Xavier Grau-Bové 🌾
@xgrau.bsky.social
Evolutionary biologist. Postdoctoral Fellow & LCF Junior Leader at CRG (Barcelona).
«Ara mateix / enfilo aquesta agulla amb el fil d'un propòsit que no dic / i em poso a apedaçar.»
xgrau.github.io & ecoevo.social/@xgrau
«Ara mateix / enfilo aquesta agulla amb el fil d'un propòsit que no dic / i em poso a apedaçar.»
xgrau.github.io & ecoevo.social/@xgrau
Pinned
Xavier Grau-Bové 🌾
@xgrau.bsky.social
· Oct 15
Hot off the press! Our latest work on the evolution of facultative symbiosis in stony corals, focusing on a remarkable Mediterranean species: Oculina patagonica.
🪸 🌊
#evobio #corals #coralbiology
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
🪸 🌊
#evobio #corals #coralbiology
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Xavier Grau-Bové 🌾
A new Cambrian soft-bodied biota after the first Phanerozoic mass extinction: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Many non-bilaterian animals including beautiful sponge (panel b, c) and ctenophore (panel d) fossils🤩 🧽🪼.
#sponges #ctenophores #Cambrian
Many non-bilaterian animals including beautiful sponge (panel b, c) and ctenophore (panel d) fossils🤩 🧽🪼.
#sponges #ctenophores #Cambrian
January 29, 2026 at 12:31 PM
A new Cambrian soft-bodied biota after the first Phanerozoic mass extinction: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Many non-bilaterian animals including beautiful sponge (panel b, c) and ctenophore (panel d) fossils🤩 🧽🪼.
#sponges #ctenophores #Cambrian
Many non-bilaterian animals including beautiful sponge (panel b, c) and ctenophore (panel d) fossils🤩 🧽🪼.
#sponges #ctenophores #Cambrian
Reposted by Xavier Grau-Bové 🌾
Our project on molecular convergence in teleosts is published in MBE. This study involved analysing over 2 million genes, and combining multiple data modalities to uncover some surprising insights behind the evolution of adaptations in teleosts. Thank you @hfspo.bsky.social for the funding!
Barua, @marcrr.ecoevo.social.ap.brid.gy et al. searched for convergent substitutions in teleost fishes, detecting convergence in 89 protein-coding gene families across 143 genomes. Functional experiments support functional roles of convergent genes.
🔗 doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msag015
#evobio #molbio
🔗 doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msag015
#evobio #molbio
Estimates of molecular convergence reveal multiple genes with adaptive variation across teleost fish
Abstract. Molecular convergence, where specific nonsynonymous changes in protein-coding genes lead to identical amino acid substitutions across multiple li
doi.org
January 29, 2026 at 9:14 AM
Our project on molecular convergence in teleosts is published in MBE. This study involved analysing over 2 million genes, and combining multiple data modalities to uncover some surprising insights behind the evolution of adaptations in teleosts. Thank you @hfspo.bsky.social for the funding!
Reposted by Xavier Grau-Bové 🌾
Molt lentament giravolta la sínia
i passen anys, o segles, fins que l'aigua
s'enfila al cim més alt i, gloriosa,
proclama la claror per tots els àmbits.
Molt lentament davallen aleshores
els catúfols per recollir més aigua.
Així s'escriu la història. Saber-ho
no pot sobtar ni decebre ningú.
i passen anys, o segles, fins que l'aigua
s'enfila al cim més alt i, gloriosa,
proclama la claror per tots els àmbits.
Molt lentament davallen aleshores
els catúfols per recollir més aigua.
Així s'escriu la història. Saber-ho
no pot sobtar ni decebre ningú.
January 9, 2026 at 8:45 AM
Molt lentament giravolta la sínia
i passen anys, o segles, fins que l'aigua
s'enfila al cim més alt i, gloriosa,
proclama la claror per tots els àmbits.
Molt lentament davallen aleshores
els catúfols per recollir més aigua.
