Hi, I’m David Brückner @davidbrueckner.bsky.social. I’ll take you through how cells in a tissue can use information distributed by biochemical gradients to make decisions, and how we can measure such positional information. buff.ly/RFxVeHh

Ever wondered what drives enhancer-promoter specificity? Why would an enhancer activate one gene rather than another neighboring one? Check our latest preprint, led by @mmasoura.bsky.social, to find out! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Wolpert, L. (1969). Positional information and the spatial pattern of cellular differentiation. Journal of theoretical biology, 25(1), 1-47. #EpithelialMechanics

🌍Open call: Junior Group Leader positions! Join a world-class biomedical research institute at the heart of the Vienna BioCenter, where curiosity drives discovery. Lead your own lab, pursue bold ideas, and shape the future of science at the IMP: www.imp.ac.at/career/open-...

Jan Rozman, Sumesh P. Thampi, Julia M. Yeomans: Why Extensile and Contractile Tissues Could be Hard to Tell Apart https://arxiv.org/abs/2511.07012 https://arxiv.org/pdf/2511.07012 https://arxiv.org/html/2511.07012

Switzerland is joining Horizon Europe! We are uniting two research powerhouses. For cutting-edge innovation that will boost our energy security, digital transformation, health and so much more. Today is a good day for science, and for our EU-Switzerland partnership.

Brückner, D. B., & Tkačik, G. (2024). Information content and optimization of self-organized developmental systems. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, #EpithelialMechanics www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

How can we organize current theoretical approaches for developmental biology - from information to dynamical systems & GRNs - into a common framework? We propose to think along Marr's 3 levels: computational problem, algorithm, implementation Check out our review: arxiv.org/abs/2510.24536

We finally made it over here ! And excited to share our new paper on mechanical forces regulating stem cell plasticity in colorectal cancer, involving force transduction via mechanosensitive calcium channels! www.cell.com/cell-reports...

Epithelial convergent extension as a tuning process https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.11.06.687029v1

A lovely example of the interplay of morphogen dynamics, tissue mechanics, cell mechanics and signal transduction at the most crucial stage of embryogenesis. And a good example of why talk of development being "programmed" into the genome is simply the wrong language. www.cell.com/cell-stem-ce...

Excited to visit CRG & EMBL Barcelona tomorrow!

Nice highlight by Joseph d’Alessandro & Mélina Heuzé on our recent paper about mechanical memory in migrating cells with @sgabriele.bsky.social and @kyohalie.bsky.social www.nature.com/articles/d41...

REMINDER! One week left to apply for what (in my humble and somewhat biased opinion) is one of the best academic jobs on the planet! Come join our vibrant and collaborative community here at the @biozentrum.unibas.ch @unibas.ch 🧪

Your go-to tutorial for simulating mesoscale membranes is here. Look no further for: -Understanding the state of the field -A guide for creating new models for your science -Hands-on tutorials to simulate your very own membranes See tinyurl.com/punk3tcu and the below 🧵 start your journey 💻

📣Announcing the 4th edition of the EMBL‑IBEC Conference on “Engineering Multicellular Systems”, taking place 11–13 March 2026 in Barcelona. Exploring organoids, mechanobiology, embryo models, organ-on-chip systems, multiomics and more. Abstracts open now! events.ibecbarcelona.eu/embl-ibec-co...

🤔 Can tissue patterning & tumor heterogeneity emerge in a self-organized way? We show that self-organized mechanical stress & density gradients pattern tumors in vitro & in vivo, and this behavior is quantitatively predicted by a mechano-chemical active fluid model! Check out Carlos' thread ⬇️

The @crick.ac.uk is recruiting Early Career Group Leaders - Lab set-up, research costs, salaries for up to 5 researchers - Support for up to 12 years - Access to our core facilities - Competitive salary - Fantastic colleagues - All areas of biology Deadline 27 Nov www.crick.ac.uk/careers-stud...

