Introducing mc-ASTRA, an open-source Python framework for studying how tissues vary and remodel across patients, perturbations, time points and other biological contexts. Manuscript: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... Package: saezlab.github.io/mc-astra/

I'm excited to share our new preprint: Generation of a transgenic cephalopod tinyurl.com/pc86jxz8 Cephalopods (cuttlefish, octopus & squid) are crazy critters that dynamically camouflage to their surroundings by changing the color, pattern, & texture of their skin, which they control w their brain.

📣 It's been a long time coming but delighted to see that the @nejm.org review from David Hunter and me is out! "Clinical Uses of Common Genetic Variants Associated with Common Diseases" www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.... The next 10 years will be a very exciting time for genomic population health

Some 30 years ago, I went for it. ‘Twas a good decision. Do it!

EMBL@embl.org · 3w ago

There is still time to apply for the EMBL International PhD Programme! 📢 Don’t miss this opportunity to receive dedicated mentoring while doing interdisciplinary research. Research groups across EMBL are recruiting now! bit.ly/4x9Edss

Oh bluesky British energy hive mind - I have questions. It's been a windy, sunny, not-winter demand weekend, so unsurprisingly very little extra gas needed. Indeed for two nights in a row there has been substantial export to Europe over the gas; almost more renewable than demand! (grid.iamkate.com)

🚨Two weeks left to apply! There’s still time to apply for the EMBL-EBI-Sanger Postdoctoral (ESPOD) programme. Choose from one of our available projects or propose your own. Deadline: 27 September. www.ebi.ac.uk/research/pos...

🧫 We’re hiring a staff/research scientist to develop new experimental approaches that capture cell state dynamics. Join us in Heidelberg, details + application here: embl.wd103.myworkdayjobs.com/EMBL/job/Hei... Closes September 30th

Laboratory Officer

The Dorrity group at EMBL Heidelberg is seeking a motivated and skilled molecular biologist to join as a Laboratory Officer. Our group uses cutting-edge single-cell genomic techniques to study how cel...

embl.wd103.myworkdayjobs.com

The first Danionella paper from the lab. Danionella cerebrum is transparent, so you can see all of the internal organs. But what sensory information are the organs sending to the brain? In our new preprint, Emily Bayer wanted to find out. 1/4 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Good morning Warsaw! Looking forward to presenting my take on AI in biology at the Nencki institute tomorrow for the @embl.org in Poland event - chance to meet EMBL alumni and broader polish scientific community

Devon is heaven!

Thanks @lottelambrecht.bsky.social for the interview in the Belgian @standaard.be. We discuss the complex relationship between DNA, behavior, and society, racist pseudoscience from people like Nathan Cofnas & Emil Kirkegaard, and polygenic embryo selection. English: drive.google.com/file/d/1jSpH...

Two weeks ago the @economist.com had a leader "In praise of designer-ish babies". I wrote a letter to the Editor about this, explaining why the UK system is so confident that this should remain unlawful. The Economist has kindly published a shortened form+ my full letter below lnkd.in/p/ef-n78N8

Full letter to Economist, response to "In praise of designer-ish babies" | Ewan Birney

Two weeks ago the The Economist published a leader titled "In praise of designer-ish babies". I wrote a letter to the editor in response to this. The Economist was kind enough to publish a shortened f...

lnkd.in

Congratulations to @florianwollweber.bsky.social, the recently appointed Group Leader at EMBL Grenoble, who received an ERC Starting Grant worth approximately €2 million to investigate the origins of eukaryotic cell complexity. bit.ly/4gNwEBk

Just a reminder in the hereditarian / educational attainment debates active again - the idea that these crude groupings of people (eg, "Black Africans" "White") is meaningful ways to group people is bonkers, but in England, the grouping "White" has worse 16-year exam results than "All Black groups"

Can I just stress how thoughtful scientists (here Gen and Aylwyn) can debate and explore complex issues (what does equality mean in the context of biological variation) with respect for each other, a plurarity of ideas, humility abou their own perspectives and scientific reality.

Gen Wojcik@genandgenes.bsky.social · last mo.

