Thibaut Brunet
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thibautbrunet.bsky.social
Thibaut Brunet
@thibautbrunet.bsky.social
Evolutionary cell biology / evolution of morphogenesis / animal origins / choanoflagellates @institutpasteur.bsky.social

https://research.pasteur.fr/en/team/evolutionary-cell-biology-and-evolution-of-morphogenesis/
Pinned
Latest from ours: www.cell.com/cell-reports...

This is two stories in one: a case study/cautionary tale on developing genetic tools in new organisms, and the first hint at a gene regulatory network for choanoflagellate multicellular development (which turn out to involve a Hippo/YAP/ECM loop!) A 🧵
Reposted by Thibaut Brunet
Glad to see our phoronid genome study featured on the cover of @currentbiology.bsky.social! It shows how genome structure can be used to test competing hypotheses of nested topology and how derived structural changes provide evidence for monophyly.

www.cell.com/current-biol...
November 17, 2025 at 4:25 PM
Reposted by Thibaut Brunet
Our work on Naegleria Myosin 2 is out!

Naegleria encodes 3 Myo2s which contract its actin network—the first evidence of contractile Myo2 outside of Amorphea.
Myo2 is actually widespread in Naegleria's relatives and correlates with fast cell crawling.

Read more: www.cell.com/current-biol...
Myosin 2 drives actin contractility in fast-crawling species outside of the amorphean lineage
Myosin 2-dependent actin contractility—the force that powers cell division and migration in animals, fungi, and other Amorphea—had been previously unknown outside this single eukaryotic group. Guest e...
www.cell.com
November 17, 2025 at 5:19 PM
Reposted by Thibaut Brunet
Il reste encore des places pour notre formation @ephe-psl.bsky.social à R (27 janvier au 5 février à Paris), avec une focalisation complète sur le traitement de données (pas de statistiques).

Il y a un module pour chaque niveau et chaque besoin ! 👇

#rstats #formationcontinue
Marre de passer vos journées à Ctrl+C/Ctrl+V vos données dans un tableur et devoir tout refaire à cause d'un soucis de formatage imprévu ? 😡

Suivez la formation @ephe-psl.bsky.social (27 janvier au 5 février) pour apprendre à utiliser R pour traiter vos données :👇
www.ephe.psl.eu/formations-q...
Apprentissage du logiciel R | École Pratique des Hautes Études
L’EPHE − PSL propose une formation pratique à l’utilisation du logiciel libre R pour la gestion et la manipulation des données avant l’analyse statistique (non traitée dans cette formation).Le contenu...
www.ephe.psl.eu
November 17, 2025 at 9:02 AM
Reposted by Thibaut Brunet
I just took a break from a busy semester and registered for #CELLBIO2025, the annual ASCB/EMBO Meeting. Philly is one of the best venues, and the science is always incredible. Join me and register today! @ascbiology.bsky.social
www.ascb.org/cellbio2025
November 16, 2025 at 1:41 PM
Reposted by Thibaut Brunet
Folks have been super kind regarding this manuscript

It is such a contentious topic that I wondered if letting this project go beyond the four walls of the lab was a personal/emotional mistake

But no - it wasn't

People are chill. People are nice. This community rules 🤘
bsky.app/profile/jlst...
NEW pub in @science.org 🥳

Is it sponges (panels A & B) or comb jellies (C & D) that root the animal tree of life?

For over 15 years, #phylogenomic studies have been divided.

We provide new evidence suggesting that...

🔗: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
November 15, 2025 at 10:13 PM
Reposted by Thibaut Brunet
Re-upping this with a Bluetorial in a shameless act of self-promotion. 1/n
Cell cycle-driven transcriptome maturation confers multilineage competence to cardiopharyngeal progenitors
Wei Wang, @lionlchristiaen.bsky.social and colleagues
www.embopress.org/doi/full/10....
November 15, 2025 at 8:15 AM
Reposted by Thibaut Brunet
Still looking for our perfect doctoral candidate as part of @evomg-dn.bsky.social - come and join us to work on the evolutionary pressures that shape gene expression and disease in the uterus!

Please RT (or is it RB? not sure how our lingo has changed!)
November 14, 2025 at 10:22 AM
Thoughtful thread on the latest in the sponge/ctenophore controversy (and the answer is… that you’ll have to click on Jacob’s thread 🙃)
NEW pub in @science.org 🥳

Is it sponges (panels A & B) or comb jellies (C & D) that root the animal tree of life?

For over 15 years, #phylogenomic studies have been divided.

We provide new evidence suggesting that...

🔗: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
November 13, 2025 at 9:15 PM
Reposted by Thibaut Brunet
November 13, 2025 at 7:23 PM
Reposted by Thibaut Brunet
Happy to share Jialin's first publication. She did a great job exploring the transition to land in animals. Co-supervised by the great Jordi Paps and me and in collaboration with Davide Pisani and @phil-donoghue.bsky.social
November 13, 2025 at 3:18 PM
Reposted by Thibaut Brunet
Let me use this as an opportunity to talk about Jordi et al's very cool paper, now out in PNAS 🧪:

pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...

