C. Brandon Ogbunu
@cbo.bsky.social
Scientist + Humanist + Pugilist.
"Tip your hat; pop the chain; short Joe Louis; then wipe his nose with the hook. It's that simple." (c) Brother Naazim Richardson
https://linktr.ee/chike98
"Tip your hat; pop the chain; short Joe Louis; then wipe his nose with the hook. It's that simple." (c) Brother Naazim Richardson
https://linktr.ee/chike98
Pinned
C. Brandon Ogbunu
@cbo.bsky.social
· Nov 14
What James Watson got wrong about DNA - The Boston Globe
The science he helped pioneer consistently undermines his view that genes determine everything about us.
www.bostonglobe.com
"What James Watson got wrong about DNA"
By the great Sohini Ramachandran (@sramach.bsky.social) and your boy for The Boston Globe (@bostonglobe.com).
www.bostonglobe.com/2025/11/14/o...
By the great Sohini Ramachandran (@sramach.bsky.social) and your boy for The Boston Globe (@bostonglobe.com).
www.bostonglobe.com/2025/11/14/o...
Reposted by C. Brandon Ogbunu
Exactly, but its argument in favor of #Deextinction is itself a logical fallacy; yes, “ecosystems respond to what organisms do, not to how precisely their DNA mirrors the past” but… 🧪
www.columnist24.com/science/8397...
www.columnist24.com/science/8397...
The Perfectionist Fallacy - Columnist24
A growing strand of scientific purism argues that de-extinction efforts must achieve perfect genetic fidelity before they can be taken seriously.
www.columnist24.com
January 2, 2026 at 6:35 PM
Exactly, but its argument in favor of #Deextinction is itself a logical fallacy; yes, “ecosystems respond to what organisms do, not to how precisely their DNA mirrors the past” but… 🧪
www.columnist24.com/science/8397...
www.columnist24.com/science/8397...
Reposted by C. Brandon Ogbunu
Here is our introductory paper to the Paleobiology special volume @paleosoc.bsky.social celebrating the 50th anniversary of #punctuatedequilibria #macroevolution #paleobiology #palaeontology #paleontology @nilese.bsky.social www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Punctuated equilibria at 50: half a century of stasis, cladogenesis, and macroevolutionary insights | Paleobiology | Cambridge Core
Punctuated equilibria at 50: half a century of stasis, cladogenesis, and macroevolutionary insights - Volume 51 Issue 4
www.cambridge.org
January 2, 2026 at 6:33 PM
Here is our introductory paper to the Paleobiology special volume @paleosoc.bsky.social celebrating the 50th anniversary of #punctuatedequilibria #macroevolution #paleobiology #palaeontology #paleontology @nilese.bsky.social www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Reposted by C. Brandon Ogbunu
It's as very weird summary of a lot of work. For example, this paper produced by the working group *does* show quite a few concrete economic benefits: royalsocietypublishing.org/rsos/article...
The economic impact of open science: a scoping review
Abstract. This article summarizes a comprehensive scoping review of the economic impact of open science (OS), examining empirical evidence from 2000 to 202
royalsocietypublishing.org
January 2, 2026 at 5:29 PM
It's as very weird summary of a lot of work. For example, this paper produced by the working group *does* show quite a few concrete economic benefits: royalsocietypublishing.org/rsos/article...
Reposted by C. Brandon Ogbunu
Thrilled to share the first major preprint from the lab. Viruses are classically viewed as targets of host sensing. Do viruses also sense and respond to the host? We propose viruses may act as “biosensors” of the host signaling state. A thread👇🏾 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Global Landscape of Human Kinase Motifs in Viral Proteomes
Viruses are classically viewed as targets of host sensing, yet whether they also sense and respond to host cues remains largely unexplored. We propose that host-driven post-translational modification ...
