Patrícia Ferreira
@patferreira.bsky.social
PostDoc fellow at UOttawa. 🐟
Molecular and cell evolution and physiology
Knocking out genes one at a time.
#
Molecular and cell evolution and physiology
Knocking out genes one at a time.
#
Reposted by Patrícia Ferreira
What happens if you delete large intronic regions? In human tissue culture cells, we found many deletions that decrease growth and some that increase it. In most cases, deletion affected expression or splicing of the gene.
www.cell.com/cell-reports...
1/3
www.cell.com/cell-reports...
1/3
A genome-wide functional analysis of conserved intronic regions reveals essential roles for speckle-associated retained introns
Farhangmehr et al. investigate functions of highly conserved intronic sequences in
cell fitness using a CRISPR-based deletion screen. Deletions in FNBP4 intron lead
to changes in p53 pathway genes. De...
www.cell.com
July 20, 2026 at 9:08 PM
What happens if you delete large intronic regions? In human tissue culture cells, we found many deletions that decrease growth and some that increase it. In most cases, deletion affected expression or splicing of the gene.
www.cell.com/cell-reports...
1/3
www.cell.com/cell-reports...
1/3
The gut group after an amazing and stimulating Gut session at #ICBF2026 in Vancouver! @wilson-jm.bsky.social
@dgerman.bsky.social
@dgerman.bsky.social
July 17, 2026 at 8:35 PM
The gut group after an amazing and stimulating Gut session at #ICBF2026 in Vancouver! @wilson-jm.bsky.social
@dgerman.bsky.social
@dgerman.bsky.social
Reposted by Patrícia Ferreira
Our #Cell&TissueResearch paper on the #extremophile Lake Magadi tilapia gill #ionocytes is now out! Life in hot (45C), salty, alkaline pH10 water. link.springer.com/article/10.1.... This work is dedicated to our long-time friend, mentor & collaborator Pierre Laurent who lives on in his papers.
June 23, 2026 at 12:46 PM
Our #Cell&TissueResearch paper on the #extremophile Lake Magadi tilapia gill #ionocytes is now out! Life in hot (45C), salty, alkaline pH10 water. link.springer.com/article/10.1.... This work is dedicated to our long-time friend, mentor & collaborator Pierre Laurent who lives on in his papers.
Reposted by Patrícia Ferreira
In case you still thought Frontiers journals were reputable places to publish, read this. In my field there are a lot of solid non-profit and scientific society journals with appropriate standards, so why would I choose Frontiers?
I’ve officially resigned as Associate Editor for Frontiers in Systems Neuroscience. It used to be a reputable journal, but became a case study in how forced automation destroys academic integrity. 👇
June 11, 2026 at 11:05 AM
In case you still thought Frontiers journals were reputable places to publish, read this. In my field there are a lot of solid non-profit and scientific society journals with appropriate standards, so why would I choose Frontiers?
Reposted by Patrícia Ferreira
I’ve officially resigned as Associate Editor for Frontiers in Systems Neuroscience. It used to be a reputable journal, but became a case study in how forced automation destroys academic integrity. 👇
June 10, 2026 at 8:38 PM
I’ve officially resigned as Associate Editor for Frontiers in Systems Neuroscience. It used to be a reputable journal, but became a case study in how forced automation destroys academic integrity. 👇
Reposted by Patrícia Ferreira
Sitting around waiting for MCMC chains to converge must be the 21st century equivalent of watching paint dry.
a black and white drawing of a stick figure with the words `` c ' mon , do something ... '' .
ALT: a black and white drawing of a stick figure with the words `` c ' mon , do something ... '' .
media.tenor.com
June 9, 2026 at 10:15 PM
Sitting around waiting for MCMC chains to converge must be the 21st century equivalent of watching paint dry.
Reposted by Patrícia Ferreira
Reposted by Patrícia Ferreira
✅ Yes, more articles like this, PLEASE. Not (only) the specific take (which I like), but the honest attempt to clarify a disastrously dubious concept, using history, technical details, clear writing, rhetoric.
'Actually, what is a gain-of-function mutation?' academic.oup.com/genetics/art...
'Actually, what is a gain-of-function mutation?' academic.oup.com/genetics/art...
Actually, what is a gain-of-function mutation?
Abstract. For more than a century, scientists have worked to characterize, understand, and predict the consequences of mutations. For almost as long, scien
academic.oup.com
June 4, 2026 at 8:02 PM
✅ Yes, more articles like this, PLEASE. Not (only) the specific take (which I like), but the honest attempt to clarify a disastrously dubious concept, using history, technical details, clear writing, rhetoric.
'Actually, what is a gain-of-function mutation?' academic.oup.com/genetics/art...
'Actually, what is a gain-of-function mutation?' academic.oup.com/genetics/art...
