Press coverage

Press Release “Jumping genes” helped ants in their evolutionary triumph after the extinction of the dinosaurs
This is the press release by the University of Münster covering our paper on TEs in ant genome evolution. “About 66 million years ago, the asteroid that ended the age of the dinosaurs paved the way for ants to rise to ecological dominance.New research now published in “Science Advances” shows that ants benefited from so-called transposable elements in their DNA, which are often referred to as “jumping genes”.”

Science ‘Insane’ images depict ant species in stunning 3D
This is a feature from Science on the recently published AntScan paper. More coverage of AntScan here, here, and here.

Press Release(s) New study provides deep insights into the genomes of superorganisms
Press releases in 2025 from the University of Münster, the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Copenhagen University highlight our Cell paper on genome evolution in ants.

The Scientist Adapting with a Little Help from Jumping Genes
This beautiful article from 2022 features our work on the impact of transposable elements in invasive Cardiocondyla.

Süddeutsche Zeitung Faul wie eine Ameise
The title roughly translates to lazy as an ant and the article from 2021 summarizes our findings on genome erosion in socially parasitic species of Acromyrmex.

Mittelbayrische Zeitung Ameisen profitieren von „Mitbewohnern“
This article published in 2015 in the Mittelbayerische Zeitung focuses on our discovery of the ant endosymbiont Westeberhardia, which is named after the great Mary-Jane West-Eberhard.

Press release „Springende Gene“ treiben die Evolution bei Ameisen voran
This press release from 2014 highlights our characterization of TE islands in the ant Cardiocondyla obscurior.