www.biorxiv.org
December 31, 2025 at 4:27 PM
Thrilled to share the first major preprint from the lab. Viruses are classically viewed as targets of host sensing. Do viruses also sense and respond to the host? We propose viruses may act as “biosensors” of the host signaling state. A thread👇🏾 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by C. Brandon Ogbunu
"My New Year's Resolution is to find a principled way to think about all those cell types in the brain"
Why friend, you are in luck, because @rgast.bsky.social has just the perspective for you: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Why friend, you are in luck, because @rgast.bsky.social has just the perspective for you: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
How heterogeneity shapes dynamics and computation in the brain
Much effort has been spent clustering neurons into transcriptomic or functional cell types and characterizing the differences between them. Beyond sub…
www.sciencedirect.com
December 30, 2025 at 4:54 PM
"My New Year's Resolution is to find a principled way to think about all those cell types in the brain"
Why friend, you are in luck, because @rgast.bsky.social has just the perspective for you: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Why friend, you are in luck, because @rgast.bsky.social has just the perspective for you: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Reposted by C. Brandon Ogbunu
The Paradox of the Organism: Adaptation and Internal Conflict is now out!
Get your copy directly from @harvardpress.bsky.social
Get your copy directly from @harvardpress.bsky.social
December 17, 2025 at 4:34 PM
The Paradox of the Organism: Adaptation and Internal Conflict is now out!
Get your copy directly from @harvardpress.bsky.social
Get your copy directly from @harvardpress.bsky.social
Reposted by C. Brandon Ogbunu
A free, open-access library of high-quality organism illustrations for science communication
A free, open-access library of high-quality organism illustrations for science communication
We create vector graphics of model organisms and emerging biological research organisms to enhance our publications. We’re sharing these editable graphics under a CC0 license for other scientists to...
doi.org
December 29, 2025 at 6:03 PM
A free, open-access library of high-quality organism illustrations for science communication
Reposted by C. Brandon Ogbunu
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has stated that the 1918 flu pandemic was caused by a lab virus from vaccine research, a defective influenza vaccine. Let’s analyze what a lie this is. First, in 1918, 107 years ago, virology was in its infancy
December 27, 2025 at 11:42 PM
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has stated that the 1918 flu pandemic was caused by a lab virus from vaccine research, a defective influenza vaccine. Let’s analyze what a lie this is. First, in 1918, 107 years ago, virology was in its infancy
Reposted by C. Brandon Ogbunu
I’ll never look at avocados in quite the same way: The latest from UC Berkeley Miller Fellow Jeff Groh who sits in my lab and Ben Blackman’s lab. He works on balancing selection and molecular mechanisms underlying the coevolutionary phenomenon of mating type alternation (PhD with Graham Koop).
Balanced polymorphism in a floral transcription factor underlies an ancient rhythm of daily sex alternation in avocado https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2025.12.22.695989v1
December 25, 2025 at 3:23 PM
I’ll never look at avocados in quite the same way: The latest from UC Berkeley Miller Fellow Jeff Groh who sits in my lab and Ben Blackman’s lab. He works on balancing selection and molecular mechanisms underlying the coevolutionary phenomenon of mating type alternation (PhD with Graham Koop).
Reposted by C. Brandon Ogbunu
and the winner of the "2025 best thing on Internet" has just arrived
neal.fun/size-of-life/
@carlbergstrom.com
neal.fun/size-of-life/
@carlbergstrom.com
Size of Life
From an amoeba to a blue whale
neal.fun
December 23, 2025 at 4:07 PM
and the winner of the "2025 best thing on Internet" has just arrived
neal.fun/size-of-life/
@carlbergstrom.com
neal.fun/size-of-life/
@carlbergstrom.com
Reposted by C. Brandon Ogbunu
Carlson et al. build a mathematical model considering how genotype-by-environment interactions can maintain variation and parametrize their model to test its applicability to real mutualisms.
Read now ahead of print!
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...
Read now ahead of print!
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...
How Genotype-by-Environment Interactions Can Maintain Variation in Mutualisms | The American Naturalist
Abstract Coevolution requires reciprocal genotype-by-genotype (G × G) interactions for fitness, which occur when the fitness of a genotype in one species depends on the genotype it interacts with in a...
www.journals.uchicago.edu
December 24, 2025 at 12:50 AM
Carlson et al. build a mathematical model considering how genotype-by-environment interactions can maintain variation and parametrize their model to test its applicability to real mutualisms.
