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MFTorresJ

@mftorresj.bsky.social
639 followers 431 following 8 posts

Evolution, bioinformatics, GIS. Plants, insects, fungi (now) and ajíes🌶️🌶️🌶️ PI at Vilnius University GMC EvoChromics

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Reposted by MFTorresJ
Gytis Dudas @evogytis.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
And here is the preprint, available online on Baltic Unity Day (Sep 22). Happy citing! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... Thanks again to @barney-potter.bsky.social, @gkarthik.com, @sidneymbell.bsky.social, and @mftorresj.bsky.social
biorxiv.org
baltic: the Backronymed Adaptable Lightweight Tree vIsualisation Code
For ten years, baltic (Backronymed Adaptable Lightweight Tree vIsualization Code) has been used to make annotated phylogeny figures in molecular epidemiology, including during the West African Ebola e...
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Gytis Dudas @evogytis.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
baltic v1.0.0 is live! Get it via pip or clone from Github repo. Now with documentation (baltic.readthedocs.io) & a gallery of tutorials & examples (phylo-baltic.github.io/baltic-gallery, still WIP). Huge thanks to @barney-potter.bsky.social for all the initiative & help along the way. #ViroSky
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Gytis Dudas @evogytis.bsky.social · 19/02/2026
Now that @mftorresj.bsky.social & I are based at VU Life Sciences Center (one of the birthplaces of CRISPR tech) our publication portfolio gets extra diverse thanks to our phylogenetics & data vis skills. Here's one collaboration with @patrick-pausch.bsky.social: doi.org/10.1038/s415...
doi.org
Structure and mechanism of antiphage retron Eco2 - Nature Structural & Molecular Biology
This study shows how the bacterial retron Eco2 defends against viruses. Phage nucleases trigger activation of Eco2, which cuts RNAs, shuts down protein production and stops phage replication.
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Torsten Seemann @torstenseemann.bsky.social · 12/03/2025
🚀🧬 MY former colleague @micamer.bsky.social who I worked with in the early years of my career has released a BLAST service (GUI + API options) which replicates the NCBI services but with faster response times.
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Judith Mank @judithmank.bsky.social · 06/02/2025
Genome architecture and speciation in plants and animals. I learned a lot writing this with @dortizba.bsky.social, Silu Wang and Loren Rieseberg! doi.org/10.22541/au....
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c0nc0rdance @c0nc0rdance.bsky.social · 13/02/2025
In 1825, a skilled Black artisan taught a young medical student, Charles Darwin, how to preserve animal specimens via taxidermy, a skill he used in his exploration of the Galapagos. John Edmonstone was born a slave in Guyana, but freed when the family who owned him moved back to Scotland.
"Artist’s impression of John Edmonstone teaching Darwin to preserve birds."  A Black man appears to work on a piece of cardboard that will become a preserved bird's wing.  He wears a workman's apron, and Darwin, young and also wearing an apron, stands nearby with a tool in one hand a dead bird in the other.
CREDIT: State Darwin Museum
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Casey Dunn @caseywdunn.bsky.social · 29/01/2025
Try our new in silico PCR (sPCR) tool sharkmer- github.com/caseywdunn/s.... You give it primers and fastq reads, it gives you sequences that would be amplified by PCR. Works in minutes on a laptop for high copy regions like rRNA, great for species id etc. Feedback welcome. #bioinformatics #ngs
github.com
GitHub - caseywdunn/sharkmer
Contribute to caseywdunn/sharkmer development by creating an account on GitHub.
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MFTorresJ @mftorresj.bsky.social · 22/01/2025
Honest question to all the #botanists out there. Frontiers in Plant Science. Is it predatory? Aye or nay? What are our thoughts nowadays? 🌱
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MFTorresJ @mftorresj.bsky.social · 16/01/2025
Sengires Fondas (Ancient Woods Foundation) in Lithuania wrote about our collaboration in discovering insects🪲 and fungi 🍄in deadwood. Spoiler alert: Metabarcoding! Go check out their facebook post www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=9...
facebook.com
Redirecting...
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MFTorresJ @mftorresj.bsky.social · 11/12/2024
SaproXDNA's new toy! We are building a DNA collection of (initially) deadwood-associated #coleoptera #diptera and friends 🐞🪰🐝🕷🦟 in #Lithuania 🇱🇹 (going ⬇️ to -80)
Vertical Ultra cold freezer in a corridor
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MFTorresJ @mftorresj.bsky.social · 22/11/2024
Bottom row 😀
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Amanda Makulec @abmakulec.bsky.social · 22/11/2024
Coming up in December, @datavizsociety.bsky.social's reading club is focusing on papers instead of books. Come chat all about Visual Villainy - thinking about the ways #dataviz can be used to mislead intentionally or unintentionally. www.eventbrite.com/e/dvs-reader...
eventbrite.com
DVS Readers' Club: Visual Villainy in Data Viz
Join us for a lively discussion about visual villainy and dark patterns in data visualization!
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MFTorresJ @mftorresj.bsky.social · 22/11/2024
At Utena 🇱🇹, @evogytis.bsky.social is giving a talk about his virus research: "genome detectives" Pretty cool science labs for schoolers in the area!
Dr. Gytis Dudas stading near a screen with slides, about to start a talk about viruses.
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Professor Anjali Goswami FRS @evoswami.bsky.social · 16/11/2024
I couldn’t find a starter pack for POCs working in STEM, so I started one myself - my network here is still small and I didn’t want to assume how people identify, so please reply or DM me if you want to be added! go.bsky.app/BJkKQVR
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Michelle Jackson @michcjackson.bsky.social · 13/11/2024
