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Niko Leisch

@nikobiota.bsky.social
629 followers 397 following 40 posts
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Reposted by Niko Leisch
Omaya Dudin 𓂆 ¦🍉¦🦠¦🔬¦ @dudinlab.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Its a wrap. What a unique opportunity we had here at #ALPOLE #Sion with the @embl.org AML lab! We sampled... a lot. We worked... hard. And we had a lot, a lot, but really alot of fun. >30 ECR trained >500 distinct samples across 2 weeks + too many protists awwwed at. An amazing community growing.
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Journal of Cell Science @jcellsci.bsky.social · 14/10/2026
In their Cell Science at a Glance article and associated poster, @phaips.vd.st, Benjamin Engel @cellarchlab.com & @manondemulder.bsky.social highlight the current insights and future directions of pyrenoid and CO2-concentrating mechanism research. journals.biologists.com/jcs/article/...
Journal of Cell Science poster
The pyrenoid at a glance 
Philippe Van der Stappen, Benjamin D. Engel, Manon Demulder
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Paul & Virginie - Centriole Lab @centriolelab.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
We are updating our Expansion Microscopy (U-ExM) website with : - Protocols tips to help you get started - Examples of applications across different biological systems. - work in progress - an antibody database 👉 mocel.unige.ch/research-gro...
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Jana Helsen @helsenjana.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
Looking to do a PhD in evolutionary cell biology, chromosomes & centromeres? 🧬🔬 The winter call for the UNIGE PhD recruitment is open, and my lab is among those recruiting through the Molecular Biosciences program! 🗓️ Apply by Nov 1st: lifesciencesphd.unige.ch
lifesciencesphd.unige.ch
University of Geneva - PhD School of Life Sciences | Welcome to the PhD School in Life Sciences at the Faculties of Medicine and Science
The University of Geneva Faculties of Medicine and Science join their forces to offer an outstanding study and research environment in Life Sciences. Highly motivated students with a Master’s degree o...
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Niko Leisch @nikobiota.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
static.klipy.com
Neo Says 'Hm. Upgrades.'
ALT: Neo Says 'Hm. Upgrades.'
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Niko Leisch @nikobiota.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Huge thanks to all collaborators, and the many philanthropic foundations making this possible. Your support helps us get people into the field and share the joy of discovery. What a first week!
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Niko Leisch @nikobiota.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
We hiked, we microscoped, we sorted—and we’re excited for more! 🏔️🔬 Week 1 of exploring alpine microbial life with @sciencesunige.bsky.social , EPFL ALPOLE and EMBL's Mobile Labs, is about to wrap up. First time fieldwork for some of us, sampling & on-site analysis for all.
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Omaya Dudin 𓂆 ¦🍉¦🦠¦🔬¦ @dudinlab.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Busy week for #ProtistsOnSky After some planning with Tom Battin & @nikobiota.bsky.social The #Alpine #Microbial Workshop is finally here in #Sion! We're grateful to all funders @sciencesunige.bsky.social #EPFL @embl.org & many supportive foundations & all our collaborators who made this possible.
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Ben Engel @cellarchlab.com · 07/08/2026
One month left to apply!! 🧪 @biozentrum.unibas.ch seeks a group👩‍🔬 exploring molecular questions relevant to climate 🌍, including biogeochemical cycles (e.g., carbon, nitrogen) ♻️, bioenergetic energy conversion (e.g., photosynthesis, chemosynthesis) ☀️⚗️, and the adaptation to environmental change 🌊🌡️🦠🌾
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Jana Helsen @helsenjana.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
I am starting my lab at the University of Geneva next January! Incredibly excited to soon be joining the MOCEL department as an Asst. Professor. The lab will use evolutionary cell biology to study chromosomes, centromeres & speciation 🧬🔬🌱 Intrigued, want to join or collaborate? 🔗 helsenlab.org
helsenlab.org
Helsen lab | chromosome and centromere evolution
The Helsen lab at the University of Geneva explores how centromeres and chromosomes evolve, diversify, and function across eukaryotes. Discover our latest publications, research team, and open positio...
