Cedric Feschotte
Prof at Cornell, #firstgen, immigrant 🇫🇷🇺🇸. Transposons, viruses, and all the cool stuff genomes are made of. https://www.feschottelab.com
- Reposted by Cedric FeschotteHoly shit: it's an RFP for the NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology (PRFB). Hello old friend www.nsf.gov/funding/oppo...
- Crushed to hear of Mark Batzer’s passing. He was the Boyd Professor at Louisiana State University. His influential research revealed how mobile elements shape the genomes of humans & other mammals. Mark’s personality, generosity & positivity were larger than life. He lifted everyone up. HUGE loss 💔
- New Year, New Paper!🎊 Pervasive cis-regulatory co-option of a transposable element family reinforces cell identity across the mouse immune system www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... Centerpiece of Jason Chobirko's PhD, talented PhD student co-mentored by Andrew Grimson & me. Really excited about it!🧵
- The immune system contains multitude of cell types, each with important roles in defending against threats such as viruses. But what if remnants of an ancient virus, an endogenous retrovirus that spread through the genome, planted seeds of evolution supporting the development of the immune system?
- To begin, Jason mined hundreds of datasets profiling the chromatin and regulatory landscapes of diverse mouse immune cells. Overall TEs contributed 6-25% of predicted cis-reg elements in a given cell type, fitting expectations, eg: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
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View full threadOur study illustrates how a single TE family can sculpt the regulatory architecture underlying a complex developmental cascade. It adds to a growing number of studies supporting Barbara McCintock’s prescient vision of TEs as “controlling elements” 💕 Hope you enjoy our preprint!
- Reposted by Cedric FeschotteBorn #OnThisDay in 1922, Esther Lederberg was the first to isolate the lambda phage in 1951. She characterised the lysogenic phase, whereby the phage are able to integrate into the bacterial genome, staying dormant. This discovery made them a model tool of study, leading to many more breakthroughs.
- Four days of great science, fun interactions, and breathtaking views at #EMBOevoChromo25 in San Feliu 🇪🇸 BIG THX to organizers @arnausebe.bsky.social @tobiaswarnecke.bsky.social & co @levine-lab.bsky.social @sandraduharcourt.bsky.social Nick Irwin 🙏👌
- Room with a view 😍 #EMBOevoChromo25 San Feliu de Guixols 🇪🇸 Stunning!
- Reposted by Cedric FeschotteHow do new centromeres evolve while staying compatible with the division machinery? Discover it in our new Nature paper! We show centromeres transition gradually via a mix of drift, selection, and sex, reaching new states that still work with the kinetochore. 👉 doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-09779-1
- Couldn’t be more proud of @smleddy.bsky.social who defended her PhD with flying colors this week! In less than 4 years Sabrina spearheaded several projects revealing the fascinating interplay of KRAB-Zinc Finger Proteins with Endogenous AND Exogenous Viruses! 🦀⚔️🦠 Congrats Dr. Leddy!!
- TE x ZFP = Evolution! Writing this with Olga @orpsf.bsky.social & Didier @trono-lab.bsky.social was a major highlight of my 🇨🇭sabbatical. Such a treat! 🍫Hope you enjoy it as much as we enjoy piecing it together.
- Thrilled to share our new review in Current Opinion in Genetics & Development on TE driven innovation in gene regulation🤘. I am honored to be part of this with two major TE aficionados @cedricfeschotte.bsky.social and @trono-lab.bsky.social #TEsky #TEworldwide authors.elsevier.com/c/1m6MC,LqAZ...
- Reposted by Cedric FeschotteOur NY area population genetics meeting is back and "upgraded", as Simons Foundation @simonsfoundation.org generously agreed to host. Please save the date: March 9, 2026. Look forward to seeing many of you from NY and beyond.
- SAVE THE DATE: the yearly NY Population Genetics meeting will be back on March 9 2026, generously hosted by the @simonsfoundation.org. Details to follow. Please RT.
- Reposted by Cedric FeschotteAs we mourn Jane Goodall, this @nature.com article explores three ways in which she changed science: 1. Altering the way we view both other primates and ourselves 2. Inspiring generations of women scientists 3. Communicating science in a way that engaged the public www.nature.com/articles/d41...
