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You can see and hear the premiere of "Origins" - a new oratorio telling the creation story from science. The video is now posted on YouTube at youtube.com/watch?v=YRH7MD… Love to get feedback, particularly from people with little science background.

YES YES YES

Terrific that the brush tailed possum genome is done at last. Congratulations Donna and Tim! otago.ac.nz/bms/news/criti…

Something new to talk about at the Woodend Winter Arts Festival

It's interesting that Neanderthal DNA contains no trace of the male-inducing gene SRY; maybe just hard to clone, maybe it was lost from the Neanderthal Y? theconversation.com/modern-human-d…

knowablemagazine.org/content/articl…

Vale Opera Alex. One of my first PhD students, Alex Dobrovic shared widely his deep love and understanding of music and science. We will miss his wonderful mix of culture and curiosity.

Congratulations to Prof Jenny Graves AC, whose extraordinary contribution to science was recently recognised with the naming of the Jenny Graves building at our Bundoora campus. The Hon. Colin Brooks MP and Vice-Chancellor Prof Theo Farrell joined Jenny as she cut the ribbon. 🎀

Forty years ago I showed that genes on the inactive X in female mammals are silenced because they are not transcribed into RNA. Sniffy Nature reviewers bounced my paper because "what else could it be?" Well, read our new paper that documents the "else" pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pn…

And here's our Conversation article that describes our new dosage compensation work theconversation.com/whats-the-secr… via The Conversation - Australia + New Zealand

I'm very chuffed that the libretto for "Origins" (oratorio that tells the creation story from science) that I wrote, with poet Leigh Hay, was chosen for the 2024 Anthology of Australia's best science writing!

Yes, you can see the whole Origins libretto, plus music and visuals, at youtube.com/watch?v=YRH7MD…. It's the Creation story from science!

Yes, that’s me in black velvet to the right of the podium after negotiating my way from the alto section past the tuba and four double bases. Leigh Hay and composer Nick Buc are on the left, conductor Peter Bandy on the podium. Exultant at standing ovation from full house.

We grow berries and citrus and I make jam and marmalade to sell in support of the Heidelberg Choral Society. John thought the last batch was so good he entered it into the Melbourne Royal Show, defying my ridicule. Just found the marmalade won third prize. Pinnacle of my career!

Why do humans have near-equal numbers of male and female babies, unlike many other animals? A new genetic study looks for clues theconversation.com/why-do-humans-… via The Conversation - Australia + New Zealand

With co-librettist Leigh Hay at the Sydney launch of “Best Australian Science Writing 2024”, which contains our libretto for Part I, “Origin of the Universe” and includes the link to the “Origins” video, youtube.com/watch?v=YRH7MD…, so we hope for another wave of “Origins” fans.

With old friends and colleagues Aurora Ruiz-Herrera and Irina Solovei at the 3D Genome conference in Sanya, China. Our job – to relate the patterns that chromatin conformation analyses reveal with what we see under the microscope.