Sign in

Arnaud Martin

@evolvwing.bsky.social
2.5K followers 1.6K following 328 posts

Associate Professor of Biology at the George Washington University Interested in Pattern Formation, Evolutionary Tinkering, Genetics, #lociofevolution #dnacrobatics #evodevo #lepidoptera dnacrobatics.com pubs: rb.gy/nfg8p

PostsRepliesMedia
Arnaud Martin @evolvwing.bsky.social · 2h
Cell Press giving a rather biased, pro-eugenics platform to self-proclaimed "Biotech Barbie", former a Thiel Fellow who briefly married He Jiankui, and fails to properly frame the debate on germline editing. Partly bonkers, partly important, check out this thread 🤯
0118
Reposted by Arnaud Martin
Joe Hanly @hanliconius.bsky.social · 2h
I'm sorry, but there's no way to describe this but as a pro-eugenics Op-Ed disguised as a scientific review, and is a complete failure of editorial and ethical standards at @cellpress.bsky.social . This article should be retracted. 5/5
2137
Reposted by Arnaud Martin
Joe Hanly @hanliconius.bsky.social · 2h
@cellpress.bsky.social has just released an.... interesting new 'short review' on pre-implantation gene editing, in which author Cathy Tie argues for the ethical imperative of pushing for this technology. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... There are, to put it mildly, a few issues here. 1/
Medicine has a responsibility to develop interventions that safely reduce human suffering. Therapeutic germline gene editing should be judged by the scientific evidence supporting it, not by the history of the field. If rigorous clinical evaluation demonstrates that it is safe and effective, continued prohibition would itself require ethical justification.
187
Reposted by Arnaud Martin
Tessa Montague @tessamontague.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
I'm excited to share our new preprint: Generation of a transgenic cephalopod tinyurl.com/pc86jxz8 Cephalopods (cuttlefish, octopus & squid) are crazy critters that dynamically camouflage to their surroundings by changing the color, pattern, & texture of their skin, which they control w their brain.
13329110
Reposted by Arnaud Martin
Zhaoqi Leng @zhaoqileng42.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
The amazing mimicry of Uropyia meticulodina, Qinling mountain, 2026-7.
032
Reposted by Arnaud Martin
Joe Hanly @hanliconius.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Very pleased to share that we just released a new ref genome for Colias eurytheme and added the first genome for C philodice to NCBI. Both chrom-level, made with pacbio hi-fi and ci-fi (=pac bio chromatin reads). Both from MD. Please use and share widely, I’ll have a citable source preprinted soon.
2134
Reposted by Arnaud Martin
Joe Hanly @hanliconius.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
I hate to do this with real data, but this is a persistent data vis issue in chromosome synteny riparian plots that we Need to get better at. Left, a synteny plot published today. Right, a rearranged version with exactly the same gross arrangement but with reordered chromosomes:
chromosome synteny riparian plot in which every chromosome has crossing lineschromosome synteny plot in which no chromosomes have crossing lines. The underlying structure is identical.
29639
Reposted by Arnaud Martin
Nicolas Di-Poi @nicolasdipoi.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Our collaborative paper on snake coiling is now out in the latest issue of @currentbiology.bsky.social and featured on the cover! 🎉 Delighted to see our work highlighted this way. You can read it here: authors.elsevier.com/c/1ni9h3QW8S... @helsinki-biotech.bsky.social @helsinki.fi
15918
Arnaud Martin @evolvwing.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
The Barfbow in-the-browser app is now available at this URL evolvwing.github.io/barfbow/ Fun tool to create custom color palettes, give it a try!
021
Arnaud Martin @evolvwing.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Such an essential piece. To share with students, trainees, and colleagues all around. (from 7 years ago) www.nature.com/articles/d41...
nature.com
Novelist Cormac McCarthy’s tips on how to write a great science paper
The Pulitzer prizewinner shares his advice for pleasing readers, editors and yourself.
13314
Reposted by Arnaud Martin
Ellen O. Martinson @waspvenom.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
The Martinson lab is looking for new PhD students! We have so much cool data and need help making sense of it all! If interested please contact me!
