Kim Cooper
@ucsdcooperlab.bsky.social
Professor in the Department of Cell and Developmental Biology in the School of Biological Sciences at UC San Diego.
Director of the PhD program in Biological Sciences at UCSD and the Salk.
Director of the PhD program in Biological Sciences at UCSD and the Salk.
Pinned
Kim Cooper
@ucsdcooperlab.bsky.social
· Nov 19
The case against simplistic genetic explanations of evolution
Summary: Extreme traits in animals, from the origin of limbs to the loss of tails, capture public attention. This Review argues that scientists should not seek simple explanations for how they evolved...
journals.biologists.com
Reposted by Kim Cooper
Co-loquial literally refers to speaking together, what more could behoove a journal?🤷♂️
January 20, 2026 at 5:53 PM
Co-loquial literally refers to speaking together, what more could behoove a journal?🤷♂️
Reposted by Kim Cooper
It would be great if SoCal earthquakes would stop happening while I'm in my office on the 6th floor 🤢
January 20, 2026 at 2:01 AM
It would be great if SoCal earthquakes would stop happening while I'm in my office on the 6th floor 🤢
Meanwhile, "Even a casual pass through the great halls of mammals..." was deemed "too colloquial" for another journal. @currentbiology.bsky.social for the win again.
OMG the abstract starts:
Imagine the tools a cow would make. This idea, humorously illustrated in Gary Larson’s Far Side cartoon, captures a widespread assumption: cows are neither problem-solvers nor tool users. In science, as in culture, livestock species are often cognitively underestimated...
Imagine the tools a cow would make. This idea, humorously illustrated in Gary Larson’s Far Side cartoon, captures a widespread assumption: cows are neither problem-solvers nor tool users. In science, as in culture, livestock species are often cognitively underestimated...
Our new paper (with @biotay.bsky.social) is out and on the cover story of @currentbiology.bsky.social !!!! Veronika, a Carinthian mountain cow flexibly uses a “multi-purpose tool” to scratch herself. A video and more information will follow in the comments.
www.cell.com/current-biol...
www.cell.com/current-biol...
January 19, 2026 at 11:22 PM
Meanwhile, "Even a casual pass through the great halls of mammals..." was deemed "too colloquial" for another journal. @currentbiology.bsky.social for the win again.
Reposted by Kim Cooper
As Julie Packard prepares to retire, a look at her amazing legacy that shaped the Monterey Bay Aquarium and its global impact.
🌊🦑🧪
#scicomm
www.montereycountynow.com/news/cover/a...
🌊🦑🧪
#scicomm
www.montereycountynow.com/news/cover/a...
As Julie Packard prepares to retire, a look at her legacy that shaped the Monterey Bay Aquarium and its global impact.
Explore Julie Packard's 41-year legacy shaping the Monterey Bay Aquarium, ocean conservation, and global impact.
www.montereycountynow.com
January 11, 2026 at 3:41 AM
As Julie Packard prepares to retire, a look at her amazing legacy that shaped the Monterey Bay Aquarium and its global impact.
🌊🦑🧪
#scicomm
www.montereycountynow.com/news/cover/a...
🌊🦑🧪
#scicomm
www.montereycountynow.com/news/cover/a...
Reposted by Kim Cooper
It's been a good few weeks for cool bird genomcis - incl this, on warblers sharing colour genes through hybridisation (with evidence of between-genus introgression journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...
A colorful legacy of hybridization in wood-warblers includes frequent sharing of carotenoid genes among species and genera
Introgression between species can shape evolutionary trajectories in important ways. This study of the entire family of the colorful wood-warblers (Parulidae) uses whole-genome sequencing to reveal fr...
journals.plos.org
December 15, 2025 at 10:59 PM
It's been a good few weeks for cool bird genomcis - incl this, on warblers sharing colour genes through hybridisation (with evidence of between-genus introgression journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...
Reposted by Kim Cooper
Bilaterian guts share embryonic patterning, but what about the adult gut? This study of 5 species reveals conserved TF modules that define A-P #gut compartments, with lineage-specific modifications, illuminating #bilaterian gut #evolution & diversification @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/49pgpH3
January 7, 2026 at 10:24 AM
Bilaterian guts share embryonic patterning, but what about the adult gut? This study of 5 species reveals conserved TF modules that define A-P #gut compartments, with lineage-specific modifications, illuminating #bilaterian gut #evolution & diversification @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/49pgpH3
Reposted by Kim Cooper
I taught Genetics again this year. We need to include discussion of the problematic history of our field, especially as the claims of eugenics are once again centered in our political discourse. Last year I wrote this piece, explaining my reasoning and approach 🧪 1/n
www.cell.com/trends/genet...
www.cell.com/trends/genet...
