iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by mara lawniczak

Leah Houri-Zeevi @leahhouri.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

🩸🩸🩸TODAY WE SHARE TWO MAJOR DISCOVERIES🩸🩸🩸 1. We peered into genomes and brains of the rare mosquitoes that QUIT feeding on blood and found what biting is built from 2. Humans got rid of isoleucine in their blood, malaria suffers from it, and mosquito proteomes budget for it THREADS>

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mara lawniczak @marakat.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

i let most of the flies go but kept several for DToL and all these years later the genome is finally out. curated by @kamilsjaron.bsky.social

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mara lawniczak @marakat.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

i put it in a jar of dirt and it burrowed down (video attached) and about 7 months later a bunch of tachinid flies hatched out.

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mara lawniczak @marakat.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

this was a fun one -- found a beautiful but doomed privet hawkmoth caterpillar -- see those tiny tachinid eggs on its side? wellcomeopenresearch.org/articles/11-...

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mara lawniczak @marakat.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

DNA barcoders and people interested in this area -- a community forum is happening -- register to attend here docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

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Reposted by mara lawniczak

KamilSJaron.bsky.social @kamilsjaron.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

New preprint: 338 coleopteran genomes reveal exceptional rearrangement variation compared to other insect orders. Big congrats to @arf-mln.bsky.social, for getting this giant piece together. Big collaboration of @joanameier.bsky.social's and my groups. 🧵👇 doi.org/10.64898/202...

Phylogeny of 338 species with tips painted by the chromosomal ancestry of their contemporary genomes (well separated colours indicate only few changes, while blending indicates rearrangements). Colouring of the branches is by the number of rearrangements. The ring between paints and phylogeny indicates wether the chromosomal rearrangement was fusion dominated (brown) or fission dominated (teal) process.
Photo credits: Udo Schmidt, Lech Borowiec, JL Tachet, David Navrátil, Fred Chevaillot, Siga, Cosmin Manci, John Hallmén, Igor Souza-Gonçalves, Alex Hyde, H. Coiffait, David Ignace, Yves Bousquet.

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Earth BioGenome Project 🌍 @ebpgenome.bsky.social · 14/07/2026

❄️🧬 Can we generate high-quality reference genomes without the cold chain? A new study suggests the answer is yes. DNA preserved at room temperature for up to one week produced chromosome-scale reference genomes. 📖 tinyurl.com/3zwtj9ka #Genomes @gigascience.bsky.social @sangerinstitute.bsky.social

Close-up photograph of a mosquito perched on a green blade of grass against a dark background. White text at the top reads, "Breaking the Cold Chain." Additional text states, "Room-temperature preservation enables chromosome-scale reference genomes." "GigaScience 2026" appears in the lower-right corner.

Three researchers collect biological samples in a forest. One researcher kneels while holding a collection tube beside an insulated cooler, and two others stand nearby preparing samples. A large arrow points to the cooler. Text explains that high-quality reference genomes traditionally require specimens to remain frozen from collection through DNA extraction, highlighting the challenge of maintaining the cold chain during fieldwork.

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Reposted by mara lawniczak

Xavier Grau-Bové 🌾 @xgrau.bsky.social · 19/06/2026

Do you work with scRNAseq data in non-model organisms that have less-than-stellar gene annotations? ✨ 🧬 You might be interested in GeneExt, a nifty little tool by @zolotarg.bsky.social in @arnausebe.bsky.social's lab, published in #Bioinformatics earlier this year. #singlecell #transcriptomics

academic.oup.com

GeneExt: a gene model extension tool for enhanced single-cell RNA-seq analysis

AbstractMotivation. Incomplete gene models negatively impact single-cell gene expression quantification. This is particularly true in non-model species whe

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mara lawniczak @marakat.bsky.social · 06/06/2026

really enjoyed being a small part of bringing together this analysis of hundreds of Darwin Tree of Life fly genomes. outstanding work by @juliagries.bsky.social, sam ebdon, and @kamilsjaron.bsky.social

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mara lawniczak @marakat.bsky.social · 01/06/2026

but worth thinking about what you want RNA data from -- might be best to bisect and get expression data from all lep tissues. FYI, ethanol is also not bad at preserving RNA, contrary to expectations. would not use it for quantitative data generation but should be ok for genome annotation.

