Investigating morphogen and patterning dynamics with optogenetic control of morphogen production
"
Efficient, logical, effective, and practical 
". Also: beautiful.
Congratulations to Dirk Benzinger & James Briscoe.
#PaperThemeTune is "ChemiOptoGenetic Engineering" by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark #ShowingMyAge
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1534580725004952
"Whatever people say that I am, that is what I'm not"
Nanog, named for Tír na nÓg Land of the Ever Young, famed for maintaining pluripotency. Now revealed to also do the exact opposite. A mass of contradictions, just like the rest of us.
Congrats to Freddy Wong & all authors on this beautiful work
https://www.embopress.org/doi/full/10.1038/s44318-025-00527-9
A wonderful collection of tributes to the life and work of David Ish-Horowicz
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLawfEjaLtqfPWzrVNRnWGr5BI9OoLezDG
Thank you to Ilan Davis for posting the talks online, and to everyone who organised the symposium.
Speaker update for our Generative Biology workshop: we are delighted to have Naomi Moris join us. See full list of speakers on the attached flyer or on our website.
Apply by 15th August. Places available for short talks.
https://royalsociety.org/science-events-and-lectures/2025/10/generative-biology/
New preprint from Tim Saunders’ group in collaboration with Briscoe and Charras groups.
Boundary constraints can determine pattern emergence
Yi Ting Loo and Juliet Chen et al.
Scientists have found a new way to recreate inner ear hair cells in the lab to study hearing loss.
https://elifesciences.org/reviewed-preprints/106550?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=organic_pr
#DevBio #CellBio
How did the animal body plan evolve?
This ‘fundamental’ study in Clytia sheds light on how Wnt3 coordinates both gene expression and planar cell polarity during axis formation, offering key insights into the origins of morphogenesis.
https://elifesciences.org/articles/104508?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=organic
#DevBio
Cyborg tadpoles: Sheng et al. developed soft, thin, stretchable bioelectronic arrays that integrate seamlessly into developing embryos’ brains. https://www.xenbase.org/xenbase/doNewsRead.do?id=1023 #science #devbio #xenopus #frogs
2025 Midwest Regional Meeting of the Society for Developmental Biology, Sept. 19-21: Registration and Abstract Submission now open! https://midwestsdbincincy.org #science #devbio #xenopus #frogs
Developmental Biology, From Stem Cells to Morphogenesis: an advanced course for MSc and PhD students, run by the Sorbonne and the Curie in Paris.
Open to international students, free registration (not including room and board)
https://training.institut-curie.org/courses/developmental-biology-2025
‘These cracks, they let the developing cells in: A chronicle of trabeculation in the developing zebrafish heart’
Theodora Stougiannou highlights recent work from Christopher Chan Jin Jie, Rashmi Priya & team. #preprint
Check out the #preLight 
https://prelights.biologists.com/highlights/mechanical-fracturing-of-the-extracellular-matrix-patterns-the-vertebrate-heart/
Authors of this #DevBio study, ranked fundamental, have included an ‘Ideas and Speculation’ section 
They propose possible mechanistic explanations of their research on BMP4 mutations that contribute to vertebrate development.
https://elifesciences.org/reviewed-preprints/105018?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=organic_assessment#s3a
There have been SO MANY preprints about gastruloids in recent months. It is great to see three of them summarised and placed into context here by Maroudas-Sacks et al.
I'm a big fan of InPreprints. If anyone of you want to write about your own favourite recent preprints do get in touch with @Dev_journal
Organoids derived from placental tissue can be used to study processes involving syncytiotrophoblasts – cells that contain billions of nuclei – in the placenta. #DevBio
https://elifesciences.org/reviewed-preprints/101170?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=organic
Cell Signalling: Not all dimers are equal
Disease-causing mutations in the signalling protein BMP4 impair its secretion, but only when it is made as a homodimer. #DevBio
https://elifesciences.org/articles/106980?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=organic_insights
Unravelling a signalling pathway
A new study reveals the network of molecules recruited by the signalling protein FGF during lens development. #DevBio
https://elifesciences.org/digests/103615/unravelling-a-signaling-pathway?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=organic
This study spotlights Meis2 as a key player in whisker follicle formation and shows that nerves aren’t needed to get things started. Some mysteries remain about how Meis2 works, but the imaging is ‘solid’ and the insights are sharp. #DevBio
https://elifesciences.org/articles/100854?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=organic
Reminder: deadline to apply for the Stem Cell Summer School is 30th May. And it's May already! So you have to apply this month!
A limited number of bursaries are available.
p.s. this year, the summer school coincides with the Spetses Armata Festival, so there will be a big party on the island 
https://www.stemcellsummerschool.org/
#StemCells #DevBio #RegenerativeMedicine
