Marios Chatzigeorgiou

📣 JOBS!!! We're looking for new colleagues in the School of Biology @bioscienceleeds.bsky.social - two associate profs (plant sci and animal biology) and a lecturer (ecology/zoology)...

jobs.leeds.ac.uk/vacancy.aspx...
jobs.leeds.ac.uk/vacancy.aspx...
jobs.leeds.ac.uk/vacancy.aspx...

What Ants Teach Us About the Biology of Social Behavior A group of researchers tinkered with the neuropeptides in the brains of leafcutter ants, leading them to demonstrate radically different behaviors.

www.brainfacts.org/brain-anatom...

Limited thermal tolerance in tropical insects and its genomic signature - Nature A survey of tropical insect populations and thermal tolerance limits indicates that species from lowland areas have low capacity to survive increased temperatures, and that thermal tolerance is limited by fundamental properties of protein architecture.

Nature research paper: Limited thermal tolerance in tropical insects and its genomic signature

go.nature.com/4ua5R82

The molecular basis of force selectivity by PIEZO2 Nature - PIEZO2 is intrinsically more rigid than PIEZO1, and disparate mechanical stimuli paradoxically evoke opposite conformational and gating responses in each channel.

New paper from the lab led by @ericmulhall.bsky.social addresses how PIEZO1 and PIEZO2 are tuned to different types mechanical forces. From nanometer-scale super-resolution microscopy to in vivo experiments, links single-molecule observations to physiological function.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Even more excited — our paper is featured on the cover of Science Advances!

Huge thanks to @alexandrejan.bsky.social who took this incredible photo of a ctenophore (aka comb jelly) and the editors.

Here’s the cover 👇

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

This is the cercaria larva of a parasitic flatworm (Trematode) from the family Bucephalidae. These Platyhelminthes parasitise bivalves and fish.

#marineplankton 🦑

How can we build better experiment-theory collaborations in neuroscience?

We're hosting a series of 6 in-person, interactive workshops to discuss this.

Come along!

www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/understand...

New Michelin Star Jellyfish Discovered in Japanese Aquaria | Blog Malagazzia michelin is only the second species of its genus to be found in Japanese waters.

🪼🌊 A new species of ornamental jellyfish has been described from Japanese waters.

👉 Find out more through our blog: blog.pensoft.net/2026/02/25/n...

📖 Read the full study: doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1268.173354

From our new paper out now in @currentbiology.bsky.social: www.cell.com/current-biol... w/ @neurofishh.bsky.social @gkafetzis.bsky.social @denilsson.bsky.social

Looking across animals, the vertebrate eye is an obvious outlier. Why is it so different that other highly visual animals?

Postdoc Opening! 🚨
Thrilled to (belatedly!) share that I’ve received @hfspo.bsky.social grant in collaboration with @KatherinaPetrou "Plant-like solar tracking in a photosymbiotic animal."
We are hiring a Postdoc to join the team
@bristolbiosci.bsky.social!
Apply👇
www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DQO766/r...

We are excited to announce the latest release of MorphoNet 🎉 ! Explore a completely remade interface to be clearer, with more features 🧑‍💻! It also contains many bug fixes, and new plugins for you to discover 😉! download at morphonet.org/downloads

📢📢📢Lectureships at Bristol!📢📢📢

We're hiring 3 x lecturers (=assistant professor) in Biological Sciences, across the discipline.

Great department, great colleagues, great building, great city

Details here:
www.bristol.ac.uk/jobs/find/de...

PhD opportunities The School of Convergence Science at Imperial College London is inviting applications for fully funded PhD studentships on research projects that sup...

PhD opportunity in "The role of neural development in multimodal intelligence" with me, @marcusghosh.bsky.social and @flor-iacaruso.bsky.social. Read details below 👇.

Note there's a very short window for applying (deadline Feb 27).

🤖🧠🧪

www.imperial.ac.uk/school-of-co...

<i>Galactosomum nagasakiense</i> Galactosomum nagasakiense is a parasite that lives rent-free in fish's brain and give them " Trematode Whirling Disease " (TWD). There are ...

I've written a post about Galactosomum nagasakiense - a flashy fluke which lives rent-free in the heads of fish and literally gives them brain rot 🧪
dailyparasite.blogspot.com/2026/02/gala...

Yes well said!! "Behaviourally complex"!!

Time we finally recognised that you don't need to be a "higher" animal to exhibit behavioural complexity...

Open letter from Ian Chapman to research and innovation community UKRI Chief Executive outlines changes to UKRI investment approach, addressing concerns about research funding and the financial position of STFC.

1 budget for 26-30 is rising 🎉
2 quota for basic research stable 🙂

BUT

3 we're slashing success rate for currently assessed grants 🫠
4 next call hopefully in Apri 2027 (with £s for lucky few going out months later, suppose) 💀

How does this make us more competitive?

www.ukri.org/news/open-le...

