Donovan Anderson

Monochrome photograph featuring a sculpture of a row of Black subjects standing one behind the other in a tight row in descending height so as to resemble a harp from the side view, a squating figure is at the front, the sculpture is sited in an outdoor location on grass by buildings

'The Harp' by Augusta Savage, US sculptor associated with the Harlem Renaissance. Her sculpture was displayed at the 1939 World's Fair in New York City #womensart

Do you ask to sign other people’s books? Seems like that would be a nice treat.

a drawing of captain underpants with a polka dot cape Alt: A comic book with a drawing of Captain Underpants. With a polka dot cape, white underpants, and hands on hips all on a blue background.

Like courtesy umbrellas in the lobby, a rack of capes.

This is amazing and well deserved! Joe is not only a seminal thinker, but a great historian of the field.

Sho’nuff!

How much phylogenetic information is in a small sample of proteins? Pastramanis et al answer this question and also discover a puzzle: each protein added to an analysis of modern and archaic humans increases support for a single implausible hypothesis. evolbiol.peercommunityin.org/articles/rec...

Jeannette Tenthorey • The David and Lucile Packard Foundation A staggering 8% of the human genome derives from endogenous retroviruses, ancient evolutionary fossils that have been dismissed as vestiges. Yet recent work has revealed that some of these viral genes...

Very excited for Jeannette Tenthorey! @packardfdn.bsky.social @ucsfhealth.bsky.social

Reminder:
“There is more of them in you than you in you.”
- I Forget

Speaking of speaking: I will be giving a talk about a very intriguing population of neurons in zebrafish that are born during gastrulation and stay forever and ever 👀🧪

Tell me more …

Soft-shell clams in tanks

I am happy to share some good news from the lab! Our paper on the outcomes of Bivalve Transmissible Neoplasia is out this week in PLOS Pathogens!
doi.org/10.1371/jour...

Congratulations!

Still alive!
Skubal Friday for all salmon in Seattle.

an elderly woman is walking down a sidewalk holding a red flag and says `` and that 's all i need ... '' Alt: A man walking down the street with an ashtray, remote control, paddle game, magazine, and a chair. Shuffling because his pants are down. Steve Martin, The Jerk.

All I need is … your account … jokes … that’s it … and the Tom Cruise coconut cake. That’s it, your account, jokes, and coconut cake… and

This ball was crushed.
112.5 MPH off the bat.
#RepDetroit

I 💜 this! But, with love, @pftompkins.bsky.social dressed as a booking agent for a Doors cover band talent agency. 😂
“Yes, we have many options for your needs …
The French Doors, Édith Piaf inspired Doors classics
The Sliding Doors, Doors a la MC Hammer
The Double Doors, 3 words, Judds Whisky Bar”

A gentle reminder for folks in the lab. Take pics/candids of the everyday stuff! You don’t need perfect shots or be a shutter bug, but you’ll come away with a handful of photos that will be gold at times like these.

Naive question for someone trained in molecular biology and infectious disease: What makes a question or a study ecology v. evolution or vice versa?

I find myself following interesting infectious disease questions into evolution and ecology and stepping on field boundaries without realizing it.

An infectious disease example? Warmer/more humid environments changing vector stability or host behavior mod (indoor AC) -> Ecology?
Mutation in viral enzyme leading to greater stability deeper in the lung increasing viral load & spread -> Evolution? 2/2

Of the top of my head, at a basic level, I would say it depends on where the focus in the change:response dynamic lies. Environmental changes that drive changes in flora/fauna composition -> Ecology. Changes in species that allow for greater or narrower range -> Evolution. 1/2

A cat flea in mid-jump, drawn with Micron pens using a crosshatched technique. The drawing is in a sketchbook, which is on a wooden table with glasses, pens, and eraser next to it.

Cat flea, homage to Hooke. Micron in Moleskine. 🔬🖊️

Pen and ink plus watercolour artwork featuring an alert sitting rabbit or hare in long grass facing right

From my sketchbook...
Have a nice, safe, peaceful weekend!
Thank you for following x

I don’t know. When did they still think mice spontaneously developed from grain?

Joaquin, it’s last Sunday …

A purple very spiny trilobite held on my fingertips against a white backdrop

A silver very spiny trilobite mounted on a white wall. Blue highlights swirl on the shell.

For #TrilobiteTuesday, here’s the aptly named Kayserops megaspina, a Devonian trilobite. First printed in castable resin, then cast in sterling silver and oxidized to yield blue highlights. Sculpted from scratch, no scans. #paleoart #sciart

Dramatic Poetry, by Pierre Puvis de Chavannes, 1896, 📸 by @MauleIan

a black and white photo of a boy wearing glasses looking down Alt: In black and white, a young boy looks up from the ground. He wears round glasses with one lens cracked. Piggy from Lord of the Flies.

I flies, it’s the gene who holds the conch.

a man is standing in front of a counter that says air on it Alt: A GIF from an SNL skit with Keenan Thompson approaching an airline gate. He has an extremely large carry-on and states to the gate agent, “It’ll fit… Oh it’ll Fit!”

Every flight.

a man in a suit and tie is being interviewed by a woman while a hand touches his forehead . Alt: Andre the Giant uses his hand to completely cover Mean Gene’s face during an interview.

The World wasn’t made for some of us and the struggle is real.

You’ll may need to update first 😂