the community site for and by developmental biologists
the community site for and by developmental biologists
Posted by Matthew R Johnson on August 21st, 2018
All life requires energy. For early metazoan development, demand is especially high, as the transition from a single cell to a complex, multicellular organism requires a massive energetic input. In the earliest stages of development, however, an organisms’ inability to feed poses an apparent problem: how is the energy necessary to drive development obtained? In[…]
Posted by Nicolas Rivron on June 27th, 2018
In our recently published paper1, we showed that mouse stem cells self-organize into blastocyst-like structures, that we termed blastoids. Because blastoids can be generated in large numbers, can be finely manipulated, and implant in utero, they are a powerful tool to investigate the principles of pre- and post-implantation development. Here is the backstory of our[…]
Posted by Sara Wilson on June 18th, 2018
Applications are invited from highly motivated individuals dedicated to peruse a PhD and who are interested in nerve/tumour interactions and nervous system development. PROJECT DESCRIPTION During tumour progression nerves and tumours interact resulting in tumour cells using nerves as a metastatic route out of the organ, through a process called perineural invasion (PNI). While this[…]
Posted by Patrick Lemaire on April 3rd, 2018
The project: Single-cell approaches are revolutionizing developmental biology. We can now trace in time the behavior of each cell in a live developing organism (1). In parallel, single-cell transcriptomics and genomics gives access to the transcriptional state of each cell (2). Combination of these two approaches promises to unravel how genomic information translates into individual[…]
Posted by Sara Wilson on January 18th, 2018
Applications are invited from highly motivated individuals who are interested in fundamental mechanisms of neuronal migration and axon guidance. The main focus of our research is to understand the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying the development of neural circuits using the embryonic spinal cord as a model system (http://www.ucmm.umu.se/english/research/sara-wilson/). The fellowship is funded for two[…]
Posted by Heather Ray on December 18th, 2017
The end of the year is quickly approaching, and if you are anything like me you are scrambling to try to get as much work done as possible before your holiday break. But while this frequently entails getting papers submitted, committee meetings completed, and experiments wrapped up, I also take the opportunity to reflect on[…]
Posted by the Node on December 13th, 2017
Here at the Node we are always on the lookout for beautiful developmental biology images and videos, and love our science art (see here, here, here, here and here!). So we were excited to hear FASEB announce the winners of their 2017 BioArt competition. As well as gorgeous images (see below) there was this wonderful video – the[…]
Posted by the Node Interviews on November 16th, 2017
Zika infection in humans is associated with birth defects including microcephaly. Zika has two major lineages – the Asian lineage, which has been associated with birth defects, and the African lineage, which has not – but the relative effects of each strain on brain development, and the effects of the related dengue virus that co-circulates with[…]
Posted by Georgia Rapti on October 20th, 2017
It’s all about the wires. But what about the glue? Networks make us who we are. I am not talking about social networks but about neural networks that define how we perceive the world and how we act. For a century, neuroscientists have sought to understand functions of neural networks in condition and how such[…]
Posted by NietoLab on October 19th, 2017
Oscar H. Ocaña and M. Angela Nieto Comment on “A right-handed signalling pathway drives heart looping in vertebrates”. Nature 549, 86-90 (2017). A fundamental aspect of vertebrates is their external bilateral symmetry, which has to some extent shaped evolutionary success. Not only is beauty associated with symmetry, enhancing an individual’s chance of mating but[…]
