Sebastian Kittelmann
LightNews LightNews
banner
sebkittelmann.bsky.social
Sebastian Kittelmann
@sebkittelmann.bsky.social
340 followers 610 following 14 posts
Research Fellow in the Centre for Functional Genomics at Oxford Brookes University, UK. Genetics, development, sequencing, Drosophila
Posts Replies Media Videos
Reposted by Sebastian Kittelmann
harmitmalik.bsky.social
Are you an early-stage graduate student (2nd or 3rd year) or early-stage postdoc based in the US or Canada, working primarily in Drosophila? Would you like to help improve the experience of all trainees working in Drosophila research? If so, read on.

(Please repost to reach a broad audience.)
November 12, 2025 at 4:49 AM
Reposted by Sebastian Kittelmann
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
sebkittelmann.bsky.social
Do apply for this position - Ben is a fantastic person and a top-notch scientist. #STEMjobs #postdocjobs
brhopkins92.bsky.social Ben Hopkins @brhopkins92.bsky.social · 1d
One week left to apply for this position!
brhopkins92.bsky.social Ben Hopkins @brhopkins92.bsky.social · 28d
The Hopkins Lab (hopkins-lab.com) at the University of Florida is looking to recruit a postdoc to work on the genetics of organ function and evolution across Drosophila and beyond. Please visit tinyurl.com/vcsjpmzz or email me for more info. And please RT or send to anyone who might be interested!
November 11, 2025 at 2:43 PM
Reposted by Sebastian Kittelmann
fly-jedi.bsky.social
Hi folks,

Check out our updated website!
Details on next year's conference will be posted there soon!

fly-jedi.org
Junior European Drosophila Investigators | Home
A simple website based on [*folio](https://github.com/bogoli/-folio) design.
fly-jedi.org
November 5, 2025 at 1:42 PM
Reposted by Sebastian Kittelmann
fly-jedi.bsky.social
Preparations for the next JEDI meeting are underway! The upcoming Junior European #Drosophila Investigator / #NewPI meeting is planned for Portugal in June. Final dates and additional details will be announced soon - stay tuned for updates!​
AI-generated image of a lightsaber-wielding figure conquering Portugal.
October 28, 2025 at 10:14 PM
Reposted by Sebastian Kittelmann
audeber.bsky.social
Hi everyone, a few years ago, we started a list of labs studying bacterial immunty for students, editors, conference organizers... (currently n=79).

Update time ! Send me a message to 1) add your lab or others 2) Correct info
docs.google.com/spreadsheets...
#Phagesky #Microsky
Labs in bacterial immunity
docs.google.com
November 4, 2025 at 3:06 PM
Reposted by Sebastian Kittelmann
hansonmark.bsky.social
Hey #Drosophila: need to dissect and look a bit more closely, but do these puncta seem like an obvious pattern for a set of nerves, or resemble some sort of expression pattern in the brain (especially looking at the sort of Y-shape near the eye). Also thorax?
GenesOfInterest-GAL4>mCD8::RFP here 🔬
October 21, 2025 at 10:57 AM
Reposted by Sebastian Kittelmann
alexdemendoza.bsky.social
Come join the #LondonEvoDevo network half day meeting, hosted at @ucl.ac.uk on Friday November 7th, 2025. Submit your abstract by Oct 27th (or your interest in joining) here: forms.gle/TRbdrCkQTcY2.... Friendly vibes and free registration. More info here: londonevodevo.co.uk.
LondonEvoDevo
meeting's website
londonevodevo.co.uk
October 20, 2025 at 1:42 PM
Reposted by Sebastian Kittelmann
alliancegenome.bsky.social
Welcome to Bluesky, European Drosophila Population Genomics Consortium @droseu.bsky.social.

We've added you to the Model Organism Research Resources starter pack go.bsky.app/Npxsd7h
October 19, 2025 at 4:02 PM
Reposted by Sebastian Kittelmann
droseu.bsky.social
We are in Bluesky and we are happy to share our two last consortium publications: the DrosEU expanded DEST dataset and a Continent-wide study of phenotypic differentiation among European #Drosophila melanogaster populations (1/7)
October 19, 2025 at 9:35 AM
Reposted by Sebastian Kittelmann
robklose.bsky.social
Come join us in Geneva for everything epigenetics and gene regulation. It will be a great meeting! Please repost!
www.keystonesymposia.org/conferences/...
Epigenetics and Gene Regulation in Health and Disease: Linking Basic Mechanisms with Therapeutic Opportunities | Keystone Symposia
Join us at the Keystone Symposia on Epigenetics and Gene Regulation in Health and Disease: Linking Basic Mechanisms with Therapeutic Opportunities, March 2026, in Geneva, with field leaders!
www.keystonesymposia.org
October 17, 2025 at 2:36 PM
Reposted by Sebastian Kittelmann
ceciliatan.com
oooh. Bookmarking this! "How to turn off AI tools in Apple, Google, Microsoft, and more." Step-by-step instructions from Consumer Reports.
How to Turn Off AI Tools Like Gemini, Apple Intelligence, Copilot, and More via @ConsumerReports
AI features are crowding into Google search, Gmail, iPhones, Windows laptops, and other products. If you're suffering from AI overload, these settings can help.
www.consumerreports.org
October 15, 2025 at 8:53 PM
Reposted by Sebastian Kittelmann
multipleye-lab.bsky.social
🎉 Big news! 🎉

