Kevin Bird
@stairwaytokevin.bsky.social
Postdoc in evolutionary genomics of polyploids at RBG Kew | science & society | opinions mine
Mizzou, Fulbright Belgium, and Michigan State alum. Here because of medicaid, public universities, and pell grants
https://kevinabird.github.io/
Mizzou, Fulbright Belgium, and Michigan State alum. Here because of medicaid, public universities, and pell grants
https://kevinabird.github.io/
Pinned
Kevin Bird
@stairwaytokevin.bsky.social
· Mar 28
Phylogenetic and genomic mechanisms shaping glucosinolate innovation
Plants have created an immense diversity of specialized metabolites to optimize fitness within a complex environment. Each plant lineage has created n…
www.sciencedirect.com
Really excited to share this new paper with Amanda Agosto-Ramos & @spicybotrytis.bsky.social! We use glucosinolates in the Brassicales as an illustrative model to demonstrate what the improvements in genome quality & phylogenetic coverage are teaching us about the evolution of metabolic innovation.
Reposted by Kevin Bird
Findings support the hypothesis that gene duplications, particularly in reproduction and development, contributed to termite eusociality academic.oup.com/mbe/article/...
Genomic Features Underlying the Origin of Sociality and the Diversification of Caste Systems in Termites
Abstract. Termite colonies consist of distinct castes whose developmental pathways fall into 2 types and vary among lineages. Understanding caste evolution
academic.oup.com
November 25, 2025 at 2:18 PM
Findings support the hypothesis that gene duplications, particularly in reproduction and development, contributed to termite eusociality academic.oup.com/mbe/article/...
Egregious stuff, even given that the entire area of DTC genetics and embryo screening eugenics is scams and snake oil
If you want to read something completely nuts from the unregulated world of direct to consumer genomics, look no further.
And when I say completely nuts, I’m being restrained and polite. Criminal is another word that springs to mind.
And when I say completely nuts, I’m being restrained and polite. Criminal is another word that springs to mind.
"Concerns about the legitimacy and integrity of Nucleus Genomics", by X account @sichuan_mala
totalhealthoptimization.com/2025/11/21/c...
totalhealthoptimization.com/2025/11/21/c...
November 25, 2025 at 1:15 PM
Egregious stuff, even given that the entire area of DTC genetics and embryo screening eugenics is scams and snake oil
Reposted by Kevin Bird
If you want to read something completely nuts from the unregulated world of direct to consumer genomics, look no further.
And when I say completely nuts, I’m being restrained and polite. Criminal is another word that springs to mind.
And when I say completely nuts, I’m being restrained and polite. Criminal is another word that springs to mind.
"Concerns about the legitimacy and integrity of Nucleus Genomics", by X account @sichuan_mala
totalhealthoptimization.com/2025/11/21/c...
totalhealthoptimization.com/2025/11/21/c...
Concerns about the legitimacy and integrity of Nucleus Genomics – Total Health Optimization
totalhealthoptimization.com
November 25, 2025 at 2:13 AM
If you want to read something completely nuts from the unregulated world of direct to consumer genomics, look no further.
And when I say completely nuts, I’m being restrained and polite. Criminal is another word that springs to mind.
And when I say completely nuts, I’m being restrained and polite. Criminal is another word that springs to mind.
this but Guy Who Thinks Dance Yrself Clean is Mid After the First 3 Minutes
Man Who Thought Fleetwood Mac’s ‘The Chain’ Was Over In For Thrill Of His Fucking Life https://theonion.com/man-who-thought-fleetwood-macs-the-chain-was-over-in-for-thrill-of-his-fucking-life/
November 24, 2025 at 9:37 PM
this but Guy Who Thinks Dance Yrself Clean is Mid After the First 3 Minutes
Stellar work from @robbeewedow.bsky.social, Brian Donovan, & company continuing the work on how changing genetics can reduce genetic essentialism in students.
This is the kind of work under attack by the current administration. Several grants on humane genetics literacy were targeted this year
This is the kind of work under attack by the current administration. Several grants on humane genetics literacy were targeted this year
www.cell.com
November 24, 2025 at 7:17 PM
Stellar work from @robbeewedow.bsky.social, Brian Donovan, & company continuing the work on how changing genetics can reduce genetic essentialism in students.
