Read BSDB Beddington Medal winner @rorymaizels.bsky.social interview with @the-node.bsky.social Discussing his journey from undergraduate to PhD and beyond
Developmental Biologist working at the Francis Crick Institute. Neural tube, morphogens, and gene regulatory networks. Editor-in-chief, Development. London · briscoelab.org
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Read BSDB Beddington Medal winner @rorymaizels.bsky.social interview with @the-node.bsky.social Discussing his journey from undergraduate to PhD and beyond
👀Interview with @bsdb.bsky.social Beddington medal winner @rorymaizels.bsky.social We caught up with Rory to discuss his career path, his PhD with @jamesbriscoe.bsky.social and what he is excited about in #devbio. thenode.biologists.com/an-interview...
Exciting day for @crick.ac.uk today: Edith Heard takes over as Director We're looking forward to this new chapter in the story www.crick.ac.uk/about-us/lea...
Very honored to receive the Royal Society Research Culture Award - this represents the work of a great team who've worked non-stop since we launched bioRxiv in 2013 royalsociety.org/news/2025/08... www.cshl.edu/inglis-and-s...
Super excited that our latest work is out! We use optogenetics to dynamically control and study the formation of morphogen gradients. If you are interested in optogenetic tools and/or how cells shape and process extracellular signals, check out @jamesbriscoe.bsky.social's thread and the paper.
Check out the latest work by @dbenzinger.bsky.social and @jamesbriscoe.bsky.social ! Building gradients in space and time. I am extremely biased but the Dec 15 issue of Dev Cell is 🔥🔥
Yeah, interesting questions. On the list, but easier to propose than to do....
Bottom line: DD-GAVPO represents a powerful tool for precise gene control. We used it to generate quantitative measurements of a mammalian morphogen but it is versatile and could be used in a wide range of applications All credit to @dbenzinger.bsky.social who conceived & implemented the project.
Key finding #3: Dynamic xpts revealed progenitor identity depends on both concentration & duration of Shh More ventral markers (Nkx2.2) appear later but domain sizes remain constant This suggests progressive fate assignment reflects gene regulatory dynamics, not gradient dynamics
Similarly, the Shh interacting protein Scube2 increased Shh range by ~50%, confirming its role as a "gradient expander" in mammalian systems (previously shown in zebrafish) The system provides a quantitative readout for morphogen modulator activity
Key finding #2: Cholesterol-modified Shh showed normal patterning, while non-cholesterol modified Shh (NShh) extended signalling range 3-fold Membrane-tethered Shh-CD4 abolished long-range signalling
Key finding #1: Shh has an extracellular half-life ~1h. Turnover much faster than downstream gene expression dynamics, indicating morphogen gradient is continually renewed during patterning Suggests Shh's effective diffusion rate: ~0.125 μm²/s, remarkably similar to Dpp/Wingless in Drosophila
We applied DD-GAVPO to control Sonic hedgehog (Shh) production in a stem cell model of neural tube development Spatially restricted light illumination recreated long-range Shh gradients that faithfully recapitulated neural tube patterning
The dual-control system exhibits minimal leakiness while allowing robust gene induction By titrating Shld-1 concentration, we can precisely tune activation levels - something challenging to achieve with light alone It's a dimmer switch, not just a toggle
The challenge: Most existing optogenetic systems suffer from either weak activation OR leaky expression in the dark To get around this we fused the light-responsive transcription factor GAVPO to a small-molecule responsive degron domain (DD-GAVPO) Best of both worlds: chemo-optogenetics
Our latest: We developed a chemo-optogenetic system for precise spatiotemporal control of morphogen production. Using dual light + small molecule control of Sonic Hedgehog production, we recapitulated neural tube patterning in vitro & measured spread of Shh 🧵 www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Meet Development’s 2025 Pathway to Independence (PI) fellows In a series of interviews published in @dev-journal.bsky.social, we learn more about each fellow’s career path, research interests and aspirations when they start their own lab. thenode.biologists.com/developments...
Like our sister journals, you can also submit an additional language abstract at @dev-journal.bsky.social and we cater for non-Western characters for author names. Did you know Development also facilitates retrospective author name changes?
Join our online workshop, 'A creative approach to science communication' presented by Anatolii Kozlov @anatoliikozlov.bsky.social. 🗓️Wednesday 10 September, 14:00-15:30 BST (UTC+1) Sign up here⤵️ thenode.biologists.com/a-creative-a... #scicomm
Lovely memory of Benny Shilo by Stas Shvartsman www.cell.com/developmenta...
