Elinor Karlsson kicked off our morning session: ‚Behavior Evolution: Mechanisms and Change‘ and introduced her research on dogs. Her research is driven by questions such as do breeds have distincive behaviors or how did a wolf become a dog? @elinork.bsky.social karlssonlab.org/about/people...

Mass murderer. (gift link)

Attending the GRC in Molecular mechanisms of evolution seems like such a privilege. Thanks to the chairs Dan Jarosz, Shelley Cooley & the vice-chairs Mia Levine and Joe Thornton. Opening session off to a great start with an introduction by @judithberman11.bsky.social that made me proud and cry. 1/

Jay's "support" for early career researchers is breathtaking. It's worth taking a quick look at the list of NIH training grants/fellowships that have been terminated. Thanks to @noamross.net, @scott-delaney.bsky.social, and others for compiling these lists.

My HPC team at UC Davis is hiring! Looking for an experienced sysadmin to help build and maintain clusters (hardware and software). HPC experience great, but if you’re an experienced sysadmin and willing to learn, please apply! careerspub.universityofcalifornia.edu/psc/ucdavis/...

Great stuff! Above all, the paper firmly nails 'domestication' as a phenomenon of populations, not (sub)species. Loud cheers.

You know what the world absolutely does not need? Yet another definition for domestication. Get over yourselves people. C'mon! Ok, maybe just one more. So much fun working with @elinork.bsky.social, Kathryn and Robin. www.pnas.org/doi/full/10....

Many years ago I ventured down a “what is domestication” rabbit hole w Kathryn Lord @gregerlarson.bsky.social & Robin Allaby. This is where we ended up! @pnas.org www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Let’s get the word out about the importance of federal funding of curiosity -driven science We all have similar stories to share

Time to catch up on the past week’s news about science and medicine in the US. Whew. 1/10

Sometimes being uprooted lets you grow something bigger. 🌱 On April 1st, the three of us were laid off from our dream jobs as science communicators for the federal government. But science communication is still alive and thriving. It’s just growing underground. Follow us for more updates to come!

@atjcagan.bsky.social it's a true pleasure to have Alex Cagan opening up the session on mutations across the tree of life. #MITS25

My first Mutations In Time and Space meeting … this is a fantastic conference! #MITS25

Elinor Karlsson, PhD, of @umasschan.bsky.social and @broadinstitute.org teams up with Hill’s Pet Nutrition to establish a comprehensive database of cat genomics: direc.to/nd8t The Darwin’s Cats database will accelerate research and scientific breakthroughs. #cats #CatGenetics @elinork.bsky.social

Scientists are asking cat owners nationwide to submit a tuft of fur and share details about their cat’s appearance, personality, and behavior. Dr. @elinork.bsky.social joins us to discuss the project and what we do and don’t know about #cat genetics.

The Cape Buffalo has undergone major genetic shifts due to recent and ancient events. DNA analysis revealed 3 distinct population clusters, likely shaped by Holocene climate change and more recent human impacts like habitat fragmentation and disease. #2025MMM #RIP link.springer.com/article/10.1...

The African buffalo (Syncerus caffer) split from its Asian relatives (Bubalus spp.) ~7 million years ago. Fossils and DNA agree ➡️ Bovini arrived in Africa during the late Miocene, giving rise to a new branch of buffalos. #2025MMM link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Polar bears in the Svalbard Archipelago (Norway) have experienced rapid sea ice loss over the past few decades. Microsatellites from 622 polar bears living in this region in 1995-2016 (2 generations) show ⬇️ in genetic diversity + ⬆️ in relatedness over time. #2025MMM doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2021.1741

Efforts to protect Saiga have been mixed-- they are susceptible to the bacterium Pasteurella multocida, which tragically killed more than 200,000 individuals in 2015 alone. Very high temp & humidity that year may have contributed to the die off. #2025MMM #RIP www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

European populations of Saiga have low variability of microsatellite loci, but highly variable mitochondrial control region and nuclear DNA-- why? Likely due to the overhunting of adult male Saiga in the early 1990s, which caused the loss of paternal lines #2025MMM research.ebsco.com/linkprocesso...

How does puma diversity compare to other wild felids? A study on pumas, jaguars, and ocelots in Belize showed jaguars had the lowest genetic diversity, followed by pumas, then ocelots. Puma pops showed the most structure of the 3 cats across the fragmented landscape. #2025MMM doi.org/10.1371/jour...

C. anguineus has an unusually high chromosome count (100 chromosomes) compared to many other sharks​. Such a high diploid number may hint at chromosomal reorganizations or ancient polyploidy events in its lineage. #2025MMM #RIP doi.org/10.1023/A:10...

Frilled sharks (C. anguineus) show extremely low intraspecific genetic variation: distant populations have >99.9% identical mtDNA. This low diversity suggests a historically widespread population or very slow drift—likely aided by deep-sea stability. #2025MMM doi.org/10.1080/23802359.2015.1137801

Gar, an actinopterygian, has mineralized tissues involving SCPP genes, which were previously unidentified in chondrichthyans. In gar, 38 SCPP genes were found - a genetic system for tissue mineralization in early osteichthyans, w/ rapid expansion in actinopterygians. #2025MMM doi.org/10.1002/jez....

Mountain zebras lost this round…and have also lost the most chromosomes out of all equids! Mountain zebras have only 16 pairs, their zebra relatives have 22 and 23 pairs, and the Przewalski’s horse has the most in the equid genus w/33 pairs. #2025MMM #RIP doi.org/10.1007/s10577-013-9346-z

The Cape mountain zebra—one of two mountain 🦓 subspecies—nearly went extinct in the 1950s with <50 individuals in the wild. The subspecies has recovered today to >4000 animals but microsatellites suggest they might not have recovered genetically…yet. #2025MMM doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0220331

McGowen et al. (2019) sequenced 3191 protein-coding genes from 68 species of cetaceans. Their phylogeny shows narwhal is closest to beluga & beluga + narwhal are most closely related to Phocoenidae (porpoises) diverging from them in the neogene (~15 mya) #2025MMM doi.org/10.1093/sysb...

