Avery Davis Bell
@averydb.bsky.social
Genetics, genomics, and evolution research scientist (then: humans, now: nematodes), reproductive freedom advocate, mom, scientific inclusion promoter, Atlantan. She/her. Views my own.
Pinned
Nuclear-encoded tRNA genes harbor substantial allelic diversity in three nematode species
Cytosolic transfer RNAs, which are encoded as hundreds of genes in eukaryotic nuclear genomes, experience exceptionally high rates of mutation and have been hypothesized to carry significant mutationa...
www.biorxiv.org
Did you know that the genes for critical, ancient components of protein synthesis machinery - tRNAs - are bombarded with mutations, leading to remarkable allelic diversity that likely has functional consequences? I didn't until we did this project!
Preprint: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
(1/2)
Preprint: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
(1/2)
Reposted by Avery Davis Bell
Anyway, if you want to follow people like me who are actively confronting racist pseudoscience and want to hound them into starting a nonprofit that can structure and support this vital work, check out this starter pack from my friend @jowiph.bsky.social
bsky.app/profile/jowi...
bsky.app/profile/jowi...
I decided to go ahead and make a starter pack of historians, scientists, and others who work on scientific racism. If you’d like to be added to the pack (or removed from it), let me know.
go.bsky.app/E9PN3oG
go.bsky.app/E9PN3oG
November 6, 2025 at 11:19 PM
Anyway, if you want to follow people like me who are actively confronting racist pseudoscience and want to hound them into starting a nonprofit that can structure and support this vital work, check out this starter pack from my friend @jowiph.bsky.social
bsky.app/profile/jowi...
bsky.app/profile/jowi...
Reposted by Avery Davis Bell
bro are you fucking kidding me
![quote from the Economist article which says "[study authors] are now looking at whether AI facial analysis can give lenders useful clues about a person’s propensity to repay loans. For people without access to credit, that could be a blessing."](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:6ofjbklfvptnupad4lxumblw/bafkreia3yctiqd7ejumpd6novxjpiycphtfkc3bdgd573jw37faqdl7o7m@jpeg)
November 6, 2025 at 5:59 PM
bro are you fucking kidding me
Reposted by Avery Davis Bell
Reposted by Avery Davis Bell
Reposted by Avery Davis Bell
A List of Things Said to Have Been Ruined by Women
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November 6, 2025 at 8:43 PM
A List of Things Said to Have Been Ruined by Women
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I’m so glad to hear that Molly and Sandy heading up Amplify Legal, powerful storytelling org Abortion in America’s legal arm! Both are great leaders in the fight for reproductive rights, including supporting people in telling their stories (1/2)
www.morningstar.com/news/pr-news...
www.morningstar.com/news/pr-news...
Abortion in America Names Lauren Peterson as Chief Executive Officer and Adds New Litigation Practice Led by Molly Duane and Sandy Keenan
www.morningstar.com
November 7, 2025 at 12:16 AM
I’m so glad to hear that Molly and Sandy heading up Amplify Legal, powerful storytelling org Abortion in America’s legal arm! Both are great leaders in the fight for reproductive rights, including supporting people in telling their stories (1/2)
www.morningstar.com/news/pr-news...
www.morningstar.com/news/pr-news...
If our university system emails me about joining weight watchers one more time I’m going to blow my lid. Multiple times this week (open enrollment). It’s a) none of their business b) not a good program c) doesn’t even work d) could be wildly triggering to someone with disordered eating. (1/2)
November 6, 2025 at 2:48 PM
If our university system emails me about joining weight watchers one more time I’m going to blow my lid. Multiple times this week (open enrollment). It’s a) none of their business b) not a good program c) doesn’t even work d) could be wildly triggering to someone with disordered eating. (1/2)
And for the trainees and scientific staff in their labs.......
And importantly, while a few years to settle out might seem no biggie, it sure as heck is a big deal to those PIs who have been on the job for just a few years and are looking at the tenure decision looming ahead.
November 5, 2025 at 5:53 PM
And for the trainees and scientific staff in their labs.......
