Lionel Christiaen, PhD (he/him/his)
@lionlchristiaen.bsky.social
Dev cell syst biol, cardiopharyngeal, coll migr, ecodevo. Dir Sars Centre, U Bergen. NIH DEV1 rev. Prof NYU Bio. Postdoc UC Berkeley. PhD CNRS/Paris XI. Agrégé. Archicube. French & American.
https://www.uib.no/en/michaelsarscentre/141681/christiaen-group
https://www.uib.no/en/michaelsarscentre/141681/christiaen-group
Pinned
The tunicate Ciona - Nature Methods
The ascidian tunicate Ciona, one of the closest relatives of the vertebrates, inhabits shallow temperate waters in the worldwide ocean. A unique combination of simple stereotyped embryogenesis, regula...
www.nature.com
Very happy to see this piece on the Tunicate Ciona published. Grateful to @alexandrejan.bsky.social and @chiaracastelletti.bsky.social for the Illustrations, and to @natmethods.nature.com for the opportunity to showcase our ever emerging model organism www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Lionel Christiaen, PhD (he/him/his)
We are thrilled to invite you to the Michael Sars Symposium 2026 - Living systems in a variable ocean, together with our co-organizers at @cbubergen.bsky.social! Mark June 4, 2026 in your calendars, and watch out for our speaker lineup reveal in the new year 🙌
December 19, 2025 at 2:54 PM
We are thrilled to invite you to the Michael Sars Symposium 2026 - Living systems in a variable ocean, together with our co-organizers at @cbubergen.bsky.social! Mark June 4, 2026 in your calendars, and watch out for our speaker lineup reveal in the new year 🙌
Reposted by Lionel Christiaen, PhD (he/him/his)
💡Your questions, answered.
The ERC Plus Grant webpage is now live, and the Q&As on this new funding scheme are available on the website, too.
🔗 ERC Plus Grants 👉 bit.ly/3N7BJcr
🔗 Q&A 👉 bit.ly/4j4G5gA
The ERC Plus Grant webpage is now live, and the Q&As on this new funding scheme are available on the website, too.
🔗 ERC Plus Grants 👉 bit.ly/3N7BJcr
🔗 Q&A 👉 bit.ly/4j4G5gA
December 19, 2025 at 2:24 PM
💡Your questions, answered.
The ERC Plus Grant webpage is now live, and the Q&As on this new funding scheme are available on the website, too.
🔗 ERC Plus Grants 👉 bit.ly/3N7BJcr
🔗 Q&A 👉 bit.ly/4j4G5gA
The ERC Plus Grant webpage is now live, and the Q&As on this new funding scheme are available on the website, too.
🔗 ERC Plus Grants 👉 bit.ly/3N7BJcr
🔗 Q&A 👉 bit.ly/4j4G5gA
Reposted by Lionel Christiaen, PhD (he/him/his)
Some of our favorite model organisms featured on the cover of @natrevneuro.nature.com 🤩 Congratulations @jeffcolgren.bsky.social & @pawelburkhardt.bsky.social for this beautiful highlight 👏
Thrilled to see our review article "The evolutionary origins of synaptic proteins" highlighted on the cover of Nature Reviews Neuroscience 🤩.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
@msarscentre.bsky.social 🧠✨🧬🌊🪼🧽
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
@msarscentre.bsky.social 🧠✨🧬🌊🪼🧽
December 18, 2025 at 11:04 AM
Some of our favorite model organisms featured on the cover of @natrevneuro.nature.com 🤩 Congratulations @jeffcolgren.bsky.social & @pawelburkhardt.bsky.social for this beautiful highlight 👏
Reposted by Lionel Christiaen, PhD (he/him/his)
🔬✨ 2025 in Review
From welcoming new scientists to bold discoveries across #biology, 2025 was a milestone year at the Institute, marking 25 years of curiosity-driven #discovery.
Explore 15 highlights ➡️ bit.ly/48JGku3
From welcoming new scientists to bold discoveries across #biology, 2025 was a milestone year at the Institute, marking 25 years of curiosity-driven #discovery.
Explore 15 highlights ➡️ bit.ly/48JGku3
December 17, 2025 at 6:26 PM
🔬✨ 2025 in Review
From welcoming new scientists to bold discoveries across #biology, 2025 was a milestone year at the Institute, marking 25 years of curiosity-driven #discovery.
