Kafetzis G^§, Bok M^§, Baden T^§*, Nilsson DE^§*. A median eye origin of the vertebrate retina explains its unique circuitory. Current Biology 36(4), PR153-R170. direct link. pdf.

News Coverage:

New York Times: (by Carl Zimmer). The Evolution of Eyes Began With One

Herzog T^§, Yoshimatsu T, Moya Diaz J, James B, Lagnado L^§* and Baden T^§*. A heterogeneous population code at the first synapse of vision. (2026). Nature Communications. doi: 10.1038/s41467-026-68757-x. direct link. 

We are most delighted that Dr Simen Bruoygard has just passed his viva!

For his PhD, Simen looked at the receptove field organisation of retinal bipolar cells of zebrafish. Check out the recent conference poster below, and stay tuned for the paper!

Thank you also to Ryan MacDonald and Varun Sreenivasan for serving as examiners!

Kafetzis G^§, Bok M^§, Baden T^§*, Nilsson DE^§*. A median eye origin of the vertebrate retina explains its unique circuitory. bioRxiv. doi 10.1101/2025.09.11.675609 . direct link. pdf.

We are most delighted that Dr George Kafetzis has just passed his viva!

For his PhD, George looked at the visual system of sharks to learn about the evolution of vertebrate vision. One preprint on the origin of the vertebrate eye is already out, and  watch this space for some exciting shark papers !

Thank you also to Gaspar Jekely and Paul Graham for serving as examiners!

Kafetzis G^§, Bok M^§, Baden T^§*, Nilsson DE^§*. A median eye origin of the vertebrate retina explains its unique circuitory. bioRxiv. doi 10.1101/2025.09.11.675609 . direct link. pdf.

Fornetto C^§, Euler T, Baden T^§. Zebrafish use spectral information to suppress the visual background. Cell 188 1-17. direct link. pdf.

In brief

Vertebrate eyes first evolved in water, where spectral content rapidly fades with distance. Zebrafish exploit this loss by antagonizing cone signals to suppress the background, pointing to distance estimation—rather than color—as an ancestral cone function.

Highlights

• Zebrafish use fading spectral content in water to suppress visual background
• They do this by contrasting, not summing, inputs from distinct ancestral cone types
• Vertebrate cone diversity may reflect ancestrally aquatic ‘‘non-color’’ functions
• Mammalian cone loss may reflect rapid terrestrialization, not nocturnal ancestry