Behind the paper stories
Every paper has a story behind it, and we regularly commission scientists to tell theirs. In this collection you’ll discover the highs and the lows, the chance encounters and life changing discoveries from the breadth of developmental biology and stem cell research.
Recent posts
Geometry first: how positional cues dictate fate in bilayered epithelia
Posted by Robin Journot, on 4 September 2025
Behind the paper story focussed on research on early fate decisions in bilayered epithelia.From Tip to Grain: Sculpting Barley Inflorescence Through the Regulation of Meristem Activity
Posted by Isaia Vardanega, on 12 June 2025
Why do some grass species like rice have multiple grains developing on primary and secondary branches, while others like barley only have one ‘spikelet’ developing into a single grain?Squishing jellies!!
Posted by Yamini Ravichandran, on 4 June 2025
Behind the paper: “Topology changes of Hydra define actin orientation defects as organizers of morphogenesis”Regulating mRNA translation at the start
Posted by Madalena Pinto, on 30 May 2025
Madalena M. Reimão Pinto (Schier lab, University of Basel, Switzerland) and Sebastian Castillo Hair (Seelig lab, Washington University, Seattle, USA) joined forces to understand how zebrafish embryos orchestrate protein synthesis …Nano Injections, Big Discoveries: The Journey to Map Neural and Inner Ear Lineages
Posted by Sandra de Haan, on 8 May 2025
Co-authored by Sandra de Haan and Jingyan He In our recently published paper ‘Ectoderm barcoding reveals neural and cochlear compartmentalization‘, we utilized ultrasound-guided in utero nano injections to deliver heritable DNA barcodes …When did our flexible and lubricated joints evolve?
Posted by Neelima Sharma, on 30 April 2025
[Behind the paper story of “Synovial joints were present in the common ancestor of jawed fish but lacking in jawless fish”.] Synovial joints are marvels of biological evolution where two …Re-growing adult organs: mothers do it best
Posted by Tomotsune Ameku, on 30 April 2025
Tomotsune Ameku tells the story behind the paper “Growth of the maternal intestine during reproduction”Exploring the Uncharted Waters of Endothelial Tip Cell Migration: A Story of Aquaporins, Hydrostatic Pressure, and Angiogenesis
Posted by Li-Kun Phng, on 2 April 2025
Behind the Paper Story by Li-Kun Phng
“If you notice something unusual in your experiments, don’t just throw it away!”
Do you have a story to tell? We can give comments on drafts and any level of editing you want, and we particularly encourage contributions from researchers for whom English is not their first language.
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Our full archive going back to 2010 is filterable by category, tag and date.