Maurice Elphick
@mauriceelphick.bsky.social
Reposted by Maurice Elphick
Out today, our take on 6-methyladenine #6mA evolution in Eukaryotes @natgenet.nature.com. We asked a simple question, is really DNA 6mA common across the eukaryotes? The answer is "yes" if you're a unicellular eukaryote 🦠, not so if you're multicellular 🐝🌱🍄. www.nature.com/articles/s41... 1/9
Adenine DNA methylation associated with transcriptionally permissive chromatin is widespread across eukaryotes - Nature Genetics
Long-read sequencing in 18 unicellular eukaryotes reveals that 6mA is widespread across eukaryotes and is enriched at transcriptionally permissive regions, which are also marked by H3K4me3.
www.nature.com
November 18, 2025 at 12:00 PM
Out today, our take on 6-methyladenine #6mA evolution in Eukaryotes @natgenet.nature.com. We asked a simple question, is really DNA 6mA common across the eukaryotes? The answer is "yes" if you're a unicellular eukaryote 🦠, not so if you're multicellular 🐝🌱🍄. www.nature.com/articles/s41... 1/9
Reposted by Maurice Elphick
Our study, just published in #ScienceAdvances and funded by @hfspo.bsky.social, explores the post metamorphic cell composition of the sea urchin juvenile, revealing that its body is head-like. Long considered brainless creatures, they’re all brain instead!
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Single-nucleus profiling highlights the all-brain echinoderm nervous system
A sea urchin is a head with a brain-like organization and a vertebrate-type retinal signature.
www.science.org
November 5, 2025 at 7:03 PM
Our study, just published in #ScienceAdvances and funded by @hfspo.bsky.social, explores the post metamorphic cell composition of the sea urchin juvenile, revealing that its body is head-like. Long considered brainless creatures, they’re all brain instead!
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
The website for the 12th European Conference on #Echinoderms (London, July 2026) has gone live today. I am pleased to be involved as a member of the organising committee. Please spread the word: www.euroechino.net
12th European Echinoderm Meeting 2026
description
www.euroechino.net
November 4, 2025 at 5:45 PM
The website for the 12th European Conference on #Echinoderms (London, July 2026) has gone live today. I am pleased to be involved as a member of the organising committee. Please spread the word: www.euroechino.net
Reposted by Maurice Elphick
Come join the #LondonEvoDevo network half day meeting, hosted at @ucl.ac.uk on Friday November 7th, 2025. Submit your abstract by Oct 27th (or your interest in joining) here: forms.gle/TRbdrCkQTcY2.... Friendly vibes and free registration. More info here: londonevodevo.co.uk.
LondonEvoDevo
meeting's website
londonevodevo.co.uk
October 20, 2025 at 1:42 PM
Come join the #LondonEvoDevo network half day meeting, hosted at @ucl.ac.uk on Friday November 7th, 2025. Submit your abstract by Oct 27th (or your interest in joining) here: forms.gle/TRbdrCkQTcY2.... Friendly vibes and free registration. More info here: londonevodevo.co.uk.
Reposted by Maurice Elphick
It was fantastic welcoming back Chema Martin @chemamd.bsky.social from @qmulsbbs.bsky.social at the Centre today 👏 He shared with us his latest work on spiralian larvae evolution, with fascinating insights on the timing of gene expression during development. Thank you for visiting us!
October 10, 2025 at 2:28 PM
It was fantastic welcoming back Chema Martin @chemamd.bsky.social from @qmulsbbs.bsky.social at the Centre today 👏 He shared with us his latest work on spiralian larvae evolution, with fascinating insights on the timing of gene expression during development. Thank you for visiting us!
Reposted by Maurice Elphick
Thrilled to share that the lab has been awarded a @wellcometrust.bsky.social Discovery Award to keep exploring the evolution of 6-methyladenine #6mA in Eukaryotes. We'll open postdoc (3️⃣) and tech (1️⃣) positions to start in 2026, please share with candidates or reach out if you’d like to join us.
October 8, 2025 at 12:17 PM
Thrilled to share that the lab has been awarded a @wellcometrust.bsky.social Discovery Award to keep exploring the evolution of 6-methyladenine #6mA in Eukaryotes. We'll open postdoc (3️⃣) and tech (1️⃣) positions to start in 2026, please share with candidates or reach out if you’d like to join us.