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mara lawniczak @marakat.bsky.social · 01/06/2026

for larger organisms, recommend breaking tissues into lentil sized pieces for HMW DNA and Hi-C ethanol preservation -- if you have cut them, then that takes the place of the squish anyway as it enables the preservation liquid to penetrate. if you have plenty of material, put some in RNAlater too.

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mara lawniczak @marakat.bsky.social · 29/05/2026

Please share this message with the link to the recording and the spreadsheet with any colleagues and collaborators that you feel would be interested in this work and willing to input their suggestions. Thank you!

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mara lawniczak @marakat.bsky.social · 29/05/2026

This spreadsheet is open for your suggestions (please follow instructions on tab 1) until June 22nd, after which all suggestions will be considered and a final shortlist of species, preservation approaches, and temperature conditions will be decided and the project will commence.

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mara lawniczak @marakat.bsky.social · 29/05/2026

The spreadsheet for inputting these suggestions can be found here. docs.google.com/spreadsheets...

docs.google.com

OPEN for comments - BGE+ breaking the cold chain project

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mara lawniczak @marakat.bsky.social · 29/05/2026

We encourage members of the reference genome community, and especially those collecting samples in the field, to put forward suggestions of taxa, preservation solutions, and temperature conditions to be considered for this work.

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mara lawniczak @marakat.bsky.social · 29/05/2026

As mentioned in the meeting, thanks to funding from BGE+, at Sanger Tree of Life, we will be undertaking a large trial to identify cold-chain free sample collection approaches that result in high quality chromosomal genomes across the tree of life.

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mara lawniczak @marakat.bsky.social · 29/05/2026

Thank you to everyone that was able to attend the Tree of Life Genome Forum meeting yesterday where some early results on “breaking the cold chain” for chromosomal reference genomes were presented. The recording from the meeting can be found here: youtu.be/GwEwdBZRwoE

youtu.be

Meeting 4: Breaking the cold chain

YouTube video by Tree of Life

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mara lawniczak @marakat.bsky.social · 29/05/2026

If you are interested in collecting specimens for chromosomal genomes and/or generating chromosomal reference genomes from specimens that were not cold-chain preserved, please read on and share this thread.

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mara lawniczak @marakat.bsky.social · 18/02/2026

thanks to Sunil Dogga who led this work and the rest of the folks here at Sanger and in Mali who contributed in lots of important ways.

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mara lawniczak @marakat.bsky.social · 18/02/2026

when we compare a couple different long read assemblies within each species. this started out as a Malaria Cell Atlas side project as we had remaining material after doing single cell RNAseq on these samples (more on that to come soon)...

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mara lawniczak @marakat.bsky.social · 18/02/2026

new reference genomes for Plasmodium ovale wallikeri and Plasmodium malariae (& Pf too) direct from blood taken from children carrying these parasites -- this was done with as little as 2 ng of DNA. all sorts of craziness going on in the subtelomeric regions ...

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Reposted by mara lawniczak

Richard Sever @richardsever.bsky.social · 12/01/2026

Preprints of pandemic potential - new historical piece from me on the history of bioRxiv/medRxiv, their role in the pandemic, and the way forward. 1/n journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...

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mara lawniczak @marakat.bsky.social · 12/01/2026

i do believe that is anders carlson.

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Arnau Sebé-Pedrós @arnausebe.bsky.social · 02/01/2026

Open Senior Bioinformatician position at @sangerinstitute.bsky.social Tree of Life, to work on the Biodiversity Cell Atlas initiative with @marakat.bsky.social and me. 📅 Apply by January 18 🔗 sanger.wd103.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/Wellco... Please share with anyone who might be interested!

sanger.wd103.myworkdayjobs.com

Senior Bioinformatician - Biodiversity Cell Atlas

Do you want to help us improve human health and understand life on Earth? Make your mark by shaping the future to enable or deliver life-changing science to solve some of humanity’s greatest challenge...

