Granton Jindal

If you're looking to build or deepen your knowledge in statistical genetics, the ISG Workshop (June 1–11) covers the full range: biometrics, GWAS, polygenic scores, causal inference, and more. Open to all levels, virtual, and international: www.colorado.edu/ibg/workshop...

Retweets appreciated 🙏

📢 Save the Date!
The 12th Aquatic Models for Human Disease Conference (AQMHD)
🗓 October 17–21, 2026
📍 Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, MA

Theme- Diving Deeper into Disease Biology: Emerging Models in Human Health

#AQMHD #ModelOrganism #MBL #DiseaseBiology

Molecular Complexity Constrained Early Amino Acid Recruitment into the Genetic Code Abstract. Previously proposed chronologies of amino acid incorporation into the genetic code rely on consensus rankings derived from prebiotic synthesis ex

Hashmi et al. reconstructed a complexity-based amino acid chronology, integrating 16 molecular complexity metrics, suggesting that molecular complexity constraints influenced substitution patterns during genetic code evolution.

🔗 doi.org/10.1093/gbe/evag012

#genome #evolution

I use the silver morph fox coat as a teaching example of selection against a recessive allele as these silver morphs are homozygotes for a pigmentation allele. They were prized by hunters and so they were selected against over time
See Figure 2 of Allendorf and Hard
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

The molecular evolution of vertebrate organs Nature Ecology & Evolution - This Review discusses recent advances in the molecular evolution of vertebrate organs, including rates of evolution of organs and cell types, molecular mechanisms...

Our internal organs are evolutionary marvels. New technologies are transforming our understanding of the evolution of vertebrate organs. You can find more by reading here:
rdcu.be/e5EgU
#EvoBio #EvoDevo 🐟🦎🐢🦇🐊🦜

Gotta admit, I’m somewhat heartened by this recent post (not WHAT it is reporting but that it IS reporting):

grants.nih.gov/news-events/...

Selection-driven color variation in the aposematic strawberry poison frog, Oophaga pumilio Aguilar-Gómez et al. use exome sequencing of 347 strawberry poison frogs to uncover the genetic basis of color variation. They identify that kit, ttc39b, and bco1 underlie blue-red, yellow-red, and gr...

The last chapter of my PhD is finally out !!!! In the same species, on neighboring islands, we see radically different warning colors emerge. Evolution in action:
Selection-driven color variation in the aposematic strawberry poison frog, Oophaga pumilio: Current Biology www.cell.com/current-biol...

Regeneration of fins and limbs relies on a shared cellular playbook The findings strengthen the case that regeneration is an old trait, offering insights into how complex tissues rebuild themselves.

www.sciencenews.org/article/rege... @josanesousa.bsky.social @gabrielalima19.bsky.social @perezlouise.bsky.social @patyschneider22.bsky.social

Evolutionary Transitions in Social Behavior are Associated With Convergent and Partially Reversible Expansions of Transcription Factor Binding Sites Abstract. The evolution of sociality involves shifts in physiology and behavior, most notably the emergence of a reproductive division of labor. Within soc

Ploessl & Jones compared transcription factor binding motifs in 42 bee species, covering multiple independent gains and losses of sociality; findings demonstrate an expansion of TF motifs in lineages which have gained sociality.

🔗 doi.org/10.1093/gbe/evag003

#genome #evolution

Thanks @patyschneider22.bsky.social for a wonderful visit to @michiganstateu.bsky.social and a great talk in our #EEB seminar series! Check out her lab’s recent preprint on the four-eyed fish retina: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

#EndlessFishMostBeautiful

Desert primroses & sand verbena illuminated by the setting sun.

Anza Borrego Desert State Park is absolutely amazing rn. #Bloomscrolling

Rethinking ADHD as ‘hypercuriosity’ What if ADHD isn’t a deficit of attention, but an intensified curiosity? A new study explores how reframing ADHD could transform education

Yes! What if we treated extremely normal human variation as something other than a "disorder"???

www.positive.news/society/yout...

NIGMS will have council meeting tomorrow. You can watch the open session here. nigms.nih.gov/node/145911

Google DeepMind unleashes new AI to investigate DNA’s ‘dark matter’ DeepMind’s AlphaGenome AI model could help solve the problem of predicting how variations in noncoding DNA shape gene expression

Google DeepMind unleashes new AI to investigate DNA’s ‘dark matter’ www.scientificamerican.com/article/goog...

More on the dark genome www.crick.ac.uk/news/2025-10...