- Reposted by Cedric FeschotteOut after peer review, collaborative study from Nordborg & Weigel labs with help from many others. Not the largest collection of new Arabidopsis thaliana genomes, but we hopefully put forward some good ideas for how to think about pangenomes and their analysis! www.nature.com/articles/s41...
- Reposted by Cedric FeschotteThrilled to share what we learned from re-annotating the mobilome of the brown algae model [Ectocarpus] 🌊🌿🏖️ genomebiology.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.... A wonderful collaboration with @ericadinatale.bsky.social, @cssmartinho.bsky.social, @rorycraig.bsky.social, and Susana Coelho! 🎉
- Reposted by Cedric Feschotte1/8 Our new paper w/ Drs. Caixia Gao & Gogo Liu groups reveals how #CRISPR-Cas12 systems evolved from transposon-encoded TnpB nucleases through RNA splitting by analyzing “TranC” systems (evolutionary intermediates bridging selfish elements and adaptive immunity). #Evolution
- Enchanted by the serene beauty of the Princeton campus and inspired by the creativity and generosity of the scientists I’ve met throughout this visit. Such a privilege to visit all these amazing places to present our science! Thanks Ricardo Mallarino for hosting me!
- 📣 Our department is hiring an Assistant Professor in Evolutionary Cell and Molecular Biology to join the @weillinstitute.bsky.social PLS spread the word! academicjobsonline.org/ajo/jobs/30607
- Reposted by Cedric FeschottePlease re-post: Interested in chromatin and its evolution? Good news! There's still time to join us in beautiful Catalonia (9-12 Dec) to discuss eukaryotic, bacterial, archaeal, and viral chromatin and how it all hangs together meetings.embo.org/event/24-evo... Abstract deadline: 30 September
- Reposted by Cedric FeschotteIn these dark times, it comes as a rare pleasure to highlight @natanaels.bsky.social & @marcdemanuel.bsky.social's work on germline and somatic mutations in humans. 1/n www.biorxiv.org/cgi/content/...
- Kathy Burns kicks off #MGEMBL25 in beautiful Woods Hole, MA. It’s the 5th iteration of this meeting on mobile genetic elements devotedly spearheaded by Irina Arkhipova. Grateful and excited to be back here!
- Reposted by Cedric FeschotteOur work "Aquarius helicase facilitates HIV-1 integration into R-loop enriched genomic regions" is out @natmicrobiol.nature.com, showing HIV-1 integration into R-loop genomic regions upon their resolution by cellular splicing helicase Aquarius (AQR) of the Intron Binding Complex (IBC)🧵.
- Reposted by Cedric Feschotte#zebrafish genome update, our T2T assembly of the inbred strain of AB (M-AB) generated by my buddy Nori Sakai has now been released at NCBI and will be a second reference genome for zebrafish (GRCz12ab):
- Reposted by Cedric Feschotte1/ How do animals develop immunity against a newly encountered transposable element from scratch? Our study reveals that the mobility of TEs is their Achilles heel, allowing hosts to develop a powerful small RNA-mediated silencing response. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
- Antisense transposon insertions into host genes trigger piRNA mediated immunity biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/202…
- One of my all-time faves
- Reposted by Cedric FeschotteSmart! A Raven doing Raven things.
- Reposted by Cedric FeschotteWonderful (and humble) essay on mentorship by Brandon Gaut, on occasion of Brandon receiving the inaugural Mentorship Award of @genetics-gsa.bsky.social. I hope this will be widely read! academic.oup.com/genetics/art...
- Reposted by Cedric FeschotteMy team has updated our free database of POSTDOC fellowships. This database contains 286 entries. For each entry, we provide a link, short description, deadline, amount, and eligibility criteria. Download this updated and expanded database here: research.jhu.edu/rdt/funding-...
- Reposted by Cedric FeschotteWe’re looking for curious, innovative science leaders at EMBL Heidelberg! 🔬🧬🦠 Join a vibrant, interdisciplinary community where collaboration and innovation are nurtured at all levels. Take a look at these four open positions 👇
- 🥳 CONGRATS 🍾 Dr. Satyam Srivastav who defended brilliantly his PhD thesis: “Function and Evolution of the PIWI-piRNA Pathway: Insights from Fish and Flies”. Andy Clark & I are proud of you @kerogens101.bsky.social & can’t wait to see what u discover next as a postdoc with @marymullins.bsky.social!