Podcast recommendation: The Lab Detective Tells the story of a miscarriage of justice & @crick.ac.uk's @carovinuesa.bsky.social role in righting it Compelling human interest story with major implications for how courts deal with scientific evidence shows.acast.com/the-tortoise...
We are deeply saddened by the passing of our colleague Catherine Rabouille. Catherine was senior group leader at the Hubrecht Institute, an exceptional cell biologist, a passionate mentor, and a driving force for diversity and inclusion in science. Full tribute: www.hubrecht.eu/in-memoriam-...
Latest on Waddington Landscapes: Computational methods to fit dynamical landscapes directly to single cell data Applied to neural tube patterning shows morphogen-signalling landscapes can be linearly interpolated Connects interpretable landscape models with data www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
For related recent work see: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Latest on Waddington Landscapes: Computational methods to fit dynamical landscapes directly to single cell data Applied to neural tube patterning shows morphogen-signalling landscapes can be linearly interpolated Connects interpretable landscape models with data www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Great to see UK's strengthening its science through funding from Horizon Europe www.theguardian.com/science/2025...
Thrilled to bits to see our latest work online in Dev Cell! 🥳 We wanted to know how cells build functional organs with precision🫀🫁📏 Here we show how coupling of cell shape and organ function fine tunes the form and contractile power of the developing #zebrafish heart 1/n tinyurl.com/cell-stretch
A Summer reading recommendation: new primer in @dev-journal.bsky.social explains how dynamical systems theory unlocks the logic of developmental patterning Everything from bistable switches & oscillators to phase portraits & more with Python code to explore journals.biologists.com/dev/article/...
Our upcoming #DevPres webinar focusses on stem cells and organoids, with talks from Toshi Yamada (UCSF), Chrysanthi-Maria (Anthie) Moysidou (Max Delbrück Center @mdc-berlin.bsky.social) and Daniel Medina-Cano (MSKCC). 13 August 16:00 BST Register here: us02web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...
To all post-docs: The Genome Biology dept @embl.org has an Independent faculty position. Fantastic place to set up your lab –great package: core funding, fantastic Ph.D. students, cutting edge core facilities & great colleagues. Closing date Sept 19th embl.wd103.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/EMBL/j...
Our Faraday Discovery Fellowships Accelerated International Route is now open for applications, providing a fast-track option for attracting mid-career researchers looking to relocate to the UK from overseas, providing up to £4m over a five-year period. #RSGrants
This is a useful summary of how some major publishers are responding to the new NIH policy. We've just updated our policies at @biologists.bsky.social: @dev-journal.bsky.social @jcellsci.bsky.social and @jexpbiol.bsky.social will allow authors to deposit the accepted version with zero embargo.
New In Preprints from @dev-journal.bsky.social by Valdebenito & Diaz-Cuadros Highlights recent work investigating how the rate of development is controlled from @trayon.bsky.social & Coussement et al In preprints: setting the tempo of development url: journals.biologists.com/dev/article/...
Thrilled to share that our latest work on marsupial heterochrony is now online at @cp-devcell.bsky.social @cellpress.bsky.social @lab-turner.bsky.social @crick.ac.uk We used scRNAseq to understand the asynchronous progression of developmental programmes in marsupials www.cell.com/developmenta...
Very promising news on the next seven-year EU budget, with a proposed substantial increase for Horizon Europe including the ERC. We are analysing the other parts of this proposal in more detail. @Vonderleyen @EZaharievaEU research-and-innovation.ec.europa.eu/news/all-res...
Just published: The cis-regulatory logic integrating spatial and temporal patterning in the vertebrate neural tube A global temporal chromatin program, operating across the CNS, directs binding of specific spatial TFs & hence when/where neurons & glia are born authors.elsevier.com/sd/article/S...
New work with Saunders & Charras labs Physical boundaries guide cell fate decisions during human trunk development Reaction Diffusion model shows how geometry shapes biology with TBXT expression forming consistent domains regardless of colony size & shape www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
What links developmental biology and mini-robots? - Complex adaptive systems Nice N&V piece on recent work on developmental biology inspired robotics www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Excited to share our latest work with @jamesbriscoe.bsky.social . A global #cis-regulatory temporal program guides how spatial cues are interpreted in neural progenitors. We show how #space and #time can be integrated to generate cell type diversity in the #spinalcord. Congrats to all authors.