Reposted by Patrícia Ferreira
Since Google revealed its plans for an AI search overhaul, visits to our "No AI" search page have tripled…and they’re still rising! Want to make it your default on Chrome or Firefox? Grab our No-AI extensions and banish AI-assisted answers, chat, and AI images. (1/3)
May 29, 2026 at 6:04 PM
Since Google revealed its plans for an AI search overhaul, visits to our "No AI" search page have tripled…and they’re still rising! Want to make it your default on Chrome or Firefox? Grab our No-AI extensions and banish AI-assisted answers, chat, and AI images. (1/3)
Reposted by Patrícia Ferreira
Did you know that parts of Europe hit 40°C this May? That's nearly 16°C above the typical spring average in places like London! These shocking satellite images reveal just how intense this heatwave has been. What does this mean for our climate? 🌍
Europe in Flames: Sentinel-3 Satellite Captures This Year's Hottest Heatwave from Space - Sinaptica
The images captured on May 29, 2026, by the Sentinel-3 satellite of the European Space Agency (ESA) clearly show the extent of the heat wave affecting Europe. T
sinapti.ca
May 29, 2026 at 4:12 PM
Did you know that parts of Europe hit 40°C this May? That's nearly 16°C above the typical spring average in places like London! These shocking satellite images reveal just how intense this heatwave has been. What does this mean for our climate? 🌍
Reposted by Patrícia Ferreira
Researchers have identified superparamagnetic macrophages in the livers of rock pigeons to be crucial for magnetic sensing. The finding uncovers an unexpected role for immune cells in sensory perception and may fundamentally change our understanding of animal navigation.
https://scim.ag/4nTQ3nq
https://scim.ag/4nTQ3nq
May 28, 2026 at 6:05 PM
Researchers have identified superparamagnetic macrophages in the livers of rock pigeons to be crucial for magnetic sensing. The finding uncovers an unexpected role for immune cells in sensory perception and may fundamentally change our understanding of animal navigation.
https://scim.ag/4nTQ3nq
https://scim.ag/4nTQ3nq
Reposted by Patrícia Ferreira
Wrote a short piece on Transposable Elements as catalysts of evolutionary innovation for a forthcoming special issue of @naturerevgenet.bsky.social on, duh, Evolutionary Innovation!
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Transposable elements as catalysts of evolutionary innovation - Nature Reviews Genetics
In this Comment, Cedric Feschotte highlights evidence from diverse lineages showing that transposable elements are key drivers of evolutionary innovation, repeatedly introducing regulatory and coding ...
www.nature.com
May 28, 2026 at 6:40 PM
Wrote a short piece on Transposable Elements as catalysts of evolutionary innovation for a forthcoming special issue of @naturerevgenet.bsky.social on, duh, Evolutionary Innovation!
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Patrícia Ferreira
The @systbiol.bsky.social Mentorship Program is back for 2026-2027!
The program pairs off mentees with mentors based on shared interests in systematics and biodiversity research. Low effort, high reward! 12 virtual monthly meetings.
More info: www.systbio.org/mentorship-p...
Apply by June 12th!
The program pairs off mentees with mentors based on shared interests in systematics and biodiversity research. Low effort, high reward! 12 virtual monthly meetings.
More info: www.systbio.org/mentorship-p...
Apply by June 12th!
Mentorship Program
Last updated May 14, 2025
www.systbio.org
May 28, 2026 at 2:37 PM
The @systbiol.bsky.social Mentorship Program is back for 2026-2027!
The program pairs off mentees with mentors based on shared interests in systematics and biodiversity research. Low effort, high reward! 12 virtual monthly meetings.
More info: www.systbio.org/mentorship-p...
Apply by June 12th!
The program pairs off mentees with mentors based on shared interests in systematics and biodiversity research. Low effort, high reward! 12 virtual monthly meetings.
More info: www.systbio.org/mentorship-p...
Apply by June 12th!
Reposted by Patrícia Ferreira
Excited to share the published version of MIC-Drop-seq @natcomms.nature.com!
Shoutout to co-lead authors @claycarey.bsky.social @sparvez.bsky.social for driving this work. Excited to see where this new scale of single-cell perturbation screening goes next.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Shoutout to co-lead authors @claycarey.bsky.social @sparvez.bsky.social for driving this work. Excited to see where this new scale of single-cell perturbation screening goes next.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
To dissect the gene regulatory networks used to build organisms, we need Perturb-seq-like tools that work in whole animals.
For this purpose, we developed MIC-Drop-seq, a tool that couples high-throughput CRISPR in zebrafish embryos with single-cell RNAseq.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
For this purpose, we developed MIC-Drop-seq, a tool that couples high-throughput CRISPR in zebrafish embryos with single-cell RNAseq.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
MIC-Drop-seq: Scalable single-cell phenotyping of mutant vertebrate embryos
Pooled perturbation screens can reveal cellular regulatory networks, yet scaling these techniques for large-scale screens in animals remains challenging. To address this, we developed MIC-Drop-seq, wh...
www.biorxiv.org
May 28, 2026 at 4:20 AM
Excited to share the published version of MIC-Drop-seq @natcomms.nature.com!