Flyer for position in Plant Genome Manipulation by Insects "We are looking for new members of our team to work on the molecular mechanisms behind gall induction. A gall is an abnormal growth on a plant that is induced by another organism (i.e., bacteria, fungi, mites, insects). Insect-induced galls are the most complex type, creating structures and pigments not seen in the normal development of the host plant. The insect evades host defenses and co-opts control of plant development redirecting resources away from the plant to create a structure comprised of multiple tissues that both provide nutrition to the insect’s offspring as well as protects them from harm. While some progress has been made in individual systems, we still do not understand how any insect induces a gall to form or whether the mechanisms behind this complex manipulation are conserved across galling species. The Martinson lab works in three independent galling systems to try to understand molecular toolkit used to hijack plant development is shared across distantly related gall-inducing insects or whether each lineage has evolved its own unique suite of effectors and signaling strategies. " If interested email emartinson@unm.edu.
14026
Reposted by Arnaud Martin
Jason GRIZZLED Bittel @bittelmethis.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
There’s a new weapon in the fight against spotted lanternflies! (Word on the street is also that @bsky.app has upgraded their video capabilities. Shall we go for a spin? 🧪)
13518
Arnaud Martin @evolvwing.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
Great quote. In a recent piece Morizot also reminds us that "environment" is a derivative of "environ" : french / old french for "surroundings". Our language tends to make nature a foreign entity, at the skirts of civilization, when it actually permeates us.
020
Arnaud Martin @evolvwing.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
#dataviz example of how brighness shifts w/ Barfbow can craft more readable & accessible color palettes If you rotate this palette (initial hue, h1), most of these 4-color palettes are neat and colorblind friendly 01a02046-79f7-61d5-c91b-740e77c7a252.share.connect.posit.cloud?n=4&h_orbits...
111
Arnaud Martin @evolvwing.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
Here is a very decent replacement to the 16 ggplot2 default colors that plague the literature. And if you don't love them you can tweak it with Barfbow. Varying brightness (Luminance) is key 01a02046-79f7-61d5-c91b-740e77c7a252.share.connect.posit.cloud?n=16&h_orbit...
160
Reposted by Arnaud Martin
PLOS Biology @plosbiology.org · 25/08/2026
What are the genetic mechanisms for the #evolution of novel traits? This study by @brhopkins92.bsky.social &co links #Drosophila sex comb teeth to expression changes within ancestral cells, leading to diverged metabolic/developmental rates, and a novel structure. 🧪 #AcademicSky plos.io/4gQOnZK
Graphical abstract on the gain of a novel trait in Drosophila. The teeth of the recently evolved, male-specific Drosophila sex comb evolved from a more ancient organ, the mechanosensory bristle. We show that changes in the expression of genes that are shared between mechanosensory bristle and sex comb teeth cells lead to changes in a variety of fundamental cellular processes that together enable the morphological transformation.

The photo, phylogeny, general design are those of the corresponding author(s). They made the bristle schematics in biorender and the fly silhouette is their modified drawing of D. melanogaster from SciDraw (https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3925939).
04119
Arnaud Martin @evolvwing.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
Check out the Barfbow app for a little promenade on color domes. Save your custom color palettes. Use variable brightness and colorblind-simuations to improve effective com, accessibility and scientific accuracy in figures. 01a02046-79f7-61d5-c91b-740e77c7a252.share.connect.posit.cloud
150
Reposted by Arnaud Martin
napari @napari.org · 20/08/2026
Sizzling Summer Series 4 - global 🌍️ napari 0.9.0 is about ready to fly out the door! ✈️ We would be grateful if you tried out the pre-release: Install into an environment with `pip install "napari[all]>=0.9.0rc1"` or try with uv in a temp environment with `uvx "napari[all]>=0.9.0rc1"`.
1199
Reposted by Arnaud Martin
Rebekah Rogers @evolscientist.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
We will be hosting DC Area research talks on Evolutionary Genetics at GW starting this Fall. First Tuesday of the Month at 3pm, Science and Engineering Hall. Co-founded with Manus Patten at Georgetown University. Please help spread the word.
