iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

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Genetics Society of America @genetics-gsa.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

📢 NEW GENOME ALERT in #G3journal A high-quality, chromosome-level genome of marine hydrozoan Podocoryna americana will be an invaluable resource for researchers studying the evolution, regeneration, and allorecognition in cnidarians and other metazoans. @baxevanislab.bsky.social 🔗 buff.ly/vhGW2gm

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Dr. Brendan "Doesn't-go-to-Ravenholm" Pinto @drpintothe2nd.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

Tldr; MORE SEX CHROMOSOMES AND GECKO GENOMES

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Mike Connelly @michaeltconnelly.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

At the Jersey shore this week spending some quality time with family, and was stoked to find some Hydractinia while beach combing near the bridge from Longport to Ocean City! Looking forward to sharing recent work on the population genomics of these critters at @cnidofest.bsky.social next month 🪸🐚🪼

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Marina Stoilova @stoilovamarina.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

Please share with any recent college grads you know who are interested in using genetic tools in non-model organisms (🪼), sensory/neurobiology, or confocal microscopy. In addition to research mentorship, the students will have access to excellent professional development resources through OASiS 🦑🧪🧬

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Laurie Belcher @lauriebelch.bsky.social · 09/06/2026

The new OrthoFinder paper is out now! In this new work, we introduce major advances in accuracy and scalability, allowing analysis on much larger datasets www.nature.com/articles/s41... github.com/OrthoFinder/...

nature.com

OrthoFinder: improved phylogenetic orthology inference with enhanced accuracy and scalability - Nature Methods

The updated OrthoFinder v3 software boosts accuracy and scalability in phylogenetic orthology inference with massive and diverse datasets.

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Iñaki Ruiz-Trillo @multicellgenome.bsky.social · 29/05/2026

1/8 Inside your body lies something ancient. Our @pnas.org paper uncovers the deep unicellular prehistory of blood cell types. See paper and video. @ibe-barcelona.bsky.social @icreacommunity.bsky.social @prbb.org @csic.es @csicdivulga.bsky.social pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

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cnidofest.bsky.social @cnidofest.bsky.social · 07/05/2026

Calling all cnidarian enthusiasts: Cnidofest 2026 will be Sept 23-27 in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. See cnidofest.org/meetings/cnidofest-2026 for more info. Abstract submission closes July 1. Registration closes Sept 2, but early registration is GREATLY preferred. Please join us!

cnidofest.org

Cnidofest - Cnidofest 2026

Woods Hole, Massachusetts - Wed., September 23, 2026 - Sun., September 27, 2026 REGISTRATION IS OPEN! Register HERE Registration closes September 2, 2026 -- but please register as soon as possible! SUBMIT YOUR ABSTRACTS HERE Abstracts are due by July 1, 2026. Guidelines are provided below.

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MwahahahahahadScientist @mads100tist.bsky.social · 27/03/2026

"genAI can be used to create podcasts from a paper to teach st-" Let me stop you right there. Before you feed somebody's paper to a slop machine, invite that somebody to talk to your students about their paper. We're right here. We academics won't shut up about our work, man. 🧪

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bioRxivpreprint @biorxivpreprint.bsky.social · 07/03/2026

A chromosome-level reference genome for the colonial marine hydrozoan Podocoryna americana www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/20…

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Andy Baxevanis @baxevanislab.bsky.social · 10/03/2026

🧬 New genome alert! We’ve generated a chromosome-level assembly for the hydrozoan Podocoryna. With both polyp and free-swimming medusa stages, Podocoryna is a powerful model for exploring the evolution of complex traits in early animal lineages.

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Uri Frank @thecocodium.bsky.social · 10/03/2026

A chromosome-level genome assembly of the cnidarian Podocoryna is just out. Well done @pcart.bsky.social , @baxevanislab.bsky.social and the other authors www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

biorxiv.org

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Julia Van Etten @couchmicroscopy.bsky.social · 11/02/2026

Exciting announcement! My new department is launching a postdoc fellowship in quantitative biology. Fellows will be co-advised by two Bio faculty, one that is quant focused (not me) and one that is not (me???). I would love to co-sponsor a postdoc and build a collaboration so please reach out!

umd.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com

Post-Doctoral Associate

Job Description Summary Organization's Summary Statement: The Department of Biology at the University of Maryland, College Park seeks applications for three quantitative biology postdoctoral fellow po...

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Andy Baxevanis @baxevanislab.bsky.social · 12/12/2025

A new Hydractinia single-cell atlas from the Schnitzler lab: >47K cells from feeding polyps and stolon tissue that refines major somatic cell lineages and recovers a novel population of putative immune cells – a valuable resource for the cnidarian research community and beyond! tinyurl.com/hsymSC

tinyurl.com

An updated and spatially validated somatic single-cell atlas of Hydractinia symbiolongicarpus - BMC Genomics

Single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) has revolutionized transcriptomic research, enabling the creation of detailed tissue, organ, and species-level atlases for model organisms. In Hydractinia, a cni...

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Wolfgang Huber @wkhuber.bsky.social · 16/09/2025

Science: only when you write up the manuscript, you realize what you should have done.

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Coral Lab @corallab.bsky.social · 21/11/2025

Genome skimming yields thousands of loci, recovering mitochondrial genomes and nuclear markers. Other benefits are higher phylogenetic resolution, success with degraded samples, and compatibility with future bait sets (i.e., future-proof). Read more here: 🔗 naturalhistory.si.edu/research/inv...

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Mike Connelly @michaeltconnelly.bsky.social · 17/11/2025

Now that shutdown is over, I'm looking forward to #SICB2026 in Portland, Oregon in January! Please check out Session 18: A Stinging Sense of Self: Cnidarian Cell Type Evolution on Sunday Jan. 4 at 10:00am! Also please reach out if you're interested in making lunch/dinner plans during the conference!