Així s'escriu la història. Saber-ho
no pot sobtar ni decebre ningú.
i passen anys, o segles, fins que l'aigua
s'enfila al cim més alt i, gloriosa,
proclama la claror per tots els àmbits.
Molt lentament davallen aleshores
els catúfols per recollir més aigua.
Així s'escriu la història. Saber-ho
no pot sobtar ni decebre ningú.
Reposted by Xavier Grau-Bové 🌾
New review!
Theory & a practical guide to structural variants in popgen🧬
Many thanks to my co-authors: @rebekahoomen.bsky.social
@annatigano.bsky.social @marenwellenreuther.bsky.social @janawold.bsky.social @dlfield.bsky.social @clairemerot.bsky.social
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Theory & a practical guide to structural variants in popgen🧬
Many thanks to my co-authors: @rebekahoomen.bsky.social
@annatigano.bsky.social @marenwellenreuther.bsky.social @janawold.bsky.social @dlfield.bsky.social @clairemerot.bsky.social
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
A Beginner's Guide to Structural Variants in Eco‐Evolutionary Population Genomics
Whole-genome sequencing (WGS) has greatly expanded researchers' ability to study structural variants (SVs), that is, the variation in the presence, number, orientation or position of a DNA sequence. ....
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
January 28, 2026 at 2:05 AM
New review!
Theory & a practical guide to structural variants in popgen🧬
Many thanks to my co-authors: @rebekahoomen.bsky.social
@annatigano.bsky.social @marenwellenreuther.bsky.social @janawold.bsky.social @dlfield.bsky.social @clairemerot.bsky.social
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Theory & a practical guide to structural variants in popgen🧬
Many thanks to my co-authors: @rebekahoomen.bsky.social
@annatigano.bsky.social @marenwellenreuther.bsky.social @janawold.bsky.social @dlfield.bsky.social @clairemerot.bsky.social
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Nice feature summarising the decades-long debate about the first-branching animal lineages — sponges or ctenophores?
Key quote:
“I’m not going to say this is the answer because I’ve been around long enough”
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Key quote:
“I’m not going to say this is the answer because I’ve been around long enough”
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
What were the first animals? The fierce sponge–jelly battle that just won’t end
For almost two decades, scientists have debated whether sponges or comb jellies are the first animal lineage. Now some are calling for a more harmonious approach.
www.nature.com
January 27, 2026 at 3:15 PM
Nice feature summarising the decades-long debate about the first-branching animal lineages — sponges or ctenophores?
Key quote:
“I’m not going to say this is the answer because I’ve been around long enough”
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Key quote:
“I’m not going to say this is the answer because I’ve been around long enough”
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Reposted by Xavier Grau-Bové 🌾
Yet we were rescued by that fancy, and saved by a myth.
January 17, 2026 at 9:40 PM
Yet we were rescued by that fancy, and saved by a myth.
Reposted by Xavier Grau-Bové 🌾
If you’re interested in extinction risk, please check out our new paper in @science.org led by my former PhD student Cooper: www.science.org/doi/full/10....
January 16, 2026 at 9:39 AM
If you’re interested in extinction risk, please check out our new paper in @science.org led by my former PhD student Cooper: www.science.org/doi/full/10....
Reposted by Xavier Grau-Bové 🌾
Love this from @stephenbheard.bsky.social on how to prioritize learning and useful discussion over tearing apart papers, and look forward to using some of these question prompts in future lab meetings: scientistseessquirrel.wordpress.com/2026/01/13/h...
How to lead a journal club you won’t be embarrassed by later
One of the jobs facing an early-career scientist, and a developing writer, is to learn what their field’s literature looks like. One of the best tools to that end is the journal club. If you’ve nev…
scientistseessquirrel.wordpress.com
January 16, 2026 at 12:01 PM
Love this from @stephenbheard.bsky.social on how to prioritize learning and useful discussion over tearing apart papers, and look forward to using some of these question prompts in future lab meetings: scientistseessquirrel.wordpress.com/2026/01/13/h...
