iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

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Vytaute Boreikaite @vytaute.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

I’m very excited to share my postdoc work in the @plaschkalab.bsky.social, where we investigated the very final act of splicing – spliceosome termination, revealing the stepwise dismantling of the spent spliceosome www.nature.com/articles/s41... (1/11)

nature.com

Mechanism of spliceosome termination - Nature

A coordinated sequence of RNA helicases and associated factors dismantles normal and defective spliceosome complexes to enable intron degradation and ensure accurate gene expression.

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Will Ratcliff @wcratcliff.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

Out today in @nature.com: our review on how single cells evolve into multicellular organisms. With Ozan Bozdag, @kaitong25.bsky.social, Peter Yunker, and @matthewherron.bsky.social. rdcu.be/9ZuiKow9twKa For an overview, check out the video below.

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Victoria Deneke @vdeneke.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

This year it was kicked off by @kstapornwongkul.bsky.social studying the metabolic control of development. Already so much cool research, excited for the coming days!

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Victoria Deneke @vdeneke.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

One of the most exciting events of the year is here: the 2026 IMP/IMBA Recess! This is an event where group leaders at @impvienna.bsky.social @imbavienna.bsky.social present their ongoing work to our campus and where we get to see our colleagues’ and friends’ work highlighted.

Photo of Kristina ready to present for Recess 2026

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Rebecca R Helm @rebeccarhelm.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

The spooky season has arrived, and that means Creepy Biology is upon us. It's time to talk origins. It's time to talk gore. It's time to talk about BLOOD. Specifically, YOUR blood 🩸 [a thread]

A blood splatter by Luis Moraga 17, from wikimedia commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:EFECTOS_(SANGRE)_(93).png

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MwahahahahahadScientist @mads100tist.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

Do you work with microscopy images and segment to quantify or track? Do you study cell biology? development? Gather round! Let me tell you about FOCUS-3D, a segmentation algorithm that is fast, accurate and can be used on any model. We used it here to study zebrafish development. 🧪 (thread)

biorxiv.org

FOCUS‑3D: Robust, generalizable volumetric cell segmentation for three‑dimensional fluorescence microscopy

Understanding how cells establish spatial organization within tissues is a fundamental question in life sciences. While modern three-dimensional fluorescence microscopy captures large-volume tissue ar...

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Chrystal Starbird @drstarbird.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

And… I am SO excited to share the first research preprint from my group! In this paper we determined several cryoEM structures to visualize the entire cell-to-cell bridging complex formed by TAM receptor and ligand, bringing into 3D a common graphical depiction. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

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Mark Peifer (He, him) @peiferlabunc.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

For the last 34 years I have been on the faculty of the UNC-Chapel Hill Department of Biology and have never regretted that decision. This year we are hiring TWO new Assistant Professors in the broad area of Molecular, Cell, Developmental Biology 1/n bio.unc.edu

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Mark Peifer (He, him) @peiferlabunc.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Are you looking for a postdoc exploring the cell biology of development, defining how cells change shape and move? Do you want to develop a research program & teaching skills preparing you for a position at a college or small University? Our new NIH grant will support those goals 1/n Please share

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Victoria Deneke @vdeneke.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

#ZDM19 is live from Oxford! 🐟 So excited to hear the latest and greatest in zebrafish research and see some familiar faces from PhD times! @jfrawls.bsky.social @oehlerslab.org @tobinlab.bsky.social If you’re around and want to meet, let me know!

John Rawls at the podium ready to present at the Zebrafish Disease Models Meeting in Oxford

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Victoria Deneke @vdeneke.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Beautiful chemical waves in action! Congrats to the authors!!

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Martin Steinegger 🇺🇦 @martinsteinegger.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

AlphaFold Database is expanding into pandemic preparedness. Together with NVIDIA, DeepMind, EBI et al. we exhaustively predicted ~1.7 million homo- & heterodimers across 2,812 viral proteomes, resulting in 8,028 high-confidence predictions. 📄 research.nvidia.com/labs/dbr/ass... 🌐 alphafold.ebi.ac.uk

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Maya Voichek @mayavoichek.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Super excited to share my postdoctoral work at @imbavienna.bsky.social @viennabiocenter.bsky.social - We discovered that some retrotransposons, or "jumping genes" 🧬, are able to spread from cell to cell via a new viral infectivity route. A short thread: 🧵👇 (1/7)

AI-generated illustration of the soma-to-germline transmission of retrotransposons described in our work

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Victoria Deneke @vdeneke.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Very excited to see my HFSP Long-Term Postdoc Fellowship featured in HFSP’s recent review! Thank you @hfspo.bsky.social for funding the coolest frontier science and for supporting my postdoc research @pauligroup.bsky.social and professional development. Check out their full report ⬇️

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Martin Pacesa @martinpacesa.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

ʙɪɴᴅᴄʀᴀꜰᴛ2 is out, and we're not waiting for the paper. The full code drops today, free for academic and industry use. We're releasing it early so you can start designing right now, and bring its full power to the current Adaptyv competition. github.com/PacesaLab/Bi...

