In this thread, Mathilde shares what first drew her to EvoDevo, the questions that drive her research, and what she enjoys most about mentoring the next generation of scientists. 🧵👇
1️⃣ What first drew you to EvoDevo?
"One of my undergraduate teachers introduced me to EvoDevo. He talked about it with such passion! I ended up doing my PhD with him."
2️⃣ What scientific question excites you the most today?
"One of our projects compares development in the embryo with regeneration in the adult. Has the animal evolved two different ways to make a tissue, or is regeneration simply a co-option of embryonic processes? If so, how?"
3️⃣ Which discovery from your career has had the biggest impact?
"We recently showed that our crustacean model, Parhyale hawaiensis, can regenerate legs that are perfect replicas of the originals, produced during development. How has this animal evolved the ability to regenerate with such fidelity?"
4️⃣ What makes a good EvoDevo model?
"The qualities are similar to those of models in other fields: they should be small, easy to maintain, and breed well. In EvoDevo, an additional advantage is biodiversity, especially the availability of sister species with different traits."
5️⃣ Which new technologies are most promising for EvoDevo?
"Many single-cell genomics methods are incredibly powerful. They allow us to characterize thousands of cells simultaneously and can be applied to many of our non-conventional models almost as easily as to classical ones."
6️⃣ What do you enjoy most about mentoring PhD students?
"They bring fresh perspectives and incredible energy to science. I really enjoy watching them grow as scientists, over the years they spend with us."