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Andrea Catacora Grundy @andreacgrundy.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
I'm excited to share that one of the main outcomes of my PhD research was published in @pnas.org this week!! Thank you to everyone involved in this work! @johandecelle.bsky.social More details here: lnkd.in/emwBFun3 Thanks to @cnrsbiologie.bsky.social for covering our work: lnkd.in/ex9GmJNe
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Manon Demulder @manondemulder.bsky.social · 17/06/2026
It's happening tomorrow! Zoom link via: tinyurl.com/43uckr2w We look forward to seeing you there
tinyurl.com
DinoSphere - Online talks
Video credits: Liz Cooney
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Manon Demulder @manondemulder.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
Our next DinoSphere seminar will be June 18th at 9 AM PDT / 6 PM CEST hosting Jana Pilátová and @gracezhong.bsky.social 🪱 Grace Zhong: Symbiont mobility in a dinoflagellate–acoel worm symbiosis 🪩 Jana Pilátová: Eyespots as photonic mirrors in Symbiodiniaceae More details on tinyurl.com/43uckr2w!
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Sonja-Verena Albers @archaellum.bsky.social · 20/05/2026
New preprint! Cell division has to happen at the right place but how Archaea pick that place is unknown. We now identified a three-protein system, Dip, that positions the divisome at midcell in H. volcanii and is broadly conserved across Archaea. A thread 🧵 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
biorxiv.org
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Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation @moorefound.bsky.social · 01/05/2026
New funding opportunity from the Symbiosis in Aquatic Systems Initiative. We’re inviting teams of two researchers to pursue ambitious, high-risk projects advancing aquatic symbiosis (marine + freshwater). Open globally. Details + how to apply:  moore.org/SymbiosisRFP #RFP #AquaticSymbiosis
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Niko Leisch @nikobiota.bsky.social · 21/04/2026
or should that read "moore" ? 😉
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Niko Leisch @nikobiota.bsky.social · 21/04/2026
media.tenor.com
a group of minions are standing next to each other with the words give me more
ALT: a group of minions are standing next to each other with the words give me more
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Anna Karnkowska @ankarn.bsky.social · 20/04/2026
Really excited to share our new paper from @ibe-warszawa.bsky.social protist team! 🎉 We dive into protist symbioses and show how these interactions shape ecosystems and have played a key role in the evolution of eukaryotes 🦠
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Stefan Terjung @stefanterjung.bsky.social · 08/04/2026
Looking for a course on STED? You still have time to apply by 17 April 🔬⏰ @gerbi-gmb.de @eurobioimaging.bsky.social @eulimi.bsky.social @globalbioimaging.bsky.social @france-bioimaging.bsky.social @bioimaginguk.bsky.social @danishbioimaging.bsky.social @bioimagingna.bsky.social
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FocalPlane @focalplane.bsky.social · 03/04/2026
Our preprint list highlighting new tools and techniques in imaging is now up on FocalPlane. Check it out, and let us know if we are missing any research that we should add to the list. focalplane.biologists.com/2026/04/03/m...
focalplane.biologists.com
Microscopy preprints – new tools and techniques in imaging - FocalPlane
Microscopy preprints – new tools and techniques in imaging - News
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Niko Leisch @nikobiota.bsky.social · 11/03/2026
Great person, great science, great city, great opportunity 👇 And congratulations @manondemulder.bsky.social ! 🎉🎉🎉
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Niko Leisch @nikobiota.bsky.social · 24/02/2026
Unfortunately most @gautamdey.bsky.social roof launches had to be canceled due to bad weather 😈
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Niko Leisch @nikobiota.bsky.social · 24/02/2026
Whats left to say at the end? #ChaudPatate
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Niko Leisch @nikobiota.bsky.social · 24/02/2026
And the best parts about it - it's not over! More and more data is coming out from #TREC and the science will be fantastic to engage with. And my truck? Well it's an #EMBL facility open to the scientific community. If you're interested have a look www.embl.org/groups/mobil... or reach out
embl.org
Mobile Laboratories – A mobile, interdisciplinary facility for light microscopy, flow cytometry, and electron microscopy preparation
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Niko Leisch @nikobiota.bsky.social · 24/02/2026
There's more stories to tell about this whole experience, from the midnight loading in the north-east, the overzealous gardener in the south to dealing with storm Kirk But today it's about science, so if you want to see what's possible for field biology, have a look www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
biorxiv.org
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Niko Leisch @nikobiota.bsky.social · 24/02/2026
And not tot forget the ones behind the scenes, that made everything possible, from orders during the supply chain crisis, to shipments, cable repairs, to those that gave us tips for the best coffee in town and....
