Miguel Méndez Sandín

@[email protected]
39 Followers
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39 Posts

Understanding eukaryotic molecular diversity and evolution

Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellow at the Institute of Evolutionary Biology (CSIC - UPF), Barcelona, Spain

Websitehttps://miguelmsandin.github.io/
Host labhttps://www.beaplab.org
Show threadMiguel Méndez SandínDec 15
In brief, all major eukaryotic supergroups were already established in the Proterozoic, and early eukaryote evolution was far more dynamic than directly read by the fossil record. For further details:
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2025.12.12.693929v1
Show threadMiguel Méndez SandínDec 15
This work started more than 5 years ago and combines molecular phylogenetics, diversification models, paleoecology and micropaleontology, requiring ~136 CPU-years 🧬💻! A lovely interdisciplinary collaboration with Phoebe Cohen, Hélèn Morlon and Fabien Burki.
Show threadMiguel Méndez SandínDec 15
We find steady diversification during the not-so-boring billion. Archaeplastida diversified early and remained the most diverse group, likely boosted by the first plastid endosymbiosis. Discoba, Amoebozoa and Rhizaria also diversified early, implying complex Proterozoic ecosystems and interactions.
Miguel Méndez SandínDec 15
New paper out! Using ~75k environmental OTUs + 77 fossil calibrations, we reconstructed a Proterozoic timeline of eukaryote evolution. Our results show crown eukaryotes were already diversifying >1.6 Ga, long before the first undisputed fossils (~1.05 Ga).
🔗 DOI: https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2025.12.12.693929v1
Show threadMiguel Méndez SandínNov 7
Built from and for ecologists, molecular biologists, and bioinformaticians working with high-throughput or environmental sequencing data, this tool will ease the tedious work of designing specific oligonucleotides at all different users expertises.
Show threadMiguel Méndez SandínNov 7
With just two FASTA files (targets & non-targets), oligoN-design identifies taxon-specific oligonucleotides. No alignments, phylogenetic trees, or reference databases required.
It integrates smoothly with tools like BLAST, VSEARCH, and MAFFT, and runs efficiently even on personal computers.
Miguel Méndez SandínNov 7
Oligonucleotide design meets big data:
We present oligoN-design, a simple, reproducible and versatile open-source tool to design specific primers and probes directly from large environmental DNA datasets.
🔗 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1101/2025.11.04.685038
👉 https://github.com/MiguelMSandin/oligoN-design
Show threadMiguel Méndez SandínMay 5, 2025
Have a look at the final published version of this study!
https://enviromicro-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1462-2920.70098
We added compelling analyses that will open up new ideas for research in Radiolaria adaptation and better understand the role of the gelatinous matrix
Miguel Méndez SandínJan 11, 2025
Next Monday 13 we have the 6th session of The Life of Retaria Seminar Series!
Join us at 08h00 (CET) and discover symbiosis in these wonderful protists with Caroline Juery and Filip Husnik
Check it out: https://thelifeofretaria.github.io/
#radiolaria #foraminifera #theLifeOfRetaria #protistsonsky
The Life of Retaria

Miguel Méndez SandínDec 16, 2024
tanteDec 16, 2024

As part of my job I write a lot of grant applications.

The EU is just asking people in current EU projects for feedback on their (admittedly garbage, massively complex) process. Here's a screenshot from the questionaire:

The EU grant application process is a shit show demanding you to fill in all kinds of bullshit documents often at a level of specificity that nobody can really give in good conscience at the point of project application. But what would "AI tools" do?

Help generate the garbage text. Okay so who does this help?

- the applicants are handing in even more text they've hardly read nor understood potentially tanking their application
- the reviewers have to wade through a lot of text that nobody has written, that doesn't mean anything and that by definition does not help evaluating proposals.

The fucking brainrot runs so deep.

JUST FUCKING SIMPLIFY THE APPLICATION PROCESS AND FORMS FOR FUCKS SAKE.