Appreciate Quanta for shining a light on our joint work with Simon Gsell, Sham Tlili (@shamtlili.bsky.social), and Matthias Merkel (@merkellab.bsky.social).

New preprint from the lab! We discovered a transient fluidization in the basal region of human forebrains by tracking microdroplets in cerebral organoids.This “basal fluidization”, absent in gorilla and mouse, may contribute to greater surface expansion in human forebrains 1/ doi.org/10.1101/2025...

Pleasure to announce the program of my new series of lectures at the College de France in Nov-Dec. Continuing on the theme of Biological information. I will focus on the computational aspects, building on David Marr's tri-level of analysis in biological systems. YouTube link sent when it starts.

Our paper is on the cover of @cp-devcell.bsky.social . Image: embryonic murine salivary-gland explants stained for fate determinants; p63 (cyan) and HES1 (yellow). Thanks to everyone involved. doi.org/10.1016/j.de...

Had a lot of fun at our first group retreat in Graubünden🇨🇭🏔️🌄

New Review! #devbiol #bioelectricity #CellBiology #tissueregeneration In our new @annualreviews.bsky.social piece, we explore how bioelectricity is generated, sensed & translated into responses that sculpt tissues, guide growth & enable tissue regeneration. www.annualreviews.org/content/jour...

New job, new preprint! We found that embryo implantation can be understood as active wetting! Embryos from older mothers have trouble implanting because they are too contractile and viscous. Check out the wonderful thread (and movies!) by @katecavanaugh.bsky.social. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Are you interested in a PhD in the area of "Mechanisms of translational control during embryogenesis?" Apply now for a PhD @mpi-cbg.de! Overview of all participating RGLs: imprs.mpi-cbg.de/5761/researc...

If anyone ever wants to brush up on a lot of cell migration concepts don't forget we have several wonderful scientists who have given talks previously in cell migration seminars. I find it so comforting to go look at old videos, maybe someone else who will do as well!! youtube.com/@cellmigrati...

Come join us in Basel! @biozentrum.unibas.ch is an amazing place to start your group.

New preprint 🎉 What began as Frieder Johannsen’s bachelor thesis in the @zwickergroup.bsky.social (which I had the pleasure to supervise) evolved into our latest paper: “Chemically Active Liquid Bridges Generate Repulsive Forces” — unlike passive ones, which attract. 📄 arxiv.org/abs/2509.18777

So proud of the exciting story from my PhD student Jakub Sumbal on contractile fibroblasts shaping branching morphogenesis! Fantastic collaboration with the lab of Zuzana Koledova in Prague! @sumbalovakoledova.bsky.social It just came out online, check it out here: rdcu.be/eIIKD

EEE meeting is BACK! Early Embryogenesis & Epigenetics conference in Berlin 02/2026. Checkout great program and over 12 slots for (not so) short talks for submitted abstracts!. Early registration now open - w.molgen.mpg.de/embryo2026

Now out in final published form - with a new title "Mechanical control of cell fate decisions in the skin epidermis" and simulations/quantifications! See below for thread of how unbalanced tensions can bias fate choices in minimal 3D models of tissues! www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Happy to share that my PhD has finally taken the shape of a paper! ✨ Huge thanks to all authors, especially @davidbrueckner.bsky.social & @ehannezo.bsky.social for leading the modeling and @raimonsunyer.bsky.social & @xaviertrepat.bsky.social for their invaluable supervision. 🧵👇

Time for a thread!🧵 How different is the molecular organization of thylakoids in “higher” plants🌱? To find out, we teamed up with @profmattjohnson.bsky.social to dive into spinach chloroplasts with #CryoET ❄️🔬. Curious? ..Read on! #TeamTomo #PlantScience 🧪 🧶🧬 🌾 elifesciences.org/articles/105... 1/🧵

