deeply honoured and humbled. This really reflects the fantastic scientists that have come through the lab and made wonderful discoveries

Gladstone Institutes@gladstoneinst.bsky.social · 6d ago

Benoit Bruneau will receive the American Heart Association's highest scientific honor in November. @americanheart.bsky.social @benoitbruneau.bsky.social

Applications for the Hubrecht International PhD program are open until September 15! PhD students at the Hubrecht work on various themes, including ‘Developmental biology and regeneration’. Curious what kind of questions PhD students Rahul and Andy work on? Read the comments! www.hubrecht.eu/hipp/.

arXiv has spun out as an independent non-profit like openRxiv. Today they announce their new CEO and founding Board blog.arxiv.org/2026/07/30/a...

arXiv welcomes inaugural CEO and founding Board of Directors

arXiv welcomes inaugural CEO and founding Board of Directors

blog.arxiv.org

Check out my first preprint highlight with @prelights.bsky.social! How cells read the room - coordinated symmetry breaking and proportional cell fate allocation in neural organoids, from Hannah T Stuart et al. Lovely story with solid back-and-forth between modelling and perturbative experiments.

Minimal essential requirements for neural tube self-organisation - preLights

How cells read the room - coordinated symmetry breaking and proportional cell fate allocation in neural organoids

prelights.biologists.com

It's not often single author primary research papers are published in our field & it's even rarer when the author is a Nobel Prize winner Check out the new work by Eric Wieschaus in @dev-journal.bsky.social Flattening maternal gradients in Drosophila embryo journals.biologists.com/dev/article/...

Maternal patterning in early Drosophila embryos: how much information can single maternal gradients supply?

Highlighted Article: Comparison of the patterning capacity of Drosophila embryos that have only one of the three maternal gradients known to control anterior posterior patterning.

journals.biologists.com

New from @vmetzis.bsky.social & co Vagal & trunk neural crest cells share transient epiblast origin, but temporal regionalisation preconfigures their identity before crest induction Cdx1 acts before Cdx2, setting distinct chromatin and HOX state in the epiblast www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Temporally distinct CDX programmes preconfigure vagal and trunk neural crest

Neural crest cells (NCCs) are progenitor cells vital in establishing the head, heart, gut and peripheral nervous system of vertebrate embryos. Disruptions to NCC development underlie neurocristopathie...

biorxiv.org

Remarkably, some very recent experimental results are consistent with this. In this preprint from last month, @jamesbriscoe.bsky.social and coauthors observed and modelled a landscape tilt based on the occupancy by the floor plate precursors ! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Minimal essential requirements for neural tube self-organisation

The reliable generation of diverse cell types in precise proportions is essential for the formation of functional tissues during embryonic development. Three-dimensional organoid models derived from p...

biorxiv.org

Go check out @girishkalephd.bsky.social in preprints article, now out in @dev-journal.bsky.social! This is my first commissioned article as preprints editor (: thank you Girish! In preprints – light, cluster, friction: a cell dance on the gastrulation stage journals.biologists.com/dev/article/...

In preprints – light, cluster, friction: a cell dance on the gastrulation stage

Multicellular organisms, as the name suggests, are composed of many cells that work together. Cells need to stick together to ensure efficient cell coordination. Cadherins, which are calcium-dependent...

journals.biologists.com

New in @dev-journal.bsky.social: how tissue shape tells cells what to become Using human stem-cell neuruloids, we show how that physical boundaries encode positional information that drives cell fate patterning in a model of trunk formation A thread 🧵 journals.biologists.com/dev/article/...

Boundary constraints can determine pattern emergence

Summary: A reaction-diffusion mechanism recapitulates pattern emergence in an in vitro model of neuromesodermal progenitors under a variety of boundary and geometrical perturbations.

journals.biologists.com

Paying peer reviewers Interview with @danielgorelick.bsky.social about @biologyopen.bsky.social Fast & Fair trial in which peer reviewers were paid £220/review Spoiler: it works - fast, high quality reviews www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Why paying peer reviewers works, according to a journal’s editor-in-chief

A biology journal that paid peer reviewers found that the approach cut the time to a first editorial decision by 85% and maintained high-quality reviews.

nature.com

Five toed chicken anyone? Nice work from @matt-towers.bsky.social & co on reconstructing the evolutionary pathway to digit loss in birds

Matt Towers@matt-towers.bsky.social · last mo.

Pleased to share our latest! We show that the chick limb can be directed to recapitulate key stages in mammalian evolution, providing a unifying model for digit patterning across amniotes. Preprint: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... Video summary: www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvL_...

Paying peer reviewers Interview with @danielgorelick.bsky.social about @biologyopen.bsky.social Fast & Fair trial in which peer reviewers were paid £220/review Spoiler: it works - fast, high quality reviews www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Why paying peer reviewers works, according to a journal’s editor-in-chief

A biology journal that paid peer reviewers found that the approach cut the time to a first editorial decision by 85% and maintained high-quality reviews.

nature.com

New in @dev-journal.bsky.social: how tissue shape tells cells what to become Using human stem-cell neuruloids, we show how that physical boundaries encode positional information that drives cell fate patterning in a model of trunk formation A thread 🧵 journals.biologists.com/dev/article/...

Boundary constraints can determine pattern emergence

Summary: A reaction-diffusion mechanism recapitulates pattern emergence in an in vitro model of neuromesodermal progenitors under a variety of boundary and geometrical perturbations.

journals.biologists.com

Our ambition to combine artificial intelligence with fundamental biology and medicine continues to evolve as we welcome Mihaela van der Schaar as our Chief AI Scientist. Read more: www.crick.ac.uk/news/2026-06...

