleksandra Walczak, @cnrs.fr See the full scientific programme: eccb2026.org/schedule/int... #ECCB2026

143

Reposted by Christophe Dessimoz

Nick Loman @pathogenomenick.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

In Geneva for #ECCB2026 ! Been a long time since I was last at this meeting. Talking tomorrow in morning session about bioinformatics for pathogen surveillance with legends of the field: @angieshinrichs.bsky.social @firefoxx66.bsky.social and @theo.io ! eccb2026.org/schedule/par...

eccb2026.org

Parallel sessions

2293

Reposted by Christophe Dessimoz

Erik van Nimwegen @erikvannimwegen.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

Remember this? bsky.app/profile/did:... Rigorous visualization of the structure in your high-dimensional data. Fantastic work by @dhdegroot.bsky.social With help of the reviewers of Nat Biotech it is now updated, extended an officially published here: www.nature.com/articles/s41... 1/n

nature.com

Bonsai reconstructs tree representations for distortion-free visualization and exploration of high-dimensional data - Nature Biotechnology

High-dimensional data are visualized through representation on tree structures.

110446

Reposted by Christophe Dessimoz

Neil Hall @neilhall.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

Biological Databases are critical infrastructure - not projects. As so much effort is put into harnessing AI to solve all our problems, we are allowing the foundational data resources crumble. Treat biological databases as infrastructure, not projects www.nature.com/articles/d41...

nature.com

Treat biological databases as infrastructure, not projects

Letter to the Editor

35436

Reposted by Christophe Dessimoz

Bioinformatics Advances @bioinfoadv.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

🌿 Just published in Bioinformatics Advances: "AmpliPhy improves gene trees by adding homologous sequences without affecting alignments" Find it here: doi.org/10.1093/bioadv/vbag222 Authors include: @dongwookkim.bsky.social, @dessimoz.bsky.social

143

Reposted by Christophe Dessimoz

Dongwook Kim @dongwookkim.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

AI-driven protein structure prediction lets us revisit the question once impossible to tackle at scale: What can we learn from the evolution of protein structures? Our new preprint reviews how to properly assess the quality of structure-based alignments and trees. 🧵1/5 📄 doi.org/10.32942/X2T10D

1133

Reposted by Christophe Dessimoz

Dongwook Kim @dongwookkim.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

AmpliPhy is now reviewed and published in @bioinfoadv.bsky.social! AmpliPhy improves your gene trees by adding homologs with a single command, based on the observations from a quantitative benchmark design. More details in quoted 🧵 📄 doi.org/10.1093/bioadv/vbag222 💾 github.com/DessimozLab/ampliphy

doi.org

AmpliPhy improves gene trees by adding homologous sequences without affecting alignments

AbstractMotivation. In phylogenomics, gene tree reconstruction depends on multiple sequence alignment and tree inference, and ongoing work continues to imp

074

Reposted by Christophe Dessimoz

Sina Majidian @sinamajidian.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

This will be an amazing tutorial on Comparative Genomics, covering the foundations, key challenges, and practical tips from the Orthology Clinic! It’s part of ECCB, but you can also join the tutorial only on September 3rd! #GenevaLovesData

064

Reposted by Christophe Dessimoz

Theo Sanderson @theo.io · 23/07/2026

I'm really excited about SeqSets reaching fruition. Sequencing pathogen genomes is impactful: this data enables us to design vaccines, to predict future evolution, and more. But at the moment, getting scientific credit mostly requires writing a paper, not just sequencing a genome. [1/n]

1155

Reposted by Christophe Dessimoz

SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics @sib.swiss · 30/07/2026

Switzerland and Geneva hold a trump card for shaping trustworthy AI, argues SIB Executive Director Christophe Dessimoz in an opinion published in Le Temps. Read in English: www.sib.swiss/news/switzer... French: www.letemps.ch/opinions/la-... @dessimoz.bsky.social @letemps.ch

sib.swiss

Switzerland must become the world capital of trusted scientific data

AI is only as good as the quality of its data, and Switzerland has a trump card to play: the country’s scientific excellence, quality, reliability, and cooperation represent enormous competitive...

