Asher Cutter's Avatar

Asher Cutter

@asherdcutter.bsky.social

Evolution, Genetics/Genomes, Speciation, Sperm/Reproduction, Caenorhabditis; U. Toronto EEB Prof https://cutter.eeb.utoronto.ca New book=Evolving Tomorrow: Genetic Engineering & Evolutionary Future of the Anthropocene https://tinyurl.com/EvolvingTomorrow

2,316 Followers  |  590 Following  |  63 Posts  |  Joined: 06.10.2023  |  1.7937

Latest posts by asherdcutter.bsky.social on Bluesky

U of T News Now | U of T Trash Team
YouTube video by University of Toronto U of T News Now | U of T Trash Team

Ever wondered what happens to the trash floating in the @toronto.ca's waterways? We joined the U of T Trash Team at the Harbourfront to see how their trash trapping program keeps plastic out of Lake Ontario. Watch to see how they’re making a difference at #UofT & across the city.

09.10.2025 16:23 β€” πŸ‘ 7    πŸ” 3    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Creatures buried in soil for over a century burst back to life in Toronto waterfront A project to restore coastal wetland leads to astonishing discoveries of a host of life: seeds and plant scraps, as well as water fleas, worms, larvae and plankton

Cool stuff, featuring our EEB colleague Shelby Riskin:

www.theguardian.com/world/2025/o...

09.10.2025 17:04 β€” πŸ‘ 6    πŸ” 3    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Curator of Birds - Royal Ontario Museum - Career Page Apply to Curator of Birds at Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, ON, Canada.

Toronto's ROM is hiring 2 new curators! Botany & Ornithology. Come be part of the Toronto EEB community, with cross-appt in my dept at UofT @romtoronto.bsky.social
royalontariomuseum.applytojob.com/apply/XBR2Yc...
royalontariomuseum.applytojob.com/apply/Sf2iAO...

09.10.2025 17:26 β€” πŸ‘ 6    πŸ” 7    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Local Music Spotlight: Bebe and Oona Chelsea O chatted with Toronto’s Bebe and Oona about what it’s like playing in a band with your sibling, the all ages music scene in Southern Ontario, collaboration across artistic mediums, and more.

Atta grrls www.btpm.org/2025-09-08/l...

13.09.2025 17:49 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Phylogenomic timetree-calibrated speciation clocks for Caenorhabditis nematodes reveal slow but disproportionate accumulation of post-zygotic reproductive isolation Author summary As separate populations evolve into distinct species, they accumulate genetic changes that record the duration of their separation and that can contribute to reproductive incompatibilit...

Exciting new #speciation + #phylogenetics dating work now out @plos.org by PhD students Daniel Fusca & Maia Dall'Acqua! #celegans doi.org/10.1371/jour...

11.09.2025 20:15 β€” πŸ‘ 11    πŸ” 3    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Quasi epigenetic equilibrium: the implications of plasticity and variability on evolution and extinction https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.08.27.672696v1

01.09.2025 19:32 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 3    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Now published @natecoevo.nature.com with @annika-nichols.bsky.social, our latest on the evolution of 𝘴𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘱 across 𝟲𝟬 π˜€π—½π—²π—°π—Άπ—²π˜€ of cichlid fishes! doi.org/10.1038/s415...
with members of the @schierlab.bsky.social and Salzburger labs, as well as the burgeoning Shafer lab @uoftcellsysbiol.bsky.social

28.08.2025 14:17 β€” πŸ‘ 76    πŸ” 39    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 2
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Cool new comparative analysis of giant worm sperm cells using electron microscopy, by recent PhD Rebecca Schalkowski! Evolution advance access @journal-evo.bsky.social #celegans #ecoevo doi.org/10.1093/evol...

29.08.2025 18:46 β€” πŸ‘ 14    πŸ” 3    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
Text: Society for the Study of Evolution Graduate Research Excellence Grants. Rosemary Grant Advanced Awards, Deadline: September 15, 5:00 PM Eastern.

Text: Society for the Study of Evolution Graduate Research Excellence Grants. Rosemary Grant Advanced Awards, Deadline: September 15, 5:00 PM Eastern.