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Niko Leisch @nikobiota.bsky.social · 24/02/2026
A big thanks to the institutes that hosted us along the TREC expedition and supported us in so many ways many via @embrc.eu , and of course @taraoceans-science.bsky.social, who we met at every supersite
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Niko Leisch @nikobiota.bsky.social · 24/02/2026
And the fantastic colleagues that joined in like @yschwab.bsky.social @floravincent.bsky.social @johandecelle.bsky.social @gautamdey.bsky.social @dudinlab.bsky.social @cellarchlab.com and many more! we might #freezeonthebeach but we’ll do it in great company 😉 #WeFreezeOnTheBeach
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Niko Leisch @nikobiota.bsky.social · 24/02/2026
Of course, a lab-on-a-truck is only as good as the people around it. First and foremost my team Mike, Tina, Paulina - they tamed “impossible”, then packed up and did it again in the next country.
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Niko Leisch @nikobiota.bsky.social · 24/02/2026
In the new preprint, you can see what this enables: Automated #confocal imaging of live communities, EM prep that supports #FIB‑SEM, workflows that integrate single‑cell approaches, on‑site experiments, incubations, and much more.
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Niko Leisch @nikobiota.bsky.social · 24/02/2026
So now being able to bring all the technologies and then some, into the field to work with live samples within minutes to hours of sampling is #ADreamComeTrue! Deploying this across Europe as a proof-of-concept approach for the TREC expedition was a humbling yet mad dash of scientific amazingness!
An image from the inside of the lab, showing the harbor and the sea only few meters away.
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Niko Leisch @nikobiota.bsky.social · 24/02/2026
Side-story - already in my Master’s and PhD work, EM fixation in the field drove me mad. I had to rely on chem fix, while knowing cryo workflows were so much better. I obsessively optimized chem-fix anyway peerj.com/articles/1860/ , but there’s a quality ceiling you just can’t cross 😭
peerj.com
Improved ultrastructure of marine invertebrates using non-toxic buffers
Many marine biology studies depend on field work on ships or remote sampling locations where sophisticated sample preservation techniques (e.g., high-pressure freezing) are often limited or unavailabl...
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Niko Leisch @nikobiota.bsky.social · 24/02/2026
Enter the AML - we built a custom semi-trailer that houses a fully functional molecular lab - on wheels. We outfitted it with a plethora of microscopes, an imaging cell sorter and (maaaaybe my favourite) cryo-preparation for #EM.
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Niko Leisch @nikobiota.bsky.social · 24/02/2026
So, in 2022 I joined EMBL with the task to build up the #MobileLabs. And one of the joys of EMBL is being surrounded by dreamers, enthusiastic to see how far we can push the possible.
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Niko Leisch @nikobiota.bsky.social · 24/02/2026
Fast forward - when I heard in 2022 that EMBL plans to “go wild” and is thinking of mobile labs, I was intrigued. One look at the plan for the – back then upcoming- TREC expedition and I was sold: take the lab to the coastlines instead of the other way round.. www.embl.org/about/info/t...
embl.org
TREC – An expedition to study coastal ecosystems and their response to the environment, from molecules to communities
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Niko Leisch @nikobiota.bsky.social · 24/02/2026
Moving into deep sea research didn't help with any of that but living through a research cruise sure made both the opportunities and challenges clearer.
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Niko Leisch @nikobiota.bsky.social · 24/02/2026
Naturally I became methods obsessed, to compensate for that. And latest with my PhD work I was banging the drum for environmental cell biology, see #ExhibitA - a quite outdated slide from my defense talk.
