Simon Fisher
@profsimonfisher.bsky.social
Director of Language & Genetics at Max Planck Institute, Nijmegen.
Tracing the complex connections between genes, brains, speech & language.
Website: https://www.mpi.nl/people/fisher-simon-e
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3132-1996
Tracing the complex connections between genes, brains, speech & language.
Website: https://www.mpi.nl/people/fisher-simon-e
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3132-1996
Pinned
Remember when you first learned about genetics at school? All those fascinating examples of human traits that are each apparently determined by just a single gene? Time to check in on some of your favourites to see how they’re doing. 🧬🧵🧪 1/n
Reposted by Simon Fisher
Thank you for submitting to Nature Years. Based on feedback from independent expert reviewers, we are unable to accept 2026 in its present form. If you feel up to the task, we would be willing to consider a substantially revised version that addresses the major concerns raised...
January 3, 2026 at 3:51 PM
Thank you for submitting to Nature Years. Based on feedback from independent expert reviewers, we are unable to accept 2026 in its present form. If you feel up to the task, we would be willing to consider a substantially revised version that addresses the major concerns raised...
Thank you for submitting to Nature Years. Based on feedback from independent expert reviewers, we are unable to accept 2026 in its present form. If you feel up to the task, we would be willing to consider a substantially revised version that addresses the major concerns raised...
January 3, 2026 at 3:51 PM
Thank you for submitting to Nature Years. Based on feedback from independent expert reviewers, we are unable to accept 2026 in its present form. If you feel up to the task, we would be willing to consider a substantially revised version that addresses the major concerns raised...
A big benefit of travelling on a Eurostar train is that you get to enjoy the fascinating live travel statistics displayed on in-carriage info screens during your journey.
January 3, 2026 at 1:08 PM
A big benefit of travelling on a Eurostar train is that you get to enjoy the fascinating live travel statistics displayed on in-carriage info screens during your journey.
30 years ago today, December 31st 1995, the last ever Calvin & Hobbes comic strip was published. Even now, I still find it so poignant & moving.
December 31, 2025 at 2:32 PM
30 years ago today, December 31st 1995, the last ever Calvin & Hobbes comic strip was published. Even now, I still find it so poignant & moving.
I once fingerpicked "Street Spirit" (badly) on an acoustic guitar that I was considering buying, in a music shop in Oxford, unaware that Thom Yorke of Radiohead was standing directly behind me. My wife observed the sad affair but only informed me later, after we had exited said establishment.
Please quote this with the time you didn’t interact with someone famous - eg one time I was in Cardiff the same weekend as Willem Dafoe (but I didn’t see him or even know he was there until he appeared on the telly later)
Please quote this with your major interactions with massive celebrities. eg “I was married to the pope for fifteen years”
December 30, 2025 at 10:24 AM
I once fingerpicked "Street Spirit" (badly) on an acoustic guitar that I was considering buying, in a music shop in Oxford, unaware that Thom Yorke of Radiohead was standing directly behind me. My wife observed the sad affair but only informed me later, after we had exited said establishment.
For the interdisciplinary scientists at the Max Planck Society's little known North Pole Institute of Christmas Studies, this is always an especially busy time of year.
Exclusive report by @tomgauld.bsky.social:
Exclusive report by @tomgauld.bsky.social:
December 24, 2025 at 10:15 PM
For the interdisciplinary scientists at the Max Planck Society's little known North Pole Institute of Christmas Studies, this is always an especially busy time of year.
Exclusive report by @tomgauld.bsky.social:
Exclusive report by @tomgauld.bsky.social:
Reposted by Simon Fisher
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
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 Simon Fisher
On our evolutionary branch, a few genes got an update unique to humans.
Some used to think those variants might have been difference that made all the difference: the key to becoming human.
This month's Q&A with Barbara Molz @mpi-nl.bsky.social gets into new results that tell a different story. 🧪
Some used to think those variants might have been difference that made all the difference: the key to becoming human.
