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
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...
There must be someone out there who finds R's tryCatch function intuitive. I'd like to take a look into their unique brain.
November 7, 2025 at 9:34 AM
There must be someone out there who finds R's tryCatch function intuitive. I'd like to take a look into their unique brain.
That title feels like a little rollercoaster.
If someone told you: "I'm doing a study featuring lichen, drones and #dinosaur bones" What would you say?
www.cell.com/current-biol...
www.cell.com/current-biol...
Remote sensing of lichens with drones for detecting dinosaur bones
Brian Pickles and colleagues show that exposed dinosaur bones can be remote sensed
with drones by virtue of colored lichens growing on them.
www.cell.com
November 5, 2025 at 8:30 AM
That title feels like a little rollercoaster.
Reposted by Xavier Grau-Bové 🌾
This writing doesn't affect reality any more than any writing does; that is to say, indirectly, but considerably.
October 30, 2025 at 9:55 PM
This writing doesn't affect reality any more than any writing does; that is to say, indirectly, but considerably.
Reposted by Xavier Grau-Bové 🌾
🚨 We're hiring! 🚨 Our lab at the University of Málaga, Spain🇪🇸 is looking for a bioinformatician researcher for a postdoc position (1+1 years). Check the ad, and if you're interested, get in touch!
📅 Starting date early 2026, with some flexibility.
🙏Please, RT!
📅 Starting date early 2026, with some flexibility.
🙏Please, RT!
October 30, 2025 at 5:50 PM
🚨 We're hiring! 🚨 Our lab at the University of Málaga, Spain🇪🇸 is looking for a bioinformatician researcher for a postdoc position (1+1 years). Check the ad, and if you're interested, get in touch!
📅 Starting date early 2026, with some flexibility.
🙏Please, RT!
📅 Starting date early 2026, with some flexibility.
🙏Please, RT!
Imma repost this again because I've been reading it more closely and, frankly, it's a great review.
Our review is out in Nature Reviews Genetics! rdcu.be/d5AY2
We show how phylogeny-based methods can resolve the problem of non-independence in genomic datasets.
These methods must be considered an essential part of the comparative genomics toolkit.
@lauriebelch.bsky.social @stuwest.bsky.social
We show how phylogeny-based methods can resolve the problem of non-independence in genomic datasets.
These methods must be considered an essential part of the comparative genomics toolkit.
@lauriebelch.bsky.social @stuwest.bsky.social
A phylogenetic approach to comparative genomics
Nature Reviews Genetics - Controlling for phylogeny is essential in comparative genomics studies, because species, genomes and genes are not independent data points within statistical tests. The...
rdcu.be
October 29, 2025 at 9:19 AM
Imma repost this again because I've been reading it more closely and, frankly, it's a great review.
Reposted by Xavier Grau-Bové 🌾
Lab’s first paper is out!! We show the first structures of #Asgard #chromatin by #cryo-EM 🧬❄️
Asgard histones form closed and open hypernucleosomes. Closed are conserved across #Archaea, while open resemble eukaryotic H3–H4 octasomes and are Asgard-specific. More here: www.cell.com/molecular-ce...
Asgard histones form closed and open hypernucleosomes. Closed are conserved across #Archaea, while open resemble eukaryotic H3–H4 octasomes and are Asgard-specific. More here: www.cell.com/molecular-ce...
October 28, 2025 at 3:07 PM
Lab’s first paper is out!! We show the first structures of #Asgard #chromatin by #cryo-EM 🧬❄️
Asgard histones form closed and open hypernucleosomes. Closed are conserved across #Archaea, while open resemble eukaryotic H3–H4 octasomes and are Asgard-specific. More here: www.cell.com/molecular-ce...
Asgard histones form closed and open hypernucleosomes. Closed are conserved across #Archaea, while open resemble eukaryotic H3–H4 octasomes and are Asgard-specific. More here: www.cell.com/molecular-ce...
