Reposted by Anna Santure
Puberty blockers: why politicians overriding doctors sets a dangerous precedent
Puberty blockers: why politicians overriding doctors sets a dangerous precedent
The government’s ban on puberty blockers undermines clinical expertise and targets trans youth with a policy that lacks evidence, consistency and fairness.
theconversation.com
November 23, 2025 at 5:20 PM
Puberty blockers: why politicians overriding doctors sets a dangerous precedent
Reposted by Anna Santure
There are excellent expert comments here on the NZ government's puberty blocker ban.
Government halts new puberty blocker prescriptions – Expert Reaction
Government halts new puberty blocker prescriptions - Expert Reaction - Science Media Centre
The government is halting new puberty blocker prescriptions for youth with gender dysphoria. From 19 December, new regulations under the Medicines Act will prevent new prescriptions for this purpose,...
www.sciencemediacentre.co.nz
November 21, 2025 at 3:42 AM
There are excellent expert comments here on the NZ government's puberty blocker ban.
Reposted by Anna Santure
Horrible political meddling in healthcare in Aotearoa. "To me, this is basically cursing an entire generation of young transgender woman to social stigma, to moving through this world and having to deal with so much - I don't have another word for it - violence."
www.rnz.co.nz/news/politic...
www.rnz.co.nz/news/politic...
Halt to puberty blockers curses 'young transgender women to stigma'
That's the reaction of a model who used puberty blockers as a teen to rules halting new prescriptions for young people.
www.rnz.co.nz
November 21, 2025 at 1:46 AM
Horrible political meddling in healthcare in Aotearoa. "To me, this is basically cursing an entire generation of young transgender woman to social stigma, to moving through this world and having to deal with so much - I don't have another word for it - violence."
www.rnz.co.nz/news/politic...
www.rnz.co.nz/news/politic...
Reposted by Anna Santure
The government's cruel decision to ban puberty blockers for trans kids is devastating. Yesterday was for grieving, but today I'm pulling myself up, wearing my most rainbow of dresses in solidarity with every trans kid & their whānau affected. I won't stop fighting.
November 21, 2025 at 2:14 AM
The government's cruel decision to ban puberty blockers for trans kids is devastating. Yesterday was for grieving, but today I'm pulling myself up, wearing my most rainbow of dresses in solidarity with every trans kid & their whānau affected. I won't stop fighting.
Reposted by Anna Santure
We have just published a landmark article on genetic diversity and global biodiversity policy, focusing on the CBD. We aim to help researchers, practitioners, & other interested parties understand the KMGBF and achieve its commitments. www.annualreviews.org/content/jour...
Conserving Genetic and Genomic Diversity in Accordance with the Global Biodiversity Framework
Adopted in December 2022, the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF) under the Convention on Biological Diversity outlines a visionary road map guiding humanity's relationship wit...
www.annualreviews.org
November 19, 2025 at 7:45 PM
We have just published a landmark article on genetic diversity and global biodiversity policy, focusing on the CBD. We aim to help researchers, practitioners, & other interested parties understand the KMGBF and achieve its commitments. www.annualreviews.org/content/jour...
Reposted by Anna Santure
This is upsetting on so many levels. Banning new prescriptions is extremely harmful and doing this during trans awareness week, a few days before the transgender day of remembrance just makes it so much worse.
www.rnz.co.nz/news/politic...
www.rnz.co.nz/news/politic...
Govt halts new puberty blockers prescriptions for gender-affirming care
Green Party MP Ricardo Menéndez March says the government is "buying into imported culture wars" .
www.rnz.co.nz
November 19, 2025 at 7:43 AM
This is upsetting on so many levels. Banning new prescriptions is extremely harmful and doing this during trans awareness week, a few days before the transgender day of remembrance just makes it so much worse.
www.rnz.co.nz/news/politic...
www.rnz.co.nz/news/politic...
Reposted by Anna Santure
New publication out, highlighting the link between genetic diversity (GD) and policy! 🧬📜
"Conserving genetic diversity in accordance with the Global Biodiversity Framework"
www.annualreviews.org/content/jour...
We summarize the highlights in this thread. 🧵
"Conserving genetic diversity in accordance with the Global Biodiversity Framework"
www.annualreviews.org/content/jour...
We summarize the highlights in this thread. 🧵
Conserving Genetic and Genomic Diversity in Accordance with the Global Biodiversity Framework
Adopted in December 2022, the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF) under the Convention on Biological Diversity outlines a visionary road map guiding humanity's relationship wit...
www.annualreviews.org
November 9, 2025 at 4:23 PM
New publication out, highlighting the link between genetic diversity (GD) and policy! 🧬📜
"Conserving genetic diversity in accordance with the Global Biodiversity Framework"
www.annualreviews.org/content/jour...
