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A. Sánchez Alvarado

@planaria1.bsky.social
878 followers 113 following 78 posts

An ongoing collection of places, ideas and people I run into during the practice of science

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Reposted by A. Sánchez Alvarado
Stowers Institute @stowersinstitute.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Discover the newest tools transforming translational biology—from advanced ribosome profiling and proteomics to innovative imaging and functional genomics. 🧬 Join us at the 2026 Stowers Research Conference, #SRKC26. Register now: bit.ly/43Vb9so
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Reposted by A. Sánchez Alvarado
Stowers Institute @stowersinstitute.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
This #MicroscopyMonday shows the early formation of a small colony of corals from the Hawaiian Montipora capitata coral. Coral polyps have autofluorescence by the expression of the Green Fluorescent Protein. 🪸 (Gibson Lab)
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A. Sánchez Alvarado @planaria1.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
My son’s album is now availnle on Apple Music Take a listen! music.apple.com/us/album/mis...
music.apple.com
miscellanea-muestrario-mischung by sebtembrs on Apple Music
Album · 2024 · 19 Songs
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Reposted by A. Sánchez Alvarado
Stowers Institute @stowersinstitute.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
What if growing into an adult meant rewriting your cells? 🪱🔬 New #research from the Stowers Institute (@planaria1.bsky.social Lab) & @stanforduniversity.bsky.social reveals how the marine acorn worm transforms from larva to adult by reprogramming many of the cells it already has. 🔗 bit.ly/4hF99Mp
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Stowers Institute and Stanford University study reveals a marine worm…
New single-cell atlas of the acorn worm shows that most tissues undergo a genome-wide transcriptional overhaul as larva becomes adult, providing new…
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Reposted by A. Sánchez Alvarado
Hypothesis Fund @hypothesisfund.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
2/ What if a new job changed your personality & extended your life? 🤯 Harpegnathos ants 🐜 do exactly that. Awardee Janko Gospocic is studying the epigenetics behind their caste-transitions, which could unlock new ways to reverse brain aging. 🎉 Congrats Dr. Gospocic! 🙏 #HFScout @planaria1.bsky.social
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Stowers Institute @stowersinstitute.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Stowers Pres. & CSO @planaria1.bsky.social, welcomes our scientific community to #CRC26! From #research talks to poster presentations, this annual internal scientific meeting creates opportunities for scientists across career stages to share their work, learn from colleagues & make new connections.
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Reposted by A. Sánchez Alvarado
Stowers Institute @stowersinstitute.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Stowers Graduate School alum Augusto Ortega Granillo, Ph.D., reflects on his time at the Institute and the experiences that helped shape where his scientific career has taken him today. Check it out ⬇️
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Reposted by A. Sánchez Alvarado
Stowers Grad School @stowersgrad.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
From the Stowers Graduate School to @mpi-cbg.de 🧬 Alum Augusto Ortega Granillo, Ph.D., reflects on his journey at #StowersGrad and how pairing #biology with physics is shaping his #research today. 🔗Read more + applications are NOW OPEN: bit.ly/4xpAc2Y
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Pairing biology with physics, from the Stowers Institute and beyond
Augusto Ortega Granillo, Ph.D., reflects on his journey from the Stowers Graduate School to his postdoctoral research at the Max Planck Institute
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A. Sánchez Alvarado @planaria1.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
11/11 This work was led by @paulbump.bsky.social in @lowelab.bsky.social, with Brewster, Formery, Lubeck, Campbell, Morri, Sit, Rokhsar, & @blairbenhampyle.bsky.social @czbiohub.bsky.social, the National Science Foundation, @stowersinstitute.bsky.social, Myers Trust & the Haderlie Memorial Award
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A. Sánchez Alvarado @planaria1.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
10/11 A word of caution: an atlas built from larvae may describe a different animal than one built from adults of the same species. Complex life cycles are not an oddity. Differences between two bodies may be written not in the roster of cells, but in the parts they're playing.
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A. Sánchez Alvarado @planaria1.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
9/11 Nor is the divergence the work of a few stage-specific master genes. It is distributed broadly across regulatory, metabolic, and physiological programs, i.e., transcription factors and everything else alike, separating the two bodies.
