@bilderlab

@bilderlab

@bilderlab.bsky.social

Epithelial biology: polarizing proteins, elongating eggs, and cold-blooded cancer

1.8K followers362 following60 posts

@bilderlab
@bilderlab.bsky.social

"...given to the most striking image that clearly conveys a point of important biological information in Drosophila research…Because the Award is tied closely to science as well as aesthetics, only images that have been published in a primary research journal... are eligible." drosophila-images.org

drosophila-images.orgDrosophila Image Award |
@bilderlab@bilderlab.bsky.social

This incident @nikonsmallworld brings to mind rules we set for the Drosophila Image Award in 2004. We didn't want to reward pretty pictures generated for their own sake, but celebrate the amazing images that emerge from everyday science, where beauty and discovery are inseparable. 1/2

@bilderlab
@bilderlab.bsky.social

This incident @nikonsmallworld brings to mind rules we set for the Drosophila Image Award in 2004. We didn't want to reward pretty pictures generated for their own sake, but celebrate the amazing images that emerge from everyday science, where beauty and discovery are inseparable. 1/2

Christophe 🔬 Leterrier@christlet.bsky.social

This is the updated part. Looks like the movie is an AI-generated fluorescence image from a non-labeled acquisition technique. No indication that the Small World jury and organizers have requested and verified the raw data (as mentioned as a possibility in the competition rules)

@bilderlab
@bilderlab.bsky.social

Now out in Annu Rev Cancer Biol: "Beyond Mice and Men." We think of cancer as a disease of humans, as well as pets 🐈‍⬛ 🐕 & lab mice. But cancer is found across the animal tree of life, including clams and fruit flies. Comparative oncology has a lot to teach us. 🧵 www.annualreviews.org/content/jour...

annualreviews.orgBeyond Mice and Men: Alternative Vertebrate and Invertebrate Models in Cancer BiologyWhile cancer looms large in the public and scientific minds, this can result in a quite narrow view of its range and manifestations. The centering of human clinical investigations and the popularity o...
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@bilderlab
@bilderlab.bsky.social

Can ALL animals get cancer? Building a body involves cells dividing, ceasing division, differentiating, organizing tissues. Cancer happens when those ancient & ~conserved programs misfire. Maybe the real question isn't ‘does species X get cancer’ but ‘what has species X evolved to prevent it?’ 9/10

@bilderlab
@bilderlab.bsky.social

Bottom line: broadening comparative oncology beyond familiar mammals could open real therapeutic doors — from exporting whale DNA-repair proteins to uncovering ancient fly anti-tumor defenses worth harnessing in human treatment. 10/10

@bilderlab
@bilderlab.bsky.social

Now out in Annu Rev Cancer Biol: "Beyond Mice and Men." We think of cancer as a disease of humans, as well as pets 🐈‍⬛ 🐕 & lab mice. But cancer is found across the animal tree of life, including clams and fruit flies. Comparative oncology has a lot to teach us. 🧵 www.annualreviews.org/content/jour...

annualreviews.orgBeyond Mice and Men: Alternative Vertebrate and Invertebrate Models in Cancer BiologyWhile cancer looms large in the public and scientific minds, this can result in a quite narrow view of its range and manifestations. The centering of human clinical investigations and the popularity o...
View full thread
@bilderlab
@bilderlab.bsky.social

Beyond flies, bivalves — clams, mussels, cockles — get a nasty transmissible leukemia that spreads between individuals via cells shed into seawater. Evolved independently at least 8 times. A wild parallel to Tasmanian devil facial tumor disease, and new reports of catfish melanoma. 7/10

@bilderlab
@bilderlab.bsky.social

Why bother with invertebrates specifically? B/c core cancer-relevant pathways — growth signaling, cell death, cell-cell recognition — evolved BEFORE the vertebrate/invertebrate split. So the latter can reveal ancestral, ‘cryptic’ cancer mechanisms mammals inherited but obscured with complexity. 8/10

@bilderlab
@bilderlab.bsky.social

Now out in Annu Rev Cancer Biol: "Beyond Mice and Men." We think of cancer as a disease of humans, as well as pets 🐈‍⬛ 🐕 & lab mice. But cancer is found across the animal tree of life, including clams and fruit flies. Comparative oncology has a lot to teach us. 🧵 www.annualreviews.org/content/jour...

annualreviews.orgBeyond Mice and Men: Alternative Vertebrate and Invertebrate Models in Cancer BiologyWhile cancer looms large in the public and scientific minds, this can result in a quite narrow view of its range and manifestations. The centering of human clinical investigations and the popularity o...
View full thread
@bilderlab
@bilderlab.bsky.social

But what about invertebrates? Few appreciate well-documented cancer-like phenomena in several species, including fruit flies. Flies spontaneously get gut tumors with age, and engineered fly tumors hit most classic ‘hallmarks’ using pathways often perturbed in human cancer. 5/10

