James Catterson
@scotsfriction.bsky.social
1.4K followers 350 following 92 posts
Researching neurodegeneration using flies. Based at Edinburgh University. UKDRI. Also Music. Politics. Ceramics. Leith4Life
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scotsfriction.bsky.social
I also had a chance to speak with HRH The Duchess of Edinburgh about our work using flies in dementia research. Everybody loves the flies. 😇😅🥰
Me chatting to HRH The Duchess of Edinburgh about the cool stuff we do with Drosophila
Reposted by James Catterson
drosophilosophy.bsky.social
This morning at CSHL, Kristen Davis from the lab gives an amazing talk on her work studying the sexually dimorphic mechanisms of synapse formation! Such a great job, Kristen!!!
Reposted by James Catterson
samthorpe.bsky.social
Incredibly useful new story by @jburnmurdoch.ft.com on the 'crisis' for young college grads. Most analyses compare mid-20s workers with/without a degree. But as John points out, the relevant comparison group is actually *new entrants* with/without a degree - most non-degree workers enter at 18-19.
What the graduate unemployment story gets wrong
People with a degree are faring better, not worse than their non-graduate counterparts
www.ft.com
Reposted by James Catterson
keithwdickinson.bsky.social
Today is a day when arts degrees are worthless, but the product of those degrees is so valuable it would kill an entire industry if they were made to pay for it.
Reposted by James Catterson
ceilingcat.bsky.social
“My eyes! The goggles do nothing!”
Reposted by James Catterson
pumpkin061.bsky.social
Dr. Jane Goodall, the legendary animal rights advocate, has died at 91. Dr. Goodall's life was a beacon for progressive activism, a bridge between science & moral purpose. Rest in power, Dr. Goodall.The fight continues,for animals, for the planet, for the future &your voice will forever guide us.
Reposted by James Catterson
chrischirp.bsky.social
Just fuck off with this. How about start the conversation by highlighting how much immigrants contribute to the UK - not least by propping up the NHS and social care system!

Also - forced volunteering is not volunteering, it's unpaid labour.
Reposted by James Catterson
cahirokane.bsky.social
59 mutations that suppress neurodegeneration induced by dNmant depletion in a Drosophila screen, including the known pro-degenerative molecule dSarm. Lots of new potential anti-degeneration drug targets to explore here.
biorxiv-neursci.bsky.social
A dNmnat-sensitized in vivo platform for unbiased discovery of regulators of neurodegeneration https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.09.25.678663v1
Reposted by James Catterson
gregpriest.bsky.social
Thomas Hunt Morgan was born OTD in 1866.

If you're ever feeling that your work is uending and unedifying, remember that he once said this: "Two years work wasted, I have been breeding those flies for all that time and I've got nothing out of it."

🌱🐋🧪 #HistSTM
Photograph of Morgan's Fly Room at Columbia University, around 1920. American Philosophical Society.
Reposted by James Catterson
Reposted by James Catterson
johnswinney.bsky.social
This is dangerous, reckless, anti-science nonsense.

Paracetamol is safe to use and Nigel Farage should stop spreading misinformation.
lbc.co.uk
LBC @lbc.co.uk · 17d
"We were told thalidomide was a safe drug and it wasn't..."

Nigel Farage says he has 'no idea' if Donald Trump is right about paracetamol being linked to autism.
Reposted by James Catterson
dorianlynskey.bsky.social
It is possible to cherish the BBC as an institution while also saying that BBC News is failing very badly, day after day, in its duty to inform and that it always fails in a right-wing direction. It desperately needs to recover its integrity
Reposted by James Catterson
brendelbored.bsky.social
Trump: don’t take acepitoemponoene

RFK Jr: *moth crawls out of mouth*

A nude man is in the background, only referred to as “the colonel”

Person watching on tv: well if they say so
Reposted by James Catterson
johntngo.bsky.social
🚀 Our new paper is out @natmethods.nature.com!

Kuffer & Marzilli engineered conditionally stable MS2 & PP7 coat proteins (dMCP & dPCP) that degrade unless bound to RNA, enabling ultra–low-background, single-mRNA imaging in live cells.

🔗 www.nature.com/articles/s41...
🧬 www.addgene.org/John_Ngo/
Reposted by James Catterson
bencollins.bsky.social
So cool they discovered the cause of autism on basically day they guessed they would. I’m also glad they are withholding this information for a few days to prep for a WrestleMania-style announcement. This is how science works.
Reposted by James Catterson
naomiaklein.bsky.social
If you, like me, are the parent of a neuro-atypical child dreading this autism press conference, please remember: These are the people hurting our kids. Not us. They are the ones stigmatizing and pathologizing them. They are the ones peddling untested science. And we should be very, very angry.
Reposted by James Catterson
danigaravelli.bsky.social
"The only thing that could've increased the humiliation would have been the holding up of a dog biscuit tho' a treat for rolling over was proffered in the form of a tech deal, which Starmer wolfed down with all the grateful tail-wagging the president demands." My @heraldscotland.bsky.social column.
Why are even the most powerful so afraid of standing up to Donald Trump?
Trump’s UK visit exposed a humiliating deference from Starmer, royals and politicians alike, says our multi award-winning opinion columnist Dani…
www.heraldscotland.com
Reposted by James Catterson
Reposted by James Catterson
barackobama.bsky.social
After years of complaining about cancel culture, the current administration has taken it to a new and dangerous level by routinely threatening regulatory action against media companies unless they muzzle or fire reporters and commentators it doesn’t like.
Let’s be clear about what happened to Jimmy Kimmel
Trump’s most brazen attack on free speech yet.
www.yahoo.com
Reposted by James Catterson
hkesvani.bsky.social
Say what you will about them but at least Change UK managed to have a Nando’s dinner first
Reposted by James Catterson
tuthill.bsky.social
new pape from our lab, led by the indefatigable @chrisjdallmann.bsky.social. i am very proud of this one.
chrisjdallmann.bsky.social
Now out in @nature.com: Our study discovering a neural circuit in Drosophila that predictively inhibits proprioceptor axons during voluntary leg movements, such as walking and grooming. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by James Catterson