iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

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Matteo Farinella (he/him) @matteofarinella.bsky.social · 1h

Just an old neuron drawing. #neuroscience #drawing #fallvibes 🍁

Stylized drawing of neurons: one red, one yellow and one grey blue

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Simon Bullock @simonbullock11.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

How are mRNAs linked to molecular motors in mammalian cells? In our new preprint, we show that FXR1/2 are RNA adaptors for the microtubule motor dynein. Our findings have also prompted us to rethink how activating adaptors contribute to motor-based transport (1/n)

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Ali Twelvetrees @dozenoaks.bsky.social · 18h

Kelce as a mummer ❤️ feel like I need this one :)

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Rob Ford @robfordmancs.bsky.social · 10/10/2026

It would seem the Home Office has now acquired the ability to impose, without visibility or accountability, shadow bans on students coming to British universities from particular countries. How? Because of the interaction between indiv visa decisions (made by HO alone) and visa rules for unis 1/?

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Mill_lab @cilialab.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

Nikon just announced it has withdrawn first place in this year’s #SWiM after finding winning video did not comply with its generative AI rules. www.nikonsmallworld.com/news/nikon-s... Letter still open until Monday- this is a starting point to engage & discuss how AI is transforming microscopy 🔬

nikonsmallworld.com

Nikon Small World in Motion Video Statement | News | Nikon Small World

An update from Nikon Small World regarding the 2026 Small World in Motion first-place winning video: After thoroughly re-evaluating the video and supporting materials and consulting with members of…

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Mill_lab @cilialab.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

#InMicroscopyWeTrust #ImagedNotImagined 🔬 Let's keep this up we are 396 signatories- researchers, imaging specialists, clinicians and patient advocates- from 33 countries and territories to far, including three former Small World judges. Add your voice! 💪 🧪

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FocalPlane @focalplane.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

Researchers from cilia biology and microscopy, as well as primary ciliary dyskinesia clinicians, have written an open letter to Nikon regarding the winning video in their Small World in Motion competition. To read the open letter and find out how to add you name:

focalplane.biologists.com

Please sign and share: open letter to Nikon on the 2026 Small World in Motion winner - FocalPlane

Please sign and share: open letter to Nikon on the 2026 Small World in Motion winner - News

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Mill_lab @cilialab.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

Microscopy images are scientific evidence, and that image processing must be transparent and faithful to the underlying biology. Reinforce those standards, especially now-insist Nikon uphold them. #NikonSWiM2026 Read the letter: tinyurl.com/OpenLetterSW... Add your name: forms.gle/TyGRELnCxq5z...

tinyurl.com

Open letter to Nikon Small World in Motion

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Iris van Rooij 💭 @irisvanrooij.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Dear @erc.europa.eu , we DO already have common standards & frameworks. 'AI' likes to pose itself as 'special' but we do not need to reinvent the wheel. We already have established codes of conduct for research integrity. We just need to apply them. See below + more resources in thread🧵

Protecting the Ecosystem of Human Knowledge: Five Principles
We must protect and cultivate the ecosystem of human knowledge. AI models can mimic
the appearance of scholarly work, but they are (by construction) unconcerned with truth
— the result is a torrential outpouring of unchecked but convincing-sounding “informa-
tion”. At best, such output is accidentally true, but generally citationless, divorced from
human reasoning and the web of scholarship that it steals from. At worst, it is confidently
wrong. Both outcomes are dangerous to the ecosystem.
Olivia Guest, Iris van Rooij, Marcela Suarez, et al. (2025, n.p.)
Knowledge production is supposed to be safeguarded by (inter)national codes of conduct for research
integrity (ALLEA 2023; KNAW et al. 2018). Such codes forbid, for instance, fabrication of data,
falsification of results, plagiarism, and, generally, distortion of the scientific record. Many argue that
new rules are required to regulate academic AI use, but pre-existing guidelines fit the bill (cf. Tafani

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Nivedita Sarveswaran @neuroniv.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

And it did not disappoint! Thank you for the welcoming experience to York and the inspiring breadth of mol/cell neurobiology #NeuroBioUK26 - already looking to next time, September 17th 2027!