I’ve been thinking a lot in this point and how important it is to push back on the framing that genetics (and biology) has any relevance whatsoever in how we treat each other. It’s pervasive, not only in how we argue with bigots, but also how we frame our own findings.

These occasions are rare because hereditarians prefer to spar with people who are also hazy about the biology, and it is also a tiresome and unrewarding effort to engage them. But for example @sashagusevposts.bsky.social did it to Cofnas a couple of years ago; see e.g. x.com/SashaGusevPo... .

I see this as essentially accepting the ethical logic of hereditarianism, and a variant of Hume's 'is-ought' problem. As it happens, most hereditarian claims about biology fall into the category of 'not even wrong', being founded on misconceptions about genetics that date back many decades.

This is a thoughtful piece by @ent3c.bsky.social, articulating a view of hereditarianism that I think is shared by many in anthropology, psychology & elsewhere. It's also one that I, as a geneticist working on human evolution, fundamentally disagree with. ericturkheimer.substack.com/p/the-cofnas...

The Cofnas Manifesto

The social consequences of hereditarianism

ericturkheimer.substack.com

Enjoyed getting damp this morning! I can feel all London’s gardens and parks relax.

We are celebrating 25 years since opening our building in Dresden on January 22, 2001! #25yearsmpicbg www.mpi-cbg.de/news-outreac...

The IMP lab of Alexander Stark used AI to design enhancers—DNA switches controlling gene activity—for specific mouse tissues: the first from-scratch design in a mammal. News: imp.ac.at/news/article/ai-learns-to-write-code-that-activates-genes-in-mammals Paper: nature.com/articles/s41588-026-02729-1

🚀 New updates improve metalloprotein data across the PDB Archive. ~15,500 PDB entries and ~900 metal-containing CCDs now feature more complete chemical descriptions and metal coordination annotations. ⬇️More ⬇️ www.wwpdb.org/news/news?ye... #PDB

I wrote up a short blog post about this year's Ukrainian Biological Data Science Summer School, which took place over two weeks in July: www.huber.embl.de/group/posts/... @mikelove.bsky.social @helucro.bsky.social @ladaisa.bsky.social

Ukrainian Biological Data Science Summer School 2026 – Huber Group @ EMBL

Uzhhorod, 11 - 25 July 2026: the fourth edition

huber.embl.de

I am annoyed that this is now my most popular post here on Bluesky. If you want more, I wrote a book about scientific racism called How to Argue With a Racist, and another one called Control: The Dark History and Troubling Present of Eugenics. www.adamrutherford.com/allbooks

Adam Rutherford@adamrutherford.bsky.social · 2mo ago

I had not some across this before, but if you want an example Nathan Cofnas’ scholarship, this is a doozy. Again I say, being sacked is not the problem; being recruited in the first place is what deserves scrutiny.

Geek bat signal: I wear many hats but one of them is IT support for the Birney family - and I have a calendar integration tangle to untangle. We have the holy trinity of Google calendar (my work, shared family, invisible computer) outlook (my wife’s small co) and iCloud (we’re Apple device family)

Writing US tenure review letters for people who are at a high level and where the institution has actively gone after someone is so ... performative. I get it is a necessary part of US academic culture (other systems have their eccentricities - eyes sideways to Habilitation in DE) but still

A newly recognized species of African monkey has been described in research published in @plosone.org. It is only the fifth new species of African monkey to be described in the last 75 years. Read the paper: plos.io/3Rcxu1W

PLOS One@plosone.org · 3mo ago

A shy tree-dwelling monkey with pinkish-orange lips and a black face, known locally in the DRC as Likweli, has been registered scientifically as a new species, and named Colobus congoensis. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article... Original research article: journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...

Sigh. One has to take 1-0 up in the semi final of the World Cup as a result but still. <bigger sigh>

It’s one year since we celebrated achieving the world’s largest whole body imaging project! Over 11 years, we captured brain, body & bone scans of 100,000 UK Biobank volunteers. These show what’s happening in people’s bodies as they age to understand how, why & when we get sick.

Well played Spain. Surprised at that French performance. Praying for an England vs Spain final