Read now ahead of print!
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...
Read now ahead of print!
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...
Reposted by C. Brandon Ogbunu
This is well worth a read. It is essentially qualitative, which some might baulk at, but sometimes that's the way to start fleshing out an idea.
New paper on evolution, emergence, and novelty generation. I had a lot of fun working with my philosophy of science colleagues on this one!
Selective funnelling and state-space expansion: a conceptual framework for novelty generation and origin events
Abstract. Evolution, conceived broadly as encompassing both biological and abiological systems, generates novel structures and phenomena that are seemingly
royalsocietypublishing.org
December 22, 2025 at 6:43 PM
This is well worth a read. It is essentially qualitative, which some might baulk at, but sometimes that's the way to start fleshing out an idea.
Reposted by C. Brandon Ogbunu
Thrilled to announce the Handbook of Computational Social Science is officially out! 956 pages, 118 authors, and truly global, interdisciplinary perspectives. Deep thanks to the contributors and anonymous reviewers who shaped this over 4 years. Buy your copy now!
@elgarpublishing.bsky.social
@elgarpublishing.bsky.social
December 19, 2025 at 4:37 PM
Thrilled to announce the Handbook of Computational Social Science is officially out! 956 pages, 118 authors, and truly global, interdisciplinary perspectives. Deep thanks to the contributors and anonymous reviewers who shaped this over 4 years. Buy your copy now!
@elgarpublishing.bsky.social
@elgarpublishing.bsky.social
Reposted by C. Brandon Ogbunu
Probably still time for last-minute Xmas shopping.
Also looming large in my reading this year: @seanmcarroll.bsky.social’s Something Deeply Hidden. I feel absolutely transformed by what I learned in this book. Who needs self-help when you have the Many Worlds theory?
December 22, 2025 at 4:26 PM
Probably still time for last-minute Xmas shopping.
Reposted by C. Brandon Ogbunu
A little review of some of the things I wrote this year. 🧵
It was of course the Year of Quantum, a highlight of which was the meeting on Helgoland in the summer. Here's what that was all about, and what happened there.
www.marginaliareviewofbooks.com/post/the-hol...
It was of course the Year of Quantum, a highlight of which was the meeting on Helgoland in the summer. Here's what that was all about, and what happened there.
www.marginaliareviewofbooks.com/post/the-hol...
The Holy Land of Physics: Quantum Mechanics Turns One Hundred
PHILIP BALL | Someone quipped that if the ferry from Hamburg had sunk, so would have quantum physics for a generation...
www.marginaliareviewofbooks.com
December 22, 2025 at 6:55 PM
A little review of some of the things I wrote this year. 🧵
It was of course the Year of Quantum, a highlight of which was the meeting on Helgoland in the summer. Here's what that was all about, and what happened there.
www.marginaliareviewofbooks.com/post/the-hol...
It was of course the Year of Quantum, a highlight of which was the meeting on Helgoland in the summer. Here's what that was all about, and what happened there.
www.marginaliareviewofbooks.com/post/the-hol...
Reposted by C. Brandon Ogbunu
Happy to highlight an essay I wrote together with @marcdemanuel.bsky.social,
@natanaels.bsky.social and Anastasia Stolyarova, trying to think through what sets the mutation rate of a cell type in an animal species: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... 1/n
@natanaels.bsky.social and Anastasia Stolyarova, trying to think through what sets the mutation rate of a cell type in an animal species: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... 1/n
What sets the mutation rate of a cell type in an animal species?
Germline mutation rates per generation are strikingly similar across animals, despite vast differences in life histories. Analogously, in at least one somatic cell type, mutation rates at the end of l...
www.biorxiv.org
December 22, 2025 at 3:09 PM
Happy to highlight an essay I wrote together with @marcdemanuel.bsky.social,
@natanaels.bsky.social and Anastasia Stolyarova, trying to think through what sets the mutation rate of a cell type in an animal species: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... 1/n
@natanaels.bsky.social and Anastasia Stolyarova, trying to think through what sets the mutation rate of a cell type in an animal species: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... 1/n
Reposted by C. Brandon Ogbunu
Happy to share my new paper w/ @cgershen.bsky.social, just published at @royalsocietypublishing.org Interface!
