How mammals get their fur? New research from the Milinkovitch-Tzika lab, published in PNAS, shows that chemotaxis—cells moving toward chemical cues—drives hair follicle precursor self-organization during embryonic development, generating diverse fur patterns across mammals. doi.org/10.1073/pnas...

Chemotactic self-organization captures the dynamics of mammalian hair follicle patterning | PNAS

The spatial patterning of mammalian hair follicle precursors in embryonic skin is most commonly studied in the laboratory mouse (Mus musculus), whe...

doi.org

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_...

Check out this new work from the Towers lab to learn how avian digit patterns can be transformed into mammalian-like patterns! 🔬🐣🧪 @matt-towers.bsky.social Video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvL_... Preprint: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Transforming Avian to Mammalian Modes of Digit Patterning

YouTube video by Matteo de la Torre

youtube.com

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_...

Transforming avian to mammalian modes of digit patterning

How a conserved embryonic organiser-the Sonic hedgehog (Shh)-expressing Zone of Polarising Activity (ZPA)-generates diverse limb architectures in amniotes remains a central problem in evolutionary and...

biorxiv.org

It was fun to contribute to @dev-journal.bsky.social “In preprints” series and cover this beautiful preprint on mechanics and epithelial multilayering - check it out!

Development@dev-journal.bsky.social · 2mo ago

In preprints: building a resilient barrier – tissue mechanics control epithelial multilayering @giuliapaci.bsky.social highlights research from Villeneuve & co, who show that tissue mechanics control epithelial multilayering. doi.org/10.1242/dev....

Having a lovely and inspiring time at #EED26!

Having a lovely time using the incredible imaging facilities at @clf-stfc.bsky.social 🦈🔬

Charles Darwin comes back to life to wish Sir David Attenborough a happy 100th birthday. Our 3.5-min film from the LANE (University of Geneva) celebrates "the man who helped the world fall in love with nature". Happy #AttenboroughDay ! #bbc @biology-unige.bsky.social

An extraordinary guest to celebrate Sir David Attenborough

YouTube video by The LANE channel

youtu.be

New Pre-Print Alert! Evolving initial conditions: an alternative developmental route to morphological diversity with Shannon Taylor and @jamesehammond.bsky.social www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

How do you build the posterior end of a body? 🧫🔬🧬 I am excited to share that my PhD work on the generation of hindlimb and genital progenitors from human pluripotent stem cells is now available on BioRxiv! 🔗 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

I illustrated my way through the @bsdb.bsky.social Spring Meeting a couple weeks ago - here's my illustrated summary of the conference! I sketched (almost) all the speakers and glimpses of the science that made it such a great few days.

Pleased to announce two new publications, in Current Biology and PNAS, from outstanding postdoc Delai (Dylan) Huang, just a week before he leaves to start his new faculty position at Zhejiang University.

Come and join us!! www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DQZ547/r...

Research Associate - Plant Phylogenomics at University of Sheffield

Apply for the Research Associate - Plant Phylogenomics role on jobs.ac.uk, the top job board for academic positions in higher education. View details and apply now.

jobs.ac.uk

Our study on shape diversity in cnidarians is now published. The final version includes extensive new data that substantially extend the original bioRxiv preprint. Congrats to everyone who contributed to this work! www.cell.com/cell/fulltex... @embl.org

Deciphering mechanical determinants of morphological evolution

A comparative analysis of cnidarian larval morphogenesis combined with active surface theory identifies a set of mesoscale mechanical modules that predict species-specific shapes. Manipulating these m...

cell.com

We have a postdoc position available. Please forward to anyone who may be interested.

