Etienne Bucher 🌾🧬🇪🇺
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plantepigenetics.ch
Etienne Bucher 🌾🧬🇪🇺
@plantepigenetics.ch
Head of the Crop Genome Dynamics Group at Agroscope, Switzerland.
Studying plant epigenetics and transposable elements and their use for crop breeding.
Views are my own.
#epigenetics #TransposableElements #breeding #crops #GMO #ClimateEmergency
Pinned
Current state of EU legislation on crop breeding summed up in one picture. Note that all plants carry the same mutation!
One does not need to be a scientist to understand the this legislation makes no sense. #GMOs #CommonSense @testbiotech
Windows should be less political 🙄
@microsoft.com
February 4, 2026 at 6:30 AM
So now there’s a thing called “paranormal citation” 🙄
where are we going??? this is totally nuts.
You would not work with someone who’s permanently on LSD. AI is high all the time.
AI hallucinations in science manuscripts are a nuisance. Paranormal citations, or paracites, will be a nightmare.

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... (w/ @sina.bio & @lauraluebbert.com).
February 4, 2026 at 5:27 AM
Reposted by Etienne Bucher 🌾🧬🇪🇺
I’ll be spending the next four weeks at @agroscope.bsky.social Changins, working on the eccDNA identification in Arabidopsis. Big thanks to @plantepigenetics.ch who agreed to host me and OPJAK Tangenc @iebcas.bsky.social for funding the mobility 😉 🌱🥼🔬
February 3, 2026 at 2:29 PM
nope, i am definitely not 100% there…
January 29, 2026 at 10:44 AM
Reposted by Etienne Bucher 🌾🧬🇪🇺
Plant Breeding Innovation Clears Next Hurdle for EU NGT Framework

https://www.europesays.com/2737143/

The European Parliament’s Committee on the Environment (ENVI) has approved, by a strong majority, the compromise text on…
Plant Breeding Innovation Clears Next Hurdle for EU NGT Framework - EUROPE SAYS
The European Parliament’s Committee on the Environment (ENVI) has approved, by a strong majority, the compromise text on the NGT Regulation agreed in trilogue
www.europesays.com
January 28, 2026 at 12:01 PM
Reposted by Etienne Bucher 🌾🧬🇪🇺
“At 14 research agencies Science examined in detail, departures outnumbered new hires last year by a ratio of 11 to one, resulting in a net loss of 4224 STEM Ph.D.s. “

www.science.org/content/arti...
U.S. government has lost more than 10,000 STEM Ph.D.s since Trump took office
A Science analysis reveals how many were fired, retired, or quit across 14 agencies
www.science.org
January 27, 2026 at 8:20 AM
Time for a non-Fifa world cup that will take place somewhere else.
I genuinely think boycotting the World Cup is some of the strongest leverage the Europeans have.
A German soccer federation executive committee member says it's time to consider a World Cup boycott because of the actions of U.S. President Donald Trump.
January 24, 2026 at 2:23 AM
Reposted by Etienne Bucher 🌾🧬🇪🇺
I genuinely think boycotting the World Cup is some of the strongest leverage the Europeans have.
January 24, 2026 at 12:39 AM
Reposted by Etienne Bucher 🌾🧬🇪🇺
Agreed. This is bad, and not good for science. I hope @nanoporetech.com will reconsider.
The speed at which Oxford Nanopore is cancelling support for their devices is just mind boggling 😳
P2 solo will be decommissioned soon!!! This is not sustainable!
@nanoporetech.com
January 23, 2026 at 7:10 PM
Reposted by Etienne Bucher 🌾🧬🇪🇺
CERN Researchers Apologize For Destruction Of 5 Parallel Universes In Recent Experiment https://theonion.com/cern-researchers-apologize-for-destruction-of-5-paralle-1819579830/
January 23, 2026 at 3:00 PM
Thinking of the movie Armageddon, it breaks my heart that somehow the US, instead of helping us saving our planet, it may have become our Armageddon.
m.youtube.com/watch?v=JkK8...
Aerosmith - I Don't Want to Miss a Thing (Official HD Video)
YouTube video by AerosmithVEVO
m.youtube.com
January 21, 2026 at 7:06 AM
Reposted by Etienne Bucher 🌾🧬🇪🇺
This is the best speech, just from a pure rhetoric perspective - its sophistication and persuasiveness - that I've seen a politician deliver in a good long while. Really recommend watching or reading the whole thing.
A YouTube link for those looking for it. No words.