"Saw her in the Amazon
With the voltage runnin' through her skin
Standin' there with nothin' on
She gonna teach me how to swim"

for more about the electric (f)eel, check this primer by Ken Catania ⚡ www.cell.com/current-biol...

(and yes, finally some current biology in Current Biology)

We found no signs of DNA incorporation for
#HEK293 cells ✅ EU only in RNA
@mchatzigeorgiou.bsky.social
#Drosophila wing disc ✅ EU only in RNA
Katherine L. P. Downham & Fergal O'Farrell

Thanks also to @prhsteinmetz.bsky.social for encouraging us to follow the 🐇!

In marine invertebrates 💙, test for DNA incorporation of EU!
#Nematostella ⚠️ EU in RNA+DNA
#Aiptasia ⚠️ EU in DNA
#Ctenophores ✅ EU only in RNA
@ruthstyfhals.bsky.social @pawelburkhardt.bsky.social
#Platynereis ⚠️ EU in RNA+DNA
@leonieadelmann.bsky.social @tessmarraiblelabs.bsky.social

The nascent RNA labelling compound 5-ethynyl uridine (EU) integrates into DNA in some animals - BMC Molecular and Cell Biology BMC Molecular and Cell Biology - The detection of de novo synthesized mRNA transcripts is crucial for understanding the regulation of eukaryotic transcription. Using nucleoside or nucleotide...

A huge thanks to our amazing collaborators from @msarscentre.bsky.social, @unibergen.bsky.social and @univie.ac.at who helped investigate how commonly EU ends up in the wrong macro-molecule. 👏

Check it out at link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Diagram showing ethynyl-uridine incorporation in marine invertebrates, expected to label RNA but unexpectedly also detected in DNA, highlighted with a warning symbol.

So excited to see @malinkjosavik.bsky.social beautiful work out @bmc.springernature.com 🤩! Check it out to see where the RNA-label ✨EU✨ shows up in our favourite sea anemone and how to catch your organism crafting DNA from RNA labelling tools 🧬👀.
#transcription

December in preprints - the Node Welcome to our monthly trawl for developmental and stem cell biology (and related) preprints. The preprints this month are hosted on bioRxiv.

It's that time of the month again for our featured #preprint list for December ⬇️

Welcome to our monthly trawl for developmental and stem cell biology (and related) preprints.

thenode.biologists.com/december-in-...

Increasing bottom marine heatwaves pose a critical risk to Mediterranean benthic species Marine heatwaves (MHWs) are extreme ocean temperature events broadly affecting marine ecosystems. The Mediterranean Sea has faced severe impacts from …

#Mediterranean seafloors are heating fast 🌊🔥. Our new study shows bottom marine #heatwaves will intensify, last longer, and threaten benthic species—often year-round by 2100. A growing #ClimateRisk for benthic #biodiversity.
#ClimateChange 🌍🌐🧪

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

A widely used RNA assay labels the wrong molecules in several model organisms After a routine experiment raised suspicions, Steinmetz group researchers joined forces with collaborators to highlight the limitations of a commonly used RNA labeling product.

New paper out in @bmc.springernature.com 🤩👏 A routine 5-ethynyl uridine (EU) RNA labeling experiment in a sea anemone turned into detective work for @malinkjosavik.bsky.social, @ktgarschall.bsky.social & @prhsteinmetz.bsky.social 🕵️‍♀️

The delightful contract and stretch of a Trematode flatworm, no doubt on the hunt for a host to enact its parasitic ways.

#marineplankton 🦑

Looking for a PhD or Postdoc in marine #invertebrates comparative #morphology, #development, #phylogenetics, #fluid mechanics, #skeletogenesis, or #paleontology? Ping me.

sshrc-crsh.canada.ca/en/funding/o...

The colours on this copepod nauplius are just stunning!
#marineplankton 🦑

Our latest on #oil droplet capture by #marine animals is #OpenAccess @sicbjournals.bsky.social

Oil Droplet Capture by Tunicates
by Katherine Beaudry & C.B. Cameron, Integrative Organismal Biology, Volume 7, Issue 1, 2025, obaf045, doi.org/10.1093/iob/...

Cover photo by Robin Gwen Agarwal

Barnacles! A lovely little collection of barnacle larvae, both nauplii and cyprid (the seed-shaped ones), which are the earlier and later stages, respectively.

#marineplankton 🦑

Marine functional #connectivity matters—from genes to energy flows. This synthesis clarifies concepts, unifies fragmented approaches, and proposes a global framework to better link science, #SpatialPlanning, and #policy in a changing ocean. doi.org/10.1002/brv....
#MarineEcology 🌐🌍🧪🌊