Gabriel Aughey

An image of photoreceptor (magenta) innervating the Drosophila brain (green)

I am glad to say that the first manuscript from the lab is now available on BioRxiv
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.10.30.685496v1
We set out to answer a simple question:
If the fruit fly #Drosophila cannot see clearly, how would they #sleep?

When Science Funding Becomes a Lottery or, how Europe’s funding schemes turned evaluation into ritual

'Yesterday, I learned that one of my students, who applied for a Marie Curie Fellowship, did not get it. My first reaction was to ask what could be done to improve the application in the future. Then I saw the score: above 93 points!.'
substack.com/home/post/p-...

Open letter from Ian Chapman to research and innovation community UKRI Chief Executive outlines changes to UKRI investment approach, addressing concerns about research funding and the financial position of STFC.

Started my fellowship in January - just gearing up to submit my first independent grant and everything has been cancelled! This letter provides no reassurance for ECRs in my position. And why was there no consulation or warning that this was going to happen!? www.ukri.org/news/open-le...

Does anyone have a protocol for homebrew HCR in situ probes? I've seen several published protocols for designing inititators to use with molecular instruments amplifiers - but it looks like they wont share their sequences anymore!?

Always shocking to see these kinds of data collected together. "[publishers made]US$12 billion in profits between 2019 and 2024" - That's $12 billion diverted away from actual research or materially supporting the community - these are disgusting numbers.

Really confused about what problem LLMs like qed are meant to be solving? Is it meant to be for people writing papers - in which case we already have well established mechanisms for feedback (i.e. speaking with human colleagues), or for reviewers - obviously problematic for so many reasons!?

Reaffirming the value of model organisms in training scientific minds - Nature Cell Biology As biomedical research prioritizes human models and translational promise, classic model organisms are increasingly dismissed. Here we argue that they have a lasting value, both in enabling discovery and in cultivating scientific thinking, by training researchers in systems reasoning, integrative thinking and independent inquiry.

PREACH!

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

Thanks - I will!

That's good to hear - was mostly thinking about IHCs. If you haven't noticed any problems I'll make the change!

Amazing - we will definitely start doing this too! Have you tried for anything other than gel loading?

Actually - looking at it again, I'm not sure this paper does actually show that they go around rather than between...!

Closing the cohesin ring: structure and function of its Smc3-kleisin interface Through their association with a kleisin subunit (Scc1), cohesin’s Smc1 and Smc3 subunits are thought to form tripartite rings that mediate sister chromatid cohesion. Unlike the structure of Smc1/Smc3...

I think this is the paper that shows it: pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC.... I remember seeing a talk by Kim Naysmith ages ago who said he had the idea that the DNA goes through the ring from seeing climbing ropes going through a carabiner.

We currently have a call for support that has gone out to European labs, to support FlyBase-UK. We are asking our colleagues from labs in the US and other countries to wait for a similar call to them that will go out in the near future, to support the US sites. We thank you for your patience.

SUSTAINABILITY & #DROSOPHILA - If you keep flies & have tried to re-use containers but then given up on it, please could you let us know & tell us the reasons? We urgently need statements for a publication about sustainability in fly labs. Please, contact Andreas.Prokop@manchester.ac.uk

URGENT: FlyBase has lost practically all its funding overnight; even user fees are tied up in denied grant funding. 🤬🤯

Any lab using @flybase.bsky.social please donate using the link in post below.

This incredible community, on whose backs our #Drosophila labs depend, can't be left out to dry.

Sex-lethal is recruited to chromatin to promote neuronal tRNA synthesis in males through RNA Polymerase III regulation The RNA-binding protein Sex-lethal (Sxl) is classically known as a master regulator of sex determination and mRNA splicing in Drosophila melanogaster. However, this role is not conserved across specie...

New preprint! We have discovered that the splicing factor Sex lethal (Sxl - well known for its role in sex determination) binds to chromatin and regulates tRNA synthesis in neurons by interacting with RNA Pol III! Highlighting Sxl as a novel modulator of neuronal homeostasis. tinyurl.com/s44s2z95

Cyclists who kill pedestrians could be jailed for life under new law in England and Wales Reckless cycling is currently prosecuted under legislation from the 1860s, with a maximum two-year jail sentence

Pedestrians killed by car drivers in UK annually: >400
Cyclists killed by car drivers in UK annually: >100
Pedestrians killed by cyclists in UK annually: <3

So which of these is the most scary and worthy of more laws?

www.theguardian.com/news/2025/ap...

Hairy-footed flower bee, Anthophora plumipes (c) Anthony Cooper

🔔 Reminder: RES #InsectWelfare Survey 🦗

We’re gathering perspectives on the ethical treatment of insects in research. If you’re in #InsectResearch, your voice is essential!

Deadline: 1 April 🔽
buff.ly/kEmqgdr

#EthicsInScience #InsectEthics #AnimalResearch

Drosophila follicle showing retrotransposons (pink & yellow) expressed in somatic cells infecting the oocyte

1/ Transposable elements are often called "jumping genes" because they mobilize within genomes. 🧬
But did you know they can also jump 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘯 cells? 🤯
Our new study reveals how retrotransposons invade the germline directly from somatic cells.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
A short thread 🧵👇

Why academia is sleepwalking into self-destruction. My editorial @brain1878.bsky.social If you agree with the sentiments please repost. It's important for all our sakes to stop the madness
academic.oup.com/brain/articl...

Not sure if it is up-to-date, but there is this list via flybase: wiki.flybase.org/wiki/FlyBase... So looks around 2000, from this, but seems like it might be an underestimate to me.

I had that nightmare again. The one where I’m a postdoc.

To me, a Nazi salute means, "I want to murder your family." There can be no irony about it: It puts deep anger and hatred in my heart to see it done and I will never forgive anyone who justifies or minimizes it.

Rbf is a critical transcriptional regulator of the cell-cycle, so we were suprised to find important roles for Rbf in mature neurons long after cell-cycle exit. Please read the paper for more details (2/2).

Clinical and genetic characterization of a progressive RBL2-associated neurodevelopmental disorder RBL2 dysfunction, which disrupts cell-cycle gene expression, has been linked to a severe neurodevelopmental disorder. Aughey et al. characterize a cohort o

I've been a bit slow to post about this, but our work on RBL2-linked disease is now available online in #Brain. We provide a comprehensive characterisation of clinical phenotypes, and explore the neurological function of the #Drosophila orthologue, Rbf. (1/2) doi.org/10.1093/brai...

4th Crick Rare Diseases Conference

Delighted to have been selected to give a talk on 3rd March at the 4th Crick Rare Diseases Conference @crick.ac.uk - there's still time to register (and free to register for students!) www.crick.ac.uk/whats-on/4th...

Bird nests made from anti-bird spikes?! 🤯

Hi, I'm a nest researcher 👋 and new here on BlueSky, sharing the craziest #bird nests I've ever found. 👀 Today, I’m sharing my discovery of rebellious birds that build nests out of anti-bird spikes. And honestly, it's like telling a joke...

A thread. 🧵

Was wondering what had been going on. Please stop this - flybase is my emotional support database - I need to visit several times just to get through the day!

Beyond XX and XY: The Extraordinary Complexity of Sex Determination A host of factors figure into whether someone is female, male or somewhere in between

If anyone happens to need it this week for...reasons...this is the best graphic on the complexity of human sex determination I've ever seen. I use it in an undergrad course on gene regulatory mechanisms. Shoutout to @unamandita.bsky.social!

www.scientificamerican.com/article/beyo...