Madeline Lancaster
@lancasterlab.bsky.social
Developmental neurobiologist using cerebral #organoids to study brain size and evolution. Opinions my own.
Tribute to Gail Martin www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... Discoverer of #EScells whose curiosity went beyond cells, genes / embryos. Good for younger generations to learn @ these giants. NB. Unfathomable why she was overlooked for a Nobel Prize, though this says more @ prizes than @ her.
How does an embryo generate the right cells in the right place? Delighted to share our latest findings on how neural crest cells acquire vagal or trunk identities Spoiler alert: The timing & combination of CDXs preconfigures cell identity & distinct HOX states 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
You also don't have to do an editor's job of deciding if a paper "fits" or is "impactful enough" for their journal, because you're a scientist and not a marketing agent for the publisher.
Timothy O'Leary@timothyoleary.bsky.social · 4w agoDear peer reviewers everywhere: sometimes we feel pressure to find issues with a submission as a demonstration of diligence. But we have to recognise this is a mistake: picking random and sometimes incoherent holes in research add confusion, generates unnecessary work and encourages defensive
Cool work from the McDole lab just published. Primordial germ cells have to endure some pretty tight spaces on their journey! www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Primordial germ cells experience increasing physical confinement and DNA damage during migration in the mouse embryo
Mammalian PGCs face a challenging journey to the gonads, and experience DNA damage as they navigate through confined spaces.
science.org
Thank you for this important paper! Using biobanks of thousands of people to check what effects archaic coding variants might have. Finding certain variants in healthy modern humans helps clarify which might have real consequences to human evolution, and which do not.
Simon Fisher@profsimonfisher.bsky.social · 8mo agoHow did DNA changes that alter protein structures impact evolution on the branch that led to modern humans? As we demonstrate today in Science Advances, biobanking initiatives offer ways to directly assess biological effects of rare archaic variants in living people, & (re)evaluate their roles. 🧬🧪
This is a great article and you can read it free here! A fresh perspective to understanding language with an interdisciplinary and integrative approach.
Simon Fisher@profsimonfisher.bsky.social · 9mo agoIf you are unable to download the full version of our newly published language evolution article in Science, there is a link for direct free access on the Max Planck Institute website here:
Cool paper and cool thread! Makes me wonder, what’s going on in a whale or dolphin brain where there’s essentially no layer 4 🤔
neurosock@neurosock.bsky.social · 10mo agoA core function of cortex is predicting what happens next given the world's state. This recent paper from Oxford shows how cortical layers may use a delay trick to learn to predict. A simple illustration can explain the idea. A🧵with my toy model and notes: #neuroskyence #compneuro #NeuroAI
Super excited for the start of #EESorgan 2025! One of my favorite parts of coming to EMBL is the walk to the ATC through the forest. Can’t wait for 4 days of awesome organoid science!
We are recuiting two new Associate Professors here in Oxford Biochemistry. Come join us! Reach out to me if you have any questions. Please repost! tinyurl.com/mr3m7bd3
New paper alert! Rare DNA changes in the SETBP1 gene are linked to speech problems & diverse syndromes affecting brain development. Work led by ace postdoc @maggiemkwong.bsky.social uncovered impact of different gene variants, coupling clinical/speech evaluation to molecular & cellular readouts.🧬🗣️🔬🧪
SETBP1 variants outside the degron disrupt DNA-binding, transcription and neuronal differentiation capacity to cause a heterogeneous neurodevelopmental disorder - Nature Communications
Different types of SETBP1 variants cause variable developmental syndromes with only partial clinical and functional overlaps. Here, the authors report that SETBP1 variants outside the degron region impair DNA-binding, transcription, and neuronal differentiation capacity and morphologies.
nature.com
The Vienna BioCenter PhD Program application deadline is approaching: October 10! Join one of Europe’s premier life science campuses, home to cutting-edge research across all areas of biology. Apply and start your scientific journey in Vienna! training.vbc.ac.at/phd-program/ #PhD #LifeSciences
PhD Program
Empowering Curious Researchers at the Vienna BioCenter PhD Program Are you a curious and motivated student looking to launch a successful scientific career? Look no further than the Vienna BioCenter P...
training.vbc.ac.at
Julius Brennecke@juliusbrennecke.bsky.social · 11mo agoLove RNA biology? Join us to explore the piRNA pathway with structural and genetic approaches (see 👇👇). PhD student/postdoc position co-supervised by Clemens Plaschka & myself. DM or email us if you’d like to know more! @vbcscitraining.bsky.social @imbavienna.bsky.social @impvienna.bsky.social
Interested in the mechanisms of neurogenesis, and how they might converge/differ across species, regions, and life epochs? Check this out, wonderful location and great science! Please RT neuro-unige.ch/news/csf-mee...
Nine former CDC directors, from Bill Foege onward, speak out about the incalculable harm that RFK, Jr. is doing to public health in the US and around the world. Gift link.
Opinion | We Ran the C.D.C.: Kennedy Is Endangering Every American’s Health
nytimes.com
Amazing work! The Silver lab is on a roll!
Debby Silver@debbysilver.bsky.social · 12mo agoSharing our newest study led by the incredibly talented @federicamosti.bsky.social investigating new molecular mechanisms of human brain development. We discover a human-specific enhancer HAR1984 that influences chromatin looping to promote cortical size and folding! www.biorxiv.org/cgi/content/...