Explore 15 highlights ➡️ bit.ly/48JGku3
From welcoming new scientists to bold discoveries across #biology, 2025 was a milestone year at the Institute, marking 25 years of curiosity-driven #discovery.
Explore 15 highlights ➡️ bit.ly/48JGku3
Reposted by Lionel Christiaen, PhD (he/him/his)
Excited to share our story nutrition and cell quiescence in sea anemones, great postdoctoral work of
@eudaldpascual.bsky.social
Finally out in @plosbiology.org
And thanks to @msarscentre.bsky.social for the nice news piece:
www.uib.no/en/michaelsa...
@eudaldpascual.bsky.social
Finally out in @plosbiology.org
And thanks to @msarscentre.bsky.social for the nice news piece:
www.uib.no/en/michaelsa...
December 16, 2025 at 6:24 PM
Excited to share our story nutrition and cell quiescence in sea anemones, great postdoctoral work of
@eudaldpascual.bsky.social
Finally out in @plosbiology.org
And thanks to @msarscentre.bsky.social for the nice news piece:
www.uib.no/en/michaelsa...
@eudaldpascual.bsky.social
Finally out in @plosbiology.org
And thanks to @msarscentre.bsky.social for the nice news piece:
www.uib.no/en/michaelsa...
Reposted by Lionel Christiaen, PhD (he/him/his)
This is actually the trippiest thing I've ever seen that was not deliberately created by M C Fucking Escher. It straight up took me over a minute to make sense of and now I can't go back.
This is the white-and-gold dress on a gram a week of trenbolone.
This is the white-and-gold dress on a gram a week of trenbolone.
Ok, this is nuts. Once you see it you cannot unsee it. Do you see it?
(OP @drgbuckingham.bsky.social )
(OP @drgbuckingham.bsky.social )
December 17, 2025 at 6:52 AM
This is actually the trippiest thing I've ever seen that was not deliberately created by M C Fucking Escher. It straight up took me over a minute to make sense of and now I can't go back.
This is the white-and-gold dress on a gram a week of trenbolone.
This is the white-and-gold dress on a gram a week of trenbolone.
Reposted by Lionel Christiaen, PhD (he/him/his)
🚨 What if evolution is the ”law”… and networks are the machines that do the work?
In this paper (just published) I try to formalize how living systems are non-equilibrium, information-processing, adaptive matter. With a great biological flavor! 🧪🌐🌍🧬🦠
👉 iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1...
🧵 1/
In this paper (just published) I try to formalize how living systems are non-equilibrium, information-processing, adaptive matter. With a great biological flavor! 🧪🌐🌍🧬🦠
👉 iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1...
🧵 1/
December 16, 2025 at 9:04 AM
🚨 What if evolution is the ”law”… and networks are the machines that do the work?
In this paper (just published) I try to formalize how living systems are non-equilibrium, information-processing, adaptive matter. With a great biological flavor! 🧪🌐🌍🧬🦠
👉 iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1...
🧵 1/
In this paper (just published) I try to formalize how living systems are non-equilibrium, information-processing, adaptive matter. With a great biological flavor! 🧪🌐🌍🧬🦠
👉 iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1...
🧵 1/
Reposted by Lionel Christiaen, PhD (he/him/his)
Reposted by Lionel Christiaen, PhD (he/him/his)
This could be your dream job: working full time at the Friday Harbor Labs on marine invertebrate organismal biology. Nine month salary from an endowment, teaching and research faculty position.
apply.interfolio.com/178804
apply.interfolio.com/178804
Apply - Interfolio
{{$ctrl.$state.data.pageTitle}} - Apply - Interfolio
apply.interfolio.com
December 16, 2025 at 10:55 PM
This could be your dream job: working full time at the Friday Harbor Labs on marine invertebrate organismal biology. Nine month salary from an endowment, teaching and research faculty position.
