A. Sánchez Alvarado
@Planaria1
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An ongoing collection of places, ideas and people I run into during the practice of science
United States
Joined April 2012
Science is humanity's grand endeavor to understand the universe & our place in it. Every scientific breakthrough a testament to our curiosity & perseverance. Science remains our compass, guiding us through the labyrinth of ideas, helping us distinguish truth from illusion, voices
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It’s Dr. Barbara McClintocok’s birthday. She saw what everybody saw, yet saw something altogether new. Intrigued by maize kernel colors, she found genes can jump and turn physical traits on & off. She remains the only woman with an unshared Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
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Congratulations to Akiko Iwasaki @VirusesImmunity and Dianne Newman @caltech for their election to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences @americanacad !!!
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Fall and its gorgeous genetics is here: jumping genes in the cells that make the kernels in corn cobs cause these beautiful changes in coloration. Barbara McClintock figured this out & received the Nobel prize in 1983 for her discovery & gift to our better understanding of life
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I am on my way to @SastraUniv to receive the 2019 Obaid Siddiqi Award. I want to pause and reflect on the fundamental contributions made by this extraordinary Indian mind and global scientist to human knowledge. @ScienceStowers @royalsociety @theNASciences
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Our @ScienceStowers lab's most recent effort to understand regeneration has just been published @ScienceMagazine. . The story began sometime in 2008 with an idea after hearing Anne Brunet @BrunetLab give a talk at my old institution @UUtah.
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There are time lapses and then there is this…. Animated still images of Io and Europa over Jupiter's Great Red Spot taken by Cassini . Credit:
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What are HOX genes doing in planaria?. Our most recent preprint aims to shed some light on this puzzle. Before diving in, a brief history of past efforts to understand HOX genes in planaria is warranted. @ScienceStowers @HHMINEWS @biorxivpreprint
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Not a bad time to remember and be inspired by Dr. Rosalind Franklin (1920-1958). Here she is in the summer of 1940 climbing mountains in Norway and sharing in a letter to her father her views on science. Learn more at:.
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As a teenager, Osamu Shimomura was a survivor of and was briefly blinded by the atomic bombing of Nagasaki. How remarkable that his work on aqueorin and GFP gave us the ability to see realms of biology we had been been blind to.
The MBL mourns the passing of Osamu Shimomora, Distinguished Scientist Emeritus and 2008 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry. Photo: Martin Chalfie
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Congratulations, Harmit @HarmitMalik for being elected to the @theNASciences !!!.Richly deserved!!!. @HHMINEWS @fredhutch
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The beautiful sea robbins (Prionotus carolinus) at the Marine Resources Center @MBLScience came by to say hello. @___SDB___
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Unsolicited advice:. When someone tells you that you are not good enough, that you do not belong, that you cannot do what you love, that you should give up:. Doubt the doubter. Doubt them long & hard before you consider doubting yourself
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The first issue of @Nature was printed today in 1869. In opening article Huxley writes on obsolescence of theories but permanence of poetry.
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Only possible because of the great people, inside and outside the lab, who have supported us and our ideas. To all lab members, past and present, mentors, colleagues, students, friends & family: Thank you !.
Congratulations Alejandro Sánchez Alvarado of @ScienceStowers, newly inducted #NASmember! Sánchez Alvarado studies the planarian flatworm Schmidtea mediterranea to answer questions about animal #regeneration and provide insight into metazoan developmental biology. #NAS156
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Do you speak Spanish & love science & education?. HHMI @BIOINTERACTIVE is looking for a Science Education Fellow to help broaden access to their existing resources & help develop new teaching materials in English & Spanish. Contact: robalinoj@hhmi.org.
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From our lab to yours, Happy Holidays! May 2020 be a banner year for all!. @ScienceStowers @GSSIMR @theNASciences @americanacad @___SDB___ @ASCBiology @MBLScience @CarnegieDevBio @LindaHall_org @nelson_atkins. Planarian embryos SPIM movies. To learn more:.