162

Reposted by Christophe Dessimoz

Ben Langmead @benlangmead.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

📢 Genome Informatics 2026 (Hinxton UK + virtual, 2–4 Dec) is coming! Some confirmed speakers now listed: coursesandconferences.wellcomeconnectingscience.org/event/genome... Early-bird registration & bursary deadlines: 7 Sept. Abstract deadline: 5 Oct. Please submit your work & join us!

01210

Reposted by Christophe Dessimoz

ELIXIR Europe @elixir-europe.org · 22/07/2026

✨ ELIXIR will be at #ECCB2026, holding two workshops and an ELIXIR track programme showcasing highlights and impact of ELIXIR Community activities! More information 👉 loom.ly/emMscGg

033

Reposted by Christophe Dessimoz

Théotime Grohens @tgrohens.bsky.social · 01/07/2026

@dessimoz.bsky.social at #JOBIM2026: “creating a database is like adopting a puppy, it’s fun in the beginning but it’s a long-term commitment!”

Photo of Christophe Dessimoz giving a keynote talk at JOBIM 2026

021

Reposted by Christophe Dessimoz

European Conference on Computational Biology @eccb-europe.bsky.social · 25/06/2026

Spatial protein inference 🧬🧪 Predict protein landscapes from transcriptomics using spatial & single-cell omics data. Tutorial organized by: Hatice Ulku Osmanbeyoglu and Zeyuan Meng Register here: 👉 eccb2026.org/registration... #ECCB2026 #SpatialOmics #Multiomics #ComputationalBiology

011

Reposted by Christophe Dessimoz

African Bioinformatics Institute @abinstitute.bsky.social · 17/06/2026

The cradle of humankind. The origin of our species. Home to the deepest human genetic diversity on earth. And the most underrepresented continent in the global genomic databases driving scientific discovery. Closing that gap is the work of the African Bioinformatics Institute.

121

Reposted by Christophe Dessimoz

African Bioinformatics Institute @abinstitute.bsky.social · 19/05/2026

We’re looking for a Director 👇 ABI is seeking a senior scientific leader to help grow a continental hub for bioinformatics and computational biology. Applications close 30 June 2026. Apply: webapp.placementpartner.com/wi/vacancy/?... #AfricanScience #Bioinformatics

138

Reposted by Christophe Dessimoz

Torsten Schwede @torstenschwede.bsky.social · 24/05/2026

Looking to contribute to the future of #ScientificResearch 🧪 in 🇨🇭? The SNSF Research Council is recruiting 21 new members for its six committees. The mandates will start in April and October 2027. Interested? 🗓️ Apply by 14 June 2026. www.snf.ch/en/pk2qftWyV...

snf.ch

Call for new Research Council members

The SNSF is seeking 21 researchers to join its Research Council.

043

Reposted by Christophe Dessimoz

Michael Hiller @hillermich.bsky.social · 23/05/2026

Happy to announce the release of TOGA2 data for 68 turtle genomes, generated with a cryptodiran and a pleurodiran turtle reference. The combined TOGA2 annotation consistently improves annotation completeness compared with RefSeq. All data at genome.senckenberg.de/download/TOGA2. Genome browsers ...

genome.senckenberg.de

Index of /download/TOGA2

1177

Reposted by Christophe Dessimoz

Kristian G. Andersen @kgandersen.bsky.social · 21/05/2026

Just a shout-out to the folks over at @pathoplexus.org and, importantly, all the scientists sharing genomic data with such amazing speed. It's great to see the field having moved to a new platform, with non-transparent platforms being a thing of the past. Fantastic.

16225

Reposted by Christophe Dessimoz

Rob Waterhouse @rmwaterhouse.bsky.social · 18/05/2026

A great collaboration with @plazi-species.bsky.social and @idsianlp.bsky.social - thanks to the @snsf.ch for selecting our project for funding support!