Reminder that I will be speaking this Wednesday about my postdoc work. You have been warned. 🧪

the Node@the-node.bsky.social · 6mo ago

📢Register for our #DevPres webinar on neurodevelopment The webinar, chaired by Polina Kameneva, features talks from Joaquín Navajas Acedo @mads100tist.bsky.social, Carlo Donato Caiaffa & Clarisse Brunet @clarissebrunet.bsky.social. 🗓️25 February, 15:00 GMT/UTC us02web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

If you're looking for a postdoc in developmental/evo-devo biology, check out this position with @matt-towers.bsky.social @drn-sheffield.bsky.social @sheffielduni.bsky.social ! Great lab, great university and great city! 🐣 🔬

Matt Towers@matt-towers.bsky.social · 6mo ago

PDRA position still open in my lab for anyone who wants to solve some outstanding questions in limb development. We have a variety of models and approaches (everything from stem cells to chicks and catsharks). Please share!

Had a lovely time talking about skin appendage development at @bangoruniversity.bsky.social - thanks for hosting @johnmulley.bsky.social! 🐊 🔬

Check out this postdoc opportunity in a great lab in Sheffield! 🐣🔬

Matt Towers@matt-towers.bsky.social · 6mo ago

A BBSRC-funded PDRA position is available in my lab investigating vertebrate limb development! Please contact me for more details. www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DQH553/r....

Excited to finally share the final/final.doc version of our paper. It's been a journey, but very proud of the result. Well done to all involved, especially @elsieplace.bsky.social @kchinnaiya.bsky.social , @thomasdwkim.bsky.social, @sethblackshaw.bsky.social 👏👏 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Resolving forebrain developmental organisation by analysis of differential growth patterns - Nature Communications

Experiments on the embryonic chick brain reveal distinct directional growth patterns and a tripartite hypothalamus, challenging the classic segmented prosomere model and offering an updated view of ho...

nature.com

Turn scientific data into tangible objects! Some of our 3D models can be downloaded or ordered as 3D prints at low cost (resin + delivery only). Ideal for teaching, research discussions, or showcasing developmental biology. www.lanevol.org/visual-media... #3DPrinting #ScienceEducation #OpenScience

Paper alert: Our study led by @evapillai.bsky.social and @sudimukherjee.bsky.social showing that mechanical properties of the #brain actively shape the molecular landscape during development and #axonpathfinding is finally out! www.nature.com/articles/s41... @pdncambridge.bsky.social @fau.de @MPZPM

Long-range chemical signalling in vivo is regulated by mechanical signals - Nature Materials

Tissue stiffness mediated by Piezo1 is shown to regulate the expression of diffusive guidance cues in the developing Xenopus laevis brain, revealing a crosstalk between mechanical signals and long-ran...

nature.com

Discover how our research comes to life in 3D! Explore digital 3D models from surface scanning and volumetric imaging directly on our website. Each model includes scientific context, videos, and VR/AR exploration. 🔗 www.lanevol.org/3d-models #3DModels #ScienceVisualization #OpenScience

Our research on reptile pigmentation is featured on the cover of Genetics 🧬🦎 We uncover how mutations in TYR, SLC24A5, and OCA2 shape hypomelanism in snakes & geckos, revealing modular and flexible melanogenesis. 🔗 academic.oup.com/genetics/art...

Beautiful weather for a visit to the @institutcurie.bsky.social, where I’m speaking about the molecular and mechanical regulation of skin appendage development 🐣 🐊 🔬

Just in time for the New Year we have a new preprint up that focuses on white cells, often used as ornaments in fish. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Very excited to share that our latest paper is out in Science! We show that the type specimen of Nanotyrannus—an isolated skull—is fully grown, showing that it is not a juvenile Tyrannosaurus rex but a distinct species (1/12) www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

@rorylcooper.bsky.social gave a very nice talk (with gorgeous art) on crocodilian head scale patterns. Fav finding was a potential simple explaination mechanisms driving scale diversity between species.

I didn't manage to summarise all of @rorylcooper.bsky.social 's seminar today, but here we have sonic hedgehog inhibition pausing chicken embryo feather development at stage E9, and halting chicken embryo feather development at stage E11. Thank you for the great talk on skin patterning.

Join us! 🧬🪰🎉🔬 We are currently advertising two #PhD projects to study the #evolution, #development and #genomics of sexual traits in stalk-eyed flies. Deadline for applying is Wednesday, January 7, 2026. Get in touch for more info!