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International Zebrafish Society @izfs.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

🚨 Travel. Learn. Collaborate. The #IZFS Knowledge Exchange Grant supports researchers seeking to visit another lab, gain new experience, and expand their knowledge. Learn more and apply: www.izfs.org/awards/knowl... #ZebrafishGrant #ExchangeGrant

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Shefali @iamshef.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Hey #Drosophila folks - the #flycross #mentee survey is open for #grad students, #postdoc and #pretenure faculty. ~95 mentors from across the world, with diverse expertise. The co-chairs @shyama13.bsky.social and @jocmcdonald.bsky.social have done a phenomenal work in taking the program forward 🎉

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Virginia Busetto @virginiabusetto.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

Very excited to share our new preprint: “A pseudohelicase-centered complex couples assembly-dependent RNA cleavage to poly(UG)ylation”! 🎉 Want to know more? 🧵👇 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

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Pauli Group (posts by Andi Pauli) @pauligroup.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

And it’s a wrap! Impressive finish to our 2026 #ViennaBioCenterSummerSchool with the Summer School Symposium, where our 19 international Fellows presented the results of their 2-3 months of research conducted in their host labs. Congratulations to all Fellows! training.vbc.ac.at/summer-school/

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Victoria Deneke @vdeneke.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

Looking for a postdoc lab? The @ditalialab.bsky.social is a fantastic place to think deeply about fundamental problems in biology using quantitative approaches. I feel incredibly fortunate to have done my PhD here & to have learned from such an insightful and supportive mentor - please 🔁 & apply!

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Jose Julian @josejulian.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

🌱 We are hiring! I’m looking for a postdoctoral researcher to join the Julian Lab at BOKU University Vienna as part of our FWF ASTRA-funded VITAL project. 🔬 Plant cell biology & vacuolar remodeling 📅 2 years, starting early 2027 ⏳ Apply by 30 September

homepage.boku.ac.at

Jose Julian – Downloads

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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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Zebrafish Disease Models Society (ZDMS) @zdmsociety.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

Deadline Extended! The ZDMS SciArt Competition 2026 is now accepting submissions until September 1, 2026! Win up to $300 for your scientific illustration or short film. Submit your work: www.zdmsociety.org/sci-art-competition #SciArt #Zebrafish #SciComm #STEMArt #DiseaseModels

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Victoria Deneke @vdeneke.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

In 2018, I had the opportunity as a PhD student to write a review about chemical waves with @ditalialab.bsky.social Looking back, this was such a fun and valuable experience. If you’re curious to know more about how chemical waves regulate signaling in cells and embryos, check out our review! 🌊

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Jason Nomburg @jnoms.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

Happy to share the first preprint out of the Nomburg lab! Many aspects of cellular immunity are shared across the tree of life. Here, we show that some of these conserved aspects of cellular immunity are mirrored by conserved effectors of immune antagonism. Thread below! 1/15

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Victoria Deneke @vdeneke.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

Check out this cool paper from our former bench neighbors and now desk neighbors! 😎 Congrats Tomas and team!

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Victoria Deneke @vdeneke.bsky.social · 31/05/2026

Thanks for the shout out! 💥

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Victoria Deneke @vdeneke.bsky.social · 23/05/2026

Oh that’s amazing, I wonder how that experience was for your mom! I love reading older papers just to see how science evolves over time, it’s insane and inspiring. Science moves so fast!

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Victoria Deneke @vdeneke.bsky.social · 23/05/2026

Glad this thread has sparked your curiosity! ✨

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Victoria Deneke @vdeneke.bsky.social · 23/05/2026

Good q! Once there is a fusion pore in the membrane of the egg, the sperm head gets engulfed together with the chromosomes. This requires active force from the egg (actin). Once inside the egg the DNA fuses with the one from the egg in a process called pronuclear fusion - science is so fascinating!

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Victoria Deneke @vdeneke.bsky.social · 23/05/2026

Very much debatable, it’s hard to design an experiment that would definitively support that, but open to ideas!

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Victoria Deneke @vdeneke.bsky.social · 23/05/2026

Really interesting question! My guess is that the complexity of this machinery is due to the fast-evolving nature of reproductive factors as well as being involved in egg recognition, stabilizing the other factors and fusion. Likely the part that is driving fusion itself is only a few factors

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Victoria Deneke @vdeneke.bsky.social · 23/05/2026

Thank you for the shout-out and encouragement, Mark!