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“The time has come to dispose of the terms “model” and “non-model” systems and adopt instead the more accurate term “research organism”. Our remarkable advances in genome editing, imaging, bioinformatics, high throughput assays and automation demands it.”.
#DBfeatures #ICYMI #regeneration . Have you seen @Planaria's editorial (15 Jan 2018) about using novel organisms to study regeneration? @Planaria1 was 2019 President of @___SDB___ !. "To solve old problems, study new research organisms". Read it here ->
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Earlier today, I had the privilege of presenting Dr. Eddy De Robertis the @___SDB___ lifetime achievement award. @theNASciences @HHMINEWS
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A few thoughts about the exciting future of Developmental Biology. And accompanied by a couple of figures designed by the talented @molecularmirror . @Dev_Bio_Journal .@SocDevBio .@ScienceStowers .@HHMINEWS .@theNASciences .@americanacad .@aaas .
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A fresh reminder. As seen on a billboard in one of my institute’s hallways. @ScienceStowers
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What a treat to inspect Haeckel’s color-coded germ layers across multiple species in his Anthropogenie (1874). Thank you @LindaHall_org, Vice President for Research & Scholarship @bhgross144 & Vice President for Special Collections @Jason_W_Dean for the fantastic & inspiring tour
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In need of an update on the regulation of genomic output and (Pluri)potency in Regeneration?. Take a look @BethMDuncan's review for @AnnualReviews . @ScienceStowers @universityofky
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Back in Woods Hole to teach and do science after 2.5 years and Eel pond greets us tonight with incomparable grace. @ScienceStowers @MBLScience
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Happy birthday Ernst, born on this day February 16, 1834 in Potsdam, Germany. This, Haeckel’s 8th print in his Kunstformen ser Natur, is Discomedusae. Center and bottom-center images are Desmonema annasethe, which he named after his wife because the tentacles reminded him of her
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Tonight, we eat mathematics. Steamed Fibonacci numbers:.F_{n}=F_{n-1}+F_{n-2}. Brassica oleracea (Romanesco broccoli), courtesy of our local grocer. The number of spirals on this vegetable is a Fibonacci number.
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Today is India’s National Science Day, the day the Raman effect was discovered by Chandrasekhara V. Raman. His discovery provided evidence for the quantum nature of light. Below: early Raman spectrum of benzene (Nature 122, 12–13, 1928). @PrinSciAdvGoI
On 28 February 1928, Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman discovered the Raman effect. The Raman effect is the change in the wavelength of light that occurs when a light beam is deflected by molecules.
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When nature paints starry nights with transposable elements on the petals of petunias. #SciArt
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Do you have a research organism with few markers but for which you would like to know cell population composition and cellular phenotypes?. Image3C may be of help. Paper now out @eLife. @eLife. @ScienceStowers .@accorsi_alice @robertpeuss @NicolasRohner
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A new genetically tractable non-vertebrate system to study complete camera-type eye regeneration
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To solve old problems, study new species (Alejandro Sánchez Alvarado | TEDxKC) via @TEDTalks.
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Discovery of the fish lateral line organ can be traced back to the work of Stenonis in 1664. 356 years later @LabPiotrowski discovers a new cell type that adaptively invades & functionally integrates with this sensory organ. @ScienceStowers @___SDB___
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As President of your @___SDB___ , please join in in congratulating the 2020 SDB award recipients:. @ClaudeDesplan, @jo44atWID, @Juliano_Lab . Congratulations!. @nyuniversity @WIDiscovery @ucdavis @UVA
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Neural crest cells at work. look at the patterns on the plumage of this bird!.