apply.interfolio.com/178804
apply.interfolio.com/178804
Reposted by Lionel Christiaen, PhD (he/him/his)
An absolute bedrock institution for understanding how the planet works, just civilization-scaled vandalism by the most incurious morons on Earth
December 17, 2025 at 2:52 AM
An absolute bedrock institution for understanding how the planet works, just civilization-scaled vandalism by the most incurious morons on Earth
Reposted by Lionel Christiaen, PhD (he/him/his)
Thrilled to share the preprint from my PhD! 🥳 Where I characterised epithelial cell extrusion in a sea anemone
🔗 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Big thanks to my supervisor @prhsteinmetz.bsky.social and coauthors @noahbruderer.bsky.social @lionlchristiaen.bsky.social at🇳🇴 @msarscentre.bsky.social ⬇️🧵
🔗 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Big thanks to my supervisor @prhsteinmetz.bsky.social and coauthors @noahbruderer.bsky.social @lionlchristiaen.bsky.social at🇳🇴 @msarscentre.bsky.social ⬇️🧵
December 16, 2025 at 12:33 PM
Thrilled to share the preprint from my PhD! 🥳 Where I characterised epithelial cell extrusion in a sea anemone
🔗 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Big thanks to my supervisor @prhsteinmetz.bsky.social and coauthors @noahbruderer.bsky.social @lionlchristiaen.bsky.social at🇳🇴 @msarscentre.bsky.social ⬇️🧵
🔗 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Big thanks to my supervisor @prhsteinmetz.bsky.social and coauthors @noahbruderer.bsky.social @lionlchristiaen.bsky.social at🇳🇴 @msarscentre.bsky.social ⬇️🧵
Reposted by Lionel Christiaen, PhD (he/him/his)
Just want to share with my American friends how the Australians respond to a shooting tragedy. Action, rather than thoughts and prayers.
December 15, 2025 at 4:09 AM
Just want to share with my American friends how the Australians respond to a shooting tragedy. Action, rather than thoughts and prayers.
Reposted by Lionel Christiaen, PhD (he/him/his)
#ArtAdventCalendar Gel Electrophoresis in Green and Blue, watercolor, 2023 #sciart
December 12, 2025 at 6:56 PM
#ArtAdventCalendar Gel Electrophoresis in Green and Blue, watercolor, 2023 #sciart
They should consider the tunicate Ciona instead pronofa.no/purply/. We’ve tasted their Ciona lasagna in lab meeting and it is just like regular industrial lasagna.
December 10, 2025 at 7:11 AM
They should consider the tunicate Ciona instead pronofa.no/purply/. We’ve tasted their Ciona lasagna in lab meeting and it is just like regular industrial lasagna.
Reposted by Lionel Christiaen, PhD (he/him/his)
No.
Octopus could be the next commercially farmed seafood. Should it be? — Fast Company
They’re clever, they’re otherworldly, and if a growing band of companies and scientists have their way, they’re going to be raised for human consumption. Inside the birth of a new and controversial in...
apple.news
December 9, 2025 at 11:49 PM
No.
Reposted by Lionel Christiaen, PhD (he/him/his)
Interested in cell adhesion, evolution of multicellularity, or developing tools for emerging marine models?
My lab at UM is hiring a postdoc, and the application is now open:
🔗 tinyurl.com/28jvu4aa
If you know anyone looking for a postdoc, please pass this along!
My lab at UM is hiring a postdoc, and the application is now open:
🔗 tinyurl.com/28jvu4aa
If you know anyone looking for a postdoc, please pass this along!
December 8, 2025 at 6:37 PM
Interested in cell adhesion, evolution of multicellularity, or developing tools for emerging marine models?
My lab at UM is hiring a postdoc, and the application is now open:
🔗 tinyurl.com/28jvu4aa
If you know anyone looking for a postdoc, please pass this along!
My lab at UM is hiring a postdoc, and the application is now open:
🔗 tinyurl.com/28jvu4aa
If you know anyone looking for a postdoc, please pass this along!
Very happy to see this piece on the Tunicate Ciona published. Grateful to @alexandrejan.bsky.social and @chiaracastelletti.bsky.social for the Illustrations, and to @natmethods.nature.com for the opportunity to showcase our ever emerging model organism www.nature.com/articles/s41...
