Gökberk Alagöz
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gokberkalagoz.bsky.social
Gökberk Alagöz
@gokberkalagoz.bsky.social
150 followers 370 following 9 posts
Postdoctoral researcher at MPI-PL, interested in molecular brain evolution and complex trait genetics.
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gokberkalagoz.bsky.social
Gökberk Alagöz @gokberkalagoz.bsky.social · Feb 17
Excited to share our latest preprint -and the last chapter of my PhD thesis 🥳- on chimpanzee brain transcriptomics! We present the first-ever spatial transcriptomics data from a great ape brain. Thanks to everyone who made this possible! @profsimonfisher.bsky.social www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Spatial and single-nucleus transcriptomic profile of a chimpanzee frontal pole
Chimpanzees, our closest living relatives, share a vast amount of our genetic code, with the majority of differences found in non-coding regions of the genome. Functional and gene regulatory differenc...
www.biorxiv.org
Reposted by Gökberk Alagöz
biorxiv-neursci.bsky.social
Cross-species consensus atlas of the primate basal ganglia https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2025.12.15.694496v1
December 16, 2025 at 2:15 PM
Reposted by Gökberk Alagöz
genomebiolevol.bsky.social
Chul et al. leveraged Bird 10K genomes to explore convergent amino acid variants across phylogenetically matched control sets of bird species; they find convergent genes in six vocal learners significantly enriched in learning-related functions.

🔗 doi.org/10.1093/gbe/evaf112

#genome #evolution
GBE | Insights into Convergent Evolution From Studying Amino Acid Patterns in Independent Lineages of Birds Vocal learning, the ability to imitate and produce sounds from other individuals, is a convergent trait found in three major avian lineages: songbirds, parrots, and hummingbirds. This study leveraged Bird 10K genomes to explore convergent amino acid variants (ConSAVs) across phylogenetically matched control sets, revealing that while ConSAV counts correlate strongly with ancestral branches as the product of original branch lengths (P.O.B.), the vocal learning birds do not always exhibit the highest number of such variants. Nonetheless, convergent genes found in the six illustrated vocal learners were significantly enriched in learning-related functions, offering novel biological insights into the molecular underpinnings of vocal learning.
December 16, 2025 at 11:18 AM
Reposted by Gökberk Alagöz
peopleprimate.bsky.social
On World Monkey Day, @peopleprimate celebrates Barbary macaques. SHPI supports #conservation through coexistence with monkeys & other #primates. human-primate-interactions.org Barbary macaques are captured for the pet trade. Visit barbarymacaqueconservation.org
Art credit: @Lydialehman on X
December 14, 2025 at 11:50 AM
Reposted by Gökberk Alagöz
jakobssonlab.bsky.social
New preprint from our lab: ‘Retroviral insertions contributed to the divergence of human and chimpanzee brains’. Very proud of this piece which took almost a decade to finish.

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Retroviral insertions contributed to the divergence of human and chimpanzee brains
Over the past 5 to 7 million years, humans and chimpanzees have diverged in brain size, structural complexity, and cognitive abilities despite high conservation of protein-coding genes. Notably, the e...
www.biorxiv.org
December 14, 2025 at 8:16 PM
Reposted by Gökberk Alagöz
rebeccasear.bsky.social
This is an excellent piece: embryo selection isn’t necessarily eugenics but the founder of Herasight is openly advocating for eugenics, largely without pushback from academics or academic societies
sashagusevposts.bsky.social Sasha Gusev @sashagusevposts.bsky.social · 2d
I wrote about the bizarre case of Herasight, the embryo selection company going all in on eugenics.
Embryo selection company Herasight goes all in on eugenics
...
open.substack.com
December 14, 2025 at 11:55 AM
Reposted by Gökberk Alagöz
profsimonfisher.bsky.social
Only a few weeks left to apply for our 4-year PhD position, using human brain organoids & multi-omic methods to study genes implicated in speech disorders. Application deadline 5 Jan 2026. Fellowship is embedded in the International Max Planck Research School. More info: www.mpi.nl/imprs-phd-fe...
Photograph of the outside of the Max Planck Institute (Nijmegen, the Netherlands) and the trees of the forest around it.
December 8, 2025 at 3:02 PM
Reposted by Gökberk Alagöz
efp2026.bsky.social
🚄✈️🐒 EFP2026 Mobility Grants are open!

Funding available for students, PhD, and postdocs to join the conference.