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A. Sánchez Alvarado @planaria1.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
8/11 One tissue refused to change costume. Mesoderm & muscle hold the same transcriptional profile on both sides of the metamorphic divide, even as their distribution in the body transforms completely. Whatever metamorphosis does to ectoderm & endoderm, it does not do to mesoderm
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A. Sánchez Alvarado @planaria1.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
7/11 43 days later, EdU+ cells born in the larva were still there in the juvenile proboscis, collar, and dorsal cord. They did not die. They stayed, and some of them are now expressing juvenile neural markers. The old cells are doing new jobs.
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A. Sánchez Alvarado @planaria1.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
6/11 The naive reading that the larval cast is discarded, and an adult cast is conjured from set-aside cells (Peterson, et al, 1997) is not supported. Earlier work found no wave of larval death commensurate with replacement. So we labeled larval cells with EdU and waited.
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A. Sánchez Alvarado @planaria1.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
5/11 This is not a UMAP artifact. In 55-dimensional PC space, larval gut clusters sit nearer to larval neurons than to any juvenile cluster, across germ layers. A larval neuron resembles a larval gut cell more closely than it resembles its own adult counterpart.
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A. Sánchez Alvarado @planaria1.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
4/11 Then we colored the same cells by life stage, and the result was arresting. Larval and juvenile cells occupy largely distinct transcriptional territories. Cells group by when they are, not by what they are...
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A. Sánchez Alvarado @planaria1.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
3/11 87,021 cells. 56 clusters. 12 cell classes: cartilage, ciliary band, endoderm, epidermis, immune, mesoderm, muscle, neural, pigment, proliferative, secretory, and one still unknown. Each validated in situ by HCR.
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A. Sánchez Alvarado @planaria1.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
2/11 The enteropneust hemichordate Schizocardium californicum spends three months in the plankton as a transparent tornaria (a swimming head) before becoming a burrowing worm in the mud of Morro Bay. We charted five life-history stages by whole-body single-cell transcriptomics.
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A. Sánchez Alvarado @planaria1.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
1/11 Our newest study asks how far cellular reprogramming extends in the ordinary course of animal life. Metamorphosis offers the test of maximal severity: the wholesale conversion of one body plan into another. Out now in Nature Communications. nature.com/articles/s41467-026-77191-y
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Stowers Institute @stowersinstitute.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Stowers scientists are featured in @fortune.com for their work with Google DeepMind on AlphaGenome Atlas—an AI-powered resource mapping predictions for 9 billion possible single-letter DNA changes across the human genome. 🧬 Read more about the collaboration: bit.ly/4x6NMYR
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Google DeepMind publishes AI-powered predictions for the effect of all 9 billion possible single-point mutations to human DNA | Fortune
DeepMind's catalogue of predicted DNA mutation effects, could help scientists unlock the cause of rare genetic diseases and help them find cures.
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Reposted by A. Sánchez Alvarado
Stowers Institute @stowersinstitute.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Stowers scientists partnered with Google DeepMind to help advance AlphaGenome, an #AI model built to better understand how #DNA sequences regulate gene activity. 🔗 @statnews.com takes a closer look at the #technology and its potential for genomic #research, read the article here: bit.ly/4ikuUlF
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DeepMind launches AlphaGenome, aiming to predict gene regulation from DNA sequence
Google's DeepMind launches AlphaGenome, an artificial intelligence model that predicts gene expression from DNA sequence.
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Reposted by A. Sánchez Alvarado
Stowers Institute @stowersinstitute.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
(1/2) NEW #research from the Özel Lab 🧠 By mapping 232,251 cells in the developing fruit fly brain, Stowers scientists discovered that neurons actively build their identities during a critical window just after they are born. Read more about the @pnas.org study: bit.ly/3UATViG
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Reposted by A. Sánchez Alvarado
Stowers Institute @stowersinstitute.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
(2/2) More on the @pnas.org study ⬇️ #neuroscience #scisky
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Stowers Institute @stowersinstitute.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
🚨Register early and save your spot! Early bird pricing for the 2026 Stowers Research Conference ENDS MONDAY, September 14. #SRCKC26 ✔️ Abstract submission deadline: 9/14 ✔️ Early bird pricing ends: 9/14 Register today: bit.ly/43Vb9so
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Stowers Research Conferences: Ribosome Heterogeneity and…
Organized by Ariel Bazzini, Ph.D., Kamena Kostova, Ph.D., and Maria Barna, Ph.D.
