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Doug Menke

@dbmenke.bsky.social
1.5K followers 430 following 4 posts

Developmental geneticist working with reptiles. Comparative genomics & lizard gene editing.

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Reposted by Doug Menke
Kelly Dawe @corncolors.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
The UGA Genetics Department is hiring! Please help spread the word. We have an opening for an Associate Professor/Professor in Genetics, Synthetic Biology, and Biological Engineering. See ad for details – and join us here in Athens, GA!
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Michael Hiller @hillermich.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Happy to share results of the @bat1kgenomes.bsky.social phase 1, providing reference genomes covering 21 bat families. New insights into bat phylogeny, ancestral genome reconstruction, European origin & ancestral echolocation. Great work by a team of 100+ colleagues www.nature.com/articles/s41...
nature.com
Reference genomes and fossils revise bat family phylogeny and biogeography - Nature
An updated phylogeny of bats is presented, based on new genome assemblies and many ancient fossils and including all known bat families.
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Judith Mank @judithmank.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
So very, very happy to see this out @plosbiology.org : Ancient inversion polymorphisms associate with sexually selected traits across natural guppy populations. Beautiful work by two very clever and talented coauthors, Yuying Lin and @vdbijl.bsky.social . journals.plos.org/plosbiology/... 1/
journals.plos.org
Ancient inversion polymorphisms associate with sexually selected traits across natural guppy populations
Genomic inversions spanning many genes can persist for millions of years. This study of Trinidadian guppy populations reveals how both ecological conditions and mate choice help maintain this hidden l...
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Nicolas Di-Poi @nicolasdipoi.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Our collaborative paper on snake coiling is now out in the latest issue of @currentbiology.bsky.social and featured on the cover! 🎉 Delighted to see our work highlighted this way. You can read it here: authors.elsevier.com/c/1ni9h3QW8S... @helsinki-biotech.bsky.social @helsinki.fi
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Jeremy Berg @jeremymberg.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Today's installment in the NIH institute director shitshow... A new director for the National Institute for Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR). www.nih.gov/news-events/... As far as I can tell, he has three publications and has never received NIH funding. 1/2
nih.gov
Dr. Jonathan Burke selected as director of the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research
Dr. Burke will start his role on Sept. 20, 2026.
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Jason Rasgon @vectorgen.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Banger of a new RasgonLab study by Drs. Najmeh Nejat and Travis van Warmerdam on a new arthropod germline CRISPR delivery system. Knock-out AND knock-in by ORAL delivery! No more injections! Germline Engineering by Viral transduction (GEValT)
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GEValT @gevaltcrispr.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Meet GEValT! Germline Engineering by Viral transduction! No more injections www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
biorxiv.org
Infectious transgenesis in arthropods
In the last decade, there has been an explosion in the development of in vivo germline genetic editing technologies in arthropods, first pioneered by the Receptor-Mediated Ovary Transduction of Cargo ...
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Sonya Neal @neal-lab.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
Come be my colleague!! 🎉 We’re hiring an Assistant Professor in Developmental Biology at UCSD! If you’re doing exciting work in development or regeneration, come join us!! Please spread the word and apply! apol-recruit.ucsd.edu/JPF04591
apol-recruit.ucsd.edu
Assistant Professor of Developmental Biology
University of California, San Diego is hiring. Apply now!
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Philippe Batut @philippebatut.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
🧬🔬 Why are enhancers transcribed and how does that impact gene regulation? I’m really excited to share our new paper in @science.org showing that noncoding RNAs control the timing of gene activation in embryos. With Mike Levine #ScienceResearch @columbiamed.bsky.social A few highlights below... 🧵👇
science.org
Noncoding transcription controls the developmental dynamics of long-range gene regulation
The genomic regions regulating gene expression are often themselves transcribed into a variety of noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs). However, the regulatory roles of this noncoding transcription remain largely ...
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Princeton Vaughn @princetonvaughn.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
Thrilled to have my first thesis chapter published in @currentbiology.bsky.social! We combine genomics, gene editing, and performance experiments to reveal the genetic basis and functional consequences of hurricane-induced trait shifts in island lizards! Check it out: www.cell.com/current-biol...
cell.com
Genomic targets of hurricane-induced selection on clinging performance in an island lizard
Vaughn et al. show that hurricanes drive parallel genomic selection signatures in island anoles. One candidate locus (hs6st1) is associated with rear toe length. CRISPR disruption reduces hindfoot ele...
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Christian Mosimann @chrmosimann.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
Great wrap-up of #2026SDB - if you are hungry for more #devbio, consider joining us for the upcoming Gordon Research Conference & trainee-led Gordon Research Seminar in Developmental Biology, Jan 17-22 at Il Cioccio! 🧬🐟🐀🧪🌱🧫🦎🪰🪱
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Doug Menke @dbmenke.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
I’m looking forward to attending #2026SDB! I’ll be presenting some exciting new discoveries related to lizard sex determination.