The Inaugural Meeting of DC Evolutionary Genetics
Tuesday Sept 1st, 3pm-4pm 
The George Washington University
SEH 8750 

 
Rapid Divergence across Short Geographic Distances in Fireflies
Rebekah Rogers
The George Washington University

& 

How organisms cope with selfish genetic elements 
 Manus Patten 
Georgetown University
32614
Reposted by Arnaud Martin
Mohammed Khallaf @khallaf.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
Yahooo 🎉 We got the cover! Meet our cute cover girl 🥰: the naked mole-rat Queen! 👑 www.nature.com/articles/s41...
419632
Reposted by Arnaud Martin
Steven Strogatz @stevenstrogatz.com · 12/08/2026
Latest crazy story from the frontiers of math and AI -- a neurosurgery resident, with no training in advanced math, uses ChatGPT 5.6 to solve a major open problem in numerical linear algebra. alextownsend.net/essays/SIAMN...
14114
Arnaud Martin @evolvwing.bsky.social · 09/08/2026
the "epic quest" map magnets there are mandatory upgrades to any lab freezer imo www.redbubble.com/people/redpe... by @redpenblackpen.bsky.social
redbubble.com
redpenblackpen Shop | Redbubble
redpenblackpen is an independent artist creating amazing designs for great products such as t-shirts, stickers, posters, and phone cases.
131
Reposted by Arnaud Martin
RedPen/BlackPen @redpenblackpen.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
Tag yourself with your current location!
A map in the style of Tolkein titled 'The Map of Manuscript Earth'. This is something I'm calling 'artography' - and it lists lots of geographic locations on the way to submitting a (scientific) manuscript.
1210037
Reposted by Arnaud Martin
Isabel Almudi @isabelalmudi.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
What happens when evolution adds an extra pair of eyes? Male mayflies evolve an extra pair of dorsal compound eyes, the Turbanate eyes, thought to help males detect females during mating swarms. we have investigate how this remarkable evolutionary novelty develops. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
623493
Arnaud Martin @evolvwing.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
Some essential insect embryology tricks in this! by @marchalfon.bsky.social
010
Arnaud Martin @evolvwing.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
How come do I get to learn about this now, I feel so left out. www.mccrone.com/mm/making-re...
mccrone.com
Technique Video: Making and Repairing Tungsten Needles
In this Hooke College of Applied Sciences video, you will learn how to create and sharpen a tungsten needle.
1105
Arnaud Martin @evolvwing.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
Was Odysseus' holy moly antidote properties based on the counteracting effect of snowdrops on Datura poisoning www.ovid.com/jnls/clinica...
130
Reposted by Arnaud Martin
bioRxiv Evolutionary Biology @biorxiv-evobio.bsky.social · 25/07/2026
Evolution of compound eye cell types shapes visual behaviors across Heliconius butterflies www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/20…
1104
Reposted by Arnaud Martin
Jeff Groh @jeffgroh.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
Avocados come in 2 varieties - A-types start each day female and switch to male midday. B-types do the reverse. In work just published from the last chapter of my PhD, we show this system evolved 40+million yrs ago and is regulated by alleles of 1 transcription factor www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
pnas.org
Balanced polymorphism in a floral transcription factor underlies the ancient rhythm of daily sex alternation in avocado | PNAS
In avocado and certain wild relatives in Lauraceae, a highly synchronized daily rhythm of floral sex timing promotes cross-pollination between two ...
22721274
Reposted by Arnaud Martin
Max Farnworth @maxfarnworth.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
🚨 I am very happy (and relieved!) to announce that I secured Emmy Noether funding by the @dfg.de to start my own group at @unimainz.bsky.social , hosted by Marion Silies & Jakob von Engelhardt in August! 🚨 Website coming soon - open for name/logo suggestions. They better be funny tho!
static.klipy.com
Sophia Petrillo with Megaphone in Golden Girls
ALT: Sophia Petrillo with Megaphone in Golden Girls
179722
Reposted by Arnaud Martin
Mark A. Hanson @hansonmark.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
Hi all, putting feelers out: folks looking for a job ASAP in the 🇬🇧 in Cornwall, or willing to move? Collaborating group hiring a couple roles with skills in any of: - insect injections (incl. gene edits) - machine learning for image analysis - experience with 🦋 a plus! Can email me at link below.