Mihaela van der Schaar appointed Crick Chief AI Scientist

The Francis Crick Institute has appointed Professor Mihaela van der Schaar as its Chief AI Scientist, advancing its ambition to combine artificial intelligence with fundamental biology and medicine, c...

crick.ac.uk

In our latest editorial @amjeve.uk & I take on the dreaded impact factor Like Monday mornings no one likes them but you can't ignore them & they keep coming around However there are things we should all do as authors, reviewers & editors journals.biologists.com/dev/article/...

The elephant in the room: impact factor

Summary: This Editorial offers an honest look at impact factor trends in developmental biology, explains how Development serves its community, and makes the case that sustaining developmental biology ...

journals.biologists.com

As Editor of @dev-journal.bsky.social I get asked "What are you doing about your impact factor?" In our new editorial we say: Ask not what Dev can do for the impact factor. Ask what you can do for Dev's IF The IF is about how we all cite, review & assess each other's work doi.org/10.1242/dev....

The elephant in the room: impact factor

Summary: This Editorial offers an honest look at impact factor trends in developmental biology, explains how Development serves its community, and makes the case that sustaining developmental biology ...

doi.org

New Review: The notochord From transient embryonic source of morphogen for patterning the neural tube and somites to the cells that persist in intervertebral discs We bring together development, single-cell data and stem cell models of notochord formationn journals.biologists.com/dev/article/...

The notochord: development, disease and stem cell-based modelling

Summary: This Review discusses how developmental and stem cell studies of the notochord can reveal key insights into spine formation and intervertebral disc development and maintenance, providing new ...

journals.biologists.com

New Review: The notochord From transient embryonic source of morphogen for patterning the neural tube and somites to the cells that persist in intervertebral discs We bring together development, single-cell data and stem cell models of notochord formationn journals.biologists.com/dev/article/...

The notochord: development, disease and stem cell-based modelling

Summary: This Review discusses how developmental and stem cell studies of the notochord can reveal key insights into spine formation and intervertebral disc development and maintenance, providing new ...

journals.biologists.com

Our latest: Minimal essential requirements for neural tube self-organisation How does a single cell give rise to a tissue with the right cell types in the right proportions? We deconstruct and rebuild a self-organising tissue from first principles A thread🧵 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Minimal essential requirements for neural tube self-organisation

The reliable generation of diverse cell types in precise proportions is essential for the formation of functional tissues during embryonic development. Three-dimensional organoid models derived from p...

biorxiv.org

Congratulations to Gautam Dey (EMBL) and Omaya Dudin (University of Geneva) for being awarded the EMBO Gold Medal 2026 in recognition of their outstanding contributions to the #LifeSciences in Europe! 🧪 https://www.embo.org/press-releases/embo-gold-medal-2026-awarded-to-gautam-dey-and-omaya-dudin/

Interested in self-organization? See below!

James Briscoe@jamesbriscoe.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Our latest: Minimal essential requirements for neural tube self-organisation How does a single cell give rise to a tissue with the right cell types in the right proportions? We deconstruct and rebuild a self-organising tissue from first principles A thread🧵 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Our latest: Minimal essential requirements for neural tube self-organisation How does a single cell give rise to a tissue with the right cell types in the right proportions? We deconstruct and rebuild a self-organising tissue from first principles A thread🧵 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Minimal essential requirements for neural tube self-organisation

The reliable generation of diverse cell types in precise proportions is essential for the formation of functional tissues during embryonic development. Three-dimensional organoid models derived from p...

biorxiv.org

Paying peer reviewers works. Expanded Fast & Fair experiment @biologyopen.bsky.social: • 5.5 vs 37.7 working days to decision with reviews • ~3 vs ~9 reviewer invitations per manuscript • no reduction in editor-assessed review quality • similar acceptance rates www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Is this the future of peer review? New from @biologyopen.bsky.social: expanded Fast & Fair trial paying reviewers £220 per paper The result: rapid peer review with no drop in quality or change in acceptance rate Paying referees makes peer review faster & fairer www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Is this the future of peer review? New from @biologyopen.bsky.social: expanded Fast & Fair trial paying reviewers £220 per paper The result: rapid peer review with no drop in quality or change in acceptance rate Paying referees makes peer review faster & fairer www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Are you attending the 10th Euro-Evo-Devo meeting in Glasgow from 9-12 June 2026? #EED2026 Our Reviews Editor @ingridtsang.bsky.social will be there. Do make sure that you chat to her about @dev-journal.bsky.social and @the-node.bsky.social.

Call for Papers Submit your latest plant and multicellular algae #DevBio research to our upcoming special issue – Plant and Algae Development #DevSIPlantAlgae Editors: @stanfordstomata.bsky.social & Susana Coelho Deadline: 2 November 2026 journals.biologists.com/dev/pages/pl...

As someone interested in both genetics & neural activity, I appreciate the common challenge of linking causal function to system-level understanding. This excellent review by @jamesbriscoe.bsky.social & Maizels shows a way forward for gene networks in development pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41803457/

Gene regulatory networks: from correlative models to causal explanations - PubMed

Gene regulatory networks (GRNs) explain how the genome controls cellular behaviour and tissue morphogenesis, serving to connect molecular mechanism to functional output. Single-cell technologies now p...

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Looks like the 2027 Dev Bio GRC is shaping up to be another good one: www.grc.org/developmenta...

Congratulations to my wonderful @crick.ac.uk colleagues Michael Way FRS and Jean Langhorne FRS on election to the @royalsociety.org

The Royal Society@royalsociety.org · 2mo ago

We are very happy to announce the 90 outstanding researchers from across the world who have been elected to the Fellowship of the Royal Society this year, in fields from astronomy and cancer research to mathematics and biotechnology. #RSFellows royalsociety.org/news/2026/05...