Reposted by Xavier Grau-Bové 🌾
One of my concerns with AI-assisted research in biology is that we're already looking only in the lamplight and AI incentivizes us to narrow the beam. Seems like it's happening...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Artificial intelligence tools expand scientists’ impact but contract science’s focus - Nature
Artificial intelligence boosts individual scientists’ output, citations and career progression, but collectively narrows research diversity and reduces collaboration, concentrating work in data-rich a...
www.nature.com
January 15, 2026 at 4:08 PM
One of my concerns with AI-assisted research in biology is that we're already looking only in the lamplight and AI incentivizes us to narrow the beam. Seems like it's happening...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Xavier Grau-Bové 🌾
Thank you @ebpgenome.bsky.social for highlighting @projectpsyche.bsky.social
If you want to learn more about the large-scale genomics project on Lepidoptera in Europe, we introduce the project in our paper in Trends in Ecology & Evolution: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
If you want to learn more about the large-scale genomics project on Lepidoptera in Europe, we introduce the project in our paper in Trends in Ecology & Evolution: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
January 15, 2026 at 10:17 AM
Thank you @ebpgenome.bsky.social for highlighting @projectpsyche.bsky.social
If you want to learn more about the large-scale genomics project on Lepidoptera in Europe, we introduce the project in our paper in Trends in Ecology & Evolution: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
If you want to learn more about the large-scale genomics project on Lepidoptera in Europe, we introduce the project in our paper in Trends in Ecology & Evolution: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Honestly, how is this a paradox?
Analyses of hundreds of thousands of papers in the natural sciences reveal a paradox: scientists who use AI tools produce more research but on a more confined set of topics
go.nature.com/458k7Ub
go.nature.com/458k7Ub
AI tools boost individual scientists but could limit research as a whole
Analyses of hundreds of thousands of papers in the natural sciences reveal a paradox: scientists who use AI tools produce more research but on a more confined set of topics.
go.nature.com
January 15, 2026 at 9:14 AM
Honestly, how is this a paradox?
Reposted by Xavier Grau-Bové 🌾
Globally, no single day in 2025 was cooler than its 1991-2020 average.
climate.copernicus.eu/global-clima...
climate.copernicus.eu/global-clima...
January 14, 2026 at 12:44 PM
Globally, no single day in 2025 was cooler than its 1991-2020 average.
climate.copernicus.eu/global-clima...
climate.copernicus.eu/global-clima...
Reposted by Xavier Grau-Bové 🌾
Want to get the data out of a PDF figure? As in, the actual data – not a rough trace-along-the-lines version?
I made an app you might like: adamkucharski.github.io/pdf2plot/
It all started a few years ago... 🧵
I made an app you might like: adamkucharski.github.io/pdf2plot/
It all started a few years ago... 🧵
January 13, 2026 at 9:12 PM
Want to get the data out of a PDF figure? As in, the actual data – not a rough trace-along-the-lines version?
I made an app you might like: adamkucharski.github.io/pdf2plot/
It all started a few years ago... 🧵
I made an app you might like: adamkucharski.github.io/pdf2plot/
It all started a few years ago... 🧵
Reposted by Xavier Grau-Bové 🌾
Have you ever heard that women have more chances than men of getting grants or positions in academia? Of course you have, and here are my personal views on this. With the shocking revelation that no, it is NOT TRUE ! (1/n)
January 13, 2026 at 6:36 PM
Have you ever heard that women have more chances than men of getting grants or positions in academia? Of course you have, and here are my personal views on this. With the shocking revelation that no, it is NOT TRUE ! (1/n)
Reposted by Xavier Grau-Bové 🌾
How did @Nature become "prestigious" to scientists?
In our opening article of Issue 09, writer Robert Reason traces the journal's history.
By understanding how Nature’s prestige was constructed, we can also clarify which elements are deserved and which are entrenched.
In our opening article of Issue 09, writer Robert Reason traces the journal's history.
By understanding how Nature’s prestige was constructed, we can also clarify which elements are deserved and which are entrenched.
January 5, 2026 at 4:14 PM
How did @Nature become "prestigious" to scientists?
