In my excitement I mistakenly forgot to tag co-first author @a-weberling.bsky.social!!

Thank you again to coauthors @shylonatasha.bsky.social @zgrif26.bsky.social @thomsanger.bsky.social @hollfelderlab.bsky.social @swilliamslabox.bsky.social @aussiebiologist.bsky.social @rrbehringer.bsky.social

Oogenesis and germinal bed morphology of the brown anole (A. sagrei) Background The brown anole is a model species of the genus Anolis, a squamate (encompassing lizards and snakes) group widely studied in evolutionary, behavioral, and developmental biology. Full geno...

Excited that our study on oogenesis and germinal bed morphology in the brown anole is published! Find it here:
anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

@stowersinstitute.bsky.social @mdandersn.bsk.social @oxfordwomenshealth.bsky.social @cambiochem.bsky.social @ox.ac.uk @cam.ac.uk

This collaborative project was conducted across the following institutes. @stowersinstitute.bsky.social @mdanderson.bsk.social @oxfordwomenshealth.bsky.social @cambiochem.bsky.social @ox.ac.uk @cam.ac.uk

Thank you coauthors @shylonatasha.bsky.social @zgrif26.bsky.social @thomsanger.bsky.social @hollfelderlab.bsky.social @swilliamslabox.bsky.social @aussiebiologist.bsky.social @rrbehringer.bsky.social

Through confocal imaging we describe basement membrane deposition in the ovary during folliculogenesis. We can report a double basement membrane deposited on either side of the granulosa cell layer surrounding the follicles.

Exploring the sub-cellular architecture of the germinal bed & stage II follicles, we could analyse the granulosa (g) and theca (th) cell layers surrounding stage II follicles. Primordial follicles (pf) start exhibiting enlarged nuclei and cytoplasm!

Oogenesis takes place in 10 stages. It starts in the oogonial nest - a mitotic stem cell niche within the germinal bed - which then undergo meiosis to form primordial follicles
We identified oogonia and primordial follicles using section H&E staining paired with confocal DAPI/WGA staining!

@a-weberling.bsky.social & I characterize oogenesis from initiation in the germinal bed to ovulatory follicles for the first time in the brown anole, a powerful reptile model for evo-devo & functional genetics!
Full preprint here:
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

an adult miniaturized gecko, Sphaerodactylus macrolepis, sitting on top of my thumb

Sphaerodactylus geckos loom large in my mind (but sit small on my hand)

i was told a US donor site to support FlyBase will be live shortly, which we should all broadcast to everyone we can. however, there is a delay (red tape) to be able to provide invoices to bill grants, but its in process. 🪰

@a-weberling.bsky.social , @shylonatasha.bsky.social et al. continue to provided stunning images and insight into early reptilian development with this new paper on chameleon embryogenesis 🦎🥚. Check it out!

Very cool work on embryo-yolk signaling in zebrafish!!

Yet another heartbreaking and short sighted decision. The folks at NSF are so supportive of the scientific community. Their funding is what has allowed my lab to grow and succeed. These cuts are so destructive.

Improvements in LM (top) and EM (bottom) of our micro-sam model (finetuned) compared to the default SAM model.

After a long journey, Segment Anything for Microscopy is now published in Nature Methods! We significantly improve SAM for interactive and automatic segmentation in light and electron microscopy and build a user-friendly tool.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Here is the 2025 embryo alphabet from alligator to zebrafish. Developmental biology is stunning & leads to important discoveries for human medicine.
@socdevbio.bsky.social

This is a fantastic program! You can apply as a mentor to work with a student who will travel to your lab, or you can apply as a mentor to work with one of your current students. I highly recommend it! I have done both and it’s been so rewarding. ❤️

National Science Foundation restores payments after five-day pause, but worries over science funding persist The NSF said on Sunday that its payment system was back on line, after it froze out researchers and sparked financial worries.

NSF froze payments to researchers.

State AGs said it was unconstitutional for exec branch to pause congressionally mandated funds.

Judge issued restraining order.

Payments resumed.

But some inconsistencies in what the NSF has said (thread):
www.statnews.com/2025/02/02/n...

