Dynamic transcriptional and epigenetic changes define postnatal tendon growth Author summary Tendons provide essential connections within our musculoskeletal system, transmitting the force from muscle to bone to enable movement. Concomitant with skeletal growth, tendon developm...

Terrific new work on tendon growth by Heather Dingwall @dingwallaby.bsky.social and @jennagalloway.bsky.social in collaboration with my lab. Congrats Heather and all authors! journals.plos.org/plosgenetics...

Great work on the genetics of osteoarthritis by my post-doc Dr. @clarissacoveney.bsky.social and lab:
acrjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/.../art.43231

New methodological approaches and insights gained toward understanding the evolved human skeleton Modern humans exhibit marked musculoskeletal changes when compared to those of our African ape relatives, such as chimpanzees, bonobos, and gorillas. …

Pleased to announce our new review on human musculoskeletal evolution lead by my post-doc @gayani.bsky.social. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Here is the tweetorial for the terrific work by Clarissa Coveney in my lab.

A big shout out to all of the authors on this work, that made it possible: David Maridas, Hao Chen, Pushpanathan Muthuirulan, Zun Liu, Evelyn Jagoda, Siddharth Yarlagadda, Mohammadreza Movahhedi, Benedikt Proffen, Babak Dashtdar, Mahdi Aghaalikhani, Daniel Richard, Vicki Rosen, Ata M. Kiapour.

Not only was this published but she got the cover for the issue and a special news and views on her work:
acrjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10....

Delighted to announce the publication of this amazing work by my post-doc Dr. Clarissa Coveney and a team of wonderful collaborators. This work on GDF5 and its roles in controlling disease risk was published in Arthritis & Rheumatology.
acrjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

Two tiny genetic shifts helped early humans walk upright Scientists have linked bipedalism to changes in how the human pelvis developed millions of years ago.

Recent coverage of our Nature Paper on the Evolution of Human Bipedalism:
www.sciencenews.org/article/gene...

Please share/repost widely: I have a postdoc position available. Please see ad below and reach out to apply.

academicpositions.harvard.edu/postings/15449

Please share/repost widely: I have a postdoc position available. Please see ad below and reach out to apply.

academicpositions.harvard.edu/postings/15449

Please share/repost widely: I have a postdoc position available. Please see ad below and reach out to apply.

academicpositions.harvard.edu/postings/15449

In the sadness I feel for the passing of Jane Goodall, I take from her a continued energy, passion, and commitment to bolster up, fight for, and inspire those without voices! We must be champions to protect this earth and basic decency!

Question for those at academic research institutions: Have your institutions received requests from the federal government regarding recent changes in Restricted Party and Export Controls Screening Process?

Kirstin Sterner (University of Oregon) and I would like to give a big CONGRATULATIONS to Dr. Sam Queeno, who successfully defended her dissertation entitled "A New Perspective on Human Bipedalism: Using Functional Genomics as a Window to Past Physiology". Terrific Job Sam!!!!

This was a 9-0 decision last year

Thanks Michael! This was lots of fun to work on! My post-doc Gayani is terrific (and now on the job market if there are group leader positions in Germany)

Thanks Venki!!

We want to thank the NIH for providing federal funding for this work. And we note here that this grant was illegally terminated by the federal administration causing future studies on the manner in which these changes influence human disease risk and birth process to be ended.

We want to thank the individuals who consented to provide human samples as they appreciate that knowledge is critical to understanding the human condition including our derived disease risks.

We want to thank the Birth Defects Research Laboratory at the University of Washington for their assistance in ethically collecting human samples.

We want to thank the following scientists/staff/curators for their help: N Shubin, J Hanken (MCZ), M Gage (MCZ), S Turney (MCZ), B Zimkus (MCZ), J Woodward (MCZ), J Austiff (MCZ), J Chaumel (MCZ), T Stewart, E Hoeger (AMNH), M Surovy (AMNH), L Caspers (AMNH)

Overall, we argue that the ilium is part of highly important adaptive musculoskeletal pelvic complex that is
shaped during evolution under the constraints of complex polygenic underpinnings.

Third, the reorientation of the growth plate, and subsequent changes in ossification, now cause a hip joint to face more anterior/ventral, and this might lead to greater loading issues on the femoral head/neck and increased rise of hip disease.

Likewise, obstetrical-dilemma models that attempt to model the human pelvis as resulting from a chimp-like pattern of growth may be off. And this critical shift will have different relationships to permitting or constraining later human brain growth and in relationship to bipedalism.

Second, that this growth plate shift, preceded human brain expansion and thus a widened canal configuration due to iliac bones growing in a different plane may have been a prerequisite and may have permitted later brain expansion in humans.

This growth plate shift occurred likely at the base of many hominins indicating that the adaptive radiation of hominins from 4.5-2.5 MYA might have resulted from the benefits this structural innovation had to bipedalism.

Nevertheless, we argue that it is unlikely a single gene of large effect but many regulatory changes that facilitated this shift.

First, that major structural innovations, a kin to bat wings, have actually occurred in human evolution and during a key window when natural selection appeared to favor efficiency in bipedalism. Whether this shift was markedly rapid or more gradual during this 8-4.5 MY period remains unclear.

What are the ramifications of these major shifts?

This indicates that the musculoskeletal ilium was subject to intense selection to shape the pelvis, with the role of muscle induction on pelvis shape likely in utero.