We will be moving to @bristolbiosci.bsky.social @bristoluni.bsky.social in 2026!!

We're so excited to be joining such a dynamic and thriving department, university, and city - thank you to everyone who has already been so welcoming!

📢 But that's not all - come and join us! 👇
Atmospheric evening view of Bristol and the Clifton suspension bridge. Adobe Stock c Stephen Davies
October 17, 2025 at 1:25 PM
Reposted by Sebastian Kittelmann
laurensr.bsky.social
Exciting times ahead - I'm beyond delighted to be joining @bristolbiosci.bsky.social in 2026! 🎉🕷️🎉🐌🎉

I'm also looking for a PhD student to join @multipleye-lab.bsky.social in our new home! Come and study the effects of light pollution on the evolution and development of spider eyes with us 🌃🕷️👀 👇
October 17, 2025 at 1:38 PM
Reposted by Sebastian Kittelmann
yghavi.bsky.social
Ever wondered what drives enhancer-promoter specificity? Why would an enhancer activate one gene rather than another neighboring one?

Check our latest preprint, led by @mmasoura.bsky.social, to find out!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Promoter-proximal gatekeepers restrict pleiotropic enhancer inputs to achieve tissue specificity
Developmental enhancers are central regulatory elements that can activate multiple genes, yet how they selectively regulate one gene over its neighbours remains unclear. Using the Drosophila twist E3 ...
www.biorxiv.org
October 16, 2025 at 12:34 PM
Reposted by Sebastian Kittelmann
flybase.bsky.social
There's an update on the state of FlyBase on the FlyBase.org front page. You can contribute to FlyBase at this link wiki.flybase.org/wiki/FlyBase...
We express enormous gratitude to the people, labs, groups, and foundations who have already helped us.
#FlyBase #Drosophila
FlyBase Update – October 2025 The termination of the NIH/NHGRI FlyBase grant has placed the long-term sustainability of FlyBase at risk. However, thanks to the generous support of several key individuals and institutions, we are pleased to announce that FlyBase will remain operational through the coming year. We extend our deepest gratitude to Yukiko Yamashita, Cassandra Extavour, Hugo Bellen, Thom Kaufman, the Genetics Society of America / Drosophila Board, the Bloomington Drosophila Stock Center, an anonymous donor and the Wellcome Trust. We are especially thankful for a generous gift from Seemay Chou, Jed McCaleb, and The Navigation Fund. We also greatly appreciate the continued support from the broader Drosophila community – your donations and service fees have been vital in helping us stay afloat. Special thanks also go to Jessica Manning for her tireless administrative work at Harvard, to Ruth Lehmann, Hugo Bellen, and Paul Sternberg for advice and efforts, and to the Board of the European Drosophila Society for all their efforts. Sadly, we must also share that several long-standing FlyBase team members have recently moved on. We are immensely grateful to Susan Russo-Gelbart, Lynn Crosby, Gil dos Santos, Kris Broll, Victoria Jenkins, and TyAnna Lovato for their many years of dedicated service and contributions to FlyBase. Looking ahead, ensuring FlyBase’s sustainability beyond the next year – and successfully integrating with the Alliance – will require new funding sources. We kindly ask for your continued support: • European labs: Please consider contributing to the Cambridge, U.K. FlyBase group • U.S. and other non-European labs: Please consider contributing to the U.S. FlyBase groups • Both U.K. and U.S. FlyBase are working diligently to establish an invoicing system. We appreciate your continued patience. For more information on how to support us, please visit: Contribute to FlyBase wiki page https://wiki.flybase.org/wiki/FlyBase:Contribute_to_FlyBase
October 3, 2025 at 6:19 PM
Reposted by Sebastian Kittelmann
kaycebell.bsky.social
Some of you reached out after seeing this post and it has led to some promising leads! A re-up for this week in case someone with louse samples hasn't seen it yet! Many thanks and I'm happy to answer questions!
🧪
kaycebell.bsky.social Kayce Bell @kaycebell.bsky.social · Sep 23
Hi! We need lice for our diversity and adaptation project. Specifically, we need lice from zebras, camelids (camels, llamas, alpacas, vicuñas, guanacos) & aardvarks. If you or someone you know might have lice, I'm happy to discuss our inclusive collaboration plans!
sites.google.com/nhm.org/anop...
Mammals & Lice
We are interested in understanding what drives host-parasite relationships. We are using the Anoplura (sucking lice) parasite and mammalian host system to generate a comprehensive sucking louse phylog...
sites.google.com
September 29, 2025 at 6:34 PM
Reposted by Sebastian Kittelmann
luisapallares.bsky.social
And, that's a wrap! The #PopGen and #Evolution session at #EDRC2025 just ended. Great talks from Divyansh Mittal from @bentonlab.bsky.social, Virginie Curtier-Orgogozo, Paco Majic @hhydrochaerus.bsky.social, and Alexandra Ozerova. A pleasure to co-chair the session with Thomas Flatt!
September 28, 2025 at 9:48 AM
Reposted by Sebastian Kittelmann
fly-eds.bsky.social
Thank you to all #EDRC2025 participants and a big applause to the organizing committee for this great #Drosophila meeting! See you all in Bonn for #EDRC2027
edrc2025.bsky.social EDRC2025 @edrc2025.bsky.social · Sep 28
That’s a wrap! We are done with #EDRC2025 and we look forward to seeing everyone again in 2027 for #EDRC2027 in Bonn!
September 28, 2025 at 4:00 PM
Reposted by Sebastian Kittelmann
fly-jedi.bsky.social
Dear JEDIs,
as we are self-organizing using the #EDRC as a nucleator we decided it is time for a JEDI database to boost our network! If you identify as a JEDI, please contact us here or send a mail to katja.rust@uni-marburg.de to be added to our database.
#Drosophila
@fly-eds.bsky.social
September 26, 2025 at 3:43 PM
Reposted by Sebastian Kittelmann
molbioevol.bsky.social
Mitchell, @sebkittelmann.bsky.social et al. study how an inversion polymorphism in D. melanogaster affects gene expression and chromatin accessibility. Results are consistent with a role for shifts of dominance in maintaining inversion polymorphism.