The tunicate Ciona - Nature Methods
The ascidian tunicate Ciona, one of the closest relatives of the vertebrates, inhabits shallow temperate waters in the worldwide ocean. A unique combination of simple stereotyped embryogenesis, regula...
www.nature.com
December 8, 2025 at 6:33 PM
Very happy to see this piece on the Tunicate Ciona published. Grateful to @alexandrejan.bsky.social and @chiaracastelletti.bsky.social for the Illustrations, and to @natmethods.nature.com for the opportunity to showcase our ever emerging model organism www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Lionel Christiaen, PhD (he/him/his)
Come to be our colleague! Center of Paris, excellent facilities, research spanning the whole range of basic and biomedical life science topics, enthusiastic and collaborative colleagues, crème brûlée every Friday... What else could one want?
🔬 Call to create junior research groups at the Institut Pasteur
Focus: Infectious diseases, host-microbe interactions, vaccines
Special interest: AI methodologies
📅 Deadline: Feb 9, 2026
👥 2-12 years post-PhD
Apply now 📝 research.pasteur.fr/en/call/crea...
#JobOpportunity #Research
Focus: Infectious diseases, host-microbe interactions, vaccines
Special interest: AI methodologies
📅 Deadline: Feb 9, 2026
👥 2-12 years post-PhD
Apply now 📝 research.pasteur.fr/en/call/crea...
#JobOpportunity #Research
Creation of new junior research groups at the Institut Pasteur - Call for applications 2026 - Research
The Institut Pasteur is launching an international call to recruit new junior research group leaders leveraging cutting-edge transdisciplinary approaches to exploring infectious diseases, host-microbe...
research.pasteur.fr
December 8, 2025 at 10:56 AM
Come to be our colleague! Center of Paris, excellent facilities, research spanning the whole range of basic and biomedical life science topics, enthusiastic and collaborative colleagues, crème brûlée every Friday... What else could one want?
Reposted by Lionel Christiaen, PhD (he/him/his)
Networks are #complex and their dynamics often look chaotic. But we can reconstruct latent spaces where their behavior becomes strikingly regular, revealing functional organization across biology, society and technology.
How? 👉 rdcu.be/eSsqn 🧪🧠🦠🧬🌐
Kudos to Andrea, @dzanc.bsky.social & Sebastiano!
How? 👉 rdcu.be/eSsqn 🧪🧠🦠🧬🌐
Kudos to Andrea, @dzanc.bsky.social & Sebastiano!
December 2, 2025 at 10:18 AM
Networks are #complex and their dynamics often look chaotic. But we can reconstruct latent spaces where their behavior becomes strikingly regular, revealing functional organization across biology, society and technology.
How? 👉 rdcu.be/eSsqn 🧪🧠🦠🧬🌐
Kudos to Andrea, @dzanc.bsky.social & Sebastiano!
How? 👉 rdcu.be/eSsqn 🧪🧠🦠🧬🌐
Kudos to Andrea, @dzanc.bsky.social & Sebastiano!
Reposted by Lionel Christiaen, PhD (he/him/his)
📢 Save the date: ERC annual conference will take place on 28 January 2026! Its theme will be ‘One Health’.
Discover the programme and register now 👉 t.co/SBat1iYccr
#OneHealth
@scienceinnovation.ec.europa.eu @ecdc.europa.eu @efsa.europa.eu
Discover the programme and register now 👉 t.co/SBat1iYccr
#OneHealth
@scienceinnovation.ec.europa.eu @ecdc.europa.eu @efsa.europa.eu
November 17, 2025 at 11:03 AM
📢 Save the date: ERC annual conference will take place on 28 January 2026! Its theme will be ‘One Health’.
Discover the programme and register now 👉 t.co/SBat1iYccr
#OneHealth
@scienceinnovation.ec.europa.eu @ecdc.europa.eu @efsa.europa.eu
Discover the programme and register now 👉 t.co/SBat1iYccr
#OneHealth
@scienceinnovation.ec.europa.eu @ecdc.europa.eu @efsa.europa.eu
Reposted by Lionel Christiaen, PhD (he/him/his)
"Research driven by curiosity - rather than by pre-defined agendas - is one of the strongest safeguards of academic freedom and democratic resilience."
ERC President Maria Leptin’s speech on #AcademicFreedom under threat couldn’t be more topical.
