Mia Levine

We just launched flyRoom — modern web-based stock management for Drosophila labs. No more spreadsheets, no more messy labels, no more lost stocks. Free to start, built by researchers for researchers.

www.flyroom.net

Introgression and parental conflict shape repeated occurrences of postzygotic isolation in Mimulus Postzygotic reproductive isolation is often thought to accumulate as a byproduct of neutral divergence. Yet it frequently evolves rapidly, in line wit…

I am SO THRILLED to share our first fully-lab lab paper!!!!!! Led by @hybridzones.bsky.social & @hagarsoliman.bsky.social, w/ a major assist from @pfschwarz.bsky.social!!!!!!!!!!!!! Read more below, if you're curious (you should be- it's AWESOME!!!!!!!)

link: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Last week I attended #Dros26 and had a wonderful time. I saw so many creative approaches to uncover new Drosophila biology throughout the talks and poster sessions. Top-tier science!

Thank you @genetics-gsa.bsky.social for making my attendance possible by awarding me the DeLill Nasser Award!

Congrats Duilio on discovering the 1st Toxin-Antidote system in vertebrates! 🎉He single-handedly established the embryo project in my lab!👍

Quick plug for our new resource, the Drosophila Species Stock Exchange. This is a database and mailing list that documents species currently in culture and the labs holding them. If you want to know more or sign up then please get in touch. See attached for more info and please share!

Yay, George! Congrats!

The Sfeir Lab at MSKCC is hiring a Research Assistant!
We are looking for a motivated scientist with at least 2 years of research experience and a two-year commitment. Learn more about our work here www.sfeirlab.com, and message me your CV and cover letter if interested

@carabrand.bsky.social now on here!

🥰

Cara Brand Department of Genetics at Rutgers University

Cara will continue her work on coevolution between DNA satellites and essential host proteins in her new lab in the Dept of Genetics at Rutgers! See: genetics.rutgers.edu/people/facul...

So excited to share this manuscript led by the inimitable Cara Brand, who discovered that Topoisomerase II evolution causes hybrid female lethality in Drosophila.

Congrats to Cara, @nickbr0wn.bsky.social, Anirban, and
@buszczaklab.bsky.social!

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Can we simulate realistic evolutionary trajectories and “replay the tape of life”? In this work, we propose a flexible, generalizable deep learning framework for modeling how the entire protein sequence evolves over time while capturing complex interactions across sites. 1/n
doi.org/10.64898/202...

Congrats Rebecca! So well-deserved!

Time-calibrated phylogeny of the family Drosophilidae showing major species groups, surrounded by representative adult flies that highlight the remarkable morphological diversity of this model insect group. The composite image was created using Microsoft PowerPoint. Fly photographs were taken by Darren J. Obbard and are published under the Creative Commons Attribution License with permission.

The #fly community aims to achieve a comprehensive genomic study of the Drosophilidae family. @pankajd.bsky.social @bernardkim.bsky.social @petrovadmitri.bsky.social @darrenobbard.bsky.social present a comparative gene annotation for 301 #Drosophilidae species @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/4c3pyrI

Registration is open for the inaugural GRC conference in the Function of Evolving Systems. Aug 9-14, 2026, Waterville Valley. Truly stellar speaker lineup. Student/postdoc fellowships are available! Please come join us! www.grc.org/function-of-... @joybergelson.bsky.social

🔬 Recruiting a Postdoc!!!!
I’m looking for a motivated postdoc to join my lab and work on characterizing the role of a heterochromatin protein involved in a sex-ratio meiotic drive system in Drosophila.
If you know someone who might be interested, please share widely!

Ancient co-option of LTR retrotransposons as yeast centromeres - Nature Evolutionarily related ‘proto-point’ centromeres providing resolution to the evolutionary origins of point centromeres are identified in yeast, and comparison shows they evolved in an ancestor with re...

Our paper is now out in Nature:

“Ancient co-option of LTR retrotransposons as yeast centromeres”

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

A short thread on how retrotransposons helped give rise to yeast point centromeres.

