Shawn Burgess
@burgesslab.bsky.social
zebrafish researcher, genetics and genomics of regeneration
All posts are my personal opinions and do not reflect the position of the NIH or US government
All posts are my personal opinions and do not reflect the position of the NIH or US government
Pinned
Shawn Burgess
@burgesslab.bsky.social
· May 15
Danio rerio Annotation ReportTwitterFacebookLinkedInGitHubNCBI Insights BlogTwitterFacebookYoutube
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Some exciting news! NCBI has finished the annotation pipeline for our new #zebrafish reference sequence GRCz12tu:
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/refseq/annot...
This is a big step up in data depth and quality and should be super helpful going forward.
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/refseq/annot...
This is a big step up in data depth and quality and should be super helpful going forward.
Reposted by Shawn Burgess
Kid Rock Sells Entire Music Catalog For Extra-Large Bucket Of Cheese Balls
February 13, 2026 at 4:00 PM
Kid Rock Sells Entire Music Catalog For Extra-Large Bucket Of Cheese Balls
Reposted by Shawn Burgess
It was believed in medieval times that hedgehogs had spikes so they could roll over fruit to carry home to their children, which is not true but is a really cute idea
February 13, 2026 at 11:26 AM
It was believed in medieval times that hedgehogs had spikes so they could roll over fruit to carry home to their children, which is not true but is a really cute idea
Reposted by Shawn Burgess
Anyone who spent the past two decades waiting for the big shoe to drop, not taking it seriously until then, ignoring all the women going "listen my thesis advisor is literally not allowed to be in elevators with women," would have missed that the expulsion of women from academia was already there.
February 13, 2026 at 11:42 AM
Anyone who spent the past two decades waiting for the big shoe to drop, not taking it seriously until then, ignoring all the women going "listen my thesis advisor is literally not allowed to be in elevators with women," would have missed that the expulsion of women from academia was already there.
Reposted by Shawn Burgess
Switching fields or wanting to become an expert in #zebrafish research?
The @mblscience.bsky.social 2026 Zebrafish Development & Genetics course offers a fantastic opportunity to learn from leaders in the field!
Application deadline: March 2
Please spread the word!
www.mbl.edu/education/ad...
The @mblscience.bsky.social 2026 Zebrafish Development & Genetics course offers a fantastic opportunity to learn from leaders in the field!
Application deadline: March 2
Please spread the word!
www.mbl.edu/education/ad...
February 11, 2026 at 8:22 PM
Switching fields or wanting to become an expert in #zebrafish research?
The @mblscience.bsky.social 2026 Zebrafish Development & Genetics course offers a fantastic opportunity to learn from leaders in the field!
Application deadline: March 2
Please spread the word!
www.mbl.edu/education/ad...
The @mblscience.bsky.social 2026 Zebrafish Development & Genetics course offers a fantastic opportunity to learn from leaders in the field!
Application deadline: March 2
Please spread the word!
www.mbl.edu/education/ad...
Reposted by Shawn Burgess
Cross-institute teamwork between Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Centre for Organismal Studies Heidelberg & European Molecular Biology Laboratory driving progress on Medaka inbred strains. doi.org/10.1016/j.xg...
February 13, 2026 at 1:22 PM
Cross-institute teamwork between Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Centre for Organismal Studies Heidelberg & European Molecular Biology Laboratory driving progress on Medaka inbred strains. doi.org/10.1016/j.xg...
Reposted by Shawn Burgess
Last week, I hosted John Young for our departmental seminar & we heard about his evo-devo approach to understanding bird and amphibian limb development!🦤🐥🐸
We were in the same PhD cohort at Berkeley (we realized that it was nigh on 20 yrs ago😶) & I love catching up with his lab each year at NESDB.
We were in the same PhD cohort at Berkeley (we realized that it was nigh on 20 yrs ago😶) & I love catching up with his lab each year at NESDB.
February 13, 2026 at 1:24 PM
Last week, I hosted John Young for our departmental seminar & we heard about his evo-devo approach to understanding bird and amphibian limb development!🦤🐥🐸
We were in the same PhD cohort at Berkeley (we realized that it was nigh on 20 yrs ago😶) & I love catching up with his lab each year at NESDB.