Hi, I'm Earyn, and I'm a lizard scientist! I created a game to teach people about lizards and increase the representation of Black women as herpetologists. #findthatlizard is a Where's Waldo-esque game where there is a lizard camouflaged in its environment. Your challenge is to find it. Will you? 🦎

Email text: [EXT] Grants.gov Opportunities Update External Email The following grant opportunities were created, updated, or deleted on Grants.gov: NSF National Science Foundation 25-504 - Organismal Response to Climate Change Deletion Comments: Opportunity deleted

The dismantling of American Science continues. The Organismal Response to Climate Change grant call has been cancelled. The NSF Director is a disgrace

Still frozen out. We’re getting word that people getting Universities to reach out to NSF over this & broader freeze may put pressure on them & help resolve this. If folks could start contacting their uni admin with complaints to forward to NSF (hopefully you know who to contact) it’d help a lot

Scientific research is a driving force behind human progress. It fuels medical breakthroughs, spurs technological innovations and drives economic growth. Federal funding of research by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Science Foundation (NSF) is absolutely critical for ensuring that the U.S. maintains its global leadership in science and technology. The unprecedented freeze on the review and issuance of federal research grants is already negatively impacting research and could have significant ripple effects. Ongoing studies may lose momentum if grant renewals or supplement requests are delayed, slowing scientific progress on research the NIH has already invested in. Researchers affiliated with the Society for Developmental Biology carry out critical research on birth defects, which kill twice as many children as cancer does. Slowed progress will delay the development of new therapies and diagnostics, and thus have real public health implications. In 2019, the total estimated cost of birth defect–associated hospitalizations was $22.2 billion. Scientific research is also critical to the U.S. economy more broadly. In 2023 alone NIH funded research not only directly supported 412 thousand jobs, but its overall economic impact rippled out to all sectors of the economy driving more than $92.89 billion in economic activity across all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. It is estimated that every dollar of NIH funding generates $2.46 dollars of economic activity. Finally, federal research funding not only drives impactful research discoveries but also supports the training of the scientists, engineers, and innovators of the future. University laboratories, funded by federal grants, serve as essential training grounds for the next generation of researchers even as they push the boundaries of knowledge. This training prepares young scientists for leadership roles in both academia and industry, helping to ensure that the scientific workforce r…

The Society for Developmental Biology has released a statement on the Unprecedented Disruptions to Biomedical Research in the United States.

As a NSF PRFB postdoc it would be nice to know if I can pay rent next month (crazy, right). In the meantime, for no reason whatsoever, here are a few ‘wasteful’ things I’ve done as a postdoc: been a science pen pal, helped run a booth at a science center, mentored a high school lab intern.

…the sentence at the end, “to the extent permissible by law, cancel awards already awarded that are in conflict with Administration priorities”.

Someone in 1st Century India got human embryonic limb development perfectly right. The progressive emergence of parts, even the timing, exactly right. Today, I'll start a new thing about the ancient origins developmental biology, the science of embryos. 🧵1/15 #TheLongBibliography
#DevBiol
#SciHist

All NIH study sections canceled indefinitely. This will halt science and devastate research budgets in universities.

NIH In Your State - United For Medical Research Select a state on the map to see the impact of NIH funding across America.

I just reached out to my senators about the NIH situation. If you need to find out how much impact NIH has in your state in terms of dollars in and their economic impact here's a link: www.unitedformedicalresearch.org/nih-in-your-...

Amazing talk by @zgrif26.bsky.social about orange pigmentation and ovaries and what connects them. #SICB2025

I am recruiting a fully-funded PhD student for the fall of 2025 to work on phenotypic variation in amphibians! More info here: maggiehantak.weebly.com

A photo of Kory Evans, winner of the 2025 Carl Gans Award

Congratulations to Kory Evans @sternarchella.bsky.social, winner of this year’s @J_Exp_Biol sponsored Carl Gans Award at #SICB2025. His #biomechanics research examines the role of modularity in the evolution of the #fish skull. Don't miss his talk: 7 Jan at 13:30 in Marquis D

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