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Margarida Gama-Carvalho

@mgama.bsky.social
188 followers 115 following 64 posts

Academic Scientist - RNA Systems Biology Lab 🧬University of Lisbon 🇵🇹 Lover of big pictures & small details CP artist Citizen of the 🌎

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Margarida Gama-Carvalho @mgama.bsky.social · 28/04/2025
Yup, everything still blocked here in Lisbon after 2h, no traffic lights, people trapped in elevators in buildings without generators and all the other things that come from lack of power. Fortunately mobile data keeps working so we can get some news on what is going on.
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Margarida Gama-Carvalho @mgama.bsky.social · 28/04/2025
After 1h without power this is getting scary 🫣
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Margarida Gama-Carvalho @mgama.bsky.social · 28/04/2025
My MEO mobile network in Lisbon is working so far but others are down 🤞 Hearing this is coming all the way from France. Saw mentions to Poland and Hungary. Anyone can confirm or knows of more countries affected?
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Margarida Gama-Carvalho @mgama.bsky.social · 19/03/2025
That’s quite peculiar 😳 It’s what I was getting on the NCBI page. I’m actually preparing classes for an undergrad Bioinformatics course and it’s a real problem with this insecurity about service availability hanging over our heads 😬
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Margarida Gama-Carvalho @mgama.bsky.social · 19/03/2025
Thanks Sandra!
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Margarida Gama-Carvalho @mgama.bsky.social · 18/03/2025
Anyone else unable to run NCBI blast right now?
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Margarida Gama-Carvalho @mgama.bsky.social · 09/12/2024
A lot. Although this work is actually an example of what persistence with minimal funding can achieve. It does take much longer than if properly supported but our funding bodies never believed in the project/ team 🤷🏻‍♀️
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Margarida Gama-Carvalho @mgama.bsky.social · 06/12/2024
10/ Science thrives on collaboration, curiosity, and history. I’m grateful to have been part of this journey. 💡
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Margarida Gama-Carvalho @mgama.bsky.social · 06/12/2024
9/ Beyond the science, this project is close to my heart. It reunited a group of seasoned researchers whose history goes back nearly 30 years to the Institute of Histology & Embryology at the Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de Lisboa—and even earlier to our undergrad Biology days! 😊
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Margarida Gama-Carvalho @mgama.bsky.social · 06/12/2024
8/ The study will feature in the Dec. 24 🎄 issue of Cell Reports, but you can already read it online: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
sciencedirect.com
Thymus-forming potential of the second pharyngeal pouch and its regulation by local mesenchyme in avian embryos
The thymus derives from the endoderm of pharyngeal pouches (PPs). The number and location of PPs with thymus-forming potential differ among jawed vert…
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Margarida Gama-Carvalho @mgama.bsky.social · 06/12/2024
7/ These results open exciting possibilities for manipulating thymus development, especially in regenerative medicine.
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Margarida Gama-Carvalho @mgama.bsky.social · 06/12/2024
6/ A key insight: the dorsal region of the 2nd pharyngeal arch acts as an inhibitor of thymus formation, highlighting how surrounding tissues shape the pouch endoderm’s potential.
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Margarida Gama-Carvalho @mgama.bsky.social · 06/12/2024
5/ Our findings, from experiments led by Hélia & Isabel Alcobia in Edgar Gomes’ Lab (GIMM) and enriched by Domingos Henrique’s sharp developmental biology insights, reveal a conserved genetic program inducing thymus development—regardless of anatomical position.
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Margarida Gama-Carvalho @mgama.bsky.social · 06/12/2024
4/ To uncover the genetic and molecular drivers of this process, Hélia challenged me to collaborate. Together, we mapped the transcriptome of embryonic regions involved and studied the signaling networks between the pharyngeal arch mesenchyme & pouch endoderm.
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Margarida Gama-Carvalho @mgama.bsky.social · 06/12/2024
3/ Using a quail-chick chimeric in vitro model, Hélia made a groundbreaking discovery: the 2nd pharyngeal pouch can form thymus tissue as efficiently as the 3rd—if it interacts with the correct tissues!
