Shawn Burgess
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burgesslab.bsky.social
Shawn Burgess
@burgesslab.bsky.social
zebrafish researcher, genetics and genomics of regeneration
All posts are my personal opinions and do not reflect the position of the NIH or US government
Pinned
Some exciting news! NCBI has finished the annotation pipeline for our new #zebrafish reference sequence GRCz12tu:
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/refseq/annot...

This is a big step up in data depth and quality and should be super helpful going forward.
Danio rerio Annotation ReportTwitterFacebookLinkedInGitHubNCBI Insights BlogTwitterFacebookYoutube
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Reposted by Shawn Burgess
We are looking for a postdoctoral fellow to work on induced proximity 🤜🤛 and functional genomics! Join our team in Toronto 🇨🇦 to tackle major challenges in oncology and neurodegeneration. www.nature.com/naturecareer...
POSTDOCTORAL FELLOW - Toronto (City), Ontario (CA) job with Taipale Lab, Donnelly Centre, University of Toronto | 12849004
The Taipale lab in the Donnelly CCBR and University of Toronto is looking for a highly motivated Postdoctoral Fellow
www.nature.com
November 19, 2025 at 5:51 PM
Reposted by Shawn Burgess
🐟Meet the DANIO-ReCODE team!🐟
This week: Martina Sevo and Prof Blaz Zupan from University of Ljubljana

Martina´s research focuses on conversational AI for exploring complex data in tissue regeneration research

📢Stay tuned! #DANIO #MSCA @obog.bsky.social @cabd-upo-csic.bsky.social
November 24, 2025 at 12:49 PM
Reposted by Shawn Burgess
I should also point out that some of you are starting to use AI-assisted emails, and we can tell. Use your own words, own thoughts, be honest, be real, dig a little deep and ask yourselves "what really excites me about this" and please stop with the cookie cutter, AI copy-paste emails. End of PSA.
November 21, 2025 at 9:53 PM
Reposted by Shawn Burgess
Students applying for grad school, or reaching out to professors. I have an important piece of advice for you: STOP DOING THIS 👇 (a thread) #STEM #PhD #gradschool #academictips
November 21, 2025 at 9:53 PM
Reposted by Shawn Burgess
yeah, so often a paper comes out having "discovered" something that was very clearly discovered several years ago with simpler/unavailable technology. >5yrs ago is really not very long. Let's talk about 10+. If you're a good scientist you know your scientific background/history. No excuses.
So many “new” ideas are old repackaged ones using updated terms based on current technologies.

Either folks need to read papers from > 5yrs ago. Or they need to cite them so readers & the public see the slow plodding incremental nature of discovery science.

#AcademicSky
November 23, 2025 at 8:46 PM
When the turtle is more powerful than god
a video game screen shows a mario kart race with a time of 1 ' 16 " 80
ALT: a video game screen shows a mario kart race with a time of 1 ' 16 " 80
media.tenor.com
November 23, 2025 at 9:11 PM
Twenty twenty twenty-four hours ago,
I wanna be sedated,
Nothing to do nowhere to go home,
I wanna be sedated,
Just put me in a wheelchair, put me on a plane,
Hurry hurry hurry before I go insane
I can’t control my fingers, I can’t control my brain,
Oh no no no no no
November 23, 2025 at 2:18 PM
An orthogonal but relevant question is what financial/political dynamics are preventing institutes from being able to adequately staff themselves to appropriately manage portfolio volumes?
November 22, 2025 at 5:54 PM
Depends on who’s reading my answer.
November 22, 2025 at 5:45 PM
Sort of, but it’s still a scaling problem.
November 22, 2025 at 5:44 PM
There is a semi-correlation between how strictly an institute sticks to the pay line cutoff and how many total grants they have to evaluate.
November 22, 2025 at 5:42 PM
NHGRI has never relied on funding lines, the biggest challenge with the change is documentation of reasoning. A small Institute like NHGRI is fine, the portfolio is small, but NCI?
November 22, 2025 at 5:38 PM
It is 100% transparent (not touching the fairness part) council records on decisions are open, e.g.: www.genome.gov/about-nhgri/...
National Advisory Council for Human Genome Research
The National Advisory Council for Human Genome Research provides expert advice on genetics, genomics research, training and programs to NHGRI and the NIH.
www.genome.gov
November 22, 2025 at 5:35 PM
Reposted by Shawn Burgess
Every once in a while I go back and rewatch this performance, and every time I'm glad I did youtu.be/6SFNW5F8K9Y
Prince, Tom Petty, Steve Winwood, Jeff Lynne, more - "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" | 2004 Induction
YouTube video by Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
youtu.be
November 22, 2025 at 4:20 PM
Reposted by Shawn Burgess
Someone is going to have the write the thing about how “vibe” has become a substitute for meaningful theory in a world where the theory is so clear — grift and power — but we collectively refuse if because it isn’t sophisticated enough to generate make work for empiricists.
November 22, 2025 at 1:12 PM
4 out of 5 academic jobs in biology advertised in Nature are in China.
November 21, 2025 at 4:08 PM
Reposted by Shawn Burgess
type for books used to be set using little metal letters built into words in racks and then inked and pressed on to paper. If you had stock phrases you wanted to reuse a lot you could make a cast of them called a ‘stereotype’. The sound of them *clicking* into place, in French, is ‘cliché’
Man, everything is so bleak, anyone got a fun fact or little bit of trivia they want to share
November 21, 2025 at 10:17 AM
Right? One of the great live albums!
November 20, 2025 at 9:32 PM
From the terminal you can use rclone
November 20, 2025 at 9:26 PM
Reposted by Shawn Burgess
Name a band that was huge when you were a kid, has been all but forgotten now, but totally deserves a renaissance because they put out bangers. I'll start:
youtu.be/ZbkypX1OhZ0?...
Cheap Trick - Surrender (from Budokan!)
YouTube video by cheaptrickVEVO
youtu.be
November 20, 2025 at 4:48 PM
Reposted by Shawn Burgess
#KnowYourZDM: In 2019, a 10-year-old patient w/ a life-threatening lymphatic disorder was losing hope. Zebrafish to the rescue! Scientists created zebrafish with the same gene mutation and found a melanoma drug that fixed the fish. Then, doctors used the same drug on the patient to save his life! 🧪
November 20, 2025 at 6:51 PM
Reposted by Shawn Burgess
I am currently searching for a new postdoctoral researcher to study the evolution, genetics, and physiology of cold acclimation and freezing tolerance in switchgrass at Michigan State University. This work will be funded by a newly funded five-year DOE grant. careers.msu.edu/jobs/researc...
Research Associate-Fixed Term - East Lansing, Michigan, United States
Position Summary The Lowry Lab at Michigan State University is searching for a postdoctoral research associate to conduct molecular and physiological experiments to understand the causes of genetic va...
careers.msu.edu
November 20, 2025 at 2:50 PM
Congrats Richard! And more proof Philip moving to the UK was a huge loss for us here at NHGRI!
November 20, 2025 at 5:17 PM
Wut
November 20, 2025 at 5:12 PM