In our opening article of Issue 09, writer Robert Reason traces the journal's history.
By understanding how Nature’s prestige was constructed, we can also clarify which elements are deserved and which are entrenched.
In our opening article of Issue 09, writer Robert Reason traces the journal's history.
By understanding how Nature’s prestige was constructed, we can also clarify which elements are deserved and which are entrenched.
Reposted by Xavier Grau-Bové 🌾
Our eLetter github.com/caseywdunn/s... responding to a recent Science paper was just posted. The paper found more genes with consistent support for sponge-sister than ctenophore-sister. We found several technical issues that, when corrected, reverse the conclusions and recover ctenophore-sister.
January 9, 2026 at 11:44 AM
Our eLetter github.com/caseywdunn/s... responding to a recent Science paper was just posted. The paper found more genes with consistent support for sponge-sister than ctenophore-sister. We found several technical issues that, when corrected, reverse the conclusions and recover ctenophore-sister.
Molt lentament giravolta la sínia
i passen anys, o segles, fins que l'aigua
s'enfila al cim més alt i, gloriosa,
proclama la claror per tots els àmbits.
Molt lentament davallen aleshores
els catúfols per recollir més aigua.
Així s'escriu la història. Saber-ho
no pot sobtar ni decebre ningú.
i passen anys, o segles, fins que l'aigua
s'enfila al cim més alt i, gloriosa,
proclama la claror per tots els àmbits.
Molt lentament davallen aleshores
els catúfols per recollir més aigua.
Així s'escriu la història. Saber-ho
no pot sobtar ni decebre ningú.
January 9, 2026 at 8:45 AM
Molt lentament giravolta la sínia
i passen anys, o segles, fins que l'aigua
s'enfila al cim més alt i, gloriosa,
proclama la claror per tots els àmbits.
Molt lentament davallen aleshores
els catúfols per recollir més aigua.
Així s'escriu la història. Saber-ho
no pot sobtar ni decebre ningú.
i passen anys, o segles, fins que l'aigua
s'enfila al cim més alt i, gloriosa,
proclama la claror per tots els àmbits.
Molt lentament davallen aleshores
els catúfols per recollir més aigua.
Així s'escriu la història. Saber-ho
no pot sobtar ni decebre ningú.
The Biodiversity Cell Atlas initiative keeps growing! We're looking for a Bioinformatician to join the BCA team in Hinxton (UK).
www.linkedin.com/posts/wellco...
www.linkedin.com/posts/wellco...
January 8, 2026 at 10:07 AM
The Biodiversity Cell Atlas initiative keeps growing! We're looking for a Bioinformatician to join the BCA team in Hinxton (UK).
www.linkedin.com/posts/wellco...
www.linkedin.com/posts/wellco...
Reposted by Xavier Grau-Bové 🌾
Our latest: Independent origins of spicules reconcile paleontological and molecular evidence of sponge evolutionary history, led by @meleonora-rossi.bsky.social with help from friends @bristolpalaeo.bsky.social including @anariesgo.bsky.social @evopalaeo.bsky.social Davide Pisani and many others
Independent origins of spicules reconcile paleontological and molecular evidence of sponge evolutionary history
Sponges have a cryptic Ediacaran history because ancestral sponges were soft-bodied and had low fossilization potential.
www.science.org
January 8, 2026 at 7:39 AM
Our latest: Independent origins of spicules reconcile paleontological and molecular evidence of sponge evolutionary history, led by @meleonora-rossi.bsky.social with help from friends @bristolpalaeo.bsky.social including @anariesgo.bsky.social @evopalaeo.bsky.social Davide Pisani and many others
Reposted by Xavier Grau-Bové 🌾
Great work showing the power of scATAC-seq to decode ontogenetic relationships! Maybe I will check chromatin after all...