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“It underscores the fact that still in the 21st century, we truly do not know what is possible in biology. ”. @ScienceMagazine .@CurrentBiology .@ScienceStowers
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Come do science with us!. •We DO NOT require test scores (GRE, TOEFL, etc.).•We DO NOT require you to calculate your grade point average (GPA).•NO application fee. What do we look for?. •Research experience.•Strong scientific background.•A bachelor's degree (B.S. or B.A.).
There's still time to apply to #GSSIMR! The application deadline is Dec. 2. #phd #phdlife #GradSchool More details:
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Application Fee: NONE.GREs: don’t need them. Requirements:.• research experience.• strong scientific background.• a bachelor’s degree or equivalent. Our mission: to expand our understanding of the secrets of life. Come do science with us. Apply!.
Applications are open now for the class of 2020 at #GSSIMR! Predocs get the benefits of strong faculty mentorship, exciting research at top-notch facilities, a supportive community at the Stowers Institute and competitive benefits!
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One cell to regenerate it all. Our article on the prospective isolation of adult pluripotent stem cells appears in this month's issue of Cell @CellCellPress . Read the paper here:. @ScienceStowers @HHMINEWS @NIGMS
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Jeffrey Robbins, 1950-2022 . My Ph.D. advisor passed away full of dreams both realized and unrealized. He never bothered to have the time to even imagine not realizing or giving up on any of them. Thank you, Jeff
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The deceivingly simple elegance and beauty we find so readily in nature is a constant reminder of all the hows and whys we have yet to answer in biology. @MBLScience @ScienceStowers
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Science needs bright, curious minds hailing from all parts of the world, supportive communities to nurture such minds, & ecosystems that allow their curiosity to take us into the unknown. Their light always expands the breadth and depth of human knowledge. Thank you, Obaid.
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For Ctenophores, light shows are not just for December but year round!. Their ctenes, comb-like bands of cilia that run their body length, refract light like little prisms as they ride ocean currents across the globe. Happy Holidays!. @MBLScience @ScienceStowers @___SDB___
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Archimedes would be proud. .
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Regeneration Postdoc. The Sánchez Alvarado Lab @ScienceStowers & the Lowe Lab @Stanford are collaborating to decipher the molecular & cellular basis of anterior hemichordate regeneration. We’re looking for a postdoc to lead this new & exciting project. Get in touch for more info
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@christlet It’s a shell-less snail or heteropod, a mollusk also known as a sea elephant. This one, unfortunately, has seen better days… . Here’s a drawing from Leuckart from the late 1800’s (bottom of chart).
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Each species embodies millennia of history, biological adaptations and molecular tricks of complexity we cannot imagine not readily predict. Every new species discovered is essentially a unique interpretation of the universe worthy of our best efforts to understand it.
Three new species of fish discovered in the extreme depths of the Pacific Ocean
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Congratulations Joaquín @MadS100tist! . After a successful thesis defense, the time has come to call him: Dr. Navajas Acedo!. Watch out, world!. @GSSIMR @ScienceStowers @LabPiotrowski
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There is nothing simple about "simple organisms". Need evidence? Watch this unicelular algae do its thing.
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Today was Blair’s last official day as a member of our lab. On January 3rd, 2022, @BlairBenhamPyle will start her own lab @bcmhouston . She joins the ranks of many brilliant postdoctoral scientists who now as PIs expand scientific knowledge . Go forth! Discover!. @ScienceStowers
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It’s Saturday morning & undergraduates from Bangalore & its surroundings are arriving to hear about biology as part of outreach efforts by @inStem_India to build research capacity in the region. Yes, Saturday morning & many took 2-hour bus rides to get here. #NationalScienceDay
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Happy Birthday, Dr. Hyman!.She wrote the monumental "The Invertebrates".Took art lessons to illustrate her work.Spent summers studying & drawing specimens @MBLScience & @MDIBL.We named newly discovered planarian organelles after her to honor her memory.
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Sincere thanks to those who put my name forward and chose to elect me to this post. Most importantly, genuine thanks to all the hearts and minds who have worked in our lab, past and present, for shaping how I think and do science.