- Reposted by Cedric FeschotteEvery reputable expert I know considers mRNA vaccine technology to be one of the most revolutionary advances in medicine in our lifetimes. Its inventors won the Nobel Prize in 2023. Shutting it down now is pointless self-harm to humanity.
- Reposted by Cedric FeschotteTo have this paper appear the same day that RFK Jr is canceling all mRNA vaccine funding is further indication that irony is not dead, even though we might all be soon.
- Looking forward to this new installment of the Woods Hole Mobile DNA Meeting! Fantastic program, laid-back atmosphere, and gorgeous setting at the Marine Biological Laboratory ⛵️🪼🐋 Abstract submission closes Aug 7 but registration after that date is possible. www.eventsquid.com/event.cfm?ev...
- Last day of sabbatical in 🇨🇭🥹… What an amazing experience! 💯🙏 to Trono lab & EPFL for welcoming me so warmly & fostering a bounty of stimulating interactions all year long. Feeling immensely privileged, deeply inspired, and eternally grateful! 💫
- Me not wanting to let go of my sabbatical in 🇨🇭🥲
- This is an uninterrupted minute of Maruay the rescued tiger with his beloved ball..🥰😇 #bluesky
- Reposted by Cedric FeschotteExactly two weeks left to submit your abstract to the EMBO Mobile Genome Workshop. ☝️this year we will select from abstracts 2 “long” talks to highlight last minute breakthrough from early career scientists. Apply! July 29th
- ⏰ Abstract deadline for 'The mobile genome' is 29 July! 👉 s.embl.org/mge25-01-bl Join us 4–7 Nov 2025 at EMBL Heidelberg (or online) to explore the impact of TEs across biology. 🧬🔍 ⭐🧑🏼🔬 24 talks + 15 flash talks from posters – don't miss out! #EMBOMobileGenome
- Reposted by Cedric FeschotteA little late to share, but still thrilled 🤗! What started as two independent stories, one in Clermont-Ferrand (@igred.fr) and one in Cambridge (Hannon’s group @cruk-mi.bsky.social ), turned into a joint adventure to decode how Rhino picks its favorite piRNA clusters. When forces unite… 👇👇👇
- Reposted by Cedric FeschotteVery proud of this work where we define how the MORC2 ATPase directs CpG methylation of active human L1 transposons in early development. Thanks to co-authors, funders & wonderful environment @lundstem.bsky.social www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... Brief thread below (do people still do that?) 1/X
- Reposted by Cedric FeschotteNovel insights into the silencing of an understudied transposable element - check out our latest preprint by @jakobschnabl.bsky.social and colleagues
- 📖 Happy to share our recent preprint! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... We discovered how SINEs are kept silent: the ChAHP protein complex acts as a molecular brake on POL III transcription retrotransposons. A 🧵:
- Reposted by Cedric FeschotteToday, the @fwf-at.bsky.social honors Elly Tanaka, IMBA's Scientific Director, with the Wittgenstein Award – the premier research award of Austria - for her groundbreaking discoveries in the field of regenerative biology. Congratulations, Elly! More on the award: imba.science/43Y93sC
- Die Biochemikerin Elly Tanaka ist Österreichs #Wittgenstein-Preisträgerin 2025. 🏆 Elly Tanaka vom Vienna BioCenter @oeaw.bsky.social ist international führende Expertin auf dem Gebiet der Regeneration komplexer Körperstrukturen. Wir gratulieren! 🎉 www.fwf.ac.at/aktuelles/de...
- Reposted by Cedric FeschotteVertebrate retrotransposons are the future of gene therapy. But how do they insert their genes? 🔥🔥 Thrilled to share our new work now published with Kathy Collins, @nogaleslab.bsky.social @berkeleymcb.bsky.social where we investigate this with #cryoEM & biochemistry in 🧪 and cells! #RNAsky #TEsky
- Reposted by Cedric FeschotteHappy that our preprint from early this year, uncovering the regulation a somatically "hot" endogenous retroelement locus, has now found its home in @narjournal.bsky.social. "TEsky" doi.org/10.1093/nar/...
- Reposted by Cedric Feschotte#TransposonDay2025 New manuscript from our center to which we contributed. Great work led by @chdouse.bsky.social ! Provides a mechanistic explanation for how L1s are silenced during early human development. doi.org/10.1101/2025...
- Reposted by Cedric Feschotte🚨 Check out the latest from @trono-lab.bsky.social showing how evolutionarily young transcription factors contribute to human cell cycle regulation! Brilliant work led by Romain Forey and Cyril Pulver, now published in Cell Genomics. Check it out ! www.cell.com/cell-genomic...
- Reposted by Cedric Feschotte📢 PROGRAM AVAILABLE The list of keynote speeches and talks for the #SMBE2025 symposia is now available on the conference website. In the coming days, we will also be posting more details on the program and speakers. Stay tuned! More information: smbe2025.scimeeting.cn/en/web/progr...
- Reposted by Cedric FeschotteThe fascinating work spearheaded by Kirsten Senti on the diversification and adaptation of endogenous retroviruses in the host gonad 'ecosystem'' is officially published.
- 🚨📢 New paper alert! A study led by Kirsten Senti and Julius Brennecke offers new insights into how ancient endogenous retroviruses diversified to exploit different cell “niches” in the fruit fly ovary, and how the host’s defenses adapted in return. imba.science/Brennecke_EMBOJ
- Reposted by Cedric FeschotteThe work on TE invasions in D. melanogaster continues! We found three more recent invasions, one of which occurred in ~3 years worldwide. Another great collaboration with @rpianezza.bsky.social @rokofler.bsky.social and others
- Reposted by Cedric Feschotte🚨 Our new preprint! In collaboration with @saramaciasrna.bsky.social and @heick.bsky.social labs 🧬 Control of retrotransposon-driven activation of the interferon response by the double-stranded RNA binding protein DGCR8 and its implications in 22q11.2 deletion syndrome. #22q11 #TEsky #RNAsky
- Reposted by Cedric FeschotteHere's why I think there is reason to be bullish on U.S. STEM education. doi.org/10.1093/gene... #STEM #STEMEducation
- Reposted by Cedric FeschotteURGENT: 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.
- My lab studies bacterial infections. We spend a lot of time looking at (or for) species-specific genetic and genomic databases for hosts and microbes. FlyBase is the best of all—there is literally no comparison. Its existence is under threat. Please donate. www.philanthropy.cam.ac.uk/give-to-camb...
- Reposted by Cedric FeschotteNew preprint from the lab led by former masters student AJ Roussel in collaboration with Alexander Suh and @fjruizruano.bsky.social. We found a ~4-fold accumulation of a Neptune #transposon in asexually reproducing "F1" fish hybrids. An unexpected and fascinating finding! #TEsky
- Reposted by Cedric FeschotteWe're thrilled to share the published version of our DRT9 story, online today @nature.com! Congratulations to all authors! www.nature.com/articles/s41...
- Hello BlueSky! Inaugural post here from the Sternberg Lab. We're excited to share our latest work, in which we teamed up with the @WiedenheftLab to study how DRT9 reverse transcriptases provide antiviral immunity. Here’s what we found: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
- Love this work! ♨️🔥 Tour-de-force blastoid models provide further evidence that endogenous retroviruses drove human-specific innovation in embryonic development! Congrats @fueyoraquel.bsky.social and all involved!!
- I am thrilled to share our preprint where we take advantage of the unique opportunities offered by human blastoids to uncover a human-specific mechanism potentially playing a role in preimplantation 🧵. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
- Reposted by Cedric FeschotteWe are thrilled to announce the 2025 Leading Edge Fellows! 40 outstanding postdoctoral fellows doing pioneering research in a wide range of biological and biomedical disciplines. Learn more about these exceptional scientists: www.leadingedgesymposium.org/fellows
- Excited to return to Paris this week for a seminar at @institutcurie.bsky.social hosted by @deborahbourchis.bsky.social - I especially appreciate they allocated 13 hours and 59 minutes for my presentation. They know me well 😜
- 🫀heartbeat on 🔁 repeat Love this work! A KZFP-wired network of ancient retroelements orchestrates cardiac development. Congrats Dana!
- New preprint of @trono-lab.bsky.social and my PhD work! By modulating SWI/SNF remodeling at ancient transposable elements - LINE/L2s and SINE/MIRs, a "noncanonical" KZFP called ZNF436 protects cardiomyocytes from losing their identity. 🫀heartbeat on 🔁 repeat www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... #TEsky
- Bad news (for me at least): Alcohol activates endogenous retroviruses and this aggravates liver disease 😲 www.jci.org/articles/vie...