We were in the same PhD cohort at Berkeley (we realized that it was nigh on 20 yrs ago😶) & I love catching up with his lab each year at NESDB.
Reposted by Shawn Burgess
Facebook plans to put facial recognition in its glasses and they think we’re too stupid to fight back.
Their internal memo: “We will launch during a dynamic political environment where many civil society groups that we would expect to attack us would have their resources focused on other concerns.”
Their internal memo: “We will launch during a dynamic political environment where many civil society groups that we would expect to attack us would have their resources focused on other concerns.”
Meta Plans to Add Facial Recognition Technology to Its Smart Glasses
www.nytimes.com
February 13, 2026 at 12:16 PM
Facebook plans to put facial recognition in its glasses and they think we’re too stupid to fight back.
Their internal memo: “We will launch during a dynamic political environment where many civil society groups that we would expect to attack us would have their resources focused on other concerns.”
Their internal memo: “We will launch during a dynamic political environment where many civil society groups that we would expect to attack us would have their resources focused on other concerns.”
Reposted by Shawn Burgess
An animal model for cerebral small vessel disease
Zebrafish can be used to study the cellular mechanisms responsible for cerebral small vessel disease, which is a leading cause of stroke and dementia.
🔗 buff.ly/wchKmpT
Zebrafish can be used to study the cellular mechanisms responsible for cerebral small vessel disease, which is a leading cause of stroke and dementia.
🔗 buff.ly/wchKmpT
February 12, 2026 at 11:28 PM
An animal model for cerebral small vessel disease
Zebrafish can be used to study the cellular mechanisms responsible for cerebral small vessel disease, which is a leading cause of stroke and dementia.
🔗 buff.ly/wchKmpT
Zebrafish can be used to study the cellular mechanisms responsible for cerebral small vessel disease, which is a leading cause of stroke and dementia.
🔗 buff.ly/wchKmpT
I hope you are all watching #SchoolSpirits on Paramount+
The best TV show ever made (with involvement from one of my offspring).
www.imdb.com/title/tt2105...
The best TV show ever made (with involvement from one of my offspring).
www.imdb.com/title/tt2105...
School Spirits (TV Series 2023– ) ⭐ 7.7 | Drama, Fantasy, Mystery
49m | TV-MA
www.imdb.com
February 12, 2026 at 9:15 PM
I hope you are all watching #SchoolSpirits on Paramount+
The best TV show ever made (with involvement from one of my offspring).
www.imdb.com/title/tt2105...
The best TV show ever made (with involvement from one of my offspring).
www.imdb.com/title/tt2105...
Reposted by Shawn Burgess
he's a nazi. he told us he was a nazi, he keeps doing nazi things. he's a nazi.
The silence of US elites about this remains stunning & utterly damning.
Elon Musk posted about race almost every day in January
Many social media posts by Tesla CEO on his platform are indiscernible from those of white supremacists, say experts
www.theguardian.com
February 12, 2026 at 8:38 PM
he's a nazi. he told us he was a nazi, he keeps doing nazi things. he's a nazi.
Reposted by Shawn Burgess
Reposted by Shawn Burgess
New preprint out!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
One of the most salient lessons I learned in all my adventures with screening and protein engineering is the importance of context. The context in which you test a gene or protein determines what function it has.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
One of the most salient lessons I learned in all my adventures with screening and protein engineering is the importance of context. The context in which you test a gene or protein determines what function it has.
February 6, 2026 at 4:32 PM
New preprint out!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
One of the most salient lessons I learned in all my adventures with screening and protein engineering is the importance of context. The context in which you test a gene or protein determines what function it has.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
One of the most salient lessons I learned in all my adventures with screening and protein engineering is the importance of context. The context in which you test a gene or protein determines what function it has.
Reposted by Shawn Burgess
Check out FlyCADD, a functional impact prediction tool ⚒️ for single-nucleotide variants in #Drosophila.
Read more in #GENETICS about how to use this tool for studying functional impacts of variants. buff.ly/Hts9Mjp
Read more in #GENETICS about how to use this tool for studying functional impacts of variants. buff.ly/Hts9Mjp
February 6, 2026 at 7:02 PM
Check out FlyCADD, a functional impact prediction tool ⚒️ for single-nucleotide variants in #Drosophila.