youtu.be/btqHDhO4h10?...
January 20, 2026 at 11:01 PM
Reposted by Etienne Bucher 🌾🧬🇪🇺
Sad to hear that Oxford Nanopore wants to discontinue the P2Solo later this year in favor of the P2i (the very pricey P2Solo that comes with a GPU to do the basecalling in it)

It feels like such a big step in the wrong direction. They are a great sequencing company, not a great GPU upseller...
nanoporetech-customers - Sign In
community.nanoporetech.com
January 20, 2026 at 8:50 PM
Hey USA! Not a single country on this planet likes you anymore (oh, OK, maybe Russia does). I think you should do something about it. And you should do it now before ICE is fully armed. Afterwards it will be too late.
January 20, 2026 at 8:34 PM
The speed at which Oxford Nanopore is cancelling support for their devices is just mind boggling 😳
P2 solo will be decommissioned soon!!! This is not sustainable!
@nanoporetech.com
January 19, 2026 at 3:54 PM
Reposted by Etienne Bucher 🌾🧬🇪🇺
EU readies €93bn tariffs in retaliation for Trump’s Greenland threat ft.trib.al/5Qfqifp
EU readies €93bn tariffs in retaliation for Trump’s Greenland threat
Europe could also threaten to restrict US companies’ market access in run-up to crunch talks at Davos
ft.trib.al
January 18, 2026 at 6:36 PM
Please Europe, put a 1000% tax on all @microsoft.com products!
That would immediately result in a massive productivity increase!
Looks like the EU-US trade deal is now dead, with all three major groups in the EU Parliament calling at least for suspension. The downward spiral has already begun.
January 18, 2026 at 4:23 AM
On my governmental computer, @microsoft.com Office takes at least one minute to open a 140kb file!
My Atari is faster than that!
January 16, 2026 at 12:30 PM
Gott ist tot.
— Friedrich Nietzsche
January 16, 2026 at 6:00 AM
Reposted by Etienne Bucher 🌾🧬🇪🇺
US higher education was a crown jewel, generating knowledge, wealth, prestige, and power unrivaled by anyone.

And the US is throwing it away, because Americans elected a govt ideologically opposed to truth, science, merit, and racial/gender equality, preferring to weaken the country to reduce that.
Chinese Universities Surge in Global Rankings as U.S. Schools Slip
www.nytimes.com
January 15, 2026 at 1:01 PM
Maybe a tip for speakers who tend to have a dry mouth while giving presentations (like me, yeah I am too nervous): what really helps me are Fishermen’s Friend.
maybe that helps someone out there…
January 15, 2026 at 6:43 AM
Am I the only who feels extremely uncomfortable sending a presentation for a conference several days in advance?
For me it affects the spontaneity and the vibe…
January 15, 2026 at 5:33 AM
OK, so the US are now declaring war on Europe.
Rep. Randy Fine on his bill to make Greenland the 51st state: "We need to make sure we assert our dominance over the Western Hemisphere ... the last thing we need is Greenland to become another Venezuela where we have huge problems we have to deal with in the future."
January 13, 2026 at 2:18 PM
Reposted by Etienne Bucher 🌾🧬🇪🇺
We have an open POSTDOC position to explore Marchantia immune receptor biology that is closing on the 18th of Jan. Apply using the link below, and/or email me for more details. www.jic.ac.uk/vacancies/po...
Postdoctoral Researcher (Carella Group) | John Innes Centre
An exciting opportunity has arisen for a Postdoctoral Researcher to join the Carella Group at the John Innes Centre, working on cutting-edge science in the field of Evo-MPMI (Evolutionary Molecular…
www.jic.ac.uk
January 13, 2026 at 11:31 AM
Reposted by Etienne Bucher 🌾🧬🇪🇺
Kudos to Dana Kennedy, for making this lovely, pressed flower cover image for her paper. "Pressed-flower art representing heterochromatin gene silencing in Schizosaccharomyces pombe. Each distinct flower symbolizes HP1/Swi6, Clr4, nucleosomes, and post-translational modifications (cont)
January 11, 2026 at 6:02 PM