Great technique from my @crick.ac.uk colleagues in @petrznam.bsky.social lab Reconstructing neural circuits with barcoded Rabies virus & in situ sequencing www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Great that Life Science Sector Plan puts support for discovery research at top of the list But odd that MRC-LMB singled out for 10 year funding. Is MRC no longer responsible for the LMB? Who will do scientific evaluation? What about other research organisations? www.gov.uk/government/p...
Just published: The cis-regulatory logic integrating spatial and temporal patterning in the vertebrate neural tube A global temporal chromatin program, operating across the CNS, directs binding of specific spatial TFs & hence when/where neurons & glia are born authors.elsevier.com/sd/article/S...
Mind the pores: studying morphogen gradients Read this Research Highlight showcasing work from Justina Stark, Rohit Krishnan Harish, Ivo Sbalzarini @mosaicgroup.bsky.social and Michael Brand @tudresden.bsky.social: journals.biologists.com/dev/article/...
Interested in developmental epigenetics? So are we! Apply now to join us for your postdoc! Multiple positions across multiple groups @mrc-lms.bsky.social Projects spanning germline demethylation, gene regulation, genome architecture in development & disease 👇👇 lms.mrc.ac.uk/work/vacanci...
It was good to meet with fellow @biologists.bsky.social editors for two days last week to discuss @dev-journal.bsky.social & other journals Lots of plans and ideas for the coming year
The NAS Council has approved the nomination of Neil H. Shubin to be the next president of the National Academy of Sciences. An evolutionary biologist and science communicator, Shubin would succeed Marcia McNutt when her term ends on June 30, 2026. Read more: www.nasonline.org/news/neil-h-...
Publishing scientific papers is an obstacle course. There are many aspects to this but lengthy review times are one. That's why I am very excited about the new initiative @biologyopen.bsky.social, @biologists.bsky.social open access journal: Fast & Fair 1/n 🧪 journals.biologists.com/bio/pages/fa...
Save the Date! Development has teamed up with the Wellcome-funded consortium the Human Developmental Biology Initiative to co-organise a meeting on #HumanDevelopment. 📅7 - 9 Sep 2026 📍University of Warwick, UK Register your interest for #HumanDev26: www.biologists.com/meetings/dev...
For many people (me included) writing is thinking If you're not thinking you're just the pretty front (wo)man in the band Do you want to be Noel or Liam? www.nature.com/articles/d41...
I was interviewed recently by @stemcellpodcast.com I witter on about morphogens, notochord, @dev-journal.bsky.social & how biology is becoming a data science Thanks @stemcellpodcast.com for talking to me stemcellpodcast.com/ep-299-spina...
We have a new episode out! Tune in to hear Dr. @jamesbriscoe.bsky.social from @crick.ac.uk discuss his research on the developmental dynamics of the #SpinalCord, and his position as Editor-In-Chief of @dev-journal.bsky.social. Listen now: bit.ly/4nzLrCp
Hear from our Editor-in-Chief, @jamesbriscoe.bsky.social, in the latest episode of @stemcellpodcast.com.
I was interviewed recently by @stemcellpodcast.com I witter on about morphogens, notochord, @dev-journal.bsky.social & how biology is becoming a data science Thanks @stemcellpodcast.com for talking to me stemcellpodcast.com/ep-299-spina...
Useful perspective incorporating GRNs & gene modules into theory of evolutionary novelty Parker & Pennell emphasise gene modules, not individual genes, as fundamental units of phenotypic evolution Provides a needed evolutionary lens for analysing scRNAseq & cell types www.cell.com/current-biol...
Can using synthetic approaches to build biology help teach us the design principles of how embryos build themselves? 👷♀️🔧 If this is a question that interests you, come and share your thoughts at this Royal Society Workshop on Generative Biology royalsociety.org/science-even...
A road map to extend the rules for human embryo culture from 14 days to 28 days or neural tube closure Includes a call for international harmonisation of rules www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Congratulations to newly elected @embo.org members Special shout out to friends & colleagues: Andy Oates, Jody Rosemblatt & Pete Currie Outstanding life scientists elected to the EMBO Membership – Press releases – EMBO share.google/9z7IS2lZBmll...
Can peer review be done faster, without compromising on quality? Biology Open has embarked on an exciting experiment to find out - Editor-in-Chief Dan Gorelick @danielgorelick.bsky.social explains. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tt5h...