1/14

New preprint in collab with Capelson & Schindler labs):
Nuclear pore complexes are developmentally removed and rebuilt during oocyte specification. Blocking turnover prevents gene silencing and meiotic entry.
Nuclear architecture renewal is required for cell fate.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

How does the piRNA pathway solve the self vs. non-self problem? 🧬

Since piRNAs come from single-stranded RNA, how does the cell choose the right ones? For years, "piRNA clusters" were seen as THE privileged source. But are they really special and earmarked for biogenesis? (1/19)

I am seeking a postdoc to join my group at UCLA -- ideally the candidate would have some experience in either population genetics or microbes/microbiome (computational background needed). We have a range of projects and are happy to tailer to your interests. Please dm/email me if interested.

Please join Andreas Ladurner and me for the GRC Chromatin Structure and Function conference to be held near Barcelona Spain from May 31-June 5! We accepting abstracts for posters and talks. The meeting is preceded by an awesome GRS. Learn more in our video below and apply www.grc.org/chromatin-st...

Hybrid female sterility due to cohesin protection errors in mouse oocytes Misregulation of chromosome cohesion during female meiosis serves as a reproductive isolating barrier in mice.

Another announcement! 📣 Our work on hybrid incompatibility in cohesin protection in 🐭oocytes is published!! Congrats Warif El Yakoubi and Eddie Pan!!🎉 We found hybrids with cohesion errors in two distinct genus.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

The Biology of Genomes Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Meetings & Courses -- a private, non-profit institution with research programs in cancer, neuroscience, plant biology, genomics, bioinformatics.

Reminder that the abstract deadline for the Biology of Genomes meeting at CSHL is on Feb 13! We have a fantastic lineup of keynote speakers (Janet Kelso and Jonathan Pritchard) and session chairs. Submit your best science to this exciting and engaged meeting!
meetings.cshl.edu/meetings.asp...

Thrilled for you, Takashi! Congratulations!

❗⏰ Please remember that the deadline for submitting your applications for abstracts and awards for SMBE 2026 ends today.

Join us in Copenhagen from June 28 to July 2 for a fantastic meeting!

#SMBE2026

Microtubule depolymerization at kinetochores restricts anaphase spindle elongation - Nature Chemical Biology Optogenetic manipulation of spindle dynamics reveals that microtubule shortening at kinetochores limits spindle elongation rather than moving chromosomes, revealing local chromosome–spindle interactio...

Congrats Geng-Yuan “Scott” Chen 🎉exciting work manipulating anaphase chromosome movement with optogenetics!

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

On the repeated evolution of parthenogenesis in stick insects Abstract. Female-producing parthenogenesis is widespread in stick insects. It ranges from rare in sexual species to facultative or obligate, the latter som

Are stick insects unique in their ability to transition to parthenogenesis?

Our new review in @journal-evo.bsky.social covers intraspecific and hybrid origins, cytological mechanisms, and co-occurence of female-only and sexual populations, with comparisons to other taxa.

doi.org/10.1093/evol...

Drive, suppression and escape from suppression of a selfish chromosome Abstract. Meiotic drivers are selfish genetic elements that are predicted to spark rapid intra-genomic arms races with their suppressors. However, the long

Check out our new paper, out in the current issue of Proc B!

In this work, we investigate the long-term persistence of the Drosophila pseudoobscura SR chromosome without suppression. We reconstruct its evolutionary history, showing that it has a history of suppression and escape from suppression.

The Evolutionary Genomics of Meiotic Drive Abstract. Meiotic drivers are selfish genetic elements that gain transmission advantages by distorting equal, Mendelian segregation. For decades, biologist

Meiotic drive has long been considered as a genetic curiosity. Genomic "footprints" suggest otherwise.

Check out our new review doi.org/10.1093/molb..., a cross-taxa synthesis arguing that recurrent drive is a pervasive and underappreciated force in genome evolution.

Common variation in meiosis genes shapes human recombination and aneuploidy - Nature Analysis of data from pre-implantation genetic testing sheds light on the genetic basis of meiotic-origin aneuploidy, the leading cause of human pregnancy loss, identifying common genetic variants ass...

Pregnancy loss is common in humans, and chromosomal abnormalities are the leading cause. Using genetic data from ~140,000 IVF embryos, we show that maternal variation in meiosis genes influences recombination and aneuploidy risk.

First authors: @saracarioscia.bsky.social & @aabiddanda.github.io