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Jason Rasgon @vectorgen.bsky.social · 03/07/2026
Gene editing in shrimp by ReMOT Control! "Targeted maternal delivery of Cas9 ribonucleoproteins enables gene editing in shrimp offspring" www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
static.klipy.com
Shrempin Time: Dancing Shrimps on Beach
ALT: Shrempin Time: Dancing Shrimps on Beach
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Rep. Jamie Raskin @raskin.house.gov · 25/06/2026
Public health research at world-class institutions like the NIH is an important public good. Rep. Suzan DelBene, Rep. Lori Trahan and I are leading 122 of our colleagues to oppose the Trump Administration’s efforts to give partisan political appointees final say over health research grants.
thebanner.com
Raskin moves to stop ‘disastrous’ threat against medical research
Rep. Jamie Raskin seeks to stop the Trump administration from putting political appointees in charge of federal health grants.
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Benoit Bruneau @benoitbruneau.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
"Curiosity-driven research is really the seed corn for the major breakthroughs and applications. But it’s also important in its own right, because discovery and the expansion of knowledge are virtues in themselves." Thanks @neilshubin.bsky.social (gift article) www.nytimes.com/2026/06/12/s...
nytimes.com
Neil Shubin on Trusted Science in a ‘Deeply Partisan Age’
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Natasha Shylo @shylonatasha.bsky.social · 13/04/2026
I suppose it's better late than never to mention that this September I started an Assistant Professor position at Rowan University @rowancsm.bsky.social. We will be doing cool work with chameleons 🦎 to understand early development, especially left-right patterning view.rowan.edu/the-human-pu...
view.rowan.edu
The puzzle of human development by Rowan University
Rowan University biologist, Natasha Shylo studies human development and asymmetry.
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Antonia Weberling @a-weberling.bsky.social · 07/04/2026
PREPRINT ALERT !!! Excited to share our #reptile #embryo cryopreservation method optimised on peri-gastrulation veiled chameleon embryos! This lays the foundation for functional studies & reptile #conservation efforts! #devbio #squamates #evodevo www.biorxiv.org/content/bior...
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Mark Peifer (He, him) @peiferlabunc.bsky.social · 06/04/2026
If you know a graduating undergraduate looking for the chance to spend 1-2 years in a lab before graduate school, we're hiring! Our lab explores morphogenesis, defining how the cell adhesion & cytoskeletal machinery work together to allow cells to change shape & move tarheels.live/peiferlab/ 1/n RT
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Alejandro Montenegro @aemonten.bsky.social · 03/04/2026
A new issue of CSH Protocols is out! @cshlpress.bsky.social The cover image highlights the work by Sabin, @dbmenke.bsky.social, et al. who describe a surgical approach for oocyte injection and CRISPR–Cas9 mutagenesis in Anolis Lizards. ⬇️Links below
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Vicky Prince @vprincelab.bsky.social · 16/03/2026
Congratulations to Michael Wen and Andrew Gillis on this exciting paper out today! Shared competence forms the basis of gill arch and paired fin serial homology | PNAS www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
pnas.org
Shared competence forms the basis of gill arch and paired fin serial homology | PNAS
The origin of paired fins is an unresolved controversy in vertebrate evolutionary biology. Karl Gegenbaur famously proposed that paired fins evolve...
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Antonia Weberling @a-weberling.bsky.social · 06/02/2026
Thrilled to be featured on the cover of @devdynamics.bsky.social highlighting our 2 anole studies published: anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/... & anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/... Thanks so much @thomsanger.bsky.social for hosting me when I took this image!
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Axel Visel @axelvisel.bsky.social · 07/01/2026
Now out: The new ENCODE registry of candidate cis-regulatory elements (🐭/👶) Major consortium effort, led by @moorejille.bsky.social - stay tuned for her "meme-torial" www.nature.com/articles/s41... @berkeleylab.lbl.gov @biosci.lbl.gov
AI slop depiction of regulatory landscapes, in a style that would give Caspar David Friedrich a cluster headache. Colorful cones erupt from the fog and launch rockets (presumably transcription factors) toward a suspiciously three-stranded DNA helix of unclear left- or right-handedness. Lone, brooding figures stare into the chromatin mist waiting for meaning to emerge, while Romantic ruins and cosmic arcs hint vaguely at long-range regulation, peak calling, and other things that ChatGPT definitely did not understand right.
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Casey Bergman @caseybergman.bsky.social · 05/01/2026
Hivemind: has anyone had a response from #NCBI about submissions started prior to the government shutdown?