Less than 3 weeks left to submit your proposals for the GREG Rosemary Grant Advanced Awards, which provide up to $3500 for 3rd-year and above PhD students. Full instructions, evaluation criteria, and FAQs on our website: www.evolutionsociety.org/content/soci...
Deadline September 15!

29.08.2025 12:22 β€” πŸ‘ 10    πŸ” 7    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Please share broadly: I am looking for a postdoctoral fellow to work on a collaborative project on the temporal population genomics of invasive Capeweed (using contemporary and herbarium genomics), with β€ͺβ€ͺ@shaky-dingo.bsky.social‬ and colleagues

27.08.2025 12:09 β€” πŸ‘ 52    πŸ” 90    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 3
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Guerrilla eugenics: gene drives in heritable human genome editing CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing can and has altered human genomes, bringing bioethical debates about this capability to the forefront of philosophical and policy considerations. Here, I consider the undere...

Ethics of gene drives in humans if we go down the path of heritable genome editing? Now in print jme.bmj.com/cgi/content/...

20.08.2025 13:30 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Top Degree Programs and Research in Canada Transform your inspiration into impact!

The University of Calgary seeks a tenure-track Assistant Professor in Freshwater Ecology, starting 2026. Candidates must have a PhD and focus on research and teaching-related aquatic ecology. Apply by Sept 5, 2025. More info: https://ucalgary.ca. #job

12.08.2025 01:31 β€” πŸ‘ 12    πŸ” 32    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 2
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Our paper showing that variation in transcription factor binding sites underlies the majority of additive genetic variance for phenotypic variation in maize is finally out!

Sadly they didn't use our suggested cover image below (made by the inimitable Andi Kur).

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

11.08.2025 14:29 β€” πŸ‘ 253    πŸ” 75    πŸ’¬ 6    πŸ“Œ 5
Schematic depicting the mapping from genotype to fitness.

Schematic depicting the mapping from genotype to fitness.

#Viewpoint: Measuring #NaturalSelection on the transcriptome

John R. Stinchcombe & John K. Kelly πŸ‘‡

πŸ“– nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

#LatestIssue

08.08.2025 12:01 β€” πŸ‘ 24    πŸ” 12    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Looking for an end-of-summer good read? My book Evolving Tomorrow is 50% off at Amazon right now www.amazon.com/Evolving-Tom... Packed with cool organisms and cool science, and even tariff-free Canadian content!

07.08.2025 15:44 β€” πŸ‘ 8    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Assistant Professor - Molecular Genetics Assistant Professor - Molecular Genetics

Job Alert! 🚨 The Department of Biology at UTM @utmbiology.bsky.social is currently recruiting for an Assistant Professor, Molecular Genetics
jobs.utoronto.ca/job/Mississa...

05.08.2025 20:30 β€” πŸ‘ 6    πŸ” 7    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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A single theory for the evolution of sex chromosomes and the two rules of speciation Sex chromosomes are involved in three major empirical patterns: (i) Y (or W) chromosomes are often nonrecombining and degenerate; (ii) heterogametic offspring (XY or ZW) from interspecific crosses are...

Interested to know more about a new theory relating the #evolution of #sexchromosomes to the rules of #speciation? Check out this paper that we published with Denis Roze in the last issue of #Science. PDF here: www.science.org/stoken/autho...

12.07.2025 21:04 β€” πŸ‘ 31    πŸ” 17    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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After 10 years of work, a complete telomere-to-telomere gap-free genome for C. elegans finally exists: it has 106 Mb rather than the textbook 100.3 Mb, and up to 366 additional genes.
genome.cshlp.org/content/35/8...

01.08.2025 21:55 β€” πŸ‘ 101    πŸ” 37    πŸ’¬ 4    πŸ“Œ 0

My department @utoronto.ca (www.utm.utoronto.ca/biology/) is hiring a molecular biologist in any field (e.g., ecology, evolutionary biology, etc.). Please encourage any excellent finishing PhD students, postdocs or assistant professor to apply here:
jobs.utoronto.ca/job/Mississa...

