Great opportunity to get some scientific writing experience on your CV 😎

I started offering career advice to two junior colleagues today in separate meetings, and both times I caught myself thinking that, if I'm honest, I don't have very good advice on navigating the current funding and job climate. I think it's important to say that no one does.

In vivo differentiation of embryonic cells devoid of key reprogramming factors Youlten, Miao et al. use zebrafish transplantation to understand the fate of cells lacking pluripotency factors Nanog, Pou5f3, and Sox19b (NPS) in developmental reprogramming and cell identity establishment. They found that NPS are required for proper cell identity for most, but not all, lineages, likely through nuclear and cytoplasmic reprogramming.

In vivo differentiation of embryonic cells devoid of key reprogramming factors

The Ecological Cost of AI Is Much Higher Than You Think - Truthdig As the demands of AI grow, each generation of microchips requires more energy, minerals and water to produce, driving a ruinous cycle.

This whole thing is out of control.

Check out this month's handpicked preprints in developmantal & stem cell biology on the Node

thenode.biologists.com/prelighters-...

Pathway to Independence: a forecast for the future of developmental biology ABSTRACT. In 2022, Development launched its Pathway to Independence (PI) programme, aimed at supporting postdocs as they transition to their first independent position. In 2025, we welcome our third c...

It's online! In this series of perspectives @dev-journal.bsky.social, yours truly talks about the exciting open questions and many things to do in the field of dev bio and neuroscience #DevBio🧪 #PIsOfTomorrow journals.biologists.com/dev/article/...

Pretty sure real science is actually reading the papers, thinking very deeply, and more, before writing, not generating literature review-like objects with no authorial intent or legwork

Dear funding agencies,

I know we all want to discover the wonder drug that will cure the horrible diseases, but to do that, we need to invest in basic, unsexy, foundational research on how the systems work. Funding can’t all be drug development.

Sincerely,
Looking for basic research grants.

Do all #NTFs regulate #MotorNeuron axonal transport in vivo?

Our new preprint shows they do not.

#BDNF enhances (shorturl.at/siwFi), #CNTF slows, and #HGF, #NRTN & #proBDNF show no effect.

#AxonalTransport regulation is selective, not universal.

@jamessleigh.bsky.social @uclqsion.bsky.social

New work from Iva Buljan @ivabuljan.bsky.social in our lab!
We mapped how human tissue architecture changes with age using ~25k histology slides from 983 donors.
This is the first body-wide atlas of human microanatomy.
📄 Preprint: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Finland ends homelessness and provides shelter for all in need - scoop.me In Finland, the number of homeless people has fallen sharply. Why? The country applies the "Housing First" concept agains homelessness.

“In Finland, the number of homeless people has fallen sharply. Those affected receive a small apartment & counselling with no preconditions. 4 out of 5 people affected make their way back into a stable life. And all this is CHEAPER than accepting homelessness.”

It costs a lot less to house people.

A huge thank you to everyone who made #UKZF2025 possible 🙌🐟 From inspiring talks and posters to lively discussions and community spirit — your energy and contributions turned this meeting into a real success. 💙✨

Several DRN members (present and past) attended and presented work at the recent #UKZF2025 #zebrafish meeting in Exmouth and Exeter.

Many thanks to the organisers Steffen @scholpplab.bsky.social, Carol @yhcarolyang.bsky.social, Soojin, Greg and Nik for a great meeting!

Terrific new feature presented by @theo.io on @pathoplexus.org called SeqSets for generating DOIs for sequence subsets used in publications, that can then be tracked for impact via CrossRef that will allow data generators to track impact! #IMMEMXiV

History doesn’t repeat.
It is REPLICATED.
Very intentionally.

Great to contribute to this wonderful initiative by @biologists.bsky.social!

Can ChatGPT help science writers?

Tl;dr = No.

www.science.org/content/blog...

hoxd13a reporter in a zebrafish larva

Are digits modified fins, or evolutionary innovations? Read how we tackled this old question from a new angle🧪
A story with @chasebolt.bsky.social, @homeobox.bsky.social and myself, coordinated by @denisduboule.bsky.social from @college-de-france.fr and published in @nature.com today!
#InHoxWeTrust

Honoured to be in Birmingham to mark Bryan Turner’s retirement- a gentleman and giant of epigenetics.

FAQ Welcome to the Data Rescue Project! We are excited to have you join us. What is the Data Rescue Project? The Data Rescue Project is a coordinated effort among a group of data organizations, including…

Say you can't sleep, baby, we know, that's that [threat to government data].