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Stowers Institute @stowersinstitute.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
(1/2) 🎉 Congrats to Stowers Visual Storyteller and Multimedia Producer Jill Toyoshiba on her Mid-America Emmy nomination! Her nominated story dives into the fascinating coral #research happening right here at the Institute. 🪸 Watch the nominated video below and explore the story: bit.ly/4fAYkcb
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Reposted by A. Sánchez Alvarado
Stowers Institute @stowersinstitute.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
(2/2) Watch part two below⬇️🪸
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Reposted by A. Sánchez Alvarado
Christopher B. Cameron @invertevo.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Single-cell transcriptomes of acorn worms show that larval & adult body plans are composed of distinct cell types. Larval & adult cells evolve quasi-independently! @paulbump.bsky.social @laurentformery.bsky.social @lowelab.bsky.social @planaria1.bsky.social www.nature.com/articles/s41...
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Distinct cell states define larval and adult body plans in a hemichordate - Nature Communications
Here they use scRNA-seq to show that, in the hemichordate Schizocardium californicum, ectoderm and endoderm shift transcriptional identity from larva to adult while mesoderm is transcriptionally conserved, making life stage a major axis of cellular state.
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Reposted by A. Sánchez Alvarado
Stowers Institute @stowersinstitute.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
This week's stunning #MicroscopyMonday shows individual gene expression (colors) which highlight the diversity and localization of cell types within a flatworm. 🪱 (@planaria1.bsky.social Lab)
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Stowers Institute @stowersinstitute.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
How is translation regulated across different cell types, tissues, and organisms? Join us October 21–23 as experts explore ribosome heterogeneity, specialized ribosomes, translational control, and the technologies driving the next generation of discoveries. #SRCKC26 🔗 Register: bit.ly/43Vb9so
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Reposted by A. Sánchez Alvarado
Stowers Institute @stowersinstitute.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
This #MicroscopyMonday explores when nature plays with symmetry across species. A rare two-headed Killifish (left) and Zebrafish (right) conjoined larvae can occur, seen above with a fluorescent label marking the lateral line (a sensory system). 🔬(Piotrowski Lab)
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A. Sánchez Alvarado @planaria1.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
On August 18 or 19 in 1936, the poet Federico Garcia Lorca was killed by a firing squad on the outskirts of Granada, Spain. He was 38. His body was never found Read him this month. The Romancero gitano, the New York poems, Bodas de sangre. Ninety Augusts later, the moon still comes into the forge
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Stowers Institute @stowersinstitute.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
#MicroscopyMonday | When the proliferation gene responsible for progenitor populations is disrupted (right), progenitors regenerate hair cells through direct differentiation in the absence of proliferation. Wild type neuromast (left). (Piotrowski Lab) #SciSky
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Reposted by A. Sánchez Alvarado
Stowers Institute @stowersinstitute.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
At this year's Faculty EDGE workshop, Stowers postdoctoral researchers refined their #research talks, practiced chalk talks, and received valuable feedback from visiting faculty at leading research institutions. 🔗Learn more: bit.ly/4wi0xzE
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Faculty EDGE: The conversations that shape careers
The Institute’s Faculty EDGE workshop, a key component of the Stowers Postdoctoral Training Program, prepares Stowers postdocs for what they will…
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A. Sánchez Alvarado @planaria1.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
The Northern Harrier flies at the edge of falling. Its flight so slow that it is as if it was held aloft by desire alone. And when the flight ends and the Nothern Harrier lands in the tall grass and disappears from view, it is as if the entire field goes away with it.
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Big Picture Science @bipisci.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
Planarian flatworms have amazing regenerative abilities. After being sliced in half, wounds close within minutes, new eyes appear in days, and by day seven, the regenerated body is behaving like a functioning flatworm. @stowersinstitute.bsky.social bigpicturescience.org/episodes/wor...
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Stowers Institute @stowersinstitute.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
President and CSO @planaria1.bsky.social featured on Big Picture Science podcast⬇️
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A. Sánchez Alvarado @planaria1.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
Alexander Calder’s birth certificate says 22 July 1898. His mother insisted on August Fitting for a man whose life’s work was to show that balance is provisional, and that the finest structures are those still deciding where to rest
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Stowers Institute @stowersinstitute.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
Recreating the Great Barrier Reef in a basement in the heart of the Midwest? Very few people ever witness #coral spawning in the wild. But on Floor B3 of the Stowers Institute, our team of researchers has discovered what it takes to successfully spawn coral in the lab. 🪸Learn more: bit.ly/4fAYkcb
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Coral Keepers
Inside our coral spawning success. In the heart of the midwest.