experts.exeter.ac.uk
Discovery
01424
Reposted by Arnaud Martin
Phillip Cleves @pcleves.bsky.social · 02/07/2026
Our work on the symbiont-containing organelle that supports coral reefs is published today. Also, new genetic tools to study symbiosis in both corals and Aiptasia. Great work by Shumpei Maruyama, Cat Henderson, and the rest of the fantastic team. #SymbioSky www.cell.com/cell/abstrac...
cell.com
Co-option of lysosomal machinery shapes the evolution of the intracellular photosymbiosis supporting coral reefs
Corals harbor intracellular algal symbionts in specialized organelles that enable them to build diverse reef ecosystems. Corals and other cnidarians have repeatedly evolved this symbiosis through the ...
66423
Reposted by Arnaud Martin
Aintzane Santaquiteria @asantaquiteria.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
Happy to share our new paper in Nat. Comm. on the evolution of planktivory in surgeonfishes and relatives 🐠🧬 Combining fossils and genomics, we find multiple independent origins of planktivory, plus convergent positive selection in key genes linked to planktivory. 👉 www.nature.com/articles/s41...
22912
Reposted by Arnaud Martin
Vincent Debat @vincentdebat.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
Repeated evolution of iridescence and hindwing tails is associated with morphometric flight proxies in skipper butterflies academic.oup.com/evolut/artic...
academic.oup.com
Repeated evolution of iridescence and hindwing tails is associated with morphometric flight proxies in skipper butterflies
Abstract. Phenotypic evolution is shaped by phylogenetic history, ecology and biomechanical constraints. Butterfly wings offer an ideal system to explore t
045
Arnaud Martin @evolvwing.bsky.social · 24/06/2026
Slippery Slop : liberally using AI tools without gauging the layered consequences of their implementation
040
Arnaud Martin @evolvwing.bsky.social · 24/06/2026
NO NO NO NO NO NO Ranking science with AI-based metrics is a slippery slope. Everyone should reject it right now.
1275
Arnaud Martin @evolvwing.bsky.social · 22/06/2026
"The entire National Science Foundation budget is less than what we spent in the first week of the war with Iran."
041
Arnaud Martin @evolvwing.bsky.social · 22/06/2026
www.youtube.com/watch?v=347t...
youtube.com
Vincent Le Masne et Bertrand Porquet - Guitares Dérive (1976) [FULL ALBUM]
YouTube video by Kacy Cyryn
111
Reposted by Arnaud Martin
Peter Mulhair @petermulhair.bsky.social · 11/06/2026
Latest paper lead by Asia Hoile with @peterhox.bsky.social is out! 🦋 Nymphalid butterflies have reduced forelegs. Gene expression patterns show support for more palp-like genes involved in sensory processes in the forelegs relative to the walking legs. doi.org/10.1111/imb....
doi.org
Distinctive gene expression in the reduced first thoracic legs of a nymphalid butterfly
Transcriptome analysis reveals that the small non-walking front legs of a butterfly have distinct gene expression to the four walking legs. Reduced front legs express a gene with putative mechanosen...
1239
Reposted by Arnaud Martin
Jessica Foley @jessicafoley14.bsky.social · 16/06/2026
Very excited to finally have this out in the world! The first paper from my PhD (and my first first-author publication) makes the case for a new entrant to the world of long-lived animal models: Heliconius butterflies. Out now in @natcomms.nature.com www.nature.com/articles/s41... (1/10)
nature.com
Evolution of increased longevity and slowed ageing in a genus of tropical butterfly - Nature Communications
Studying long-lived species across the animal kingdom could provide insights into healthy ageing in humans. This study reveals long lifespans and slowed ageing in Heliconius butterflies, identifying t...
29225
Reposted by Arnaud Martin
Pooja A. Anilkumar @poojaavinipully.bsky.social · 16/06/2026
Velvet worm under SEM! #onychophora #peripatidae #peripatus
08923
Arnaud Martin @evolvwing.bsky.social · 11/06/2026
Google Scholar Labs has recently transformed how I look for literature, highly recommended scholar.google.com/scholar_labs...