I am super excited to announce that we have a tenure-track faculty position in biophysics open in the Department of Physics at Carnegie Mellon! 🧪 Interfolio link: apply.interfolio.com/174360 PLEASE, share widely across the blue skies! Let me briefly explain what we're looking for: 1/10

How do cells navigate up gradients of adhesive proteins? 🤔 Termed "Haptotaxis", this effect is ubiquitous in cell migration, but it's mechanism was poorly understood We show that passive friction directs cells & explains complex trajectories on gradients 👉 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Early-career researchers: want to run your own lab? 🌟Max Planck Research Groups offer 6+ years, up to €2.7M in funding, open-topic freedom, team support & tenure-track opportunities. Intrigued? 😃Apply by Oct 14, 2025! www.mpg.de/max-planck-r...

Really excited to share our latest work led by @mattiaubertini.bsky.social and @nesslfy.bsky.social: we report that cohesin loop extrusion creates rare but long-lived encounters between genomic sequences which underlie efficient enhancer-promoter communication. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... A🧵👇

We only had a very minor contribution to this story with Alexis, but definitly worth a reading for those interested by patterning, precision and refinment. Nice combining of quantitative live imaging, modeling and optogenetics to dissect vein patterning dynamics www.cell.com/developmenta...

📣 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...

Please allow me to introduce... our new preprint 🎉 Together with Michael Zhao, Anna Erzberger and Alexander Aulehla, we investigate pattern formation due to aggregation in confined systems. You can find it at arxiv.org/abs/2509.08533 @michaelzhao.bsky.social @erzbergerlab.bsky.social

A ring of cells deforms into a triangular keyhole in just 15 minutes. Meet the hindgut, a model for boundary-driven morphogenesis! Out now in @pnas.org at doi.org/10.1073/pnas... with @zhaoshh.bsky.social, Alex Jacinto, Eric Wieschaus, Stas Shvartsman, @lepuslapis.bsky.social (1/8)

Fresh from the press💥 We asked what happens when you evolve gene regulatory networks computationally at scale. Do general principles of GRN evolution jump out? Is the process predictable? Read on to find out @prxlife.bsky.social @crick.ac.uk @ucl-ipls.bsky.social 👉 journals.aps.org/prxlife/abst...

It was fun talking about Waddington’s landscape today in the Waddington Building of the University of Edinburgh! 😁 Thank you Linus Schumacher for the invitation!

Are digits modified fins, or evolutionary innovations? Read how we tackled this old question from a new angle🧪 A story with @chasebolt.bsky.social, @homeobox.bsky.social and myself, coordinated by @denisduboule.bsky.social from @college-de-france.fr and published in @nature.com today! #InHoxWeTrust

We're looking for highly motivated candidates for PhD positions in the physics of living systems. Our group uses theoretical physics to understand how cells collectively self-organize. If you're interested, get in touch & check out the Biozentrum PhD Fellowship program, deadline October 12th!

I am excited to announce that we are looking for a Lab Manager @fmiscience.bsky.social in Basel. If you want to be part of a growing team investigating development and tissue formation, and are enthusiastic about helping set up a new lab, please check out the role: www.fmi.ch/education-ca...

Drs. @dbenzinger.bsky.social‬ and @jamesbriscoe.bsky.social at the @crick.ac.uk established an #optogenetic system for the precise spatiotemporal control in vitro of Sonic hedgehog morphogen production. 🦔 📄 - https://bit.ly/3Vxf0rf 🎙️ - https://bit.ly/3JWWpT9

Just one more week left to get an application in! Starting my lab at the Perutz and the @viennabiocenter.bsky.social has been a fantastic opportunity that shaped me as a scientist!

Preprint alert! We combined microfluidics, proteomics, and RNA-seq to map spatiotemporal protein expression during mouse somitogenesis and found a novel regulatory strategy: dynamic antagonistic gradients fine-tune signalling strength. doi.org/10.1101/2025...