30.07.2025 14:55 β€” πŸ‘ 102    πŸ” 117    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 4
Tom Gludovacz, chief horticulturist, says the new LED lighting emits the specific spectrum of light plants need

Tom Gludovacz, chief horticulturist, says the new LED lighting emits the specific spectrum of light plants need

From rooftop greenhouses to subterranean growth chambers, plant research facilities on #UofT’s historic St. George campus are quietly undergoing a major lighting retrofit – and gaining a research boost in the process. 🌱 uoft.me/bJ3

22.07.2025 14:00 β€” πŸ‘ 5    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Volume 38 Issue 6 | Journal of Evolutionary Biology | Oxford Academic Journal of Evolutionary Biology

⭐Issue 6 of JEB is now online!⭐

This issue is headlined by a Target Review from @josselin-clo.bsky.social et al. on #matingsystems evolution, accompanied by several #invitedcommentaries expanding on this key discussion comparing concepts in plants and animals:

academic.oup.com/jeb/issue/38/6

22.07.2025 09:01 β€” πŸ‘ 13    πŸ” 13    πŸ’¬ 5    πŸ“Œ 1

Clo et al.’s new review on mating system evo was a great excuse to let me dig into some underexplored ideas in the field: roles of interspecies interactions doi.org/10.1093/jeb/...

22.07.2025 12:18 β€” πŸ‘ 6    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Western University launches program to capitalize on shrinking U.S. research funding | CBC News Western University is looking to capitalize on massive shifts in the academic landscape of the United States with a new initiative designed to turn a difficult situation into a brain gain for both the...

Are you a PhD student, have an offer, or have had an offer recently rescinded from a US university? If so, Western (in London, ON, Canada) has a new scholarship program for you! Check out this news story. I can vouch for this university! You will love it.

www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

19.07.2025 22:02 β€” πŸ‘ 39    πŸ” 34    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 2
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Job opportunities - Fondation pour la recherche sur la biodiversitΓ© Créée en 2008, la FRB recherche rΓ©guliΓ¨rement de nouveaux collaborateurs. Elle constitue un point de convergence entre la science et la sociΓ©tΓ©, autour des dΓ©fis que doit aujourd’hui relever la recher...

3-year #postdoc position at Centre de synthèse et d'analyse de la biodiversité (CESAB) in Montpellier to work on how taking intraspecific diversity and evolutionary processes into account in translocation-based programs. Please share widely #PopGen #NbS
www.fondationbiodiversite.fr/en/about-the...

10.07.2025 11:47 β€” πŸ‘ 8    πŸ” 18    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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The "reproducibility crisis" in science constantly makes headlines. Repro efforts are often limited. What if you could assess reproducibility of an entire field?

That's what @brunolemaitre.bsky.social et al. have done. Fly immunity is highly replicable & offers lessons for #metascience

A 🧡 1/n

10.07.2025 08:21 β€” πŸ‘ 319    πŸ” 172    πŸ’¬ 10    πŸ“Œ 18
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Expression Divergence in Response to Sex-biased Selection Abstract. It remains debated whether greater degrees of sexual dimorphism would evolve if not for intersexual genetic constraints. Here, we used experiment

Out now in @molbioevol.bsky.social with Michelle Liu (co-first), Ryan Frost, Matthew Lindsay, Malak Bayoumi, Martin Brengdahl, @ruxmolnar.bsky.social and @aneil-agrawal.bsky.social, we evolved ~40% of the D. melanogaster genome under male-limited inheritance, ...

academic.oup.com/mbe/article/...

09.07.2025 15:10 β€” πŸ‘ 22    πŸ” 13    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 1
20.05.2025 19:05 β€” πŸ‘ 67    πŸ” 18    πŸ’¬ 5    πŸ“Œ 2

Eh tu Toronto?

06.07.2025 12:29 β€” πŸ‘ 3    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Four review requests in my inbox this morning. The one I accepted? Society journal.

Our Societies consistently reinvest in our communities in ways the glossies never will. And that makes me invest in them.

04.07.2025 13:22 β€” πŸ‘ 63    πŸ” 14    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 1

@asherdcutter is following 20 prominent accounts