This month's Q&A with Barbara Molz @mpi-nl.bsky.social gets into new results that tell a different story. 🧪
December 11, 2025 at 6:19 PM
On our evolutionary branch, a few genes got an update unique to humans.
Some used to think those variants might have been difference that made all the difference: the key to becoming human.
This month's Q&A with Barbara Molz @mpi-nl.bsky.social gets into new results that tell a different story. 🧪
Some used to think those variants might have been difference that made all the difference: the key to becoming human.
This month's Q&A with Barbara Molz @mpi-nl.bsky.social gets into new results that tell a different story. 🧪
Heisenberg & Schrödinger get pulled over for speeding.
Cop: D'you know how fast you were driving?
Heisenberg: No but I know exactly where I am.
Cop: It was 118mph.
H: Thanks, now I'm lost.
Cop [inspects car, opens boot]: Were you aware there's a dead cat back here?
Schrödinger [angrily]: We are now!
Cop: D'you know how fast you were driving?
Heisenberg: No but I know exactly where I am.
Cop: It was 118mph.
H: Thanks, now I'm lost.
Cop [inspects car, opens boot]: Were you aware there's a dead cat back here?
Schrödinger [angrily]: We are now!
I just did a little post about Schrödinger's cat. I get why it is culturally iconic, but in terms of quantum physics it isn't very meaningful.
philipball86.substack.com/p/enough-abo...
philipball86.substack.com/p/enough-abo...
Enough about the cat
As the year of quantum draws to a close, so should our cultural obsession with Schrödinger's cat
philipball86.substack.com
December 11, 2025 at 12:43 PM
Heisenberg & Schrödinger get pulled over for speeding.
Cop: D'you know how fast you were driving?
Heisenberg: No but I know exactly where I am.
Cop: It was 118mph.
H: Thanks, now I'm lost.
Cop [inspects car, opens boot]: Were you aware there's a dead cat back here?
Schrödinger [angrily]: We are now!
Cop: D'you know how fast you were driving?
Heisenberg: No but I know exactly where I am.
Cop: It was 118mph.
H: Thanks, now I'm lost.
Cop [inspects car, opens boot]: Were you aware there's a dead cat back here?
Schrödinger [angrily]: We are now!
“Findings suggest a major transition in human behaviour from ~500-300ka. Although the behavioural & cognitive changes certainly involved early Neanderthals & other contemporaneous humans, similar developments likely occurred among ancestors of Denisovans in east Eurasia & of H. sapiens in Africa“🔥😯🧪
Earliest evidence of making fire - Nature
Baked sediment, heat-shattered artefacts and introduced pyrite in a 400,000-year-old Palaeolithic occupation site in Suffolk, UK provide evidence of intentional fire-making, marking a pivotal moment i...
www.nature.com
December 10, 2025 at 9:38 PM
“Findings suggest a major transition in human behaviour from ~500-300ka. Although the behavioural & cognitive changes certainly involved early Neanderthals & other contemporaneous humans, similar developments likely occurred among ancestors of Denisovans in east Eurasia & of H. sapiens in Africa“🔥😯🧪
How did DNA changes that alter protein structures impact evolution on the branch that led to modern humans? As we demonstrate today in Science Advances, biobanking initiatives offer ways to directly assess biological effects of rare archaic variants in living people, & (re)evaluate their roles. 🧬🧪
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 10, 2025 at 7:09 PM
How did DNA changes that alter protein structures impact evolution on the branch that led to modern humans? As we demonstrate today in Science Advances, biobanking initiatives offer ways to directly assess biological effects of rare archaic variants in living people, & (re)evaluate their roles. 🧬🧪
Psychiatric conditions show high comorbidity & genetic overlap, challenging diagnostic boundaries. @andrewgrotzinger.bsky.social et al applied cutting-edge statistical & functional genomics to 14 childhood- & adult-onset disorders (>1M cases) towards neurobiologically valid mental health nosology.👇🧪
Mapping the genetic landscape across 14 psychiatric disorders - Nature
Genomic analyses applied to 14 childhood- and adult-onset psychiatric disorders identifies five underlying genomic factors that explain the majority of the genetic variance of the individual disorders...
