My name is Bianca Sacchi, I'm a genomics researcher and evolutionary biologist based in Toronto. In January 2026 I started a postdoc position at Public Health Ontario, where I'll be diving into some exciting new topics (e.g. viral phylodynamics and applied machine learning). In August 2025 completed my PhD in the Wright lab at U of T EEB. My PhD research focus was on Y chromosome degeneration and silencing in plants with very young sex chromosomes and very big genomes. I did my BSc in molecular genetics at the University of Alberta, where I worked on pine tree genetics and pest resistance research.

Coming soon...

Y chromosome degeneration in Rumex hastatulus (XYY cytotype), a plant with very young sex chromosomes

• Extensive rearrangement and ~30% Y gene loss in a <10 MYA sex chromosome
• Presenting a complete, haplotype-level assembly of a species with two Y chromosomes
• Collaboration with Zoë Humphries (TE expert)

Widespread loss of Y expression in the absence of transcriptional dosage compensation in Rumex hastatulus

• Widespread pattern of decreased Y expression relative to X expression (between gametologs)
• Increased nonsynonymous substitution rate in genes with lower Y expression
• No evidence of dosage compensation between sexes among X-linked hemizygous and silenced genes

Functional gene evolution on the Y chromosomes of Rumex hastatulus