Shoutout to co-lead authors @claycarey.bsky.social @sparvez.bsky.social for driving this work. Excited to see where this new scale of single-cell perturbation screening goes next.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Shoutout to co-lead authors @claycarey.bsky.social @sparvez.bsky.social for driving this work. Excited to see where this new scale of single-cell perturbation screening goes next.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Patrícia Ferreira
Our paper on recurrent independent duplications in the primate amylase locus is now out in Cell Reports!
Huge thanks to @petarpajic, @spit-lab.bsky.social and @gokcumenlab.bsky.social for their support.
More about the work in the thread below from when we first shared the preprint last August.
Huge thanks to @petarpajic, @spit-lab.bsky.social and @gokcumenlab.bsky.social for their support.
More about the work in the thread below from when we first shared the preprint last August.
Convergent evolution through independent rearrangements in the primate amylase locus
Structurally complex loci can repeatedly generate similar traits; Karageorgiou et
al. established primate amylase locus as a structural variation hotspot, potentially
seeded by transposable elements. ...
www.cell.com
May 26, 2026 at 7:18 PM
Our paper on recurrent independent duplications in the primate amylase locus is now out in Cell Reports!
Huge thanks to @petarpajic, @spit-lab.bsky.social and @gokcumenlab.bsky.social for their support.
More about the work in the thread below from when we first shared the preprint last August.
Huge thanks to @petarpajic, @spit-lab.bsky.social and @gokcumenlab.bsky.social for their support.
More about the work in the thread below from when we first shared the preprint last August.
Reposted by Patrícia Ferreira
Wong et al. present IQ-TREE version 3, with new features including mixture models, gene and site concordance factors, integration with phylogenomic divergence time estimation, and a fully featured sequence simulator.
🔗 doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msag117
#evobio #molbio #compbio
🔗 doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msag117
#evobio #molbio #compbio
May 25, 2026 at 11:30 AM
Wong et al. present IQ-TREE version 3, with new features including mixture models, gene and site concordance factors, integration with phylogenomic divergence time estimation, and a fully featured sequence simulator.
🔗 doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msag117
#evobio #molbio #compbio
🔗 doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msag117
#evobio #molbio #compbio
Reposted by Patrícia Ferreira
🐭 Female mice develop male genitals when researchers modified both copies of non-coding Enh13, which controls Sox9 gene responsible for testes development in male mice. This suggests Enh13 acts as an enhancer and a silencer of Sox9, per Nature Communications study.
#SciSky #MedSky 🧪
#SciSky #MedSky 🧪
Female mice grow testes after this single DNA tweak
Small changes in the non-coding part of the genome have a key role in sex determination.
www.nature.com
May 22, 2026 at 7:10 PM
🐭 Female mice develop male genitals when researchers modified both copies of non-coding Enh13, which controls Sox9 gene responsible for testes development in male mice. This suggests Enh13 acts as an enhancer and a silencer of Sox9, per Nature Communications study.
#SciSky #MedSky 🧪
#SciSky #MedSky 🧪
Reposted by Patrícia Ferreira
My new paper with @gdarlim.bsky.social and @hoehna.bsky.social is now out in Proceedings B! We set out to compare two different approaches to time-calibrate a molecular phylogeny: traditional node calibrations, and unresolved FBD... @royalsocietypublishing.org
doi.org/10.1098/rspb...
doi.org/10.1098/rspb...
How to date a molecular phylogeny: comparison of effective priors between node calibration and fossilized birth–death
Abstract. Time-calibrating a phylogenetic tree is a fundamental step in phylogenetic inference, as it allows the study of macroevolutionary processes such
doi.org
May 13, 2026 at 1:08 PM
My new paper with @gdarlim.bsky.social and @hoehna.bsky.social is now out in Proceedings B! We set out to compare two different approaches to time-calibrate a molecular phylogeny: traditional node calibrations, and unresolved FBD... @royalsocietypublishing.org
doi.org/10.1098/rspb...
doi.org/10.1098/rspb...
Reposted by Patrícia Ferreira
The world’s largest sand battery got through Finland’s harshest winter in years. 2,000 tonnes of sand, heated to 500-600°C by cheap power, feeding district heating in Pornainen.
And it worked.
Result from one install: oil down 100%, emissions down 70%.
Industrial process heat is the real prize.
And it worked.
Result from one install: oil down 100%, emissions down 70%.
Industrial process heat is the real prize.
May 19, 2026 at 8:52 AM
The world’s largest sand battery got through Finland’s harshest winter in years. 2,000 tonnes of sand, heated to 500-600°C by cheap power, feeding district heating in Pornainen.