Reposted by Maurice Elphick
🧪 I have a new TV offering: a 2-part Horizon special on BBC2 going out on 29th Sep and 6th October. It is called Secrets of the Brain. See
See www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...
See www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...
BBC Two - Secrets of the Brain, Series 1, Episode 1
Jim Al-Khalili reveals how the staggeringly complex human brain evolved.
www.bbc.co.uk
September 23, 2025 at 2:45 PM
🧪 I have a new TV offering: a 2-part Horizon special on BBC2 going out on 29th Sep and 6th October. It is called Secrets of the Brain. See
See www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...
See www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...
Reposted by Maurice Elphick
Now Hiring! Whitney Laboratory Assistant/Associate Professor in Marine Bioscience
Apply & More Info - explore.jobs.ufl.edu/en-us/job/53...
We seek a creative, collaborative scientist whose research harnesses or advances cutting-edge tools. Please help spread the word & reach out with any questions!
Apply & More Info - explore.jobs.ufl.edu/en-us/job/53...
We seek a creative, collaborative scientist whose research harnesses or advances cutting-edge tools. Please help spread the word & reach out with any questions!
September 29, 2025 at 3:53 PM
Now Hiring! Whitney Laboratory Assistant/Associate Professor in Marine Bioscience
Apply & More Info - explore.jobs.ufl.edu/en-us/job/53...
We seek a creative, collaborative scientist whose research harnesses or advances cutting-edge tools. Please help spread the word & reach out with any questions!
Apply & More Info - explore.jobs.ufl.edu/en-us/job/53...
We seek a creative, collaborative scientist whose research harnesses or advances cutting-edge tools. Please help spread the word & reach out with any questions!
Reposted by Maurice Elphick
From Neuropeptides to Toxins: Illuminating the Origins of Venom Complexity in Cone Snails https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.09.26.678268v1
September 29, 2025 at 4:33 PM
From Neuropeptides to Toxins: Illuminating the Origins of Venom Complexity in Cone Snails https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.09.26.678268v1
Reposted by Maurice Elphick
Congratulations to Oğuz Akar who was awarded the title of Doctor in Philosophy in Cell and Biology yesterday!
September 26, 2025 at 11:37 AM
Congratulations to Oğuz Akar who was awarded the title of Doctor in Philosophy in Cell and Biology yesterday!
We are recruiting at @qmul.bsky.social
Please spread the word and encourage applications from potential applicants with relevant expertise.
qmul-jobs.tal.net/vx/mobile-1/...
Please spread the word and encourage applications from potential applicants with relevant expertise.
qmul-jobs.tal.net/vx/mobile-1/...
Environmental Analytical Facility Technician - QMUL Jobs
ID: 7383. Title: Environmental Analytical Facility Technician. Application Deadline:
qmul-jobs.tal.net
September 15, 2025 at 9:28 AM
We are recruiting at @qmul.bsky.social
Please spread the word and encourage applications from potential applicants with relevant expertise.
qmul-jobs.tal.net/vx/mobile-1/...
Please spread the word and encourage applications from potential applicants with relevant expertise.
qmul-jobs.tal.net/vx/mobile-1/...
Reposted by Maurice Elphick
Super happy to see CLEM-Reg out in @natmethods.nature.com! A short thread on the algorithm behind it and how to try it out for yourself🧵(1/9)
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
CLEM-Reg: an automated point cloud-based registration algorithm for volume correlative light and electron microscopy - Nature Methods
CLEM-Reg automates the three-dimensional alignment of volume correlative light and electron microscopy datasets by leveraging probabilistic point cloud registration techniques for fast and accurate re...
www.nature.com
September 10, 2025 at 9:37 AM
Super happy to see CLEM-Reg out in @natmethods.nature.com! A short thread on the algorithm behind it and how to try it out for yourself🧵(1/9)
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Maurice Elphick
Queen Mary is delighted to be a ‘University of the Year’ finalist in the #THEAwards!
