Marc Robinson-Rechavi
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marcrr.bsky.social
Marc Robinson-Rechavi
@marcrr.bsky.social
1.6K followers 1.2K following 340 posts
He/Him. Evolution and Bioinformatics. Posts mine alone, in English (mostly) & French. Chair of @dee-unil.bsky.social, Prof at @fbm-unil.bsky.social‬, group leader at @sib.swiss. PI of @bgee.org
🦣 Main account: https://ecoevo.social/@marcrr
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marcrr.bsky.social
Marc Robinson-Rechavi @marcrr.bsky.social · Nov 14
Given the afflux of new science peeps here, and the lack of a similar increase of users at Mastodon, I'll post both here and there for the time being. Although I'm not convinced this place can escape the issues which affect any corporate owned social media pluralistic.net/2024/11/02/u...
Pluralistic: Bluesky and enshittification (02 Nov 2024) – Pluralistic: Daily links from Cory Doctorow
pluralistic.net
Reposted by Marc Robinson-Rechavi
krisshrishak.bsky.social
Scientists and scholars in AI and its social impacts call on von der Leyen to retract #AIHype statement.

@olivia.science
@abeba.bsky.social
@irisvanrooij.bsky.social
@alexhanna.bsky.social
@rocher.lc
@danmcquillan.bsky.social
@robin.berjon.com
& many others have signed

www.iccl.ie/press-releas...
Scientists call on the President of the European Commission to retract AI hype statement
Experts in AI call on the President of the European Commission to retract unscientific AI hype statement she made in the budget speech.
www.iccl.ie
November 10, 2025 at 9:48 AM
Reposted by Marc Robinson-Rechavi
cait.bsky.social
a few months ago I said "having generative AI handle absolutely anything with regards to healthcare is a nightmare and should be banned" and a bunch of people made fun of me and called me stupid. anyways,
r/ExpectationVsReality u/Additional-Simple858 • 3d Join Al 'doctor' said my back pain is depression, not a slipped disc. Now physical therapy won't get approved. Al Expectation We are reviewing claim #& submitted on 09/28/2025. Our records indicate the claim was filed under diagnosis code F32.9 (Depressive disorder, unspecified), while the corresponding prescription and referral history list treatment for lumbar disc herniation (back pain). Re: Incorrect Diagnosis in Record Hi Thank you for reaching out. We have reviewed your visit documentation and can confirm that the notes in question were generated using our Al scribe system. It appears the Al tool assigned diagnosis code F32.9 (Depressive disorder, unspecified), while your visit notes and treatment plan reference lumbar disc herniation (back pain). Per compliance policy, certain Al-generated fields cannot be manually updated by clinic staff and require vendor correction. We have escalated this to our vendor support team and opened ticket # . We'll notify you once we receive confirmation or correction from the vendor.
November 10, 2025 at 4:00 PM
Reposted by Marc Robinson-Rechavi
franceuniversites.bsky.social
France Universités exprime sa vive inquiétude après l’annulation d’un colloque scientifique au Collège de France.
franceuniversites.fr/actualite/fr...
#LibertéAcadémique
November 10, 2025 at 3:38 PM
Reposted by Marc Robinson-Rechavi
lowqualityfacts.bsky.social
Today's Low Quality Ad is for this Isopod Appreciation Society pin.
Please repost this if you appreciate isopods. These little crustaceans deserve our support. If you do not repost, the rest of us will assume you are an isopod hater, and you will immediately be blocked.
collabs.shop/uzcpvr
A round black pin with three little pill bugs. It says Isopod Appreciation Society.
November 6, 2025 at 4:49 PM
Reposted by Marc Robinson-Rechavi
acgerstein.bsky.social
One of the best things that has happened on this platform for me so far is that on the day that Watson died I saw nothing positive about him but a wall of posts about Rosalind Franklin. This is the way.
This also seems as good a time as any to announce that this summer I got my first tattoo!
Tattoo of photo 51 centred on the inner arm
November 8, 2025 at 5:49 PM
Reposted by Marc Robinson-Rechavi
sergezaka.bsky.social
En à peine douze ans, la capacité des forêts européennes à absorber le carbone atmosphérique a chuté de 27 %. Je ne sais pas si vous vous rendez compte des conséquences de ce que je viens d'écrire.
1/9
November 8, 2025 at 9:02 AM
Reposted by Marc Robinson-Rechavi
harmitmalik.bsky.social
When people celebrate the individual genius of folks in science, they should also
mourn the collective loss of genius of folks who were actively discouraged or disadvantaged from a career in science because of the same person(s)
November 7, 2025 at 11:43 PM
Reposted by Marc Robinson-Rechavi
hormiga.bsky.social
Hey folks, as news of Watson's demise spreads, please don't set aside his weighty legacy of misogyny and racism. He was truly among the worst of us. www.vox.com/2019/1/15/18...
DNA scientist James Watson has a remarkably long history of sexist, racist public comments
“People say it would be terrible if we made all girls pretty,” he said in 2003. “I think it would be great.”
www.vox.com
November 7, 2025 at 7:45 PM
Reposted by Marc Robinson-Rechavi
nextstrain.org
On Oct 1, 2025, GISAID informed us that they had ended updates to the flat file of SARS-CoV-2 genomic sequences and associated metadata that we had used to update Nextstrain analyses since Feb 2020. GISAID's stated rationale was that their "resources are limited". 1/5
November 6, 2025 at 9:46 PM
marcrr.bsky.social
The 2025 state of the climate report: a planet on the brink
doi.org/10.1093/bios...
Approximate global average temperature from –9340 BCE to 2020 CE, showing a gradual increase then decrease until fossil fuel use accelerates ≈1850, after which there is a very rapid increase. A dotted line shows peak warming at +3°C by 2100 if currrent policies continue.
November 6, 2025 at 3:26 PM
Reposted by Marc Robinson-Rechavi
morethanadodo.bsky.social
Imagine a drop of ancient resin. Inside is an insect, trapped for 53 million years, so well preserved it looks like it might twitch back into life. These amber fossils offer us a breath-taking glimpse into long vanished ecosystems.

