Joshua Hufton
banner
joshuahufton.bsky.social
Joshua Hufton
@joshuahufton.bsky.social
PhD student working on epigenetics, immunity, development, conservation and evolution in Swedish sand lizard (Lacerta agilis). @animecol-uu.bsky.social Uppsala university with Mette Lillie
Pinned
First field season of my PhD studying Swedish sand lizards (Lacerta agilis) 🦎 My work investigates epigenetic response in immune challenge experiments. Plenty more cool projects: hormones and coloration, microbiomes, egg incubation temperatures, telomeres
Reposted by Joshua Hufton
Water anoles take a bubble of air down when they submerge, which they breathe like a tiny scuba tank, and now @lindseyswierk.bsky.social & co reveal that the reptiles may also be using the bubble like a gill, to breathe oxygen directly from the water

journals.biologists.com/jeb/article/...
September 10, 2025 at 4:36 PM
Reposted by Joshua Hufton
De-extinction be like.
CRISPR is amazing
September 21, 2025 at 2:35 PM
Reposted by Joshua Hufton
We’re offering a fully funded 4 yr PhD position to work on Sexual selection in complex environments at the @uv.es. Co-supervised by @dbergerbiol.bsky.social. Find details below 👇
September 1, 2025 at 1:25 PM
Reposted by Joshua Hufton
Happy to present my poster at #ESEB2025 on eastern Baltic cod population (or populations?), preliminary results of one of the chapters from my PhD thesis.
August 21, 2025 at 1:24 PM
Come see me poster '059' today "temperature-dependent DNA methylation in the Swedish sand lizard" 🦎 #ESEB #methylation #epigenetics
August 21, 2025 at 1:24 PM
Reposted by Joshua Hufton
Animal Ecology on tour! 🦎🐟🐔🦠📈 Some masters, PhDs and post-docs (and more!) from Uppsala University are enjoying #ESEB2025 in the warm Barcelona🌞 @joshuahufton.bsky.social @cenkvist.bsky.social @madeleinebergstrom.bsky.social @estermart.bsky.social @msiljestam.bsky.social
August 18, 2025 at 8:16 AM
Reposted by Joshua Hufton
📣 @qvarnstromlab.bsky.social is hiring a research assistant for 1 year to work on the flycatcher project. Responsibilities include sample organization, data management, lab and field work + management. MSc + relevant experience required.

Apply by Apr 4 👇 #ecoevojob

www.uu.se/en/about-uu/...
March 26, 2025 at 11:10 AM
Reposted by Joshua Hufton
I’m very proud and happy to share the first paper of my PhD with @millanek.bsky.social that is now published in the latest issue of the journal Evolution @journal-evo.bsky.social.

academic.oup.com/evolut/artic...
Rapid evolution of recombination landscapes during the divergence of cichlid ecotypes in Lake Masoko
Abstract. Variation of recombination rate along the genome is of crucial importance to rapid adaptation and organismal diversification. Many unknowns remai
academic.oup.com
March 14, 2025 at 4:42 PM
Reposted by Joshua Hufton
📣 New PhD position on flycatchers with @qvarnstromlab.bsky.social — spread the word!

Combine bioinformatics, long-term datasets and field work to explore climate adaptation and speciation in the lovely flycatchers. Join us in Uppsala, Sweden! Apply by Mar 18: www.uu.se/en/about-uu/...

#ecoevojob
February 20, 2025 at 8:14 PM
Reposted by Joshua Hufton
This morning at our 'Revolution' symposium: we started with a fascinating talk by Prof. Helena Westerdahl on MHC diversity in songbirds at diff. levels: genomic organization, expression and antigen presentation 🛡️🧬

Talks with diverse topics and study systems followed, many from MSc students! 💪
February 13, 2025 at 12:11 PM
Reposted by Joshua Hufton
Eco-evolutionary model showing that heterozygote advantage can explain the extraordinary diversity of immune genes!

