Maria Polychronidou

🔊All 2026 EMBO Courses & Workshops are online! You can go through the list here ➡️ www.embo.org/conferences-... And download the poster listing all meetings here ➡️ www.embo.org/documents/co... 🧪 #EMBOevents #AcademicSky #LifeSciences #ScientificConferences

BREAKING NEWS The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award the 2026 #NobelPrize in Physics to Francis Halzen “for decisive contributions to the IceCube Neutrino Observatory and the discovery of high-energy neutrinos of astrophysical origin.”

Sign up now for the EMBO Workshop "Cell biology of the nervous system: #Development, degeneration and repair" in Heraklion, Greece, 3–6 May 2027. Deadline: 12 February 2027 https://meetings.embo.org/event/27-nervoussystem #EMBOneuroCellBio #EMBOevents #LifeSciences #neuroscience #CellBiology 🧪

Applications for the 2027 summer school on Computational Molecular Evolution on Crete are still open at: meetings.embo.org/event/27-com... Strict Application Deadline: November 2

Thrilled to kickstart the @embo.org practical course on metabolite & microbial communities, in @embl.org & Bangalore. After 2 years working on Kefir, we now explore marine microbial interactions 🤩 with support from the @roscoff-collection.bsky.social; 1rst lecture by Marine Vallet #EMBOMicroCom

As habitual AI user for writing who regularly sees "100% human" scores on text with 80%+ LLM-written words, I suspect that: (i) reliability of AI detection is overestimated, (ii) writing of latest-gen models is under-appreciated, and (iii) "LLM-generated" is not as clear cut as many people think

Some teachers stay with us long after we leave the classroom. This #WorldTeachersDay, we’re celebrating the teachers who inspire, encourage us and help shape the people we become.

Congratulations to EMBO Members Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel, who with Karl Deisseroth have won the 2026 #NobelPrize in Physiology or Medicine for their discoveries concerning light-gated ion channels and #optogenetics. 🧪

BREAKING: The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded to Karl Deisseroth, Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel “for their discoveries concerning light-gated ion channels and optogenetics.” More to follow.

A species of lungfish found in South America has claimed the title of the animal with the biggest genome sequenced so far. Learn more on #WorldAnimalDay: https://scim.ag/46OMl6v

𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰 📝 By Ioanna Soufleri Exploring humanity’s shared history through paleogenetics www.embl.org/news/people-... @imbb-forth.bsky.social

This week at the EMBO Fellows' and Members' Meeting #EMBOFMM26, visitors could test out the EMBO Science Map. 🧪 It is a visualization of every EMBO Member (round symbols) and Associate Member (square symbols) on a scientific and a geographic map. Explore more here: https://sciencemap.embo.org/

As the EMBO Fellows' and Members' Meeting #EMBOFMM26 comes to an end, Tanmay Bharat is handed over the EMBO Gold Medal. 🧪

Today, EMBO Director Fiona Watt welcomes the EMBO Members who join the EMBO Fellows in the joint meeting #EMBOFMM26 in Heidelberg, Germany. 🧪

What will it take to make #CultivatedMeat part of our everyday food? 🧪 A Science & Society article (EMBO Reports, EMBO Press) explores the challenges facing #CellularAgriculture. More here: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1038/s44319-025-00492-8 #LifeSciences #research

Together with EMBO, the Helmholtz-Gemeinschaft has now developed recommendations on how #BiomedicalEngineering can grow into a strong industry in the #EuropeanUnion. 🧪 More in the press release: https://www.embo.org/press-releases/biomedical-engineering-a-key-to-europes-future/ #innovation

Tomorrow our Fellows' Meeting begins in Heidelberg! 🧪 We're looking forward to welcoming our fellows for days of discussion, #exchange and fresh ideas. Next week, they will be joined by our EMBO Members. Safe travels to everyone on their way and see you tomorrow! #EMBOFMM26 #community

Many exciting reads in the list (...but nothing beats a new cat species!) www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Very relevant topic ➡️ www.nature.com/articles/d41... #academicsky #careeradvice

Svante Pääbo, Nobel Laureate and Director of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, will deliver the 2026 Kafatos Lecture on Friday 9 October 2026, at IMBB-FORTH, Heraklion, Crete, Greece. Learn more: www.embl.org/news/people-...

Trying Bluesky for the 1st time — a somewhat belated first post. A paper from my lab on how predictability can emerge over time in a non-chaotic deterministic system, and an Illinois Physics story about it: www.nature.com/articles/s41... physics.illinois.edu/news/hyun-yo...

Curious about the origins and early days of Synthetic Biology in Spain? Or looking for a SynBio lab where you could pursue a PhD, do a postdoc or explore career opportunities in the country? Take a look at this historical account & snapshot of the field today! 👉🏻 dx.doi.org/10.1049/enb2...

Poster session: where “I’ll just have a quick look” somehow turns into a 20-minute scientific deep dive 😄🧪 Yesterday’s poster session at 'Chemical biology' had all the right ingredients: a little chemistry, a little biology, and a lot of interaction ⚗️💬 #EMBOChemBio @embl.org @embo.org

Always enjoy looking at the #IgNobel list every year! Highlight this year: "the peace prize was won by a team that found that people value friends who are nice but also those who are vicious towards their enemies" 🤔https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-026-02793-x

Winner of Invertebrate of the Year 2026 crowned – and it is the size of a grain of rice

Nice ideas! I especially like the circulation of a shared document beforehand, to reduce presentation time and increase the chance of an informed and helpful discussion (&applicable beyond lab meetings...) ➡️ www.nature.com/articles/d41...