You can read our news and views here: www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
November 13, 2025 at 4:13 PM
Reposted by Thibaut Brunet
Woke up at 5.30 this morning. Was fully worth it 🤩 #northernlights #bergen #norway
November 13, 2025 at 6:47 AM
Reposted by Thibaut Brunet
A fascinating new study in which the humble sugar glider makes a special appearance, helping a team led by @brainevodevo.bsky.social and @fennak.bsky.social uncover the evolutionary history of a group of inhibitory neurons. Check out this thread summarizing the main findings!
Our new manuscript, led by Emily Corrigan, examines inhibitory neuron diversity across approximately 160 million years of evolutionary divergence, as part of BRAIN Initiative Cell Atlas Network (BICAN) developing brain atlas package: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Conservation and alteration of mammalian striatal interneurons - Nature
An analysis of cell-type diversity in brain samples from a variety of mammalian species, both during development and in adult animals, reveals that the TAC3 initial class of striatal interneurons is c...
www.nature.com
November 12, 2025 at 6:19 PM
Reposted by Thibaut Brunet
We are looking for a PhD student to work on an exciting plastid endosymbiosis in microbial eukaryotes. This position involves sampling, exciting microscopy such as CARDFISH, ExM and FIBSEM, single-cell transcriptomics and more. #protistsonsky 1/2
November 12, 2025 at 9:50 AM
Reposted by Thibaut Brunet
Viral NblA proteins negatively affect oceanic cyanobacterial photosynthesis www.nature.com/articles/s41...
this project was led by @omernadel.bsky.social and is a joint work between the labs of @bejalab.bsky.social, Debbie Lindell and Oded Kleifeld from @biologytechnion.bsky.social
the sun is shining through the clouds in the sky above the ocean
ALT: the sun is shining through the clouds in the sky above the ocean
media.tenor.com
November 12, 2025 at 4:00 PM
Reposted by Thibaut Brunet
This a big deal: "China’s carbon dioxide emissions have been flat or falling for 18 months"

China's economy has grown by ~5% in the last year, so this comprehensively debunks the idea (again) that emissions are tied to growth. So yes, faster progress needed, but this is how you turn the corner.
China’s CO2 emissions have been flat or falling for past 18 months, analysis finds
World’s biggest polluter on track to hit peak emissions target early but miss goal for cutting carbon intensity
www.theguardian.com
November 11, 2025 at 9:20 AM
The American Library in Paris has quite a few nice scientific biographies - I guess I got my winter reading sorted
November 12, 2025 at 1:23 PM
Reposted by Thibaut Brunet
Brand-new conference on collective behaviour! Join us to foster a community to study how interactions among the constituents trigger fascinating collective phenomena: biofilms, fish schools, tissue self-organisation, bird swarms & many more!

Thanks to amazing speakers for helping us realise this!
✨ How do bird flocks form or diseases emerge?

Join the brand-new EMBO | EMBL Symposium #EESCollectivity and explore how collective behaviours arise from fundamental principles across biological systems 🧬🦠🐒

💻 s.embl.org/ees26-01-bl
✒️ Submit your abstract by 18 Nov
August 22, 2025 at 7:35 AM
Reposted by Thibaut Brunet
Wound healing is a hallmark feature of all life, including single cells. In a new preprint, Ambika Nadkarni @biochembika.bsky.social investigates a new dimension in cellular wound healing: how cells recover AFTER the wound has been closed

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
November 10, 2025 at 5:47 PM
Reposted by Thibaut Brunet
Want to join a happy bunch 🥳 to organise meetings, outreach activities and other initiatives about developmental biology in France? Apply and/or vote 🗳️!
🚨🚨🚨
The SFBD board needs to be renewed with 5 members
We wish to strengthen our board with young scientists

To apply: send a brief text introducing your research interests and motivations to [email protected] by December 4th
Elections will be held online from December 10th to 17th
Please share the info
November 10, 2025 at 12:00 PM
Reposted by Thibaut Brunet
Launching celldynamicslab.com, the homepage of our new group at EPFL working on cell fragmentation, membrane and cortex mechanics, FLIM imaging, and microfluidics tools. MSc/PhD or postdocs interested in quantitative cell biology are welcome to reach out. We're also hiring a lab manager in 2026!
Main - Cell Dynamics and Fragmentation Lab
The Cell Dynamics and Fragmentation lab at We study how single cells move and fragment in complex environments using microfluidics. We bring tools and concep...
celldynamicslab.com
November 11, 2025 at 5:10 PM
Reposted by Thibaut Brunet
My book 'The Tree of Life' is published in the USA and Canada today.

Available as book, on kindle and as audio.

I would be really grateful for reposts.

www.amazon.com/Tree-Life-So...
www.amazon.ca/Tree-Life-So...
November 11, 2025 at 12:01 PM
Reposted by Thibaut Brunet
Join our vibrant scientific community @viennabiocenter.bsky.social! It’s an extremely supportive environment to start a lab 🚀

www.imp.ac.at/career/open-...
🌍Open call: Junior Group Leader positions!

Join a world-class biomedical research institute at the heart of the Vienna BioCenter, where curiosity drives discovery.

Lead your own lab, pursue bold ideas, and shape the future of science at the IMP: www.imp.ac.at/career/open-...
November 10, 2025 at 5:55 PM
Reposted by Thibaut Brunet
The full list of instructors is available here
bsky.app/profile/jlst...
November 10, 2025 at 7:28 PM
Reposted by Thibaut Brunet
Diatoms – microscopic algae found almost everywhere there’s water – make up ~25% of Earth’s annual oxygen production.🌎

EMBL researchers have now found a way to easily reveal their inner structures by combining cryo-fixation with ultrastructural expansion microscopy 🔬

www.cell.com/current-biol...
November 6, 2025 at 1:28 PM