🔗 doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msaf209

#evobio #molbio
A Balanced Inversion Polymorphism Exhibits a Dominance Reversal at the Gene Expression Level that Depends on Developmental Context
Abstract. How genetic variance for fitness is maintained is incompletely understood. Mutation-selection balance and single-locus overdominance cannot accou
doi.org
September 17, 2025 at 2:56 PM
Reposted by Sebastian Kittelmann
posnienlab.bsky.social
Long time no see...But we are back with a real firework 🎆. Join us tomorrow at noon for the first #Goenomix talk of the semester by Cassandra Extavour from Havard University. Talk: "One two three: developmental counting mechanisms in reproductive output and evolution". PM for Zoom details.
September 17, 2025 at 7:48 AM
Reposted by Sebastian Kittelmann
ihardege.bsky.social
Are you interested in uncovering how the tiny C. elegans nervous system uses complex dopaminergic signalling to control behaviours? If so check out our new postdoc position, applications are now open: www.cam.ac.uk/jobs/researc...
Research Associate - Neuroscience Research Group (Fixed Term)
Post Doctoral Research Associate in Neuroscience (Fixed Term) Are you excited by the mechanisms of neurotransmission and behaviour and looking for a new opportunity? We are looking for an
www.cam.ac.uk
September 13, 2025 at 8:55 AM
Reposted by Sebastian Kittelmann
doctoremmerson.bsky.social
I am advertising for a #postdoc for a 3 year BBSRC-funded project exploring the role of macrophages in salivary gland development. The successful candidate will be based at @edinuni-irr.bsky.social at @uni-of-edinburgh.bsky.social. Closing date: 9th Oct. elxw.fa.em3.oraclecloud.com/hcmUI/Candid...
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
An exciting opportunity has arisen to join the Emmerson lab within the Institute for Regeneration and Repair at the University of Edinburgh. This three year, BBSRC-funded postdoctoral research associa...
elxw.fa.em3.oraclecloud.com
September 13, 2025 at 8:58 AM
sebkittelmann.bsky.social
Very happy to announce that my collaboration with Thomas Flatt and his fantastic ex-postdocs Esra and Envel has been published: doi.org/10.1093/molb... We show that a chomosomal inversion in flies controls the genome-wide expression profile in a context-dependent manner.
A balanced inversion polymorphism exhibits a dominance reversal at the gene expression level that depends on developmental context
Abstract. How genetic variance for fitness is maintained is incompletely understood. Mutation-selection balance and single-locus overdominance cannot accou
doi.org
September 3, 2025 at 6:59 AM