Deadlines:
– 15 Jan 2026: primate-range countries
– 13 Feb 2026: Europe

Apply here:
Primate-range countries: www.alphavisa.com/efp/2026/pri...
Europe:
www.alphavisa.com/efp/2026/pri...
December 12, 2025 at 11:55 AM
Reposted by Gökberk Alagöz
philoneurosci.bsky.social
Single-cell spatiotemporal #transcriptomic and #chromatin accessibility profiling in #developing postnatal #human and #macaque prefrontal #cortex
doi.org/10.1038/s415...
Single-cell spatiotemporal transcriptomic and chromatin accessibility profiling in developing postnatal human and macaque prefrontal cortex - Nature Neuroscience
Human-specific molecular and cellular regulatory programs prolong prefrontal cortical maturation by orchestrating postnatal development of neurons and glia, with implications for cognitive function an...
doi.org
December 11, 2025 at 8:17 PM
Reposted by Gökberk Alagöz
profsimonfisher.bsky.social
How did DNA changes that alter protein structures impact evolution on the branch that led to modern humans? As we demonstrate today in Science Advances, biobanking initiatives offer ways to directly assess biological effects of rare archaic variants in living people, & (re)evaluate their roles. 🧬🧪
Evaluating the effects of archaic protein-altering variants in living human adults
Promise and pitfalls of using large biobanks to study impacts of archaic protein-coding variants in living humans.
www.science.org
December 10, 2025 at 7:09 PM
Reposted by Gökberk Alagöz
geneticscam.bsky.social
The Department of Genetics at the University of Cambridge is seeking a talented Postdoctoral Research Associate to work in the group of Dr Felipe Karam Teixeira (www.gen.cam.ac.uk/research-gro...)

➡️For Further details see the link www.cam.ac.uk/jobs/postdoc...
Postdoctoral Research Associate (Fixed Term)
Applications are invited for a Postdoctoral Research Associate position to work in the group of Dr Felipe Karam Teixeira (https://www.gen.cam.ac.uk/research-groups/research-groups/karam-teixeira) in
www.cam.ac.uk
December 10, 2025 at 11:22 AM
Reposted by Gökberk Alagöz
rmcelreath.bsky.social
I'm teaching Statistical Rethinking again starting Jan 2026. This time with live lectures, divided into Beginner and Experienced sections. Will be a lot more work for me, but I hope much better for students.

I will record lectures & all will be found at this link: github.com/rmcelreath/s...
course schedule as a table. Available at the link in the post.
December 9, 2025 at 1:58 PM
Reposted by Gökberk Alagöz
erturklab.bsky.social
Hiring: PostDoc in Tissue Clearing & 3D Histopathology 🧪🖥️

My lab at Helmholtz Munich is seeking a highly motivated PostDoc/Scientist to strengthen our efforts in advanced imaging of cancer tissues.
More info: www.linkedin.com/posts/ali-ma...
#histopathology #tissueclearing #lightsheetmicroscopy #postdoc #sciencecareers #munich | Ali Maximilian Ertürk
Hiring: PostDoc in Tissue Clearing & 3D Histopathology 🧪🖥️ My lab at Helmholtz Munich is seeking a highly motivated PostDoc/Scientist to strengthen our efforts in advanced imaging of cancer tissues. ...
www.linkedin.com
December 6, 2025 at 4:08 PM
Reposted by Gökberk Alagöz
biorxiv-evobio.bsky.social
Interrogating the Regulatory Function of HAQERs during Human Cortical Development https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.11.30.691411v1
December 1, 2025 at 10:31 PM
Reposted by Gökberk Alagöz
official-smbe.bsky.social
Abstract submission & Award applications for SMBE 2026 are now open!

Submit your research and apply for SMBE awards via the submission portal.
📝 Read more & submit here: smbe2026.org/abstracts

And symposium selection is now finalized!
👉 See all accepted symposia: smbe2026.org/programme

#SMBE2026
Abstract submission & Award applications for SMBE 2026 are now open!
December 1, 2025 at 9:52 AM
Reposted by Gökberk Alagöz
mehr.nz
New in Science, Macaques tap to the beat.