Read more in #GENETICS about how to use this tool for studying functional impacts of variants. buff.ly/Hts9Mjp
Read more in #GENETICS about how to use this tool for studying functional impacts of variants. buff.ly/Hts9Mjp
Reposted by Shawn Burgess
Please share this with your network: Postdoctoral position available in my group.
www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/43...
www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/43...
Albert Einstein College of Medicine hiring Postdoctoral position studying functional non-coding variants in neurodevelopmental disorders, Bronx, New York City, USA c in New York City Metropolitan Area...
Posted 9:40:20 PM. A postdoctoral fellow position is open with 2 years of funding from the Simons Foundation Autism…See this and similar jobs on LinkedIn.
www.linkedin.com
February 5, 2026 at 10:47 PM
Please share this with your network: Postdoctoral position available in my group.
www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/43...
www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/43...
Reposted by Shawn Burgess
Our new paper is out in @currentbiology.bsky.social where we address the question of why self-sustenance, a defining feature of circadian clocks might have been selected, when environments on Earth are rarely constant! www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... #circadian #cyanobacteria #evolution
Seasonal cycles select for self-sustained circadian oscillators
Circadian clocks are phylogenetically widespread timekeeping mechanisms that provide a fitness-enhancing ability to anticipate time-of-day changes in …
www.sciencedirect.com
February 5, 2026 at 6:47 PM
Our new paper is out in @currentbiology.bsky.social where we address the question of why self-sustenance, a defining feature of circadian clocks might have been selected, when environments on Earth are rarely constant! www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... #circadian #cyanobacteria #evolution
Reposted by Shawn Burgess
This is the endgame 😭🥀
February 5, 2026 at 7:22 PM
This is the endgame 😭🥀
I hope and mostly believe this to be true, but if someone asks you if you like cheating and cheaters or would you rather put in the hard work to better yourself, well:
February 5, 2026 at 7:22 PM
I hope and mostly believe this to be true, but if someone asks you if you like cheating and cheaters or would you rather put in the hard work to better yourself, well:
Reposted by Shawn Burgess
Time for university administrators to stop buying AI hype. None of my very smart and eager-to-learn students wanted anything to do with chatbots.
‘Study after study shows that students want to develop these critical thinking skills, are not lazy, and large numbers of them would be in favor of banning ChatGPT and similar tools in universities’, says @olivia.science www.ru.nl/en/research/...
‘Opposing the inevitability of AI at universities is possible and necessary’ | Radboud University
Since the widespread release of ChatGPT in December of 2022, AI has taken over much of the world by storm – including academia. Most of this happened with very little pushback, despite a myriad of iss...
www.ru.nl
February 5, 2026 at 5:53 PM
Time for university administrators to stop buying AI hype. None of my very smart and eager-to-learn students wanted anything to do with chatbots.
Reposted by Shawn Burgess
UKRI boss - we're really good at curiosity-driven research, so let's spend less money on it.
The US has shot itself in the stomach scientifically. But the UK is needlessly shooting itself in the foot.
The US has shot itself in the stomach scientifically. But the UK is needlessly shooting itself in the foot.
Helpful update into UKRI and research council funding changes from Zoe Kleinman @zsk.bsky.social
But please more focus on 2 things...
1) Immediate effects (eg funding decisions expected in March)
2) Likely disproportionate effects on early career scientists
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
But please more focus on 2 things...
1) Immediate effects (eg funding decisions expected in March)
2) Likely disproportionate effects on early career scientists
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
UK’s £8bn research fund faces “hard decisions” as it pauses new grants
UKRI boss Ian Chapman said it had been told by the government to
www.bbc.co.uk
February 5, 2026 at 7:15 PM
UKRI boss - we're really good at curiosity-driven research, so let's spend less money on it.
The US has shot itself in the stomach scientifically. But the UK is needlessly shooting itself in the foot.
The US has shot itself in the stomach scientifically. But the UK is needlessly shooting itself in the foot.
Shakespeare's (et al.) Thomas More is an inspiration (especially by Sir McKellan ❤️🔥) but the real guy was a bit of a horror show. He tried to escape persecution on a technicality (I never actually *said* he wasn't head of the church), and the torture denials in his Apologia ring a bit hollow.