What regulates the urge to sleep? William Joo and colleagues identified brain regions that reflect how long mice have been awake. Strikingly, inhibiting one of these regions reduces sleep by 70%, without the major behavioral deficits associated with sleep deprivation. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Excited to share our paper with @savitski-lab.bsky.social, led by @tarabartolec.bsky.social, Karin Mitosch & Clément Potel, out now in @nature.com. We show that T7 phage broadly disables bacterial defenses using a unique ‘loose cannon’ protein kinase. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

A growing number of private firms are offering researchers artificial-intelligence tools for scrutinizing manuscripts before publication go.nature.com/4wSqQgQ

It’s a sad irony that this paper became online on the anniversary of #Hiroshima 🇺🇸 now has another technology that can transform or ruin the 🌍

Apply for #EMBOQuantPro to learn state-of-the-art proteomics and mass spectrometry, including practical AI applications. Ideal for researchers with a basic knowledge of proteomics who want to implement new methodologies in their research. Apply by 23 Nov: s.embl.org/qpr27-01-bl

During #embryogenesis, anterior-posterior axis formation depends on #chromatin accessibility, but axis determinants are species-specific. This study reveals complex temporal patterns of chromatin accessibility during axis specification in the moth fly. 🧪 #AcademicSky #development plos.io/4hewogE

Our new paper is out in @nature.com! We uncovered how a naked mole-rat queen 👑 controls an entire colony: a natural contraceptive scent that suppresses reproduction in other females! A remarkable mammalian parallel to bees and ants! 🐝🐜 @garyrlewin.bsky.social youtu.be/enfv3zJrWKM?...

New paper alert! Michal Dibus and team show tensin-1 forms reversible condensates that act as reservoirs for adhesion proteins, tuning adhesion turnover and cell migration - a cool new role for phase separation in cell adhesion dynamics! Congratulations to the team 🎉! Paper here: bit.ly/4y9E8Xr

The @qedscience.bsky.social "impact" score generated a lot of discussion on ranking preprints, including ideas on multi-dimensional rankings that are user specific. Besides describing the ideas, we can now prototype them (with Claude in this case). Here is Salient salient-sgeu6fs5ua-uc.a.run.app

Missed out on the early submission deadline for #CellBio2026? No problem. Late poster abstract submission is still open until 4 August: https://www.ascb.org/cellbio2026/ 🧪 American Society for Cell Biology

Rice plants have found a way to resist heatwaves go.nature.com/4wpm75C

Excited to share our preprint introducing ASHI: the Atlas of SLiM-mediated Human protein-protein Interactions. By screening 800+ domains against the human intrinsically disordered regions, we map 20,000 SLiM-mediated interactions. Many thanks to everyone involved! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Researchers from the DKFZ, HI-STEM Stem Cell Institute and Heidelberg University Hospital have developed "HemaGuide", an AI assistant that supports physicians in making difficult treatment decisions for complex blood cancers. @natmed.nature.com t1p.de/gs2ez

„When you work on methods, they're only really successful if someone else uses them” — Steven Henikoff #openscience

For #coffeelovers ☕ ➡️ www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Congratulations to Prof. Sebastian Hiller and all newly elected EMBO members! This lifelong membership recognizes outstanding scientific achievements. 🧪 #EMBOMembers2026 @hillerlab.bsky.social @unibas.ch @embo.org www.biozentrum.unibas.ch/news/detail/...

🎉 Delighted to have been elected a Member of EMBO! Huge thanks to my nominator, supporters, collaborators — and all incredible members of my lab. 👏 🙏 Thrilled to join such an extraordinary community and contribute to its mission @embo.org ! 🇪🇺 🔬🧪 #EMBOMembers2026 @kingslsm.bsky.social

Congratulations to Prof. Michal Sharon of the Department of Biomolecular Sciences, upon being awarded the a member of @embo.org #EMBOMembers2026

Off to @embl.org in Heidelberg for the 6th edition of the hands-on SynBio @embo.org Course share.google/Dg0qMdsNQl55... that I initiated in 2015. Glad to see that many of its earlier students now star senior PI positions in some the best research centers & universities 😀

Honoured and delighted to be elected as an EMBO Member. Many thanks to my group and to everyone who has supported me throughout the years. I am deeply grateful for this recognition.

Honored and delighted to be elected an EMBO Member. A huge thank you to our amazing team, this recognition wouldn't be possible without you. Perfect day to celebrate together during our lab outing! 🎉 - Virginie

Very happy and honored to be elected as an EMBO member. Looking forward to contributing to this great European society. Thanks for being nominated and the trust of the members.

It is a huge honor to become an EMBO Associate Member. I am grateful to my mentors and to all the brilliant trainees in my lab.

Congratulations to Iñigo Martincorena, who has been elected as an EMBO member for his contribution to the understanding of somatic evolution and its role in disease. 👏 Read more: https://www.sanger.ac.uk/news_item/sanger-scientist-recognised-by-embo/

Interested in Genome-scale Metabolic Models for Gut microbes? Check out our latest preprint on automated model reconstruction. Carved by @ariannabasilecc.bsky.social, in teamwork with Aditi, @indraroux.bsky.social, @metagenomez.bsky.social, and @skamrad.bsky.social. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...