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Victoria Deneke @vdeneke.bsky.social · 22/05/2026

We hope this work SPARKs your curiosity (and your feedback)! ✨ www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

biorxiv.org

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Victoria Deneke @vdeneke.bsky.social · 22/05/2026

Big thank you to all co-authors who contributed to numerous aspects of this work: Karin, Andreas, Aleq, @murielmirus.bsky.social, our @viennabiocenter.bsky.social @impvienna.bsky.social Bioinfo & Proteomics Team, @jeremyahollis.bsky.social, @arburga.bsky.social, and @hankamarvan.bsky.social!

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Victoria Deneke @vdeneke.bsky.social · 22/05/2026

This project has been possible thanks to an amazing team, starting with co-first author Johannes Suwita, and our mentor Andi @pauligroup.bsky.social. We have had the privilege to work with the lab of Masahito Ikawa for all mouse work, in particular Haoting, Shingo and Lu. Photo: 2025 Japan visit!

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Victoria Deneke @vdeneke.bsky.social · 22/05/2026

We propose that SPARK couples sperm-egg recognition to membrane fusion by: 1. Binding egg receptors 2. Undergoing conformational changes 3. ... and leading to sperm-egg fusion!

Cartoon model of how the SPARK complex interacts with eggs receptors, undergoes conformational changes and initiates membrane fusion

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Victoria Deneke @vdeneke.bsky.social · 22/05/2026

How does SPARK get activated for fusion? Intriguingly, we found that adding soluble recombinant Bouncer (the egg receptor in fish) to sperm, rescued fertilization with eggs lacking Bouncer. This suggests that the egg receptor may prime SPARK for fusion.

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Victoria Deneke @vdeneke.bsky.social · 22/05/2026

From an evolutionary perspective, we find that TMDD1 and FAM187 are conserved beyond vertebrates. A recent preprint from Amber Krauchunas’s lab shows that FAM187/spe-40 is also essential for fertilization in C. elegans! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

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Victoria Deneke @vdeneke.bsky.social · 22/05/2026

The two new factors we identified, TMDD1 and FAM187A, are essential for fertilization in zebrafish and mice – knocking them out causes male sterility.

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Victoria Deneke @vdeneke.bsky.social · 22/05/2026

In mammals, SPARK is predicted to include three more factors: TMEM95, FIMP and SOF1. In addition to our experiments with the Ikawa lab, a pre-print from Steven Tang’s lab supports our SPARK complex model by showing an in vitro interaction between FIMP and TMEM95: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

AlphaFold3 model of mammalian SPARK complex

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Victoria Deneke @vdeneke.bsky.social · 22/05/2026

SPARK is comprised of previously known sperm fertilization factors (IZUMO1, SPACA6, TMEM81, DCST1/2) plus two new components we identified: TMDD1 and FAM187A. Importantly, SPARK members are conserved across vertebrates, including humans!

AlphaFold3 model of SPARK complex with TMDD1 and FAM187A highlighted

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Victoria Deneke @vdeneke.bsky.social · 22/05/2026

How do sperm and egg fuse? Surprisingly, we still don’t fully know… Our field has uncovered many pieces of the fertilization puzzle, but not how they fit together. We identify ✨ SPARK ✨ - a conserved sperm complex that couples sperm-egg binding to fusion. tinyurl.com/34cm4xat Read on! 🧵👇

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Alejandro Burga @arburga.bsky.social · 18/05/2026

🧬 New research from the Burga lab! We took a closer look at a rogue selfish protein and caught evolution in the act of turning something old into something radically new 💡 (a.k.a. neofunctionalization) @imbavienna.bsky.social www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... Curious? Here’s a breakdown:

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Sophie G Martin @sophiemartinlab.bsky.social · 03/03/2026

You are finishing your PhD and looking to continue in science? The Martin lab @biology-unige.bsky.social has an open postdoctoral position in cell biology to study cell-cell fusion. For more information, please consult mocel.unige.ch/research-gro.... Thanks for reposting!

mocel.unige.ch

Contact/Job - Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology - UNIGE

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Juan Carlos De la Concepcion @delaconcepcionjc.bsky.social · 30/01/2026

Please share! My group at @zmbp-tuebingen.bsky.social is offering a post-doctoral position (4 years). We look for a structural biologist with experience in Cryo-EM/Cryo-ET to investigate the mechanisms of host invasion by pathogenic fungi. Deadline February 28th! uni-tuebingen.de/universitaet...

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