February 5, 2026 at 7:17 PM
Shakespeare's (et al.) Thomas More is an inspiration (especially by Sir McKellan ❤️🔥) but the real guy was a bit of a horror show. He tried to escape persecution on a technicality (I never actually *said* he wasn't head of the church), and the torture denials in his Apologia ring a bit hollow.
Reposted by Shawn Burgess
After four months, the journal has not found a single reviewer for my PhD student's manuscript. The academic peer review system is broken.
I think we all should:
1. Review three papers for every one that we submit.
2. Promptly declined to review a paper when the request arrives.
#AcademicChatter
I think we all should:
1. Review three papers for every one that we submit.
2. Promptly declined to review a paper when the request arrives.
#AcademicChatter
February 5, 2026 at 6:43 PM
After four months, the journal has not found a single reviewer for my PhD student's manuscript. The academic peer review system is broken.
I think we all should:
1. Review three papers for every one that we submit.
2. Promptly declined to review a paper when the request arrives.
#AcademicChatter
I think we all should:
1. Review three papers for every one that we submit.
2. Promptly declined to review a paper when the request arrives.
#AcademicChatter
Reposted by Shawn Burgess
I am SO incredibly excited to announce the launch of a global list of Inspiring Black Scientists. You can use this list to nominate and connect with researchers. Please share and join us in highlighting these outstanding scientists for #BlackHistoryMonth and beyond!
www.wiley.com/en-us/resear...
www.wiley.com/en-us/resear...
February 5, 2026 at 5:36 PM
I am SO incredibly excited to announce the launch of a global list of Inspiring Black Scientists. You can use this list to nominate and connect with researchers. Please share and join us in highlighting these outstanding scientists for #BlackHistoryMonth and beyond!
www.wiley.com/en-us/resear...
www.wiley.com/en-us/resear...
Congrats @jeffreyafarrell.bsky.social !!! He is doing some of the most important work bringing Dev Bio to the 21st century...
(the other winners are pretty good too I hear)
(the other winners are pretty good too I hear)
Congrats to the 2026 SDB Award Winners!
Conklin Medal: Lee Niswander
SDB Lifetime Achievement Award: Alexandra Joyner
Hamburger Outstanding Educator Prize: Roberto Mayor
Hay New Investigator Award: Jeffrey Farrell
SDB Trainee SciComm Award: Nicholas Desnoyer
bit.ly/4afnjiC
Conklin Medal: Lee Niswander
SDB Lifetime Achievement Award: Alexandra Joyner
Hamburger Outstanding Educator Prize: Roberto Mayor
Hay New Investigator Award: Jeffrey Farrell
SDB Trainee SciComm Award: Nicholas Desnoyer
bit.ly/4afnjiC
February 5, 2026 at 6:39 PM
Congrats @jeffreyafarrell.bsky.social !!! He is doing some of the most important work bringing Dev Bio to the 21st century...
(the other winners are pretty good too I hear)
(the other winners are pretty good too I hear)
Reposted by Shawn Burgess
Final reminder 📢 We are looking for a #philbio or #philphysics postdoc for an interdisciplinary project exploring the boundary between living and nonliving systems through the lens of self-organization & active matter 👇 www.kuleuven.be/personeel/jo... #philjobs #philsky #HPS #devbio Please share!
February 5, 2026 at 3:45 PM
Final reminder 📢 We are looking for a #philbio or #philphysics postdoc for an interdisciplinary project exploring the boundary between living and nonliving systems through the lens of self-organization & active matter 👇 www.kuleuven.be/personeel/jo... #philjobs #philsky #HPS #devbio Please share!
Reposted by Shawn Burgess
@mikefeigin.bsky.social’s favorite bioRxiv experience was being able to start a collaboration based on reading a preprint, leading to a publication years later. As an Affiliate, he helps these impactful preprints be posted ~48 hours post-submission
#openRxiv #OpenScience #preprints #CommunityVoices
#openRxiv #OpenScience #preprints #CommunityVoices
February 5, 2026 at 6:04 PM
@mikefeigin.bsky.social’s favorite bioRxiv experience was being able to start a collaboration based on reading a preprint, leading to a publication years later. As an Affiliate, he helps these impactful preprints be posted ~48 hours post-submission
#openRxiv #OpenScience #preprints #CommunityVoices
#openRxiv #OpenScience #preprints #CommunityVoices