Kirsty Wan

thanks so much for the invitation and wonderful lab tour!! :P

Photo of 3 people standing in front of a building

I had the great pleasure to host plenary speakers @micromotility.bsky.social and @jensen-research.bsky.social at the Finnish Physics Days 2026 @aalto.fi

Ctenophore research points to earlier origins of brain-like structures New 3D reconstructions of a key sensory organ in ctenophores reveal an unexpected structural and functional complexity. The findings suggest that an elementary brain may have already appeared in our m...

New article from the @pawelburkhardt.bsky.social group highlighted on the cover of Science Advances 🤩👏 The work, led by @annaferraioli.bsky.social, describes in unprecedented details the structure of the comb jelly's aboral organ (AO) 🧵 1/4

Final version @nature.com of our paper describing unconventional multicellular development in a choanoflagellate inhabiting an extreme environment. A ton of new data since the first @biorxivpreprint.bsky.social preprint (which we've kept updating).

A brief 🧵 (carried over from the old place)

MicroSEA (Microbial Sea Eukaryotes) course is a one-week, field-based summer school to train early-career researchers in the diversity, ecology, and single-cell biology of marine protists. MicroSEA course integrates lectures, field sampling, and lab-based practicals in advanced techniques, such as flow cytometry, microscopy, culturing, and molecular analysis. The main objectives of MicroSEA course are: Fostering a deep understanding of marine protist diversity, ecology and biology; Providing hands-on training in advanced single-cell methods that are not commonly available in university programs; Building participants' confidence in designing and conducting research projects from field to data analysis; Promoting international collaborations and peer networking among students and speakers/trainers. The course will take place at the Station Biologique de Roscoff - SBR (France) - 7th to 12th of June, 2026 (arrival on the 6th, departure on the 13th). 20 participants will be selected, including 10 from EuroMarine member institutes. https://opbc.sciencesconf.org/

Protist lovers: Please apply for a week of rhapsody! Learn by doing:

MicroSEA (Microbial Sea Eukaryotes) course is a one-week, field-based summer school to train early-career researchers in the diversity, ecology, and single-cell biology of marine protists. opbc.sciencesconf.org

#protistsonsky

(i first read that as a vertebrate menagerie and was briefly offended 😅)

Fantastic launch to our exciting @wellcometrust.bsky.social #UNICIL project in Exeter with a symposium entirely dedicated to our favourite things #MotileCilia with our teams & new friends! Great things ahead under @micromotility.bsky.social ‘s helm.. @jekely.biologists.social.ap.brid.gy /1

So many great ideas! Thanks for coming all the way down and the 100 hours on the train!!

Great to see our paper on light-intensity dependent swimming patterns in #Chlamydomonas out now in Phys Rev Lett. as an Editors' suggestion! With a nice commentary by @philipcball.bsky.social.

Chlamy actively modulate the beat planes of their #cilia!
journals.aps.org/prl/abstract... #protistsonsky

Algal Swimming Patterns Change with Light Intensity In response to changes in illumination, a swimming microorganism reverses the direction of its circular trajectory by tilting its flagella’s planes of motion.

Some algae swim in circles, by exercising exquisite control of their breaststroke. And they switch direction under light of different intensity. Here's how. (No one is yet quite sure why.)
physics.aps.org/articles/v19...

It’s been too long since I posted some Zoothamnium - a colonial ciliate that contracts when disturbed. So pretty!
#marineplankton 🦑

Protist: 1; animal: 0 🔥

Got some sweet cilial action on this Stentor.

cool have to read this one! and written back in 1991... unbelievably ahead of its time! 😱

so true!! if anything I think of them as more remarkable, given how little they have to work with...!

A couple of years ago I wrote a little article about this for @currentbiology.bsky.social on this topic, in case of interest doi.org/10.1016/j.cu...

Proud and excited to share our work with the community! Helen @helenfoster.bsky.social Foster et al. study how #cilia axonemes are built. 👀 Don't miss the gorgeous and insightful movies by @margotriggi.bsky.social, they really show our discoveries in full action!

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Yes well said!! "Behaviourally complex"!!

Time we finally recognised that you don't need to be a "higher" animal to exhibit behavioural complexity...

RETRACTED: Integrative phylogenomics positions sponges at the root of the animal tree Determining whether sponges or ctenophores root the animal tree has important implications for understanding early animal evolution. Here, we examined support for these competing hypotheses by constru...

This is a beautiful case of how real science happens & serious scientists work. Kudos to both set of authors: “This has been a humbling experience, but one that speaks to the self-correcting nature of the scientific endeavor.” www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Final reminder 📢 We are looking for a #philbio or #philphysics postdoc for an interdisciplinary project exploring the boundary between living and nonliving systems through the lens of self-organization & active matter 👇 www.kuleuven.be/personeel/jo... #philjobs #philsky #HPS #devbio Please share!

Here is a myxomycete plasmodium that I isolated off a wet leaf onto the bottom of a vented flask. Realtime phase microscopy.
#ProtistsOnSky

Thank you @mollyherring.bsky.social for the stunning showcase 😍

Like what you see? Come ExM with us! Let’s flood the internet with microbial marvels 🦠

#ProtistsOnSky #MicroEvoSky 🧪🔬🌍

@dudinlab.bsky.social @centriolelab.bsky.social @moorefound.bsky.social @embl.org @erc.europa.eu @embo.org

"but he said overall, the money available to researchers was set to increase with "more emphasis on commercialisation".

How many times... FUND CURIOSITY-DRIVEN SCIENCE...

Then impact and commercialisation will come...

🙄😬😱

The most beautiful #snail ever to exist!
Many #marine snails go through an early life stage called #veliger, wherein they drift along with the #plankton before settling onto the sea floor as an adult. We call this, #sparkles

#blackwater #blackwaterdiving #mollusk #gug

What were the first animals? The fierce sponge–jelly battle that just won’t end For almost two decades, scientists have debated whether sponges or comb jellies are the first animal lineage. Now some are calling for a more harmonious approach.

The last word on Ctenophores versus Sponges (not).
www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Poster of the EM course in Naples with marine samples. The Electron Microscopy Hands-On Course: sample preparation and imaging of marine environmental samples arises from a very strong and active collaboration between the Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn and the EMBL in Heidelberg. The aim of the course is to provide a theoretical and practical training on electron microscopy starting from the basics to the preparation of samples with high pressure freezing and image acquisition using TEM and SEM.

If you are interested in electron microscopy, registration is still open for the

"Electron Microscopy Hands-On Course: sample preparation and imaging of marine environmental samples"

at Stazione Zoologica in Naples.

WIth great teachers from Naples […]

[Original post on biologists.social]

Amazing to hold @lottepedersen.bsky.social & my @jcellsci.bsky.social Special Issue on #Cilia and #Flagella in all its glossy glory & muscle-engaging brain-boosting weight! So much fabulous content from the community! Fab cover @centriolelab.bsky.social 🥰🥰 journals.biologists.com/jcs/pages/ci...

⏰ Deadline extension for #EESBioOsc ⏰

You now have until 14 January to submit your abstract for the EMBO | EMBL Symposium 'Biological oscillators: rhythms and synchronisation across scales'! 👉 s.embl.org/ees26-04-bl

www.uni-heidelberg.de/en/newsroom/...

A rare opportunity to experience the grandeur of the Alte Aula of Universität Heidelberg, on the occasion of the award of the Lautenschläger prize to Jan Lohmann of @cosheidelberg.bsky.social Thanks @ulrichschwarz.bsky.social @jekely.biologists.social.ap.brid.gy for letting me tag along!

p.s. not a #protistonsky