Arnaud Martin
LightNews LightNews
banner
evolvwing.bsky.social
Arnaud Martin
@evolvwing.bsky.social
2.3K followers 1.4K following 230 posts
Associate Professor of Biology at the George Washington University
Interested in Pattern Formation, Evolutionary Tinkering, Genetics,
#lociofevolution #dnacrobatics #evodevo #lepidoptera
dnacrobatics.com
pubs: https://rb.gy/nfg8p
Posts Replies Media Videos
Reposted by Arnaud Martin
evgenykvon.bsky.social
Not that long ago, in vivo mouse enhancer design was a dream. Today, it's a reality! Using transfer deep learning to design de novo synthetic embryonic enhancers active in the heart, limb, and CNS. Great collab with @alex-stark.bsky.social lab! @ucibiosci.bsky.social @impvienna.bsky.social
December 24, 2025 at 3:51 PM
Reposted by Arnaud Martin
surtlab.bsky.social
Live thread of the NSF biology virtual office hour:

🧵
December 18, 2025 at 6:02 PM
Reposted by Arnaud Martin
biologyopen.bsky.social
#WntA is a crucial marker of stripe elements early in development for the Nymphalidae butterfly family. @jasminealqassar.bsky.social & co explore if WntA has maintained its role in stripe elements over 95 million years of evolution in the Hesperiidae family of butterflies. doi.org/10.1242/bio....
Hypotheses of stripe pattern homology between nymphalids and hesperiids. (A) Current summary of the nymphalid ground plan, mainly based on the terminology of Schwanwitsch (Nijhout, 1991; Schwanwitsch, 1924) and including recent updates by Otaki and Mazo-Vargas et al. (Mazo-Vargas et al., 2017; Otaki, 2012; Otaki, 2021; Schwanwitsch, 1956). Discalis elements (D1 and D2); CSS, central symmetry system (cyan); BoSS, border ocelli symmetry system (magenta); Oc, forewing border ocelli; pPf and dPf, proximal and distal parafocal elements; MBS, marginal band system (green). Colored vignettes denote vein intersection landmarks. Magenta square, junction between R and M vein trunks; yellow dot, M1-M2 junction; red star, junction between discal crossvein and M3; blue cross, M3-Cu2 junction; green triangle, Cu1-Cu2 junction. Rectangles feature the name of marker genes. (B) Ventral wing patterns of the nymphalid Prepona eugenes with ground plan annotations proposed by Schwanwitsch, 1956 (left: reproduction of published drawings; right: equivalent annotations as color overlays). (C) Phylogenetic relationship between Papilionoidae families. (D) Ventral wing patterns of the hesperiid P. sidae annotated as in panel A, and highlighting the inferred CSS predicted by Schwanwitsch, 1956 (left panel). According to this author, the CSS marks a grey pattern in forewings, and a dislocated white stripe pattern in hindwings, suggesting uncoupling of pattern and color state in fore/hindwings in skippers. The forewing CSS is markedly dislocated along the Cu1 vein (arrowhead).
December 17, 2025 at 8:09 PM
Reposted by Arnaud Martin
maxfarnworth.bsky.social
New paper covering what we think is a pretty nice and comprehensive overview over tools suitable for neuroethology in butterflies and moths.
Also, check out the whole special issue if you're an insect neuroethologist.
@neuroethology.org @dzg-neurobiology.bsky.social

doi.org/10.1007/s003...
Emerging tools to advance neuroethology in butterflies and moths - Journal of Comparative Physiology A
Journal of Comparative Physiology A - Butterflies and moths have played historically important roles in developing our understanding of both ecology and evolutionary biology, and neuroethology. In...
doi.org
December 12, 2025 at 10:04 AM
Reposted by Arnaud Martin
paulbfrandsen.bsky.social
Our paper on ancestral conditions of caddisflies (described in the quoted post) is now out!

