Andrew Kennard
@askennard.bsky.social
Postdoc at UMass Amherst (Fritz-Laylin lab). Cell biologist and biophysicist studying evolutionary cell biology of the microtubule cytoskeleton. PhD Stanford (Biophysics, Julie Theriot lab).
https://andrewkennard.github.io
https://andrewkennard.github.io
Pinned
Andrew Kennard
@askennard.bsky.social
· Dec 18
Tubulin sequence divergence is associated with the use of distinct microtubule regulators
The mechanisms driving cytoskeletal network diversification within and between organisms remain mysterious. Kennard et al. find that tubulin sequence divergence is associated with the expression of distinct regulators in distinct microtubule networks. This suggests that the evolution of tubulin and its binding partners may be inextricably linked.
www.cell.com
Something to read on your way home from #cellbio2024: our paper on microtubule networks and tubulin evolution! 🧵(1/14)
www.cell.com/current-biol...
www.cell.com/current-biol...
Reposted by Andrew Kennard
Finally, the first public release of #BigVolumeBrowser, so after teasers, you can try it yourself. For details, please check the announcement post (1/2)
forum.image.sc/t/bigvolumeb...
forum.image.sc/t/bigvolumeb...
BigVolumeBrowser: a new 3D multi volume/mesh/point clould (SMLM) data viewer
Hello everyone, I’d like to share with you another 3D viewer for FIJI, BigVolumeBrowser (full documentation link). It‘s a first initial public release, so there is still space for improvements. Le...
forum.image.sc
November 21, 2025 at 9:29 AM
Finally, the first public release of #BigVolumeBrowser, so after teasers, you can try it yourself. For details, please check the announcement post (1/2)
forum.image.sc/t/bigvolumeb...
forum.image.sc/t/bigvolumeb...
Reposted by Andrew Kennard
Analyses of bent spindles reveal the mechanics of anaphase B in fission yeast https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.11.20.689516v1
November 21, 2025 at 2:30 AM
Analyses of bent spindles reveal the mechanics of anaphase B in fission yeast https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.11.20.689516v1
Reposted by Andrew Kennard
I’ve released a tool to sketch and edit phylogenetic trees!
yawak.jp/PhyloWeaver/
Load a Newick file and intuitively add/remove/resize branches.
Useful for quick conceptual trees, extracting subtrees, or turning ideas into Newick.
yawak.jp/PhyloWeaver/
Load a Newick file and intuitively add/remove/resize branches.
Useful for quick conceptual trees, extracting subtrees, or turning ideas into Newick.
PhyloWeaver – Interactive phylogenetic tree editor
Edit and visualize phylogenetic trees directly in your browser. PhyloWeaver lets you interactively rearrange tree topologies and export high-quality figures for publications and presentations.
yawak.jp
November 18, 2025 at 1:59 AM
I’ve released a tool to sketch and edit phylogenetic trees!
yawak.jp/PhyloWeaver/
Load a Newick file and intuitively add/remove/resize branches.
Useful for quick conceptual trees, extracting subtrees, or turning ideas into Newick.
yawak.jp/PhyloWeaver/
Load a Newick file and intuitively add/remove/resize branches.
Useful for quick conceptual trees, extracting subtrees, or turning ideas into Newick.
Reposted by Andrew Kennard
This work shines because of @zjmaggiexu.bsky.social passion for these cells. She built it all—the cultures, transcriptomes, analyses, modeling and collaborations—from scratch. I can’t begin to express how brilliant and hard-working a scientist she is (and she's 👀 for postdocs!). So proud of her 🥲
November 18, 2025 at 4:15 PM
This work shines because of @zjmaggiexu.bsky.social passion for these cells. She built it all—the cultures, transcriptomes, analyses, modeling and collaborations—from scratch. I can’t begin to express how brilliant and hard-working a scientist she is (and she's 👀 for postdocs!). So proud of her 🥲
Reposted by Andrew Kennard
Thrilled to share our work on the 🔥 single-celled predator Podophrya collini, which rewires its cell morphology to hunt more efficiently. Huge thanks to our amazing team—Amy, Lauren, Omaya, Marine, Mari, and especially Scott—for making this shine! ✨
How do cells adapt morphology to function? In a 🔥 preprint by @zjmaggiexu.bsky.social , with @dudinlab.bsky.social and @amyweeks.bsky.social , we identify a self-organizing single-cell morphology circuit that optimizes the feeding trap structure of the suctorian P. collini. 🧵 tinyurl.com/4k8nv926
November 18, 2025 at 5:12 PM
Thrilled to share our work on the 🔥 single-celled predator Podophrya collini, which rewires its cell morphology to hunt more efficiently. Huge thanks to our amazing team—Amy, Lauren, Omaya, Marine, Mari, and especially Scott—for making this shine! ✨
Reposted by Andrew Kennard
people are actually very susceptible to just-so stories about human origins because listening to bullshit helped us survive on the savanna
fake evo-psych has cooked a lot of people's brains
November 18, 2025 at 1:48 AM
people are actually very susceptible to just-so stories about human origins because listening to bullshit helped us survive on the savanna
Enjoy this elegant story combining evolutionary cell biology with classic biochemistry—with a spoooooky twist!