031

Reposted by Christophe Dessimoz

Mart Krupovic @mkrupovic.bsky.social · 11/05/2026

With Eugene Koonin, we wrote a rather comprehensive review on the origin, evolution and organization of the #virosphere. We describe all 10 viral realms and the logic behind them, and so much more. Check it out! comptes-rendus.academie-sciences.fr/biologies/ar...

1256130

Reposted by Christophe Dessimoz

Dr Emma Hodcroft @firefoxx66.bsky.social · 09/05/2026

Incredibly proud of the @pathoplexus.org team for getting this up so quickly. In an outbreak like this, it's critical to share data quickly & openly - so scientists can do public health analyses (like the @nextstrain.org builds) - while still protecting the right to publish on generated sequences.

05214

Reposted by Christophe Dessimoz

SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics @sib.swiss · 15/04/2026

OMA (part of SwissOrthology) mapped rice seed germination genes to their counterparts in barley, revealing when and where they're active — a step towards improving crop resilience. Another example of how SIB Resources tackle challenges from food security to human health. 👉 sib.swiss/services/ope...

032

Reposted by Christophe Dessimoz

Sonja Lehtinen @sonjalehtinen.bsky.social · 14/04/2026

Interested in predicting the dynamics of antibiotic resistance? Come work with us! We're looking for two postdocs to develop predictive models of resistance. We're interested in a range of approaches (mathematical & statistical modelling, causal inference, machine learning). tinyurl.com/6c4y3jke

tinyurl.com

Career Opportunities: Postdoctoral positions in predictive modelling of antibiotic resistance spread (22755)

02320

Reposted by Christophe Dessimoz

IreneJulca @irenejulca.bsky.social · 14/04/2026

(1/2) Interested in plant evolution? We are opening two PhD positions in my lab at QGG - Aarhus University, where you will combine comparative genomics and machine learning to better understand and improve crop traits. #PlantSciJobs #evolution #genomics

1810

Reposted by Christophe Dessimoz

Alexey Amunts @amunts.bsky.social · 07/04/2026

Evolutionary analysis by Martijn Huynen further suggests that this architecture emerged in lineages where canonical complex I was lost or extensively modified, pointing to a new solution for spatial organization of oxidative phosphorylation 5/6

131

Reposted by Christophe Dessimoz

European Conference on Computational Biology @eccb-europe.bsky.social · 25/03/2026

AI agents + biology? 🤖🧬 Learn how MCP lets LLMs query and reason over biological data. Tutorial organized by: Damian Szklarczyk Register here: 👉 eccb2026.org/registration... #ECCB2026 #AIinBiology

1255

Reposted by Christophe Dessimoz

Valeria Di Cola @valeriadicola.bsky.social · 25/03/2026

SIB Training organizes ~60 courses per year in the computational life sciences in Switzerland and online, which are open to attend for all researchers. We have launched a training needs survey. It takes 5-10 minutes to complete. forms.office.com/e/WmSxcBeMYX @sib.swiss

034

Reposted by Christophe Dessimoz

European Conference on Computational Biology @eccb-europe.bsky.social · 20/03/2026

⏳ 10 days left for early-bird rates at #ECCB2026! Join over 1,000 experts in bioinformatics, AI, and data science in Geneva from 31 Aug until 4 Sept. Register now to secure your place: ⚠️tutorials, workshops & social events have limited spots. 👉More info: eccb2026.org/registration...

102

Reposted by Christophe Dessimoz

European Conference on Computational Biology @eccb-europe.bsky.social · 10/03/2026

📣 Still 1 week to submit manuscripts for #ECCB2026 organized in Geneva, Switzerland, in September! We are inviting work that demonstrates development of new computational techniques and their applications in life sciences. 👉 More info: eccb2026.org/call-proceed... 🔜 Deadline: 16 March 2026

122

Reposted by Christophe Dessimoz

European Conference on Computational Biology @eccb-europe.bsky.social · 05/02/2026

