Sign in

Prof Anthony Isles

@profantisles.bsky.social
851 followers 777 following 384 posts

#Neuroscience 🧠 | #ImprintedGenes 🧬 | #preclinical models 🐭🧫| MURIDAE lead @mrcmousenetwork.bsky.social | Cardiff University | posting in a personal capacity, mostly about science profiles.cardiff.ac.uk/staff/islesa…

PostsRepliesMedia
Prof Anthony Isles @profantisles.bsky.social · 5h
Oooh, that doesn’t look good… there was quite a bit of confusion at the beginning of the year, So it will be interesting to see the next rounds figures. What I am also amazed by is that the success rate in 2024 was as high as it was 🤯
000
Reposted by Prof Anthony Isles
Odd This Day @oddthisday.bsky.social · 7h
Well, happy Charles Darwin is “very poorly today & very stupid & hate[s] everybody & everything” to all who celebrate, because he wrote those words in a letter to his friend (and author of Principles of Geology) Charles Lyell 161 years ago today
4449162
Reposted by Prof Anthony Isles
History and Heritage Yorkshire @handhyorkshire.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
🧵There has been a lot of discussion over the last few days about the politicising of a nostalgic view of the UK that never really existed, at least not for the vast majority of the population. The image of the traditional British country pub, a roaring log fire, wooden beams, a pint on the table
A romanticised 1946 depiction of a rural English village. Several villagers carry out various types of agricultural work, such as tending horses and fixing wheels on carts, whilst others are engaged in conversation outside the village pub.
65618
Reposted by Prof Anthony Isles
Beach Buoy @12bbytheseaside.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Was on beach.
0245
Reposted by Prof Anthony Isles
Brian Groom @groomb.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Whitby, Yorkshire, photo by Rachel Barron.
011913
Reposted by Prof Anthony Isles
Miles and Chains @miles-and-chains.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Regional Railways liveried 37414 ‘Cathays Carriage and Wagon Works’ powers the Viking Venturer rail tour toward Milford Junction. #Class37 #Tractor #RegionalRailways #BritishRail
1598
Reposted by Prof Anthony Isles
Brian Groom @groomb.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Leeds Street Scene, 1974, painting by Stuart Walton.
729236
Prof Anthony Isles @profantisles.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
My grandparents and other family members of that generation used to travel from Yorkshire to the South East of England to pick hops in September.
000
Reposted by Prof Anthony Isles
Deborah Bourc’his @deborahbourchis.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Mary Goll, Mathieu Boulard, Olya Yarychivska and I wrote an obituiary, including personal reflections from many of his past lab members, the Bestor phylogeny. www.genetics.cuimc.columbia.edu/news/memoria...
genetics.cuimc.columbia.edu
In memoriam of Professor Timothy H. Bestor
In memoriam: Professor Timothy H. Bestor 1952-2026
151
Prof Anthony Isles @profantisles.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Some lovely work investigating the role of imprinted snoRNAs on #sleep phenotypes in #PraderWilliSyndrome www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
sciencedirect.com
010
Reposted by Prof Anthony Isles
Helen Day @lbflyawayhome.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
‘The Coal Hopper’ In the Train, 1955 Artist: WC Watson
A green steam locomotive stands under a gigantic coal hopper as the coal truck is refilled 
826730
Reposted by Prof Anthony Isles
Maxim Greenberg @maxvcg.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
In related news, I read a paper from 2001 today (in Nature Genetics). There were 6 figures, but each figure was just one panel of a very simple experiment. What a beautiful world we once had...
4414
Reposted by Prof Anthony Isles
fesshole 🧻 @fesshole.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
I am simultaneously convinced that the L and R symbols on my cheap walking socks indicate zero difference between them, but also slavishly compelled to pair them and put each one on the correct foot.
172173
Reposted by Prof Anthony Isles
Andy Radford @andyradford.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
I’ve come to the end of my 5-year term as a Trustee of @asab.org & Executive Editor of its journal, #AnimalBehaviour. It's been a real privilege to hold these roles & I’m grateful to all those who have made it such a productive & enjoyable experience. 🙏 Please support Society journals.
Cover of the journal Animal Behaviour
16013
Reposted by Prof Anthony Isles
Aidan Horner @aidanhorner.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
We're hiring! The York Neuroimaging Centre (YNiC) is looking for a Senior Technical Specialist to support & develop MRI. This is a new role to reflect our commitment to pushing forward MRI research at York. Come join the team! jobs.york.ac.uk/vacancy/seni... #neurojobs #neuroskyence #psychscisky
jobs.york.ac.uk
Jobs - The University of York
12428
Reposted by Prof Anthony Isles
Helen Day @lbflyawayhome.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Other work by the Ladybird artists ‘September’ Shell Nature Studies, 1956 Artist: Rowland Hilder and Maurice Wilson
A rather bleak view across windswept moorland to low seacliffs. In the foreground are brown brambles and damp corn stooks. In the mid ground, a small white, low crofters cottage. 
327641
Prof Anthony Isles @profantisles.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