Our work on Naegleria Myosin 2 is out!
Naegleria encodes 3 Myo2s which contract its actin network—the first evidence of contractile Myo2 outside of Amorphea.
Myo2 is actually widespread in Naegleria's relatives and correlates with fast cell crawling.
Read more: www.cell.com/current-biol...
Naegleria encodes 3 Myo2s which contract its actin network—the first evidence of contractile Myo2 outside of Amorphea.
Myo2 is actually widespread in Naegleria's relatives and correlates with fast cell crawling.
Read more: www.cell.com/current-biol...
Myosin 2 drives actin contractility in fast-crawling species outside of the amorphean lineage
Myosin 2-dependent actin contractility—the force that powers cell division and migration
in animals, fungi, and other Amorphea—had been previously unknown outside this single
eukaryotic group. Guest e...
www.cell.com
November 17, 2025 at 10:51 PM
Enjoy this elegant story combining evolutionary cell biology with classic biochemistry—with a spoooooky twist!
Reposted by Andrew Kennard
Our work on Naegleria Myosin 2 is out!
Naegleria encodes 3 Myo2s which contract its actin network—the first evidence of contractile Myo2 outside of Amorphea.
Myo2 is actually widespread in Naegleria's relatives and correlates with fast cell crawling.
Read more: www.cell.com/current-biol...
Naegleria encodes 3 Myo2s which contract its actin network—the first evidence of contractile Myo2 outside of Amorphea.
Myo2 is actually widespread in Naegleria's relatives and correlates with fast cell crawling.
Read more: www.cell.com/current-biol...
Myosin 2 drives actin contractility in fast-crawling species outside of the amorphean lineage
Myosin 2-dependent actin contractility—the force that powers cell division and migration
in animals, fungi, and other Amorphea—had been previously unknown outside this single
eukaryotic group. Guest e...
www.cell.com
November 17, 2025 at 5:19 PM
Our work on Naegleria Myosin 2 is out!
Naegleria encodes 3 Myo2s which contract its actin network—the first evidence of contractile Myo2 outside of Amorphea.
Myo2 is actually widespread in Naegleria's relatives and correlates with fast cell crawling.
Read more: www.cell.com/current-biol...
Naegleria encodes 3 Myo2s which contract its actin network—the first evidence of contractile Myo2 outside of Amorphea.
Myo2 is actually widespread in Naegleria's relatives and correlates with fast cell crawling.
Read more: www.cell.com/current-biol...
Reposted by Andrew Kennard
When DHS dared to call its anti-immigrant racial profiling weekend in Charlotte, North Carolina, “Operation Charlotte’s Web,” I knew I was going to have to write about it.
Tonight, at Law Dork, here it is: www.lawdork.com/p/gregory-bo...
Tonight, at Law Dork, here it is: www.lawdork.com/p/gregory-bo...
November 17, 2025 at 12:41 AM
When DHS dared to call its anti-immigrant racial profiling weekend in Charlotte, North Carolina, “Operation Charlotte’s Web,” I knew I was going to have to write about it.
Tonight, at Law Dork, here it is: www.lawdork.com/p/gregory-bo...
Tonight, at Law Dork, here it is: www.lawdork.com/p/gregory-bo...
Reposted by Andrew Kennard
Love to see community action against this AI nonsense! neighborhoodview.org/2025/11/13/d...
November 14, 2025 at 11:42 AM
Love to see community action against this AI nonsense! neighborhoodview.org/2025/11/13/d...
Reposted by Andrew Kennard
Dang, hard disagree. The best papers to write and read are works of art, not merely a list of data and statements.
Don’t let LLMs take this away too, for gods sake.
Don’t let LLMs take this away too, for gods sake.
I honestly think we would all be a lot more productive if papers were bullet points with plots.
November 14, 2025 at 10:22 PM
Dang, hard disagree. The best papers to write and read are works of art, not merely a list of data and statements.