December 8, 2025 at 12:37 PM
I taught Genetics again this year. We need to include discussion of the problematic history of our field, especially as the claims of eugenics are once again centered in our political discourse. Last year I wrote this piece, explaining my reasoning and approach 🧪 1/n
www.cell.com/trends/genet...
www.cell.com/trends/genet...
Reposted by Kim Cooper
A new reporter mouse for visualising Hedgehog/GLI signalling activity
This Research Highlight showcases the work from Hannah Schrader Dear, Nicole Franks, Benjamin Allen and colleagues:
journals.biologists.com/dev/article/...
This Research Highlight showcases the work from Hannah Schrader Dear, Nicole Franks, Benjamin Allen and colleagues:
journals.biologists.com/dev/article/...
November 7, 2025 at 12:33 PM
A new reporter mouse for visualising Hedgehog/GLI signalling activity
This Research Highlight showcases the work from Hannah Schrader Dear, Nicole Franks, Benjamin Allen and colleagues:
journals.biologists.com/dev/article/...
This Research Highlight showcases the work from Hannah Schrader Dear, Nicole Franks, Benjamin Allen and colleagues:
journals.biologists.com/dev/article/...
Reposted by Kim Cooper
Look at those tail crescendos!! Another amazing example of disproportionate elongation of mid-tail vertebrae, and they note it is distal to the more functionally-constrained proximal tail.
The November cover of Genome Biology and Evolution features @raularayadonoso.bsky.social @kenrokusumi.bsky.social @anthonygeneva.bsky.social et al., who studied how structural rearrangements and selection promote phenotypic evolution in Anolis.
🔗 doi.org/10.1093/gbe/evaf196
#genome #evolution
🔗 doi.org/10.1093/gbe/evaf196
#genome #evolution
November 4, 2025 at 6:04 PM
Look at those tail crescendos!! Another amazing example of disproportionate elongation of mid-tail vertebrae, and they note it is distal to the more functionally-constrained proximal tail.
C'mon people, mustard gas is chemical warfare...
Border Patrol agent Lairmore testifies that he was not injured by the sandwich, but he felt the impact through his ballistic vest.
The sandwich came apart and "kind of exploded" on his chest upon impact, he says.
"I could smell the onions and mustard."
The sandwich came apart and "kind of exploded" on his chest upon impact, he says.
"I could smell the onions and mustard."
November 4, 2025 at 4:06 PM
C'mon people, mustard gas is chemical warfare...
Reposted by Kim Cooper
Reposted by Kim Cooper
This perfectly encapsulates what the GOP position is on the shutdown.
October 29, 2025 at 10:30 PM
This perfectly encapsulates what the GOP position is on the shutdown.
Reposted by Kim Cooper
If SNAP benefits vanished tomorrow, feeding 42 million Americans for a month would cost about $7.8 billion.That’s less than 1% of the combined net worth of the three richest men in the U.S. A reminder of how obscene inequality has become and how easily hunger could be solved if we chose to.
October 29, 2025 at 11:55 AM
If SNAP benefits vanished tomorrow, feeding 42 million Americans for a month would cost about $7.8 billion.That’s less than 1% of the combined net worth of the three richest men in the U.S. A reminder of how obscene inequality has become and how easily hunger could be solved if we chose to.
Surely there's no problem for the long term stability of university procurement systems, right?
“.. The cost to insure against default on the company debt over the next five years is hovering near its highest since Oct. 2023 ..”
@bloomberg.com $ORCL
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
@bloomberg.com $ORCL
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
October 29, 2025 at 2:02 PM
Surely there's no problem for the long term stability of university procurement systems, right?
Reposted by Kim Cooper
Chatbots — LLMs — do not know facts and are not designed to be able to accurately answer factual questions. They are designed to find and mimic patterns of words, probabilistically. When they’re “right” it’s because correct things are often written down, so those patterns are frequent. That’s all.
June 19, 2025 at 11:21 AM
Chatbots — LLMs — do not know facts and are not designed to be able to accurately answer factual questions. They are designed to find and mimic patterns of words, probabilistically. When they’re “right” it’s because correct things are often written down, so those patterns are frequent. That’s all.
