Georgios Kafetzis
@gkafetzis.bsky.social
PhD Student@University of Sussex w/ Tom Baden
MSc Neuroscience@University of Tübingen w/ Thomas Euler
Interested in visual neuroscience, neural design, evolution.
MSc Neuroscience@University of Tübingen w/ Thomas Euler
Interested in visual neuroscience, neural design, evolution.
Pinned
Georgios Kafetzis
@gkafetzis.bsky.social
· Sep 12
a black and white dog is sitting on a couch with its tongue sticking out .
ALT: a black and white dog is sitting on a couch with its tongue sticking out .
media.tenor.com
👁️The retina — strikingly conserved across vertebrates, but an oddity among bilaterians!
So how did it evolve?
With @mikebok.bsky.social, @neurofishh.bsky.social and @denilsson.bsky.social, we argue that retinal complexity may 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑑𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑦𝑒 𝑖𝑡𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑓.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
1/n
So how did it evolve?
With @mikebok.bsky.social, @neurofishh.bsky.social and @denilsson.bsky.social, we argue that retinal complexity may 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑑𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑦𝑒 𝑖𝑡𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑓.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
1/n
Reposted by Georgios Kafetzis
Our study, just published in #ScienceAdvances and funded by @hfspo.bsky.social, explores the post metamorphic cell composition of the sea urchin juvenile, revealing that its body is head-like. Long considered brainless creatures, they’re all brain instead!
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Single-nucleus profiling highlights the all-brain echinoderm nervous system
A sea urchin is a head with a brain-like organization and a vertebrate-type retinal signature.
www.science.org
November 5, 2025 at 7:03 PM
Our study, just published in #ScienceAdvances and funded by @hfspo.bsky.social, explores the post metamorphic cell composition of the sea urchin juvenile, revealing that its body is head-like. Long considered brainless creatures, they’re all brain instead!
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Reposted by Georgios Kafetzis
We’re hiring! Join the Sivyer Lab at The University of Sydney as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Neurodegeneration within the Snow Vision Accelerator, a $50M initiative tackling glaucoma and optic nerve disease. iPSCs, electrophysiology, drug discovery, and gene therapy.
November 4, 2025 at 10:20 AM
We’re hiring! Join the Sivyer Lab at The University of Sydney as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Neurodegeneration within the Snow Vision Accelerator, a $50M initiative tackling glaucoma and optic nerve disease. iPSCs, electrophysiology, drug discovery, and gene therapy.
Reposted by Georgios Kafetzis
Excited to share our paper now published in Cell!
'Zebrafish use spectral information to suppress the visual background'
Huge thanks to @neurofishh.bsky.social & @teuler.bsky.social
@cellpress.bsky.social @cp-cell.bsky.social
👇🏻
www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...
'Zebrafish use spectral information to suppress the visual background'
Huge thanks to @neurofishh.bsky.social & @teuler.bsky.social
@cellpress.bsky.social @cp-cell.bsky.social
👇🏻
www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...
Zebrafish use spectral information to suppress the visual background
Vertebrate eyes first evolved in water, where spectral content rapidly fades with
distance. Zebrafish exploit this loss by antagonizing cone signals to suppress the
background, pointing to distance es...
www.cell.com
November 4, 2025 at 9:16 AM
Excited to share our paper now published in Cell!
'Zebrafish use spectral information to suppress the visual background'
Huge thanks to @neurofishh.bsky.social & @teuler.bsky.social
@cellpress.bsky.social @cp-cell.bsky.social
👇🏻
www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...
'Zebrafish use spectral information to suppress the visual background'
Huge thanks to @neurofishh.bsky.social & @teuler.bsky.social
@cellpress.bsky.social @cp-cell.bsky.social
👇🏻
www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...
Reposted by Georgios Kafetzis
Now out in Cell! Congratulations to all involved, especially
@chiarafornetto.bsky.social
For a breakdown, see the bluetorial from when we posted the preprint: bsky.app/profile/neur...
Funding: @erc.europa.eu @wellcometrust.bsky.social @ukri.org @leverhulme.ac.uk @thelisterinstitute.bsky.social
@chiarafornetto.bsky.social
For a breakdown, see the bluetorial from when we posted the preprint: bsky.app/profile/neur...
Funding: @erc.europa.eu @wellcometrust.bsky.social @ukri.org @leverhulme.ac.uk @thelisterinstitute.bsky.social
Now online! Zebrafish use spectral information to suppress the visual background
Zebrafish use spectral information to suppress the visual background
Vertebrate eyes first evolved in water, where spectral content rapidly fades with distance. Zebrafish exploit this loss by antagonizing cone signals to suppress the background, pointing to distance estimation—rather than color—as an ancestral cone function.
dlvr.it
November 4, 2025 at 8:53 AM
Now out in Cell! Congratulations to all involved, especially
@chiarafornetto.bsky.social
For a breakdown, see the bluetorial from when we posted the preprint: bsky.app/profile/neur...
Funding: @erc.europa.eu @wellcometrust.bsky.social @ukri.org @leverhulme.ac.uk @thelisterinstitute.bsky.social
@chiarafornetto.bsky.social
For a breakdown, see the bluetorial from when we posted the preprint: bsky.app/profile/neur...
