How do you handle teaching kids about reproduction when they don't know about sex? I don't want their parents to get mad, I think that's a convo for a child to have with a trusted adult, how do I explain how cool external fertilization is as an embryologist without explaining fertilization? 🥲
Gave a tour of fish facility to middle schoolers as someone who studies development and I had to figure out how to explain getting eggs without talking about fish sex, then overheard kids asking what "breeding" was and I just
Logo for the Undiagnosed Diseases Network (UDN). It shows a the letter UDN is different colors that overlap to form the analogous colors.
Today is #RareDiseaseDay & we are celebrating by highlighting the invaluable work of the Undiagnosed Diseases Network (UDN)! Formed in 2020, it aims to solve the most challenging medical mysteries using advanced technologies. In this thread, we will highlight their use of the #zebrafish model. 1/5 🧪
Let me post a spicy take here: most people don't read or cite other model organisms' work. Because of this, they keep rediscovering things and, most importantly, re-writing the timeline in favor of fewer and fewer models. That, plus an artificial limit of citations per paper equals this 🧪
Come see my exhibition at the Intersect Arts Center! It is bringing me so much joy, I hope it will do the same for you (which I know we all need). #SciArt
www.instagram.com/p/DVhLvYoCaX...
Switching fields or wanting to become an expert in #zebrafish research?
The @mblscience.bsky.social 2026 Zebrafish Development & Genetics course offers a fantastic opportunity to learn from leaders in the field!
Application deadline: March 2
Please spread the word!
www.mbl.edu/education/ad...
Whole-body Single-cell Spatial transcriptomic atlas of adult Danionella ~1 cm long
scRNAseq
MERFISH (500-gene)
HCR
Endothelial cell podxl+ (Fig S8)
Vascular vs Visceral mural cell (Fig S10)
Peter Reddien lab bioRxiv 2026
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
My 60 second dinosaur drawing skills leave many things to be desired
Quick sketch of a dinosaur with fuschia pen. Dinosaur is holding a heart with the Plasmidsaurus logo doodled in it. Text reads "little arms full of love. Happy Valentine's Day, Plasmidsaurus! We ❤️ you big time!"
Totally convinced my lab to swap to Plasmidsaurus for the results.... Definitely not for me to keep sending them dinosaur doodles...
Very much worth 3 min of your day.
so excited I get to go TA at the zebrafish embryology course at MBL in July 🤩🤩
My cohort is trying to do Grillz for our defenses where we all get grillz to celebrate becoming doctors and I think this is the best idea I've heard in ages
Sitting here with friends, scheming to bring more beautiful things into the world.
I open bluesky, am met with more horror. Every day more horror.
On Sunday, I gave a talk to the scientists where I implored everyone to do *anything*.
It's easier to break than make things. Please make something.
Passed my qual yesterday :) 🐟
I love grading students homeworks because I just have fun talking to myself in the comments. Highlighting the good text and commenting "slay," or "bars" throughout their assignment makes me giggle, hope my kiddos enjoy it too
Every time I need to reconnect I watch Cave of Forgotten Dreams from Werner Herzog for this reason exactly
Site-directed mutagenesis I miss you
Pros of switching into a new model for study: learn new tools! Ask different questions! Become flexible in your thinking!
Cons: favorite techniques don't work anymore
Anyway, women, people of color, people on the spectrum or with disabilities, and queer people all deserve to be in science and the old guard that says otherwise is literally decomposing.
Reminder that the first time Watson mentioned Rosalind in The Double Helix, his comment was that she was ugly and would look nicer if she put more effort into her appearance. Imagine ripping someone's idea, it putting you on the map, and the way you immortalize her is by calling her ugly.
Hey folks, as news of Watson's demise spreads, please don't set aside his weighty legacy of misogyny and racism. He was truly among the worst of us. www.vox.com/2019/1/15/18...
My students keep finding out how old I am and saying I've reached unc status :(
Lila came back highly impressed at your sheer number of lines you've generated, btw. Highlighted your talk when summarizing her fav finds from the conference :)
Aiming to fill the gap in PCP-focused research at the next Gastrulation Reloaded 💪🏻💪🏻
Little win since I need maternal-zygotics and will have to do a few more generations of breeding, but woo! Closer to samples!
Win of the day: inherited 7 alleles in this line of fish for my project that were abandoned for a year before I picked it up. After 6 months, I'm happy to report I finally have tanks of each allele via either an in or outcross that were produced in 2025 and I didn't lose a single one 🎉🎉
just called a hazardous chemical a "no-no substance" when explaining to my undergrad the hazardous chemical bins
Not fake news. Some serious side effects of COVID mRNA vaccines seem to have been discovered! (Seriously positive side effects.)
🧪
www.washingtonpost.com/science/2025...
Dawkins is awful in so so many ways, including his vicious and vile transphobia. I think people forget what a gross hack he is sometimes.
I did a deep dive into his various bigotries not too long ago
youtu.be/-XudqTNCqr8?...