Super cool new use of single gamete (single molecule!) genome sequencing - catching de novo mobile element insertions! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Direct identification of de novo mobile element insertions from single molecule sequencing of human sperm
Mobile element insertions (MEIs) are a significant source of human genetic variation, yet the rates and properties of de novo MEIs are poorly characterized due to technical limitations in sequencing t...
www.biorxiv.org
November 5, 2025 at 4:42 PM
Super cool new use of single gamete (single molecule!) genome sequencing - catching de novo mobile element insertions! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
From recombination superstars Payseur and Otto: new preprint "Elevated mutation near crossovers inhibits the evolution of recombination" www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Elevated mutation near crossovers inhibits the evolution of recombination
Recombination diversifies offspring genomes and helps ensure chromosome segregation during meiosis. Mutation rates are elevated near crossovers due to the induction of double-strand breaks and their i...
www.biorxiv.org
November 4, 2025 at 6:26 PM
From recombination superstars Payseur and Otto: new preprint "Elevated mutation near crossovers inhibits the evolution of recombination" www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Avery Davis Bell
My take on the transformative gift that is MacKenzie Scott and her almost $1Billion in giving to HBCUs since 2020, and why what she is doing goes far beyond philanthropy--it is protecting the future of Academic Freedom, and Diversity. READ: www.forbes.com/sites/sophia... @forbes.com #HBCUs
With Nearly $1B In Gifts, MacKenzie Scott Transforms America’s HBCUs
Her unrestricted philanthropy gives historically Black colleges the freedom—and responsibility—to strengthen endowments, expand research, and reimagine their futures.
www.forbes.com
November 4, 2025 at 2:11 PM
My take on the transformative gift that is MacKenzie Scott and her almost $1Billion in giving to HBCUs since 2020, and why what she is doing goes far beyond philanthropy--it is protecting the future of Academic Freedom, and Diversity. READ: www.forbes.com/sites/sophia... @forbes.com #HBCUs
Reposted by Avery Davis Bell
Did you know that the genes for critical, ancient components of protein synthesis machinery - tRNAs - are bombarded with mutations, leading to remarkable allelic diversity that likely has functional consequences? I didn't until we did this project!
Preprint: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
(1/2)
Preprint: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
(1/2)
Nuclear-encoded tRNA genes harbor substantial allelic diversity in three nematode species
Cytosolic transfer RNAs, which are encoded as hundreds of genes in eukaryotic nuclear genomes, experience exceptionally high rates of mutation and have been hypothesized to carry significant mutationa...
www.biorxiv.org
October 16, 2025 at 3:42 PM
Did you know that the genes for critical, ancient components of protein synthesis machinery - tRNAs - are bombarded with mutations, leading to remarkable allelic diversity that likely has functional consequences? I didn't until we did this project!
Preprint: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
(1/2)
Preprint: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
(1/2)
Reposted by Avery Davis Bell
Open letter from many #Emory faculty re the firing of a med school colleague. We asked that only tenured faculty who are citizens sign it. Many people worked hard on our Open Expression Policy, only to have it violated at least 3x in less than 3 yrs.
www.emorywheel.com/article/2025...
www.emorywheel.com/article/2025...
Open Letter: University violated Open Expression Policy in the dismissal of Anna Kenney
The Emory Wheel is the only independent, student-run newspaper of Emory University, since 1919.
www.emorywheel.com
October 30, 2025 at 8:00 AM
Open letter from many #Emory faculty re the firing of a med school colleague. We asked that only tenured faculty who are citizens sign it. Many people worked hard on our Open Expression Policy, only to have it violated at least 3x in less than 3 yrs.
www.emorywheel.com/article/2025...
www.emorywheel.com/article/2025...
Reposted by Avery Davis Bell
This is a bad idea. Recruiting talented people from other countries is a good thing. American universities have been very good at it in particular. Recruiting talented people tends to benefit everyone. We should keep doing it. I am speaking in short sentences for the benefit of the Governor.
Florida Universities to Stop Hiring Foreign H-1B Workers Under DeSantis Plan
www.nytimes.com
October 30, 2025 at 12:54 PM
This is a bad idea. Recruiting talented people from other countries is a good thing. American universities have been very good at it in particular. Recruiting talented people tends to benefit everyone. We should keep doing it. I am speaking in short sentences for the benefit of the Governor.
Reposted by Avery Davis Bell
@joann-trejo.bsky.social, @marymunson4.bsky.social and I have a commentary in @natcellbio.nature.com on recent attacks on DEI in biomedical research: "If scientific research, especially biomedical research, is meant to serve everyone, then it requires that everyone has an opportunity to participate"
Scaling back DEI programmes and the loss of scientific talent
Nature Cell Biology - Programmes that support diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in science are under attack in the USA. Data indicate that diversity in the scientific workforce increases...
www.nature.com
October 23, 2025 at 4:36 PM
@joann-trejo.bsky.social, @marymunson4.bsky.social and I have a commentary in @natcellbio.nature.com on recent attacks on DEI in biomedical research: "If scientific research, especially biomedical research, is meant to serve everyone, then it requires that everyone has an opportunity to participate"
Reposted by Avery Davis Bell
Reposted by Avery Davis Bell
Free, professional illustrations of research organisms! 🎨🐁🪼🧪
We compiled original vector/raster graphics of 70+ organisms & viruses into a CC0 library. All by @arcadiascience.com's Audrey Bell
Check it out & show us how you use them!