We summarize the highlights in this thread. 🧵
"Conserving genetic diversity in accordance with the Global Biodiversity Framework"
www.annualreviews.org/content/jour...
We summarize the highlights in this thread. 🧵
Reposted by Anna Santure
Evolutionary dynamics of a lethal recessive allele in reintroduced fragmented lynx populations https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.11.06.686959v1
November 8, 2025 at 2:33 AM
Evolutionary dynamics of a lethal recessive allele in reintroduced fragmented lynx populations https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.11.06.686959v1
Reposted by Anna Santure
Thanks to @royalsocietynz.bsky.social for awarding me the Callaghan medal for Science Communication. Thanks to my many supporters, NZ communities for being curious, & the many people in various agencies who really do want to use evidence in decision-making. This is critical now, more than ever. 🌐🌏🧪
November 5, 2025 at 4:28 AM
Thanks to @royalsocietynz.bsky.social for awarding me the Callaghan medal for Science Communication. Thanks to my many supporters, NZ communities for being curious, & the many people in various agencies who really do want to use evidence in decision-making. This is critical now, more than ever. 🌐🌏🧪
Reposted by Anna Santure
Siouxsie has forged a path to making science communication a little safer for the rest of us...
Siouxsie Wiles: Why I’m crowdfunding despite winning my legal battle
'Between the ERA and the Employment Court, my husband and I have spent over $632,000.'
thespinoff.co.nz
November 2, 2025 at 7:21 PM
Siouxsie has forged a path to making science communication a little safer for the rest of us...
Reposted by Anna Santure
Reposting for other time zones! Check this out and please give us a boost! :)
🐧We researched one of the world’s rarest #penguins. The yellow‑eyed penguin (aka hoiho/takaraka) isn’t one homogeneous species after all!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
#hoiho #conservation #genomics #birds #nzwildlife #endangered #wildlife #nature
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
#hoiho #conservation #genomics #birds #nzwildlife #endangered #wildlife #nature
October 29, 2025 at 8:42 AM
Reposting for other time zones! Check this out and please give us a boost! :)
Reposted by Anna Santure
Amazing group of people to work with! @jemmageoghegan.bsky.social @peterkdearden.bsky.social @annasanture.bsky.social @cegrueber.bsky.social And everyone else not on bsky! Double thanks to Janelle for the amazing pictures!
October 28, 2025 at 8:08 PM
Amazing group of people to work with! @jemmageoghegan.bsky.social @peterkdearden.bsky.social @annasanture.bsky.social @cegrueber.bsky.social And everyone else not on bsky! Double thanks to Janelle for the amazing pictures!
Reposted by Anna Santure
Preprint out now: “Population genomics of yellow‑eyed penguins uncovers subspecies divergence and candidate genes linked to respiratory distress syndrome.”
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Full press release: www.otago.ac.nz/news/newsroo...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Full press release: www.otago.ac.nz/news/newsroo...
Population genomics of yellow-eyed penguins uncovers subspecies divergence and candidate genes linked to respiratory distress syndrome
Yellow-eyed penguins (hoiho/takaraka, Megadyptes antipodes ) are among the world’s rarest penguins and are regarded as a taonga (treasured) species in Aotearoa New Zealand. Since 2019, chicks on the N...
www.biorxiv.org
October 28, 2025 at 8:08 PM
Preprint out now: “Population genomics of yellow‑eyed penguins uncovers subspecies divergence and candidate genes linked to respiratory distress syndrome.”
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Full press release: www.otago.ac.nz/news/newsroo...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Full press release: www.otago.ac.nz/news/newsroo...
Reposted by Anna Santure
This was a partnership across the Universities of Otago and Auckland, Department of Conservation, Ngāi Tahu, Dunedin Wildlife Hospital, and Genomics Aotearoa, building on national genomics infrastructure (incl. tools first honed with #kākāpō).
October 28, 2025 at 8:08 PM
This was a partnership across the Universities of Otago and Auckland, Department of Conservation, Ngāi Tahu, Dunedin Wildlife Hospital, and Genomics Aotearoa, building on national genomics infrastructure (incl. tools first honed with #kākāpō).
Reposted by Anna Santure
#Conservation implications: treating hoiho as three subspecies changes the playbook. Mainland M. a. murihiku needs urgent, tailored action, and genetic rescue from subantarctic birds could risk outbreeding depression by introducing local adaptations younger than the species divergence.
October 28, 2025 at 8:08 PM
#Conservation implications: treating hoiho as three subspecies changes the playbook. Mainland M. a. murihiku needs urgent, tailored action, and genetic rescue from subantarctic birds could risk outbreeding depression by introducing local adaptations younger than the species divergence.
Reposted by Anna Santure
Take‑home on disease: it’s likely host genetics + virus + environment, not a single mutation “on/off” switch. That’s why species‑wide genomics + ARG‑aware GWAS are so powerful here.
