🚨🧪🧵URGENT INPUT NEEDED: NIH asks input for next strategic plan-including emphasis on non-animal models (NAMs) to replace animals. Per NIH insider, anti-animal responses now outnumber scientists 200-700x. Please please provide input. Deadline: May 26, 11:59 PM ET. grants.nih.gov/news-events/...

Our lab website is live! 🚀🐟 www.vasilevalab.com We use genetic #zebrafish models and molecular oncology approaches to study pediatric cancer and discover new therapeutic strategies. We’re growing and recruiting postdocs and research technicians! #PediatricCancer #Zebrafish #PostdocJobs

Astrocytes do so much more than any of us thought - they even communicate among specific brain regions across hemispheres! The journey to this paper spanned nearly a decade, but I'm most excited to see what everyone else does with the tools we've built. There's so much for all of us to explore!

Very happy to share this study from our group and colleagues now out in Science! We found that in zebrafish, before the immune system is mature, gut epithelial cells perform immune functions by producing the cytokine IL-22 to shape the microbiota to promote early life gut function #Zebrafish #Gut

🚨 New preprint from our lab led by Sophia Kim w/ @kellydoran.bsky.social group @cuanschutz.bsky.social -- using neonatal 🐭 model of bacterial meningitis ➡️ arachnoid barrier is leaky, Cldn11 junctions are disrupted & cytokines are part of the problem. Lots of 🤩🧠🦠🔬 & compelling data, check it out! 1/5

#FreehandFigureFriday continues...this from a figure I mocked up for a review but ended up on the 'digital' cutting room floor - scanning EM of the meninges of large mammals like dogs (this from PMID: 1094039) is really great, gives a great appreciate for 'smoothness' of SAS surfaces.

Check out the plasmids for pIGLET, a reproducible and efficient approach to generate zebrafish transgenic lines using site-specific recombination!

Collaborative work from @kendalllab.bsky.social 🐟 🔗 to preprint: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Excited to share this collaborative work with @sarathomasy.bsky.social- spearheaded by Raneesh Ramarapu and William Stoehr- where we visualized the unique spatial localization of tubulin isotopes in neural crest-derived corneal tissues during development. 🤩

Big congrats to Dr. Len Zon for being awarded the 2026 @marchofdimes.org Richard B Johnston Jr, MD Prize for his work in #devbio. His pioneering research has illuminated how blood develops in embryos, leading to a deeper understanding of genetic blood diseases. www.marchofdimes.org/about/news/r... 🧪

New preprint out! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... One of the most salient lessons I learned in all my adventures with screening and protein engineering is the importance of context. The context in which you test a gene or protein determines what function it has.

We’re delighted to see this out today! Latest work from the lab reveals insights into the evolution of brain immunity and the developmental and evolutionary plasticity of lymphatic endothelial cells. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Modern biology research is biased towards investigating genes that are widely conserved and present in humans. What about genes that ARE widely conserved but NOT present in humans? Can genes missing from humans tell us something about what makes our biology different from that of other animals? 1/8

Developmental regulation of intestinal best4+ cells https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2025.12.17.694935v1

“Here, we introduce the mini-golden system, a versatile Golden Gate-based subcloning platform that enables rapid assembly of donor constructs containing homology arms and a gene of interest.” Updated approach from the lab of Junsu Kang at University of Wisconsin-Madison 🐟

Woow wooww, just wowwww! 🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯 That is a very important reminder indeed! 👇🏻

#KnowYourZDM: In 2019, a 10-year-old patient w/ a life-threatening lymphatic disorder was losing hope. Zebrafish to the rescue! Scientists created zebrafish with the same gene mutation and found a melanoma drug that fixed the fish. Then, doctors used the same drug on the patient to save his life! 🧪

Live longitudinal imaging of meningeal cerebrovascular injury and its sequelae in adult zebrafish https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.11.14.688311v1

What cell states are possible when they are missing key factors - Nanog, Pou5f3 (Oct4), & Sox19b (Sox2) - that are required for the first embryonic reprogramming steps? Follow along with our latest publication, finally out at doi.org/10.1016/j.ce... #devbio #reprogramming #zebrafish #embryo (1/6)

Compared to other publishers, The Company of Biologists is small fry with fewer than 70 staff supporting 5 journals from a single office. But, for over 100 years now, it’s punched above its weight in innovation, prestige and community support.

