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Santos Franco

@thefrancolab.bsky.social
389 followers 447 following 74 posts

I used to do science. I still do, but I used to, too. // Associate Professor at CU-Anschutz, Peds Dev Bio // Brain development, cell fate, oligodendrocytes, Sonic hedgehog, Notch // New Mexican // Chicano // he/him

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Reposted by Santos Franco
Konopka Lab @konopkalab.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
UCLA Dept of Neurobiology is hiring an Open-Rank Tenure-Track Faculty Member! 🧠 Our research spans genetics, molecular, systems, computation, and behavior. Apply by Oct 31 to join our vibrant neuroscience community at DGSOM. 🔗 recruit.apo.ucla.edu/JPF11296
recruit.apo.ucla.edu
Open-rank tenure-track faculty position
University of California, Los Angeles is hiring. Apply now!
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Paul L. Franco @loadofbunk.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
Sources: Paul L. Franco just completed his last class of summer. Upon submitting grades, UW will move him to Sabbatical Reserve for '26-'27. This move, long expected by insiders, comes after a promotion to Teaching Professor. It saves UW 33% of his salary, keeping the Huskies under the second apron.
Portrait of Paul Franco staring into the distance on a cloudy PNW beach. He's wearing a hat with the Zia symbol, which is also on the flag of New Mexico. The banner says: "Promoted & On Sabbatical. Breaking News from Shams Charania"
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Kevin Wright @kevinmawright.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Excited to release the newest preprint from the lab into the wild. Super proud of @ninaluong.bsky.social, who did 99% of the experiments in this beast of a paper. Want to know more about some novel RGC subtypes? Buckle up! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... 1/9
biorxiv.org
A pooled genetic approach provides multimodal access to uncharacterized retinal ganglion cell subtypes
Retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) are the sole output neurons of the retina, responsible for transmitting visual information to the brain. Recent transcriptomic studies have revealed extensive molecular d...
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Teresa Rayon @trayon.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
Our work on the role of the proteasome in developmental tempo is out!!!! 🐭⌛️👤⏳ Six years after identifying an association between protein stability and developmental tempo, we now demonstrate a causal link between protein turnover and developmental tempo through proteasomal degradation
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Pierre Vanderhaeghen @vanderhaeghenp2.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Human-specific genes in glia promote neoteny- beautiful work by @franckp.bsky.social and colleagues. www.cell.com/neuron/fullt...
cell.com
Human-specific SRGAP2 paralogs synchronize neotenic microglial maturation and synaptic development
Using a combination of microglia-specific conditional mouse knockout and knockin approaches and xenotransplantation of human iPSC-derived microglia, Diaz-Salazar et al. demonstrate that the human-spec...
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Andreas Prokop @poppi62.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
Over 15 years of our work consistently supports a cohesive model of neurodegeneration providing useful concepts and directions for future research: "the dependency cycle of local axon homeostasis". Enjoy the read of our completely revamped manuscript: doi.org/10.1101/2025... (PDF fixed)
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Adam Phillippy @aphillippy.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
For the past 30 years, “whole-genome sequencing” has been a misnomer. Today the T2T Consortium publishes a dozen papers heralding a future of truly complete genomes for humans and nearly any vertebrate 👨‍🔬🐒🐦🐀🦒🐎🫏🐹🐟 (sorry, no salamanders): www.cell.com/consortium/t... 🧵[1/15]
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Gustavo Della Flora Nunes @gdfnunes.bsky.social · 01/08/2026
I’m deeply honored to be part of the amazing cohort of scientists awarded a 2026 @simonsfoundation.org Fellows-to-Faculty grant. I look forward to exploring how oligodendrocytes and myelin may impact developing circuits in autism, and I can’t wait to interact more with the autism community!
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Developmental Biology @devbiol.bsky.social · 20/07/2026
#DBfeature #LatestResearch 🧠 Microtubule binding protein Togaram1 is required for proper development of mammalian forebrain and neural primary cilia, with its knockout leading to a thin and irregular neuron layer By Clarissa Nassar, Savera Shetty, Noelle Dwyer doi.org/10.1016/j.ydbio.2026.05.011
Neuron layer of E12.5 Togaram1 KO cortex is thin and irregular.
