Steve Russell
steverus.bsky.social
Steve Russell
@steverus.bsky.social
Life-long fly biologist, vinyl junkie, Head, Department of Genetics in Cambridge
Reposted by Steve Russell
Very excited to share this interesting episode!
Thrilled to announce that I'm on Curious Cases tomorrow at 10am on BBC Radio 4!

The episode - Immortal Jellies - looks at some remarkably long-lived species and what they can teach us about ageing. This is a key area of focus for our lab.
www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...
Curious Cases - Series 24 - Immortal Jellies - BBC Sounds
Hannah Fry and Dara Ó Briain ask whether a tiny jellyfish holds the secret to immortality.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 25, 2025 at 11:41 AM
Reposted by Steve Russell
🔬 Experience Research Life at Cambridge!

Applications are now open for the 2026 Experience Postgrad Life Sciences Programme. Gain hands-on lab experience with an 8-week summer placement, in partnership with @corpuscambridge.bsky.social!

🔗 www.exppg.lifesci.cam.ac.uk

#SummerPlacement #Cambridge
November 13, 2025 at 10:52 AM
Reposted by Steve Russell
Congratulations to Richard Durbin on being awarded our Genetics Society Medal!
November 14, 2025 at 12:40 PM
Reposted by Steve Russell
Everyone involved in scientific publishing should take a look at these papers.

>"The domination of scientific publishing in the Global North by major commercial publishers is harmful to science; we need [...] to re-communalise publishing to serve science not the market."
We wrote the Strain on scientific publishing to highlight the problems of time & trust. With a fantastic group of co-authors, we present The Drain of Scientific Publishing:

a 🧵 1/n

Drain: arxiv.org/abs/2511.04820
Strain: direct.mit.edu/qss/article/...
Oligopoly: direct.mit.edu/qss/article/...
November 12, 2025 at 8:15 AM
Reposted by Steve Russell
This informative thread is essential reading for anyone in science, in my opinion!
We wrote the Strain on scientific publishing to highlight the problems of time & trust. With a fantastic group of co-authors, we present The Drain of Scientific Publishing:

a 🧵 1/n

Drain: arxiv.org/abs/2511.04820
Strain: direct.mit.edu/qss/article/...
Oligopoly: direct.mit.edu/qss/article/...
November 12, 2025 at 7:53 AM
Reposted by Steve Russell
Ha muerto Antonio García-Bellido, uno de los mejores científicos de la historia de España tras descubrir las fronteras invisibles dentro de los seres vivos: elpais.com/ciencia/2025...
Muere Antonio García-Bellido, descubridor de las fronteras invisibles dentro de los seres vivos
El biólogo, fallecido a los 89 años, deja un legado científico que roza las alturas de los nobeles Santiago Ramón y Cajal y Severo Ochoa
elpais.com
November 11, 2025 at 12:36 PM
Reposted by Steve Russell
The European Drosophila Society #flyEDS extends the condolences on the passing of Antonio García-Bellido, considered the founder of the Spanish school of #Drosophila genetics and an influential figure in developmental biology research worldwide. May he rest in peace.
November 11, 2025 at 2:15 PM
Reposted by Steve Russell
We wrote the Strain on scientific publishing to highlight the problems of time & trust. With a fantastic group of co-authors, we present The Drain of Scientific Publishing:

a 🧵 1/n

Drain: arxiv.org/abs/2511.04820
Strain: direct.mit.edu/qss/article/...
Oligopoly: direct.mit.edu/qss/article/...
November 11, 2025 at 11:52 AM
Reposted by Steve Russell
Amazon is helping fund a $300 million build of a ballroom for the White House.

Independent bookstores are donating to food banks and organizations that help with food insecurity.

They are not the same.
October 30, 2025 at 4:01 PM
Reposted by Steve Russell
Farage: epic grifter
October 27, 2025 at 12:45 PM
Reposted by Steve Russell
BIG ANNOUNCEMENT📣: I haven’t been this excited to be part of something new in 15 years… Thrilled to reveal the passion project I’ve been working on for the past year and a half!🙀🥳 (thread 👇)
October 15, 2025 at 12:22 PM
Reposted by Steve Russell
Unlock your potential with a Master's at the University of Cambridge! 🔬 Our MPhil in Biological Sciences offers a unique opportunity for cutting-edge, lab-based research at a world-leading institution.