And it worked.
Result from one install: oil down 100%, emissions down 70%.
Industrial process heat is the real prize.
And it worked.
Result from one install: oil down 100%, emissions down 70%.
Industrial process heat is the real prize.
Reposted by Patrícia Ferreira
🚨 Webinar tomorrow!
The SEB OED Webinar on best practice in life sciences education is happening in less than 24h ⏳
🎓 Dr Laura McCaughey
🎓 Dr Itumeleng Moroenyane
🆓 FREE & online
📅 20 May 2026 | 14:00–15:00 (UK)
Last hours to register!
www.sebiology.org/events/ems-e...
The SEB OED Webinar on best practice in life sciences education is happening in less than 24h ⏳
🎓 Dr Laura McCaughey
🎓 Dr Itumeleng Moroenyane
🆓 FREE & online
📅 20 May 2026 | 14:00–15:00 (UK)
Last hours to register!
www.sebiology.org/events/ems-e...
May 19, 2026 at 4:01 PM
🚨 Webinar tomorrow!
The SEB OED Webinar on best practice in life sciences education is happening in less than 24h ⏳
🎓 Dr Laura McCaughey
🎓 Dr Itumeleng Moroenyane
🆓 FREE & online
📅 20 May 2026 | 14:00–15:00 (UK)
Last hours to register!
www.sebiology.org/events/ems-e...
The SEB OED Webinar on best practice in life sciences education is happening in less than 24h ⏳
🎓 Dr Laura McCaughey
🎓 Dr Itumeleng Moroenyane
🆓 FREE & online
📅 20 May 2026 | 14:00–15:00 (UK)
Last hours to register!
www.sebiology.org/events/ems-e...
Reposted by Patrícia Ferreira
Reposted by Patrícia Ferreira
#Arctic air temperature rank by month over the satellite era - now updated through April 2026...
+ Ranks: 1=warmest (red), 47/48=coldest (blue)
+ Download higher resolution: zacklabe.com/arctic-tempe...
+ Data: doi.org/10.24381/cds...
+ Ranks: 1=warmest (red), 47/48=coldest (blue)
+ Download higher resolution: zacklabe.com/arctic-tempe...
+ Data: doi.org/10.24381/cds...
May 17, 2026 at 1:32 PM
#Arctic air temperature rank by month over the satellite era - now updated through April 2026...
+ Ranks: 1=warmest (red), 47/48=coldest (blue)
+ Download higher resolution: zacklabe.com/arctic-tempe...
+ Data: doi.org/10.24381/cds...
+ Ranks: 1=warmest (red), 47/48=coldest (blue)
+ Download higher resolution: zacklabe.com/arctic-tempe...
+ Data: doi.org/10.24381/cds...
Reposted by Patrícia Ferreira
DATA CENTERS
"Data centers can increase surrounding surface temperatures by an average of 3.6°F, with extreme cases up to 16.4°F."
Climate Disaster
draining our aquifers
THEY ARE GOING TO KILL US
"Data centers can increase surrounding surface temperatures by an average of 3.6°F, with extreme cases up to 16.4°F."
Climate Disaster
draining our aquifers
THEY ARE GOING TO KILL US
May 17, 2026 at 1:07 PM
DATA CENTERS
"Data centers can increase surrounding surface temperatures by an average of 3.6°F, with extreme cases up to 16.4°F."
Climate Disaster
draining our aquifers
THEY ARE GOING TO KILL US
"Data centers can increase surrounding surface temperatures by an average of 3.6°F, with extreme cases up to 16.4°F."
Climate Disaster
draining our aquifers
THEY ARE GOING TO KILL US
Reposted by Patrícia Ferreira
In case you haven't been keeping track, a quick update.
Nino 3.4 is now predicted to peak at roughly 3.6°C over the 1991-2020 baseline in late October or early November.
Climate change is not good for children and other living things.
Nino 3.4 is now predicted to peak at roughly 3.6°C over the 1991-2020 baseline in late October or early November.
Climate change is not good for children and other living things.
May 17, 2026 at 1:56 PM
In case you haven't been keeping track, a quick update.
Nino 3.4 is now predicted to peak at roughly 3.6°C over the 1991-2020 baseline in late October or early November.
Climate change is not good for children and other living things.
Nino 3.4 is now predicted to peak at roughly 3.6°C over the 1991-2020 baseline in late October or early November.
Climate change is not good for children and other living things.
Reposted by Patrícia Ferreira
I love and respect this scientist.
Carl Sagan answers a question about creation vs evolution.
Carl Sagan answers a question about creation vs evolution.
May 16, 2026 at 3:11 PM
I love and respect this scientist.
Carl Sagan answers a question about creation vs evolution.
Carl Sagan answers a question about creation vs evolution.