Don’t let LLMs take this away too, for gods sake.
Don’t let LLMs take this away too, for gods sake.
Reposted by Andrew Kennard
Finally out! We measured mutations in tetraploid potato. Highlights:
- higher mutation rates in L1 than L2
- even higher rates and a distinct oxidative stress signature outside of meristems
- lower mutation rates in genes everywhere we looked
More 👇
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2514507122
- higher mutation rates in L1 than L2
- even higher rates and a distinct oxidative stress signature outside of meristems
- lower mutation rates in genes everywhere we looked
More 👇
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2514507122
PNAS
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), a peer reviewed journal of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) - an authoritative source of high-impact, original research that broadly spans...
nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com
November 10, 2025 at 9:23 PM
Finally out! We measured mutations in tetraploid potato. Highlights:
- higher mutation rates in L1 than L2
- even higher rates and a distinct oxidative stress signature outside of meristems
- lower mutation rates in genes everywhere we looked
More 👇
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2514507122
- higher mutation rates in L1 than L2
- even higher rates and a distinct oxidative stress signature outside of meristems
- lower mutation rates in genes everywhere we looked
More 👇
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2514507122
Reposted by Andrew Kennard
Following up on this. This remains a ‘cave is minutes or hours away’ situation. If you want to impact how this plays out you need to contact senators literally now. I want to add additional points of context. What I’m relaying is what I’ve picked up from highly reliable sources.
Sounds like the squishes in the senate caucus are ready to pull the plug with no ACA changes. This is real. If you want to register your opinion you shld call yr senator in the next hour. They not only want to reopen w/nothing. They want cover from their colleagues who still want to hold out.
November 9, 2025 at 10:42 PM
Following up on this. This remains a ‘cave is minutes or hours away’ situation. If you want to impact how this plays out you need to contact senators literally now. I want to add additional points of context. What I’m relaying is what I’ve picked up from highly reliable sources.
Reposted by Andrew Kennard
pre-writing a devastating obituary for your enemy is god-tier hating of a kind you don’t often see anymore. renaissance haterism. beautiful stuff.
A Sharon Begley byline, almost 5 years after her death.
Upon hearing the news James Watson had died, a STAT reporter said in our Slack, "I wish I could read what Sharon would have written."
Incredible news: Sharon in fact did pre-write a Watson obit. And it is masterful and excoriating.
🧪🧬🧫
Upon hearing the news James Watson had died, a STAT reporter said in our Slack, "I wish I could read what Sharon would have written."
Incredible news: Sharon in fact did pre-write a Watson obit. And it is masterful and excoriating.
🧪🧬🧫
James Watson, dead at 97, was a scientific legend and a pariah among his peers
James Watson, the co-discoverer of the structure of DNA who died Thursday at 97, was a scientific legend and a pariah among his peers.
www.statnews.com
November 9, 2025 at 12:55 AM
pre-writing a devastating obituary for your enemy is god-tier hating of a kind you don’t often see anymore. renaissance haterism. beautiful stuff.
Reposted by Andrew Kennard
Just under a month left—apply by December 5 through the link on my website!
PhD or Master's position available for Fall 2026!
Interested in how actin drives cell crawling, eating, dividing, or osmoregulation? What about pathogenesis of a brain-eating amoeba? Or eukaryotic evolution? If so, apply through my website: katrinavelle.wixsite.com/science/cont...
Please share!
Interested in how actin drives cell crawling, eating, dividing, or osmoregulation? What about pathogenesis of a brain-eating amoeba? Or eukaryotic evolution? If so, apply through my website: katrinavelle.wixsite.com/science/cont...
Please share!
November 6, 2025 at 10:34 AM
Just under a month left—apply by December 5 through the link on my website!
Reposted by Andrew Kennard
This is probably the most important election news of the day. No doubt strong back turnout helped here and we'll need that support next fall!
BREAKING: Mississippi Democrats have now flipped two state Senate seats—putting them on the verge of breaking the Mississippi GOP's supermajority.
Theresa Gillespie Isom has defeated Republican opponent Charlie Hoots, who she leads in the current vote tally by about 2-1.
Theresa Gillespie Isom has defeated Republican opponent Charlie Hoots, who she leads in the current vote tally by about 2-1.
Democrat Theresa Gillespie Isom Flips GOP-Held Mississippi Senate Seat in North Mississippi
Theresa Gillespie Isom, a North Mississippi Democrat, has won a special election for Mississippi Senate District 2, flipping a GOP-held seat.
www.mississippifreepress.org
November 5, 2025 at 12:30 PM
This is probably the most important election news of the day. No doubt strong back turnout helped here and we'll need that support next fall!