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Jeffrey Mervis @policyhound.bsky.social · 24/12/2025
As you celebrate the holidays, here are 10 things to know about the dramatic changes to how NSF does business. This story looks at merit review. The second part will explain the significance of NSF's new structure. www.science.org/content/arti...
science.org
Five things to know about NSF’s new rules on merit review
Fewer outsiders, less feedback, and an uncertain fate for a new science board report
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Evgeny Kvon @evgenykvon.bsky.social · 24/12/2025
Not that long ago, in vivo mouse enhancer design was a dream. Today, it's a reality! Using transfer deep learning to design de novo synthetic embryonic enhancers active in the heart, limb, and CNS. Great collab with @alex-stark.bsky.social lab! @ucibiosci.bsky.social @impvienna.bsky.social
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Prachee Avasthi @pracheeac.bsky.social · 16/10/2025
We have a bunch of new job ads out @arcadiascience.com. If you haven’t checked them out, take a look! www.arcadiascience.com/careers
arcadiascience.com
Careers | Arcadia Science
Evolve with Arcadia.
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James T. Stroud @jameststroud.bsky.social · 14/10/2025
🦎THREAD: We just published something wild in @asn-amnat.bsky.social - lizards missing entire limbs not only survive, but some appear to actually thrive in the wild?! Let me tell you about the "three-legged pirate" lizards 🏴‍☠️ [Paper: www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/... ] (1/n)
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the Node @the-node.bsky.social · 13/10/2025
As Editor’s Choice winner of the MBL Embryology course image competition, Arthur Boutillon’s image (‘Embryonic eye of Anole lizard’) features on this cover of Development. Learn more about Arthur and his work in the interview now available on the Node ⬇️👀 thenode.biologists.com/interview-wi...
thenode.biologists.com
Interview with Arthur Boutillon: Editor’s Choice of the MBL Embryology course image competition   - the Node
We find out more about Arthur Boutillon, Editor's Choice winner of the MBL Embryology course image competition.
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Rachel Roberts-Galbraith @awormwelcome.bsky.social · 29/06/2025
To @dbmenke.bsky.social and other lizard colleagues, look what you have done. (Anolis pictures from PR.)
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Ed Yong is offline @edyong209.bsky.social · 30/05/2025
One of the reasons I love this piece is that, in clearly showing why the administration’s attacks on medical research funding are so devastating, it also makes one of the clearest cases for why that funding has always mattered. unbreaking.org/issues/medic...
unbreaking.org
Medical Research Funding — Unbreaking
How the administration is breaking the government, and what that means for all of us.
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Science Magazine @science.org · 28/04/2025
Vaccine scientists and medical leaders have announced they are launching an unprecedented initiative to react to vaccine misinformation and scientifically unfounded vaccine decisions by the U.S. government. scim.ag/3ES9r1Q
scim.ag
Vaccine experts band together to counter U.S. government misinformation
Vaccine Integrity Project intends to provide scientific responses to ill-founded vaccine moves
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Katherine Franke @katherinefranke.bsky.social · 19/04/2025
Breaking: a judge in GA ordered that the fed'l gov't CANNOT pull the visas of foreign students. The order applies ONLY to students who are part of the lawsuit. If you want to join the lawsuit, reach out to: ckuck@immigration.net and dclaffey@immigration.net youtu.be/FS6B8CM8uf4
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James Briscoe @jamesbriscoe.bsky.social · 13/03/2025
Together with fellow @biologists.bsky.social EiCs we've written about the unprecedented cuts & policy changes to research in the US We stand with our US colleagues during this challenging time Science transcends borders—setbacks in one nation affect us all journals.biologists.com/dev/article/...
journals.biologists.com
Science under siege: protecting scientific progress in turbulent times
As Editors-in-Chief of The Company of Biologists' journals, we have been watching with growing concern the policy changes in the United States of America (USA) and the challenges that these are creati...
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Ian Brennan @brennian.bsky.social · 14/01/2025
🐍 Do you talk about reptiles with strangers🦎 🧬 Do you lay awake thinking about N50 scores? Close your eyes and see Manhattan plots?🧬 Well, have I got the answer for you. Come check out the Open Consortium for Squamate Genomics (OCSG - that’s a mouthful). Sign up here: forms.gle/TTmTwAMUqzWJ...
forms.gle
Open Consortium of Squamate Genomics (OCSG) Sign-up/Contact Form
The Open Consortium of Squamate Genomics (OCSG) is a new global initiative (2024) with an overarching goal of increasing both quality and quantity of lizard and snake genomic resources, as well as inc...
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Anole Annals @anoleannals.bsky.social · 01/12/2024
Anole Annals is now on bluesky! Follow us (and check out our blog anoleannals.org) for all anole research, news, and more!
anoleannals.org
Anole Annals
Your source for the latest on Anolis lizards.