doi.org/10.3897/zook...
December 10, 2025 at 5:34 PM
Reposted by Arnaud Martin
peiferlabunc.bsky.social
I taught Genetics again this year. We need to include discussion of the problematic history of our field, especially as the claims of eugenics are once again centered in our political discourse. Last year I wrote this piece, explaining my reasoning and approach 🧪 1/n
www.cell.com/trends/genet...
Trends in Genetics Science & Society We must not ignore eugenics in our genetics curriculum Mark Peifer1,2,* Eugenics, that promoted planned breeding to ensure 'racial improve- ment', was central to the develop- ment of genetics and led to horrifying policies. However, eugen- ics is not dead and continues to influence science and policy today. Thus, we should include eugenics in our undergraduate classes to remind students that scientists must speak out when others lie about science and use it to further their political views.
December 8, 2025 at 12:37 PM
Reposted by Arnaud Martin
jamesbriscoe.bsky.social
Applications are open for @dev-journal.bsky.social 2026 Pathway to Independence (PI) programme, supporting postdocs applying for group leader positions:

Mentoring
Profile raising
Leadership training
Network building

Spread the word...

www.biologists.com/grants/devel...
Development's Pathway to Independence Programme
Our grants support and encourage the sharing of knowledge throughout the community by facilitating international collaboration, event attendance and the organisation of scientific meetings, conference...
www.biologists.com
December 3, 2025 at 6:56 AM
evolvwing.bsky.social
This Gemini-image generated figure looks accurate and cosmetically good...yikes...scary.

Pretty sure this is ripping of the Biorender style, btw.
pedrobeltrao.bsky.social Pedro Beltrao @pedrobeltrao.bsky.social · Nov 21
The second was about drawing the EGF pathway. I also asked to create an SVG of the EGF pathway drawing which worked but with much lower quality.
November 30, 2025 at 7:42 PM
Reposted by Arnaud Martin
apsciencebylyn.bsky.social
Here's the lad at the end of a 9-inch journey to a female. He's got wings but he just derpily ambles along the tree bark with the singular mission of finding the Source of those pheromones and then get scraped off as the lass crawls into a crevice for the winter
November 30, 2025 at 2:31 AM
evolvwing.bsky.social
🚨New paper! 🚨
@jasminealqassar.bsky.social led this work on the silk glands of the pantry moth.

These two long tubes inside the caterpillar continuously make a ton of silk
How does this special organ work?

www.cell.com/iscience/ful...
@cp-iscience.bsky.social

🧵THREAD🧵
November 16, 2025 at 2:06 AM
Reposted by Arnaud Martin
jlsteenwyk.bsky.social
NEW pub in @science.org 🥳

Is it sponges (panels A & B) or comb jellies (C & D) that root the animal tree of life?

For over 15 years, #phylogenomic studies have been divided.

We provide new evidence suggesting that...

🔗: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
November 13, 2025 at 8:34 PM
Reposted by Arnaud Martin
mollyschumer.bsky.social
I am so excited to share new work on a TE insertion that regulates iridescence in swordtails, led by fantastic grad student @nadiahaghani.bsky.social and with help from many coauthors! In a time that has been so difficult to navigate, this & other projects have kept my spirits up: shorturl.at/NE65A
Insertion of an invading retrovirus regulates a novel color trait in swordtail fish
For over a century, evolutionary biologists have been motivated to understand the mechanisms through which organisms adapt to their environments. Coloration and pigmentation are remarkably variable wi...
shorturl.at
November 12, 2025 at 8:34 PM
evolvwing.bsky.social
It's out, Minos transgenesis in the pantry moth by
@donyaniyaz.bsky.social
@lucalivraghi.bsky.social

High efficient, glowing eye and silk gland markers

peerj.com/articles/202...
@peerj.bsky.social
November 12, 2025 at 2:40 PM
Reposted by Arnaud Martin
hansonmark.bsky.social
We wrote the Strain on scientific publishing to highlight the problems of time & trust. With a fantastic group of co-authors, we present The Drain of Scientific Publishing:

a 🧵 1/n

Drain: arxiv.org/abs/2511.04820
Strain: direct.mit.edu/qss/article/...
Oligopoly: direct.mit.edu/qss/article/...
A table showing profit margins of major publishers. A snippet of text related to this table is below. 1. The four-fold drain 1.1 Money Currently, academic publishing is dominated by profit-oriented, multinational companies for whom scientific knowledge is a commodity to be sold back to the academic community who created it. The dominant four are Elsevier, Springer Nature, Wiley and Taylor & Francis, which collectively generated over US$7.1 billion in revenue from journal publishing in 2024 alone, and over US$12 billion in profits between 2019 and 2024 (Table 1A). Their profit margins have always been over 30% in the last five years, and for the largest publisher (Elsevier) always over 37%. Against many comparators, across many sectors, scientific publishing is one of the most consistently profitable industries (Table S1). These financial arrangements make a substantial difference to science budgets. In 2024, 46% of Elsevier revenues and 53% of Taylor & Francis revenues were generated in North America, meaning that North American researchers were charged over US$2.27 billion by just two for-profit publishers. The Canadian research councils and the US National Science Foundation were allocated US$9.3 billion in that year. A figure detailing the drain on researcher time. 1. The four-fold drain 1.2 Time The number of papers published each year is growing faster than the scientific workforce, with the number of papers per researcher almost doubling between 1996 and 2022 (Figure 1A). This reflects the fact that publishers’ commercial desire to publish (sell) more material has aligned well with the competitive prestige culture in which publications help secure jobs, grants, promotions, and awards. To the extent that this growth is driven by a pressure for profit, rather than scholarly imperatives, it distorts the way researchers spend their time. The publishing system depends on unpaid reviewer labour, estimated to be over 130 million unpaid hours annually in 2020 alone (9). Researchers have complained about the demands of peer-review for decades, but the scale of the problem is now worse, with editors reporting widespread difficulties recruiting reviewers. The growth in publications involves not only the authors’ time, but that of academic editors and reviewers who are dealing with so many review demands. Even more seriously, the imperative to produce ever more articles reshapes the nature of scientific inquiry. Evidence across multiple fields shows that more papers result in ‘ossification’, not new ideas (10). It may seem paradoxical that more papers can slow progress until one considers how it affects researchers’ time. While rewards remain tied to volume, prestige, and impact of publications, researchers will be nudged away from riskier, local, interdisciplinary, and long-term work. The result is a treadmill of constant activity with limited progress whereas core scholarly practices – such as reading, reflecting and engaging with others’ contributions – is de-prioritized. What looks like productivity often masks intellectual exhaustion built on a demoralizing, narrowing scientific vision. A table of profit margins across industries. The section of text related to this table is below: 1. The four-fold drain 1.1 Money Currently, academic publishing is dominated by profit-oriented, multinational companies for whom scientific knowledge is a commodity to be sold back to the academic community who created it. The dominant four are Elsevier, Springer Nature, Wiley and Taylor & Francis, which collectively generated over US$7.1 billion in revenue from journal publishing in 2024 alone, and over US$12 billion in profits between 2019 and 2024 (Table 1A). Their profit margins have always been over 30% in the last five years, and for the largest publisher (Elsevier) always over 37%. Against many comparators, across many sectors, scientific publishing is one of the most consistently profitable industries (Table S1). These financial arrangements make a substantial difference to science budgets. In 2024, 46% of Elsevier revenues and 53% of Taylor & Francis revenues were generated in North America, meaning that North American researchers were charged over US$2.27 billion by just two for-profit publishers. The Canadian research councils and the US National Science Foundation were allocated US$9.3 billion in that year. The costs of inaction are plain: wasted public funds, lost researcher time, compromised scientific integrity and eroded public trust. Today, the system rewards commercial publishers first, and science second. Without bold action from the funders we risk continuing to pour resources into a system that prioritizes profit over the advancement of scientific knowledge.
November 11, 2025 at 11:52 AM
evolvwing.bsky.social
@royalsocietypublishing.org
@royalsociety.org

Greetings, is your journal server down? please let me know if this will fixed shortly or if there is a workaround, I need students to access Biology Letters for a class 🫶

Thanks!
November 10, 2025 at 6:23 PM
Reposted by Arnaud Martin
antonioregalado.bsky.social
A month after Bari Weiss hired to lead CBS News division, heretic eugenics philosopher Jonathan Anomaly is on the morning show pitching bell curves and embryo scores.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvVM...
November 10, 2025 at 2:27 PM
evolvwing.bsky.social
We must debunk this crap.