1/9 Thrilled to share that our paper, “Origin of Ewing sarcoma by embryonic reprogramming of neural crest to mesoderm,” is now published in @cp-cellreports.bsky.social! @amatrudalab.bsky.social @crumplab.bsky.social www.cell.com/cell-reports...

Wonderful collaboration of Claire Arata and co-first-author Elena Vasileva from Amatruda lab. Claire provided the neural crest driver and Elena the EWS oncofusion. Best combination since PB&J. Amazing that expression of a single oncofusion in crest produces ectopic fins. www.cell.com/cell-reports...

We are looking for a new technician to join our lab and gain some hands on #zebrafish and molecular biology experience. Interested parties should apply here: jobs.rutgers.edu/postings/259... Happy to answer any and all questions about the lab! #STEMJobs

Out @natcomms.nature.com: our work on how the ❤️-supporting pericardium forms & acts in pediatric heart conditions.🎈🫀 Expanding our preprint & with our first HCR (thx to @thelovelylab.bsky.social!). Congrats all! #devbio #zebrafish #CHD @cupediatrics.bsky.social @cudevbio.bsky.social rdcu.be/eIJm5

Nice work from Val Wilson & co on neuromesodermal progenitors SOX2/TBXT co-expressing cells are self-propagating bipotent NMPs Increasing TBXT levels (not SOX2/TBXT ratio) switch NMPs from neural- to mesoderm-biased www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

According to news reports, NIH is on track to award nearly all of its FY25 budget. Program officers—working long hours despite staff losses—made it possible. Take a moment to thank your PO for their dedication.

Thank you @stemcellreports.bsky.social for featuring our work on the Neural Stem Cells Special Issue cover! www.cell.com/stem-cell-re... Kudos to lead author Sriivatsan G. Rajan for designing the image. Check out the wide array of interesting papers in this packed issue: www.cell.com/stem-cell-re...

Our next #DevPres webinar focusses on gut development with talks from Surojit Sural @surojitsural.bsky.social, Swarnabh Bhattacharya @iamzico.bsky.social and Brittany Edens, chaired by Alex Eve @amjeve.bsky.social. 📆 17 September, 15:00 BST (UTC+1) Register here: us02web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

Excited to announce that our new paper is now published in Science Advances 🚀🧠 ‘Acquisition of neural crest promoted thyroid evolution from chordate endostyle’ — check it out here: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Over 20 years after Julius’s lab and mine cloned TRPM8, it is rewarding to see this science helping patients. The TRPM8 agonist Tryptyr treats dry eye by increasing tear production. A reminder that NIH-funded curiosity-driven research translates to medicines. tryptyr.myalcon.com?gad_source=1...

It’s been 25 years since the UCSC Genome Browser launched. Nature profiles how the website remains an essential tool for navigating the genome and understanding its structure, function, and clinical impact. #Academicsky 🧬 🧪

Please RT: Published today, a super fun collaboration w/ @fanjumeng.bsky.social and Marnie Halpern's lab to establish methods for transgene mapping in zebrafish - TransTag enables simple and efficient transgene mapping in zebrafish via tagmentation: Cell Reports Methods www.cell.com/cell-reports...

New study online today! We present a method to identify insertion sites of Tol2 transgenes in zebrafish #zebrafish #Tol2 #Transgene www.cell.com/cell-reports...

Our paper describing the Range Extender element which is required and sufficient for long-range enhancer activation at the Shh locus is now available at @nature.com. Congrats to @gracebower.bsky.social who led the study. Below is a brief summary of the main findings www.nature.com/articles/s41... 1/

🧬 New preprint! We’ve identified core microRNAs that orchestrate neural crest delamination and condensation in chick embryos, key for trigeminal ganglion formation. ✨ Introducing cranial MET-miRNAs into trunk neural crest cells reprograms them to gain cranial-like differentiation potential

New research from Caltech and UC Berkeley has identified the circuit of genes controlling Zebrafish’s ability to regrow and repair their hearts after damage. www.caltech.edu/about/news/g...

Website is now open for registration and abstract submission! See you in beautiful SLO! 😎🏖️ www.sdbonline.org/wcsdb2025

Delighted to share our latest work on the anterior lateral line. Congratulations to our fabulous team! www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

“These findings support the use of zebrafish as a useful comparative model for studying the meninges, provide a foundational description for future zebrafish meningeal research” New work from @biomarina-vg.bsky.social & Weinstein Lab at NIH 🐟