A decade of preprints in biology How @biologists.bsky.social has championed preprint adoption since 2014 Launching preLights, supporting Review Commons & introducing In Preprints in @dev-journal.bsky.social
Excited to share I’m starting my group in Dublin this September, supported by a Research Ireland Pathway award. We will work on neurulation mechanics using chicken embryos and human iPSCs. Looking forward to this new adventure! #newPI #womeninSTEM
Paper alert! I am really pleased to share the final version of the work led by Irène Amblard in the team on a regulatory switch controlling Cdx2 expression during posterior body development! #regulatorylogic #devbio @mrc-lms.bsky.social @imperialmed.bsky.social
I'm honored - writing blogs for @the-node.bsky.social has been a fabulous experience and thanks to y'all for reading and amplifying bsky.app/profile/biol...
Symposium @crick.ac.uk today celebrating the life of David Ish-Horowicz. Much missed dear colleague and friend.
In preprints: rethinking the foundations of the ovarian reserve Andrea Rix and Binyam Mogessie @binyammogessie.bsky.social @mcdb-yale.bsky.social discuss a recent #preprint from Wamaitha et al. journals.biologists.com/dev/article/...
I'm looking forward to the #2025ICDB #2025SDB Publishing Workshop today at 10:30. Share what matters to you as a reader, author & reviewer in this survey from @dev-journal.bsky.social's not-for-profit publisher, @biologists.bsky.social. Help shape the future. www.surveymonkey.com/r/39WVWTK
Did you know about our ‘Lab meetings’ series? These posts highlight the research and the people from different #DevBio & #StemCells labs. We welcome self-nominations, especially for labs outside of the US and Europe. Get in touch if you'd like to be featured!
Save the date! March 23-26 will be the dates for our 2026 @bsdb.bsky.social annual meeting: Molecules to Morphogenesis! Excited to reveal more details soon! Want to attend with a reduced rate, and have access to conference/travel grants for other meetings too? Don't forget to join the BSDB :)
Congratulations to our incoming director, Edith Heard, who has been recognised in the King’s Birthday Honours List today. She has been awarded the title of Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George for her services to science and UK-France relations. www.crick.ac.uk/news/2025-06...
🧠 Day 4 was all about 🧬 noise in biology — from master equations to stochastic simulations, led by Jordi Garcia-Ojalvo! 🔬 Group projects continued, and the day ended with a fascinating keynote by @jamesbriscoe.bsky.social on morphogen mediated tissue patterning! #EMBOMulticellModeling
Great work from Mochulska & Francois developing a generative framework for systematically building Dynamical Landscapes of cell fate decision making using modular dynamical components Important step to interpretable and predictive models of cellular differentiation www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
A look at the developing human embryonic forebrain in 3D! Post-doc @stochastalive.bsky.social shares this week's image showing a dorsal view of the human embryonic forebrain at Carnegie Stage 16 (~6 weeks post conception). Major regions marked by FOXG1, WNT8B, PAX6, and SHH are displayed.
Congratulations to Tiago Rito @ritolab.bsky.social starting his own research group at Hong Kong U
🚀🚀 I'm starting my own lab @ HKU ! ! The lab will be investigating how cells build complex tissues — with a focus on tissue boundaries, niche establishment, and many open questions sparked by our recent work on trunk-organoids rdcu.be/eqsho 🫡🫡
The Company of Biologists and the Woods Hole Embryology Course We explore the association of Development and @biologists.bsky.social with the Woods Hole Embryology Course @mblscience.bsky.social and hear from former students about the impact the course has had on them: doi.org/10.1242/dev....
New work on dynamics of morphogen signaling: Cells decode BMP gradient via temporal integration of signaling level, not instantaneous thresholds. While GRN gates response to provide additional spatial input Morphogen signalling dynamics + GRN for tissue patterning www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Very elegant and exciting study ! I'm glad to see scRNAseq data go hand-in-hand with rigorous dynamical systems theory😀! Many congratulations @jamesbriscoe.bsky.social and to all authors👏!!
Nice work from Du & Warmflash using micropatterned hESCs to dissect midbrain-hindbrain boundary formation Timing of WNT signalling, not strength or duration, specifies midbrain-hindbrain boundary Good example of recapitulating developmental signalling in vitro www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
EMBO is delighted to announce that this year the EMBO Gold Medal is awarded to Tanmay Bharat @tbharat-lab.bsky.social @mrclmb.bsky.social and David Bikard @dbikard.bsky.social @pasteur.fr for their remarkable contributions to the #LifeSciences. www.embo.org/press-releas... #award 🧪
What a fantastic essay by last year's @mblscience.bsky.social Embryology students! A perfect paean to the most wonderful science: "It's exhausting; it's exhilarating; it's Embryology." journals.biologists.com/dev/article/...
