Nicholas Bellono

Wendy Valencia Montoya Receives Weintraub Graduate Student Award for Groundbreaking Thesis on the Evolution of Sensory Worlds - Harvard University - Department of Molecular & Cellular Biology Wendy Valencia Montoya has been named a recipient of the prestigious 2026 Harold M. Weintraub Award in recognition of her doctoral thesis, an ambitious and interdisciplinary body of […]

Wendy Valencia Montoya Receives Weintraub Graduate Student Award for Groundbreaking Thesis on the Evolution of Sensory Worlds 🧠 🧪🧬 #AcademicSky #higherEd
www.mcb.harvard.edu/department/n... @nbellono.bsky.social @rachellegaudet.bsky.social @basicsci.fredhutch.org @harvardoeb.bsky.social

Congrats to Wendy Valencia-Montoya on a superstar PhD co-advised by Naomi Pierce. By seamlessly integrating molecular biology with ecology + evolution, Wendy truly transformed how our lab approaches science - can’t think of better compliment than that! @harvardmcb.bsky.social @harvardoeb.bsky.social

Ryan Nett Awarded 2025–27 George W. Merck Fellowship - Harvard University - Department of Molecular & Cellular Biology Ryan Nett, MCB assistant professor, has been named a recipient of the 2025–27 George W. Merck Fellowship. Awarded annually to outstanding tenure-track faculty, the prestigious two-year fellowship prov...

Ryan Nett Awarded 2025–27 George W. Merck Fellowship 🧪 🧬 #AcademicSky #higherEd
www.mcb.harvard.edu/department/n... @nbellono.bsky.social @rachellegaudet.bsky.social @dulaclab.bsky.social @microbiometcell.bsky.social @cryptogenomicon.bsky.social @jeeyunc.bsky.social @zombiflied.bsky.social

Two MCB-Affiliated Postdoctoral Fellows Awarded Harvard Brain Initiative Fellowships - Harvard University - Department of Molecular & Cellular Biology Two postdoctoral researchers affiliated with MCB have been awarded highly competitive Postdoctoral Pioneer Fellowships from the Harvard Brain Initiative (HBI), recognizing innovative projects that spa...

Two MCB-Affiliated Postdoctoral Fellows Awarded Harvard Brain Initiative Fellowships 🧠 🧪🧬 #AcademicSky #higherEd
www.mcb.harvard.edu/department/n... @sanket-walujkar.bsky.social @rachellegaudet.bsky.social @nbellono.bsky.social @harvardbrainsci.bsky.social @harvard.edu

Infrared radiation is an invitation to pollinating insects A new study shows that infrared radiation is a pollination signal, one far older than the vivid colors that later became dominant among flowering plants.

news.harvard.edu/gazette/stor...

Forget flowers: These ancient plants attract pollinators by getting hot While many modern plants use colorful flowers to attract pollinators, ancient palm-like plants called cycads lure them by heating up and glowing in the infrared.

While many modern plants use colorful flowers to attract pollinators, ancient palm-like plants called cycads lure them by heating up and glowing in the infrared. n.pr/3MuJr08

Great story about Wendy turning a childhood curiosity about beetles and seemingly inconspicuous plants in the Amazon into a fundamental discovery about pollination that spans fieldwork, fossils, and molecules.

A Hot Plant’s Mysterious Signal Makes Beetles Pollinate It

www.nytimes.com/2025/12/11/s...

Wendy Valencia-Montoya and team uncover thermal infrared as one of the most ancient pollination signals uniting plants and animals. From the field to single proteins.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

These plants can heat themselves up—scientists finally know why Since the time of the dinosaurs, cycad plants may have attracted insects using infrared light. It may be the world's oldest form of pollination.

Artwork by Lily Soucy
www.nationalgeographic.com/science/arti...