Fuel up on espresso (or your favorite caffeinated beverage of choice) and join the #DataRescueVolunteers

Fig. 3. Cnot3 deletion impairs the maintenance of steady-state spermatogenesis. (A) Reclustering of the group of cells containing SSCs and progenitor cells from the combination of our data with published datasets from P3, P6, P8, P10 and P15 stages (Law et al., 2019; Grive et al., 2019; Ernst et al., 2019). (B) Reclustering of the group of cells containing SSCs and progenitor cells from published datasets from P3, P6 and P15 stages, respectively (Law et al., 2019; Grive et al., 2019; Ernst et al., 2019). (C) Highlights of cell cycle phases in reclustered group of cells containing SSCs and progenitor cells from the combination of our data with published datasets from P3, P6, P8, P10 and P15 stages (Law et al., 2019; Grive et al., 2019; Ernst et al., 2019). (D) Reclustering and quantification of the groups of cells containing SSCs and progenitor cells from P8 control and Cnot3-cKO cells. (E) Highlights of Cnot3, stem cell (Lhx1 and Gfra1) and progenitor cell (Ngn3 and Ddit4) markers in reclustered group of cells containing SSCs and progenitor cells from P8 control and Cnot3-cKO cells.

Cnot3 is required for male germ cell development and spermatogonial stem cell maintenance

Read this #OA Research Article by Qing Chen, Safia Malki, Guang Hu and the team.

journals.biologists.com/dev/article/...

Tight translation regulation of the canonical C9ORF72 through a multi-component system www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.08....

Human-specific gene expansions contribute to brain evolution A complete human genome and functional modeling in zebrafish pinpoint gene expansions that may underlie the evolutionary innovations of the human brain.

Landmark study using #PacBio #HiFiSequencing reveals human-specific genetic variation not detectable with short reads. Researchers uncover new insights into brain evolution and potential links to cognition and autism.

Read the full paper: bit.ly/3IxQtPR

#BrainResearch

MRC Postdoctoral Research Scientists x 5 - MRC Laboratory of Medical Sciences Applications are now open for up to five postdoctoral positions in the area of developmental epigenetics.

Interested in developmental epigenetics? So are we! Apply now to join us for your postdoc!

Multiple positions across multiple groups @mrc-lms.bsky.social

Projects spanning germline demethylation, gene regulation, genome architecture in development & disease 👇👇

lms.mrc.ac.uk/work/vacanci...

I just learned these this elephant-trunked-shaped cells, known as ciliate, put their sexy DNA into a special pocket (called a generative nucleus), and the rest of their DNA in a normal get-shit-done nucleus.

It has functional specialization nuclei.

Respectfully: holy shit 🧵🧪

Multiple Software Updates - RepeatMasker 4.2.0, RepeatModeler 2.0.7, and the newly released RepeatAfterMe tool. See www.repeatmasker.org for details.

A 4-panel doodled black and white comic. In the first panel, a triangle character is talking to a circle character who's wearing a face mask. The triangle smiles, points at the circle, and says "It's smart you still wear a mask". In the second panel, the background is all black and the text is white. There's a close up of the triangle's face, who looks worried with bags under their eyes. Text above them reads "When I had Covid, I couldn't taste food for nine months. It hurt to breathe. My lungs haven't been the same..." In the third panel, it's back to a white background and inked doodles. The circle holds up a mask to the triangle and says "I'm sorry. I have masks you can use?" The triangle looks at the circle with a neutral expression and open mouth. In the final panel, the triangle runs away with a happy expression and says "No, I'm fine!" The circle turns to face us with a blank expression, with the spare mask still in hand but lowered to the ground. Made by doodlesbycharlie_.

i’m fine

’We couldn’t live without it’: the UCSC Genome Browser turns 25 After a quarter of a century, the website remains an essential tool for navigating the genome and understanding its structure, function and clinical impact.

After a quarter of a century, the UCSC Genome Browser remains an essential tool for navigating the genome and understanding its structure, function and clinical impact

https://go.nature.com/40wPxkB

I am happy and extremely proud to be able to contribute to this work with Irène Amblard and @vmetzis.bsky.social, where by changing one motif we completely rewired the function of a regulatory element!🔬🧬 Now out in Developmental Cell!

Maternal singing synchronizes the preterm infants' brain www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.06....