www.nature.com
December 10, 2025 at 5:05 PM
Psychiatric conditions show high comorbidity & genetic overlap, challenging diagnostic boundaries. @andrewgrotzinger.bsky.social et al applied cutting-edge statistical & functional genomics to 14 childhood- & adult-onset disorders (>1M cases) towards neurobiologically valid mental health nosology.👇🧪
Only a few weeks left to apply for our 4-year PhD position, using human brain organoids & multi-omic methods to study genes implicated in speech disorders. Application deadline 5 Jan 2026. Fellowship is embedded in the International Max Planck Research School. More info: www.mpi.nl/imprs-phd-fe...
December 8, 2025 at 3:02 PM
Only a few weeks left to apply for our 4-year PhD position, using human brain organoids & multi-omic methods to study genes implicated in speech disorders. Application deadline 5 Jan 2026. Fellowship is embedded in the International Max Planck Research School. More info: www.mpi.nl/imprs-phd-fe...
ICYMI, our recent paper gives a framework for empirical research on language evolution, integrating methods & data across fields + roles of biology & culture.
If you're unable to download full version at Science, there's a link for direct free access on MPI website here:
www.mpi.nl/publications...
🧪
If you're unable to download full version at Science, there's a link for direct free access on MPI website here:
www.mpi.nl/publications...
🧪
What enables human language? A biocultural framework
Explaining the origins of language is a key challenge in understanding ourselves as a species. We present an empirical framework that draws on synergies across fields to facilitate robust studies of l...
www.science.org
December 5, 2025 at 4:04 PM
ICYMI, our recent paper gives a framework for empirical research on language evolution, integrating methods & data across fields + roles of biology & culture.
If you're unable to download full version at Science, there's a link for direct free access on MPI website here:
www.mpi.nl/publications...
🧪
If you're unable to download full version at Science, there's a link for direct free access on MPI website here:
www.mpi.nl/publications...
🧪
In interests of balance, I note that ancient DNA, the gift that keeps giving, is also serving the dog lovers among you. See this new study of 2 canines with gray wolf genetic ancestry from a human archaeological site (3-5kya) on a remote island in Baltic Sea, by @pontus-skoglund.bsky.social & co:🧬🐶🧪
Gray wolves in an anthropogenic context on a small island in prehistoric Scandinavia | PNAS
Dogs were domesticated at least once from a yet-unidentified wolf population at least
~15,000 y ago. However, how domestication took place is a top...
www.pnas.org
November 28, 2025 at 12:43 PM
In interests of balance, I note that ancient DNA, the gift that keeps giving, is also serving the dog lovers among you. See this new study of 2 canines with gray wolf genetic ancestry from a human archaeological site (3-5kya) on a remote island in Baltic Sea, by @pontus-skoglund.bsky.social & co:🧬🐶🧪
“Analysis of 87 ancient & modern cat genomes suggests that domestic cats did not spread to Europe with Neolithic farmers. Conversely, they were introduced to Europe around 2000 years ago, probably from North Africa....“ De Martino et al in @science.org. Ancient DNA + cats = science purrfection. 🧬🐱🧪
The dispersal of domestic cats from North Africa to Europe around 2000 years ago
The domestic cat (Felis catus) descends from the African wildcat Felis lybica lybica. Its global distribution alongside humans testifies to its successful adaptation to anthropogenic environments. Unc...
www.science.org
November 27, 2025 at 7:11 PM
“Analysis of 87 ancient & modern cat genomes suggests that domestic cats did not spread to Europe with Neolithic farmers. Conversely, they were introduced to Europe around 2000 years ago, probably from North Africa....“ De Martino et al in @science.org. Ancient DNA + cats = science purrfection. 🧬🐱🧪
Reposted by Simon Fisher
Happy World Linguistics Day! I write about #language in the key of narrative non-fiction; you might find my books interesting! A thread --
#lingsky #langsky #linguistics
#lingsky #langsky #linguistics
November 26, 2025 at 9:40 AM
Happy World Linguistics Day! I write about #language in the key of narrative non-fiction; you might find my books interesting! A thread --
#lingsky #langsky #linguistics
#lingsky #langsky #linguistics
You've never truly lived until you've tried explaining to an uninterested colleague why “Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo“ is indeed a grammatically correct sentence.