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Reposted by mara lawniczak

Wellcome Sanger Institute @sangerinstitute.bsky.social · 15/12/2025

Join our Tree of Life Programme as a Group Leader in Biodiversity Genomics at the Wellcome Sanger Institute. Lead ambitious, large-scale genomics research to understand life’s diversity on Earth. 🔗 Learn more and apply: sanger.wd103.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/Wellco... 📅 Closing date: 8 February 2026

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Reposted by mara lawniczak

The Global Vector Hub @globalvectorhub.bsky.social · 10/12/2025

🧐 Looking for a #PhD? University of Glasgow @glasgow.ac.uk @sbohvm.gla.ac.uk is offering two fully funded PhD positions within the new VectorGrid-Africa network!🦟 More details: www.gla.ac.uk/colleges/mvl... 📆Application deadline: 12 January 2026.

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Reposted by mara lawniczak

Charlotte Wright @charlottewright.bsky.social · 10/12/2025

Are you excited about pangenomics? If so, join us in Edinburgh on 8-9th June to discuss the latest methods & insights from using these approaches across biodiversity! More details here: royalsociety.org/science-even... Organised together with @henrylnorth.bsky.social & @joanameier.bsky.social!

royalsociety.org

Pangenomics transforms evolutionary biology | Royal Society

This Theo Murphy meeting organised by Dr Joana Meier, Dr Henry North and Dr Charlotte Wright, will showcase cutting-edge pangenome tools, applied uses of pangenomes which are transforming health and a...

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Reposted by mara lawniczak

Antoine Claessens @ant1-claessens.bsky.social · 09/12/2025

Tired of 3D7? Need real P. falciparum genomes from real infections? We’ve got you: 43 PacBio HiFi–assembled genomes from The Gambia, with full var/rifin/stevor repertoires in all their wild diversity. Data now public! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... (1/2)

biorxiv.org

De novo assembly of complete Plasmodium falciparum isolate genomes using PacBio HiFi sequencing technology

Plasmodium falciparum possesses a highly structured genome with extensive sequence diversity concentrated in Variant Surface Antigen (VSA) families. These genes— var , rif , and stevor —play key roles...

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Reposted by mara lawniczak

mara lawniczak @marakat.bsky.social · 20/11/2025

a life changing opportunity made possible by the Nobel Prize funds awarded to John Sulston -- the @sangerinstitute.bsky.social runs the Sanger Prize scheme, open to an undergrad from any LMIC to spend 3 months here learning all about genomics. more details here www.sanger.ac.uk/about/study/...

sanger.ac.uk

The Sanger Prize

The Sanger Prize is an outreach competition aimed at undergraduate students who live and study in low or middle income countries

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Reposted by mara lawniczak

Arnau Sebé-Pedrós @arnausebe.bsky.social · 03/12/2025

Open postdoc position at @sangerinstitute.bsky.social Tree of Life to contribute to the Biodiversity Cell Atlas, with a focus on spatial transcriptomics. Apply by January 4 sanger.wd103.myworkdayjobs.com/en-GB/Wellco... Please share with anyone who might be interested!

sanger.wd103.myworkdayjobs.com

Postdoctoral Fellow - Biodiversity Cell Atlas

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mara lawniczak @marakat.bsky.social · 20/11/2025

sanger.ac.uk

The Sanger Prize

The Sanger Prize is an outreach competition aimed at undergraduate students who live and study in low or middle income countries

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mara lawniczak @marakat.bsky.social · 20/11/2025

final week to apply for @sangerinstitute.bsky.social PhD programme (due Nov 27th) -- free to apply, open to anyone anywhere, and a superb training opportunity for students interested in genomic approaches applied to biodiversity, pathogens, vectors, and of course us pesky humans.

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Yuki Haba @yukihaba.bsky.social · 25/10/2025

How does life evolve to adapt to modern cities? Out now in Science, my PhD work with @lindymcbr.bsky.social uncovers the ancient origin of the “London Underground mosquito” – one of the most iconic examples of urban adaptation. 🧵(1/n) @science.org www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.ady4515

science.org

Ancient origin of an urban underground mosquito

Understanding how life is adapting to urban environments represents an important challenge in evolutionary biology. In this work, we investigate a widely cited example of urban adaptation, Culex pipie...