Reposted by Kim Cooper
Dear @nytimes,
It is entirely possible to write a story about education without seeking comment from Chris Rufo.
Sincerely,
An actual educator
It is entirely possible to write a story about education without seeking comment from Chris Rufo.
Sincerely,
An actual educator
October 27, 2025 at 12:39 PM
Dear @nytimes,
It is entirely possible to write a story about education without seeking comment from Chris Rufo.
Sincerely,
An actual educator
It is entirely possible to write a story about education without seeking comment from Chris Rufo.
Sincerely,
An actual educator
Reposted by Kim Cooper
Reposted by Kim Cooper
Dems really need to be cutting ads with wall-to-wall messaging of “trump and his billionaire cabinet don’t fucking care about you”. All the clips are out there! “Trump is laser focused on his ballroom while SNAP benefits expire” “Bessent fancies himself a farmer, but he is really just a landlord”
October 26, 2025 at 8:23 PM
Dems really need to be cutting ads with wall-to-wall messaging of “trump and his billionaire cabinet don’t fucking care about you”. All the clips are out there! “Trump is laser focused on his ballroom while SNAP benefits expire” “Bessent fancies himself a farmer, but he is really just a landlord”
Everyone needs to read the book Robopocalypse to see where this could go...
like basically everyone who works in software I embody this tweet and do not under any circumstances want to talk to my computer
October 22, 2025 at 6:17 PM
Everyone needs to read the book Robopocalypse to see where this could go...
Biology PhD program directors who want to join the conversation, my email and DM are open.
Fewer grad students means less science, but many STEM PhD programs in the US are cutting back on admissions this year due to federal funding uncertainties. Words by me for @nature.com:
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
@emsque.bsky.social @ucsdcooperlab.bsky.social @julieposselt.bsky.social 🧪
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
@emsque.bsky.social @ucsdcooperlab.bsky.social @julieposselt.bsky.social 🧪
US PhD admissions shrink as fears over Trump’s cuts take hold
Some doctoral programmes are admitting no students at all amid uncertainty about federal science funding.
www.nature.com
October 21, 2025 at 9:13 PM
Biology PhD program directors who want to join the conversation, my email and DM are open.
Reposted by Kim Cooper
I still contend that >90% of the benefit of writing a review isn't the audience. It's for the author going through the literature, finding gaps in knowledge, learning how experiments are done, etc. It really isn't about writing a review. It's about doing the review yourself. AI can't do that for you
October 21, 2025 at 5:28 PM
I still contend that >90% of the benefit of writing a review isn't the audience. It's for the author going through the literature, finding gaps in knowledge, learning how experiments are done, etc. It really isn't about writing a review. It's about doing the review yourself. AI can't do that for you
Reposted by Kim Cooper
As I work on my own grant resubmissions I have to wonder- is it worth it or will mine sit there unreviewed for months while my lab slowly loses students and eventually folds as well? 2/
a woman wearing a plaid shirt is asking what 's the plan
Alt: a woman wearing a plaid shirt is asking what 's the plan
media.tenor.com
October 20, 2025 at 1:21 PM
As I work on my own grant resubmissions I have to wonder- is it worth it or will mine sit there unreviewed for months while my lab slowly loses students and eventually folds as well? 2/
Reposted by Kim Cooper
Really excited to share the pre-print of my first paper! It details the computational method we used to identify uncharacterized metabolites along the developmental gradient of maize roots, I hope you find it interesting! 🌱🌽
Computational method for mapping mass signatures along developmental gradients reveals a novel role for a monosaccharide tetrose in maize salt-stress response. https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.09.22.677919v1
September 28, 2025 at 7:26 PM
Really excited to share the pre-print of my first paper! It details the computational method we used to identify uncharacterized metabolites along the developmental gradient of maize roots, I hope you find it interesting! 🌱🌽
Reposted by Kim Cooper
I've received an 'exclusive' invite to try Nature's new 'research assistant', which will burn down a forest to provide a 'summary of the paper' I'm reading and I have SUCH exciting news for them, that's called an 'abstract' and the actual authors already wrote it for me, no forest-burning required.
October 17, 2025 at 2:10 PM
I've received an 'exclusive' invite to try Nature's new 'research assistant', which will burn down a forest to provide a 'summary of the paper' I'm reading and I have SUCH exciting news for them, that's called an 'abstract' and the actual authors already wrote it for me, no forest-burning required.