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Mike Connelly @michaeltconnelly.bsky.social · 04/08/2025

Reading this week: muscles! 💪🧬 Overview of Muscle Cytoskeleton (pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28640448/) Microtubules coordinate mitochondria transport... during muscle development (doi.org/10.1016/j.de...) Evolutionary origin of bilaterian smooth and striated myocytes (pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27906129/)

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Frank Schnorrer @frankschnorrer.bsky.social · 21/07/2025

Microtubules: the architect of muscles. Watch how microtubules transport mitochondria in proximity to energy consuming sarcomeres in muscles of flies and mice. @jeromeavellaneda.bsky.social @nunoluis.bsky.social @ibdm.bsky.social with @gomeslabo.bsky.social www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

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LaBella Lab @lablabella.bsky.social · 24/06/2025

Alberto Rivera of the Baxevanis group @baxevanislab.bsky.social presents on the allorecognition in cnidarians 🪸 There is evidence for synteny and conservation across allorecognition complexes in Cnidaria... How does this compare to bilaterians? #Evol2025 #Evol25

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Mike Connelly @michaeltconnelly.bsky.social · 16/06/2025

What I'm reading this (short) week: 🤖 Cell type evolution reconstruction across species through cell phylogenies of scRNAseq data (www.nature.com/articles/s41...) 🧬 Origin and evolution of eukaryotic transcription factors (doi.org/10.1016/j.gd...)

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Mike Connelly @michaeltconnelly.bsky.social · 02/06/2025

What I'm reading this week: Nanos2 marks precursors of somatic lineages and is req'd for germline formation in Nematostella (www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...) Chromatin loops are an ancestral hallmark of the animal regulatory genome (www.nature.com/articles/s41...) - many thanks to the authors!

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Mike Connelly @michaeltconnelly.bsky.social · 19/05/2025

What I'm reading this week 😀 Cubozoan transcriptome and neuropeptide identification (rdcu.be/emF7h) Nematostella mechanosensory neuron diversity (rdcu.be/emF7X) Cnidarian larvae sensory cell types and settlement (doi.org/10.1126/scia...) Siphonophore chromosome-scale genome (doi.org/10.1101/2025...)

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Casey Dunn @caseywdunn.bsky.social · 13/05/2025

Our chromosome-scale genome assembly of Nanomia septata, a siphonophore - doi.org/10.1101/2025... . Much larger than many other cnidarian genomes, fewer chromosomes, and highly rearranged. No smoking gun for how they achieve complex colony-level organization. Great work Namrata Ahuja and friends!

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Jeannie Wilkening @jvwilkening.bsky.social · 06/05/2025

Despite how things ended, I still learned so much from my time at EPA about how applied, interdisciplinary science can drive progress on complex problems like climate change. I look forward to taking these experiences into my next chapter, with more details on that soon! 7/7

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EvoDevo PanAm @evodevopanam.bsky.social · 03/05/2025

🌟We are excited to announce the non-bilaterian satellite symposia at PASEDB meeting Miami July 22, 2025! 🪼🪸 #pasedb #evodevo Organizers: Drs. Athula Wikarmanayake, Bill Browne & @natclarke.bsky.social Register here: evodevo.wildapricot.org/event-6007396

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EvolDir @evoldir.bsky.social · 09/04/2025

Graduate students can apply for the Robert D. Hevey, Jr. and Constance M. Filling Fellowship in Invertebrate Zoology at the Smithsonian. Applications due 28 April 2025. More info: naturalhistory.si.edu/research/inve… #gradstudent

naturalhistory.si.edu

Invertebrate Zoology

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Yehu Moran @yehumoran.bsky.social · 28/01/2025

1/4 🚨 a brand new @biorxiv preprint from the lab! We charcterized both transcriptionally, morphologically and functionally (phagocytosis) immune cells from #Nematostella! We are convinced that our data supports the existence of such specialized cells! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... 🧵

biorxiv.org

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Aide Macias-Muñoz @aidemm.bsky.social · 28/01/2025

Application reviews for a postdoc in my lab will begin next week. Two years of funding to conduct EvoDevo research using cnidarians.

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Coral Lab @corallab.bsky.social · 16/01/2025

Congrats to Dr. Andrea Quattrini (Coral Curator, SI NMNH) for winning The Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers! This is the highest honor bestowed by the United States federal government on outstanding scientists in the early stages of their independent research careers!

Dr. Andrea Quattrini holding up a big orange coral while standing in a room full of drawers that contain corals.

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Andy Baxevanis @baxevanislab.bsky.social · 09/01/2025

Mike Connelly from our group sharing his hot-off-the-10X Podocoryna single-cell data @SICB2025, establishing a really solid foundation for future work on this very interesting and informative regenerative cnidarian. Stay tuned... more to follow!

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Mike Connelly @michaeltconnelly.bsky.social · 02/01/2025

Looking forward to this symposium at #SICB2025 and meeting all the researchers in attendance!

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cnidofest.bsky.social @cnidofest.bsky.social · 03/12/2024

Cnidofest is excited to join the bluesky party! We will start a Cnidarian starter pack. Please like this post if you'd like to be in the pack!

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Stowers Institute @stowersinstitute.bsky.social · 25/11/2024

This week's beautiful #MicroscopyMonday is a juvenile Nematostella with stinging cells labeled with eGFP (green). (Gibson Lab) #Biology

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Mike Connelly @michaeltconnelly.bsky.social · 25/11/2024

Check, check, is this thing on? Allow me to introduce myself! I'm Mike Connelly, and I'm an evolutionary biologist - currently a postdoc at the National Human Genome Research Institute and research associate at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. I love cnidarians (esp. corals)!🪸

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