YouTube
Share your videos with friends, family, and the world
youtube.com
November 5, 2025 at 3:06 AM
Reposted by Andrew Kennard
How augmin establishes the angle of the microtubule branch site
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
How augmin establishes the angle of the microtubule branch site - Nature Communications
Here, authors report the structure of the augmin’s CH domain bound to the microtubule lattice and show that its Haus8 subunit binds tubulin tails. Both domains are critical for microtubule binding and...
www.nature.com
October 31, 2025 at 3:00 PM
How augmin establishes the angle of the microtubule branch site
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Andrew Kennard
Reposted by Andrew Kennard
Happy to share that this work is now published in @biophysj.bsky.social! doi.org/10.1016/j.bp...
In developing embryos, cells move a lot! Plenty of that movement is random. Is random cell mixing a feature or bug for tissue patterning? Turns out, it’s both! Excited to share the 1st preprint from my postdoc w/ Sean Megason @seanemcgeary.bsky.social and Allon Klein. 1/20 doi.org/10.1101/2025...
October 23, 2025 at 4:30 PM
Happy to share that this work is now published in @biophysj.bsky.social! doi.org/10.1016/j.bp...
Reposted by Andrew Kennard
Polygenic risk scores obtained for a single individual over a range of commercially available tests. FFS
October 23, 2025 at 1:41 PM
Polygenic risk scores obtained for a single individual over a range of commercially available tests. FFS
Reposted by Andrew Kennard
Dear all, A scientist from UNC Chapel Hill, Paul Maddox, is running for congress in NC for a seat currently held by a republican. If you care about science (and democracy) please consider donating to his campaign #Standupforscience secure.actblue.com/donate/paul-...
Donate to Paul Maddox for Congress in NC 11
Paul is running for Congress because there’s a sickness in Washington, and no one is working to cure it.
secure.actblue.com
October 20, 2025 at 5:51 PM
Dear all, A scientist from UNC Chapel Hill, Paul Maddox, is running for congress in NC for a seat currently held by a republican. If you care about science (and democracy) please consider donating to his campaign #Standupforscience secure.actblue.com/donate/paul-...
Reposted by Andrew Kennard
Our collaboration with @mbonhivers.bsky.social is now out in @plosbiology.org! 🎉Using U-ExM, we mapped the formation of the flagellar pocket collar in T. brucei. Huge thanks to everyone involved — one step closer to #PhDone!
#ExM #oneringtorulethemall #Bilbo1 #trypanosoma #protistsonsky
#ExM #oneringtorulethemall #Bilbo1 #trypanosoma #protistsonsky
The flagellar pocket collar (FPC) is a cytoskeletal structure essential for nutrient uptake & immune evasion in #Trypanosome. @mbonhivers.bsky.social &co use U-ExM to provide novel insights into FPC biogenesis, and reveal 2 unknown cytoskeletal structures @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/4n3bWi6
October 10, 2025 at 6:47 PM
Our collaboration with @mbonhivers.bsky.social is now out in @plosbiology.org! 🎉Using U-ExM, we mapped the formation of the flagellar pocket collar in T. brucei. Huge thanks to everyone involved — one step closer to #PhDone!
#ExM #oneringtorulethemall #Bilbo1 #trypanosoma #protistsonsky
#ExM #oneringtorulethemall #Bilbo1 #trypanosoma #protistsonsky
Reposted by Andrew Kennard
PhD or Master's position available for Fall 2026!
Interested in how actin drives cell crawling, eating, dividing, or osmoregulation? What about pathogenesis of a brain-eating amoeba? Or eukaryotic evolution? If so, apply through my website: katrinavelle.wixsite.com/science/cont...
Please share!
Interested in how actin drives cell crawling, eating, dividing, or osmoregulation? What about pathogenesis of a brain-eating amoeba? Or eukaryotic evolution? If so, apply through my website: katrinavelle.wixsite.com/science/cont...
Please share!
October 5, 2025 at 5:29 PM
PhD or Master's position available for Fall 2026!
Interested in how actin drives cell crawling, eating, dividing, or osmoregulation? What about pathogenesis of a brain-eating amoeba? Or eukaryotic evolution? If so, apply through my website: katrinavelle.wixsite.com/science/cont...
Please share!
Interested in how actin drives cell crawling, eating, dividing, or osmoregulation? What about pathogenesis of a brain-eating amoeba? Or eukaryotic evolution? If so, apply through my website: katrinavelle.wixsite.com/science/cont...
Please share!