Dr. Liz Haynes 🐟🔬
@drlizhaynes.bsky.social
Asst. Prof @ UW-Madison. I study the cell biology of the neuroimmune system using zebrafish. I make pretty pictures. #FirstGen
This was a really fun story to see develop. OptoPLC does some fascinating things to cell motility
Journal of Cell Biology@jcb.org · 4mo agoAppalabhotla, Siesser, Bear, Haugh et al. developed a system enabling light-mediated recruitment of PLC-γ1 variants to dissect mechanisms underpinning #cancer-associated hyperactivity, and they show that recruitment of active PLC-γ1 robustly directs #fibroblast #migration rupress.org/jcb/article/...
All the cool kids are making segmentation tools! Hurrah!
MadScientist@mads100tist.bsky.social · 3w agoDo you work with microscopy images and segment to quantify or track? Do you study cell biology? development? Gather round! Let me tell you about FOCUS-3D, a segmentation algorithm that is fast, accurate and can be used on any model. We used it here to study zebrafish development. 🧪 (thread)
Comparisons like this are important to learn about the biology and etiology of human diseases, which can improve patient care/outcomes. Learn more about the study behind these videos by reading the original research by @drlizhaynes.bsky.social et al: elifesciences.org/articles/74270 🐟 #DiseaseModels
Zebrafish Rock!@zebrafishrock.bsky.social · last mo.Light sheet fluorescence microscopy (LSFM) movie of axon branching during #zebrafish development in a neurodegenerative disease gene (KLC4) mutant. Credit to @drlizhaynes.bsky.social. #ZebrafishZunday
The White House has finalized changes to F, J & I student visa terms. Beginning Sept 15 2026, visas will generally be limited to four years, replacing the current Duration of Status policy. https://www.ascb.org/science-policy/white-house-finalizes-changes-to-international-student-visa-terms/
Excited to share a new preprint from the lab, by @andrewmatheson.bsky.social and team, where we dive into the superpower of newts: plasticity! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... Like many good projects, this started with a serendipitous observation... 🧵1/5
An intact human heart, rendered transparent. Because disease doesn't happen in 2D. Whole-organ tissue clearing and light-sheet microscopy reveal coronary vessels (magenta) and atherosclerotic plaques (gold) across the intact organ. More at: shorturl.at/iqTBh 🫀🔬 #FluorescenceFriday!
Annual 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
🧬 🧪Our RNA velocity benchmark is out in PLOS Comp Biol We tested 5 methods on mouse & zebrafish data. They often disagree (just 1/100 driver genes shared 😬). A hypothesis tool, not ground truth. Open access 👉 doi.org/10.1371/jour... Led by the brilliant Sarah Ancheta (not on bsky)
I definitely could have used this in prior work - awesome!
Eugene Katrukha 🇺🇦@ekatrukha.bsky.social · 3mo agoWith a motivating push from @christlet.bsky.social I made a new Fiji plugin, CurveMorph. The idea was to create a tool for kymograph generation along the dynamic (bending/shaking) filament shapes (microtubules, cilia, neurites, etc). The logo was made using the plugin. github.com/UU-cellbiolo...
May 29th. If you're in Paris, mark your calendars. Lock your pipettes. TELL YOUR cHAIR. RUN FOR YOUR LIVES 🧪🐟
Maxim Greenberg@maxvcg.bsky.social · 5mo agoElmoFire.gif @mads100tist.bsky.social @nkonst4.bsky.social @ijmonod.bsky.social Looking forward to having Dr. Mad Scientist (AKA Joaquin) grace our humble institute! 🐟🧪
It’s out! 🐟 We compared three regeneration superstars—axolotl, zebrafish, and Polypterus—to ask how animals regrow limbs and fins. We find shared core processes, and other programs fine-tuned by evolution in surprising, lineage-specific ways. tinyurl.com/mpftkn7y
This is a very thoughtful way of working as a group to determine boundaries on AI use within a lab and I completely agree with their conclusions based on my own experience testing LLM tools!
Coleen Murphy@ctmurphy1.bsky.social · 8mo agoThe Murphy Lab did our annual retreat this week. This year's theme was using AI (what it's good and bad for). I wanted to be open-minded to make sure we are not missing something we should be using it for, so we did a few exercises to test, and had presentations.
My lab’s study of behavioral development 🐠 has long faced a roadblock: how do you follow an individual’s development if you can’t identify who’s who? How do you identify a juvenile fish the size of a grain of rice? Here, we share two safe, effective tagging methods! doi.org/10.1002/jez.... 🧪 (1/5)
Pleased to say that Jonas Hartmann (bs-less) and I have finally released DySTrack (“diss track”) - Dynamic Sample Tracking. It’s a Python-based, modular tool that brings smart microscopy to everyday imaging on commercial systems. Preprint: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... [1/6]
Hmmm on a test image I generated using Gemini, it even did a pretty good job of simulating gaussian noise.