Open Access🔓: royalsocietypublishing.org/rsif/article...
Instead of proposing a new theory, we offer a synthesis in theoretical biology. Want to know more? Read the full thread./1 👇🧵
Open Access🔓: royalsocietypublishing.org/rsif/article...
Instead of proposing a new theory, we offer a synthesis in theoretical biology. Want to know more? Read the full thread./1 👇🧵
Closing the loop: how semantic closure enables open-ended evolution?
Abstract. This study explores the evolutionary emergence of semantic closure—the self-referential mechanism through which symbols actively construct and in
royalsocietypublishing.org
December 22, 2025 at 3:19 PM
Happy to share my new paper w/ @cgershen.bsky.social, just published at @royalsocietypublishing.org Interface!
Open Access🔓: royalsocietypublishing.org/rsif/article...
Instead of proposing a new theory, we offer a synthesis in theoretical biology. Want to know more? Read the full thread./1 👇🧵
Open Access🔓: royalsocietypublishing.org/rsif/article...
Instead of proposing a new theory, we offer a synthesis in theoretical biology. Want to know more? Read the full thread./1 👇🧵
Reposted by C. Brandon Ogbunu
Really interesting research showing that while ultra-specialization in a single discipline might lead to better results early in one’s career, multi-discipline training and practice pays off big time in the long run. This applies to a range of professions from scientists to athletes and more
Recent discoveries on the acquisition of the highest levels of human performance
Scientists have long debated the origins of exceptional human achievements. This literature review summarizes recent evidence from multiple domains on the acquisition of world-class performance. We re...
www.science.org
December 20, 2025 at 6:51 PM
Really interesting research showing that while ultra-specialization in a single discipline might lead to better results early in one’s career, multi-discipline training and practice pays off big time in the long run. This applies to a range of professions from scientists to athletes and more
Reposted by C. Brandon Ogbunu
Multidisciplinary training, over time, produces the highest impact people
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Recent discoveries on the acquisition of the highest levels of human performance
Scientists have long debated the origins of exceptional human achievements. This literature review summarizes recent evidence from multiple domains on the acquisition of world-class performance. We re...
www.science.org
December 20, 2025 at 11:49 PM
Multidisciplinary training, over time, produces the highest impact people
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Reposted by C. Brandon Ogbunu
This is a good time to talk about the TRUE genetics revolution brought in by sequencing the human genome:
The genetic underpinning of traits is not simple, will never be simple. Complex gene-gene interactions are the rule, not the exception 🧵
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
The genetic underpinning of traits is not simple, will never be simple. Complex gene-gene interactions are the rule, not the exception 🧵
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Biobanks reveal genetic complexity in human evolution
Tiny genetic variations between humans, Neanderthals and Denisovans might not be all they were cracked up to be.
www.nature.com
December 19, 2025 at 5:29 PM
This is a good time to talk about the TRUE genetics revolution brought in by sequencing the human genome:
The genetic underpinning of traits is not simple, will never be simple. Complex gene-gene interactions are the rule, not the exception 🧵
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
The genetic underpinning of traits is not simple, will never be simple. Complex gene-gene interactions are the rule, not the exception 🧵
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Reposted by C. Brandon Ogbunu
Multiple anthropogenic stressors can negatively impact species but can a single stressor also have multiple, concurrent impacts? Here we show that light pollution creates several simultaneous impacts to the nocturnal movement ecology of a moth and a spider: tinyurl.com/5eku5bff (1/5)
December 17, 2025 at 8:15 PM
Multiple anthropogenic stressors can negatively impact species but can a single stressor also have multiple, concurrent impacts? Here we show that light pollution creates several simultaneous impacts to the nocturnal movement ecology of a moth and a spider: tinyurl.com/5eku5bff (1/5)
Reposted by C. Brandon Ogbunu
While stories of singular DNA changes that drove evolution of human brain/behaviour remain seductive, advances across multiple fields of biology cast doubt on such simplistic narratives of our origins. A new paper from my lab shows how biobanks may speak to this fundamental question.🧪
Explainer🧵👇1/n
Explainer🧵👇1/n
Evaluating the effects of archaic protein-altering variants in living human adults
Promise and pitfalls of using large biobanks to study impacts of archaic protein-coding variants in living humans.