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Niko Leisch @nikobiota.bsky.social · 24/02/2026
From the start of my scientific life, I was hooked on symbiosis in coastal habitats—beautiful, messy systems full of organisms that refuse to grow in the lab, like so much of the most interesting biology out there. #symbiosis #nematodes
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Niko Leisch @nikobiota.bsky.social · 24/02/2026
The best stories are the personal ones. So before we get to the new preprint, stay awhile and listen #MobileLabs #TREC
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Omaya Dudin 𓂆 ¦🍉¦🦠¦🔬¦ @dudinlab.bsky.social · 17/02/2026
A 🆕 #Ichthyosporea story Led by@margaridaaraujo.bsky.social, in Co. @gautamdey.bsky.social & @hiralshah.bsky.social+🔥team across @embl.org & @sciencesunige.bsky.social We finally have a look at what #microtubules are doing during #cellularization in #Sphaeroforma ▶️ tinyurl.com/MTSARC #ProtistsOnSky
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Niko Leisch @nikobiota.bsky.social · 05/02/2026
I see electron microscopy, so I repost 😁
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EMBO @embo.org · 17/01/2026
We mourn the passing of Peer Bork, EMBO Member since 2000: www.embl.org/news/embl-announcement…
embl.org
In remembrance of Peer Bork  | EMBL
EMBL and its community are deeply saddened by the death of Peer Bork, the organisation’s Interim Director General. 
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em-hoc.bsky.social @em-hoc.bsky.social · 05/01/2026
Don’t forget to apply to this beautiful Electron Microscopy course at @szndohrn.bsky.social in Napoli, Italy by February 12th! 🌊 ☀️ Stay tuned for the preliminary program, in the meantime take a look here: www.szn.it/index.php/it...
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Flora Vincent @floravincent.bsky.social · 31/10/2025
Exciting day for the lab: our 1rst paper is officially out in @currentbiology.bsky.social 🥳 Wonderful collaboration wt @gautamdey.bsky.social showing how Cryo-ExM achieves consistent immunostaining in diverse diatoms, from the lab and the natural environment 1/n #ProtistsOnSky tinyurl.com/2zxaund7
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Omaya Dudin 𓂆 ¦🍉¦🦠¦🔬¦ @dudinlab.bsky.social · 31/10/2025
🚨Our collaboration with @centriolelab.bsky.social & @gautamdey.bsky.social is out today in @cp-cell.bsky.social We show that #Expansion #Microscopy is a broad-spectrum modality for Euks, enabling 3D phenotypic maps rooted to phylogeny. #ProtistsOnSky #SciComm #SciSky www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...
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Manon Demulder @manondemulder.bsky.social · 28/10/2025
We’re back with the next DinoSphere Online Seminar! Join us on Nov 4th, we're hosting: Edmée Royen (ULiège) - Symbiodinium
 Nicolas dos Santos Pacheco (Cambridge) - Perkinsids 📅 Tue, Nov 4 - 4 PM CET/3 PM GMT 
💻 Zoom link: sites.google.com/view/dinosphere
 Please spread the word! #protistonsky
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Iconic Fishes @iconicfishes.bsky.social · 30/09/2025
🌊 Say hello to the second star in our #IconicFishes lineup: the pipefish 🎶 💡 Did you know? There are over 225 species of pipefishes and they belong to the same family as the seahorse! 🎨 Stay tuned as these iconic fishes take centre stage 🎭🌟 in our upcoming arts movement #InspiredByIconicFishes
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Lukas VF Novak @animalculum.bsky.social · 31/08/2025
Partnership between #algae & #bacteria reveals secrets of evolution phys.org/news/2025-08... Stepwise genome #evolution from a facultative symbiont to an endosymbiont in the N2-fixing symbioses www.cell.com/current-biol... #protists by @vesnagrujcic.bsky.social, @mehrshmali.bsky.social, et al.
photo of a string of algal cells and the same string under fluorescence microscopy showing glowing blobs inside each cell
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Niko Leisch @nikobiota.bsky.social · 28/08/2025
The good news just keep coming! 🤩
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Ben Engel @cellarchlab.com · 26/08/2025
BIG NEWS!! We will be hiring a new professor with 25 years of endowed funding at the @biozentrum.unibas.ch @unibas.ch, focused on using biophysics and structural biology to explore climate-related fundamental science topics. Come start an innovative research cluster with us! 🧪🔬🧶🧬🌾🌍
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