But there’s a catch
24 pieces of amber containing insects, all slightly different sizes and shapes, but all small and pinned to a clear plastic board
November 6, 2025 at 11:34 AM
Reposted by Marc Robinson-Rechavi
maurineneiman.bsky.social
I am so proud & happy to see our Potamo genome assembly finally out there in the world! The process ended up being way more challenging than expected, but for some really cool reasons. ❤️🐌🧬
TLDR: Surprise! A VERY recent WGD.
academic.oup.com/gbe/article/...
Photo: C. Böck, ILIM, Mondsee, Austria)
November 5, 2025 at 4:50 PM
marcrr.bsky.social
Interesting overview of the optimism and pessimism among climate scientists in Switzerland www.swissinfo.ch/eng/climate-...
Switzerland’s climate researchers reveal the emotional side of science
Climate change not only has visible effects on ecosystems. It also has an emotional and psychological impact on those who study it.
www.swissinfo.ch
November 5, 2025 at 7:44 AM
Reposted by Marc Robinson-Rechavi
aetiology.bsky.social
This a million times. Denial never really changes, just shifts to update its language with new discoveries and new terminology. We see the same with evolution and HIV denial. Plus, people were sick of antivaxxers even in the late 1800s.
Tweet that quotes a news article from 1875 where guy is annoyed that antivaxxers still exist. "One might suppose that the popular prejudice against vaccination had died out by this time, considering that it has been practiced for nearly a century." Is highlighted.
November 4, 2025 at 11:48 AM
Reposted by Marc Robinson-Rechavi
elizabethjacobs.bsky.social
The anti-vaccine movement has the same talking points now as it did in the 1800’s. It’s always been a rejection of science, scientists, and progress, with a soupçon of paranoia.