(A) Control E12.5 cortical section shows a thick layer of Pax6+ NSCs in the ventricular zone topped by daughter cells forming layers of basal progenitors (Tbr2+) and neurons (Tubb3+).
(B-D) Examples of different neuron layer abnormalities found in Togaram1 KOs.
(B) KO #1 displays a deep ventricular indent and a small neuron cluster to the left of the indent. Neuron layer is thinner above the indent, but is continuous.
(C) KO #2 has a very thin patchy neuron layer with a large neuron cluster.
(D) KO #3 has a ventricular indent with a thin neuron layer with a gap above the indent. White dashed line marks ventricle, yellow dashed lines outline ectopic neuron clusters, yellow arrowheads indicate breaks in the neuronal layer. Scale bars: 100um.
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Bruce Appel @bruceappel.bsky.social · 23/05/2026
Great to have some of the lab crew together for a @habitatforhumanity.bsky.social work day! Habitat is a terrific organization, building much needed affordable housing, and you get to use power tools! Get involved!
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Maurine Neiman @maurineneiman.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
Diversity and policies promoting DEI, including affirmative action ---> $$$. It's good for everyone. rdcu.be/fj2pa
rdcu.be
Racial diversity in higher education is associated with higher student salaries
Nature - A longitudinal study shows that racial diversity in higher education is associated with higher student salaries at graduation, indicating that policies to increase or leverage racial...
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Zoltan Molnar @zoltan-molnar.bsky.social · 14/05/2026
There are transient interactions between cellular elements in the developing brain. Proteomic data generation is now essential for ligand–receptor pair prediction & validation. We examined brain regions, of a single human 20GW brain from @HDBR, Univ Newcastle. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
A posttranslational proteomic survey of a single anatomically preserved human 20‐week postconception brain
A well-preserved 20 post-conception week human brain was obtained and finely dissected into 18 anatomically distinct regions, including the pia mater. Each region underwent in-depth proteomic analysi...
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Reposted by Santos Franco
Drug Monkey @drugmonkey.bsky.social · 12/05/2026
"a total of 119 applications of white PIs funded from 34-59th percentile. A score range at which ZERO applications were funded to Black PIs...119 white PI applications funded at worse scores is 46.5% of the total number of applications funded with Black PIs" drugmonkey.wordpress.com/2020/06/10/m...
drugmonkey.wordpress.com
“Merit” and the NIH disparity of grant award to Black PIs
I was just noticing something that I hadn’t really focused on before in the Hoppe et al 2019 report on the success of grant applications based on topic choices. This is on me because I’…
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Drug Monkey @drugmonkey.bsky.social · 12/05/2026
"If you swap [unfunded Black PI apps] out for applications funded to white PIs this would reduce the funding rate ..to. 15.6% Which is still 46% higher than the award rate the applications from Black PIs actually achieved." From the Archive: The Endgame drugmonkey.wordpress.com/2020/06/16/t...
drugmonkey.wordpress.com
The Endgame
Hoppe et al 2019 reported that R01 applications submitted by Black PIs for possible funding in Fiscal Years 2011-2015 were awarded at a rate of 10.7%. At the same time, R01 applications submitted b…
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Christian Mosimann @chrmosimann.bsky.social · 08/05/2026
Open-rank search: 2 (!) PI positions in Pulmonary Biology at @cuanschutz.bsky.social 🌄 We are looking for new colleagues @cupediatrics.bsky.social, working in lung fibrosis, focusing on #devbio, stem cell, & regen.biology of the lung 🫁🫀. Please help spread the word! cu.taleo.net/careersectio...
cu.taleo.net
Open Rank- Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, or Professor
Click the link provided to see the complete job description.
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Paul L. Franco @loadofbunk.bsky.social · 08/05/2026
Shout-out to my university for telling my 180 students to personally email me about the Canvas outage.