Lovely Xmas gift 🎄—our paper is out today in @natecoevo.nature.com www.nature.com/articles/s41...! Huge thanks to everyone who made it possible, especially @aelek.bsky.social and @arnausebe.bsky.social
Decoding cnidarian cell type gene regulation - Nature Ecology & Evolution
This study reconstructs the gene regulatory networks that define cell types in the sea anemone Nematostella vectensis, providing a valuable resource for comparative regulatory genomics and the evoluti...
www.nature.com
December 22, 2025 at 11:15 AM
Great work showing the power of scATAC-seq to decode ontogenetic relationships! Maybe I will check chromatin after all...
Reposted by Xavier Grau-Bové 🌾
Alpenglow Morning
January 7, 2026 at 8:25 PM
Alpenglow Morning
www.vilaweb.cat/noticies/una...
“Perquè la bondat no és cap feblesa, sinó l’única forma de fortalesa capaç de perdurar i mantenir estable una societat. […] Les societats que renuncien a entendre-la com a valor polític acaben devorant-se a si mateixes.»
Estable, pròspera, oberta i lliure.
“Perquè la bondat no és cap feblesa, sinó l’única forma de fortalesa capaç de perdurar i mantenir estable una societat. […] Les societats que renuncien a entendre-la com a valor polític acaben devorant-se a si mateixes.»
Estable, pròspera, oberta i lliure.
Una reivindicació del bonisme
Hi ha una paraula que han volgut convertir en insult: “bonisme”. Els qui la fan servir com a arma llancívola la pronuncien amb un deix de superioritat, com si el seu realisme cru els fes més lúcids qu...
www.vilaweb.cat
January 7, 2026 at 10:09 AM
www.vilaweb.cat/noticies/una...
“Perquè la bondat no és cap feblesa, sinó l’única forma de fortalesa capaç de perdurar i mantenir estable una societat. […] Les societats que renuncien a entendre-la com a valor polític acaben devorant-se a si mateixes.»
Estable, pròspera, oberta i lliure.
“Perquè la bondat no és cap feblesa, sinó l’única forma de fortalesa capaç de perdurar i mantenir estable una societat. […] Les societats que renuncien a entendre-la com a valor polític acaben devorant-se a si mateixes.»
Estable, pròspera, oberta i lliure.
Reposted by Xavier Grau-Bové 🌾
A scepter snatch’d with an unruly hand
Must be as boisterously maintain’d as gain’d;
And he that stands upon a slipp’ry place
Makes nice of no vild hold to stay him up
Must be as boisterously maintain’d as gain’d;
And he that stands upon a slipp’ry place
Makes nice of no vild hold to stay him up
January 3, 2026 at 5:14 PM
A scepter snatch’d with an unruly hand
Must be as boisterously maintain’d as gain’d;
And he that stands upon a slipp’ry place
Makes nice of no vild hold to stay him up
Must be as boisterously maintain’d as gain’d;
And he that stands upon a slipp’ry place
Makes nice of no vild hold to stay him up
Reposted by Xavier Grau-Bové 🌾
Absolutely thrilled to share the latest work from my lab focused on the variation and evolution of human centromeres among global populations! We assembled 2,110 human centromeres, identifying 226 new major haplotypes and 1,870 α-satellite HOR variants. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
December 16, 2025 at 4:06 PM
Absolutely thrilled to share the latest work from my lab focused on the variation and evolution of human centromeres among global populations! We assembled 2,110 human centromeres, identifying 226 new major haplotypes and 1,870 α-satellite HOR variants. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Reposted by Xavier Grau-Bové 🌾
Lovely Xmas gift 🎄—our paper is out today in @natecoevo.nature.com www.nature.com/articles/s41...! Huge thanks to everyone who made it possible, especially @aelek.bsky.social and @arnausebe.bsky.social
Decoding cnidarian cell type gene regulation - Nature Ecology & Evolution
This study reconstructs the gene regulatory networks that define cell types in the sea anemone Nematostella vectensis, providing a valuable resource for comparative regulatory genomics and the evoluti...
www.nature.com
December 22, 2025 at 11:10 AM
Lovely Xmas gift 🎄—our paper is out today in @natecoevo.nature.com www.nature.com/articles/s41...! Huge thanks to everyone who made it possible, especially @aelek.bsky.social and @arnausebe.bsky.social