Speech:
erc.europa.eu/news-events/ne…#CG40Yearsrs
🇪🇺
ERC President Maria Leptin’s speech on #AcademicFreedom under threat couldn’t be more topical.
Speech:
erc.europa.eu/news-events/ne…#CG40Yearsrs
🇪🇺
December 5, 2025 at 2:18 PM
"Research driven by curiosity - rather than by pre-defined agendas - is one of the strongest safeguards of academic freedom and democratic resilience."
ERC President Maria Leptin’s speech on #AcademicFreedom under threat couldn’t be more topical.
Speech:
erc.europa.eu/news-events/ne…#CG40Yearsrs
🇪🇺
ERC President Maria Leptin’s speech on #AcademicFreedom under threat couldn’t be more topical.
Speech:
erc.europa.eu/news-events/ne…#CG40Yearsrs
🇪🇺
Reposted by Lionel Christiaen, PhD (he/him/his)
#LivingArchitectures
We put cells and cytoskeleton filaments on the architecture of the musée d'Orsay.
www.musee-orsay.fr/fr/agenda/ev...
Scientists of the #CytoMorphoLab adapted their protocols to illustrate the questions that keep them awake at night.
-> Two shows on the 24th and 25th of January.
We put cells and cytoskeleton filaments on the architecture of the musée d'Orsay.
www.musee-orsay.fr/fr/agenda/ev...
Scientists of the #CytoMorphoLab adapted their protocols to illustrate the questions that keep them awake at night.
-> Two shows on the 24th and 25th of January.
December 5, 2025 at 4:11 PM
#LivingArchitectures
We put cells and cytoskeleton filaments on the architecture of the musée d'Orsay.
www.musee-orsay.fr/fr/agenda/ev...
Scientists of the #CytoMorphoLab adapted their protocols to illustrate the questions that keep them awake at night.
-> Two shows on the 24th and 25th of January.
We put cells and cytoskeleton filaments on the architecture of the musée d'Orsay.
www.musee-orsay.fr/fr/agenda/ev...
Scientists of the #CytoMorphoLab adapted their protocols to illustrate the questions that keep them awake at night.
-> Two shows on the 24th and 25th of January.
Reposted by Lionel Christiaen, PhD (he/him/his)
Current AI agent assessment for coding:
ChatGPT: absolute trash for anything but plotting
Gemini 3 (via antigravity): made nice suggestions, then proceeded to totally break the code
Claude: chatty and hit or miss, but reliably much better than others and often actually useful.
ChatGPT: absolute trash for anything but plotting
Gemini 3 (via antigravity): made nice suggestions, then proceeded to totally break the code
Claude: chatty and hit or miss, but reliably much better than others and often actually useful.
December 5, 2025 at 4:23 AM
Current AI agent assessment for coding:
ChatGPT: absolute trash for anything but plotting
Gemini 3 (via antigravity): made nice suggestions, then proceeded to totally break the code
Claude: chatty and hit or miss, but reliably much better than others and often actually useful.
ChatGPT: absolute trash for anything but plotting
Gemini 3 (via antigravity): made nice suggestions, then proceeded to totally break the code
Claude: chatty and hit or miss, but reliably much better than others and often actually useful.
Reposted by Lionel Christiaen, PhD (he/him/his)
I am taking the next few days off from writing to prepare for a Supreme Court argument. If you want to support Democracy Docket during my pause, here is there link. hubs.ly/Q03M8rql0
December 5, 2025 at 2:30 AM
I am taking the next few days off from writing to prepare for a Supreme Court argument. If you want to support Democracy Docket during my pause, here is there link. hubs.ly/Q03M8rql0
Reposted by Lionel Christiaen, PhD (he/him/his)
"The secret of genius is to carry the spirit of the child into old age, which means never losing your enthusiasm."
~ Aldous Huxley
The Tow Path at Argenteuil
🎨 Claude Monet (1875)
~ Aldous Huxley
The Tow Path at Argenteuil
🎨 Claude Monet (1875)
December 4, 2025 at 1:15 PM
"The secret of genius is to carry the spirit of the child into old age, which means never losing your enthusiasm."
~ Aldous Huxley
The Tow Path at Argenteuil
🎨 Claude Monet (1875)
~ Aldous Huxley
The Tow Path at Argenteuil
🎨 Claude Monet (1875)