Previously we had shown that axolotl tail regeneration occurs in the absence of somitogenesis. In the updated manuscript we propose that vertebral segmentation during tail regeneration occurs through a process of buckling instability. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Looking forward to sharing my postdoctoral work in just a little over a week at the UCAM Morphogenesis Series! 🐟🔬🔦

Elasticity without a reference state: continuum mechanics of active tension nets https://arxiv.org/pdf/2601.08968 Nikolas H. Claussen, Fridtjof Brauns, Boris I. Shraiman.

The next the Ethel Browne Harvey Postdoc Seminar will be this Friday, January 9 at 3 pm Eastern Time with Priyom Adhyapok @priyomadhyapok.bsky.social @duke-university.bsky.social and Zong-Yuan Liu @UMich. Register today and join us. bit.ly/4ncxr0M #SDBPostdocSeminar

Using fluorescence live imaging and an in vitro implantation model, we show that human embryo attachment begins with direct cell fusion via syncytin-2–MFSD2A interaction. With @hansclevers.bsky.social. Great work by @tnoordzij.bsky.social & @martinacelotti.bsky.social www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

📣 New preprint: Mechanochemical feedback, tissue geometry & rigid-body dynamics initiate rotational migration in Drosophila via spontaneous chiral symmetry breaking. A mechanism generalizable to closed epithelia. @sreejithsanthosh.bsky.social biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Happy to share our new work from my graduate lab: DynamicAtlas, a morphodynamic atlas of Drosophila development! We develop methods for morphological time alignment of live data. Surprisingly, we find that the kinematics of fly morphogenesis are *very* simple. Enjoy! 
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

zSwim, the zebrafish lab management software we’ve been developing is now officially listed in Duke OT&C’s technology portfolio! We’re launching an official Duke pilot in March 2026 at the new Ze-Core facility! If you’re in the zebrafish community, check it out! otc.duke.edu/technologies...

New paper alert! We report that #zebrafish endodermal cells use contact inhibition of locomotion as a dispersal and spacing mechanism. It’s a neat example of large-scale patterns emerging from local interactions using a simple set of rules. Summary in the thread below 1/9 doi.org/10.1016/j.is...

Our November in #preprints list is now up on the Node! Check it out for the latest in #devbio and stem cell research ⤵️: thenode.biologists.com/november-in-...

Boris Shraiman points a physicist’s eye on biological quandaries news.ucsb.edu/2025/022264/... 🧪

SAVE THE DATE! Stoked to organize the 2026 Santa Cruz Developmental Biology Meeting with @rashmi-priya.bsky.social, @lowelab.bsky.social, and Shelbi Russell. Come learn about Biomedicine, Biomechanics, and the Biosphere, August 24-28, 2026. Registration dates, etc., coming soon! Please RT

Advanced grad students + postdocs: apply for the 2026 #kitpqbio summer course, "Physical Principles of Morphogenesis in Plants and Animals," at buff.ly/OXXMKEv. Apply by Feb. 1. Course directors Adrienne Roeder (Cornell) and Sebastian Streichan (UCSB)

Stationary and germ layer-specific cellular flows shape the zebrafish gastrula https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.11.10.687746v1

Ascidians (Ciona intestinalis)🪸Our distant chordate cousins! 🌊 Simple sea squirts that reveal how vertebrate body plans evolved 🧬 A key model for notochord formation, neural induction, and cell lineage mapping 📸 Video by MBL Embryology 2019 #ModelMonday #DevBio #EvoDevo

If you registered for the West Coast SDB meeting, check out the updates to our meeting website. We added a detailed schedule and info on poster sizes and parking. #wcsdb2025 sdbonline.org/wcsdb2025_program

The difference between Knowledge and Experience

Wednesday is with us again, so grab your family and friends and drag them out to buy a book! - Michael

There’s a sizable group that protests every Friday at a local park in my home town. So of course I had to join my mom when I was home last week! A true testament to how community-level organization can be a powerful act of resistance in current times!

Had an awesome time at IZFC this year in Madison! The zebrafish community is simply the best 🧬 🐟🔬

30% budget cut for NIH plus whittling into down to 8 institutes. We are so screwed. wapo.st/42gLz0Z

Give ‘em hell, Harvard.