News

It makes the cover of Current Biology

news
06-12-2022

The quantitative analysis of scale-by-scale patterning in lizards by Ebrahim Jahanbakhsh & Michel Milinkovitch makes the cover of Current Biology.

How lizards got their skin colour patterns

news
14-11-2022

In the journal Current Biology, researchers in the Department of Genetics and Evolution quantify the predictability of scale-by-scale patterns in multiple divergent species of lizards.

A PhD student of our Department wins the 2022 Nikon Small World Competition

news
11-10-2022

The 48th annual Nikon Small World Photomicrography Competition’s first place prize was awarded to Grigorii Timin, a PhD student supervised by Prof. Michel Milinkovitch from the GenEv Dpt

Olfactory neurons adapt to the surrounding environment

news
30-05-2022

The team of Professors Ivan Rodriguez and Alan Carleton of the UNIGE has highlighted the great variability and continuous adaptation of olfactory neurons.

An HFSP grant to study reptilian coloration

news
21-03-2022

Dr. Athanasia Tzika is awarded an HFSP grant to study reptilian coloration.

Où est le monstre?

news
07-03-2022

This is the question posed by the new exhibition, which offers a journey through three Geneva locations. The groups of professors Birgitte Galliot, Denis Duboule, Ivan Rodriguez and Michel Milinkovitch took part in the realization of this exhibition.

The mathematical simplicity of lizard camouflage

news
01-02-2022

We uncover the amazing parallels between ferromagnetism modeling and lizard skin colour patterning

New behaviors dating back to ca. 35’000 years identified at Toumboura III archaeological site, Eastern Senegal

news
26-11-2021

The excavation of the archaeological site of Toumboura III has provided more than 13’000 stone artefacts resulting from the production of very specific stone tools: bifacial tools, among which small bifacial points probably intended to be hafted on wooden shafts and used as projectiles.

Motor control: Elephant trunks ignore the many and choose a few

news
15-11-2021

Prof. Scott Hooper (Ohio University, USA) discusses the importance on recent results made by Milinkovitch's Lab on elephant trunk biomechanics

A single gene can disrupt the sleep-wake cycle

news
01-10-2021

Emi Nagoshi's team has identified a gene essential in the regulation of the sleep / wake cycles of Drosophila.

Swiss, Senegalese and French archaeologists launch a research project in Casamance

news
29-09-2021

The Archeology and Population of Africa (APA) laboratory of the University of Geneva and partners have started a research project on food in Basse-Casamance, in southern Senegal, under the direction of Dr Anne Mayor.

How elephants use their trunk

news
31-08-2021

Milinkovitch's lab quantitative analysis of the biomechanical and functional morphology of the elephant trunk is published today in Current Biology.

How the lizard gets its pattern

news
26-04-2021

LANE lab's 3D numerical simulations of the ocellated lizard skin colour patterning are published today in Nature Communications.

Scaled, armoured or naked: how does the skin of fish evolve?

news
24-03-2021

Montoya's lab has traced the family tree of ray-finned fish in order to reconstruct the evolution of the protective structures of their skin.

The snake in the white suit

news
24-02-2021

Michel Milinkovitch-Tzika Lab sequences the Texas Rat Snake genome and suggest that a regulatory mutation of MITF causes the leucistic phenotype.

The wings of a “genetic bird” protect us against viruses

news
14-01-2021

Alicia Sanchez-Mazas team has demonstrated that every population can protect itself against a broad range of viruses thanks to the two most diverse HLA immune genes in humans.

African trade routes sketched out by mediaeval beads

news
04-12-2020

An analysis of archaeological glass beads discovered in sub-Saharan West Africa brings to light the full extent of the region’s international trade routes between the 7th and 13th centuries.

Snakes reveal the origin of skin colours

news
06-10-2020

A mutation of the lavender variant of corn snake allows the Milinkovitch lab to understand the mechanisms responsible for the extraordinary variety of skin colours in vertebrates.

Wildcats threatened by their domestic cousins

news
29-09-2020

Wildcats in the Swiss Jura will undergo an irreversible genetic replacement by domestic cats if no preventive measures are taken.

Hoxb13 in mouse tail allometry

news
31-08-2020

Jozsef Zakany will host a last seminar before his retirement on September 24 at 4 pm in the A300 audience (Sciences II).

Active morphogenesis of patterned epithelial shells.

publication
18-01-2023

Khoromskaia D, Salbreux G. Elife 2023 Jan;12():. 10.7554/eLife.75878. 75878. PMC9844985.

