We dive into the dynamics of #starships 🚀 in a fungal pathogen to ask: how might these giant #transposons impact human health? We find they drive genome-wide variation, encode clinically-relevant traits and even transpose within the same strain! 🍄🧪 out today in mBio #goteam doi.org/10.1128/mbio...

The virulence gene ToxB is both amplified and disrupted by transposons in the wheat pathogen Pyrenophora tritici-repentis https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.11.13.688278v1

Save the date: 20 Nov 2025 at 17h. Megan McDonald will present: Jumping Genes and Pathogenic Schemes: the diverse roles that transposons play in pathogen evolution.
A must for the pathology community!
Info here: www.wheatinitiative.org/new-events/m...
@karchuntan.bsky.social
@ReemWheat.bsky.social

The first paper of my PhD is now available as a preprint! 🎉

Transposable elements (TEs) don't just jump within fungal genomes, they also move extensively between species. In this study, we screened over 1,300 fungal genomes and found a conservative estimate of 5,500+ horizontal transfer events.

TEs aren’t just genomic parasites, they’re also engines of genomic novelty.

Our new study with ~2,000 Z. tritici genomes shows repeated TE mobilization waves during global expansion.

With @danielcroll.bsky.social & @guidopuccetti.bsky.social

🧬 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

#TEworldwide

James D. Watson, whose co-discovery of the twisted-ladder structure of DNA in 1953 helped light the long fuse on a revolution in medicine, crimefighting, genealogy and ethics, has died, according to his former research lab. He was 97.
https://to.pbs.org/4qPbNSp

🪰 🧬16th #DrosEU2026 Workshop & Satellite #DrosophilaSuzukii Meeting Conference will take place 13–17 April 2026 in #Montpellier, France 🇫🇷.

We look forward to connecting with colleagues across Europe to discuss new research in #Drosophila #genomics #evolution & #CitizenScience +info 👉 droseu.net

Excited to share my talk at the EMBL John Kendrew Award ceremony about what transposons taught me about science, life, and change along the way.

Big thanks to my mentors, the @embl.org Alumni community, and my current scientific home @maxperutzlabs.bsky.social 💛

youtu.be/NwIikKS7EWE?...

EMBL’s 2025 Kendrew alumni award recipient may know how to make fairy tales come true.

Irma Querques (@irmaquerques.bsky.social) repurposed the ‘Sleeping Beauty’ transposon as a genetic tool for new therapeutics, particularly against cancer.

www.embl.org/news/people-...

A new subgroup of #CRISPR-associated transposons, V-K_V2, has been discovered in Nostocales #cyanobacteria by @cyanolab.bsky.social & colleagues 🧬. Its unique features suggest genetic mobility and V2 tracrRNAs are now included in the updated CRISPRtracrRNA tool.
buff.ly/gioIfEB

Kicked off a series on #Drosophila TE discovery and naming. The first post covers elements that predate the term "mobile element", and more. artemilin.dev/posts/te_nam...

🎓 Sharpen your RNA-seq skills at EuroBioC2025 Workshops!

📍 Barcelona | Bulk & Single-cell RNA-seq
📅 Sept 15–16 | Hands-on training
🎟️ Limited spots. Register now: eurobioc2025.bioconductor.org

#Bioinformatics #EuroBioC2025

🧬Happy Transposon Day!

🎉Each year on the 16th of June we commemorate the birthdate of the founder of transposable element research, Barbara McClintock (1902-1992).

#TransposonDay2025 #MobileDNAjournal

Join our team as a postdoc and explore the exciting world of transposable elements and developmental biology with us! @imbavienna.bsky.social @vbcscitraining.bsky.social

Pre-registration is now open for our second (free) course on phylogenomic data analysis and visualization using ETE, funded by @cziscience.bsky.social

First time to cover new ETE4 features: Interactive viz of huge tree, profiling...

In Madrid, April 21-25. Travel fellowships available!

Please register for the course on Transposable elements in #genomics and #datascience. We will be sharing the magic of #nanopore long reads for #transposon expression #tesky