Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
In paleontology, bones may steal the show. But to comparative biologist Armita Manafzadeh, joints are where the action is. As she sees it, almost every animal with a backbone that has ever walked, flown, swum or slithered across the planet has done so because of joints. It’s an understudied part of the evolutionary puzzle.
Manafzadeh is soon to set up her own lab at the Georgia Institute of Technology. But starting a lab is difficult under the current federal-funding circumstances. “I think it’s deeply important that we do support that kind of work,” she says, “but I think the outlook isn’t entirely clear at this moment.”
Manafzadeh is part of Scientific American’s inaugural class of Young American Scientists. Learn more about her work and see the full list of honorees: scientificamerican.com/report/young-american-scientists-2026
#SciAmYoungScientists
In paleontology, bones may steal the show. But to comparative biologist Armita Manafzadeh, joints are where the action is. As she sees it, almost every animal with a backbone that has ever walked, flown, swum or slithered across the planet has done so because of joints. It’s an understudied part of the evolutionary puzzle.
Manafzadeh is soon to set up her own lab at the Georgia Institute of Technology. But starting a lab is difficult under the current federal-funding circumstances. “I think it’s deeply important that we do support that kind of work,” she says, “but I think the outlook isn’t entirely clear at this moment.”
Manafzadeh is part of Scientific American’s inaugural class of Young American Scientists. Learn more about her work and see the full list of honorees: scientificamerican.com/report/young-american-scientists-2026
#SciAmYoungScientists