research.arcadiascience.com/pub/resource... #SciArt #OpenScience
We compiled original vector/raster graphics of 70+ organisms & viruses into a CC0 library. All by @arcadiascience.com's Audrey Bell
Check it out & show us how you use them!
research.arcadiascience.com/pub/resource... #SciArt #OpenScience
September 29, 2025 at 6:45 PM
Free, professional illustrations of research organisms! 🎨🐁🪼🧪
We compiled original vector/raster graphics of 70+ organisms & viruses into a CC0 library. All by @arcadiascience.com's Audrey Bell
Check it out & show us how you use them!
research.arcadiascience.com/pub/resource... #SciArt #OpenScience
We compiled original vector/raster graphics of 70+ organisms & viruses into a CC0 library. All by @arcadiascience.com's Audrey Bell
Check it out & show us how you use them!
research.arcadiascience.com/pub/resource... #SciArt #OpenScience
Reposted by Avery Davis Bell
I call it “joyful rigor” when I explain this effort to my students. I don’t believe in or rather, I’m not a “suffering poet.” I’m a writer who enjoys writing. The work works on me and I’m grateful for the opportunity to delve into the process at my own pace and to be changed by it.
That’s the other thing that baffles me about AI and creative writing, actually.
The work IS the joy for me. I don’t want to be able to snap my fingers and have a completed “product.” I want to be transformed by the process. I’m an author but I do this because I enjoy the rigor of being a writer.
The work IS the joy for me. I don’t want to be able to snap my fingers and have a completed “product.” I want to be transformed by the process. I’m an author but I do this because I enjoy the rigor of being a writer.
In terms of process, I enjoy writing but revising????? Oh, that’s my real kink. A second or third draft???? A fourth???? Making tweaks on my desktop AND my phone???? *moans* I’m a WHORE for revision.
October 20, 2025 at 3:09 PM
I call it “joyful rigor” when I explain this effort to my students. I don’t believe in or rather, I’m not a “suffering poet.” I’m a writer who enjoys writing. The work works on me and I’m grateful for the opportunity to delve into the process at my own pace and to be changed by it.
Reposted by Avery Davis Bell
THIS.
I already missed a study section where I review grants two weeks ago due to the shutdown and the study section that was slated to review my grant that will decide if I get to keep my lab open or not ... was supposed to meet this week. Neither is happening and that is destructive to science.
I already missed a study section where I review grants two weeks ago due to the shutdown and the study section that was slated to review my grant that will decide if I get to keep my lab open or not ... was supposed to meet this week. Neither is happening and that is destructive to science.
I should be in study section right now talking about cool science but it’s cancelled due to the government shutdown. It sucks as a reviewer, but it sucks more for all the applicants who worked so hard on their grants- spending long hours crafting ideas. Relying on this to keep their labs going. 1/
a cartoon of a man sitting in front of a computer with the word working written below him
Alt: a cartoon of a man sitting in front of a computer with the word working written below him
media.tenor.com
October 20, 2025 at 2:43 PM
THIS.
I already missed a study section where I review grants two weeks ago due to the shutdown and the study section that was slated to review my grant that will decide if I get to keep my lab open or not ... was supposed to meet this week. Neither is happening and that is destructive to science.
I already missed a study section where I review grants two weeks ago due to the shutdown and the study section that was slated to review my grant that will decide if I get to keep my lab open or not ... was supposed to meet this week. Neither is happening and that is destructive to science.
Did you know that the genes for critical, ancient components of protein synthesis machinery - tRNAs - are bombarded with mutations, leading to remarkable allelic diversity that likely has functional consequences? I didn't until we did this project!
Preprint: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
(1/2)
Preprint: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
(1/2)
Nuclear-encoded tRNA genes harbor substantial allelic diversity in three nematode species
Cytosolic transfer RNAs, which are encoded as hundreds of genes in eukaryotic nuclear genomes, experience exceptionally high rates of mutation and have been hypothesized to carry significant mutationa...
www.biorxiv.org
October 16, 2025 at 3:42 PM
Did you know that the genes for critical, ancient components of protein synthesis machinery - tRNAs - are bombarded with mutations, leading to remarkable allelic diversity that likely has functional consequences? I didn't until we did this project!
Preprint: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
(1/2)
Preprint: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
(1/2)
Reposted by Avery Davis Bell
The knowledge was already free!! Open textbooks and libraries exist!! The benefit of a professor is having an expert teach it to you in a structured manner with assignments for practice and assessments to keep you accountable. Profs aren't keepers of secret knowledge. We are essentially tutors.
Wow. Just wow.
