‘Science is often romanticised as a flawless system of knowledge building, where scientists work together to systematically find answers. In reality, this is not always the case. Dissemination of results are straightforward when the findings are positive, but what happens when you obtain results that support the null hypothesis, or do not fit with the current scientific thinking?’

In a recent Disease Models & Mechanisms Editorial, Natalie Matosin and colleagues from the University of Wollongong address attitudes towards negative results in the research world. Drawing on their own experiences in schizophrenia research, and well-known examples in the literature, the authors argue that findings that support the null hypothesis can be of value yet often meet with scepticism. Negative results can also prove difficult to publish. At the crux of the negativity towards negative results is the perception that such findings are ‘low impact’, influencing authors and journals to make their dissemination a lower priority than ‘high impact’ positive results. Natalie and co-authors discuss the importance of tackling this misperception to remove the bias towards publication of positive findings. In support of this, Disease Models & Mechanisms now welcomes the submission of papers reporting negative or null results that impact our understanding of disease mechanisms, models and/or therapeutics. Details about journal scope and editorial policies are given at: http://dmm.biologists.org/

The Matosin et al. Editorial ‘Negativity towards negative results: a discussion of the disconnect between scientific worth and scientific culture‘ is freely available here: http://dmm.biologists.org/content/7/2/171

(3 votes)

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Deep snow failed to chill the atmosphere at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratories as the most diverse Avian Model Systems meeting yet took place. The model organisms involved included transgenic quail and zebra finches, canaries, and even barn owls and the American white-throated sparrow, alongside the more prosaic chicken. The interaction of ideas from the endocrine and neurological songbird studies and the more molecular and developmental chicken and quail research was both thought-provoking and useful. As more avian genomes are sequenced, the unifying force of comparative genomics will hopefully make cross-system meetings like this ever more frequent.

Dave Burt from the Roslin Institute opened the meeting on Wednesday evening with a plenary talk on the history of the chicken genome and improvements in the most recently published version, a topic revisited throughout the meeting. Dave discussed some of the features of avian genomes, such as the large numbers of very small microchromosomes, that make sequencing more difficult. The flaws in the published chicken genome were the subject of some discussion, perhaps prompted by the pre-meeting workshop on avian genomics.

The plenary was followed by a session on avian disease models. Of particular interest were several studies in this and later sessions using song learning and vocalisation in songbirds such as zebra finch and canary as models for human speech acquisition and disorders of language.

A major theme that emerged from Thursday morning’s session was the power of fluorescent time lapse imaging combined with germ line fluorescent transgenic birds for documenting developmental events. We were shown spectacular videos of cell migration in fluorescent quail embryos by Rusty Lansford (see below) and membrane GFP chicken gastrulation by Octavian Voiculescu. Samantha Brugmann presented work from her lab on developmental abnormalities in the Talpid2 chicken embryo, a rare natural mutant chicken line.

Feather development was the topic of several talks in Session 3, on avian evolution, and also sprouted up later in Friday’s avian genomics session. The schedule of topics was well-thought out and varied, providing a good mix of topics in any one session and making sure that there was something of relevance to every attendee.

The poster session was lively. Of particular note for developmental biologists was David Huss’s poster on hybridisation chain reaction DNA probes for imaging gene expression in the quail – a potentially very powerful RNA detection system. Joana Esteves de Lima presented an interesting study on BMP and Notch signalling in chick muscle development.

The evening session on bird brains and behaviour on Thursday successfully roused the crowd of jet-lagged scientists. Of special interest for translational researchers was Wan-Chun Liu’s work on a Huntington’s disease model in songbirds using transgenic birds to model the symptoms, including language disorder, of the human disease. The barn owl’s unique sound localisation system and compensatory mechanisms for signal ambiguity in their neural map was covered by Fanny Cazettes. An interesting natural mutation in white-throated sparrows was described by Brent Horton, in a classic study that spanned from observed wild behaviour and ecology to genetic cause. Finally Lauren Riters discussed the various hormonal and neurotransmitter signals that motivate different types of birdsong production in European starlings.

Friday opened with a session on avian genomics. The contentious topic of de-extinction came up, with a speculative talk on passenger pigeon resurrection by Ben Novak that prompted a number of technical objections from the audience. Fiona McCarthy reported on the chicken ENCODE project, which raised a lot of audience interest. There were several speakers who maintain or are creating online databases useful to the avian model research community; a list of useful links is at the end of this article.

The Friday afternoon session covered models for development, with lots of familiar faces for Node readers. Again, the power and flexibility of fluorescent cell tracing tools in the chicken embryo was a strong theme. Tatjana Sauka-Spengler opened with an exploration of the role of enhancers in the cranial neural crest gene regulatory network. Avihu Klar presented some striking imaging experiments using fluorescent labelling and optogenetic constructs in transposons to trace neural circuit development. Daniel Siero-Mosti used fluorescent tracing to look at the organisation of muscle cell fusion events, which create long multinucleated muscle fibres. The final talk before the lobster banquet and bar was given by Claudio Stern, on research done by Angela Torlopp and Mohsin Khan in his lab, discovering genes involved in very early chick embryo axis development.

Despite a late night in the bar and some departures the Saturday morning avian stem cell session went well. Chicken primordial germ cells (PGCs) were the theme of most of the talks. PGCs are the chicken stem cell population under the most widespread investigation, as they have proven applications for developing transgenic chicken models. Mike McGrew presented results on a new and streamlined PGC medium developed in his lab that should allow more widespread use of these cells.

The next meeting in Taiwan in 2016 will hopefully continue the expansion of the Avian Model Systems community.

Useful chicken database links:

http://geisha.arizona.edu/geisha/ Gallus Expression In Situ Hybridisation Analysis

http://geneatlas.arl.arizona.edu/ Chicken ENCODE

www.narf.ed.ac.uk National Avian Research Facility

www.roslin.ed.ac.uk/transgenic-chicken-facility Roslin Institute Transgenic Chicken Facility

(4 votes)

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Cellularization in Drosophila embryos is quite the remarkable process. After fertilization, nuclear division occurs rapidly but without cell membrane formation, leading to a syncytial embryo with many nuclei in a common cytoplasm. After 9 mitotic divisions, the nuclei begin migration to the periphery of the syncytium, such that nuclei line the plasma membrane of the embryo.  Cellularization, the process that creates an individual cell membrane for each nucleus, then begins at cell cycle 14. This process occurs as a simultaneous ingression of membrane around each nucleus to build a sheet of epithelial cells (fig. 1).

The cellularization process occurs over the course of about an hour, and the membrane surface area increases some 25-fold (Lecuit and Wieschaus, 2000). As a result, this time period is marked by a huge need for new membrane.

So where is this membrane coming from? It is known that the plasma membrane of the syncytial Drosophila embryo is covered in microvilli – small, finger-like protrusions of membrane. After cellularization, the microvilli are no longer present. Early researchers proposed that the membrane needed for cellularization could be “stored” in these villi, and the flattening of the structures led to increased membrane surface area (Fulllilove and Jacobson, 1971). However, little experimental evidence exists to support this model of membrane origin.

A recent paper in Developmental Cell approaches the question again. Figard and colleagues (2013) examine the role of microvilli during cellularization by investigating whether the rate at which microvilli are depleted can be correlated with the rate at which cell membranes are forming around each nucleus. Using live imaging and time-lapse techniques, the authors found that the depletion of microvilli was coupled with cell membrane furrow ingression during cellularization (fig. 2). This result strongly implies microvilli do in fact act as a source of membrane during Drosophila cellularization.

This result raises the question as to how the microvillar membrane is incorporated into the cell membrane: is it endocytosed from the apical surface and deposited elsewhere or is it pulled directly into the furrow, i.e. the cell straightens out the membrane? Using pulse-chase time-lapse imaging, the authors followed the redistribution of the microvillar membrane over time and found that it is pulled directly into the membrane furrow as cellularization proceeds (fig. 3).

Figard and colleagues (2013) provide new evidence for an old idea, and set forth a model for cellularization in which the ingressing membrane pulls microvilli into the furrow, thereby utilizing a large amount of previously folded membrane. This work unifies current ideas about cellularization, providing a beautiful overview of this complex embryonic process. For instance, the authors propose exocytosis of organelle membrane to the apical surface, as shown in Lecuit and Wiechaus (2000), contributes to the flow of membrane into the ingressing furrows. The paper effectively outlines the kinematics of this process, including a two-stage progression of cellularization.

For the whole story access the paper here.

References

Figard, L., Xu, H., Garcia, H.G., Golding, I., Sokac, A.M. The Plasma Membrane Flattens Out to Fuel Cell-Surface Growth during Drosophila Cellularization. (2013) Developmental Cell, 27 ( 6), pp. 648-655.  

Fullilove, S.L., Jacobson, A.G. Nuclear elongation and cytokinesis in Drosophila Montana. (1971) Developmental Biology, 26 (4), pp. 560-577.

  Lecuit, T., Wieschaus, E. Polarized insertion of new membrane from a cytoplasmic reservoir during cleavage of the Drosophila embryo. (2000) Journal of Cell Biology, 150 (4), pp. 849-860.

This post results from the discussion of  Figard et al., 2013 by the Development, Regeneration, and Stem Cell Biology Journal Club at the University of Chicago. It was authored by Haley K. Stinnett, Department of Organismal Biology and Anatomy, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637. 

(4 votes)

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Soapbox Science follows the format of using historical areas for public debate, such as London Hyde Park’s Speakers Corner, providing a way of bringing scientists and their work to the public.  It strips away props such as powerpoint slides and encourages a dynamic dialogue between the scientist standing on a soapbox and the general public, all within a bustling city environment.

I was delighted when out of the blue I received an invitation from the dynamic organisers, Dr Nathalie Pettorelli and Dr Seirian Sumner, to speak at Soapbox Science in July 2012.  Soapbox Science was then in its third year and hosted by the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) and L’Oréal-UNESCO for Women in Science Programme.  The aim was to increase the visibility of UK women in science by giving them the opportunity to present their science in an accessible, engaging way to the general public.

This particular Soapbox science event took place on London’s South Bank, and was focused on inspiring a new generation of female scientists, by showing them how accessible a career in science is.  Indeed a special effort had been made to encourage 14-18 year old school children to attend.

Courtesy of Silvana Goberdhan-Vigle

I was one of thirteen speakers, selected to speak about their science and to field questions from the school children and members of the public.  Dr Seirian Sumner commented, “This year we showcase how women in science can and do reach the top: these women are some of the UK’s top real women in science, and from their Soapboxes they will share their passion, motivation and scientific excellence with the public.”  Co-organiser Dr Nathalie Pettorelli, said “We hope this event will inspire a new generation of scientists, giving them the confidence to push through existing barriers, and help change the societal norms that currently hold women scientists back.”

Soapbox Science is not restricted exclusively to speakers from academic backgrounds.  For example, the Soapbox Science event I was involved with also featured entrepreneur Ruth Amos, Young Engineer for Britain in 2006.  Ruth invented the StairSteady, an aid to enable people with limited mobility to use their stairs confidently and safely.

I run a research group in the Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics (DPAG) at Oxford.  We are interested in understanding how cell and animal growth is controlled, and study these processes both in fruit flies and in human cell culture .  Of course, I am much more accustomed to dealing with, for example, an audience of fellow scientists at a conference or students in a lecture.  However, the Soapbox presentation did not involve a ‘captive audience’ of that kind, but a transient flow of people along the South Bank who had not necessarily been expecting to have to get their heads around scientific concepts that day.  It was our job to grab their attention and to try to get them to engage with us in a dialogue.  With the aid of a trusty assistant, who was teamed up with me for the day, I chose to illustrate my talk with laminated pictures, some of which my daughters, Silvana (aged 21) and Tara (aged 14), who accompanied me, had helped to draw the day before.  I’ve always enjoyed engaging with the public and Soapbox Science turned out to be a really fun way to do this.

Courtesy of Graham Flack/L’Oréal

Before the event had started, I had wondered whether members of the general public would be interested in my work.  As it turned out, they clearly were.  As always in Outreach events, a key challenge was to be able to communicate the specialist ideas that we focus on from day-to-day in the lab in an engaging and accessible manner to people from a broad range of backgrounds.

My story had a number of key ideas to get across, many of which could be posed as questions: How can focusing on flies help us to understand human biology?  Why aren’t we three metres tall?  What does developmental biology tell us about cancer?  It was interesting to see the reactions when unsuspecting people found out how similar to flies they were!  Children and adults are often fascinated by animal development, but they frequently don’t connect it to the human diseases they know of.  It was a real opportunity to engage with the public and to convey how our most recent work, which probes the mechanisms by which cells sense nutrient levels around them, is suggesting new ways of blocking human cancer growth and monitoring cancer progression.  Some of this is discussed on a blog I wrote around that time.  Soapcox Science is expanding nationally this year, to provide more opportunities for women scientists around the UK to engage with the public in this way. This year (2014), Soapbox events are being held in London (29^th June), Bristol (14^th June), Dublin (26^th April) and Swansea (5^th July). The venues and speaker line ups can be found on the Soapbox website . If you would like to have a go at discussing your science from a Soapbox, you can put yourself forward for the events next year, via the annual call for speakers at www.soapboxscience.org.  This call for is advertised around December to January, for a February deadline. Throughout the year, Soapbox is active in other ways. For example, its website hosts blogs from women in science, sharing their personal stories, experiences and opinions. If you would like to contribute to this, you can contact the Soapbox Science team via soapboxscience@gmail.com, or via twitter @SoapboxScience.

My involvement in Soapbox Science in June 2012 was an important step for me in taking a much more active role in Outreach activities.  Soon after this, I was invited to become a member of the Department’s Athena SWAN Self-Assessment Team, focusing on developing Outreach activities within my Department. Following on from the Department’s successful Athena SWAN Bronze Award application in September 2013, I now have the lead role in promoting and publicising Outreach activities in my Department.  We are currently developing an Outreach section to our Departmental website, which will highlight Outreach activities and also act as a resource section.  There are a lot people in our Department who are already involved in Outreach activities and are keen to do more, and I am really pleased to be in a position to help this to happen.

For my part I am keen to be involved in more events like Soapbox Science, which involve communicating science to the public.  I would also like to encourage further participation in University Programmes designed to inspire school children from more challenging backgrounds, and those from schools without a tradition of sending students to Oxford, to consider a career in science and perhaps to study at Oxford or work in a lab like mine.

Prof Sunetra Gupta Dept of Zoology, University of Oxford), Dr Deborah Goberdhan (Dept of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics, University of Oxford), Prof Giovanna Tinetti (University College London, University of London), Ruth Amos (StairSteady Ltd, Sheffield). Courtesy of Graham Flack/L’Oréal

Image 1 courtesy of Silvana Goberdhan-Vigle

This post is part of a series on science outreach. You can read the introduction to the series here and read other posts in this series here.

(3 votes)

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In the beginning of 2014 (January 5-17th) we enjoyed one of the most fascinating experiences professionally and personally. Under the guidance of Dr. Roberto Mayor and a teaching staff that enlightened and motivated us at all times, a wonderful group of 21 students accomplished the ‘2014-International Course on Developmental Biology’ at the CIMARQ in Quintay-Chile. Students, mostly from Latin-American countries and some from Europe and the United States, participated in a unique and rewarding experience.

We could dedicate more than a hundred pages talking about the unbelievably high quality of lectures and discussions, the laboratory practices, and the professors themselves and that still wouldn’t be enough to describe the positive impact of this course on our careers. While we enjoyed the beauty and peace of that place during those long and exciting days a prerequisite for every top international course, we were blown away by the warmth of our hosts – and idols – in developmental biology, listening to them impart their expertise and sharing their personal experiences; how they became what they are, the hard decisions and sacrifices they made in order to follow their passion for this vocation.

We had the unique chance to interact with internationally renowned developmental biologists as they shared with us their insights on a wide range of topics. Everyone in their own manner taught us valuable lessons which will be helpful for our own research projects now and in the future. We were also encouraged to look beyond model animals and to go out and think about the fundamental questions in the field of developmental biology from a new perspective, to consider the depth of diversity in the developmental process and the forms it generates, to appreciate the interaction of an organism’s development with its natural habit and to integrate ideas not classically thought to be part of the field. These different views gave us the opportunity to understand development in a broad, holistic manner.

Moreover, we were given the gift of motivation. Motivation to follow our ideas, our instincts, to go into battle with our thoughts and try to give new insights to our projects. As young scientists, we spend our days in the lab trying to fulfill our desires and expectations, giving our absolute best for our projects, trying to push ourselves to be the best researchers we can; and it is not a minor fact that as Latin American students most of us have to deal with great challenges to ensure that our work is up to the right standards. For that reason, the encouragement that we received during the course from all the faculty members was a turning point in our careers. It made us realise that with hard work and enthusiasm, there is no goal that we cannot accomplish.

Another keystone of the course was the opportunity to formally present our own work to classmates and teaching staff. We received essential feedback not only about our projects but also on how to deliver and present science to a diverse scientific community, an art that is demanded of all scientists. This was certainly a rewarding experience for everyone, no doubt about it. Furthermore, we now have a better idea of the research that young Latin-American developmental biologists are doing and how we can network with other researchers and classmates around the world.

An addition to this outstanding experience was the mini-symposium about Developmental Biology which gave us the opportunity to take part in the life of the scientific community in Chile. High-quality lectures gave shape to this event as Chilean and international experts shared their research and thoughts in a delightful atmosphere. The symposium truly completed our experience.

We strongly believe that one of the most powerful tools we have in science is our desire to progress together as a community because we certainly know that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts and we choose that principle as a way of doing science. This course is tangible proof of that, bringing state-of-the-art technology and first class teaching to Latin American students and allowing us to take advantage of this every single day so that we all develop as a group and as researchers. We generated strong bonds and a great sense of community. This course gave to Latin America (and other parts of the world) a network of young developmental biologists that share each other’s interests, aspirations and passions.

We have learned the most fascinating strategies, pathways, and molecular principles for patterning of current and potential model organisms in developmental biology, and during our lab practices we actually heard some of the beautiful chords of their melodic development. However, even more interesting was to personally experience one of the most amazing biological processes; the development of wings in our mind, allowing us to see and think further and wider than we could have ever imagined.

Finally, we want to share a beautiful gift from our inspirational teacher Scott Gilbert, who sent to us this quote that he rescued from Pablo Neruda’s home in Isla Negra: “There is nothing more beautiful than something that comes into being, takes shape right in front of us. There is a rigor in the materials that prevents excess folly…” This is a good epigram for developmental biology.

Post by all the Students – class 2014.
International Course on Developmental Biology
Quintay – Chile

Picture by Emilio Lanna. From left to right: Jaime Espina Hidalgo , Gabriela Edwards, Maria Kotini, Kevin Leclerc, Francis Hervas, Santiago Cerrizuela, Gonzalo Aparicio, Daniel Smith, Elías Barriga, Ailin Buzzi, Emilio Lanna, Marcela Arenas G., Gloria Slattum, Gabriel Cavalheiro, Roberto Sanchez, Diego Rojas, Carla Grade, Angie Serrano, Dalmiro Blanco Obregón, Lucimara Sensiate, Guadalupe Barrionuevo, Paul Andrew.

(12 votes)
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The joint Spring meeting of the British Society for Cell Biology and British Society for Developmental Biology is coming up soon, and the Node will be there! Not only will we be there listening to the talks and meeting the community, but we will also be organising the (alternative) careers session. The session will take place on the first day of the conference (Sunday the 16th of March) at 3 p.m. (main lecture theatre). We have a great panel of science professionals who will tell us a little bit about their careers, but who will mostly answer any questions that you may have:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Please come along and join us! Even if you didn’t sign up for this session when you registered, you are still very welcome to join! And if you are interested in alternative careers in science, you may also want to read some of the posts in the alternative career series that featured on the Node last year. If you are not attending the conference, do follow the official Twitter hashtag: #cbdb14

(2 votes)

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PhD position available to study regulation of macrophage migration in vivo using Drosophila

Organisation: Department of Infection and Immunity, The Medical School, University of Sheffield

Supervisor: Dr Iwan Evans

Studentship starting: 1st October 2014

Application Deadline: 18th April 2014

Project:

Inappropriate immune cell responses cause or exacerbate a wide range of human diseases including autoimmunity, atherosclerosis, cancer and chronic inflammatory conditions. An important function of the white blood cells known as macrophages is to remove and degrade cells undergoing programmed cell death (apoptosis). This process can suppress pro-inflammatory responses of macrophages and is linked to the resolution of inflammation.

Fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster) contain a population of highly migratory macrophages, called hemocytes. The genetic tractability and unparalleled live imaging possibilities of this system enables us to study the cell biology of apoptotic cell clearance by macrophages in vivo. This project will study how clearance of apoptotic cells affects the subsequent behaviour of macrophages, with a strong focus on regulation of their motility and inflammatory responses. We will also characterise how interactions between apoptotic cells and macrophages influences signalling and phenotype within the latter in order to understand how apoptotic cells can dampen inflammatory responses in vivo. Tissue culture approaches will also be used to test the relevance of mechanistic findings to mammalian macrophages.

This project is ideal for a candidate with strong interests in cell biology and the use of model organisms to study human disease-relevant questions in vivo. Knowledge of cell migration is desirable, but an enthusiasm for science and an enquiring mind is far more important. No prior knowledge of Drosophila is required, since the successful candidate will be given intensive training in the use of Drosophila as a genetic platform to study cell biology in vivo. This will involve a significant amount of dynamic imaging of macrophage behaviour in vivo using confocal microscopy, alongside standard cell biological techniques such as whole mount immunostaining and in situ hybridisation.

For further information see:

I. Evans, P. Ghai, V. Urbancic, K.-L. Tan and W. Wood (2013). SCAR/WAVE-mediated processing of engulfed apoptotic corpses is essential for effective macrophage migration in Drosophila. Cell Death and Differentiation. 20(5):709-20.

I. Evans and W. Wood (2011). Drosophila embryonic hemocytes. Curr Biol. 21(5):R173-4.

Evans lab website

Entry Requirements

Candidates must have a first or upper second class honours degree or significant research experience.

To apply

Interested candidates should in the first instance contact Iwan Evans (i.r.evans@sheffield.ac.uk).

For formal applications, visit: http://www.sheffield.ac.uk/faculty/medicine-dentistry-health/graduateschool/prospectivepg/vacancies/ii

(No Ratings Yet)

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The 2013 Life Fantastic CHRISTMAS LECTURES® presented by Alison Woollard from the University of Oxford, explored the frontiers of developmental biology and uncovered the remarkable transformation of a single cell into a complex organism.

The three hour long lectures investigated questions such as what do these mechanisms tell us about the relationships between all creatures on Earth? And can we harness this knowledge to improve or even extend our own lives?

The Royal Institution (Ri) has developed a series of online CHRISTMAS LECTURES teaching resources comprised of video clips, facts and questions to help primary and secondary school teachers explore the developmental biology covered by Life Fantastic with their students.

On the Ri’s website teachers will find an overview of each of the eight topics including DNA replication and mutation, proteins, cells and organs, and mitosis and meiosis covered by the clips, a brief summary of each clip, related questions and how the topics link to the curriculum. The pages are intended for use as a prompt to explore these topics further in lessons.
The resources are also available on the Ted-ED and TES websites.

All three Life Fantastic lectures, and a range of previous CHRISTMAS LECTURES from our archives, are available to watch in full and for free on the Ri’s critically acclaimed science video platform, the Ri Channel.

(1 votes)

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We have an upcoming workshop that I hope will be of interest to members on this node.

From Maps to Circuits: Models and Mechanisms for Generating Neural Connections

28/29 July 2014, Edinburgh UK

http://maps2014.org

Organisers: Stephen Eglen, Matthias Hennig, Andrew Huberman, David Sterratt, Ian Thompson, David Willshaw

Aim of the meeting

Understanding the development of the nervous system is a key challenge that has been approached by both experimental and theoretical neuroscientists. In recent years there has been a gradual move towards the two groups working more with each other. The idea of this workshop is to bring key people together who have shown an interest at combining theoretical and experimental techniques to discuss current problems in neuronal development, and plan future collaborative efforts.

Time at the end of each day of the workshop will be devoted to a group discussion about questions that have been raised during the day to identify possible research directions and people willing to pursue them.

Speakers: Tom Clandinin (Stanford), Michael Crair (Yale), Irina Erchova (Cardiff), David Feldheim (UC Santa Cruz), Geoffrey Goodhill (U Queensland), Robert Hindges (Kings College London), Sonja Hofer (Basel), Hitoshi Sakano (U Tokyo), David Wilkinson (NIMR, London), David Willshaw (Edinburgh), Fred Wolf (Gottingen).

This meeting is supported by Cambridge University Press, Company of Biologists, Gatsby Charitable Foundation, Institute for Adaptive and Neural Computation, Wellcome Trust.

(1 votes)

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This article was first published in Development, and was written by Timothy T. Weil, Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge.

In the age of Google and Wikipedia, what is the role of the textbook? When revising lecture notes, what motivates a student to pull a clunky book off the shelf, rather than hitting the keyboard and accessing millions of search results in tenths of a second? The question for today’s educator might actually be how to steer undergraduates to the best-suited, most applicable source. When teaching developmental biology, the 10th edition of Developmental Biology by Scott F. Gilbert provides an elegant solution to this conundrum.

Any text in its 10th edition is likely to have had a great deal of success, and Gilbert is no different. The work is comprehensive, with all the expert detail and beautiful data that have become synonymous with his book. While online searches and primary articles can be very intimidating to students and often compound pre-existing confusion, Gilbert works well as an entry point into the vast literature on all the topics covered. The text can function both as a general tool that can be read chapter by chapter, and as a reference for specific questions. This dependable and friendly text enables students to acquire quality basic information, and subsequently directs them smoothly to the primary literature for further exploration.

Like a prologue to a play, the first pages of the text set the scene and introduce the main characters, relationships and drama that motivate the action to follow. Gilbert’s 10th edition is presented in four parts: Questions, Specification, The Stem Cell Concept and Systems Biology. This structure remains mostly unchanged from the previous version; a pragmatic reorganisation that was introduced between the 8th and 9th editions. Each part opens with an introduction in review-like style and standard. These prefaces work well, placing the information to be presented in context, as well as informing and exciting the reader as to why it is important.

The book is further divided into 20 chapters that are well organised, easy to navigate, comprehensive and enriched with primary images and effective diagrams (an impressive 694 illustrations in 719 pages). Within the four parts, the chapters are linked with short, concept-driven openings and end with concluding remarks in the ‘coda’ section, creating a cohesive quality to the book. Also included at the end of each chapter is a ‘snapshot summary’, suggestions for further reading and directions to the online resources that are provided as part of the book package. Although these are expected components of any top textbook, Gilbert executes them extremely well. Throughout the chapters, there are stand-alone sections entitled ‘Sidelights & Speculations’, such as ‘The Nonequivalence of Mammalian Pronuclei’, ‘BMP4 and Geoffroy’s Lobster’ and ‘Transposable DNA Elements and the Origins of Pregnancy’. These vignettes have a mini-review quality to them and are good launch points for small group discussions.

Notably, the 10th edition has considerable new content and references, helping to maintain its position at the leading edge of available textbooks. This includes, but is by no means limited to, content on microRNA-mediated gene silencing, a new Crepidula (sea snail) fate map, epigenetic mechanisms of X inactivation, new ideas of neural tube closure, epithelial-to-mesenchymal transitions in cancer and developmental plasticity due to climate change.

For undergraduate course designers and lecturers, it is useful that the text is question driven, and includes many techniques ranging from classical transplantation and genetic screens to modern molecular networks and super-resolution microscopy. This provides the reader with the necessary information to think about the data as the original researcher did – an essential component in the education of young scientists.

Inherently, however, a textbook is out of date as soon as ink hits paper. It is therefore unfair to criticise the book on failing to include recent advancements, such as the CRISPR/Cas technology for genome engineering in Drosophila and other species. However, these limitations must be noted when considering the place of textbooks, as education inexorably moves towards a paperless existence.

The book ‘extras’ are an attempt to bridge the gap between paper and screen. These include the companion website www.devbio.com – self-described as a ‘museum’ with different ‘exhibits’ that ‘enrich courses in developmental biology’ – and vade macum3, a ‘laboratory manual’ that ‘helps students to understand the organisms discussed and prepare for the laboratory’. Both supplement the text, but are not essential to the book experience. They seek to provide an interactive avenue for students to explore, but when competing against the web are unlikely to become the first point of call for a student. However, they do offer an additional resource for instructors to enhance their lecture material with some available images and short videos. Moreover, by contacting the publisher, lecturers who confirm adoption of the text as part of their course may be granted access to ‘The Instructor’s Resource Library’. This includes images and presentation documents of all figures, tables and videos found in the text. This is a windfall for new lecturers and established educators looking to refresh their material.

Beyond the scientific realm, the text displays Gilbert’s ability to wear other literary hats, keeping the reader interested and engaged. He acts as historian as he brings alive the rich tapestry of developmental biology research; as columnist when relating the science to cultural quotes from the likes of T. S. Eliot, Steve Jobs, Emily Dickinson and Frank Lloyd Wright to name but a few; and finally as comedian with a lighthearted section on the website including ditties such as ‘The Histone Song’, links to YouTube videos and amusing articles.

Altogether, Developmental Biology by Gilbert is a classic and fundamental text. At £52.99 (RRP €63.58, $139.95), it is worth considering whether the 10th edition is a necessary upgrade. For general biology students, older editions will likely suffice. For lecturers or aficionados, the new content is nice, but not essential, especially for anyone owning the 9th edition. However, if you want an excellent text for teaching and learning developmental biology, the 10th edition is an ideal resource.

In the social media-dominated world of today, the future of the traditional course textbook is uncertain. The prospect of a continuously updated, interactive online ‘book’, complete with embedded links to primary sources, live movies and interactive images, is appealing. Still, at present there is no substitute for the well-written, accurate and engaging reference book exemplified by the 10th edition of Developmental Biology by Gilbert.

Developmental Biology, 10th edition by Scott F. Gilbert. Sinauer Associates (2013), 750 pages. ISBN: 9780878939787. $139.95 (hardback).

International Edition: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN: 9781605351735. £52.99, €63.58.

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