3141
Reposted by Arnaud Martin
PlantEvolution 🌱🌾 @plantevolution.bsky.social · 11/06/2026
Amazing! This report suggests that a gall aphid injects into their plant host an enzyme that manipulates auxin levels in the host and thereby induces galls. #plantscience #plantsci www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
16927
Reposted by Arnaud Martin
Vincent Debat @vincentdebat.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
Super nice podcast by Violaine Llaurens on the evolution of Morpho butterflies (in french!) www.radiofrance.fr/francecultur...
165
Reposted by Arnaud Martin
Jessica Tollkuhn @tollkuhn.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
wow, neuroscientists are just gonna use FindMarkers and claim DEGs in their snRNA-seq just like they claimed p<0.05 was a legit cutoff for bulk RNA-seq for like a decade.
021
Reposted by Arnaud Martin
Josh Jahner @jpjahner.bsky.social · 08/06/2026
Our new paper documents highly variable hybridization outcomes across years in sulphur butterflies academic.oup.com/evolut/artic...
academic.oup.com
Temporal dynamics of color polymorphism and hybridization in Colias butterflies
Abstract. Investigations into the genetic basis of color polymorphism have played a key role in our understanding of genetic architecture and the evolution
054
Reposted by Arnaud Martin
Steffen Scholpp @scholpplab.bsky.social · 06/06/2026
After months of experiments, failed injections, unexpected results, and those rare moments when everything suddenly works - our manuscript is finally submitted. Read our newest story about a journey of tiny vesicles carrying big biological messages, now in bioRxiv. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
1279
Reposted by Arnaud Martin
Tom Astle @tjalamont.bsky.social · 04/06/2026
#Bugsky 🐙🌿 Shared with me by a fof in SoCal - this is a gynandromorph (both male & female) valley carpenter bee (Xylocopa sonorina). Females are black, males orange, so the extreme color dimorphism really stands out. Per Doug Yanega at UC Riverside, bee gynandromorphs he’s seen are mosaic instead—
A photo looking down on an unusual bee clinging to a green shirt. The bee is a stout bee called a carpenter bee, but what’s unusual is that it is both male and female, known as a gynandromorph. In this particular species (Xylocopa sonorina), females are jet black and males are fuzzy orange. This one has an abdomen that is divided into four perfect quadrants, like a checkerboard, alternating orange and black. The thorax is mostly black but with some orange.
332111633
Reposted by Arnaud Martin
Stand Up for Science! @standupforscience.net · 31/05/2026
What does the new OMB proposal mean for science? How can we STOP VOUGHT and SAVE SCIENCE together? All of these questions and more to be discussed at the Emergency Science Meeting on June 2nd, 4PM ET, hosted by Stand Up for Science! Register at the link in our bio, or go here: zurl.co/g3vTZ
The graphic contains photos of speakers Prof. Timothy Snyder, U. of Toronto, Author of On Tyranny, Dr. Carolyn Bertozzi, Standford U. Nobel Laureate 2022, Amb. Norman Eisen, Democracy Defeders, and Dr. Elizabeth Ginexi, 20 yr NIH Veteren, "AND MORE..." to speak. The graphic reads: "TUESDAY JUNE 2nd 4PM ET/1PM PT, All welcome for the SUFS EMERGENCY SCIENCE MEETING, VIRTUAL AND ACCESSIBLE, What does the new OMB proposal mean for science? How can we STOP VOUGHT and SAVE SCIENCE together? REGISTER HERE: https://zurl.co/oCIDw, LINK IN BIO".
13478281
Reposted by Arnaud Martin
Matthew Hahn @3rdreviewer.bsky.social · 02/06/2026
Very happy to announce a big new paper from the lab, led by grad students @smishra677.bsky.social and Laia Pomar-Pallarès (in collaboration with @roblanfear.bsky.social). We introduce a new way to study introgression, with accompanying software (DAFT) 1/n 🧵 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
biorxiv.org
49467