The transcription factor Zic4 promotes tentacle formation and prevents epithelial transdifferentiation in Hydra

publication
24-12-2022

Vogg MC, Ferenc J, Buzgariu WC, Perruchoud C, Sanchez PGL, Beccari L, Nuninger C, Le Cras Y, Delucinge-Vivier C, Papasaikas P, Vincent S, Galliot B, Tsiairis CD. Sci Adv 2022 Dec;8(51):eabo0694. 10.1126/sciadv.abo0694.

Surgical gestures as a method to quantify surgical performance and predict patient outcomes.

publication
23-12-2022

Ma R, Ramaswamy A, Xu J, Trinh L, Kiyasseh D, Chu TN, Wong EY, Lee RS, Rodriguez I, DeMeo G, Desai A, Otiato MX, Roberts SI, Nguyen JH, Laca J, Liu Y, Urbanova K, Wagner C, Anandkumar A, Hu JC, Hung AJ. NPJ Digit Med 2022 Dec;5(1):187. 10.1038/s41746-022-00738-y. 10.1038/s41746-022-00738-y. PMC9780308.

Reconstruction and deconstruction of human somitogenesis in vitro.

publication
22-12-2022

Miao Y, Djeffal Y, De Simone A, Zhu K, Lee JG, Lu Z, Silberfeld A, Rao J, Tarazona OA, Mongera A, Rigoni P, Diaz-Cuadros M, Song LMS, Di Talia S, Pourquié O. Nature 2022 Dec;():. 10.1038/s41586-022-05655-4. 10.1038/s41586-022-05655-4.

Interacting active surfaces: A model for three-dimensional cell aggregates.

publication
17-12-2022

Torres-Sánchez A, Kerr Winter M, Salbreux G. PLoS Comput Biol 2022 Dec;18(12):e1010762. 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1010762. PCOMPBIOL-D-22-00456.

Joint analysis of phenotypic and genomic diversity sheds light on the evolution of xenobiotic metabolism in humans.

publication
30-11-2022

Mouterde M, Daali Y, Rollason V, Čížková M, Mulugeta A, Al-Balushi KK, Fakis G, Konstantinidis T, Al-Thihli K, Černá M, Makonnen E, Boukouvala S, Al-Yahyaee S, Yimer G, Černý V, Desmeules J, Poloni ES. Genome Biol Evol 2022 Nov;():. 10.1093/gbe/evac167. 6852765.

Clustering of vomeronasal receptor genes is required for transcriptional stability but not for choice.

publication
17-11-2022

Dietschi Q, Tuberosa J, Fodoulian L, Boillat M, Kan C, Codourey J, Pauli V, Feinstein P, Carleton A, Rodriguez I. Sci Adv 2022 Nov;8(46):eabn7450. 10.1126/sciadv.abn7450.

Modeling convergent scale-by-scale skin color patterning in multiple species of lizards.

publication
16-11-2022

Jahanbakhsh E, Milinkovitch MC. Curr Biol 2022 Nov;():. S0960-9822(22)01692-X. 10.1016/j.cub.2022.10.044.

Morphological and molecular diversity of monothalamids (Rhizaria, Foraminifera), including two new species and a new genus, from SW Greenland.

publication
09-11-2022

Gooday AJ, Holzmann M, Schwarzgruber E, Cedhagen T, Pawlowski J. Eur J Protistol 2022 Oct;86():125932. S0932-4739(22)00069-4. 10.1016/j.ejop.2022.125932.

Coupling Chemotaxis and Growth Poromechanics for the Modelling of Feather Primordia Patterning

publication
03-11-2022

Barnafi NA, De Oliveira Vilaca LM, Milinkovitch MC, Ruiz-Baier R.. Mathematics. 2022; 10(21):4096. https://doi.org/10.3390/math10214096

Population designations in biomedical research: limitations and perspectives.

publication
20-10-2022

Gombault C, Grenet G, Segurel L, Duret L, Gueyffier F, Cathébras P, Pontier D, Mainbourg S, Sanchez-Mazas A, Lega JC. HLA 2022 Oct;():. 10.1111/tan.14852.