October 28, 2025 at 8:08 PM
Take‑home on disease: it’s likely host genetics + virus + environment, not a single mutation “on/off” switch. That’s why species‑wide genomics + ARG‑aware GWAS are so powerful here.
Reposted by Anna Santure
Selection scans also show the Southern subspecies have younger TMRCAs (signals of recent selection) in cilia‑related pathways; hair‑like structures lining airways that trap and clear pathogens. This could help explain why Southern chicks resist RDS.
October 28, 2025 at 8:08 PM
Selection scans also show the Southern subspecies have younger TMRCAs (signals of recent selection) in cilia‑related pathways; hair‑like structures lining airways that trap and clear pathogens. This could help explain why Southern chicks resist RDS.
Reposted by Anna Santure
Re: RDS on the mainland. A GWAS within the Northern subspecies and all subspecies flags candidate genes tied to immunity and respiration.
October 28, 2025 at 8:08 PM
Re: RDS on the mainland. A GWAS within the Northern subspecies and all subspecies flags candidate genes tied to immunity and respiration.
Reposted by Anna Santure
Using ARGs, we can trace population divergence across the genome. This “excess coalescence” plot shows when genomes begin to diverge. The timing aligns with the BEAST-inferred divergence windows, but using separate methodology.
(Not in the preprint, BTS!)
(Not in the preprint, BTS!)
October 28, 2025 at 8:08 PM
Using ARGs, we can trace population divergence across the genome. This “excess coalescence” plot shows when genomes begin to diverge. The timing aligns with the BEAST-inferred divergence windows, but using separate methodology.
(Not in the preprint, BTS!)
(Not in the preprint, BTS!)
Reposted by Anna Santure
Methodologically cool bit: we also used ancestral recombination graphs (ARGs) to time coalescent events & control relatedness in analyses. Hundreds of thousands of local trees support the divergence times based only on mutation rate (generations rather than years ago). #tsinfer #tskit #tsdate.
October 28, 2025 at 8:08 PM
Reposted by Anna Santure
When did they split? Molecular dating points to ~5–16k years for the Northern vs Southern split and ~3–11k years between the two Southern groups, dating to before human arrival in Aotearoa NZ. (Fig. 3)
October 28, 2025 at 8:08 PM
When did they split? Molecular dating points to ~5–16k years for the Northern vs Southern split and ~3–11k years between the two Southern groups, dating to before human arrival in Aotearoa NZ. (Fig. 3)
Reposted by Anna Santure
With Ngāi Tahu kaitiakitanga, three subspecies are proposed:
• M. a. murihiku — mainland “Northern” hoiho
• M. a. motu maha — Enderby (Auckland Is)
• M. a. motu ihupuku — Campbell Is
These lineages are evolutionarily independent.
• M. a. murihiku — mainland “Northern” hoiho
• M. a. motu maha — Enderby (Auckland Is)
• M. a. motu ihupuku — Campbell Is
These lineages are evolutionarily independent.
October 28, 2025 at 8:08 PM
With Ngāi Tahu kaitiakitanga, three subspecies are proposed:
• M. a. murihiku — mainland “Northern” hoiho
• M. a. motu maha — Enderby (Auckland Is)
• M. a. motu ihupuku — Campbell Is
These lineages are evolutionarily independent.
• M. a. murihiku — mainland “Northern” hoiho
• M. a. motu maha — Enderby (Auckland Is)
• M. a. motu ihupuku — Campbell Is
These lineages are evolutionarily independent.
Reposted by Anna Santure
We sequenced ~249 whole genomes 🧬 spanning the mainland and subantarctic Enderby & Campbell Islands. Result: three distinct genetic lineages, with negligible gene flow among them (See PCA/tree in Fig. 2, and migration rates in supplement)!
October 28, 2025 at 8:08 PM
We sequenced ~249 whole genomes 🧬 spanning the mainland and subantarctic Enderby & Campbell Islands. Result: three distinct genetic lineages, with negligible gene flow among them (See PCA/tree in Fig. 2, and migration rates in supplement)!
Reposted by Anna Santure
On the NZ mainland, there are <150 breeding pairs, and many chicks die from respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) caused by a 🦠gyrovirus (YPGV). Subantarctic hoiho carry the virus too, but don’t show disease. Why the difference?
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
A novel gyrovirus is abundant in yellow-eyed penguin (Megadyptes antipodes) chicks with a fatal respiratory disease
Yellow-eyed penguins (Megadyptes antipodes), or hoiho in te reo Māori, are predicted to become extinct on mainland Aotearoa New Zealand in the next fe…
www.sciencedirect.com
October 28, 2025 at 8:08 PM
On the NZ mainland, there are <150 breeding pairs, and many chicks die from respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) caused by a 🦠gyrovirus (YPGV). Subantarctic hoiho carry the virus too, but don’t show disease. Why the difference?
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...