Simon Fisher

Cover image of the 5 March 2026 issue of Science Magazine. Koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus), such as this mother and 7-month-old joey from Queensland, Australia, embody a genetic paradox. Populations rich in diversity are declining, whereas those with little variation are expanding and rapidly reshuffling their genomes. These findings reveal that diversity alone does not determine resilience. Instead, a population’s fate depends on several evolutionary processes unfolding across generations.

Genome sequencing in 418 koalas from 27 populations across Australia shows that, though they still have low diversity due to past decline, there are clear signs genetic recovery is underway.
Escaping bottlenecks: The demographic path to genetic recovery in koalas www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
🐨🧬😊🧪

Cover image of the 5 March 2026 issue of Science Magazine. Koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus), such as this mother and 7-month-old joey from Queensland, Australia, embody a genetic paradox. Populations rich in diversity are declining, whereas those with little variation are expanding and rapidly reshuffling their genomes. These findings reveal that diversity alone does not determine resilience. Instead, a population’s fate depends on several evolutionary processes unfolding across generations.

Genome sequencing in 418 koalas from 27 populations across Australia shows that, though they still have low diversity due to past decline, there are clear signs genetic recovery is underway.
Escaping bottlenecks: The demographic path to genetic recovery in koalas www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
🐨🧬😊🧪

A triumph of genetic engineering - three Minions stand together, with one holding a guitar, smiling and posing for the camera.

In light of the latest news from Colossal Biosciences, now is the perfect time to announce my laboratory's groundbreaking Minion de-extinction project, which depends on state-of-the-art gene editing at 20 key sites in the genome of the common banana.

Would be very curious to hear @philipcball.bsky.social's take on the Evo 2 model published today in @nature.com, given his excellent prior article about the limitations of AlphaGenome for understanding complexity.

Genome modelling and design across all domains of life with Evo 2 - Nature Evo 2 is an artificial intelligence-based biological foundation model trained on 9 trillion DNA base pairs spanning all domains of life that predicts functional properties from genomic sequences and p...

🤯 Evo 2, a model trained on 9 trillion DNA letters from curated genomic atlas across all domains of life “learns to accurately predict functional impact of gene variation...Model parameters, training code, inference code etc = fully open, to accelerate exploration & design of biological complexity”🧪

Music is not a universal language — but it can bring us together when words fail Societies, animals and even machines have music in common. Our varied experiences of it might tell us about the origins of language.

“Understanding deep evolutionary origins of music & language requires inclusive & equitable collaborations across cultures & disciplines, weaving together Indigenous knowledge & the humanities with natural & social sciences.” Informative engaging essay by @patrickesavage.bsky.social in @nature.com.🧪

Here's a nice clear explainer of the new Neanderthal study, by @carlzimmer.com, including commentary from a range of experts in population genomics & paleoanthropology. 👇

Interbreeding between Neanderthals and modern humans was strongly sex biased Sex biases in admixture and other demographic processes are recurrent features throughout human evolution. For admixture between Neanderthals and anatomically modern humans (AMHs), sex bias has been p...

Many living people carry fragments of Neanderthal DNA, remnants of ancient interbreeding events, with uneven distribution across chromosomes. New work by @sarahtishkoff.bsky.social lab suggests patterns are most consistent with Neanderthal contribution to human populations being highly male biased.🧪

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...

“Even though a large proportion of modern day human communication is vocal, the key underlying brain infrastructure operates in a flexible amodal way ... language is flexible because its neural basis is.” Great e-letter by @ybecker.bsky.social & Trettenbrein, responding to our @science.org article.🧪

“Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge...”

This quote from Darwin's Descent of Man, published #OnThisDay in 1871, pretty much sums up the challenges the world is facing now, a century & a half later.

AlphaGenome: On the Promise and Limits of AI in Science PHILIP BALL | According to the old story, we once thought that all this other DNA was just “junk,” a term coined in this context in the 1970s. It was accumulated over the course of evolution, for exam...

“It would be foolish to suppose that black box AI can save us from the daunting task of understanding how genomes work. But who would want to forego that anyway, given the intellectual richness & beauty that, for all its messiness, modern molecular biology is revealing?” @philipcball.bsky.social 🙌🎯🧪

Maybe best to put that bouba/kiki genome-wide association study on hold for the time being.

Follow up on the genetics of chills from art and poetry. This time, including chills from music too 🧵 ⬇️

For those of you asking, it's the final section of “There There”, when Jonny's guitar explodes onto the scene, as the pounding drums propel things forward to the end. But quite a few other Radiohead songs have similar effects on me, they have a knack for creating these extraordinary sonic moments.

By the way, this new chick bouba-kiki @science.org study fits nicely within bottom middle of my handy guide to main types of papers in the language sciences, for anyone keeping track. 🧪

Matching sounds to shapes: Evidence of the bouba-kiki effect in naïve baby chicks Humans across multiple languages spontaneously associate the nonwords “kiki” and “bouba” with spiky and round shapes, respectively, a phenomenon named the bouba-kiki effect. To explore the origin of t...