Very cool study for its main result and its null one: consistent with nearly every other comparative study of music, monkeys don't differentiate beats by their relative strength—which even young children do innately. Monkeys have rhythm but not meter!
Monkeys have rhythm
Synchronizing movements to music is a hallmark of human culture, but its evolutionary and neurobiological origins remain unknown. This ability requires (i) extracting a steady rhythmic pulse, or beat,...
www.science.org
November 28, 2025 at 11:45 PM
Reposted by Gökberk Alagöz
dirkmetzler.bsky.social
PhD position available for theoretical and statistical modeling in my joint @gevol.bsky.social project with @luisapallares.bsky.social on the evolution of transcriptional variability and its role in adaptation and evolutionary innovation.
See
job-portal.lmu.de/jobposting/6...
PhD candidate in biology — theoretical and statistical modeling (m/f/x)
job-portal.lmu.de
November 26, 2025 at 2:37 PM
gokberkalagoz.bsky.social
"...These features may be related to the metabolic demands of human cognition and would be predicted to differ in language‐associated regions of the brains of language-trained apes as a reflection of adaptive neurobiological changes in response to heightened communicative demands."
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
November 28, 2025 at 7:53 PM
Reposted by Gökberk Alagöz
oliverdemuth.bsky.social
🚨 Palaeo jobs alert!! 🚨

Two(!!) postdoc positions available in Cambridge!

1. Human Evolutionary Anatomy: cam.ac.uk/jobs/researc...
2. Evolutionary Biomechanics: cam.ac.uk/jobs/researc...

As part of the @erc.europa.eu funded STEPS project!
November 28, 2025 at 11:38 AM
Reposted by Gökberk Alagöz
vanderhaeghenp2.bsky.social
Please check out and RT this new position for an exciting collaborative project with @boninlab.bsky.social and @franckp.bsky.social on the links between human-specific mechanisms and neurodevelopmental disorders in cortical circuits.
boninlab.bsky.social Vincent Bonin @boninlab.bsky.social · 21d
Please repost widely. @vanderhaeghenp2.bsky.social and I are hiring a postdoc with expertise in sensory physiology and in vivo circuit imaging/manipulation. The project centers on human-specific brain development and SYNGAP1-related disorders. Call closing soon—apply ASAP
jobs.vib.be/j/119852/pos...
Postdoctoral Fellow / PhD Student in Systems Neuroscience - VIB
The Laboratory of Cortical Information Processing | Vision to Action at NERF (www.nerf.be) invites applications for a Postdoctoral Fellow or PhD Student to work on a new research project funded by the...
jobs.vib.be
November 27, 2025 at 10:18 AM
Reposted by Gökberk Alagöz
enardhellmannwg.bsky.social
Out now: we’re happy to share our new preprint on CroCoNet (Cross-species Comparison of Networks), a framework for robust comparative network analyses.
👉 doi.org/10.1101/2025...
November 25, 2025 at 4:02 PM
Reposted by Gökberk Alagöz
alleninstitute.org
Join us on Dec. 2 for a webinar on the major advances in basal ganglia mapping, including cross-species cellular mapping and open-access visualization tools.

📅 Dec. 2, 9-10:30am PT
📍 Online
🔗 Register: https://alleninstitute.org/events/neuroscience-cell-types-webinars/

#studyBRAIN #neuroskyence
November 25, 2025 at 4:50 PM
Reposted by Gökberk Alagöz
biorxiv-neursci.bsky.social
Comparative Analysis of FOXP2 Expression in the Thalamus of Mice, Rats, and Macaques: Implications for the Evolution of Language Circuits. https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.11.23.689322v1
November 24, 2025 at 8:15 AM
Reposted by Gökberk Alagöz
profsimonfisher.bsky.social
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
Reposted by Gökberk Alagöz
ebablab.bsky.social
🚨RA/PhD position available in evolutionary neurobiology 🚨

Working on a deep dive into circuit changes during mushroom body expansion in Heliconius butterflies @camzoology.bsky.social

- employment benefits
- 4 years funding
- 1000% fun

Deadline: 14/1/2026

Details:
www.cam.ac.uk/jobs/researc...
Shades of blue and red in a slice through an immuno stained brain showing some deliciously lovely looking mushroom body lobes - ripe for investigation during a funded PhD - and the central complex. Image credit: Dr Max Farnworth
November 21, 2025 at 2:31 PM
gokberkalagoz.bsky.social
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Systematic benchmarking of imaging spatial transcriptomics platforms in FFPE tissues - Nature Communications
Wang, Huang, Nelson, Gao, and colleagues perform a head-to-head comparison of multiple platforms for imaging spatial transcriptomics, determining their relative sensitivity, specificity, and ability t...
www.nature.com
November 20, 2025 at 9:25 PM