Preimplantation diagnosis is much safer than germline editing & w/o slippery-slope ethics in 99.9% of hered. disease cases.

Only exceptions are dominant genet conditions where 1 parent is homozygous, with extremely rare occurences for Huntington's, some AD and BRCA
November 8, 2025 at 4:53 PM
Reposted by Arnaud Martin
ebablab.bsky.social
Looks cool 👀
biorxivpreprint.bsky.social bioRxivpreprint @biorxivpreprint.bsky.social · Oct 31
Sensory receptor expansion and neural accommodation in butterfly color vision https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.10.30.685642v1
November 1, 2025 at 10:35 PM
Reposted by Arnaud Martin
samtmugford.bsky.social
When all your PCRs fail, except for the negative control 😱
A pumpkin carved to depict an agarose gel electrophoesis with all lanes blank apart from the size ladder on the left and a single band in the lane on the far right
October 30, 2025 at 7:43 PM
Reposted by Arnaud Martin
Heredity did a podcast on our paper from Nitin's dissertation! Listen to learn more about the cool results.
heredityjournal.bsky.social @HeredityJournal @heredityjournal.bsky.social · Oct 29
🎙️ New podcast!

We often hear that invasive species are bad for ecosystems they invade, but the consequences can seem fuzzy.

We hear from @naikasanuchara.bsky.social and @carolboggs.bsky.social about their study system, where an invasive plant has very tangible effects for a native butterfly.
October 30, 2025 at 1:00 AM
Reposted by Arnaud Martin
caterpillar-coevo.bsky.social
I'll be heading to @sacnas.bsky.social #NDiSTEM later this week to shamelessly plug my soon-to-open lab (Fall 2026). If any students are interested in studying the plant-insect interactions of the Sonoran Desert, please get in touch!
A Manduca sexta adult specimen, pinned in a drawer at the Harvard Museum of Natural History A desert landscape. Large Saguaro cacti are in the foreground. Rugged mountains in the background. A large Datura flower with a moth inside it drinking nectar
October 28, 2025 at 9:21 PM
Reposted by Arnaud Martin
monteirolab.bsky.social
news.nus.edu.sg/dna-switch-b...
NUS study: A simple DNA switch helps tropical butterflies change wing patterns with the seasons
Singapore, 24 October 2025 — Scientists from the National University of Singapore (NUS) have discovered a simple DNA “switch” that helps tropical butterflies adjust the size of their wing eyespots in ...
news.nus.edu.sg
October 25, 2025 at 2:17 AM
Reposted by Arnaud Martin
jlsteenwyk.bsky.social
Not today, parasitic #wasps!✋🚫

#Stinkbugs use a fungus-carrying organ on their hind legs to coat their eggs in #fungi🍄🦵

This provides a physical defense against #parasitic wasp oviposition🛡️

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
October 22, 2025 at 5:12 PM
Reposted by Arnaud Martin
nicolekearney.bsky.social
Rod Page @rdmpage.bsky.social spoke today at #LivingData2025 about journals that disappear from the web. To learn more about his example: the hijacking and fraudulent DOI Assignment of The Journal of Research on the Lepidoptera, see our BHL blogpost: blog.biodiversitylibrary.org/2022/10/jour...
The Journal of Research on the Lepidoptera: A Story of Pirate Publishers, ISSN Hijacking and Fraudulent DOI Assignment
In 2017, The Journal of Research on the Lepidoptera published its final issue. The journal’s website was turned off and, to ensure ongoing access to the biodiversity knowledge contained within its …
blog.biodiversitylibrary.org
October 22, 2025 at 8:20 PM
Reposted by Arnaud Martin
dparichy.bsky.social
New preprint up with collaborators Jianguo Lu, @mpodobnik.bsky.social, Uwe Irion, Braedan McCluskey, John Postlethwait and others. New Danio genomes, evolution and pigment pattern variation. Long time in the making www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
October 19, 2025 at 10:28 PM