I’m recruiting 2 fully funded PhD students for October 2025 to investigate multiple stressors in wetlands: www.findaphd.com/phds/project... www.findaphd.com/phds/project... Come join our lab! 🧪🌍
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🧬Jacob L Steenwyk @jlsteenwyk.bsky.social · 10/11/2024
Genomics, evolution, and more starter pack! Help build community with this starter pack. This list is currently incomplete. Want to be included? Reply and I will remedy that! go.bsky.app/JjvzkWU
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Matt Bertone @bertonemyia.bsky.social · 12/11/2024
There were some AMAZING entries in the #EntSoc24 Juried Art Show WOW! 😍🥰 I think they're all winners
Painting of a cowboy riding a tarantula hawk wasp lassoing a tarantulaRug made to look like a carpet beforeColor drawing it painting of several leaf beetle large and their fecal shields A book with cutouts of butterflies from the edges of pages
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Marc Somssich @somssich.bsky.social · 05/11/2024
The Chromosome Biology Department of @raphmercier.bsky.social here at the Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research Cologne (@maxplanck.bsky.social) is looking for a new group leader! jobs.mpipz.mpg.de/jobposting/8... #PlantScience #PlantSciJobs #GroupLeader #NewPI #PlantChromosomalBiology
jobs.mpipz.mpg.de
Group Leader Position in Plant Chromosome Biology (m/f/d)
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MFTorresJ @mftorresj.bsky.social · 05/11/2024
Right. I enjoyed the mental peace of leaving X for >1yr. It is time to build my community here by asking for help! I can't seem to reach the UNITE database (fungal spp). Is it just me? Am I dreaming? Should I wait a few days? what's going on? Answers and follows are welcome! 🍄
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c0nc0rdance @c0nc0rdance.bsky.social · 15/10/2023
Honeybees understand the concept of zero, or "null set", putting them in the same cognitive class as parrots, dolphins and primates in that regard. What's more interesting to me is HOW WE CAN KNOW THAT. The experimental design is what I want to focus on:
The European honey bee may have originated from eastern Africa. This bee is pictured in Tanzania.
Photo:  Muhammad Mahdi Karim 
12mm long Apis mellifera, Apis mellifera. Pictured in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honey_bee#/media/File:Apis_mellifera_Tanzania.jpg
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Jeremy Kamil @macroliter.bsky.social · 18/09/2024
Fascinating life story of Colombian physician scientist Francisco Lopera 🧪 GIFT LINK 🎁 🔗
nytimes.com
The ‘Country Doctor’ Who Upended Our Understanding of Dementia
Francisco Lopera defied rebels, cartels and vampire bats to become a pioneering researcher of Alzheimer’s disease.
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Ian Medeiros @iandmedeiros.bsky.social · 18/02/2024
Some people may be wondering—if the collections are going to end up in another herbarium, what is the big deal? The specimens and their data will still be protected, right? But that isn't the whole story... 1/n
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Timothée Poisot @ctrlalttim.com · 02/11/2023
New paper in PLOS Biol with @graciellehigino.bsky.social et al.: "Postdoctoral scientists are mentors, and it is time to recognize their work". We argue that ensuring that post-docs receive proper credit for ALL their labour would benefit all academia.
journals.plos.org
Postdoctoral scientists are mentors, and it is time to recognize their work
Post-doctoral scientists are effective mentors for graduate students. This Perspective discusses how failures to properly credit them for this role has negative consequence for everyone and suggests p...
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MFTorresJ @mftorresj.bsky.social · 25/10/2023
If you are attending Botany 2024 next year (US) there are five days left to propose a cool workshop to help level up the skills of your fellow botanists! 🪴
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Amelia Neely @aneely.bsky.social · 24/10/2023
Botany 2024 Workshop Submission Deadline is November 1, 2023! Share your expertise at this vibrant conference with hands-on sessions like software demos, data analysis tutorials, botanical drawing, and more. For details, visit: botanyconference.org
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Bellingcat @bellingcat.com · 25/10/2023
Our researcher @koltai.bsky.social spoke to Insider News recently about the misinformation circulating online around the current Israel-Hamas war and how our team at Bellingcat works to verify claims. www.youtube.com/watch?v=6c9h...
youtube.com
Decoding Fake News About The Israel-Hamas War In Gaza | Insider News
Experts say there has been an unprecedented number of fake claims about the Israel-Hamas war circulating online. Bellingcat’s open source investigators showe...
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Karolina Heyduk @kheyduk.bsky.social · 20/09/2023
Hey plant people of the Sky, do you know someone contemplating applying to graduate school? The BSA is hosting a "how to apply to grad school" panel on Sept. 26th 3pm eastern. Register here: uconn-edu.zoom.us/meeting/regi...
Flier with text: "Applying to grad school Q&A panel" at the top. The middle text reads: "Are you interested in applying to a graduate program in botany or the plant sciences? Join us for an informational 1-hour panel on September 26th, 3pm U.S. eastern (virtual). Panelists will represent a diversity of institution types and backgrounds and will be available to answer attendee questions. Register using the QR code." At the bottom are the BSA and Botany 360 logos, along with the text "Sponsored by the BSA Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee."
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MFTorresJ @mftorresj.bsky.social · 13/09/2023
Check out the collection of awesome papers that #AppsPlantSci put together to celebrate their 10 years of publishing methods and tools for #plant biology and #bioinformatics bsapubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/toc/10.1... Enjoy!! 🌴🌴🌴
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