Aidan Maartens
@aidanmaartens.bsky.social
350 followers 1.1K following 37 posts
Scientific writer at the Sanger Institute, Cellular Genetics programme. Formerly at Development journal. Lapsed flypusher (Gurdon Institute, University of Sussex). Creative writing MA at UEA. Likes novels and gardens, lives in Cambridge.
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Reposted by Aidan Maartens
sundersays.bsky.social
'We have potholes that have been around for so long, people are holding birthday parties for them' seems a not especially good argument for the party that left office a year and three months ago!
aidanmaartens.bsky.social
Sad to hear about the passing of John Gurdon, a Cambridge legend. First encountered him taking the stairs each morning up to his lab at the Gurdon Institute. Then met him for an interview - generous & funny, in between changing media for his Xenopus eggs

journals.biologists.com/dev/article/...
Reposted by Aidan Maartens
chrislintott.bsky.social
Prof. Gurdon was Master at Magdalene when I was an undergraduate. I remember trying to make small talk while he had students over (generously) for Sunday lunch. But I also remember him making a magnificent job of introducing Nelson Mandela, who was being made an honorary fellow of the college..(1/n)
cam.ac.uk
It is with great sadness that the University shares the news of the death of Professor Sir John Gurdon, founder of the @gurdoninstitute.bsky.social

Read our tribute to the visionary Nobel Laureate and watch an interview from 2012, just after he won: https://bit.ly/4mM8o3r
Reposted by Aidan Maartens
jamesbriscoe.bsky.social
Very sad news, John Gurdon has died.

A developmental biologist's developmental biologist, Nobel prize winner

His work is the foundation of much of today's dev & stem cell bio.

An inspiration to many, including me. Always asking questions & wanting the answers

www.magd.cam.ac.uk/news/profess...
Professor Sir John Gurdon FRS (1933-2025) | Magdalene College
Magdalene College is deeply saddened to announce the death of Professor Sir John Gurdon FRS, who served as Master of the College from 1995 to 2002.
www.magd.cam.ac.uk
Reposted by Aidan Maartens
chrmosimann.bsky.social
Out @natcomms.nature.com:
our work on how the ❤️-supporting pericardium forms & acts in pediatric heart conditions.🎈🫀

Expanding our preprint & with our first HCR (thx to @thelovelylab.bsky.social!).

Congrats all! #devbio #zebrafish #CHD @cupediatrics.bsky.social @cudevbio.bsky.social
rdcu.be/eIJm5
Reposted by Aidan Maartens
bethanclark.bsky.social
I wrote something on developmental biology and disability and put it up on the node last night:

thenode.biologists.com/developmenta...

I've been nervous to share because some of it veers a bit personal but they are thoughts that won't stay quiet. Would love to know what people think about it!
Developmental Biology and Disability - the Node
Hopeful monsters. Morphospace. Mutation. Natural variation. Mutagenesis screens. Polymorphism. Deformity. Phenotype. Disease. Adaptation. Anomaly.
thenode.biologists.com
Reposted by Aidan Maartens
wkhuber.bsky.social
Skymind: I'm learning about 'spatially aware clustering' in spatial omics and wondering how it is different from 'segmentation'? (in essence, not by way of marketing)
Reposted by Aidan Maartens
benansell.bsky.social
On the morning of Keir Starmer's conference speech here's a new post on an odd psychopathology in British politics - our main parties don't like the people who vote for them - the dreaded Professional Managerial Class. And so they are acting out like a divorced dad seeking cooler voters. 1/n
British Politics' Midlife Crisis
Why British Parties Can't Make Peace with Their Actual Voters
benansell.substack.com
Reposted by Aidan Maartens
rebeccarhelm.bsky.social
I get that the news cycle is packed right now, but I just heard from a colleague at the Smithsonian that this is fully a GIANT SQUID BEING EATEN BY A SPERM WHALE and it’s possibly the first ever confirmed video according to a friend at NOAA

10 YEAR OLD ME IS LOSING HER MIND (a thread 🧵)
Reposted by Aidan Maartens
arnausebe.bsky.social
Happy to share the Biodiversity Cell Atlas white paper, out today in @nature.com. We look at the possibilities, challenges, and potential impacts of molecularly mapping cells across the tree of life.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Aidan Maartens
colinyeo.bsky.social
Important read. Refugees caught in a bureaucratic nightmare. Nothing to do for months or years. Cooking in the bathroom instead of eating constant chips and chicken nuggets. Forced to take taxis no matter the length of the journey, long or short.
aidanmaartens.bsky.social
I was doubting the wisdom (tooth) of sharing that pun
aidanmaartens.bsky.social
Ar-tooth-ficial general intelligence
zoedrayson.bsky.social
When a typo in your Google search leads to new and exciting philosophical positions
AI Overview: "Dental realism"refers to the philosophical debate about whether teeth exist independently of human perception, a concept rooted in metaphysical realism. While realism asserts an objective reality for teeth, idealist philosophies contend that teeth's existence is tied to our consciousness and perception. Philosophers use this idea, for example, to discuss the ethics of tooth extraction, examining whether a procedure impacts a real entity or merely a subjective experience.
aidanmaartens.bsky.social
Terminally online world phobia
tom-clark.bsky.social
Useful reminder from Peter Kellner on the problems we refuse to acknowledge are getting better, and the politics of hopelessness that this breeds

open.substack.com/pub/kellnerp...
Reposted by Aidan Maartens
deniswirtz.bsky.social
We have developed a new workflow to map whole human organs at single-cell resolution, while integrating spatial transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics.

We applied this workflow to map precancerous lesions of the fallopian tubes.

More here: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
aidanmaartens.bsky.social
Baffling size comparison of the day
Reposted by Aidan Maartens
dghaskell.bsky.social
Somehow, somehow the knowledge of where to go and when to leave is encoded in the genes of the green darner dragonfly.
I found this one, a male judging from his neon blue abdomen, sitting on the concrete outside a store in a strip mall in Atlanta. He likely hatched in a pond in Quebec or NY 🧵...
dragonfly on concrete. green head, bright blue abdomen
Reposted by Aidan Maartens
aurhin.bsky.social
Are digits modified fins, or evolutionary innovations? Read how we tackled this old question from a new angle🧪
A story with @chasebolt.bsky.social, @homeobox.bsky.social and myself, coordinated by @denisduboule.bsky.social from @college-de-france.fr and published in @nature.com today!
#InHoxWeTrust
hoxd13a reporter in a zebrafish larva
Reposted by Aidan Maartens
sangerinstitute.bsky.social
New research shows the kidney’s “plumbing system” – its lymphatic vessels – undergoes dramatic changes during transplant rejection.

These findings challenge long-held assumptions and could open the door to new treatments.

Read more here ⤵️
sanger.ac.uk/news_item/ki...
Kidney transplant rejection associated with changes in the lymphatic vessels, research shows
Researchers challenge preconceived ideas about the processes that fuel kidney transplant rejection.
sanger.ac.uk
Reposted by Aidan Maartens
wkhuber.bsky.social
Science: only when you write up the manuscript, you realize what you should have done.
Reposted by Aidan Maartens
vambros.bsky.social
Sad to hear that David Baltimore died. I am one of hundreds of scientists that David generously mentored, supported, and inspired. His influence on each of us was deep and lasting, and his impact on the world immeasurable. Arguably David Baltimore is one of the greatest scientists of any generation.