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Ben Martin @benjaminmartin.bsky.social · 22/11/2024
Has anyone had success with any of the Cas9 fusions to promote HDR efficiency?
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Jeremy Berg @jeremymberg.bsky.social · 17/11/2024
I want to share a #datahound analysis I have been working on for some time with this newly forming community. The NIH Modular Cap: A Once-Sensible Policy Destroyed by Active Inaction 1/n
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The Company of Biologists @biologists.bsky.social · 12/11/2024
Welcome to our Bluesky account. With so many of our community members now present on Bluesky, we felt it was the right time to join. We will use this account to bring you news from the Company, our journals and our community sites.
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Richard Sever @richardsever.bsky.social · 10/11/2024
Reminder for newcomers that bioRxiv has Bluesky accounts in every subject category - great way to keep up (please re-skeet) connect.biorxiv.org/news/2023/09...
connect.biorxiv.org
bioRxiv expands on Mastodon and Bluesky
bioRxiv - the preprint server for biology, operated by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, a research and educational institution
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Angelo Iulianella @aineurolab.bsky.social · 09/11/2024
Here is a link to my developmental biology starter pack. Please add and follow. go.bsky.app/M5AgJhn
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Tony Gamble @tonygamble.eurosky.social · 08/11/2024
Hang in there! #Herpetology
Photo of a green lizard, a green tree monitor, hanging from its front limbs against a black background. The text, “hang in there” is in the bottom left corner.
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James T. Stroud @jameststroud.bsky.social · 07/11/2024
Hard to beat baby knight anoles (Anolis equestris) - they'll lose these white stripes down their body as they grow into adults 🦎🦎🦎
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Dr. Julie Claycomb @farmgirlphd.bsky.social · 29/10/2024
Please share broadly! We (Molecular Genetics, University of Toronto) are looking for a new faculty member! Deadline Dec 19. Those working on model organisms and using genomics, computational and systems approaches are strongly encouraged to apply! Reach out w/ Qs! jobs.utoronto.ca/job/Toronto-...
jobs.utoronto.ca
Assistant Professor - Molecular Biology and Genetics
Assistant Professor - Molecular Biology and Genetics
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Mark Peifer (He, him) @peiferlabunc.bsky.social · 25/10/2024
Great list! I hope everyone on it shares with their colleagues the fact that there are THREE Asst Professor openings in Plant Biology at UNC-Chapel Hill this year, two in Plant Molecular Biology viewed broadly & one in Plant Evolution-review will begin soon www.esacareercenter.org/job/2002229/...
Job descriptions from the link
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Mark Peifer (He, him) @peiferlabunc.bsky.social · 21/10/2024
The ability of the animal body to self-assemble based on the information encoded in our genomes is one of the most remarkable miracles of the living world. We now take for granted the idea that shared cellular machinery mediates this and read textbooks laying things out in molecular detail. 1/n 🧪
Baby saying "The ability to self-assemble tissues and organs is truly remarkable
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Tony Gamble @tonygamble.eurosky.social · 10/06/2024
This short graphic novel about Fish Sex Determination from Sophia Breslin, John Postlethwait, & Thomas Desvignes @notothentoma.bsky.social is AMAZING! blogs.uoregon.edu/fishsexdeter... 🧪🐠🧬
An illustration of some cartoon fish and their varying sex-determining genes (SDGs). Header test says, "Strangely, fish have a variety of different SDGs rather than a single gene, like in all mammals or in all birds." The text on the bottom right continues, "But sometimes, even closely related fish have different SDGs like these three ricefishes." 
The illustrated fish species and their associated sex-determining genes (SDMs) include: Striped catfish & amhr2; Northern pike & amh; Herring & bmpr1b; rainbow trout & irf9; Mexican blind cavefish & gdf6; Greater amberjack & hsd17b1; Senegalese sole & fshr; Japanese ricefish & dmy; Luzon ricefish & gsdf; and Indian ricefish & sox3.
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Ed Stanley @drscanley.bsky.social · 04/02/2024
I’m excited for the upcoming publication of our paper summarizing the lessons learned from seven years of specimen digitization. The oVert project has produced tens of thousands of datasets and is changing the way people view and use collections.
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Marc Somssich @somssich.bsky.social · 03/10/2023
Duke Flags Lowered: Philip Benfey, Plant Biologist Who Studied Roots as a Window to Development, Dies today.duke.edu/2023/10/duke... #PlantScience
today.duke.edu
Duke Flags Lowered: Philip Benfey, Plant Biologist Who Studied Roots as a Window to Development, Die...
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Sahin Naqvi @sahinnaqvi.bsky.social · 22/09/2023
Excited to share that I will be starting my lab as faculty at Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School in July 2024! We will seek a quantitative understanding of gene expression control in development and resulting “tipping points” in disease. Please reach out if interested!
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