Reposted by Phil AbituaErin J. Wamsley 🧠📈😴 @wamsleylab.bsky.social · 03/10/2026The fiscal year is over. The dying Social, Behavioral, and Economic division of NSF ended up awarding 90 total grants this year, as opposed to ~700-800 in recent past years. Source: grantwitness.org/nsf/analyses... 9489306
Reposted by Phil AbituaChristophe 🔬 Leterrier @christlet.bsky.social · 24/09/2026I think I'm going to lose it being lectured on microscopy image presentation integrity by the winner of the Small Artificial World in Motion competition 1417833
Phil Abitua @ohnolog.bsky.social · 23/09/2026The worst part is that Nikon isn’t doing anything about it. What the grayscale raw looked like before AI-based post-processing would settle this. @healthcare.nikon.com 010
Phil Abitua @ohnolog.bsky.social · 23/09/2026This updated post all but confirms that this year’s winning Nikon Small World in Motion video used AI to make the entry “more vivid and visually engaging,” despite competition rules prohibiting AI-generated videos. www.nikonsmallworld.com/masters-of-m...nikonsmallworld.comNing Xu: Studying Disease through MotionUpdated: September 22, 2026Welcome to Masters of Microscopy: The People Behind the Lens, where we showcase and celebrate the individuals at the heart of the Nikon Small World competitions. They are sc... 160
Phil Abitua @ohnolog.bsky.social · 18/09/2026This is what a multiciliated cell looks like in Xenopus. There are about 150 cilia per cell, which is roughly the same as in humans. 092
Reposted by Phil AbituaPhilippe 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.orgNoncoding transcription controls the developmental dynamics of long-range gene regulationThe 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 ... 5235115
Phil Abitua @ohnolog.bsky.social · 03/09/2026Stories like this keep me up at night. Like many other ESIs, I’m in a very similar boat. www.reddit.com/r/NIH/commen...reddit.comFrom the NIH community on RedditExplore this post and more from the NIH community 020
Phil Abitua @ohnolog.bsky.social · 28/08/2026lol. The replication crisis isn't due to a select few having "magic hands." 010
Reposted by Phil AbituaArs Technica @arstechnica.com · 25/08/2026arstechnica.comLab supply companies have been selling antibodies using manipulated imagesImage changes that would get a paper retracted are widespread among suppliers. 03916
Phil Abitua @ohnolog.bsky.social · 19/08/2026After ReadCube bought Papers, they took library full-text search and locked it behind “Enterprise” pricing. WTF. Searching the full text of your own PDF library is one of the most basic functions of a reference manager. 020
Phil Abitua @ohnolog.bsky.social · 07/08/2026Ahh I finally caught up on all of my work, now I can complete that hazing training I’ve been ignoring. 010
Reposted by Phil AbituaAlex Eve @amjeve.uk · 26/07/2026Congratulations, @jeffreyafarrell.bsky.social, on winning the @socdevbio.bsky.social #2026SDB Elizabeth D. Hay New Investigator Award! Learn more about Jeff's science and career in his @dev-journal.bsky.social interview with @saanjbati.bsky.social.doi.orgTransitions in development – an interview with Jeffrey FarrellJeffrey Farrell is an Earl Stadtman Investigator at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), USA, where he heads the Unit on Cell Specification and ... 25316
Reposted by Phil AbituaAlex Eve @amjeve.uk · 25/07/2026Kaitlyn Loubet-Senear studies how gene networks (GN) evolve to adapt to external effectors for robust development. By comparing the African turquoise killifish (with unique stages of early dev) with model organisms, Kaitlyn shows that the GN is more similar to that of mice than zebrafish. #2026SDB 131
Reposted by Phil AbituaRosa Uribe, PhD @uribelab.bsky.social · 23/07/2026I am excited to be in Vegas for #2026SDB! We will have posters presented by PhD candidates from the lab on zebrafish ENS development: Hannah Johnson, Poster Session A #111 (A11) Onyekachi Idigo, Poster Session A #116 (A16) Both present on Thursday July 23 from 7:15-10:15 pm! 🐟🎣🍿static.klipy.comZebra Football DanceALT: Zebra Football Dance 0103
Reposted by Phil AbituaRyan Gray @slewzeus.bsky.social · 23/07/2026Vegas baby! We are presenting posters at #2026SDB @socdevbio.bsky.social. Stop on by to learn about our newest work with #cilia and #notochord 1113
Reposted by Phil AbituaRebecca D. Burdine, PhD @rburdine1.bsky.social · 25/07/2026#2026SDB #Devbio I suspect @jbwallingford.bsky.social may have some info on where this masterpiece came from... 1292
Reposted by Phil AbituaSociety for Developmental Biology @socdevbio.bsky.social · 14/07/2026✨Jeffrey Farrell @jeffreyafarrell.bsky.social is a Stadtman Investigator at the NIH. He has led seminal work constructing single-cell RNAseq atlases for entire embryos using zebrafish. We are excited to host Jeffrey at the #2026SDB in Las Vegas! 🔬 1214
Phil Abitua @ohnolog.bsky.social · 09/07/2026Oh, and it was featured in Backrooms which I've yet to watch. 010
Phil Abitua @ohnolog.bsky.social · 09/07/2026When your favorite artist comes out of nowhere with a track about chick development, it really feels like you’re living in a simulation. www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDCI...youtube.comThe Word Becomes FleshYouTube video by Boards of Canada - Topic 110
Phil Abitua @ohnolog.bsky.social · 08/07/2026I am optimistic. The third request just hits differently. 120
Phil Abitua @ohnolog.bsky.social · 08/07/2026Receiving your third just-in-time for a grant you submitted 16 months ago. 1140
Reposted by Phil AbituaAnh Hoang Le, PhD 🏳️🌈🏴🇻🇳 @anhhle2702.bsky.social · 06/07/2026My image "The phases of gastrulation" made it to the top 10 in this year #YEN2026 image competition! I took this video of a gastrulating 🐸 embryo while testing a new microscope in the lab. One of the rare #devbio theme videos I got. Check out the others here: thenode.biologists.com/results-of-t... 34910
Reposted by Phil AbituaJames Briscoe @jamesbriscoe.bsky.social · 08/06/2026Our latest: Minimal essential requirements for neural tube self-organisation How does a single cell give rise to a tissue with the right cell types in the right proportions? We deconstruct and rebuild a self-organising tissue from first principles A thread🧵 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...biorxiv.orgMinimal essential requirements for neural tube self-organisationThe reliable generation of diverse cell types in precise proportions is essential for the formation of functional tissues during embryonic development. Three-dimensional organoid models derived from p... 312542
Reposted by Phil AbituaAustin Seroka @austinseroka1.bsky.social · 06/07/2026We're excited to present a single-cell atlas of vertebrate cranial motor neuron development, the first story from my postdoctoral work in the Moens lab, up now on bioRxiv! 53116
Phil Abitua @ohnolog.bsky.social · 05/07/2026Neutrophils are basically fireworks in reverse. Happy 250th birthday, America! 🎆🇺🇸 000
Reposted by Phil AbituaSyd Sattler @sydsat.bsky.social · 29/06/2026What if an embryo made immune cells before it finished building the tissue they usually come from? In our new preprint, we show that annual killifish embryos specify neutrophils before germ layers are fully resolved. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... Huge thanks to my PI, @ohnolog.bsky.social ! 🧵biorxiv.orgEarly immune cell development precedes gastrulation in annual killifishDuring embryogenesis, cell types arise in a predictable order because developmental regulators act sequentially. But how evolutionary changes in morphogenesis reshape the signaling environments that a... 38628
Reposted by Phil AbituaRichard Sever @richardsever.bsky.social · 03/07/2026Last month was another record for bioRxiv submissions. The pandemic surge and lag now clearly in the past and the growth continues. Thanks as ever to all the authors, readers affiliates, funders and amazing internal openRxiv team who make this happen! 67422
Reposted by Phil AbituaMichael Metzger @metzgerm.bsky.social · 23/06/2026I am excited to present our newest report on a severe outbreak of transmissible cancer in clams in the Pacific Northwest, with a lot of unexpected twists. Led by Sydney Weinandt and Zach Child. www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2611852123 1/14pnas.orgAtlantic to Pacific: Outbreak of bivalve transmissible neoplasia detected in hybridizing soft-shell clams and eDNA in Puget Sound | PNASBivalve transmissible neoplasias (BTNs) are transmissible cancers that have arisen in multiple bivalve species, including Eastern soft-shell clam (... 1106