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Jonny Nixon-Abell @abelljonny.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

🚨🚨Final reminder for abstract submission deadline next Tuesday (28th)! Please RT 🙏

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Ali Twelvetrees @dozenoaks.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

The original explainer 🧵 can be found here: bsky.app/profile/doze... Thanks to reviewers and editors for making this a great experience!

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Ali Twelvetrees @dozenoaks.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

Delighted to see the latest preprint progress to publication with Advanced Science. We built the protein FRET ruler as a bridge between biophysicists and cell biologists - realising the potential of FRET link measurements from molecules to cells. advanced.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

Histogram of the FRET protein ladder below with the corresponding structural predictions of the ladder molecules above.

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Robin Bisson @robinbisson.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

Almost exactly 6 months ago, RPN was leaked a document presented to STFC staff that said the council had to reduce spending by £162m by 2029-30 That kicked off months of debate on how cuts would be made But only now has it become clear the total cost savings needed over 4 years is in fact £684m 🧵

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Ali Twelvetrees @dozenoaks.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

Time is running out!! Last couple of days…. #neuroskyence

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Stephen Royle @steveroyle.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

VolcanoPlotR: a new package for visualising proteomic data in R. Explainer: quantixed.org/2026/07/15/e... Code: github.com/quantixed/Vo... Docs: quantixed.github.io/VolcanoPlotR/

The hexsticker for the package. It has a lilac background and the emoji for Vulcan hand salute (vulcan, get it?) and VolcanoPlotR is in black letters at the top.

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Avezov lab @avezovlab.bsky.social · 14/07/2026

Thrilled to see our paper now featured on the cover, as part of the highlight “Neurodegeneration Through the Lens of Selective Brain Cell Vulnerability.” advanced.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/share/4YDKRX...

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James N. Sleigh @jamessleigh.bsky.social · 13/07/2026

In our latest pre-print, we show that mice with the neuropathy-causing GARS1 ∆ETAQ mutation display robust pathology in subsets of peripheral nerves: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... Well done @beccasimkin.bsky.social and Aurélie Paulo-Ramos! @uclqsneuromuscular.bsky.social @uclqsion.bsky.social

The images depicts a graphical abstract of the paper. Text abstract: Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease type 2D (CMT2D) results from gain-of-function mutations in GARS1, which encodes glycyl-tRNA synthetase (GlyRS), the enzyme responsible for charging transfer RNA (tRNA) with glycine. There are several CMT2D mouse models, but Gars∆ETAQ/+ is the only one that bears a patient-sourced mutation. Created using CRISPR/Cas9 to model a 12-nucleotide de novo GARS1 deletion identified in an unusually severe CMT2D patient, Gars∆ETAQ/+ mice have previously been shown to display several neuromuscular phenotypes; motor axon loss, denervated neuromuscular junctions (NMJs) and reduced muscle function. Here, we extend these analyses to provide a more comprehensive understanding of both motor and sensory nerve deficits across hind- and fore-limbs. At 3 months, Gars∆ETAQ/+ mice possess sex-independent alterations in the levels of neuropathy biomarkers – including decreased NfL and increased periaxin – alongside reduced muscle endurance and strength, and impairments in the sensory modalities of mechanosensation, proprioception and nociception. Underpinning these dysfunctions, we identified site-specific defects comprising altered sensory neuron populations, muscle spindle loss, reduced motor neuron size, disrupted NMJ innervation and maturation, and reduced axonal transport of signalling endosomes in vivo. Together, these experiments show that Gars∆ETAQ/+ mice display robust and selective peripheral nerve pathology that manifests in a general distal-to-proximal fashion, priming this CMT2D allele for testing treatments and evaluating mechanisms underlying peripheral nerve vulnerability.

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Ali Twelvetrees @dozenoaks.bsky.social · 13/07/2026

Absolutely beautiful work from the Bradke lab here. As an aside, I'm also genuinely stunned to see fundamental neuronal cell biology like this in Nature! An intrinsic cytoskeletal oscillator establishes neuronal polarityhttps://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-026-10755-6

nature.com

An intrinsic cytoskeletal oscillator establishes neuronal polarity - Nature

The ARP2/3 complex works together with actomyosin in an oscillatory program at the soma to govern neuronal polarization.