Before Flowers Existed, Ancient Cycad Plants Lured Insects With Heat New research of strange “cycad” plants offers a glimpse into the prehistoric origins of pollination

New research of strange “cycad” plants offers a glimpse into the prehistoric origins of pollination

Pablo Villar and team uncover molecules and receptors underlying octopus mating.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Meet the sensory biologist studying an “invisible” language Dr. Rebecka Sepela’s research is uncovering the role of microbes in creating a chemical language that connects all organisms

www.vox.com/ad/467529/se...

Rebecka Sepela Receives L’Oréal USA For Women in Science Fellowship - Harvard University - Department of Molecular & Cellular Biology MCB postdoctoral fellow Rebecka Sepela has been selected as one of the 2025 L’Oréal USA For Women in Science (FWIS) Fellows, a prestigious honor recognizing early-career scientists whose […]

Rebecka Sepela Receives L’Oréal USA For Women in Science Fellowship 🧠 🧪🧬 #AcademicSky #higherEd
www.mcb.harvard.edu/department/n...
@nbellono.bsky.social @rachellegaudet.bsky.social @dulaclab.bsky.social @naoshigeuchida.bsky.social @cryptogenomicon.bsky.social @harvardbrainsci.bsky.social

Anastasiia Sukalskaia Awarded Swiss National Science Foundation Fellowship - Harvard University - Department of Molecular & Cellular Biology Postdoctoral fellow Anastasiia Sukalskaia has received a prestigious Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) Postdoc.Mobility Fellowship, which will support her research in the lab of MCB’s Nicholas ...

Anastasiia Sukalskaia Awarded Swiss National Science Foundation Fellowship 🧠 🧪🧬 #AcademicSky #higherEd
www.mcb.harvard.edu/department/n... @nbellono.bsky.social @rachellegaudet.bsky.social @dulaclab.bsky.social @naoshigeuchida.bsky.social @neurovenki.bsky.social @snsf.ch

Bellono Lab Research Featured on Two September Cell Covers - Harvard University - Department of Molecular & Cellular Biology Two recent studies from the MCB lab of Nick Bellono will be featured on the cover of Cell this month, highlighting the lab’s ongoing exploration of unconventional model […]

Bellono Lab Research Featured on Two September Cell Covers 🧠 🧪🧬 #AcademicSky #higherEd
www.mcb.harvard.edu/department/n...
@nbellono.bsky.social @rachellegaudet.bsky.social @dulaclab.bsky.social @naoshigeuchida.bsky.social @zombiflied.bsky.social @microbiometcell.bsky.social @jeeyunc.bsky.social

Sea slugs steal foreign chloroplasts for photosynthesis and starvation resistance. Photo by Anik Grearson. #evolution #symbiosis. #cellbiology. @cellpress.bsky.social

A yellow octopus with tentacles and suckers akimbo

🎉It’s #CephalopodWeek! Our annual celebration of all things octopus, squid, and cuttlefish 🐙🦑 To kick things off: A new study looks into how octopuses use the suckers on their arms to “taste” harmful microbes on surfaces they touch.

buff.ly/PhTxTnr

Octopuses sense environmental microbiomes to drive predatory and parental behaviors. Artwork by Lily Soucy. #evolution #sensation #microbiome @cellpress.bsky.social

Wendy Valencia Montoya – Bridging Natural History and Molecular Biology - Harvard University - Department of Molecular & Cellular Biology By the time Wendy  Valencia Montoya arrived at Harvard, she had already lived in tents deep in the Amazon, crisscrossed Europe to study evolutionary biology, and uncovered genetic […]

Wendy Valencia Montoya – Bridging Natural History and Molecular Biology 🧪 🧬 #AcademicSky #higherEd
www.mcb.harvard.edu/department/n... @nbellono.bsky.social @zombiflied.bsky.social @rachellegaudet.bsky.social @rivaselenarivas.bsky.social @dulaclab.bsky.social @harvardoeb.bsky.social

Ryan Nett Named Pew Scholar for Innovative Research on Plant-Derived Molecules - Harvard University - Department of Molecular & Cellular Biology MCB faculty member Ryan Nett has been named a 2025 Pew Scholar in the Biomedical Sciences, one of 22 early-career scientists selected nationwide for their promising and innovative […]