Anoctamin-2-specific T cells link Epstein-Barr virus to multiple sclerosis Researchers identified anoctamin-2 (ANO2) as a frequent autoimmune target in multiple sclerosis, with T cell responses against ANO2 occurring in over half of patients. These ANO2-specific T cells shar...

Epstein-Barr Virus #EBV was linked to #MultipleSclerosis - now a plausible cause has been found, misidentification by longterm memory T-cells that pick on the wrong protein, ANO2, instead of the EBV-antigen. Massive inflection towards the elimination of MS!!!
🧪🧠Cell www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...

TF-MINDI is out! A new method to learn cis-regulatory codes through rich embeddings of TF binding sites. TF-MINDI decomposes motif neighbourhoods, and works downstream of any sequence-to-function deep learning model. We deeply study the enhancer code in human neural development, check out the thread

Fun! Link to original research: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

By probing #LLM knowledge across 10,000 rare diseases, @HGGAdvances' latest article clarifies limitations of these models and supports development of hybrid approaches that combine curation with selectively integrated model-derived knowledge: https://bit.ly/4pvdxOI #ASHG #HumanGenetics

Mammals have evolved into ant eaters 12 times since the dinosaur age, study finds Mammals have developed some unusual eating habits over the past 100 million years, but a new study has uncovered the surprising lengths to which some have gone to satisfy one of the more peculiar—a ta...

Tired: Everything evolves to be a crab.

Wired: Everything evolves to eat ants.

ICYMI… Important considerations for cross-species comparisons 🐟

GBE | Insights into Convergent Evolution From Studying Amino Acid Patterns in Independent Lineages of Birds Vocal learning, the ability to imitate and produce sounds from other individuals, is a convergent trait found in three major avian lineages: songbirds, parrots, and hummingbirds. This study leveraged Bird 10K genomes to explore convergent amino acid variants (ConSAVs) across phylogenetically matched control sets, revealing that while ConSAV counts correlate strongly with ancestral branches as the product of original branch lengths (P.O.B.), the vocal learning birds do not always exhibit the highest number of such variants. Nonetheless, convergent genes found in the six illustrated vocal learners were significantly enriched in learning-related functions, offering novel biological insights into the molecular underpinnings of vocal learning.

Chul et al. leveraged Bird 10K genomes to explore convergent amino acid variants across phylogenetically matched control sets of bird species; they find convergent genes in six vocal learners significantly enriched in learning-related functions.

🔗 doi.org/10.1093/gbe/evaf112

#genome #evolution

Really important that this is out for those waiting for it

Enabling Discovery Through Genomics (EDGE)

The new Enabling Discovery through GEnomics (EDGE) Program page is posted. Please contact us at BIOEDGE@nsf.gov if you have questions. www.nsf.gov/funding/oppo...

Blood cancer therapy reverses incurable leukaemia in some patients Seven out of 11 patients with incurable cancer who had the treatment appear to be cancer-free.

We really are on the brink of a health golden age.

So excited to post my first official #zebrafish paper in my new gig at UC Berkeley with my amazing co-authors @swinburnelab.bsky.social @alinetschanz.bsky.social

The TL;DR is that monomeric StayGolds are game changers for in vivo imaging in zebrafish 1/7

micropublication.org/journals/bio...

JASPAR 2026 is out 🎉

The new release massively expands the TF motif collections and adds a dedicated DeepLearning collection of motifs learned from deep learning models.

Database: jaspar.elixir.no
Paper (NAR): doi.org/10.1093/nar/...

🧵1/2

This month’s cover of @genesdev.bsky.social has @j-muncie-vasic.bsky.social’s embryos all in a row! Paper and commentary in the issue genesdev.cshlp.org/content/39/2...

Ensembl 2026 Abstract. The Ensembl project (https://www.ensembl.org) is a public and open resource providing access to genomes, annotations, high-quality tools, and met

Our Ensembl 2026 paper is out!
Learn about 1,900+ new genomes, expanded pangenome support, new regulation interfaces, and what’s coming in our 2026 releases.
doi.org/10.1093/nar/gkaf1239

The missing heritability question is now (mostly) answered Not with a bang but with a whimper

I wrote a little bit about the "missing heritability" question and several recent studies that have brought it to a close. A short 🧵

#KnowYourZDM or ‘Know Your Zebrafish Disease Model’ features ways the miniature fish is helping doctors and researchers fight human diseases. Stay tuned for more on this series!