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Jonny Nixon-Abell @abelljonny.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

Reminder all that the deadline for sign up and abstract submissions is July 28th!!

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Ali Twelvetrees @dozenoaks.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

🚨 Early bird registration deadline for NeuroBioUK26 is fast approaching! Register by July 17th to secure your discounted rate (£35) AND remember to submit your abstract to be in the running for a talk slot. You're faithful organising committee have some hard deadlines this year, so please submit!

neurobiouk.sites.sheffield.ac.uk

NeuroBioUK - Registration

Step 1: Register through our event page. All attendees should register to attend through our event page. Early bird registration deadline is the 17th of July (£35) and late registration deadline is th...

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Ali Twelvetrees @dozenoaks.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

Unsure whether NeuroBioUK is for you? You can see our full speaker line ups and topics from past years here (neurobiouk.sites.sheffield.ac.uk/past-meetings), as well this excellent report on last years event shared on FocalPlane by Sally Horton: focalplane.biologists.com/2025/10/06/n....

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Ali Twelvetrees @dozenoaks.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

neurobiouk.sites.sheffield.ac.uk

NeuroBioUK - Registration

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Robin Bisson @robinbisson.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

For 6 months the line from DSIT & UKRI on STFC cuts has been that no final decisions have been taken That is no longer the case, after DSIT approved UKRI's proposal for how to save £162m British research at Cern will be hit, along with UK science facilities Scoop by me & @francesjones.bsky.social

researchprofessionalnews.com

UK research at Cern to shrink as government approves STFC cuts - Research Professional News

Exclusive: Science department approves UKRI’s cost-saving proposal, with major UK facilities also facing cutbacks

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Ali Twelvetrees @dozenoaks.bsky.social · 03/07/2026

Thought I was from the midlands, till I went to uni in London and was told unequivocally I was northerner. If we are only allowed north and south, I guess it’s true enough - I grew up in a town with a coal mine and a power station. Always makes me laugh when nimbys think wind turbines are ugly…

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Kirsty Grainger @kirstygrainger.bsky.social · 01/07/2026

This is really rough news for everyone who works at RP. I'm so sorry to read this and hope impacted colleagues have good support networks to lean on. It will create a huge hole in a sector for which the timing couldn't be worse. www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-o...

researchprofessionalnews.com

Research Professional News to discontinue publication at end of 2026 - Research Professional News

A message for readers about the publication’s closure and continued community access to past reporting

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Ali Twelvetrees @dozenoaks.bsky.social · 01/07/2026

Disappointed but not surprised that the University of Sheffield are not signatories on this charter. Their policies are already amongst the poorest in the sector and no doubt set to get worse now.

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Ran Blekhman @blekhman.bsky.social · 27/06/2026

I looked at this but left it out of the post, because the gender inference tool could only classify 44% of first authors and 31% of last authors. But given this caveat, this is the distribution: First authors: 71% male, 29% female Last authors: 83% male, 17% female

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Kris Willis @kawillis.bsky.social · 26/06/2026

As you might imagine, as someone who studies science and works on metrics, I have some thoughts on qed myself. I fully agree that the messaging can be described as tone-deaf and problematic. I don’t think it had to be. ripplingideas.org/2026/06/26/t...

ripplingideas.org

The 1% club and the rocky road ahead for bioRxiv

The recent launch of qed’s “top 1%” preprint ranking has sparked controversy, with concerns about its arbitrary nature, potential harm to authors, and low-quality inclusions. Whil…

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Ali Twelvetrees @dozenoaks.bsky.social · 25/06/2026

Yep - I had a preprint missing on my google scholar for ages. It didn't appear until I added it to my ORCID myself.

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Alex Eve @amjeve.uk · 24/06/2026

Noticeable underrepresentation of women as corresponding authors in the 1%. Almost as if AI has been trained on years of discriminatory behaviours and is perpetuating that bias.

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Ali Twelvetrees @dozenoaks.bsky.social · 22/06/2026

I was permanently hot before the heat wave started. I keep checking the weather forecast and hoping… 😓

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Ali Twelvetrees @dozenoaks.bsky.social · 22/06/2026

If one more person who is not 35+ weeks pregnant tells me they are hot I am going to lose it

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Ali Twelvetrees @dozenoaks.bsky.social · 18/06/2026

I have a suspicion that our collective delusion about how much is possible during summer is based on hazy childhood memories of summer holidays lasting forever and being frequently bored…

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Prof Jenny Rohn @jennyrohn.bsky.social · 18/06/2026

Buckle up for the ride, ladies. It’s not going to get better. #AI #LLM #WomenInSTEM #AcademicSky

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Nature Methods @natmethods.nature.com · 15/06/2026

We are very excited to bring back our popular Points of View column, written by @helenajambor.bsky.social! Check out her first column in our July issue about the usage of color scales in scientific figures. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

nature.com

Color scales and the birth of viridis - Nature Methods

The color palette viridis is replacing rainbow color schemes in scientific figures, for good reason.

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Ali Twelvetrees @dozenoaks.bsky.social · 16/06/2026

To me at least, the wealth of human mutations in the microtubule transport system linked to neurodegeneration means there really should be much more work in the preclinical space targeting this system directly.

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Ali Twelvetrees @dozenoaks.bsky.social · 16/06/2026

By synthesising recent human genetic evidence with biophysical insights into motor regulation, it's clear that neuronal longevity is not just a product of transport capacity, but of precisely tuned motor protein activity.

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Ali Twelvetrees @dozenoaks.bsky.social · 16/06/2026

Although there are hundreds of mutations across the microtubule transport system linked disease, we focus here on the kinesin-1, kinesin-3 and cytoplasmic dynein families. These are the specialists in long distance transport that neurons rely on. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

A scientific figure showing: (A) a gene expression heat map of kinesin-3 isofroms across human tissues; (B) a predicted structural model of kinesin-3 isoform KIF1A; (C) a schematic of the domain structure of KIF1A; (D) the locations of human mutations in the KIF1A protein, coloured by disease phenotype.

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Ali Twelvetrees @dozenoaks.bsky.social · 16/06/2026

The review touches on the human diseases Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (aka Motor Neuron Disease), Hereditary Spastic Paraplegia, Charcot–Marie-Tooth Type 2, Perry syndrome, KAND, and Hereditary Motor Neuropathy. #ALS #MND #HSP #CMT2 #PerrySyndrome #KAND #HMN

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Ali Twelvetrees @dozenoaks.bsky.social · 16/06/2026

Our latest review is out. We take a deep dive into the human mutations in microtubule motors that drive devastating neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative diseases. Taking in motor protein biophysics, animal models of disease as well as patient phenotypes. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

Graphical abstract summarising the impact of defective microtubule motors on axonal transport. Kinesins (green) and dyneins (magenta) maintain balance along the length of the axon. When disease causing mutations cause either hyper or hypo activity, the loss of balance results in axon dieback.

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Exciting Instruments @ei-science.bsky.social · 05/06/2026

🐮 What lies between the “spherical cow” of purified proteins and live-cell imaging? The messy middle. Explore single-molecule biophysics in crude lysates and serum, with real-world case studies and practical workflows. excitinginstruments.com/resource-lib... #biophysics #singlemolecule

excitinginstruments.com

Embracing biophysics in cell lysates or serum | Exciting Instruments

Explore how the 'messy middle' of biophysics, namely cell lysates and serum, combines single-molecule sensitivity with biological context.

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Elena Scarpa & The Squeezable Cells Lab @squeezycellslab.bsky.social · 10/06/2026

We are thrilled to announce our new preprint from the wonderful @sorayavillaseca.bsky.social Ever wondered how cells squeeze through tiny spaces in embryos? Neural crest cells use Dynein to transport their nucleus along microtubules. Check out the preprint!! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

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Ali Twelvetrees @dozenoaks.bsky.social · 08/06/2026

Gutted not to be at the Cell Biology of the Neuron GRC this week - please do check out Emma Turner’s poster if you’re there. The next part of our kinesin-1 odyssey will be a preprint soon, but you can get a sneak peek this week :)

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