Reposted by Xavier Grau-Bové 🌾
First neurons didn’t appear overnight. We trace their roots to ancient secretory cells - showing how lifestyle & behavior shaped the evolution of first synapses.🧠🌊 #Evolution #Neuroscience
Our latest in @natrevneuro.nature.com
Link: rdcu.be/eMX3E
@jeffcolgren.bsky.social @msarscentre.bsky.social
Our latest in @natrevneuro.nature.com
Link: rdcu.be/eMX3E
@jeffcolgren.bsky.social @msarscentre.bsky.social
The evolutionary origins of synaptic proteins and their changing roles in different organisms across evolution
Nature Reviews Neuroscience - Recent studies have shed further light on the evolutionary origins of chemical synapses, In this Review, Colgren and Burkhardt explore how ancient proteins were...
rdcu.be
October 27, 2025 at 6:48 PM
First neurons didn’t appear overnight. We trace their roots to ancient secretory cells - showing how lifestyle & behavior shaped the evolution of first synapses.🧠🌊 #Evolution #Neuroscience
Our latest in @natrevneuro.nature.com
Link: rdcu.be/eMX3E
@jeffcolgren.bsky.social @msarscentre.bsky.social
Our latest in @natrevneuro.nature.com
Link: rdcu.be/eMX3E
@jeffcolgren.bsky.social @msarscentre.bsky.social
Reposted by Xavier Grau-Bové 🌾
🪸 🪸 🪸 Postdoc position in my group at Bristol to study the role of venom in surviving environmental stress in corals! 🪸 Interested in venom biochemistry and coral ecology?Please apply by November 24!
@bristolbiosci.bsky.social
www.bristol.ac.uk/jobs/find/de...
@bristolbiosci.bsky.social
www.bristol.ac.uk/jobs/find/de...
October 27, 2025 at 12:43 PM
🪸 🪸 🪸 Postdoc position in my group at Bristol to study the role of venom in surviving environmental stress in corals! 🪸 Interested in venom biochemistry and coral ecology?Please apply by November 24!
@bristolbiosci.bsky.social
www.bristol.ac.uk/jobs/find/de...
@bristolbiosci.bsky.social
www.bristol.ac.uk/jobs/find/de...
Reposted by Xavier Grau-Bové 🌾
Avui que naixia Dylan Thomas, "Fern Hill" en traducció de María Manent. Un dels poemes més bonics del món.
Fern Hill – Dylan Thomas
Llavors que era jove: «Fern Hill» és un poema del poeta i narrador gal·lès en llengua anglesa Dylan Thomas. Traducció al català de Maria Manent.
stroligut.cat
October 27, 2025 at 8:57 AM
Avui que naixia Dylan Thomas, "Fern Hill" en traducció de María Manent. Un dels poemes més bonics del món.
Reposted by Xavier Grau-Bové 🌾
Weekend reading: our latest research about a dual feeding strategy in a Mediterranean coral is covered in French magazine @sciencesetavenir.bsky.social @arnausebe.bsky.social @xgrau.bsky.social
Pour survivre au réchauffement climatique, ce corail a éveillé une technique de survie impressionnante
Découvrez les mécanismes cellulaires qui permettent à Oculina patagonica de prospérer malgré la hausse des températures marines.
www.science-et-vie.com
October 25, 2025 at 10:06 AM
Weekend reading: our latest research about a dual feeding strategy in a Mediterranean coral is covered in French magazine @sciencesetavenir.bsky.social @arnausebe.bsky.social @xgrau.bsky.social
Reposted by Xavier Grau-Bové 🌾
How does life evolve to adapt to modern cities?
Out now in Science, my PhD work with @lindymcbr.bsky.social uncovers the ancient origin of the “London Underground mosquito” – one of the most iconic examples of urban adaptation.
🧵(1/n)
@science.org
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.ady4515
Out now in Science, my PhD work with @lindymcbr.bsky.social uncovers the ancient origin of the “London Underground mosquito” – one of the most iconic examples of urban adaptation.
🧵(1/n)
@science.org
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.ady4515
Ancient origin of an urban underground mosquito
Understanding how life is adapting to urban environments represents an important challenge in evolutionary biology. In this work, we investigate a widely cited example of urban adaptation, Culex pipie...
www.science.org
October 25, 2025 at 4:46 AM
How does life evolve to adapt to modern cities?
Out now in Science, my PhD work with @lindymcbr.bsky.social uncovers the ancient origin of the “London Underground mosquito” – one of the most iconic examples of urban adaptation.
🧵(1/n)
@science.org
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.ady4515
Out now in Science, my PhD work with @lindymcbr.bsky.social uncovers the ancient origin of the “London Underground mosquito” – one of the most iconic examples of urban adaptation.
🧵(1/n)
@science.org
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.ady4515
«A global coral phylogeny reveals resilience and vulnerability through deep time»
This looks great. Figure 2 is textbook material!
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
This looks great. Figure 2 is textbook material!
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
October 24, 2025 at 7:45 AM
«A global coral phylogeny reveals resilience and vulnerability through deep time»
This looks great. Figure 2 is textbook material!
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
This looks great. Figure 2 is textbook material!
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Xavier Grau-Bové 🌾
Are you looking for a PhD? Join us in Barcelona! You'll dive into a community of >100 PhD students from 30 countries exploring the frontiers of biology. You can also join an online workshop on 6 November (15:00 CET) to learn how to find the right lab for you.
More info: www.crg.eu/en/content/t...
More info: www.crg.eu/en/content/t...
October 23, 2025 at 7:56 AM
Are you looking for a PhD? Join us in Barcelona! You'll dive into a community of >100 PhD students from 30 countries exploring the frontiers of biology. You can also join an online workshop on 6 November (15:00 CET) to learn how to find the right lab for you.
More info: www.crg.eu/en/content/t...
More info: www.crg.eu/en/content/t...
Reposted by Xavier Grau-Bové 🌾
Yes, maybe, but it won’t tell you about the beautiful hand-drawn pictures of said protist only found in a 1878 limnology handbook for Prussian army officers…
Can it go read old protistology books from early 1900, figure out how many times the name of the species in question changed and how many times it changed position in the tree ?
Today @anthropic.com released PubMed integration for Claude. No hallucinations. Just real science, real data. As a beta tester, this has been game changing— a supercharged research tool. Here are 6 prompts that will transform how you search the literature. A 🧵
www.anthropic.com/news/claude-...
www.anthropic.com/news/claude-...
October 21, 2025 at 6:34 AM
Yes, maybe, but it won’t tell you about the beautiful hand-drawn pictures of said protist only found in a 1878 limnology handbook for Prussian army officers…
There's something else we want to highlight about this paper: all the single-cell transcriptomic atlases can be freely browsed through an interactive database (by @aelek.bsky.social). This includes 3 coral species: Oculina, Stylophora pistillata & Acropora millepora 🪸
sebelab.crg.eu/multicoral-s...
sebelab.crg.eu/multicoral-s...
October 20, 2025 at 5:16 PM
There's something else we want to highlight about this paper: all the single-cell transcriptomic atlases can be freely browsed through an interactive database (by @aelek.bsky.social). This includes 3 coral species: Oculina, Stylophora pistillata & Acropora millepora 🪸
sebelab.crg.eu/multicoral-s...
sebelab.crg.eu/multicoral-s...
Reposted by Xavier Grau-Bové 🌾
Our paper Genomic diversity of the African malaria vector Anopheles funestus was published in Science today! It features inversions, selection in action, museum specimens and putative new ecotypes. doi.org/10.1126/scie...
September 18, 2025 at 6:45 PM
Our paper Genomic diversity of the African malaria vector Anopheles funestus was published in Science today! It features inversions, selection in action, museum specimens and putative new ecotypes. doi.org/10.1126/scie...
“[Govern i Mossos recorden que] tan sols els jutges poden determinar si els principis de congruència o de proporcionalitat no han estat ben atesos en les actuacions.”
Quan ja no quedi ningú al carrer, clar.
www.vilaweb.cat/noticies/ala...
Quan ja no quedi ningú al carrer, clar.
www.vilaweb.cat/noticies/ala...
Alarma per l’ús indiscriminat i creixent del gas pebre per part dels Mossos
Fa anys que s’havia adquirit, però es va passar anys en desús, i els últims dies han proliferat episodis en què s’ha aplicat
www.vilaweb.cat
October 19, 2025 at 10:27 AM
“[Govern i Mossos recorden que] tan sols els jutges poden determinar si els principis de congruència o de proporcionalitat no han estat ben atesos en les actuacions.”
Quan ja no quedi ningú al carrer, clar.
www.vilaweb.cat/noticies/ala...
Quan ja no quedi ningú al carrer, clar.
www.vilaweb.cat/noticies/ala...
Reposted by Xavier Grau-Bové 🌾
Oculina patagonica’s ability to alternate between feeding with or without algae supports its resilience to rising Mediterranean sea temperatures, highlighting flexible survival strategies in corals. doi.org/g964qq
'Dual feeding' strategy helps Mediterranean coral thrive in rising sea temperatures
An exceptional "dual feeding" strategy underlies a Mediterranean coral's resilience to rising sea temperatures, according to a study in Nature.
phys.org
October 16, 2025 at 3:00 PM
Oculina patagonica’s ability to alternate between feeding with or without algae supports its resilience to rising Mediterranean sea temperatures, highlighting flexible survival strategies in corals. doi.org/g964qq
Reposted by Xavier Grau-Bové 🌾
1/9 New in @science.org www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.ado8005
How does genetic architecture constrain evolutionary trajectories? To address this question, we inferred the genetic architecture of convergent plumage coloration and its evolutionary history in wheatears.
How does genetic architecture constrain evolutionary trajectories? To address this question, we inferred the genetic architecture of convergent plumage coloration and its evolutionary history in wheatears.
A mosaic of modular variation at a single gene underpins convergent plumage coloration
The reshuffling of genomic variation from multiple origins is an important contributor to phenotypic diversification, yet insights into the evolutionary trajectories of this combinatorial process and ...
www.science.org
October 17, 2025 at 5:50 AM
1/9 New in @science.org www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.ado8005
How does genetic architecture constrain evolutionary trajectories? To address this question, we inferred the genetic architecture of convergent plumage coloration and its evolutionary history in wheatears.
How does genetic architecture constrain evolutionary trajectories? To address this question, we inferred the genetic architecture of convergent plumage coloration and its evolutionary history in wheatears.
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...
October 15, 2025 at 8:29 PM
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 🌾
You don't speak of dreams as unreal. They exist. They leave a mark behind them.
October 14, 2025 at 7:35 PM
You don't speak of dreams as unreal. They exist. They leave a mark behind them.
I find this a bit of a forced dichotomy. The reputational damage one gets from lying is strong enough to prevent most from blatantly making stuff up. And high standards for data/code sharing are good, but they're 1) unlikely to move the moral needle much, 2) a technical & financial burden for many…
You are a very busy, very important professor publishing very important work. Do you
a) just publish the code and data along with the paper because you know your work will survive close scrutiny and you have better things to do
b) spend your time handling individual data requests, negotiating […]
a) just publish the code and data along with the paper because you know your work will survive close scrutiny and you have better things to do
b) spend your time handling individual data requests, negotiating […]
Original post on neuromatch.social
neuromatch.social
October 13, 2025 at 11:17 AM
I find this a bit of a forced dichotomy. The reputational damage one gets from lying is strong enough to prevent most from blatantly making stuff up. And high standards for data/code sharing are good, but they're 1) unlikely to move the moral needle much, 2) a technical & financial burden for many…
“Thinking happens when two people who see themselves as equals pursue a question together. It’s a chimeric activity, shared but also private and enclosed My goal […] isn’t to dominate by scoring points, or to earn the respect of some audience, or to impress…”
www.newyorker.com/culture/open...
www.newyorker.com/culture/open...
Should You Question Everything?
In “Open Socrates,” the philosopher Agnes Callard reminds us how thinking should feel.
www.newyorker.com
October 11, 2025 at 10:50 AM
“Thinking happens when two people who see themselves as equals pursue a question together. It’s a chimeric activity, shared but also private and enclosed My goal […] isn’t to dominate by scoring points, or to earn the respect of some audience, or to impress…”
www.newyorker.com/culture/open...
www.newyorker.com/culture/open...
Quite surprising!
So, our definitive paper on the human reference gene set is out this week in Database (Oxford).
We merged and compared @ensembl.org / @gencodegenes.bsky.social , RefSeq and UniProtKB coding genes and investigated the agreements and discrepancies.
Details of what we found in the thread ...
We merged and compared @ensembl.org / @gencodegenes.bsky.social , RefSeq and UniProtKB coding genes and investigated the agreements and discrepancies.
Details of what we found in the thread ...
October 9, 2025 at 12:39 PM
Quite surprising!