UW students will receive an email instructing them to contact faculty and academic departments with any questions about classes and assignments.
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Dr. William Horne @wihorne.bsky.social · 07/05/2026
What if we just let Canvas die?
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Santos Franco @thefrancolab.bsky.social · 06/05/2026
Couldn’t be May
Stupid snow covering all the trees and ground in May
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Santos Franco @thefrancolab.bsky.social · 04/05/2026
This game is drunk. #GoAvsGo
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drunkenGeeBee @drunkengeebee.bsky.social · 16/04/2026
They just dropped a music video/documentary: www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-57...
youtube.com
Massive Attack, Tom Waits - Boots on the Ground
YouTube video by Massive Attack
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Santos Franco @thefrancolab.bsky.social · 18/04/2026
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Stephen DeCasien, Ph.D. @sdecasien.bsky.social · 16/04/2026
My sister’s new article in Science!!! Congrats 🎉 @coevolvinglab.bsky.social Sex effects on gene expression across the human cerebral cortex at cell type resolution | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
science.org
Sex effects on gene expression across the human cerebral cortex at cell type resolution
Sex differences in neurodevelopmental, psychiatric, and neurodegenerative disease susceptibility may arise from sex chromosome and hormonal influences on cell type–specific gene expression. We present...
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Max Heiman @heiman.bsky.social · 10/04/2026
New preprint! "A stereotyped glial attachment determines the morphology and function of neuronal cilia" doi.org/10.64898/202... We find that C. elegans neuronal cilia attach to glia, we identify a protein required for cilia-glia attachment, and we show that glial attachments alter cilia signaling.
biorxiv.org
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Siegenthaler Lab @siegenthalerlab.bsky.social · 07/04/2026
Congrats to the newest PhD from the @siegenthalerlab.bsky.social, Dr. Sophia Kim! Beautiful thesis document & presentation! 🧠🦠🔬🎉 Sophia's thesis work on arachnoid barrier breakdown in meningitis is on bioRxiv - check it out! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
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Santos Franco @thefrancolab.bsky.social · 07/04/2026
Two very cool papers out in Nature from the labs of Stephen Fancy and David Rowitch. In one study they show that the developmental expansion of CUX2+ neocortical neuron progenitors requires enhanced DNA repair mechanisms to deal with replicative stress. 1/4 www.nature.com/articles/s41...
nature.com
Expansion of outer cortical CUX2 neurons requires adaptations for DNA repair - Nature
The transcription factor ATF4 is shown to regulate double-stranded DNA repair within vulnerable CUX2+ upper-layer 2/3 cortical neurons, enabling their survival during development.
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Santos Franco @thefrancolab.bsky.social · 07/04/2026
Two very cool papers out in Nature from the labs of Stephen Fancy and David Rowitch. In one study they show that the developmental expansion of CUX2+ neocortical neuron progenitors requires enhanced DNA repair mechanisms to deal with replicative stress. 1/4 www.nature.com/articles/s41...
nature.com
Expansion of outer cortical CUX2 neurons requires adaptations for DNA repair - Nature
The transcription factor ATF4 is shown to regulate double-stranded DNA repair within vulnerable CUX2+ upper-layer 2/3 cortical neurons, enabling their survival during development.
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lyons-lab.bsky.social @lyons-lab.bsky.social · 02/04/2026
Latest offering. How myelin ensheathes axons! Born from chat with Dwight Bergles on "weird things" we saw oligodendrocytes do, like making "bridges" between sheaths. Driven forward by Cody Call, Kelly Monk, and myelin folks @edinburgh-uni.bsky.social Enjoy! www.nature.com/articles/s41...
nature.com
Flexible ensheathment of axons enables myelination of complex CNS networks - Nature
The rate of axon ensheathment varies within individual myelinating processes, resulting in chains of myelin sheaths connected by bridges consisting of thin cytoplasmic processes that provide&nbsp...
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Angelo Iulianella @aineurolab.bsky.social · 31/03/2026
Neurogenesis meeting in Toronto 🇨🇦 on July 13-16. Great line up of speakers.
event.fourwaves.com
Neurogenesis and Repair 2026
Join Neurogenesis and Repair 2026, July 13-16, 2026. Learn more on Fourwaves.
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Paul L. Franco @loadofbunk.bsky.social · 30/03/2026
If I knew what I know now in graduate school I wouldn't have audited Kant's first Critique like three times and would've replaced at least one of those with a class about making Canvas modules because my job has way less first Critique and way more making Canvas modules than I could've ever guessed.
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Dominique Baker @bakerdphd.bsky.social · 27/03/2026
The biggest thing I have to explain to normal friends is that I basically have 2 chances for raises over the lifetime of my career (promotion to Associate and promotion to Full). Beyond that, you generally have to have an offer from another university to change your compensation (not a guarantee).
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Grant Tosterud @granttosterud.bsky.social · 27/03/2026
Roswell saw its earliest 100° day on record today, breaking the old record by almost a month. This is the first time they have seen a 100° day during the month of March. #NMwx
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Carlo Colantuoni @carlocolantuoni.bsky.social · 25/03/2026
Today in Nature Neuroscience we have published our exploration of neocortical development leveraging 100's of public datasets. You can interrogate the entire compendium of data at nemoanalytics.org/landing/neoc... and read the paper at www.nature.com/articles/s41....
lnkd.in
LinkedIn
This link will take you to a page that’s not on LinkedIn
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Atlas of Variant Effects Alliance @varianteffect.bsky.social · 25/03/2026
Sujatha Jagannathan from the University of Colorado Anschutz School of Medicine is next to take the floor in the first session. Her talk is focused on mapping of nonsense-mediated mRNA decay. #VariantEffect26 #NMD #Mapping #AtlasOfVariantEffectsAlliance
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Drug Monkey @drugmonkey.bsky.social · 19/03/2026
NIH Fellowship awards for FY2025 by race drugmonkey.wordpress.com/2026/03/19/n...
drugmonkey.wordpress.com
NIH Fellowship awards for FY2025 by race
The NIH Data Book page reporting Research Project Grants (RPG) and Fellowship awards by race has been updated for FY2025. Completely unsurprisingly, despite the impression that may have been convey…
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Drug Monkey @drugmonkey.bsky.social · 24/03/2026
NIH Fellowship awards for FY2025 by ethnicity drugmonkey.wordpress.com/2026/03/23/n...
drugmonkey.wordpress.com
NIH Fellowship awards for FY2025 by ethnicity
The NIH Data Book page reporting Research Project Grants (RPG) and Fellowship awards by ethnicity has been updated for FY2025. From this page we can look at the impact of FY2025 chaos on the fundin…
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Needhi Bhalla 💅🏽 @needhibhalla.bsky.social · 24/03/2026
"The other way to put this is that NIH funded 33.1% fewer Hispanic trainees and only 6.3% fewer Non-Hispanic trainees in FY2025...we probably don’t have to think about this too deeply. The anti 'DEI' agenda of the new regime...is probably sufficient"
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Debby Silver @debbysilver.bsky.social · 19/03/2026
Delighted to share that our study is now out @cp-cellstemcell.bsky.social www.cell.com/cell-stem-ce... Congrats to Dr. @federicamosti.bsky.social for the culmination of a beautiful thesis!
cell.com
Species-specific chromatin architecture and neurogenesis mediated by a human enhancer
How human-specific DNA changes shape brain development is poorly understood. Mosti et al. discover a human enhancer, HAR1984, which drives ETV5 and TRA2B expression via human-enriched chromatin intera...
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Developmental Biology @devbiol.bsky.social · 20/03/2026
Submit to our Developmental Biology Special Issue - Receptor tyrosine kinase signaling in development!😎 Guest editors Katherine Fantauzzo @fantauzzolab.bsky.social Jennifer Fish Deadline April 30th, 2026 @socdevbio.bsky.social Linked here👇 www.sciencedirect.com/special-issu...
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John Lukens @lukensjohnr.bsky.social · 20/03/2026
2027 Neuroimmune Gordon Research Conference - Jan 24-29, 2027👇 www.grc.org/neuroimmune-...
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Gonçalo Castelo-Branco @gocastelobranco.bsky.social · 19/03/2026
Our latest in @natneuro.nature.com, lead by Mukund Kabbe, providing single cell epigenomic maps of the human brain and spinal cord with snATAC and our NanoCUT&Tag and finding epigenetic memory in oligodendroglia of developmental programs! www.nature.com/articles/s41...
nature.com
Single-nucleus epigenomic profiling of the adult human central nervous system unveils epigenetic memory of developmental programs - Nature Neuroscience
Single-nucleus epigenomic maps of the adult human brain and spinal cord reveal that adult oligodendroglia retain developmental chromatin patterns, suggesting a molecular memory that may shape repair p...
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Navjot Kaur @babyamygdala.bsky.social · 18/03/2026
Happy to share my co-first-author paper, now published in Nature! In this work, we uncover gene regulatory networks that underlie the diversification and connectivity of excitatory neurons in the neocortex. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
nature.com
Adaptive evolution of gene regulatory networks in mammalian neocortex - Nature
The excitatory neuron diversity and specialized connectivity of complex, multilayered mammalian neocortex are driven by mammalian-specific cis-regulatory elements bound by ZBTB18, deletion of which di...
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John Lukens @lukensjohnr.bsky.social · 18/03/2026
Distinct origins and niches determine the cellular responsiveness of CNS macrophages after repopulation www.nature.com/articles/s41...
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Chris Bianchi @bianchiweather.bsky.social · 17/03/2026
Spring break...Denver? It'll be warmer in Denver than Miami tomorrow, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. And it won't be close, either. #COwx
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Chris Bianchi @bianchiweather.bsky.social · 17/03/2026
An 80° temp spike in 80 hours this week in Denver* *(admittedly cheating because the 5° low was at DIA, while it was closer to 15° this morning downtown. Please let me cheat. Thank you) #COwx
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Paul L. Franco @loadofbunk.bsky.social · 11/03/2026
Socrates's h-index was 0.
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Colorado Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute (CCTSI) @cctsi.bsky.social · 04/03/2026
AI analysis of eye photos may help detect serious lung and heart conditions in premature infants. The study, which is led by CCTSI leader Jayashree Kalpathy-Cramer, suggests routine, noninvasive retinal imaging could help identify life-threatening complications. buff.ly/sCKtN0Q
buff.ly
AI Analysis of Eye Photos May Help Detect Serious Lung and Heart Conditions in Premature Infants
AI Analysis of Eye Photos May Help Detect Serious Lung and Heart Conditions in Premature Infants.
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JoAnn Trejo @joann-trejo.bsky.social · 04/03/2026
Our newest paper in J. Biol. Chem 10.1016/j.jbc.2026.111190 GPCR biased signaling is orchestrated by caveolae plasma membrane microdomains. Beyond its structural role, Caveolin-1 is regulated by Y-phosphorylation and protein-protein interactions allowing it to actively direct GPCR biased signaling.
Model of PAR1, GRK5, beta-arrestin-2 and c-Src regulation by Caveolin-1
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Stand Up for Science! @standupforscience.net · 17/02/2026
DENVER! Join your local March 7th rally to take back our science! Learn more at standupforscience.net/march7 #rally #March7 #ImpeachRFKJr #science #standupforscience
STAND UP FOR SCIENCE COLORADO
NATIONAL DAY of ACTION
Take back our science, health, and democracy!

MARCH 7TH, 2026
DENVER, CO
AND NATIONWIDE!

standupforscience.net/march7
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Santos Franco @thefrancolab.bsky.social · 28/02/2026
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Crystal Rogers, PhD @rogerslabucd.bsky.social · 22/02/2026
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. 🤩
A transverse section through a developing chicken eye after immunohistochemistry for tubulin proteins and with nuclear stain
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