Ryan Nett Named Pew Scholar for Innovative Research on Plant-Derived Molecules 🧪 🧬 #AcademicSky #higherEd
www.mcb.harvard.edu/department/n... @rachellegaudet.bsky.social @dulaclab.bsky.social @zombiflied.bsky.social @harvardmagazine.bsky.social @naoshigeuchida.bsky.social @neurovenki.bsky.social

Carolyn Elya Receives Prestigious Klingenstein Fellowship in Neuroscience - Harvard University - Department of Molecular & Cellular Biology MCB congratulates Carolyn Elya, Assistant Professor of MCB and affiliate of the Center for Brain Science, on receiving a Klingenstein Fellowship Award in Neuroscience. This competitive early-career aw...

Carolyn Elya Receives Prestigious Klingenstein Fellowship in Neuroscience 🧪 🧬 #AcademicSky #higherEd
www.mcb.harvard.edu/department/n...
@zombiflied.bsky.social @rachellegaudet.bsky.social @dulaclab.bsky.social @neurovenki.bsky.social @naoshigeuchida.bsky.social @harvardbrainsci.bsky.social

Solar-Powered Thieves: New Study Uncovers Animal Organelle That Sustains Photosynthesis from Stolen Chloroplasts - Harvard University - Department of Molecular & Cellular Biology They look like crawling leaves, but these sea slugs are anything but ordinary. MCB Professor Nick Bellono calls them “the weirdest animal we’ve ever studied”—a bold claim from […]

Solar-Powered Thieves: New Study Uncovers Animal Organelle That Sustains Photosynthesis from Stolen Chloroplasts 🧠🧪 #AcademicSky #higherEd
www.mcb.harvard.edu/department/n...
@nbellono.bsky.social @rachellegaudet.bsky.social @naoshigeuchida.bsky.social @neurovenki.bsky.social @dulaclab.bsky.social

Corey Allard and Amy Lee discuss curious "solar-powered" animals that steal and maintain foreign chloroplasts for photosynthesis and starvation resistance. @harvardcellbio.bsky.social, @danafarbernews.bsky.social.
news.harvard.edu/gazette/stor...

‘Wildest thing’: solar-powered slug steals chloroplasts and stores them for emergencies Marine creatures house contraband structures in special organelles, which the animal raids for food in times of need.

‘Solar-powered’ sea slugs have specialized depots in their cells that store photosynthetic equipment looted from algae

https://go.nature.com/3TMCgR7

Corey Allard et al asks how “solar-powered” slugs maintain stolen chloroplasts from their diet for photosynthesis and starvation resistance. @cellpress.bsky.social, @harvardmcb.bsky.social, @harvardmed.bsky.social
www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...

Specific molecules produced by bacteria in rotting food can activate these sucker sensors, causing octopuses to discard food or eggs that would make them or their offspring sick.

Learn more: scim.ag/3G8Kv6Z

Eight Arms to Taste Your Microbiome

Octopuses’ 8 Arms Snoop on the Microbial World @nytimes.com
www.nytimes.com/2025/06/17/s...

Octopuses Use Microbial Signals to Guide Complex Behaviors - Harvard University - Department of Molecular & Cellular Biology A new study published in Cell from the lab of MCB faculty member Nick Bellono reveals that octopuses detect microbial cues on surfaces to distinguish prey and eggs […]

Octopuses Use Microbial Signals to Guide Complex Behaviors
🧠🧪 #AcademicSky #higherEd
www.mcb.harvard.edu/department/n... @nbellono.bsky.social @rachellegaudet.bsky.social @naoshigeuchida.bsky.social @neurovenki.bsky.social @dulaclab.bsky.social @harvardbrainsci.bsky.social @cellpress.bsky.social

Microbiomes shape our biology from gut-brain, skin, immunology, and more. Here, Rebecka Sepela et al explores octopus “taste by touch” sensation to ask how environmental microbiomes drive animal behavior. @cellpress.bsky.social, @mblscience.bsky.social
www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...