iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Nick Desnoyer @nickdesnoyer.bsky.social · 4h

Arabidopsis has never looked so good. Micro-rose imaged under the SEM by staff & students @johninnescentre.bsky.social bioimaging facility. Mag 15x. Image ~8mm. Left: false-colored.

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Sophien Kamoun @kamounlab.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Two seemingly unrelated sides of our lab collided today in the AWESOME new Angiosperm Phylogeny Group system poster: flowers 🌸 and phylogenomics 🧬 Need a new genome? Just pick up the phone and “dial-a-genome” 📞🧬 @getgenome.bsky.social www.tudelft.nl/en/hortus-bo...

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Nick Desnoyer @nickdesnoyer.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

Lights, camera, action in the glasshouse tonight 📸 This dragon fruit flower blooms just once at night 🌙 ✨

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Nick Desnoyer @nickdesnoyer.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

Lights, camera, action in the glasshouse tonight 📸 This dragon fruit flower blooms just once at night 🌙 ✨

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Nick Desnoyer @nickdesnoyer.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

Ruby & Gold benthi flowers are blooming 🧬 ✨

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Nick Desnoyer @nickdesnoyer.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

A healthy workspace is important for mental well being 🌱 I keep mine filled with plants, puppy, and natural light ☀️

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Nick Desnoyer @nickdesnoyer.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Flower Bioengineering Toolkit Series [5] CAROTENOIDS 🟧 We continue our gene synthesis sponsored by @genewiz.bsky.social by testing a gene for carotenoids (🧵 1/5)

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Nick Desnoyer @nickdesnoyer.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

Beautiful gene silencing going on in this Tobacco leaf transformed with 35S:RUBY 🧬 Looks a bit like nightsky @jasongardneresq.bsky.social

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Nick Desnoyer @nickdesnoyer.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

For the past few months, I’ve had a new teammate helping me design flowers: Juan Pablo! Here’s what he’s taught me—and how he’s helping (1/5 🧵)

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Nick Desnoyer @nickdesnoyer.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

Making 3D models of our flowers, so that their morphology and pigmentation can be explored online ✨

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Nick Desnoyer @nickdesnoyer.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

Filmed a podcast with @nikomccarty.bsky.social yesterday. We talked for four hours about flowers, beauty, and the next big project I’m working on.

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Nick Desnoyer @nickdesnoyer.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

The old glasshouse @thesainsburylab.bsky.social has a real mysterious and retro charm. Somewhere in here are the magical petunias I am cooking up…

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Nick Desnoyer @nickdesnoyer.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

Picasso petunia with its pink center and green margins is a masterpiece of breeding 🧬 🖌️ Too bad it is largely sterile…

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Nick Desnoyer @nickdesnoyer.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

Flower Bioengineering Toolkit Series [4] CHROMOPROTEINS 🌈 We continue our gene synthesis sponsored by @genewiz.bsky.social by testing protein-based color (🧵 1/6)

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Niko McCarty @nikomccarty.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

I'm spending two weeks studying flower design in the UK with @nickdesnoyer.bsky.social He's teaching me how to use breeding, genetic engineering, and even pathogen infections to change the shapes, colors, and smells of flowers. Excited!

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Nick Desnoyer @nickdesnoyer.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

Flower Bioengineering Toolkit Series [2] VIOLACEIN 🟪 We continue our gene synthesis sponsored by @genewiz.bsky.social by testing some genes regulating a purple pigment: Violacein! (🧵1/5)

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Nick Desnoyer @nickdesnoyer.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

Timelapse chamber is finally back up and running! Cool plant timelapses on the way 🌱📸

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Nick Desnoyer @nickdesnoyer.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

One month later, miss Ruby Petunie has moved from tissue culture to the glasshouse ☀️ Let’s hope she enjoys her new home 🏡

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Nick Desnoyer @nickdesnoyer.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

Flower Bioengineering Toolkit Series [2] INDIGOIDINE 🟦 We continue our gene synthesis sponsored by @genewiz.bsky.social by testing some genes regulating a blue pigment: Indigoidine! (Thread 1/6)

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Nick Desnoyer @nickdesnoyer.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

Hidden away in a little corner on our research park is a garden where I grow my (wildtype) flowers.

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Nick Desnoyer @nickdesnoyer.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

I made an imaging device for making 3D flower models (Photogrammetry) 🌹 📸

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Nick Desnoyer @nickdesnoyer.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

Flower Bioengineering Toolkit Series [1]: MELANIN!⚫️ We kick off our gene synthesis sponsored by @genewiz.bsky.social by testing some genes regulating a pigment we are all familiar with– Melanin (🧵 1/5)

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Nick Desnoyer @nickdesnoyer.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

If Flower Bioengineering & Breeding sparks your curiosity, explore more at openflower.bio 🌸🧬 Designed and built by me, with love 🌱

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Nick Desnoyer @nickdesnoyer.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

Starting next week we will begin revealing the results of our Flower Bioengineering genetic toolkit, all sponsored and synthesised by @genewiz.bsky.social Here’s a teaser of our first results. Can you guess what gene it is?? 🖤

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Nick Desnoyer @nickdesnoyer.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

So honored to receive the @socdevbio.bsky.social SciCom award and to share my work with the wonderful people in this community! This #2026SDB conference was a celebration of biodiversity 🧵