This #PhD project will build upon our paper (see link 👇), and will be co-supervised by @mdarrow.bsky.social (@rosfrankinst.bsky.social) & @professor-ros.bsky.social bsky.app/profile/prof...
020
Reposted by Prof Anthony Isles
Yorkshire Wolds Weather @yorkswoldsweather.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
Late Morning Ramble. 18°C. Blackbirds 🐦‍⬛
Late Morning Ramble. 18°C. Blackbirds 🐦‍⬛
410920
Reposted by Prof Anthony Isles
Prof Sarah-Jayne Blakemore @sjblakemore.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Brain postdoctoral fellowships (clinical and non-clinical) - open now for applications guarantorsofbrain.org/grants/post-...
guarantorsofbrain.org
Post Doctoral & Brain Entry Fellowships | Brain: The Charity
086
Reposted by Prof Anthony Isles
British Neuroscience Association @britishneuro.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
🧠 #BNA2027 is coming to #Belfast! The #neuroscience is only part of the experience. From iconic landmarks and culture to some of the venues hosting our evening social events, there’s plenty to discover when the sessions finish. 🎟️ Registration is now open www.bna.org.uk/events/bna20...
021
Reposted by Prof Anthony Isles
Brian Groom @groomb.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
On The Fife Coastal Path, painting by Deborah Phillips, Scottish artist.
38913
Reposted by Prof Anthony Isles
Helen Day @lbflyawayhome.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
‘Oak’ Ladybird Book of Trees, 1963 Artist: SR Badmin
In the foreground we just see a little of the leaf and fruit of the tree. In the mid ground, the large trunk of an ancient oak displays the bark. In the background we see the full tree canopy in all its splendour. 
439155
Reposted by Prof Anthony Isles
Count Binface @countbinface.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
I have an announcement.
762078471
Reposted by Prof Anthony Isles
Brian Groom @groomb.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Drinkers in a Newcastle pub, 1961, photo by Bert Hardy.
1547254
Prof Anthony Isles @profantisles.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Signed….
000
Reposted by Prof Anthony Isles
Cambridge Diary @cambridgediary.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
13th September 2021 With the harvest completed, a farmer prepares the soil for next year's crop. Picture from my book 'Cambridge - Light & Shade'. Available at www.cambridgebooks.co.uk/cambridge-li... and all bookshops.
0161
Reposted by Prof Anthony Isles
Helen Day @lbflyawayhome.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
‘September’ Artist: Eppo Doeve (Not a Ladybird artist - but what a striking image)
A tangle of brightly coloured, slightly surreal September plants have been set under a mysterious grey, forbidding sky. In the background, we see a gardener walking away, his back to us. 
627338
Reposted by Prof Anthony Isles
Prof Anthony Isles @profantisles.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
📢I have a #PhD position available!📢 This is an exciting project, building on our recent paper in the current issue of @dmmjournal.bsky.social, that will examine placental programming of fetal #brain in #PraderWilliSyndrome 🧠🧬 🙏 re-post gw4biomed.ac.uk/investigatin...
gw4biomed.ac.uk
Investigating placental function and fetal programming in Prader–Willi Syndrome - GW4 BioMed MRC DTP
Project Code NMH27Ca Isles Project Type Wet lab Research Theme Neuroscience and Mental Health Project Summary Download Summary By bringing together transcriptomics and cutting edge imaging, and dataan...
038
Prof Anthony Isles @profantisles.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Had completely forgotten about transfers! I used to love these as a child - at my friend Sean’s birthday tea we always got transfers in our goody-bag… happy days 😊
010
Prof Anthony Isles @profantisles.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
This #PhD project will build upon our paper (see link 👇), and will be co-supervised by @mdarrow.bsky.social (@rosfrankinst.bsky.social) & @professor-ros.bsky.social bsky.app/profile/prof...
001
Prof Anthony Isles @profantisles.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
📢I have a #PhD position available!📢 This is an exciting project, building on our recent paper in the current issue of @dmmjournal.bsky.social, that will examine placental programming of fetal #brain in #PraderWilliSyndrome 🧠🧬 🙏 re-post gw4biomed.ac.uk/investigatin...
gw4biomed.ac.uk
Investigating placental function and fetal programming in Prader–Willi Syndrome - GW4 BioMed MRC DTP
Project Code NMH27Ca Isles Project Type Wet lab Research Theme Neuroscience and Mental Health Project Summary Download Summary By bringing together transcriptomics and cutting edge imaging, and dataan...
038
Reposted by Prof Anthony Isles
The Kimono Gallery @roger1952.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
19th century woodblock print [and details] by Hiroshige Utagawa “One Hundred Famous Views of Edo, Scenery of Monkey Waka Town”. “The place is Saruwakacho. It is located in Asakusa 6-chome, Taito-ku, Tokyo, northeast of Sensoji Temple. “ Text and images via Ota Museum.
Titled Saruwakachō yoru no kei ("Night View of Saruwakachō"), the print captures the famous entertainment district in Asakusa under a deep Prussian blue sky (bero-ai). Along both sides of the street stand the grand wooden facades of Edo’s licensed Kabuki theaters, punctuated by the distinctive lookout towers (yagura) perched atop their roofs. Strolling along the broad thoroughfare, figures carrying paper lanterns (chōchin) and clad in head-cloths (zukin) cast crisp, elongated shadows onto the pale earth—a groundbreaking visual effect in traditional ukiyo-e.

The creation of Saruwakachō—located in present-day Taitō Ward, northeast of Sensō-ji Temple—was born from the strict puritanical decrees of the Tenpō Reforms (1841–1843). Seeking to curb moral indulgence and mitigate fire hazards in the city center, the Tokugawa shogunate forcibly relocated Edo’s three officially licensed Kabuki troupes (Edo Sanza: the Nakamura-za, Ichimura-za, and Morita-za) to this dedicated northern enclave, named in honor of the theater founder Saruwaka Kanzaburō. Rather than dimming the city’s passion for the stage, Saruwakachō flourished into a self-contained world of fantasy, lined with theatrical teahouses (shibai-chaya) and merchant stalls that hummed with life long after the final curtain fell.

Aesthetically, the print is a tranquil meditation on yūgen—that subtle, mysterious grace that descends when a realm usually defined by noise, spectacle, and heightened emotion falls silent. Hiroshige’s inclusion of cast shadows, an innovation influenced by European perspective and light studies, imparts a dreamlike, suspended stillness to the urban landscape.
110326
Reposted by Prof Anthony Isles
History and Heritage Yorkshire @handhyorkshire.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Gauxholme Bridge, spanning the Rochdale Canal at Todmorden, forms part of the No. 2 Gauxholme Viaduct. Built around 1840 by Joseph Butler and Company of Stanningley, it was designed by engineer George Stephenson. Its imposing stone towers, crenellated parapets and elegant
The image shows the historic Gauxholme Railway Bridge crossing the Rochdale Canal in Todmorden, West Yorkshire Image: Tim Green CC BY 2,0
825843
Reposted by Prof Anthony Isles
DMM Journal @dmmjournal.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Are you a PhD student interested in #SciComm, disease biology and publishing? Are you in the BBSRC DTP/PIPS or equivalent schemes where an internship forms part of the training? Join us as an intern and work with the DMM editorial team. Find out how to apply: www.biologists.com/about-us/wor...
biologists.com
Work for us
Explore career opportunities at The Company of Biologists. Join a team passionate about science, publishing and community support.
088
Reposted by Prof Anthony Isles
DMM Journal @dmmjournal.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
August’s #EditorsChoice from Isles et al. on the placental defects revealed by modelling Prader–Willi syndrome in mice doi.org/10.1242/dmm....
111
Prof Anthony Isles @profantisles.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Here is the "Editor's choice" comment article by Tony Holland that highlights our recent #PWS #placenta paper published in the current Issue of @dmmjournal.bsky.social 😊 journals.biologists.com/dmm/article/...
journals.biologists.com
The placenta in Prader–Willi syndrome – mechanistic insights and translational opportunities
The observations of Webberley et al. (2026) challenge our thinking about mechanisms linking genotype to phenotype in the rare neurodevelopmental condition Prader–Willi Syndrome (PWS), and also raise t...
010
Reposted by Prof Anthony Isles
The English Oak Project @thekentacorn.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
I need to know
Door to a secret garden
122313
Reposted by Prof Anthony Isles
Cambridge Diary @cambridgediary.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
5th September 2021 Hard to believe that five years ago many farmers in the area were harvesting into September due to the grain being too moist.
0121
Reposted by Prof Anthony Isles
Brian Groom @groomb.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
Manchester, 1970s, photo by Thomas Blower.
271835192
Reposted by Prof Anthony Isles
Helen Day @lbflyawayhome.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
A rare, pre-war Ladybird book in my collection (circa 1930) How can you not love the cover? Artist: W Payne
Cheerful illustration in strong primary colours of two children sitting on colourful luggage next to a bright green locomotive.
1338934
Reposted by Prof Anthony Isles
The Kimono Gallery @roger1952.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Through the golden road, Shiga, Japan. Photography by Takk B on 500px
Bathed in the warm, low-slanting light of late autumn, this mesmerizing photograph captures the famous Metasequoia Avenue (Metasequoia Namiki) in Makino Town, Takashima City, Shiga Prefecture. Over five hundred dawn redwoods line a two-kilometer stretch of road, their soaring crowns arching inward to create a luminous, incandescent canopy of rust-gold needles. Photographer Takk B frames the avenue along a dramatic central axis, following the undulating asphalt as it dips and rises toward a distant vanishing point. Cast across the road surface, the low sun projects a rhythmic pattern of long, dark shadows—creating a bold, striped alternation of light (hikari) and shade (kage) that recalls the delicate geometry of traditional bamboo blinds (sudare).

Botanically and culturally, the avenue represents a celebrated chapter in modern Japanese landscape design. First planted in 1981 as part of a regional agricultural development project, the dawn redwood (Metasequoia glyptostroboides) holds profound ecological significance as a "living fossil" (ikita kaseki), believed extinct for millions of years until living stands were rediscovered in central China in the 1940s and re-established throughout Japan. Although a 20th-century creation, the golden avenue honors a ancient design tradition: the creation of monumental tree-lined approaches (namiki) that historically defined sacred shrine approaches (sandō) and major feudal highways like the Nikkō Kaidō. Here, modern municipal planning and arboriculture converge, turning a simple transport corridor into a living architectural sanctuary.

Aesthetically, the composition is a masterclass in seasonal attunement (shun) and the contemplation of kōyō (autumn foliage). The fiery amber hue represents a brief, transitional climax—a fleeting fortnight in late November before the delicate, needle-like leaves fall, blanketing the ground and leaving behind stark winter silhouettes.
301769238
Reposted by Prof Anthony Isles
Miles and Chains @miles-and-chains.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
West Coast Railways service from Lancaster to Scarborough (1Z12) pauses at York. Yes, it’s supposed to steam hauled, but with 37667 up front and 47813 on the back, what’s not to like…? Well let’s start with that maroon! #Class37 #Tractor #York
21008
Reposted by Prof Anthony Isles
womensartbluesky.bsky.social @womensartbluesky.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Georgia O'Keeffe, Blue Wave Maine, 1926 #WomensArt
Semi abstract or stylised artwork featuring a white wave in a blue sea
72144349
Reposted by Prof Anthony Isles
Welsh Bollocks @welshbollocks.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Bangor AI is still operating at full capacity...
3252
Prof Anthony Isles @profantisles.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
📢 New paper! 📢 Always great working with @professor-ros.bsky.social et al. Sex-specific consequences of loss-of-imprinting of the maternally expressed gene Phlda2 on placental development and fetal growth. Biol Sex Differ (2026) rdcu.be/tK3m6pynMyva
rdcu.be
030
Reposted by Prof Anthony Isles
The English Oak Project @thekentacorn.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
St Edward’s Church, Stow-on-the-Wold, with its Yew Tree guardians Tolkien was a regular visitor in the area, and the doors bear an uncanny resemblance to similar in Lord of the Rings, the Doors of Durin
Yew trees either side of a church door
746975
Reposted by Prof Anthony Isles
Prof Anthony Isles @profantisles.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Here is the "Editor's choice" comment article on our paper 😊 journals.biologists.com/dmm/article/...
journals.biologists.com
The placenta in Prader–Willi syndrome – mechanistic insights and translational opportunities
The observations of Webberley et al. (2026) challenge our thinking about mechanisms linking genotype to phenotype in the rare neurodevelopmental condition Prader–Willi Syndrome (PWS), and also raise t...
031
Reposted by Prof Anthony Isles
Prof Anthony Isles @profantisles.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
📢NEW PAPER📢 Our paper is now published and fully #OA in @dmmjournal.bsky.social! Placental defects revealed by modelling Prader–Willi syndrome in mice journals.biologists.com/dmm/article/...
journals.biologists.com
Placental defects revealed by modelling Prader–Willi syndrome in mice
Editor's choice: Reduced expression of PWS-associated genes in the mouse placenta results in a 25% loss of the foetal endothelial cells that play a central role in nutrient and gas exchange.
042
Reposted by Prof Anthony Isles
Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan @london.gov.uk · 02/09/2026
2014: Harmful air pollution above legal limits. 2024: Harmful air pollution driven down to legal limits. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
601484418
Reposted by Prof Anthony Isles
womensartbluesky.bsky.social @womensartbluesky.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
Cat, c.1904, by Welsh painter Gwen John #WomensArt
Cat with white face and chest lying down facing forwards
81215202