Operculina and Neoassilina: A Revision of Recent Nummulitid Genera Based on Molecular and Morphological Data Reveals a New Genus

publication
17-10-2022

Holzmann, M., Hohenegger, J., Apothéloz-Perret-Gentil, L. et al.. . Earth Sci. (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12583-021-1595-8

Pulsations and flows in tissues as two collective dynamics with simple cellular rules.

publication
08-10-2022

Thiagarajan R, Bhat A, Salbreux G, Inamdar MM, Riveline D. iScience 2022 Oct;25(10):105053. 10.1016/j.isci.2022.105053. S2589-0042(22)01325-6. PMC9531052.

Mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) metabarcoding of Foraminifera communities using taxon-specific primers

publication
05-09-2022

Macher, J. N., Bloska, D. M., Holzmann, M., Girard, E. B., Pawlowski, J., & Renema, W.. PeerJ. 2022 Sep 5;10:e13952. doi: 10.7717/peerj.13952.

Taxon-rich transcriptomics supports higher-level phylogeny and major evolutionary trends in Foraminifera

publication
01-09-2022

Sierra, R., Mauffrey, F., Cruz, J., Holzmann, M., Gooday, A. J., Maurer-Alcalá, X., Thakur, R., Greco, M., Weiner, A., Katz, L. A., & Pawlowski, J.. Mol Phylogenet Evol. 2022;174:107546. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2022.107546

Theory of nematic and polar active fluid surfaces

publication
29-08-2022

Guillaume Salbreux, Frank Jülicher, Jacques Prost, and Andrew Callan-Jones. Phys. Rev. Research 4, 033158

Whole genome assembly of the armored loricariid catfish Ancistrus triradiatus highlights herbivory signatures.

publication
26-08-2022

Lemopoulos A, Montoya-Burgos JI. Mol Genet Genomics 2022 Aug;():. 10.1007/s00438-022-01947-6. 10.1007/s00438-022-01947-6.

A pendulum of induction between the epiblast and extra-embryonic endoderm supports post-implantation progression.

publication
23-08-2022

Vrij EJ, Scholte Op Reimer YS, Roa Fuentes L, Misteli Guerreiro I, Holzmann V, Frias Aldeguer J, Sestini G, Koo BK, Kind J, van Blitterswijk CA, Rivron NC. Development 2022 Oct;149(20):. PMC9534490. 10.1242/dev.192310. 276399.

Carterina labinea sp. nov. - A new alien foraminifer from the Southeastern Mediterranean shelf.

publication
22-08-2022

Avnaim-Katav S, Holzmann M, Pawlowski J. Eur J Protistol 2022 Aug;85():125911. S0932-4739(22)00048-7. 10.1016/j.ejop.2022.125911.

Ancient mitochondrial diversity reveals population homogeneity in Neolithic Greece and identifies population dynamics along the Danubian expansion axis.

publication
06-08-2022

Silva NM, Kreutzer S, Souleles A, Triantaphyllou S, Kotsakis K, Urem-Kotsou D, Halstead P, Efstratiou N, Kotsos S, Karamitrou-Mentessidi G, Adaktylou F, Chondroyianni-Metoki A, Pappa M, Ziota C, Sampson A, Papathanasiou A, Vitelli K, Cullen T, Kyparissi-Apostolika N, Lanz AZ, Peters J, Rio J, Wegmann D, Burger J, Currat M, Papageorgopoulou C. Sci Rep 2022 Aug;12(1):13474. 10.1038/s41598-022-16745-8. 10.1038/s41598-022-16745-8. PMC9356035.

Energetics of biological systems

event
Physics of biology
09.11.2023 12:00, Amphithéâtre Stueckelberg (École de physique)

Jonathan Rodenfels (Max Plank Institut).
hosted by: Guillaume Salbreux .

Tissue growth and developmental pattern formation

event
Physics of biology
27.10.2023 12:00, Amphithéâtre Stueckelberg (École de physique)

Anna Kicheva (The Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA)).
hosted by: Guillaume Salbreux .

Mechanobiology of cell shape control

event
Physics of biology
29.09.2023 12:00, Amphithéâtre Stueckelberg (École de physique)

Ewa Paluch (Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience, University of Cambridge).
hosted by: Guillaume Salbreux .

Advanced otopical tools for life sciences

event
Physics of biology
23.06.2023 12:00, Amphithéâtre Stueckelberg (École de physique)

Robert Predevel (Cell Biology and Biophysics Unit, EMBL Heidelberg).
hosted by: Guillaume Salbreux .

to be announced

event
Geneva Plant Seminars
14.06.2023 11:15, 1S059 (Sciences III)

Hirofumi Nakagami (Max-Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research, Cologne).
hosted by: Roman Ulm .