This is the kind of work under attack by the current administration. Several grants on humane genetics literacy were targeted this year
This is the kind of work under attack by the current administration. Several grants on humane genetics literacy were targeted this year
Reposted by Kevin Bird
How and for whom can genetics education reduce beliefs in genetic essentialism? pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41267401/
"We also find that the 3 intervention curricula are highly effective across sociodemographic group characteristics [...] we offer evidence-based strategies for curriculum development"
"We also find that the 3 intervention curricula are highly effective across sociodemographic group characteristics [...] we offer evidence-based strategies for curriculum development"
November 24, 2025 at 2:57 PM
How and for whom can genetics education reduce beliefs in genetic essentialism? pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41267401/
"We also find that the 3 intervention curricula are highly effective across sociodemographic group characteristics [...] we offer evidence-based strategies for curriculum development"
"We also find that the 3 intervention curricula are highly effective across sociodemographic group characteristics [...] we offer evidence-based strategies for curriculum development"
Reposted by Kevin Bird
Excited to share a preprint of my PhD project looking at interactions between SNPs and polygenic scores in the UK Biobank!
A thread... 🧵
www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1...
A thread... 🧵
www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1...
Interactions with polygenic background impact quantitative traits in the UK Biobank
Association studies have linked many genetic variants to a variety of phenotypes but under-standing the biological mechanisms underlying these signals remains a major challenge. Since genes operate wi...
www.medrxiv.org
November 24, 2025 at 5:13 PM
Excited to share a preprint of my PhD project looking at interactions between SNPs and polygenic scores in the UK Biobank!
A thread... 🧵
www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1...
A thread... 🧵
www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1...
Would be interested in the FFT one because hoo boy is that literature a minefield and the original work impossibly dense
November 24, 2025 at 5:27 PM
Would be interested in the FFT one because hoo boy is that literature a minefield and the original work impossibly dense
Reposted by Kevin Bird
Origins of language, one of humanity’s most distinctive traits, may be best explained as a unique convergence of multiple capacities each with its own evolutionary history, involving intertwined roles of biology & culture. This framing can expand research horizons. A 🧵 on our @science.org paper.🧪1/n
What enables human language? A biocultural framework
Explaining the origins of language is a key challenge in understanding ourselves as a species. We present an empirical framework that draws on synergies across fields to facilitate robust studies of l...
www.science.org
November 23, 2025 at 11:54 AM
Origins of language, one of humanity’s most distinctive traits, may be best explained as a unique convergence of multiple capacities each with its own evolutionary history, involving intertwined roles of biology & culture. This framing can expand research horizons. A 🧵 on our @science.org paper.🧪1/n
At a certain point all the stuff just becomes a throwaway sentence in an intro paragraph and the details disappear. At best I feel like an LLM will deliver you that intro sentence with a bit less work
November 24, 2025 at 5:20 PM
At a certain point all the stuff just becomes a throwaway sentence in an intro paragraph and the details disappear. At best I feel like an LLM will deliver you that intro sentence with a bit less work
Well the real thing I feel like it misses is all the extra stuff you stumble across on a big literature dive. The original theory behind an area of work, the start of some proxy measure that eventually just becomes the target, the back and forth and the initial skeptic who becomes a life-long hater
November 24, 2025 at 5:19 PM
Well the real thing I feel like it misses is all the extra stuff you stumble across on a big literature dive. The original theory behind an area of work, the start of some proxy measure that eventually just becomes the target, the back and forth and the initial skeptic who becomes a life-long hater
Hilariously I couldn’t get this one to provide real sources for more than 25% of the supposed citations. I toyed with it a bit. I’m sure prompt engineering could help a bit but I can’t see it really giving you real knowledge
November 24, 2025 at 5:15 PM
Hilariously I couldn’t get this one to provide real sources for more than 25% of the supposed citations. I toyed with it a bit. I’m sure prompt engineering could help a bit but I can’t see it really giving you real knowledge
Reposted by Kevin Bird
you can frame the European-American differences in a lot of ways but 'Europeans are poorer than Americans but also more secure' is probably the fairest one. American life is richer in many, many ways, and also far more dependent on your job *and your family* than European life.
November 24, 2025 at 3:54 PM
you can frame the European-American differences in a lot of ways but 'Europeans are poorer than Americans but also more secure' is probably the fairest one. American life is richer in many, many ways, and also far more dependent on your job *and your family* than European life.
This is probably the best single review? pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...
pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
November 24, 2025 at 3:50 PM
This is probably the best single review? pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...
Fell down a literature rabbit hole all day about the debate over protein degree/connectivity and evolutionary rate. Then, for fun, asked an LLM about it to see its answer. Wow, things predictably don't bode well for grad students who rely on those tools to do the reading and thinking for them
November 24, 2025 at 3:18 PM
Fell down a literature rabbit hole all day about the debate over protein degree/connectivity and evolutionary rate. Then, for fun, asked an LLM about it to see its answer. Wow, things predictably don't bode well for grad students who rely on those tools to do the reading and thinking for them
Reposted by Kevin Bird
Latest work out today in @currentbiology.bsky.social
We find the fly development gene bicoid is much older than previously thought (~20 million yrs older!) 🪰🧬
To pinpoint its origins we tackled the Diptera phylogeny, providing some resolution (many open questions remain).