Funding: @erc.europa.eu @wellcometrust.bsky.social @ukri.org @leverhulme.ac.uk @thelisterinstitute.bsky.social
Reposted by Georgios Kafetzis
First neurons didn’t appear overnight. We trace their roots to ancient secretory cells - showing how lifestyle & behavior shaped the evolution of first synapses.🧠🌊 #Evolution #Neuroscience
Our latest in @natrevneuro.nature.com
Link: rdcu.be/eMX3E
@jeffcolgren.bsky.social @msarscentre.bsky.social
Our latest in @natrevneuro.nature.com
Link: rdcu.be/eMX3E
@jeffcolgren.bsky.social @msarscentre.bsky.social
The evolutionary origins of synaptic proteins and their changing roles in different organisms across evolution
Nature Reviews Neuroscience - Recent studies have shed further light on the evolutionary origins of chemical synapses, In this Review, Colgren and Burkhardt explore how ancient proteins were...
rdcu.be
October 27, 2025 at 6:48 PM
First neurons didn’t appear overnight. We trace their roots to ancient secretory cells - showing how lifestyle & behavior shaped the evolution of first synapses.🧠🌊 #Evolution #Neuroscience
Our latest in @natrevneuro.nature.com
Link: rdcu.be/eMX3E
@jeffcolgren.bsky.social @msarscentre.bsky.social
Our latest in @natrevneuro.nature.com
Link: rdcu.be/eMX3E
@jeffcolgren.bsky.social @msarscentre.bsky.social
Reposted by Georgios Kafetzis
Did transposable elements shape brain evolution — and if so, which ones, and in which cell states and lineages? Led by @tyamadat.bsky.social, we explored this question in cerebellum development using sequence-based deep learning models!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
October 16, 2025 at 10:01 PM
Did transposable elements shape brain evolution — and if so, which ones, and in which cell states and lineages? Led by @tyamadat.bsky.social, we explored this question in cerebellum development using sequence-based deep learning models!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Georgios Kafetzis
Teresa Puthussery, a UC Berkeley vision scientist whose insights into the retina could one day help those with vision loss regain their sight, has been named a 2025 MacArthur “genius” Fellow. news.berkeley.edu/2025/10/08/v...
Vision scientist Teresa Puthussery receives MacArthur ‘genius’ award - Berkeley News
Puthussery’s discoveries about the retina are paving the way for new treatments for eye disease and vision loss
news.berkeley.edu
October 8, 2025 at 9:48 PM
Teresa Puthussery, a UC Berkeley vision scientist whose insights into the retina could one day help those with vision loss regain their sight, has been named a 2025 MacArthur “genius” Fellow. news.berkeley.edu/2025/10/08/v...
Reposted by Georgios Kafetzis
Our latest manuscript is out, and this one tackles the problem of cellular aging in the retina, using comparative multiomic analysis of zebrafish, mouse, and humans. What led us to work on aging after studying development and regeneration? Explainer follows./1
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Comparative single-cell multiomic analysis reveals evolutionarily conserved and species-specific cellular mechanisms mediating natural retinal aging.
Biological age is a major risk factor in the development of common degenerative retinal diseases such as age-related macular degeneration and glaucoma. To systematically characterize molecular mechani...
www.biorxiv.org
September 12, 2025 at 7:04 PM
Our latest manuscript is out, and this one tackles the problem of cellular aging in the retina, using comparative multiomic analysis of zebrafish, mouse, and humans. What led us to work on aging after studying development and regeneration? Explainer follows./1
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Georgios Kafetzis
#FluorescenceFriday
#Seahorse retina stained with #GNB3 (green) + #DAPI (cyan). GNB3 labels cone photoreceptors + ON #bipolarcells, tracing pathways from outer to inner retina. Amazing to see conserved visual #circuits in this non-traditional model
#Seahorse retina stained with #GNB3 (green) + #DAPI (cyan). GNB3 labels cone photoreceptors + ON #bipolarcells, tracing pathways from outer to inner retina. Amazing to see conserved visual #circuits in this non-traditional model
September 12, 2025 at 2:09 PM
#FluorescenceFriday
#Seahorse retina stained with #GNB3 (green) + #DAPI (cyan). GNB3 labels cone photoreceptors + ON #bipolarcells, tracing pathways from outer to inner retina. Amazing to see conserved visual #circuits in this non-traditional model
#Seahorse retina stained with #GNB3 (green) + #DAPI (cyan). GNB3 labels cone photoreceptors + ON #bipolarcells, tracing pathways from outer to inner retina. Amazing to see conserved visual #circuits in this non-traditional model
👁️The retina — strikingly conserved across vertebrates, but an oddity among bilaterians!
So how did it evolve?
With @mikebok.bsky.social, @neurofishh.bsky.social and @denilsson.bsky.social, we argue that retinal complexity may 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑑𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑦𝑒 𝑖𝑡𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑓.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
1/n
So how did it evolve?
With @mikebok.bsky.social, @neurofishh.bsky.social and @denilsson.bsky.social, we argue that retinal complexity may 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑑𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑦𝑒 𝑖𝑡𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑓.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
1/n
a black and white dog is sitting on a couch with its tongue sticking out .
ALT: a black and white dog is sitting on a couch with its tongue sticking out .
media.tenor.com
September 12, 2025 at 12:58 PM
👁️The retina — strikingly conserved across vertebrates, but an oddity among bilaterians!
So how did it evolve?
With @mikebok.bsky.social, @neurofishh.bsky.social and @denilsson.bsky.social, we argue that retinal complexity may 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑑𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑦𝑒 𝑖𝑡𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑓.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
1/n
So how did it evolve?
With @mikebok.bsky.social, @neurofishh.bsky.social and @denilsson.bsky.social, we argue that retinal complexity may 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑑𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑦𝑒 𝑖𝑡𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑓.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
1/n