“The world is not a Petri dish. It is a lake. It is a mountain. It is a park,” says newly elected AAAS Fellow @Planaria1. More on why this molecular biologist thinks answering outstanding scientific problems requires a return to the natural world:
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I count myself immensely fortunate to count Robb Krumlauf as a friend and as a mentor, and to be part of the exceptional institute he helped build with great care, selfless dedication and thoughtfulness. @ScienceStowers @theNASciences #NAS156
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In 2018, we aim to stir the scientist in all of us & make science accessible to underserved children in our communities. We start by putting 1000’s of foldscopes in their curious hands & partnering with their dedicated teachers. @ScienceStowers @TeamFoldscope @PrakashLab
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And we are off! . The international course in developmental biology @DevBioQuintay begins with lectures & lab practical of fruit flies & crustaceans. Here’s Nipam Patel @Parflyale, director of the @MBLScience sharing his work with the course students. @EMBO @ScienceStowers
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Unforgettable experience. Many of these students took 2-hour bus rides to attend the lecture. On a Saturday morning, no less. At a time when many are running away from reason, these young minds are rushing towards it, and that fills me with an indescribable sense of hope.
@Planaria1 @DBTIndia @BLiSC_India A really interactive and enriching session for everyone involved! .More than 120 students were able to gain some fabulous insights into #regeneration & #life from Prof Sanchez Alvarado, both during the seminar, and with informal discussions after it! . #NationalScienceDay
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Exceptional cnidarian biologists Maude Delap, born December 4th, 1866. 1st scientist on record to breed jellyfish in captivity (C. isosceles). Her pioneering work helped define life cycle stages (medusa & hydra) of many species @BioDivLibrary @MBLScience .
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The pink ribbon stretching along that lakeshore strip? Flamingos 🦩!.
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Congratulations to Claude Desplan @NYU, recipient of the 2020 @___SDB___ Edwin G. Conklin Medal for ". continuing to make extraordinary research contributions to the field and is an excellent mentor who has helped train the next generation of outstanding scientists.”. #2020SDB
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For #jellyfishday a pulsating specimen of an adult Nematostella vectensis imaged this past summer @MBLScience
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Our beloved Flynn, 2011-2023. Rest in peace, sweet prince. You made our lives ever richer, our days ever more memorable & our hearts larger with the joy you so freely & unfailingly shared with us every day we were lucky enough to be in your presence. We will miss you immensely…
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“. a single injected Nb2 cell was able to multiply and diversify to rescue planaria that had been given a lethal dose of radiation.”.
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It’s planaria lab time at the Embryologybcourse @MBLScience . Viraj @VirajDoddihal introducing students to the cornucopia of reagents available for them to do experiments. @ScienceStowers @GSSIMR
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Single Plane Illumination Microscopy (SPIM) is meant for planarian embryos! Read @eldavies03 work @eLife for more.
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Se nos fué José Luis Gómez-Skatmeta. Too soon, too sudden. So many conversations we will not have. So many projects we will not start. We will miss his intellect, warmth, and generosity.
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The emerging model systems session at #ascbembo2018 is full of research organisms. Here are a few of the species represented: . @ASCBiology
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Think about all the processes that had to unfold during embryogenesis to produce such beauty. Now that you have, think about this: science will always add to our experience before it subtracts from it.
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E. G. Conklin once wrote “There are many marine laboratories in the world, but there is only one Woods Hole.”. Today, the Marine Biological Laboratory stands as both a living and evolving emblem to humanity’s never-ending curiosity & thirst for knowledge. @MBLScience
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Science & nature influence art, and art can expand the appreciation of science. The chick embryo mosaic at auditorium door @institut_curie
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Behold the diversity of chicken egg shell colors (photo: @Bergs_fairytale). 3 domestic breeds can lay blue eggs: Araucana, Dongxiang & Lushi. In all 3 cases, the blue color is caused by an avian retroviral insertion near the 5′ flanking region of SLCO1B3.
