the community site for and by developmental biologists
the community site for and by developmental biologists
Posted by the Node Interviews on October 24th, 2018
The construction of complex three-dimensional tissue structures during embryogenesis requires precise control of cell and tissue mechanics. The Xenopus embryo provides a powerful tool for interrogating this relationship, as demonstrated by a recent Development paper reporting the use of tissue explants to test predictions of mechanical models. We caught up with first author and recent graduate Joseph[…]
Posted by the Node Interviews on August 9th, 2018
The neural crest is a progenitor population with the capacity to contribute to all vertebrate germ layers. The transcription factor and signalling pathway activity underlying this remarkable pluripotency have been well studied, but the role of the epigenetic state is less well understood. A new paper in Development examines the role of histone acetylation in regulating[…]
Posted by the Node Interviews on July 6th, 2018
Contact inhibition of locomotion is a widespread phenomenon in migrating cells. However, cells often migrate collectively as a sheet, raising the question of how contact inhibition is overcome in these scenarios. A new paper in Development addresses this problem by studying the signals that regulate collective migration in Xenopus leading edge mesendoderm (LEM) cells. We[…]
Posted by Elias H Barriga on March 22nd, 2018
In these lines I share with you some details of our recently published Nature paper. I will comment how this project was started and details which are not included in the manuscript. Finally, I will briefly comment on some questions we are working on today and others we believe are worth addressing in the future.[…]
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 NatalyaZahn on August 29th, 2017
Illustrator Natalya Zahn on the role of observation and visual interpretation in her work creating an addendum to Nieuwkoop and Faber’s classic Normal Table of Xenopus laevis As an artist of science and nature subjects, I’m often asked what makes the work I do better than a photograph. It makes perfect sense to imagine that a[…]
Posted by Xenopus2 on August 9th, 2017
Curator position at Xenbase, the Xenopus Model Organism database Xenbase (www.xenbase.org) is the Xenopus bioinformatics and genomics resource. Xenopus is a major model for fundamental cell and developmental biology and a model for human disease. Xenbase is a totally free, and globally accessible database, used by Xenopus researchers worldwide, and is funded by the National[…]
Posted by the Node on August 3rd, 2017
To interview Jim Smith I took a train to London and visited the Francis Crick Institute for the first time. The building had opened in 2016 and, by the time I visited, most if not all of the labs had settled in. Architecturally it was quite stunning, especially looking down from one of the higher[…]
Posted by the Node on May 4th, 2017
On a bright, cold morning at the beginning of March, I went back to the institute I once worked in to interview the man after whom the place was named. Greeting me at the entrance, John Gurdon apologised for being a little late and asked if it was alright to delay the interview for five minutes[…]
Posted by the Node on April 21st, 2016
Every year, the British Society for Developmental Biology (BSDB) awards the Beddington Medal to the best PhD thesis in developmental biology. The 2016 award went to Elena Scarpa, who did her PhD with Roberto Mayor at University College London (UCL). We caught up with Elena at the BSCB/BSDB Spring meeting, and we asked her about[…]