November 26, 2025 at 9:12 AM
You've never truly lived until you've tried explaining to an uninterested colleague why “Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo“ is indeed a grammatically correct sentence.
“Core aspects of language: it is inherently multimodal & semiotically diverse; it functions as a tool for semantic, pragmatic, & social inference; processes of interaction & transmission give rise to its central design features“ @symbolicstorage.bsky.social et al in @cp-trendscognsci.bsky.social:👇🧪
The ‘design features’ of language revisited
Language is often regarded as a defining trait of our species, but what are its core
properties? In 1960, Hockett published ‘The origin of speech’ enumerating 13 design
features presumed to be common ...
www.cell.com
November 25, 2025 at 8:37 PM
“Core aspects of language: it is inherently multimodal & semiotically diverse; it functions as a tool for semantic, pragmatic, & social inference; processes of interaction & transmission give rise to its central design features“ @symbolicstorage.bsky.social et al in @cp-trendscognsci.bsky.social:👇🧪
Testing 191 proposed linguistic universals with methods that account for genealogical descent & geographical proximity: “despite vast design space of possible grammars, languages don't evolve entirely at random. Shared cognitive/communicative pressures repeatedly push towards similar solutions.“👇🧪
Enduring constraints on grammar revealed by Bayesian spatiophylogenetic analyses - Nature Human Behaviour
Despite their great diversity, human languages are shaped by recurring grammatical universals. Verkerk et al. show that about one-third of the proposed universals hold cross-linguistically through ana...
www.nature.com
November 24, 2025 at 5:40 PM
Testing 191 proposed linguistic universals with methods that account for genealogical descent & geographical proximity: “despite vast design space of possible grammars, languages don't evolve entirely at random. Shared cognitive/communicative pressures repeatedly push towards similar solutions.“👇🧪
A generalizable framework for rare disease variant interpretation, especially in singleton cases, demonstrating utility of calibrated, evolution-informed scoring models for clinical genomics. In @natgenet.nature.com, from labs of Mafalda Dias, @jonnyfrazer.bsky.social & @deboramarks.bsky.social.🧬🧪👇
Proteome-wide model for human disease genetics - Nature Genetics
popEVE is a proteome-wide deep generative model to identify and predict pathogenicity of missense mutations causing genetic disorders.
www.nature.com
November 24, 2025 at 3:11 PM
A generalizable framework for rare disease variant interpretation, especially in singleton cases, demonstrating utility of calibrated, evolution-informed scoring models for clinical genomics. In @natgenet.nature.com, from labs of Mafalda Dias, @jonnyfrazer.bsky.social & @deboramarks.bsky.social.🧬🧪👇
Reposted by Simon Fisher
This overview dovetails very nicely with the complementary, more historical and theoretical (albeit short) review of the study of language evolution in this entry in the Open Encyclopedia of Cognitive Science (open access for all): oecs.mit.edu/pub/18miikqb/
Language Evolution
oecs.mit.edu
November 23, 2025 at 11:07 PM
This overview dovetails very nicely with the complementary, more historical and theoretical (albeit short) review of the study of language evolution in this entry in the Open Encyclopedia of Cognitive Science (open access for all): oecs.mit.edu/pub/18miikqb/
If you are unable to download the full version of our newly published language evolution article in Science, there is a link for direct free access on the Max Planck Institute website here:
November 23, 2025 at 7:09 PM
If you are unable to download the full version of our newly published language evolution article in Science, there is a link for direct free access on the Max Planck Institute website here: