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
A facial birth defect is caused by perturbation of extreme long-range enhancers
Posted by Hannah Long, on 25 January 2021
Hannah Long tells the story of how she uncovered the genetic basis of a developmental disorderEngineering morphogenesis using self-organized embodiment
Posted by SDuranNebreda, on 20 January 2021
During their journey from zygote to adult, embryos experience several symmetry breaking processes. Structures which are not isotropic (equal in all directions) are formed, creating the inside-out axis, forward-backwards axis, …Establishing connections
Posted by Bert De Rybel, on 16 December 2020
Jos Wendrich, Yvan Saeys and Bert De Rybel take us on a single cell journey through the Arabidopsis rootActin and microtubules link to form a tube within a single cell
Posted by Sofia Araújo, on 14 December 2020
In the Genetics of Cell Behaviour in Development laboratory, at the Department of Genetics, Microbiology and Statistics at the University of Barcelona, we work with the terminal cells (TCs) of …Looking to crustaceans to understand insect wing evolution
Posted by Courtney Clark-Hachtel, on 19 October 2020
The wings of vertebrates, like birds and bats, emerged relatively recently, and we understand that these wings evolved from forelimbs. Even for the mythological dragon there seems to be a …Traditional Embryology with Modern Imaging Approaches: Investigating Morphogenetic Feedback on Pattern Formation
Posted by Timothy Fulton, on 9 October 2020
Timothy Fulton, Vikas Trivedi, Andrea Attardi & Benjamin Steventon As developmental biologists, we often find ourselves carefully looking at developing embryos as they undertake a dramatic and fascinating task: making …Forgotten filaments to the fore
Posted by Grace Lim, on 1 October 2020
The cytoskeletal filament network within our cells underpins the functionality of virtually all cellular processes. Apart from conferring a structural framework giving cells their unique shapes, the cytoskeleton also regulates …The long road to understanding homeobox genes in the nervous system
Posted by Oliver Hobert, on 1 October 2020
Following the initial discovery of the homeobox in the 1980s in invertebrates and then vertebrates, it became quickly clear that homeobox genes come in two flavors – that of the …
“If you notice something unusual in your experiments, don’t just throw it away!”
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Our full archive going back to 2010 is filterable by category, tag and date.