Today is Be Open about Animal Research Day #BOARD26. Geert Kops and Hans Clevers share their perspectives on research with and without animals, and on how these complementary approaches contribute to biomedical breakthroughs. Read more: www.stichtinginformatiedierproeven.nl/researchers-....

Today, Su Ji Han successfully defended her PhD thesis 🎓 Congratulations! She identified disease mechanisms and promising new therapeutic strategies for arrhythmogenic and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Read more: www.hubrecht.eu/phd-han/

Last week, Daniëlle Woutersen successfully defended her PhD thesis! 🎓 She discovered that lymphatic vessel formation is disrupted in a Noonan syndrome zebrafish model, and found that an existing cancer drug could reduce this problem. Congratulations Daniëlle! 🎉 www.hubrecht.eu/phd-woutersen/

Today, Bruna Eckhardt successfully defended her PhD thesis! 🎓 She investigated how cells copy not only their DNA, but also the way this DNA is packaged into chromatin, using a ‘cell-in-a-tube’ system. Congratulations Bruna! 🎉 Read more here 👉 www.hubrecht.eu/phd-eckhardt/

Today, Pim Rullens successfully defended his PhD thesis ‘Genome form and function in single cells’. In the Kind group, he investigated how the three-dimensional form of DNA in a cell nucleus influences how the cell uses it. Congratulations, Pim! 🎉 Read more here: www.hubrecht.eu/phd-rullens

🚀 Doctoral Insights 2026 is HERE. Spotlighting Europe's best fully funded PhD programs in life sciences all summer. Free online Symposium: Sept 10 → doctoralinsights.at Follow along 👇 #DocInsights #LifeSciences #PhD

Group leader Miguel Leung has been awarded the Young Scientists Award 2026 from @heinekenprizes.bsky.social . With his group, he investigates the 3D structure of protein complexes, tiny machines at work inside each of our cells. Congratulations, Miguel! Read more: www.hubrecht.eu/heineken-you...

Today, Eirini Kyriakopoulou successfully defended her PhD thesis! 🎓 She explored whether gene therapy can tackle the genetic heart disease ACM. Her work has led to clinical trials, currently testing gene therapy in patients. Congratulations Eirini! Read more here 👉 www.hubrecht.eu/phd-kyriakopoulou

Today, Mara Bouwman successfully defended her PhD thesis on heart regeneration. She discovered that two genes are required for heart regeneration in zebrafish and investigated one of them in mammals, finding promising results. Congratulations Mara! 🎉 Read more: www.hubrecht.eu/phd-bouwman/

Danny Sahtoe has been awarded the NVBMB prize. The jury was impressed with Sahtoe's consistently strong work on protein structure, function and design during his PhD and postdoc. The prize includes funding to organize a symposium on a topic of choice. Read more: www.hubrecht.eu/nvbmb-price-...

New work by the van Oudenaarden group shows how gene expression and chromatin state become progressively more aligned as differentiation proceeds over the first day of zebrafish embryo development. Learn more in the thread below by first author @vivekbhr.bsky.social.

For 110 years, the Hubrecht Institute has been studying the development of cells, tissues and organisms to discover how life works on the smallest scale. To celebrate this, we are opening our doors on Saturday, 6 June 2026. Read more here: www.hubrecht.eu/zooming-in-o...

Oocytes store large amounts of proteins to support the earliest developmental stages. In @nature.com, the Leung group describes the structure of the cytoplasmic lattice in unprecedented detail. At least 13 different proteins assemble into a stable storage complex. hubrecht.eu/oocyte-storage-complex/

Chronic lung disease and inflammation often go hand-in-hand, but how does inflammation impact lung repair? Antonella Dost, former Postdoc in the Clevers group, developed a human organoid model that mimics lung air sacs. Surprisingly, specific immune signals both help and hinder lung regeneration.

Using live microscopy in zebrafish, researchers from the Robin group discovered a new type of macrophage that permanently resides within blood vessels. This discovery explains how the immune system protects the vascular system. Read more: www.hubrecht.eu/patrol-offic...

Congratulations! Jeroen den Hertog, @bakkerslab.bsky.social , @fmattiroli.bsky.social and Eva van Rooij received ZonMw Open competition grants to study RASopathies and heart regeneration. Read more here: www.hubrecht.eu/zonmw-grants...

How is epigenetic information propagated during development? How do chromosomes reorganize DNA through the cell cycle? And how can cutting-edge imaging capture developmental machines and processes? These were just some of the questions explored at #HubrechtSymposium2026. Thanks for joining today!

Life’s first kiss – what do we miss? The second annual #HubrechtSymposium2026 is off to a great start with keynote speaker Andrea Pauli on the molecular mechanisms of the egg-to-embryo transition. We're excited for this year's edition on the theme “Molecular Machines in Development”.