Persistent organic pollutants can accumulate in the blubber of arctic marine mammals. Brown et al 2017 assembled the transcriptome of ringed seal exposed to PCB and found five candidate genes that may serve as indicators of toxic exposure in other marine mammals #RIP #2025MMM doi.org/10.1016/j.aq...

Saimaa ringed seals are endangered with a population of ~400 individuals. Sundell et al 2022 found a high degree of inbreeding. Genetic diversity is alarmingly low and the high degree of isolation within the lake exposes the population to deleterious genomic effects doi.org/10.21203/rs.... #2025MMM

Ginkgo is an economically valuable tree worldwide but cultivated trees have lower genetic diversity than wild trees. Hu et al 2023 genotype 102 cultivars and found that genetic diversity declined but started growing during the Sui and Tang dynasties ~1500 years ago doi.org/10.1093/hr/u... #2025MMM

But wait! DNA evidence points to colugos as the sister species to primates! Janečka et al. analyzed 19 nuclear gene segments & found that treeshrews diverged first (~87.9 mya) followed by primates & colugos (~86.2 mya) during the Cretaceous! #2025MMM #RIP www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Colugo has 28 pairs of chromosomes & ""painting"" shows 44 homologous segments w/human chromosomes. Comparing colugo, treeshrews & primates, Nie et al. (2008) found 1 interchromosomal rearrangement suggesting colugo was closer to treeshrews than primates #2025MMM www.biomedcentral.com/1741-7007/6/18

How did sun bear get that sunny chest patch? Still a mystery. But scientists recently discovered that a 1 base change in the gene TYRP1 can turn black bears brown. #2025MMM www.cell.com/current-biol...

Captive pops of peccaries (Chacoan, white-lipped, collared) were established due to conservation threats. Nuclear markers show ⬇️ diversity and ⬆️ inbreeding in these pops, underscoring the importance of conservation management efforts in the species. #2025MMM #RIP pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...

The Addax is critically endangered today. DNA from museum specimens suggests its population began declining in the Late Pleistocene (~30K yrs. ago), long before the human disturbances of the last few centuries. #2025MMM www.mdpi.com/2073-4425/12...

Mitochondrial and nuclear gene sequences have revealed that the Chacoan and white-lipped peccary are more closely related to each other than the Collared peccary, but their divergence time and place (either N or S America) remains unclear! doi.org/10.1016/j.ym... #2025MMM

How did Coati get their stripes? Not yet known ... but we know how another Carnivore loses them! 3 mutations in gene TAQPEP changes a cat from tabby striped to blotchy #RIP #2025MMM www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Coati are small. The dwarf coati of Cozumel island are tiny!! Half-sized coati, and genetically unique. Island life gave it its own evolutionary path. Now genetics can help conserve the population. #2025MMM link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Baniel et al. (2021) found gelada gut microbiome composition covaried w/ rainfall & temp suggesting responses to dietary & thermoregulatory challenges. Ex: rainy season => cellulolytic/fermentative bacteria specializing in digesting grass #poopscience #2025MMM doi.org/10.1186/s401...

TONIGHT I'll be skeeting for the #2025MMM Genetics Team! Everything is better with MORE DNA! Skeets by @acstone.bsky.social @afogel29.bsky.social @cegamorim.bsky.social @carloschalicothere.bsky.social @lucasrocm.bsky.social @n8upham.bsky.social @fervillanea.bsky.social @elliecat.bsky.social & me!

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... 📄 New preprint alert! 📄 @helenyslin.bsky.social benchmarked polygenic scores (PGS) using genotyping arrays vs whole-genome sequencing (WGS) across traits & populations in @AllofUsResearch. What’s the best approach? The answer is… it depends! 🧵⬇️

This is your periodic reminder: NSF's Directorate for STEM Education (EDU) *still* remains paused in new awards. Here's an updated graph. But also see below thread about why the nation needs these #STEMed investments, including for sustaining the *future* of scientific research.

Eric Green is out as head of National Human Genome Research Institute www.statnews.com/2025/03/17/t... #genomics #NIH #NHGRI

My dad is one of the PIs for the Diabetes Prevention Program (“DPP”). The sound of his voice when he told me what had happened … 💔💔💔💔

Hollllleerrrrr Fellow Mammalers!! TONIGHT I'll be skeeting for the MMM Genetics Team -- lovely fur-ladden skeets written by @elinork.bsky.social and @acstone.bsky.social : Let's get rollllling #2025MMM

This is horrible to post, but I may as well post it. We are essentially shutting down research operations in my group, which is focused on treatments for pediatric brain cancer. I’m a well funded investigator, and there’s no choice. Science can’t function without the stability of NIH

The thing about scientific research is that it’s one of the few national investments that’s a clear public good even if you entirely discount the actual ostensible point of it.

"I want parents who have children to know that opportunities for your kids, if they aspire to be scientists or engineers, are being stripped away right in front of you," the NSF employee told Axios. www.axios.com/2025/03/10/a...

Taking a cue from @cantlonlab.bsky.social, I have written an op-ed for my local newspaper about the impact of the NIH funding chaos. I'd appreciate it if you read and share. #NIH #Research #Science #Worcester www.telegram.com/story/opinio...

Killing off our research facilities and talent pipelines is perhaps the biggest, dumbest self-own in American history.