🔗 tinyurl.com/2vyuevpy
We find the fly development gene bicoid is much older than previously thought (~20 million yrs older!) 🪰🧬
To pinpoint its origins we tackled the Diptera phylogeny, providing some resolution (many open questions remain).
🔗 tinyurl.com/2vyuevpy
Revised evolutionary relationships within Brachycera and the early origin of bicoid in flies
Mulhair et al. uncover a functional bicoid in non-cyclorrhaphan flies, pushing the
gene's origin back by ∼20 million years. Reassessing the Diptera phylogeny using the
largest dataset to date permits ...
www.cell.com
October 17, 2025 at 3:14 PM
Latest work out today in @currentbiology.bsky.social
We find the fly development gene bicoid is much older than previously thought (~20 million yrs older!) 🪰🧬
To pinpoint its origins we tackled the Diptera phylogeny, providing some resolution (many open questions remain).
🔗 tinyurl.com/2vyuevpy
We find the fly development gene bicoid is much older than previously thought (~20 million yrs older!) 🪰🧬
To pinpoint its origins we tackled the Diptera phylogeny, providing some resolution (many open questions remain).
🔗 tinyurl.com/2vyuevpy
Reposted by Kevin Bird
This is the kind of thing you would do if you had no idea how to achieve economic growth. It's a stunningly stupid move but only one of many that the government has been making over the last 10 months or so. All those years in opposition and they have no idea what to do while in office. Shameful
i: Reeves to unveil £600m raid on foreign student
university fees #TomorrowsPapersToday
university fees #TomorrowsPapersToday
November 23, 2025 at 11:10 PM
This is the kind of thing you would do if you had no idea how to achieve economic growth. It's a stunningly stupid move but only one of many that the government has been making over the last 10 months or so. All those years in opposition and they have no idea what to do while in office. Shameful
I can usually predict people’s conclusions based on familiarity with genetics and proximity to experiment-driven fields
November 24, 2025 at 8:58 AM
I can usually predict people’s conclusions based on familiarity with genetics and proximity to experiment-driven fields
Frankly, I don’t think heritability has done any good for the social sciences, nor can it
November 22, 2025 at 7:51 PM
Frankly, I don’t think heritability has done any good for the social sciences, nor can it
I don’t know, it’s true that pedigree studies still have issues because observations quantitative genetics is intrinsically limited and heritability just isn’t really actionable or informative especially when poorly estimated
November 22, 2025 at 7:50 PM
I don’t know, it’s true that pedigree studies still have issues because observations quantitative genetics is intrinsically limited and heritability just isn’t really actionable or informative especially when poorly estimated
Not quite, but behavior genetics became almost singularly focused on twins and heritability because of how the field responded to the criticism of his work. They basically purged the animal researchers who were doing more interesting experimental work
November 22, 2025 at 6:36 PM
Not quite, but behavior genetics became almost singularly focused on twins and heritability because of how the field responded to the criticism of his work. They basically purged the animal researchers who were doing more interesting experimental work
I think the better evidence than Markel, is the relatedness disequilibrium regression paper by Young. Twin models overestimating seems to be near incontrovertible by now
November 22, 2025 at 5:53 PM
I think the better evidence than Markel, is the relatedness disequilibrium regression paper by Young. Twin models overestimating seems to be near incontrovertible by now
I think my confusion is that for simple traits you wouldn’t really want or need to use these polygenic quant gen methods so the issue seems moot?
November 22, 2025 at 2:00 PM
I think my confusion is that for simple traits you wouldn’t really want or need to use these polygenic quant gen methods so the issue seems moot?
I’m not exactly sure what you mean, but I’m getting the sense it is based on a confusion over what “heritable” means in the technical sense. It’s not really about how genetic a trait is.
November 22, 2025 at 1:16 PM
I’m not exactly sure what you mean, but I’m getting the sense it is based on a confusion over what “heritable” means in the technical sense. It’s not really about how genetic a trait is.
Twins reared apart are rarely actually raised that separately. If you consider how different their environments actually are you get some funny trends www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
IQ differences of identical twins reared apart are significantly influenced by educational differences
Over the last century, several large studies have been published exploring IQ differences amongst monozygotic (MZ) twins reared apart (TRA). By and la…
www.sciencedirect.com
November 22, 2025 at 1:16 AM
Twins reared apart are rarely actually raised that separately. If you consider how different their environments actually are you get some funny trends www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...