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Alex Eve @amjeve.uk · 26/07/2026

Congratulations to @nickdesnoyer.bsky.social, winner of the @socdevbio.bsky.social Trainee Science Communication Award at #2026SDB. Check out Nick's not-for-profit organisation for engaging the public with developmental biology: Open Flower

openflower.bio

Open Flower

Flower Genetic Design

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Reposted by Nick Desnoyer

Alison 🇨🇦 @n8rnerd.bsky.social · 26/07/2026

Check out this STUNNING snowberry clearwing moth that was found while I was volunteer bird banding this morning! #neature #MothWeek2026

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Nick Desnoyer @nickdesnoyer.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

There’s a magic to working with plants in the lab that I just can’t get over 🌱

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Nick Desnoyer @nickdesnoyer.bsky.social · 20/07/2026

Found this old botanical illustration of a chrysanthemum with a flower split perfectly red/white. Thought it was a very rare chimera, then my aunt sent me this zinnia doing something similar. Has anyone else seen this?

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Nick Desnoyer @nickdesnoyer.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

I found that H2O2 treatment of Petunia flowers creates a spotted pattern 😯 It's known oxidation degrades anthocyanins, but the pattern was unexpected! Any ideas @gardiner-lab.bsky.social @julianverdonk.eurosky.social ?

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Nick Desnoyer @nickdesnoyer.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

Meet Ruby Petunie! Our little alien Petunia growing in tissue culture ❤️🧬

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Nick Desnoyer @nickdesnoyer.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

Very grateful to receive this award and recognition :) Looking forward to meeting everyone at #2026SDB!

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Nick Desnoyer @nickdesnoyer.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

The SynBio team’s plasmid collection is one of the coolest aspects of @thesainsburylab.bsky.social What’s even cooler is their vision of sharing it with everyone and the partners who are helping make it happen 💪 🧬

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Sebastian S. Cocioba @atinygreencell.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

@breakliquid.bsky.social and I are delighted to say our OpenEVO preprint is finally live! An open source hand-made turbidostat that's modular, affordable, and made to be customized. Designed with love for the research community. Enjoy!!!💚 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

biorxiv.org

OpenEvo: An Open-Source Platform for Automated Evolution and Analysis

Here we introduce OpenEvo, a fully open-source, low-cost turbidostat platform for automated continuous culture and directed evolution experiments. Existing tools are expensive, complex, or lack open-s...

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Nick Desnoyer @nickdesnoyer.bsky.social · 22/06/2026

Flower Design \ ˈflau̇(-ə)r di-ˈzīn \ 1. The shaping of floral traits by pollinators, breeders, and bioengineers.

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Nick Desnoyer @nickdesnoyer.bsky.social · 20/06/2026

This is huge progress for the EU 👏

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Nick Desnoyer @nickdesnoyer.bsky.social · 20/06/2026

Plant cell sculptures, hand-woven by @jodiearmand.bsky.social These are some of the coolest bio-inspired and bio-accurate works I've seen. Go check out her work!!

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Nick Desnoyer @nickdesnoyer.bsky.social · 20/06/2026

A wonderful few days in Rome discussing all things Petunia 🌸 Grateful to be part of such a welcoming and enthusiastic community.

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Nick Desnoyer @nickdesnoyer.bsky.social · 20/06/2026

No surprise here. Let Minya design a plant bio course and it’s guaranteed to be amazing.

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Addgene @addgene.bsky.social · 09/06/2026

🎨 Nature's been painting with betaxanthins and betacyanins all along — now you can too! Thanks to @kamounlab.bsky.social, AMBER and GOLD add new colors to the palette of pigmentation genes for plant research, education, and floral design. Find the plasmids here: www.addgene.org/browse/artic...

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Nick Desnoyer @nickdesnoyer.bsky.social · 08/06/2026

Genes for genetic painting in flowers now available on Addgene!: addgene.org/browse/artic...

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Sophien Kamoun @kamounlab.bsky.social · 20/05/2026

The name is FLOWER. OPEN FLOWER. #OpenFlower hits the big stage 🔥🌺🌷🌱 Juan Pablo & Nick @nickdesnoyer.bsky.social

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Yasin Dagdas @plantophagy.bsky.social · 14/03/2026

In the middle of all the ugliness, plants keep doing their thing: quietly proving that beauty is still possible.

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Nick Desnoyer @nickdesnoyer.bsky.social · 11/03/2026

Lately all I do is talk about my @plasmidsaurus.bsky.social sponsorship... 🦖🧬✨ Free limited edition Plasmidsaurus x OpenFlower postcards extended to 3/16. Last chance!!!

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Nick Desnoyer @nickdesnoyer.bsky.social · 09/03/2026

Petunia hybrida has been bred into an incredible diversity of colors and patterns. Most arise from mutations in the anthocyanin pathway or post-transcriptional gene silencing that turns pigment genes on and off 🧬🎨

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Nick Desnoyer @nickdesnoyer.bsky.social · 03/03/2026

Probably the most unique and aesthetic lab website I’ve seen! I hope other labs find inspiration in this to make their own cool site ✨

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Nick Desnoyer @nickdesnoyer.bsky.social · 23/02/2026

I made this green fluorescent flower with sequencing support from plasmidsaurus! 🦖🧬🌸✨ Limited edition postcards of the flowers below:

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