www.science.org
December 18, 2025 at 1:51 PM
While stories of singular DNA changes that drove evolution of human brain/behaviour remain seductive, advances across multiple fields of biology cast doubt on such simplistic narratives of our origins. A new paper from my lab shows how biobanks may speak to this fundamental question.🧪
Explainer🧵👇1/n
Explainer🧵👇1/n
Reposted by C. Brandon Ogbunu
My science is more sciencey than your science!
"Boundary work is more contentious, however, when it desciences research on ideological grounds."
New work by Robbie Sutton and @stefanleach.bsky.social on science rejection.
Open Access: doi.org/10.1016/j.co...
"Boundary work is more contentious, however, when it desciences research on ideological grounds."
New work by Robbie Sutton and @stefanleach.bsky.social on science rejection.
Open Access: doi.org/10.1016/j.co...
December 18, 2025 at 1:25 PM
My science is more sciencey than your science!
"Boundary work is more contentious, however, when it desciences research on ideological grounds."
New work by Robbie Sutton and @stefanleach.bsky.social on science rejection.
Open Access: doi.org/10.1016/j.co...
"Boundary work is more contentious, however, when it desciences research on ideological grounds."
New work by Robbie Sutton and @stefanleach.bsky.social on science rejection.
Open Access: doi.org/10.1016/j.co...
Reposted by C. Brandon Ogbunu
Article about scientists leaving (or not leaving) the US - including me!
I landed in a truly great spot - but what's happening in the US is messed up.
@isemevol.bsky.social @sfstatebio.bsky.social @umontpellier.bsky.social
I landed in a truly great spot - but what's happening in the US is messed up.
@isemevol.bsky.social @sfstatebio.bsky.social @umontpellier.bsky.social
Amid talk of a brain drain, some scientists leave U.S. behind www.statnews.com/2025/12/17/r...
Amid talk of a brain drain, some scientists leave U.S. behind
“A large part of what we loved about the United States is no longer there”: Amid talk of a brain drain, some scientists leave the U.S. behind.
www.statnews.com
December 17, 2025 at 6:05 PM
Article about scientists leaving (or not leaving) the US - including me!
I landed in a truly great spot - but what's happening in the US is messed up.
@isemevol.bsky.social @sfstatebio.bsky.social @umontpellier.bsky.social
I landed in a truly great spot - but what's happening in the US is messed up.
@isemevol.bsky.social @sfstatebio.bsky.social @umontpellier.bsky.social
Reposted by C. Brandon Ogbunu
Have you ever wondered: just how strong *is* the evidence for Muller's ratchet on mtDNA?
Well, wonder no more!
(Project led by Yu Mo, with @smishra677.bsky.social and @yadirapga.bsky.social)
"No molecular evidence for Muller's ratchet in mitochondrial genomes"
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Well, wonder no more!
(Project led by Yu Mo, with @smishra677.bsky.social and @yadirapga.bsky.social)
"No molecular evidence for Muller's ratchet in mitochondrial genomes"
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
No molecular evidence for Muller's ratchet in mitochondrial genomes
Muller's ratchet predicts that non-recombining genomes can accumulate deleterious mutations, though molecular evidence for it is rare. Previous studies have tried to detect ratchet-like behavior in mi...
www.biorxiv.org
December 17, 2025 at 2:36 PM
Have you ever wondered: just how strong *is* the evidence for Muller's ratchet on mtDNA?
Well, wonder no more!
(Project led by Yu Mo, with @smishra677.bsky.social and @yadirapga.bsky.social)
"No molecular evidence for Muller's ratchet in mitochondrial genomes"
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Well, wonder no more!
(Project led by Yu Mo, with @smishra677.bsky.social and @yadirapga.bsky.social)
"No molecular evidence for Muller's ratchet in mitochondrial genomes"
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...