"Students pay premium prices for information that AI now delivers instantly and for free. A business student can ask ChatGPT to explain supply chain optimization or generate market analysis in seconds. The traditional lecture-and-test model faces its Blockbuster moment."
"Students pay premium prices for information that AI now delivers instantly and for free. A business student can ask ChatGPT to explain supply chain optimization or generate market analysis in seconds. The traditional lecture-and-test model faces its Blockbuster moment."
When Knowledge is Free, What are Professors For?
Higher Education Must Stop Competing with AI on Information and Start Teaching What Machines Can’t Do
www.forbes.com
October 16, 2025 at 12:58 PM
The knowledge was already free!! Open textbooks and libraries exist!! The benefit of a professor is having an expert teach it to you in a structured manner with assignments for practice and assessments to keep you accountable. Profs aren't keepers of secret knowledge. We are essentially tutors.
Reposted by Avery Davis Bell
I just emailed my "Silence" essay to the Presidents/Chancellors and Provosts of the 9 Compact universities as well as those from the 4 orgs with which I have been formally affiliated.
The essay can be found here:
jeremymberg.github.io/jeremyberg.g...
and here:
www.linkedin.com/posts/jeremy...
The essay can be found here:
jeremymberg.github.io/jeremyberg.g...
and here:
www.linkedin.com/posts/jeremy...
October 7, 2025 at 12:30 PM
I just emailed my "Silence" essay to the Presidents/Chancellors and Provosts of the 9 Compact universities as well as those from the 4 orgs with which I have been formally affiliated.
The essay can be found here:
jeremymberg.github.io/jeremyberg.g...
and here:
www.linkedin.com/posts/jeremy...
The essay can be found here:
jeremymberg.github.io/jeremyberg.g...
and here:
www.linkedin.com/posts/jeremy...
Reposted by Avery Davis Bell
Everybody makes money out of academic authors except the authors...News.
Wiley is the latest academic publisher to reach a multi-million deal to allow access to its content to AI developers, with no opt out, let alone payment, for the authors who created that content.
Wiley is the latest academic publisher to reach a multi-million deal to allow access to its content to AI developers, with no opt out, let alone payment, for the authors who created that content.
Wiley set to earn $44m from AI rights deals, confirms “no opt-out" for authors
The US publisher is the latest to capitalise on deals to give tech firms access to its authors’ content to train their Large Language Models (LLMs).
www.thebookseller.com
September 19, 2024 at 10:21 AM
Everybody makes money out of academic authors except the authors...News.
Wiley is the latest academic publisher to reach a multi-million deal to allow access to its content to AI developers, with no opt out, let alone payment, for the authors who created that content.
Wiley is the latest academic publisher to reach a multi-million deal to allow access to its content to AI developers, with no opt out, let alone payment, for the authors who created that content.
Reposted by Avery Davis Bell
These three figures get me every time: Our conceptualization of heredity; the explanations which have the most explanatory force. I cannot overstate the importance of this book to #DevoEvo; it wrote us back into evolution; archetypes and all. (Re-reading for my foundations of DevoEvo class)....
October 3, 2025 at 6:26 PM
These three figures get me every time: Our conceptualization of heredity; the explanations which have the most explanatory force. I cannot overstate the importance of this book to #DevoEvo; it wrote us back into evolution; archetypes and all. (Re-reading for my foundations of DevoEvo class)....
Reposted by Avery Davis Bell
Nature has published an article on the crisis facing MODs
Model organism databases face budget cuts and closures www.nature.com/articles/d41...
@zfinmod.bsky.social @xenbase.bsky.social @yeastgenome.bsky.social @mousegenome.bsky.social @ratgenome.bsky.social @geneontology.bsky.social @nature.com
Model organism databases face budget cuts and closures www.nature.com/articles/d41...
@zfinmod.bsky.social @xenbase.bsky.social @yeastgenome.bsky.social @mousegenome.bsky.social @ratgenome.bsky.social @geneontology.bsky.social @nature.com
Model organism databases face budget cuts and closures
Beyond the crucial data they contain, these digital archives have provided an important space for academic communities to exchange ideas and resources.
www.nature.com
October 3, 2025 at 6:52 PM
Nature has published an article on the crisis facing MODs
Model organism databases face budget cuts and closures www.nature.com/articles/d41...
@zfinmod.bsky.social @xenbase.bsky.social @yeastgenome.bsky.social @mousegenome.bsky.social @ratgenome.bsky.social @geneontology.bsky.social @nature.com
Model organism databases face budget cuts and closures www.nature.com/articles/d41...
@zfinmod.bsky.social @xenbase.bsky.social @yeastgenome.bsky.social @mousegenome.bsky.social @ratgenome.bsky.social @geneontology.bsky.social @nature.com