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Margarida Gama-Carvalho @mgama.bsky.social · 06/12/2024
2/ Interestingly, in other vertebrates, thymic primordia arise from distinct pouches. This diversity in thymus development has fascinated researchers, including my colleague & friend Hélia Neves. 🐤
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Margarida Gama-Carvalho @mgama.bsky.social · 06/12/2024
1/ The thymus is essential for T-cell maturation, protecting us from pathogens while ensuring tolerance to our own tissues. 🧬 This balance is maintained by the thymic epithelium, which, in mammals, birds, and bony fish, develops from the 3rd/4th pharyngeal pouches during embryogenesis.
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Joana G Sa @joanagsa.bsky.social · 22/11/2024
Apesar de tantas promessas (ver imagem), o orçamento da FCT não só não cresceu como até diminuiu em %PIB Q isto não aconteça ao abrigo do nosso silêncio Escrevam aos deputad@s, pedindo para q votem favoravelmente a única proposta específica de aumento deste valor 1/ app.parlamento.pt/webutils/doc...
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Margarida Gama-Carvalho @mgama.bsky.social · 20/11/2024
Giving junior team members the freedom to choose their lab-meeting topic just resulted in a refreshing afternoon discussion of the Better Science Initiative. A chance to talk about many important things for their wellbeing and future and overall a great team building moment 🧬
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Margarida Gama-Carvalho @mgama.bsky.social · 18/11/2024
Really cool work on immunoribosomes!
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Margarida Gama-Carvalho @mgama.bsky.social · 18/11/2024
Great to see the science community growing here 😊
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Margarida Gama-Carvalho @mgama.bsky.social · 18/11/2024
In my school you can apply to a BSc as an international student and then request “equivalences” to specific courses that have a good match to your curriculum to fast forward your graduation. But you will need a B1 level certificate of the local language for a BSc degree (also in other EU countries)
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Margarida Gama-Carvalho @mgama.bsky.social · 18/11/2024
🤔 not sure this is helpful but… currently the predominant scenario in europe is a 3 year bachelors followed by a two year Masters degree before you can go for a PhD
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Margarida Gama-Carvalho @mgama.bsky.social · 14/11/2024
Welcome Claudia! I haven’t been using bluesky much because of limited community size but hopefully now it will start gaining momentum over X 😊
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Margarida Gama-Carvalho @mgama.bsky.social · 29/01/2024
Excited to be in this amazing line up for the RNA biology in host-pathogen interactions conference organized by the EpiViral twinning project! Plus in beautiful Porto! 🧬🔬🧫
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Margarida Gama-Carvalho @mgama.bsky.social · 02/01/2024
Just read an interesting piece based on this study (psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/...) suggesting that the common advice about using humor to make presentations more engaging may backfire on women. It kind of aligns with my personal experience with students. Anyone else?
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Richard Sever @richardsever.bsky.social · 28/09/2023
bioRxiv goes big on Bluesky: accounts for all subject categories now available (Please Reskeet) connect.biorxiv.org/news/2023/09...
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Eugene Valkov @eugenevalkov.bsky.social · 28/12/2023
mRNA for the win! #RNASky #RNAbiology
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Margarida Gama-Carvalho @mgama.bsky.social · 29/12/2023
Loved the in vitro “cell culture” exercise concept 😅
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Izzy Jayasinghe @ijayas.bsky.social · 21/11/2023
If there is anybody on Bluesky with an interest in working towards a PhD with a vibrant and inclusive group of people, we have a funded project available through @singmolsci.bsky.social in UNSW, Sydney, to do some advanced single molecule & electron 🔬. Please pass on to any students you may know. 🧪
unsw.edu.au
Molecular scale mapping of intracellular signalling nanodomains and giant channels in the heart
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Margarida Gama-Carvalho @mgama.bsky.social · 29/11/2023
I do feel this directly but it is hard to provide evidence and colleagues will be dismissive. “Fortunately” the statistics are there to show it. The note on student’s evaluation hit very close to home. I also feel a bias in the ability to recruit students to my lab vs my male colleagues.
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Margarida Gama-Carvalho @mgama.bsky.social · 27/11/2023
On the good side of the news 🇵🇹
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Margarida Gama-Carvalho @mgama.bsky.social · 26/11/2023
Thanks for an inspiring idea!