@bilderlab
@bilderlab.bsky.social

Even more striking: fly tumors make the fly sick the way human tumors make patients sick. Tissue wasting and clotting defects kill tumor-bearing flies, as they do people. And flies mount a real antitumor immune response, with parallels to human tumor immunity. 6/10

@bilderlab
@bilderlab.bsky.social

Now out in Annu Rev Cancer Biol: "Beyond Mice and Men." We think of cancer as a disease of humans, as well as pets 🐈‍⬛ 🐕 & lab mice. But cancer is found across the animal tree of life, including clams and fruit flies. Comparative oncology has a lot to teach us. 🧵 www.annualreviews.org/content/jour...

annualreviews.orgBeyond Mice and Men: Alternative Vertebrate and Invertebrate Models in Cancer BiologyWhile cancer looms large in the public and scientific minds, this can result in a quite narrow view of its range and manifestations. The centering of human clinical investigations and the popularity o...
View full thread
@bilderlab
@bilderlab.bsky.social

First problem: what even counts as "cancer"? Textbook definitions lean on metastasis into blood vessels — criteria that automatically exclude invertebrates, which don't have vasculature. I argue that broader, more inclusive definitions expand opportunities for insight. 3/10

@bilderlab
@bilderlab.bsky.social

Clear that across vertebrates, cancer is everywhere, but rates vary wildly. Opossums: 56% die with a neoplasm. Fruit bats: ~1%. This variation is a gift: species with unusually low cancer rates (naked mole rats, bowhead whales) are teaching us new tumor-suppressive mechanisms. 4/10

@bilderlab
@bilderlab.bsky.social

Now out in Annu Rev Cancer Biol: "Beyond Mice and Men." We think of cancer as a disease of humans, as well as pets 🐈‍⬛ 🐕 & lab mice. But cancer is found across the animal tree of life, including clams and fruit flies. Comparative oncology has a lot to teach us. 🧵 www.annualreviews.org/content/jour...

annualreviews.orgBeyond Mice and Men: Alternative Vertebrate and Invertebrate Models in Cancer BiologyWhile cancer looms large in the public and scientific minds, this can result in a quite narrow view of its range and manifestations. The centering of human clinical investigations and the popularity o...
@bilderlab
@bilderlab.bsky.social

Non-mammalian cancer models aren’t new. Rous's Nobel-winning oncogene work started with a chicken tumor in 1909; early cancer genetics in swordtail fish (1920s). Recent success of mouse models overshadows this broader tradition. 2/10

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Katy Ong
@ongkaty.bsky.social

I've had a bit of a hiatus due to faculty job apps, but the Etsy shop is open again and ready for your holiday orders! All proceeds go to @flybase.bsky.social , and I just sent the August/September revenue donation. So grab some #drosophila stocking stuffers =>

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@bilderlab
@bilderlab.bsky.social

Replying to @bilderlab.bsky.social

FWIW we also find that flies show coagulopathy, another big cause of death of cancer patients pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37354901/

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.govSystemic coagulopathy promotes host lethality in a new Drosophila tumor model - PubMedMalignant tumors trigger a complex network of inflammatory and wound repair responses, prompting Dvorak's characterization of tumors as "wounds that never heal."<sup>1</sup> Some of these responses le...

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@bilderlab
@bilderlab.bsky.social

Replying to @cyrilpedia.bsky.social

Maybe referring to a 2015 paper from our lab? pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25850672/ @perrimonlab.bsky.social published back-to-back: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25850671/.

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.govMalignant Drosophila tumors interrupt insulin signaling to induce cachexia-like wasting - PubMedTumors kill patients not only through well-characterized perturbations to their local environment but also through poorly understood pathophysiological interactions with distant tissues. Here, we use ...
@bilderlab
@bilderlab.bsky.social

Honored to share stage with all the great plenary speakers at #EDRC2025. Exciting science and great vibes from Drosophila researchers worldwide – Let’s keep the American, Euro, and APAC communities coordinated and strong!

@bilderlab
@bilderlab.bsky.social

Beautiful paper from former student @dy-chen.bsky.social now postdoc in Zernicka-Goetz lab. Human embryos, stem cell models & mice: BM heterogeneity drives AP symmetry breaking. High-end microscopy, live imaging, physical modeling, mechanistic tests. Tour de force. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

nature.comBasement membrane perforations guide anterior–posterior axis formation - Nature CommunicationsChen et al. show that in mice, extracellular matrix remodeling drives early migration of the anterior signaling center, establishing the body axis sooner than expected—a mechanism potentially conserve...
@bilderlab
@bilderlab.bsky.social

Amazing and multitalented postdoc @ongkaty.bsky.social taking time out from writing her new paper with this generous initiative. #genetics, #CRISPR, #drosophila, hallmarks of #cancer and more. For a great cause; support @flybase.bsky.social!