“Humans across multiple languages spontaneously associate the nonwords kiki & bouba with spiky & round shapes, respectively...We tested the bouba-kiki effect in baby chickens. Similar to humans, they spontaneously chose a spiky shape when hearing a kiki sound & a round shape when hearing a bouba.”😲🧪

Genetic underpinnings of chills from art and music Author summary Many people experience chills when listening to music, reading poetry, or viewing art. Yet not everyone feels these reactions in the same way. These differences provide a window into ho...

A particular moment in my favourite Radiohead song always gives me goosebumps every time I play it. Turns out susceptibility to such “chills” (induced by music, poetry, art) varies between people & that genetic differences play a part. Check out our new paper, led by @giacomobignardi.bsky.social. 👇🧪

<checks paper alerts, sighs>
There's no such thing as a “language gene”. Using that terminology in the title of a research paper may help get clicks for your new study but it also helps promote misconceptions about how genetics works for audiences from other disciplines & general public.

See also 👇

In vivo base editing of Chd3 rescues behavioural abnormalities in mice - Nature In vivo base editing of a causative mutation that leads to the neurodevelopmental disorder Snijders Blok–Campeau syndrome restores protein dosage and ameliorates molecular and behavioural deficits in ...

Intriguing new study of mice with mutated CHD3, a gene we previously implicated in speech apraxia, among other brain/behaviour issues. Authors claim "single-base correction in postnatal brain restores protein dosage & function, offering a framework to treat monogenic neurodevelopmental disorders".
🧪

Roses are red
Violets are blue
More people get Valentine's cards than I do

[Feb 14th "Escher poem" for the linguists]

Roses are red
Violets are blue
More people get Valentine's cards than I do

[Feb 14th "Escher poem" for the linguists]

Roses are red.
Violets are blue.
We do not doubt the technical quality of your study.
However, we are not persuaded that the findings represent a sufficient advance to warrant publication in Nature Valentines, & are returning the paper without a review.

#AcademicValentine

Fab CSHL2026 lineup includes @kateewatkins.bsky.social @davidpoeppel.bsky.social @piperbelow.bsky.social @bergelsonlab.bsky.social @jonrbrennan.bsky.social @kemmorey.bsky.social @evfedorenko.bsky.social @julxf.bsky.social @tecumsehfitch.bsky.social @libertysays.bsky.social @nakedprimate.bsky.social

Flyer with information about the Genetics & Neurobiology of Language summer course at Cold Spring Harbor, held on July 27th to August 3rd 2026, applications due by April 10th 2026. Instructors are Simon Fisher from the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Netherlands, David Poeppel from New York University and Kate Watkins from the University of Oxford, UK. The course description is as follows: Why are children able to acquire highly sophisticated language abilities without needing to be taught? What are the neurobiological and neurophysiological processes that underpin human speech and language, and how do they go awry in developmental and acquired disorders? Which genetic factors contribute to this remarkable suite of human skills, and are there evolutionary precursors that we can study in other species? This unique CSHL course, in its sixth iteration, addresses these core questions about the bases and origins of speech and language, through talks, interactive sessions, keynotes and debates, involving leading experts from a range of disciplines. It integrates the state-of-the-art from complementary perspectives, including development, cognitive models, neural basis, gene identification, functional genomics, model systems and comparative/evolutionary studies. The invited speakers are: Jennifer Below, Vanderbilt University Elika Bergelson, Harvard University Esti Blanco-Elorrieta, New York University Jonathan Brennan, University of Michigan Karen Emmorey, San Diego State University Evelina Fedorenko, MIT Julia Fischer, Cognitive Ethology Laboratory, Germany Tecumseh Fitch, University of Vienna, Austria Adeen Flinker, NYU Langone Timothy Gentner, University of California, San Diego Liberty Hamilton, UC Berkeley Catherine Hobaiter, Wild Minds Lab, University of St. Andrews, UK Sonja Vernes, The University of St. Andrews, UK Sandra Waxman, Northwestern University For funding opportunities and additional course information, please go to: meetings.cshl.edu/courses

The course, now in its 6th iteration, covers key questions in speech & language research, with interdisciplinary perspectives spanning development, cognitive modeling, neural bases, gene identification, functional genomics, model systems & comparative/evolutionary studies. Applications due April 10.

Roses are red
Violets are blue
I'm sorry but as a large language model
I have no capacity for genuine emotion & cannot confess my undying love for you

Group photograph of faculty and participants of the very first Cold Spring Harbor summer course on Genetics and Neurobiology of Language in 2014, taken as the sun was going down at the Banbury Campus, Lloyd Harbor.

Please tell friends & colleagues about our unique course “Genetics & Neurobiology of Language” July 27-Aug 3 2026. Expert tutors, interactive talks, panel discussions, all in a beautiful setting. Scholarships available: meetings.cshl.edu/courses.aspx...
@cshlnews.bsky.social @cshlbanbury.bsky.social

As an accompaniment to the must-read article by @elisecutts.bsky.social, here's me being “vocal on social media” about why genetics #scicomm should ditch the blueprints.
🧬🧵👇