Damian Dalle Nogare@damiandn.bsky.social · 10mo agoCurious what the image statistics look like. Could you grab one of the channels and show the histogram?
So how did it go? NIH made 43 DP2 awards, the lowest number in a decade. I really wish Director Bhattacharya would spend doing his actual job rather than badmouthing the agency he is charged to lead and spouting platitudes on podcasts and elsewhere. 6/7
Zara was a star, a cherished friend, and an untiring advocate. I wish she had the chance to stay here with us and help create a brighter future, but she already gave us so much in her time here. I'm glad she will be honored in the next cohort of LE fellows ❤️
Leading Edge Fellows Program@leadingedgeprogram.bsky.social · 10mo agoThe Leading Edge Fellows gathered this week to celebrate Zara Weinberg, a beloved member of our community. Our 7th cohort of Leading Edge Fellows (2026) will be named in her honor. The Zara Weinberg Leading Edge Cohort application is now open! Due Feb 2. www.leadingedgesymposium.org/apply/
Live visualization of extracellular matrix dynamics during development and regeneration in zebrafish https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.11.02.686082v1
I need to get some better frames now that I'm a big kid (supposedly) but finally got my collection of Bob Goldstein prints in my office! There's a Clare Waterman one out of view too!
I'm very excited to announce that UNC Biology has 6 faculty positions open this year! The first is for an Asst Professor who studies organismal resilience using an integrative approach 1/n unc.peopleadmin.com/postings/307...
It is time to recognize research software as a valuable scientific contribution in itself, beyond a tool — and to support it go.nature.com/438X8qS
Stop treating code like an afterthought: record, share and value it
Scientists, research institutions, funders, libraries and publishers must all improve software practices.
go.nature.com
Seventies Susumu Ohno vibes! Fashion goes in circles.
Javier Lazaro - scientific illustration@lazaroillustration.bsky.social · 12mo ago"Fishman", proposal for a journal cover. Commissioned by MY Dennis' lab @mydennis.bsky.social for a study focused on identifying human-specific gene duplications and their role in brain evolution using genomics and zebrafish as model. @dcsoto.bsky.social #art #digitalart #sciart #fish
Here's a movie from the 3D neuroimaging paper - this is the telencephalon of a 19 month old tg(kdrl:mCherry, mpeg1:eGFP) fish. We use imaris to strip the top layer (the skin and skull) off the projection so we can see just the tissue beneath the skull. This was taken with a Bruker 2P+ multiphoton.
We are so excited to include these new Fellows-to-Faculty Fellows in the Simons Foundation fold!
Simons Foundation@simonsfoundation.org · 12mo agoAnnouncing our 9 new Fellows-to-Faculty Fellows! These awards help senior postdoctoral researchers with fresh perspectives on autism & neuroscience transition to tenure-track faculty positions: https://www.simonsfoundation.org/simons-foundation-announces-recipients-of-2025-fellows-to-faculty-awards/
Want to image the adult zebrafish brain? Here's a nifty design that I made with the help of a talented master's student, Corey Steinhauser. Supporting files here! morgridge.org/research/lab...
A 3D-Printable device for non-invasive neuroimaging of adult zebrafish - Morgridge Institute for Research
Short Summary: This device is designed for use with an upright multiphoton microscope for neuroimaging of the adult and juvenile zebrafish. It allows for fast and reproducible mounting of fish
morgridge.org
bioRxiv Neuroscience@biorxiv-neursci.bsky.social · 12mo agoNon-invasive longitudinal imaging reveals aging-associated changes in neuroimmune cells in adult zebrafish https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.09.23.676912v1
Whoa - neuronal ciliary proteome! Tons to dig into here - different from kidney cilia proteome (perhaps unsurprising) and enriched for many postsynaptic proteins, strengthening previous suggestions of cilia as postsynaptic signaling structures. @nachury.bsky.social www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
In situ Proteomics Unveils Specialized Domains for Extrasynaptic Signaling on Neuronal Cilia
Neuronal cilia have emerged as crucial signaling hubs, yet their molecular composition and integration with synaptic communication remain poorly understood. Using a newly developed Arl13b-TurboID mous...
biorxiv.org
Maximising imaging volumes of expanded tissues for inverted fluorescence microscopy https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.09.12.675899v1
Trying to stay hopeful and see joy in these times, and I thought this was lovely.
Kelly Turnbull@coelasquid.bsky.social · last yr.Sometimes we’re unsatisfied with a thing we made because when it only existed in our head, we saw all the things it could have been and when it’s done we know all the things that it isn’t, but we can’t see the way it expands into a million new things when someone else unpacks it in their head. 🖊️🦑
