Evan Bardot (he/him)

Society for Developmental Biology logo Society for Developmental Biology 2026 Award Winners Edwin G. Conklin Medal Headshot of Lee Niswander Lee Niswander, University of Colorado Boulder Society for Developmental Biology Lifetime Achievement Award Headshot of Alexandra Joyner Alexandra Joyner, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center Viktor Hamburger Outstanding Educator Prize Headshot of Roberto Mayor Roberto Mayor, University College London Elizabeth D. Hay New Investigator Award Headshot of Jeffrey Farrell Jeffrey Farrell, National Institutes of Health Society for Developmental Biology Trainee Science Communication Award Headshot of Nicholas Desnoyer Nicholas Desnoyer, The Sainsbury Laboratory

Congrats to the 2026 SDB Award Winners!
Conklin Medal: Lee Niswander
SDB Lifetime Achievement Award: Alexandra Joyner
Hamburger Outstanding Educator Prize: Roberto Mayor
Hay New Investigator Award: Jeffrey Farrell
SDB Trainee SciComm Award: Nicholas Desnoyer
bit.ly/4afnjiC

The City’s Budget is our future. And you deserve to know how it works.

Workers at Environmental Defense Fund win union election, forming the largest green nonprofit union in the U.S. | The NewsGuild - TNG-CWA

WE WON: Today, workers at the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) voted to form a union, with 81% in favor! ✊

At over 460 eligible employees, this will be the largest environmental nonprofit union in the US.

newsguild.org/workers-at-e...

Half the battle with this guy is just reiterating government can and already does good things that are so ubiquitous they’ve become invisible. He’s able to remind you in a way that you understand that good government can exist outside of a 24/7 vengeance operation, and in NYC already does.

I’ve yet to see an AI-generated summary that does better than the author-written abstract.

a scarecrow from the wizard of oz stands in a field Alt: The Scarecrow from the Wizard of Oz stands in a field. He shakes and then nods his brainless head.

In the end I think of an AI manuscript review like a scarecrow. It’ll fend off skittish birds but it’ll never have a brain.

So how could AI reviews be useful? I would be interested in seeing fields develop tailored prompts for authors to get AI reviews, which could then be included with #preprints.

Can a journal that uses it be considered a Peer Reviewed Journal? How would that affect indexing? Similar to authorship, and AI cannot be held accountable for its comments. This is an issue for research integrity.

First, what is Human+AI review? It’s not #PeerReview as normally defined. Much of the value added by a journal is soliciting high-quality reviews from relevant experts, and I don’t see the same value from this approach.

Accelerating Science with Human+AI Review This issue of NEJM AI features the first two articles published through our accelerated human+AI review process. In this editorial, we describe the invitation-only “Fast Track” process used to revi...

Some thoughts and questions about the Human+AI review pilot published by NEJM AI. There will be lots of efforts to integrate AI into #SciencePublishing and this is my current baseline.

ai.nejm.org/doi/full/10....

Accelerating Science with Human+AI Review This issue of NEJM AI features the first two articles published through our accelerated human+AI review process. In this editorial, we describe the invitation-only “Fast Track” process used to revi...

When you submit your manuscript, do you want 2/3 of the reviews you get to be AI-generated? Call me old fashioned, but I'd like to keep the "peer" in peer-review.

Accelerating Science with Human+AI Review | NEJM AI ai.nejm.org/doi/full/10....

👀

“If you are a 75-year-old professor reading this, now would be a good time to take emeritus status. It’s something that a lot of people could do that would contribute enormously. The job market for young people would be in much better shape if most people over 75 retired.”

What I always hear: “We can’t afford to pay our workers more than $15 an hour.”

What I never hear: “We can’t afford to pay our CEO millions of dollars a year.”

Funny how that works.

We probably shouldn’t have favourites amongst projects in the lab, but this one was mine. I’m so pleased we can finally share it:

Our work is now out in Nature Communications:
🔗 nature.com/articles/s41467-025-67692-7

Things fall through the cracks, but this is a long time for a paper to be in limbo. I’d suggest contacting the Editor in Chief for an update. Feel free to warn them that you may withdraw and go elsewhere!

Everything is getting stupider

Come join our team! Feel free to DM me with any questions.

Reversibility, regulation, and the community of development: the legacy of Sir John B. Gurdon - Nature Communications Nature Communications - Reversibility, regulation, and the community of development: the legacy of Sir John B. Gurdon

A close-up piece on the legacy of Sir John Gurdon - so happy to see this out at @natcomms.nature.com. Excellent editorial and community work by @ebardot.bsky.social & thank you, @evahoermanseder.bsky.social et al.!

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

Reversibility, regulation, and the community of development: the legacy of Sir John B. Gurdon Nature Communications - Reversibility, regulation, and the community of development: the legacy of Sir John B. Gurdon

We are honored to share our Perspective in Nature Communications, reflecting on the legacy of John B. Gurdon.
Beyond his discoveries, his generosity and curiosity inspired a community of scientists-we remember and celebrate his lasting impact. #JohnGurdon #Xenopus #NatureCommunications

It was an honor and a pleasure to handle this beautifully written reflection. Thank you for sharing it with the community. We can all learn from his example.

Reversibility, regulation, and the community of development: the legacy of Sir John B. Gurdon - Nature Communications Nature Communications - Reversibility, regulation, and the community of development: the legacy of Sir John B. Gurdon

We have just published a tribute to John Gurdon, reflecting on his scientific legacy and the profound influence he had on generations of developmental biologists.

The piece is available open access in Nature Communications:
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

I promise to overrule Reviewer 3's request to cut it.

This has lived in my head rent free since I saw it presented a couple of years ago. Massive congratulations on the beautiful work!

My quote of the day

How many legs does a dog have if you call his tail a leg? Four. Saying that a tail is a leg doesn't make it a leg.

Abraham Lincoln

I am absolutely delighted to share the invited speakers for our upcoming @bsdb.bsky.social "Molecules to Morphogenesis" meeting!

Registration and abstract submission is now open - join us!

bsdb.org/meetings/

March 23-26, 2026 - UK

Organizers and self-organization in developmental biology This collection highlights papers studying self-organization, symmetry breaking, and developmental organizers.

Amazing day at #GastrulationReloaded with thought provoking science and jaw dropping methods.

Also, for no reason at all, re-posting this open Collection: www.nature.com/collections/...

Don’t sweat the deadline, we’ll extend it and I’ll add relevant papers that come to me @natcomms.nature.com

A quadratic paradigm describes the relationship between phenotype severity and variation - Nature Communications Phenotype variation is higher in mutants than wild types. Examining a range of mutant severities, this study unexpectedly found that variation decreases in severe conditions. A quadratic trend best fi...

Lots of great discussion about developmental variability here at #GastrulationReloaded! Super important to consider, and current tools have the power for this.

Related to this recent paper showing that mild phenotypes are more variable than severe ones. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

I just got off a red eye. You’ll have company in your delirium!

Statement from Post Guild Leadership: The Washington Post Guild condemns the unjust firing of columnist Karen Attiah

Don't threaten me with a good time!