Katy Ong@ongkaty.bsky.social

All proceeds from my #sciart Etsy shop will now be donated to @flybase.bsky.social . Due to fed cuts, this beloved resource that I use daily has lost it's funding, and I'm helping in my small way. Now's a good time stock up on #STEM & #drosophila gifts & swag! www.etsy.com/shop/Picosti...

@bilderlab
@bilderlab.bsky.social

Happy to share a new publication: an introduction to comparative oncology in @natrevcancer.nature.com‬. Thanks to the leaders in the field for welcoming me as an invertebrate researcher. rdcu.be/etKdN

rdcu.beAdvancing cancer research via comparative oncologyNature Reviews Cancer - Comparative oncology combines evolutionary biology, ecology, veterinary medicine and clinical oncology to better understand cancer, for example, by identifying the molecular...
@bilderlab
@bilderlab.bsky.social

New paper from superb postdoc Hui-Yu Ku about how proteases pattern extracellular matrix to precisely sculpt an organ. She will soon be an independent PI at National Yang-Ming University in Taiwan, expanding to study how ECM regulates egg activation. Congratulations! www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

pnas.orgPNASProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), a peer reviewed journal of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) - an authoritative source of high-impact, original research that broadly spans...

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UC Berkeley MCB
@berkeleymcb.bsky.social

Congrats to MCB's Diana Bautista and David Bilder for being named as AAAS Fellows @aaas.org! @bilderlab.bsky.social 👏 🎉https://news.berkeley.edu/2025/03/27/seven-faculty-members-named-fellows-of-american-association-for-the-advancement-of-science/

American Association for the Advancement of Science@aaas.org

Congratulations to the new 2024 AAAS Fellows class! They are a distinguished cadre recognized for their achievements across disciplines, including research, and teaching. www.aaas.org/news/aaas-we...

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@bilderlab
@bilderlab.bsky.social

Part of our lab studies #Drosophila cancer models. Delighted to announce ‘Beyond Mammals: Exploring Cancer Models” webinar held by NCI, hopefully in advance of funding opportunities. I’m speaking with @perrimonlab.bsky.social and others incl #Zebrafish and #Celegans PIs. Registration free.

events.cancer.govBeyond Mammals: Exploring Cancer Models Webinar Series (Overview) | Events RegistrationOverview The Beyond Mammals: Exploring Cancer Models series will feature three webinars, each focused on one non-mammalian animal model and its applicability to cancer research. Each webinar will high...
@bilderlab
@bilderlab.bsky.social

Now accepting applications- come join us in Berkeley! #Drosophila #Celegans careerspub.universityofcalifornia.edu/psp/ucb/EMPL...

@bilderlab@bilderlab.bsky.social

We are hiring a research technician for June here in Berkeley.  Great for a post-bac interested in genetics, development or cancer biology.  bilderlab.berkeley.edu Will update w/ official posting but feel free to reach out now, esp. candidates w/ model organism experience #drosophila. Please RT.

@bilderlab
@bilderlab.bsky.social

We are hiring a research technician for June here in Berkeley.  Great for a post-bac interested in genetics, development or cancer biology.  bilderlab.berkeley.edu Will update w/ official posting but feel free to reach out now, esp. candidates w/ model organism experience #drosophila. Please RT.

@bilderlab
@bilderlab.bsky.social

Thomas Brodsky has arrived on Bluesky! Tom runs The Interactive Fly website and tirelessly surveys the #Drosophila literature. He won one of the inaugural Drosophila Community Service awards last year. Please follow him, like his posts, and welcome him here!

The Interactive Fly@interactivefly.bsky.social

Prasad, D., Illek, K., Fischer, F., Holstein, K. and Classen, A. K. (2023). Bilateral JNK activation is a hallmark of interface surveillance and promotes elimination of aberrant cells. Elife 12. elifesciences.org/articles/80809

@bilderlab
@bilderlab.bsky.social

another awesome @bilderlab alumni talk. @d_y_chen, former @berkeleyMCB PhD, visits to describe his exciting work in @ZernickaGoetz lab and catch up with @MeganMartikPhD and @gastrulateordie. When he heads for the job market, grab him!

@bilderlab
@bilderlab.bsky.social

At group meeting this week, we introduced the three @bilderlab expat postdocs (Hui-yu Ku, Yoshiki Sanai, Stephan Gerlach) to good old American #Twinkies.  Check out the before and after.

@bilderlab
@bilderlab.bsky.social

Golden Dragon pluots edge out Dapple Jack pluots for overall best. Birthday celebrant @KatyOng1 and @CajulaoJan provide the tie breaking votes. O'Henry yellows from JJ Ramos orchard take the peach/ nectarine category. @BerkeleyBowl

@bilderlab
@bilderlab.bsky.social

Some labs do whiskey tastings… Preparing for @KatyOng1’s birthday celebration, which always coincides with stone fruit season. Here’s a partial guide to today's buy from @BerekelyBowl.   White peaches and white nectarines underrepresented, b/c really? Will post lab favorites