Explore and apply: www.mphil.bio.cam.ac.uk

#Cambridge #BiologicalSciences #Postgraduate
September 25, 2025 at 3:40 PM
Football in Japan is great fun (Kobe Vissel won 4-0 tonight).
September 23, 2025 at 12:46 PM
Reposted by Steve Russell
Reposted by Steve Russell
If you run a fly lab and have not yet contributed to save FlyBase, please look at our wiki page for the latest information!
FlyBase needs your help! We ask that European labs continue to contribute to Cambridge, UK FlyBase, whereas US and other non-European labs can contribute to US FlyBase. For more information and how to donate: wiki.flybase.org/wiki/FlyBase...
FlyBase:Contribute to FlyBase - FlyBase Wiki
wiki.flybase.org
August 15, 2025 at 4:59 PM
Reposted by Steve Russell
FlyBase needs your help! We ask that European labs continue to contribute to Cambridge, UK FlyBase, whereas US and other non-European labs can contribute to US FlyBase. For more information and how to donate: wiki.flybase.org/wiki/FlyBase...
FlyBase:Contribute to FlyBase - FlyBase Wiki
wiki.flybase.org
August 15, 2025 at 12:45 PM
Reposted by Steve Russell
FlyBase, a Drosophila database, will lose a third of its team in early October because the Harvard grant that covered the employees’ salaries was canceled. Scientists warn that losing FlyBase could devastate fly research.

By @claudia-lopez.bsky.social

www.thetransmitter.org/community/ha...
Harvard University lays off fly database team
The layoffs jeopardize this resource, which has served more than 4,000 labs for about three decades.
www.thetransmitter.org
August 13, 2025 at 7:32 PM
Reposted by Steve Russell
I’m looking for a Postdoc to join my new lab @pdncambridge.bsky.social on an MRC-funded project and explore maternal inter-organ communication with a focus on the mammary gland, using a novel mouse model.

📍 Tenure: 3 years
⏳ Deadline: 15 August 2025

Please RT 🙏
👉 www.jobs.cam.ac.uk/job/51984/
Research Associate (Fixed Term) - Job Opportunities - University of Cambridge
Research Associate (Fixed Term) in the Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience at the University of Cambridge.
www.jobs.cam.ac.uk
July 14, 2025 at 6:48 PM
This is a masterpiece of explanation and illustration.
Was chatting to one of my most brilliant Physics students yesterday and he had no idea how mechanical watches work and was fascinated by the fact that they make use of such basic Physics principles and the history of how watchmakers have overcome various limitations on accuracy. Shared this with him
Mechanical Watch – Bartosz Ciechanowski
Interactive article explaining how a mechanical watch works.
ciechanow.ski
July 12, 2025 at 12:30 PM
Reposted by Steve Russell
I’ll be recruiting soon - so if you’re interested in lactation biology, developmental genetics or early nutrition, please get in touch or share with someone who might be!
July 7, 2025 at 8:10 PM
Had to get up early to make the Pasteis de Nata for our street party. Pastry that’s 40% butter is tricky in this weather🥵
June 29, 2025 at 8:34 AM
Reposted by Steve Russell
A plea to companies still using Spotify to create playlists: please stop. Use alternatives.
Spotify is a horrible platform in so many ways. People should consider if they're ok using it. We use Tidal in the shop for streaming and are really happy with it. Some of the staff use Qobuz at home. Spotify sounds terrible and their ethics are disgusting.
How did I miss this story earlier in the week…Daniel Ek has “doubled down” on investments in military drones and AI. Original source is FT, here is that article past paywall archive.ph/2025.06.18-1...
June 22, 2025 at 5:34 PM
Reposted by Steve Russell
Spotify is a horrible platform in so many ways. People should consider if they're ok using it. We use Tidal in the shop for streaming and are really happy with it. Some of the staff use Qobuz at home. Spotify sounds terrible and their ethics are disgusting.
How did I miss this story earlier in the week…Daniel Ek has “doubled down” on investments in military drones and AI. Original source is FT, here is that article past paywall archive.ph/2025.06.18-1...
June 22, 2025 at 4:06 PM