Below is a slide for a talk I’m preparing that illustrates the identical strategies. I have more examples, too.
Slide with the title “The anti-vaccination movement has no new material”. Montague R. Leverson, Lawyer, Liar, Quack 1895 Robert F. Kennedy, Lawyer, Liar, Quack 2025 Accuse expert vaccine advisory committees of pro-vaccine "bias" "That commission was deliberately packed at its very outset..." "The committee has been plagued with persistent conflicts of interest and has become little more than a rubber stamp for any vaccine". Falsely state that vaccines cause death "Vaccination has caused more deaths and diseases than ever has smallpox". "This [COVID19 vaccine] is the deadliest vaccine ever made..." Claim that healthcare practitioners and scientists are only in it for the money, not because of scientific evidence "...Jenner was a mercenary charlatan whose ignorance and impatience of scientific methods were equaled only by his mendacity..." "Doctors are being paid to vaccinate, not to evaluate. They're pressured to follow the money, not the science". Use false and inflammatory words about vaccines The "Blood-poisoning process of vaccination" "They went on a search... looking for the most toxic things that they could find...to
November 1, 2025 at 11:22 PM
Reposted by Marc Robinson-Rechavi
weatherwest.bsky.social
I wanted to offer some thoughts on the Gates climate memo that has been circulating this week. While I can't directly speak for others, I can say that my own response is one of dismay & deep frustration (and that this view is shared by many climate/Earth scientists). [1/n]
October 30, 2025 at 5:02 PM
Reposted by Marc Robinson-Rechavi
lucasoldini.bsky.social
(1/9) Join us in Bern, Switzerland (8–11 Feb 2026) for our EMBO Workshop on Molecular Mechanisms of Selfish Elements and Strategies!

Organized with Tanja Schwander, Laura Ross (@laurarossevo.bsky.social) and Axel Imhof.

meetings.embo.org/event/26-sel...

#EMBOselfishElements #EMBOevents
Molecular mechanisms of selfish elements and strategies
Certain genes, chromosomes, organelles, or entire sets of chromosomes can bias their transmission to the next generation, propagating themselves at the expense of the rest of the genome. Referred to …
meetings.embo.org
October 27, 2025 at 5:37 PM
Reposted by Marc Robinson-Rechavi
richardsever.bsky.social
That merely being “under review” by a Nature family journal is offered as a quality proxy for a paper is a tragic illustration of the extent to which academia is addicted to brands and outsources evaluation
October 25, 2025 at 6:37 PM
Reposted by Marc Robinson-Rechavi
pawelburkhardt.bsky.social
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
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
Reposted by Marc Robinson-Rechavi
ameliacervera.bsky.social
Perspective:
Longevity steps on the cGAS.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
October 26, 2025 at 11:07 PM
Reposted by Marc Robinson-Rechavi
erictopol.bsky.social
Why does the naked mole rat have the longest lifespan of any rodent, nearly 40 years?
A 30-year long mystery unraveled @ScienceMagazine today!
Its cGAS enzyme in cells has 4 missense mutations that upends its function, promoting DNA repair and suppressing inflammation
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
October 9, 2025 at 6:06 PM
Reposted by Marc Robinson-Rechavi
marygillis.bsky.social
Another vaccine that does a remarkable good thing beyond the already remarkable good thing it was designed to do.
mRNA covid vaccines spark immune response that may aid cancer survival
An analysis of patient records suggests that mRNA covid-19 vaccines boost the immune response to cancerous tumours when given soon after people start a type of immunotherapy, extending their lives
www.newscientist.com
October 27, 2025 at 5:38 AM
Reposted by Marc Robinson-Rechavi
marygillis.bsky.social
Every study about vaccines that comes out is like "this vaccine is 97% effective at preventing this disease & also 3 other diseases & it somehow helps you play the violin beautifully" and antivaxxers are doing their own research that's telling them they can cure measles by eating polar bear liver.
May 6, 2025 at 3:00 PM
Reposted by Marc Robinson-Rechavi
ewanbirney.bsky.social
... they are ultimately models of text. Although they can do super-human text manipulation tasks, that doesn't mean they have concepts and understanding - the chain of thought looks cute, but I am not convinced it is working at a conceptual level - rather it is working at text reporting level
October 26, 2025 at 7:48 AM