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Mentors @fg_mann @BlairBenhamPyle celebrating @DewarsEnya upon accepting offer from her dream graduate school program @DukeU. May you be lucky enough to experience many times over the empowering & emotional transformation science allows our species to experience. @ScienceStowers
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Today we celebrate Enya @DewarsEnya who a year ago joined our institute @ScienceStowers & our lab as a postbaccalaureate. Enya will pursue her PhD @DukeU this fall. While we will miss her, we wish her a world of new knowledge & discovery will always come to greet her. Go science!
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To take a walk and find math, geometry, and biology intertwined in all of their breathtaking beauty.
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To solve old problems, study new research organisms. @___SDB___ @ScienceStowers @MBLScience @NIGMS @TEDTalks @TEDxKC @
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Congratulations to @ScienceStowers alumnus, Dr. Olivier Pourquie @PourquieOlivier for his election to the National Academy of Sciences!. @theNASciences
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Graduate students & Postdoctoral scientists: Do you want to expand the depth and breadth of developmental processes & transform your understanding of such processes? Then, apply to the @MBLScience Embryology course! Deadline is February 1. Don't delay!.
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About to speak to >100 students from India in MACFAST G N Ramachamdran Science Club about the joys and rewards of science. Very much looking forward to this!. @MACFAST_COLLEGE @ScienceStowers
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Viruses encoding ribosomal proteins might modulate translation upon infection and “either call into question a commonly used definition for life—the presence/absence of RPs—or further blur the borders between viruses and cellular life forms.”
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I just learned about my election to the @aaas Council as a Delegate from the Section on Biological Sciences. To those of you who voted, thank you. I look forward to representing you and our community at Council. @ScienceStowers @HHMINEWS @MBLScience @___SDB___ @LASDB_DevBiol
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En mi infancia, yo fui expuesto por primera vez a la política, al humanismo, a la filosofía, y a la crisis ambiental a través de las caricaturas de Quino, quién tristemente falleció el 29 de septiembre a los 88 años. Vigente en aquel entonces.Vigente hoy.
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Embryologist Ethel Browne Harvey, born on December 14, 1885 discovered the organizer as a graduate student in 1909 in hydra. The production of new hydranths in Hydra by the insertion of small grafts. Browne Harvey, E.N. J. Exp. Zool. 1909; 7: 1–37. @MBLScience
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Leaving the lab for the night and this is how Eel Pond greets you….@MBLScience @ScienceStowers
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Unbeknownst to many, barely registering a thought (if any) in our daily existence, these & many other organisms live a life of such beautiful & knowable complexity that taking the time to study & understand them will, I suspect, change how we think about them & ourselves
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I retrieved this after a swim in the Mediterranean. Echinoderms: from bilateral larvae to pentaradially symmetric adults. A few questions come to mind:. Did pentameral symmetry evolve from an ancestor possessing bilateral symmetry?. If so, how?. & under what conditions?
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Flags are up @theNASciences in preparation for tonight’s induction #NAS156 . I espy the flags of my birth and adopted countries side by side. @ScienceStowers
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Whoa!.
Bombardier Beetle:. 🧪Defense mechanism. 🧪One gland contains hydrogen peroxide and hydroquinone. 🧪One gland contains catalase (decompose H2O2) and peroxidases (oxidize hydroquinone). 🧪When mixed, oxygen is produced. 🧪Reacts with hydroquinone to make #benzoquinone. #Exothermic
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More than a list, a great resource for all of us who are interested in learning science and its practice from others’ rich and diverse experiences . @CellMentor
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Regeneration Postdoc. The Sánchez Alvarado Lab @ScienceStowers & the Lowe Lab @Stanford are collaborating to decipher the molecular & cellular basis of anterior hemichordate regeneration. We’re looking for a postdoc to lead this new & exciting project. Get in touch for more info
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