And we're so proud Professors @larschittka.bsky.social and @alastairhackney.bsky.social have been shortlisted for Outstanding Research Supervisor of the Year. @timeshighered.bsky.social
tinyurl.com/ebe8yx23
And we're so proud Professors @larschittka.bsky.social and @alastairhackney.bsky.social have been shortlisted for Outstanding Research Supervisor of the Year. @timeshighered.bsky.social
tinyurl.com/ebe8yx23
September 4, 2025 at 3:48 PM
Queen Mary is delighted to be a ‘University of the Year’ finalist in the #THEAwards!
And we're so proud Professors @larschittka.bsky.social and @alastairhackney.bsky.social have been shortlisted for Outstanding Research Supervisor of the Year. @timeshighered.bsky.social
tinyurl.com/ebe8yx23
And we're so proud Professors @larschittka.bsky.social and @alastairhackney.bsky.social have been shortlisted for Outstanding Research Supervisor of the Year. @timeshighered.bsky.social
tinyurl.com/ebe8yx23
Reposted by Maurice Elphick
After nearly twenty years in the making, our attempt at understanding what makes the chaetognath phylum so unique has finally been published! www.nature.com/articles/s41...
with #LauraPiovani @dariagavr.bsky.social @alexdemendoza.bsky.social @chemamd.bsky.social and others /1
with #LauraPiovani @dariagavr.bsky.social @alexdemendoza.bsky.social @chemamd.bsky.social and others /1
The genomic origin of the unique chaetognath body plan - Nature
Genomic, single-cell transcriptomic and epigenetic analyses show that chaetognaths, following extensive gene loss in the gnathiferan lineage, relied on newly evolved genes and lineage-specific tandem ...
www.nature.com
August 13, 2025 at 4:38 PM
After nearly twenty years in the making, our attempt at understanding what makes the chaetognath phylum so unique has finally been published! www.nature.com/articles/s41...
with #LauraPiovani @dariagavr.bsky.social @alexdemendoza.bsky.social @chemamd.bsky.social and others /1
with #LauraPiovani @dariagavr.bsky.social @alexdemendoza.bsky.social @chemamd.bsky.social and others /1
Reposted by Maurice Elphick
Happy to see our latest work out in @molbioevol.bsky.social. We revisit the evolution of 5-methylcytosine across neglected eukaryotic supergroups, establishing an ancestral repressive role silencing genome invaders, both transposons and viral elements👾: academic.oup.com/mbe/advance-... 🧵 1/7
Repressive cytosine methylation is a marker of viral gene transfer across divergent eukaryotes
Abstract. Cytosine DNA methylation patterns vary widely across eukaryotes, with its ancestral roles being understood to have included both transposable ele
academic.oup.com
July 28, 2025 at 10:03 AM
Happy to see our latest work out in @molbioevol.bsky.social. We revisit the evolution of 5-methylcytosine across neglected eukaryotic supergroups, establishing an ancestral repressive role silencing genome invaders, both transposons and viral elements👾: academic.oup.com/mbe/advance-... 🧵 1/7
Very interesting paper that provides new insights into the evolution of ligand-gated chloride channels.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Functional analysis of ligand-gated chloride channels in a cnidarian sheds light on the evolution of inhibitory signalling
γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) is the predominant inhibitory transmitter in the vertebrate nervous system. Fast inhibitory signalling is mediated by type A GABA receptors (GABAARs), which form pentameric ...
www.biorxiv.org
July 27, 2025 at 2:59 PM
Very interesting paper that provides new insights into the evolution of ligand-gated chloride channels.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Here in @qmulsbbs.bsky.social at @qmul.bsky.social we are seeking to appoint (deadline for applications 17th August 2025) a Reader (Associate Professor) in EVOLUTIONARY GENOMICS to join the QMUL Centre for Evolutionary & Functional Genomics. Please spread the word.
qmul-jobs.tal.net/vx/appcentre...
qmul-jobs.tal.net/vx/appcentre...
July 23, 2025 at 2:55 PM
Here in @qmulsbbs.bsky.social at @qmul.bsky.social we are seeking to appoint (deadline for applications 17th August 2025) a Reader (Associate Professor) in EVOLUTIONARY GENOMICS to join the QMUL Centre for Evolutionary & Functional Genomics. Please spread the word.
qmul-jobs.tal.net/vx/appcentre...
qmul-jobs.tal.net/vx/appcentre...