Our new paper (out in #eLife: doi.org/10.7554/eLif...) identifies the conditions under which heterozygote advantage can drive the evolution of such diversity, found in e.g. #MHC genes
Heterozygote advantage can explain the extraordinary diversity of immune genes
An eco-evolutionary model shows that heterozygote advantage can maintain over 100 major histocompatibility complex alleles, providing a potent explanation for extraordinary immune gene diversity and c...
doi.org
January 20, 2025 at 2:42 PM
Reposted by Joshua Hufton
Quantifying temperature’s effect on #diapause #termination requires fitting #TPCs to binary biological data. In our new paper, out now in #PNAS, we show how to do this, revealing the sequential nature of diapause termination and post-diapause development.

doi.org/10.1073/pnas...
October 2, 2024 at 10:18 AM
Reposted by Joshua Hufton
Had a great time at the Evolution in Sweden Conference @scilifelab.se!

Presented a poster about my MSc focusing on The Impacts of Feralization on The Horse Gut Microbiome 🐴🦠

#microbiome #gut-microbiome
#feralization
January 15, 2025 at 4:01 PM
Reposted by Joshua Hufton
Had a nice time presenting my postdoc project at Evolution in Sweden.

Nuclear Cooperation as a Driver of Evolutionary Transitions in Fungi 🍄

Showing how cooperation between nuclei can drives #evolutionarytransitions in individuality using #mathematicalmodelling

#heterokaryosis
#adaptivedynamics
January 15, 2025 at 5:04 PM
Had a great time presenting my work @Evolution in Sweden.

Epigenetic regulation of immune response in the Swedish sand lizard 🦎

#hostparasite #sexspecific #epigenetics #reptiles
#immunity
January 15, 2025 at 2:53 PM
Reposted by Joshua Hufton
@joshuahufton.bsky.social closes today’s talks with a look at epigenetic regulation of immune response in the Swedish sand lizard 🦎
January 14, 2025 at 4:32 PM
Reposted by Joshua Hufton
Our lab's first paper out in 2025!
Led by the brilliant Ella Ackroyd in collaboration with Rob Heathcote
Dynamic colour change in zebrafish (Danio rerio) across multiple contexts
royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1...
#openaccess #fishsci #zebrafish
January 10, 2025 at 1:09 PM
Reposted by Joshua Hufton
A very merry Christmas to our colleagues and friends! God jul och gott nytt år! ✨🎅🎁🎄

Photo from our julbord/Christmas dinner (photo courtesy Gabriela Montejo-Kovacevich)
December 24, 2024 at 12:52 PM
Reposted by Joshua Hufton
In a collaboration between two labs spanning both sides of the English Channel, scientists have discovered a new way the organisation of DNA within our cells affects genes for generations bit.ly/202412-sarkies. Lead author: Max Fitz-James working with @psarkies.bsky.social & Giacomo Cavalli
DNA origami: a new frontier in epigenetic inheritance across generations
In a collaboration between two labs spanning both sides of the English Channel, scientists have discovered a new way in which the organisation of DNA within our cells affects genes for generations
bit.ly
December 16, 2024 at 3:46 PM
First field season of my PhD studying Swedish sand lizards (Lacerta agilis) 🦎 My work investigates epigenetic response in immune challenge experiments. Plenty more cool projects: hormones and coloration, microbiomes, egg incubation temperatures, telomeres
December 21, 2024 at 9:08 PM
Reposted by Joshua Hufton
❕ PhD position on 🦋 ❕

Passionate about studying the genomics of local adaptation? Join us for a fully funded 4-year PhD at Uppsala University, Sweden. Enjoy competitive salaries, full employment benefits, and a vibrant research community surrounded by nature. Apply here uu.varbi.com/en/what:job/...
December 16, 2024 at 11:28 AM
Reposted by Joshua Hufton
In the Conservation Biology Seminar Series yesterday, visiting PhD student María Dolores Barón Rodriguez (Lola) gave a really interesting seminar about the preen gland #microbiomes of hoopoes, wood-hoopoes and hornbills. 🐦 She had a big audience too (not visible)!
December 6, 2024 at 3:49 PM
Reposted by Joshua Hufton
It’s happening!
December 6, 2024 at 1:08 PM