Multi-cellular coordination

event
Physics of biology
26.05.2023 12:00, Amphithéâtre Stueckelberg (École de physique)

Takashi Hiragii (Institute for the Advanced Study of Human Biology).
hosted by: Guillaume Salbreux .

mRNAs as cytoplasmic organizers of subcellular compartments

event
Life Science Seminar Series
09.05.2023 14:00, Virtual seminar (unknown)

Christine Mayr (Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center).
hosted by: Ramesh Pillai .

Active cell matter

event
Physics of biology
28.04.2023 12:00, Amphithéâtre Stueckelberg (École de physique)

Cécile Sykes (Laboratoire Physico Chimie Curie).
hosted by: Guillaume Salbreux .

Coping with mechanical stress: tissue dynamics during development and repair

event
Life Science Seminar Series
04.04.2023 11:00, A150 (Sciences II)

Yanlan Mao (UCL).
hosted by: PhD Association .

Photodynamics of biomolecules

event
Physics of biology
31.03.2023 12:00, Amphithéâtre Stueckelberg (École de physique)

Giulo Cerrulo (Physics Department, Politecnico di Milano (Italy)).
hosted by: Guillaume Salbreux .

to be announced

event
Geneva Plant Seminars
29.03.2023 11:15, 1S059 (Sciences III)

Michael Raissig (University of Bern).
hosted by: Marie Barberon .

How to solve a 3D jigsaw with 1000 pieces

event
Life Science Seminar Series
21.03.2023 11:00, A150 (Sciences II)

Martin Beck (EMBL Heidelberg).
hosted by: PhD Association .

Animating Molecular Machines

event
Life Science Seminar Series
14.03.2023 11:00, A150 (Sciences II)

Janet Iwasa (University of Utah).
hosted by: Paul Guichard .

to be announced

event
Geneva Plant Seminars
01.03.2023 11:15, 1S059 (Sciences III)

Christine Faulkner (JIC, UK).
hosted by: Marie Barberon .

Sensing DNA as a danger signal through the cGAS-STING pathway

event
Life Science Seminar Series
28.02.2023 11:00, A150 (Sciences II)

Andrea Ablasser (EPFL).
hosted by: PhD Association .

Physics of living systems

event
Physics of biology
24.02.2023 12:00, Amphithéâtre Stueckelberg (École de physique)

Massimo Vergassola (École normale supérieure).
hosted by: Guillaume Salbreux .

Symmetry breaking and tissue flow in gastruloids

event
Life Science Seminar Series
21.02.2023 11:00, A150 (Sciences II)

Pierre-François Lenne (CNRS (IBDML)).
hosted by: Karsten Kruse .

"Targeting DNA repair in cancer and beyond"

event
Dpt of Molecular and Cellular Biology
09.02.2023 16:00, 1S059 (Sciences III)

Thomas Helleday (Karolinska Institute).
hosted by: Thanos Halazonetis .

How do plants remember a stressful day? - A role for epigenetics?!

event
Geneva Plant Seminars
08.02.2023 11:15, 1S081 (Sciences III)

Isabel Bäurle (University of Potsdam).
hosted by: Roman Ulm .

3D Proteome snapshots enable high-resolution functional proteomics

event
Life Science Seminar Series
31.01.2023 11:00, A150 (Sciences II)

Paola Picotti (ETHZ).
hosted by: Thierry Soldati .

Physical principles in biological systems

event
Physics of biology
27.01.2023 12:00, Amphithéâtre Stueckelberg (École de physique)

Edouard Hannezo (Institute of Science and Technology Austria).
hosted by: Guillaume Salbreux .

Getting to the root of nutrient acquisition in plants

event
Dpt of Plant Sciences
26.01.2023 09:15, A100 (Sciences II)

Marie Barberon (UNIGE).
hosted by: Roman Ulm .

Retrotransposon control: how to hit a moving target

event
Life Science Seminar Series
17.01.2023 11:00, A150 (Sciences II)

Déborah Bourc'his (Institut Curie).
hosted by: Orsolya Barabas .

Neuronal circuits for body movements

event
iGE3 Seminar Series
16.01.2023 12:15, Auditorium Albert Renold (CMU)

Silvia Arber (Biozentrum, University of Basel & Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research (FMI), Basel, Switzerland).
hosted by: Christian Lüscher .