Great to be at #ICCE19 in Sendai Japan with Nayeli Escudero Castelan, Tabinda Islam and Kite Jones presenting our research on neuropeptide signalling in echinoderms.
July 9, 2025 at 10:19 PM
Great to be at #ICCE19 in Sendai Japan with Nayeli Escudero Castelan, Tabinda Islam and Kite Jones presenting our research on neuropeptide signalling in echinoderms.
Reposted by Maurice Elphick
Today marks a special anniversary for us. On July 1, 1858, the theory of evolution by natural selection was first presented at a Linnean Society meeting. Papers written by Charles Darwin & Alfred Russel Wallace were read, shaping a groundbreaking idea still powering science today: buff.ly/uBdX7N1
July 1, 2025 at 2:56 PM
Today marks a special anniversary for us. On July 1, 1858, the theory of evolution by natural selection was first presented at a Linnean Society meeting. Papers written by Charles Darwin & Alfred Russel Wallace were read, shaping a groundbreaking idea still powering science today: buff.ly/uBdX7N1
Reposted by Maurice Elphick
I am grateful to have been promoted to the highest rank as Research Professor (ICREA) following my récent 5-year evaluation-a meaningful milestone at the end of my academic path. 🥂🥂
June 28, 2025 at 8:46 AM
I am grateful to have been promoted to the highest rank as Research Professor (ICREA) following my récent 5-year evaluation-a meaningful milestone at the end of my academic path. 🥂🥂
Reposted by Maurice Elphick
Our new paper is out: "The 3D architecture of the ctenophore aboral organ & the evolution of complex integrative centers in animals.
We reveal a remarkable cell type diversity, nerve net condensation, a multilayered circuit & gene expression profiles.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... #ctenophores
We reveal a remarkable cell type diversity, nerve net condensation, a multilayered circuit & gene expression profiles.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... #ctenophores
June 28, 2025 at 6:55 AM
Our new paper is out: "The 3D architecture of the ctenophore aboral organ & the evolution of complex integrative centers in animals.
We reveal a remarkable cell type diversity, nerve net condensation, a multilayered circuit & gene expression profiles.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... #ctenophores
We reveal a remarkable cell type diversity, nerve net condensation, a multilayered circuit & gene expression profiles.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... #ctenophores
Reposted by Maurice Elphick
Delighted to share our paper in @currentbiology.bsky.social iology.bsky.social with a palaeo-evo-devo perspective on the evolution of symmetry in echinoderms. Led by Steffi Woodgate with Frankie Dunn, @echinerd.bsky.social, @laurentformery.bsky.social & Sam Zamora
www.cell.com/current-biol...-5
www.cell.com/current-biol...-5
A new Cambrian stem-group echinoderm reveals the evolution of the anteroposterior axis
Woodgate et al. describe a new bilaterally symmetrical echinoderm, Atlascystis acantha,
from the Cambrian of Morocco. Comparisons of plate growth with other echinoderms reveal
that Atlascystis possess...
www.cell.com
June 26, 2025 at 8:25 AM
Delighted to share our paper in @currentbiology.bsky.social iology.bsky.social with a palaeo-evo-devo perspective on the evolution of symmetry in echinoderms. Led by Steffi Woodgate with Frankie Dunn, @echinerd.bsky.social, @laurentformery.bsky.social & Sam Zamora
www.cell.com/current-biol...-5
www.cell.com/current-biol...-5
Reposted by Maurice Elphick
Bean bugs shut down their ovaries over winter to save energy and now Jili Xi & co reveal that the hormone corazonin coordinates the insect's preparations for winter as the days grow shorter
journals.biologists.com/jeb/article/...
journals.biologists.com/jeb/article/...
June 23, 2025 at 5:16 PM
Bean bugs shut down their ovaries over winter to save energy and now Jili Xi & co reveal that the hormone corazonin coordinates the insect's preparations for winter as the days grow shorter
journals.biologists.com/jeb/article/...
journals.biologists.com/jeb/article/...
Reposted by Maurice Elphick
RT. Fully funded PhD position in my lab to investigate the origin, composition and function of Ambulacrarian ossicles.
June 23, 2025 at 5:28 PM
RT. Fully funded PhD position in my lab to investigate the origin, composition and function of Ambulacrarian ossicles.