Exciting news, fellow #Drosophila researchers! Ever wondered about the genome sequence of your lab strain or the balancers? Check out our Drosophila Laboratory Pangenome Database, featuring a growing collection of reference genome assemblies for popular D. melanogaster strains!

Excited to share our unexpected finding: piRNA pathway designed to protect the genome from invading nucleic acids created a population of selfish small RNAs that have perpetuated themselves for the past hundred million years of mammalian evolution. biorxiv.org/content/10.110…

Structural duality enables a single protein to act as a toxin–antidote pair for meiotic drive | PNAS pnas.org/doi/abs/10.107… & A meiotic driver hijacks an epigenetic reader to disrupt mitosis in noncarrier offspring | PNAS pnas.org/doi/abs/10.107… 2 amazing papers! 🤩

Thrilled to be able to share my PhD work with @FelipeKTeixeira GeneticsCambridge doi.org/10.1101/2024.1… Give us a read if you're interested in #ribosome heterogeneity, #devbio & #translationalcontrol 🪰🔬

My paper is out!! 🎉 "Opponent control of reinforcement by striatal dopamine and serotonin", nature Here, we show that dopamine and serotonin signals form a gas-brake system for reward in the mammalian brain 🧠 THREAD ⬇️ 1/n

We are all born with a genetic lottery. Millions of T cell receptors are what we have with a hope to defend all cancer and viruses. What if that's not enough? Hope our work can give an interesting answer to you. biorxiv.org/content/10.110…

Saxophone RNAi testis was selected for this cover. Congratulations, Emma!

happy to share the published version of our work on genome defense against selfish genes 😊 PNASNews "Escalation of genome defense capacity enables control of an expanding meiotic driver" pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pn…

sharing our cover art proposal, which sadly did not make it PNASNews: an artistic illustration of genetic innovation, where a musician plays the piano and new melodies—represented by small RNAs and scissors-like nucleases—emerge 🎶🎵 check out our paper: pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pn…

FlyBoard elections are open through Feb. 16, 2025. Please look for Genetics Society of America email: Select future FlyBoard leadership! Here is a link to access the candidate statements and ballot: genetics-gsa.org/2025-fly-board… Please repost. #Dros25 Genetics Society of America

Centromere evolution isn't a sudden switch! Our study shows centromere transitions are a step-by-step process driven by a combination of drift and selection. Discover how the kinetochore interface shapes this gradual change in our new preprint doi.org/10.1101/2025.0…  🧵(1/8)

Abstract submission for SMBE2025 in Beijing is open. If you study gene duplication or new genes, please consider submitting an abstract for a talk for Symposium 7, The Origin, Evolution, and Phenotypic Contributions of New Genes. smbe2025.scimeeting.cn/en/web/index/2…. Deadline is Jan 30, 2025.

deeply humbled to receive the Larry Sandler Award, named after the father of meiotic drive I'd like to think this award belongs to my mentors, colleagues, lab mates, and the wonderful fly community that has supported me & so many others in their journeys #basicscienceFTW

Congratulations to Peiwei Chen, Ph.D, Caltech 2024!

looking forward to sharing my PhD work with Alexei Aravin Caltech at #Dros25 tonight & meeting old and new friends throughout the fly meeting 😀

In a new Trends in Genetics piece, Amanda Larracuente and I spotlight an amazing work lead by Peiwei Chen uncovering Trailblazer—a regulatory innovation in the in piRNA pathway to suppress the meiotic driver Stellate. Check it out: authors.elsevier.com/c/1ktQOcQbJF8ya

thank you Emiliano Martí 🇦🇷 Amanda Larracuente Trends in Genetics for taking the time to write such a thoughtful commentary of our recent paper on genome defense PNASNews Caltech & articulate the evolutionary implications of our work -- what a treat!! 😆

Certain genes are “selfish," cheating the rules of inheritance to increase their chances of being transmitted. Researchers in Yukiko M. Yamashita have uncovered a unique "self-limiting" mechanism keeping the selfish gene Stellate in check: wi.mit.edu/news/selfish-g…

Exciting news! I am launching the Lab of Polymicrobial Interaction & Evolution IPMB Academia Sinica (中研院植微所) 中央研究院 Academia Sinica! 🎉 Our brand-new website is live: labofpie.org 🥧 We’re recruiting at all levels—if you're curious about how fungi and bacteria compete and co-evolve, come join us!