Delighted & excited to share our latest preprint on non-canonical enhancers in human pluripotent stem cells, the result of a fantastic and fun collaboration with @guenesdoganlab.bsky.social: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... 🧵 below
Non-canonical enhancers control gene expression and cell fate in human pluripotent stem cells
Enhancers are key gene regulatory elements that ensure the precise spatiotemporal execution of developmental gene expression programmes. However recent findings indicate that approaches to identify en...
biorxiv.org
This is amazing. Really interesting science made accessible to non experts. I recommend tuning in if you can, even for a little while
Hank Green@hankgreen.bsky.social · last yr.200+ scientists are in the middle of a marathon livestream to show why weather and climate science is so important and needs all our help to continue. It is here: wclivestream.com/watch
Hi friends - In the face of unprecedented cuts to the basic research science funding, climate scientists are staging an 100-hour live stream of why science matters. There will be many talks on all sorts of things (I'm Saturday at 12:30 PT). Please share widely! wcstreamathon.netlify.app. 🌊🧪
The Weather & Climate Livestream
Join us starting May 28th, as meteorologists and climate scientists from across the US share their research and answer your questions.
wcstreamathon.netlify.app
Still openings, check it out!
Denis Jabaudon@djabaudon.bsky.social · 2y ago🧠Job Opening!🧠 We are opening 2️⃣! positions – bioinformatics / molecular biology – in a project studying how temporal patterns set up connectivity in human brain tissue. @institutimagine.bsky.social. Full details below, contact me for details if interested. And please retweet (re-bluesky?)!
New Faraday Fellowships for international applicants moving to the UK Up to £4 million per researcher over 5-10 years Fast-track option for mid-career researchers looking to relocate to the UK
The Royal Society@royalsociety.org · last yr.Today we've announced the new Faraday Fellowship accelerated international route, which will grant up to £30 million in funding over the next two years to attract global talent and support the development of world-leading research groups in the UK: #RSGrants royalsociety.org/news/2025/05...
This is so cool! It’s beautiful to see exactly the kind of elegant genetic locus swapping experiments I’ve been hoping to see in the field 🤩 Nice work Debby and team!
Debby Silver@debbysilver.bsky.social · last yr.Thrilled to share our latest study out in @natureportfolio.nature.com led by the fantastically talented Jing Liu. Our study provides insight into a long standing question in biology: What molecular features make us uniquely human and how do these function? www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Check out this impressive work from the Jabaudon lab exploring an age old question: how does the forebrain grow more than the rest of the brain?
Denis Jabaudon@djabaudon.bsky.social · last yr.Why does the forebrain expand dramatically while other neural regions grow less? Our new publication reveals progenitor metabolism critically shapes region-specific brain growth. Thread below. authors.elsevier.com/a/1k-udL7PXu...
So many exciting papers and preprints in the past few weeks. This one is quite the tour de force!
Cedric Boeckx@cedricboeckx.bsky.social · last yr.Delighted to share our new preprint, the outcome of many years of collaborative work with Giuseppe Testa’s group, both at the bench & in front of the computer, probing human brain evolution using organoids. We tried something cool, and learned a lot 🧪🧫🧠🧬 [follow 🧵] www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Exciting work from the Albert lab on unique signatures of human basal radial glia. And look at those beautiful organoids with their basal progenitors! 🤩
@mareikealbert.bsky.social · last yr.💫 New preprint from the lab: Comparing great ape cerebral organoids, we found that human-specific morphoregulatory signatures in basal radial glia characterise neocortex evolution. Fantastic work from super-talented PhD student Theresa Schütze! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Interesting new work from the McDole lab on the extreme stress primordial germ cells have to endure on their journey to the gonads during embryonic development. It’s wild that a new generation is even possible after all that! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
biorxiv.org
In case you missed it, check out our recent preprint on developmental timing and how slower means bigger, axons that is! Led by the extraordinary @felinewlindhout.bsky.social www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Calcium dynamics tune developmental tempo to generate evolutionarily divergent axon tract lengths
The considerably slow pace of human brain development correlates with an evolutionary increase in brain size, cell numbers, and expansion of neuronal structures, with axon tracts undergoing an even gr...
biorxiv.org
A couple of weeks left to apply to join Development's *Pathway to Independence* programme Support & mentoring for post-docs on the academic job market Deadline: January 31 journals.biologists.com/dev/pages/pi...
Development PI Programme | Development | The Company of Biologists
Development PI Programme | Development | The Company of Biologists Development's Pathway to Independence programme Development is excited to announce our second call for our Pathway to I...
journals.biologists.com
It’s been an exciting holiday season for the Lancaster Lab, with not 1, not 2, but 3 new preprints to share! Check ‘em out: doi.org/10.1101/2024... doi.org/10.1101/2024... doi.org/10.1101/2024... Happy holidays and best wishes for 2025 from our lab to yours! 🎄🎉
Mouse brain organoids model in vivo neurodevelopment and function and capture differences to human
In the last decade since their emergence, brain organoids have offered an increasingly popular and powerful model for the study of early development and disease in humans. These 3D stem cell-derived m...
biorxiv.org