Reposted by Phil AbituaJoachim Goedhart @joachimgoedhart.bsky.social · 01/07/2026A High-Affinity Nanobody Recognizing mNeonGreen Enables Versatile Biochemical, Cellular, and in vivo Applications. by Steffen Frey and team: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... 27333
Reposted by Phil AbituaJohn Wallingford @jbwallingford.bsky.social · 15/09/2025Side hustle level-up! My book, IN THE BEGINNING, will be published by @harperonebooks.bsky.social in 2027! It's about the human embryo, how it gets built, and what it means for where we come from and where we're going. @harpercollins.bsky.social (1/2) @socdevbio.bsky.social #devbiol #scicomm 810318
Phil Abitua @ohnolog.bsky.social · 30/06/2026If you want to get your hands wet, you could setup some crosses and learn how to inject. I am sure we could arrange that. 😉 100
Phil Abitua @ohnolog.bsky.social · 30/06/2026Thanks, Evan! The story has matured quite a bit since I last presented it in Paris. 010
Phil Abitua @ohnolog.bsky.social · 30/06/2026Thank you! It was a lot of fun dipping our toes in developmental immunology. 020
Phil Abitua @ohnolog.bsky.social · 30/06/2026🤣 and I was sold on the idea that it was the most important time of my life. 120
Phil Abitua @ohnolog.bsky.social · 30/06/2026So proud of @sydsat.bsky.social, the lab’s first graduate student, for leading this work! Special thanks to the Searle Scholars Program and the Royalty Research Fund for making it possible. Check out the preprint here: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...biorxiv.orgEarly immune cell development precedes gastrulation in annual killifishDuring embryogenesis, cell types arise in a predictable order because developmental regulators act sequentially. But how evolutionary changes in morphogenesis reshape the signaling environments that a... 392
Phil Abitua @ohnolog.bsky.social · 30/06/2026That uncoupling has real implications for cell type homology. Developmental origin is often used as evidence that cell types are homologous across species, but here the origin has changed while the cell type identity has been preserved. 260
Phil Abitua @ohnolog.bsky.social · 30/06/2026From an evo-devo perspective, what I find most interesting is that these cells are clearly homologous to neutrophils in other vertebrates, yet their developmental origin is completely different. 130
Phil Abitua @ohnolog.bsky.social · 30/06/2026As part of this project, we built the Single-cell Killifish RNA Atlas (SKiRA), an app for exploring early annual killifish development. Download it here: www.abitua.org/skira 130
Phil Abitua @ohnolog.bsky.social · 30/06/2026Remarkably, these cells look and act like neutrophils in other vertebrates — transcriptionally and behaviorally. They are just way ahead of schedule. Here, you can see them responding to a wound before organogenesis even begins. 130
Phil Abitua @ohnolog.bsky.social · 30/06/2026But where do they come from? This Mercator projection shows neutrophils emerging along the periphery of the self-organized axis as cells transition from the dispersed phase into the incipient aggregate, a morphogenetic novelty unique to annual killifish. 110
Phil Abitua @ohnolog.bsky.social · 30/06/2026Annual killifish continue to surprise us: they make neutrophils before almost every other cell type, even before gastrulation. Neutrophils usually arise from the lateral plate mesoderm (forming in cyan), but in killifish they are already patrolling around the embryo in gold. tinyurl.com/killiphil 720357
Reposted by Phil AbituaM. Brent Hawkins @homeobox.bsky.social · 22/06/2026Excited to share the final published version of our work on the evolution of dorsal-ventral patterning in fins and limbs, now up on @currentbiology.bsky.social In review we added new single LARM element deletions to assess their impact on dorsality. Take a look! 🔬🧪🐟🐁 www.cell.com/current-biol... 68236