🚀 ECCB 2026 will host a Career Workshop on Wed 2 Sept open to all participants. Whether you are considering academia, industry, or alternative paths, your input will help us design a useful workshop, to reflect your needs, questions, & aspirations. 👉 Fill out this poll: tinyurl.com/2shevyst

064

Reposted by Christophe Dessimoz

Pathoplexus @pathoplexus.org · 12/03/2026

1/ 🦟 Big news: #Pathoplexus now supports Dengue virus & Yellow Fever virus - two arboviruses responsible for over 400 million infections and up to 94,000 deaths per year. Here's what’s new in our latest update 👇🏻 Read the full update: pathoplexus.org/news/2026-03... 📰

A screenshot of the new Pathoplexus homepage showing all viruses now supported, including Dengue and Yellow Fever, which are circled in red

14622

Reposted by Christophe Dessimoz

European Conference on Computational Biology @eccb-europe.bsky.social · 04/03/2026

📣 #ECCB2026 proceedings deadline extended to 16 March 13:00 CET Submit to 1 of our 6️⃣ sessions: 🔹 Genomics 🔹 Transcriptomics & gene regulation 🔹 Proteins & structural biology 🔹 Systems biology 🔹 Environmental bioinformatics 🔹 ELIXIR Communities 👉 More info: eccb2026.org/call-proceedings

055

Reposted by Christophe Dessimoz

Marc Robinson-Rechavi @marcrr.bsky.social · 25/02/2026

Very nice learning paths at @sib.swiss: www.sib.swiss/training/lea...

sib.swiss

Learning Paths | SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics

031

Reposted by Christophe Dessimoz

EMBL-EBI @ebi.embl.org · 10/02/2026

We’re hiring: Research Group Leader in computational biology. Are you generating more research ideas than you can explore? Lead cutting-edge AI & biology research at EMBL-EBI. Apply by 11 April 2026: embl.wd103.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/EMBL/j... #ScienceCareers @ewaldlab.org @embl.org

03950

Reposted by Christophe Dessimoz

EMBO @embo.org · 02/02/2026

Apply now! The 2026 call for the EMBO Young Investigator Programme is now open with a deadline of 1 April 12:00 midday CEST. 🧪 More info here: www.embo.org/funding/fellowships-gr… #LifeSciences #research #funding

02323

Reposted by Christophe Dessimoz

IreneJulca @irenejulca.bsky.social · 02/02/2026

(1/3) I am very happy to share that I’ll be moving to Aarhus University as an Assistant Professor in March. During these years, I’ve met so many great people who supported me on this path, and even if I can’t name everyone here, I’m truly grateful to all of you!

272

Reposted by Christophe Dessimoz

Bioinformatics Advances @bioinfoadv.bsky.social · 29/01/2026

🧬 Just out in Bioinformatics Advances: "OMAnnotator: A novel approach to building an annotated consensus genome sequence". Full article available: doi.org/10.1093/bioadv/vbag015 Authors include: @dessimoz.bsky.social, @whynevers.bsky.social

135

Reposted by Christophe Dessimoz

Dongwook Kim @dongwookkim.bsky.social · 28/01/2026

We devised a benchmark method to quantify the impact of homolog enrichment on phylogenetic inference, decomposing the effects on MSA quality, tree inference quality, and rooting. We show homolog enrichment improves tree inference, while effects on alignments remain marginal. 🧵2/n

For each orthologous gene family, we constructed three MSAs: original, computed by applying sequence aligners directly to the input sequences; enriched, computed by aligning the combined set of orthologs and homologs identified by database search; and impoverished, obtained by removing the added homologs from the enriched MSA. We then used TCS to quantify congruence of the resulting trees against the known taxonomy. The normalized difference in congruence between the original and enriched trees captures the joint impact of sequence addition on alignment and tree inference. The normalized difference between the original and impoverished trees reflects the effect on alignment quality alone. The effect on tree inference can then be estimated by subtraction. We observed a positive impact of homolog enrichment on phylogenetic tree inference step, regardless of the sequence aligner used to build the alignments. Notably, the impact of sequence addition on alignments was marginal.

172