Register now to attend our #DevPres webinar next week, featuring the winners of the @bsdb.bsky.social poster prize, @shifaant.bsky.social and @giuliapaci.bsky.social, and chaired by Abigail Tucker. 4 June at 15:00 BST us02web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...
This is also a useful complement to the "pivot" paper getting attention this week "...science marches backward when the participants are unwilling to consider preexisting information, and a certain level of push-back is warranted when such behavior is combined with excessive self-promotion"
Our latest "Dynamic Landscape Analysis of Cell Fate Decisions: Predictive Models of Neural Development From Single-Cell Data" A rigorous mathematical foundation for Waddington's landscape to study cell fate decision making Applied to ventral neural tube development www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
We should probably think of decision making as a (dynamical) process rather than an event. And relate to this to dev bio concepts such as competence, specification and commitment.
Check out our new work building dynamical landscapes to understand cell fate decisions. This has been a true adventure and long-term interdisciplinary collaboration. I think I'll add one more language in my resume - I can speak to mathematicians 😂
Credits: It was a long & intense project. All credit to Marine Fontaine (maths) & Joaquina Delas (xpts) for driving it forward. Supported by Meri Saez, Lizzie Finnie, and Rory Maizels It's the result of a longstanding collaboration with David Rand Preprint: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Broader Implications: Readily applicable to many single-cell datasets with potential for generative & explanatory models Intriguing parallels to machine learning - both progress through critical decision points. Foundation of decision-making in complex systems? See: journals.aps.org/prresearch/a...
Cross-Species Validation: Applying DLA to human neural organoids revealed conserved decision-making principles between mouse & human The mathematical structure underlying cell fate decisions appear to be fundamental features of vertebrate neural tube development
Predictive Power: The model successfully predicts cellular responses to signalling conditions not seen before When we tested new patterns of Sonic Hedgehog signalling experimentally, the predictions matched xpts This is true predictive biology, not just curve fitting
Surprising Finding: Studying neural tube differentiation, we discovered an unexpected circular topology Cells that initially diverge into different lineages can converge through multiple routes to the same fate This challenges the traditional "branching tree" view of development
Classifying Decisions: We identified three types of cell fate decisions, each governed by distinct dynamical bifurcations: • Direct transitions (fold bifurcations) • Binary flip decisions • Binary choice decisions These mathematical structures explain how signalling controls cell fate allocation
Key Innovation: Getting beyond descriptive trajectories. DLA generates a geometric dynamical model—a Waddington landscape—that provides mechanistic insights without needing every molecular detail It bridges microscopic gene expression to macroscopic cell behaviour
Solution: Dynamic Landscape Analysis (DLA) - a framework rooted in dynamical systems • Identifies stable cell states as "attractor clusters" • Maps transition pathways between states • Builds predictive mathematical models
The Problem: While scRNAseq has revolutionised how we see cellular heterogeneity, we've lacked principled methods to transform these high-dimensional snapshots of gene expression into predictive models that explain HOW cells make decisions Most approaches describe what we see, not how it happens
Our latest "Dynamic Landscape Analysis of Cell Fate Decisions: Predictive Models of Neural Development From Single-Cell Data" A rigorous mathematical foundation for Waddington's landscape to study cell fate decision making Applied to ventral neural tube development www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Beautiful work from @sagnera.bsky.social & co on how spinal neurons diversify A temporal TF clock in spinal neurons, sequentially specifying different motor and sensory neuron subtypes during development A shared molecular timer driving cellular diversity www.biorxiv.org/cgi/content/...
Apply for a funded place at our Workshop 'New Technologies for Studying and Reprogramming Development'. biologists.com/workshops/no... Application deadline extended to Friday 6 June. #Workshop #Research #Collaboration #Biology
*This Wed 28 May 15:00 BST* Register to our Development presents... webinar, celebrating the finalists of Development's 2024 outstanding paper prize. Bridget LaMonica Ostrem, @thamarai-athi.bsky.social & @kevinemmerich.bsky.social will present their work. us02web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...
Non-profit journals are on the critical list. The cause: academics obsession with the Nature brand, coupled with the APC $ model. Some will argue it doesn’t matter (“all as bad as each other”). But the fact is undeniable and it’s good guys who put money back into science like COB who are losing..
Looking forward to visiting Mina Gouti today at @mdc-berlin.bsky.social Seminar at noon www.mdc-berlin.de/news/events/...
It was a lot of fun to speak at YEN this week @yen-network.bsky.social. It is such an honour to be awarded the Sammy Lee Medal for my work on engineering CREs