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Stowers Institute @stowersinstitute.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
From specialized #ribosomes to translational control, the 2026 Stowers Research Conference will explore the latest discoveries shaping our understanding of protein synthesis across #biology. #SRCKC26 🗓 October 21–23, 2026 📍 Kansas City, Missouri Register now: bit.ly/43Vb9so
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Stowers Institute @stowersinstitute.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
What if #AI could predict a cell's future? Researchers at the Institute and @helmholtzmunich.bsky.social are working toward that with RegVelo—an AI tool that helps reveal where cells are headed and what drives their fate. On #WorldAIDay, explore how AI is advancing #biology⬇️ bit.ly/4f7jlvZ
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New AI Tool RegVelo Predicts Cell Fate & Gene Regulation | Stowers
Stowers researchers unveil RegVelo, an AI tool predicting how cells change and identifying gene regulators to advance regenerative medicine.
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Stowers Institute @stowersinstitute.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
Evan Morrison, Ph.D., didn't always envision a career in #science. Today, he continues his @hhmi-science.bsky.social Gilliam Fellowship in the @kkostova.bsky.social Lab, where he's pursuing curiosity-driven #research to better understand how cells function. 🔗Read more: bit.ly/4wMAYqX
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From philosophy to proteins: Stowers postdoc continues his HHMI…
Evan Morrison, Ph.D., a Stowers Institute postdoctoral researcher and a 2021 recipient of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute Gilliam Fellowship, followed…
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Reposted by A. Sánchez Alvarado
Stowers Institute @stowersinstitute.bsky.social · 20/07/2026
Today’s Faculty EDGE seminar series is underway, featuring #research presentations from four Institute postdocs!
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Stowers Institute @stowersinstitute.bsky.social · 20/07/2026
How is translation regulated across different cell types, tissues, and organisms? Join us October 21–23 as experts explore #ribosome heterogeneity, specialized ribosomes, translational control, and the technologies driving the next generation of discoveries. #SRCKC26 🔗 Register: bit.ly/43Vb9so
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Stowers Institute @stowersinstitute.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
Institute postdocs are sharpening their scientific stories & preparing for the academic faculty job market through Faculty EDGE. The workshop offers personalized application review, job talk feedback, mock interviews, & guidance from faculty w/ firsthand search committee experience. bit.ly/4wi5nxB
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Stowers Institute @stowersinstitute.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
This beautiful #MicroscopyMonday shows the muscle and other tissue organization around the mouth and pharynx of the #planarian flatworm. 🪱 @planaria1.bsky.social Lab
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Stowers Institute @stowersinstitute.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
Last night at the @acchampionship.bsky.social, Pres. & Chief Scientific Officer @planaria1.bsky.social shared how curiosity-driven #science is transforming our understanding of life and why investing in foundational #research today can improve human health. @americancentury.bsky.social #ACCGolf ⛳
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Stowers Institute @stowersinstitute.bsky.social · 09/06/2026
Summer at @mblscience.bsky.social 🌊 Stowers Fellow Nelson Hall and @stowersgrad.bsky.social student in the @planaria1.bsky.social Lab Dung Vuu are helping train the next generation of developmental biologists – from collecting specimens to exploring the earliest stages of life.
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Stowers Institute @stowersinstitute.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
This #MicroscopyMonday is a developing Apple Snail embryo. On the left is the shell, the middle the body and the foot at the bottom. On the right the head with the eye (green circle) and the tentacle bud. 🐌 (@planaria1.bsky.social Lab)
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Stowers Institute @stowersinstitute.bsky.social · 22/06/2026
This week's #MicroscopyMonday shows the cross-section of a developing mouse head with neural crest cells, which migrate to form most of the head and face in vertebrates. 🔬 (@aussiebiologist.bsky.social Lab)
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Stowers Institute @stowersinstitute.bsky.social · 15/06/2026
This #MicroscopyMonday is a case of spontaneous axis duplication of a two days post fertilization #zebrafish embryo. Two heads and bodies share the same heart and intricate neuronal connections (orange). (Piotrowski Lab)
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