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Margarida Gama-Carvalho @mgama.bsky.social · 26/11/2023
A little secret about me… this is how I unwind in the evening. Drawing (preferably) furry canine creatures with color pencils. This one is already some 6-8h of work, 10x to go before finished.
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Margarida Gama-Carvalho @mgama.bsky.social · 26/11/2023
Welcome! 🤗
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Margarida Gama-Carvalho @mgama.bsky.social · 25/11/2023
When your institution has a core research line on grapevine biology it’s really easy to come up with a #SciCom activity that makes people happy to sit down for a couple of hours listening to science topics! A toast to our 6th Science and Technology Week wine tasting event 🥂
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Margarida Gama-Carvalho @mgama.bsky.social · 25/11/2023
Very interesting ideas ☺️ So how does this sabbatical work? Do you all sync it? I suppose it’s in addition to regular vacation periods? Do you share what you did with your time?
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Margarida Gama-Carvalho @mgama.bsky.social · 25/11/2023
Evidence is anedoctal but the number and severity of respiratory infections I see in adults around me this year (including myself) seems unprecedented…
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Marc Veldhoen @marcveld.bsky.social · 25/11/2023
Pandemic-related immunity gap in kids explains surge of respiratory infections in children in China, says WHO
statnews.com
Pandemic-related immunity gap in kids explains surge of respiratory infections in children in China,...
In a Q&A, the acting director of the WHO’s department of epidemic and pandemic preparedness and prevention explains why worries about respiratory infections in China are overblown.
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Margarida Gama-Carvalho @mgama.bsky.social · 23/11/2023
Super chuffed to see my oldest MSc student finally graduate with a top mark 🥰 Daniel is an example of persistence in the face of adversity (cancer, a pandemic, full time job for subsistence) always with a smile and genuine love for science. Part of his work is here: doi.org/10.1186/s129...
doi.org
Human Satellite 1A analysis provides evidence of pericentromeric transcription - BMC Biology
Background Pericentromeric regions of human chromosomes are composed of tandem-repeated and highly organized sequences named satellite DNAs. Human classical satellite DNAs are classified into three fa...
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Margarida Gama-Carvalho @mgama.bsky.social · 21/11/2023
A rare moment with a pressing excuse to get my hands dirty and show my team I still have the touch: receiving live human cells shipped by my collaborator 300km away to have the DNA extracted on site for ultra-long read genome sequencing at our facility. PIs: do you still manage to do lab stuff? 🧬
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Margarida Gama-Carvalho @mgama.bsky.social · 21/11/2023
👆This. Just follow the sign 🤣🤣
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Margarida Gama-Carvalho @mgama.bsky.social · 20/11/2023
Other corner of the world, but the rule is classes are fully presencial (or fully remote if something justifies it, like extreme weather conditions), never mixed. But my feeling is something has changed, students are showing less engagement, critical thinking and prefer ready-to-memorize content.
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Margarida Gama-Carvalho @mgama.bsky.social · 20/11/2023
👏👏👏 First science organization I found here since joining 🥇(probably my bad but who cares 😅 Kudos to FlyBase!!)
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Tim Mosca (he/him) @drosophilosophy.bsky.social · 20/11/2023
HOORAY!!!!
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Margarida Gama-Carvalho @mgama.bsky.social · 20/11/2023
When you are asked to sign off on a 15k budget to repair your old Calibur after the rep has taken a look at the problem and decide you will try to figure it out yourself… to find a single cable is disconnected inside. This is the real resuscitation miracle 😅 (ok, credits go to my geek son)
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Margarida Gama-Carvalho @mgama.bsky.social · 19/11/2023
Taking my first steps here to, I have been more of a bird watcher than anything else, but feeling most of the fauna I was following hasn’t migrated yet 😅 Still, I can’t really go back there, so here we are.
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Tamara Franklin @labfranklin.bsky.social · 18/11/2023
I'm once again trying to break ties with the bird site. How hard is it going to be to rebuild my network here on bsky?🤔
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Alex Crits-Christoph @acritschristoph.bsky.social · 18/11/2023
Been a while since we've had a really really bad SARS-CoV-2 preprint, and right on cue....
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Margarida Gama-Carvalho @mgama.bsky.social · 19/11/2023
Lanes on the top left seem pretty identical but not sure🤔
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