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Reposted by mara lawniczak

PLOS Biology @plosbiology.org · 22/10/2025

#Microsporidia are #parasites of growing importance. @amjadkhalaf.bsky.social @mblaxter.bsky.social @marakat.bsky.social &co present 40 new genomes from #DarwinTreeofLife sequencing of their arthropod hosts, revealing insights into #tetraploidy & #reproduction @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/48HsAQJ

Top: Prevalence of Microsporidia in DToL insect genomes. Microsporidian genomes recovered from insect hosts, split by taxonomic order. F: female, M: male, U: unspecified sex. Bottom: Simplified proposed generalized lifecycle for Microsporidia. This proposed model posits that each nucleus is a diploid, and that microsporidian reproduction mirrors reproduction in Fungi with stages similar to karyogamy, plasmogamy, and a stable “heterokaryon” (known as a diplokaryon in Microsporidia). Importantly, both the diplokaryotic and monokaryotic phases are parasitic, and species may spend most of their lifecycle in one or the other phase, giving rise to “diploid” and “tetraploid” lineages.

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mara lawniczak @marakat.bsky.social · 22/10/2025

new publication by @amjadkhalaf.bsky.social who mined arthropod reference genome data for hidden microsporidia reads and then did a whole lot of assembling and sleuthing! great job @amjadkhalaf.bsky.social !

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mara lawniczak @marakat.bsky.social · 08/10/2025

The fight against #malaria is at a crossroads. Together with colleagues worldwide, I’ve signed an Open Letter urging #IUCN members to keep the door open to responsible research and new tools that could help reverse stalled progress and save lives. Add your voice here scienceforbiodiversity.org

scienceforbiodiversity.org

Science for Biodiversity

Synthetic biology: Hope for conservation requires keeping all options on the table.

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Arnau Sebé-Pedrós @arnausebe.bsky.social · 24/09/2025

Happy to share the Biodiversity Cell Atlas white paper, out today in @nature.com. We look at the possibilities, challenges, and potential impacts of molecularly mapping cells across the tree of life. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

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Erica McAlister @flygirlnhm.bsky.social · 19/09/2025

www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/new... Mosquitoes that have been in the collection for nearly a hundred years are helping us in dealing with an even older but also current problem - malaria @sangerinstitute.bsky.social @nhm-london.bsky.social

nhm.ac.uk

Genetic study of malaria-carrying mosquitoes tracks evolution of insecticide resistance | Natural History Museum

It crucially also reveals promising genetic targets for potential control.

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Wellcome Sanger Institute @sangerinstitute.bsky.social · 19/09/2025

One of the most dangerous malaria-carrying mosquitoes is rapidly evolving in response to control efforts, genetics has revealed. Findings could inform smarter tools to monitor for and fight malaria. 🦟 Read more here ⤵️ bit.ly/4pwQKDv

bit.ly

Genomic evolution of major malaria-transmitting mosquito species uncovered

Sequencing hundreds of Anopheles funestus mosquitoes provides new insights into the evolutionary patterns of this important human malaria-transmitting species.

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marilou boddé @mariloumercedes.bsky.social · 18/09/2025

Our paper Genomic diversity of the African malaria vector Anopheles funestus was published in Science today! It features inversions, selection in action, museum specimens and putative new ecotypes. doi.org/10.1126/scie...

doi.org

Genomic diversity of the African malaria vector Anopheles funestus

Anopheles funestus s.s. is a major human malaria vector across Africa. To study its evolution, especially under vector control pressure, we sequenced 656 modern specimens (collected 2014 to 2018) and ...

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Charlotte Wright @charlottewright.bsky.social · 11/09/2025

How many chromosomes can an animal have? In our paper out now in @currentbiology.bsky.social we show that the Atlas blue butterfly has 229 chromosome pairs- the highest in diploid Metazoa! These arose by rapid autosome fragmentation while sex chromosomes stayed intact. www.cell.com/current-biol...

tinyurl.com

Constraints on chromosome evolution revealed by the 229 chromosome pairs of the Atlas blue butterfly

The genome of the Atlas blue butterfly contains ten times more chromosomes than most butterflies, and more than any other known diploid animal. Wright et al. show that this extraordinary karyotype is ...

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