How can we create a workplace where everyone feels valued and supported? The IDEAS committee at the Hubrecht Institute promotes inclusion, diversity, equity, accessibility, and social safety. Find out about their achievements of last year and their plans for 2026 👉 www.hubrecht.eu/ideas-commit...

@amandaanderssonr.bsky.social, @antonelladost.bsky.social, @robinhweide.bsky.social and @sorayang.bsky.social started their own labs in early 2026. Read about their time at the Hubrecht Institute, their new research groups and their transition into independence here: www.hubrecht.eu/postdocs-sta...

Today, Giulia Ricci successfully defended her PhD thesis. Congratulations! 🎉 She established that CAF-1 is essential in safeguarding epigenome integrity and cell replication. Read more via www.hubrecht.eu/phd-ricci/

Team CAUSE with Juan Garaycoechea and @puckknipscheer.bsky.social has been selected to receive a @cancergrand.bsky.social award to tackle the mechanisms driving mutational signatures challenge. Congratulations! https://www.hubrecht.eu/cgc-team-cause/ #CancerGrandChallenges

Can gut bacteria cause mutations in the human colon? Axel Rosendahl Huber can now explore this question thanks to a Marie Sklodowska-Curie Action Postdoctoral Fellowship. Read more about his project via www.hubrecht.eu/marie-curie-....

For the first time, scientists watched the flu virus live as it infected human airway cells. The group from @marvintanenbaum.bsky.social developed a new imaging technique, VISUN, and observed a large variation in infection success. See www.hubrecht.eu/flu-virus/. Video by @janinschoko.bsky.social

Today, Joana Marques successfully defended her PhD thesis!🎓 At @kopslab.bsky.social, she studied whether p53, a key player in the security system of our cells, can protect against aneuploidy in cancer🧬Congratulations Joana! Read more via our website 👉 www.hubrecht.eu/phd-marques/

Excited to see so many registrations for the Hubrecht Symposium 2026! We’re close to full capacity, but there are still a few spots left. Alongside an excellent speaker line-up, we’re welcoming abstract submissions for selected talks and posters until February 15. www.hubrecht.eu/hubrecht-sym...

How do cells suppress naturally occurring DNA damage to prevent mutations? A new study led by the Garaycoechea group identified previously unknown forms of guanine damage that accumulate in the liver and kidney and the key pathways that limit mutations. Read more: www.hubrecht.eu/dna-damage.

New research in nature.com led by by Dhanushika Ratnayake from the group of marvintanenbaum.bsky.social shows that only a subset of RSV particles carry a “starter kit” essential for building a viral factory required for successful RSV infection. See www.hubrecht.eu/rsv-starter-...

There are still spots available for our Hubrecht Symposium 2026, taking place on Thursday March 26! 📝 Abstract submission deadline: February 1st. 🎟️ Registration deadline: February 15th. Learn more and register 👇 www.hubrecht.eu/hubrecht-sym...

Catherine Robin has received an LSBR grant to advance a promising approach to blood stem cell generation. This project aims to establish gastruloids as an animal-free model to study blood stem cell development and enable scalable production of these cells. See www.hubrecht.eu/lsbr-grant-r...

1/ 🧬 Very excited to share our work on dissecting imputation strategies for single-cell histone modification data! academic.oup.com/nargab/artic... A huge thank you to @robinhweide.bsky.social, @jopkind.bsky.social and Jeroen de Ridder for their collaboration in this project!

Group leader @fmattiroli.bsky.social receives a KWF grant! Together with @aniekj.bsky.social and @nitikataneja.bsky.social, she will study the link between defects in heterochromatin – a specific form of DNA organization – and cancer development. Read more here 👉 www.hubrecht.eu/kwf-grant-mattiroli

Register now for the second Hubrecht Symposium, themed Molecular Machines in Development in Utrecht on March 26, 2026. Visit hubrecht.eu/hubrecht-symposium-2026/ for registration and abstract submission. Abstract submission deadline: February 1, 2026.

Today, Jonas Mars successfully defended his PhD thesis! 🎓 He investigated whether the crosstalk between specific signaling pathways during development has been evolutionarily conserved, by comparing these pathways in worms and mice. Congratulations Jonas! Read more here 👉 www.hubrecht.eu/phd-mars

New immune role discovered for M cells in the gut. New work in @nature.com by the group of hansclevers.bsky.social shows that human M cells can present antigens to T cells, including gluten antigens. This may link them to celiac disease. Read more: www.hubrecht.eu/immune-role-...

Congratulations Ina Sonnen on receiving a Consolidator Grant from @erc.europa.eu! It will allow her to strengthen her research group and take on questions such as: how do cells communicate robustly and precisely with each other during development, despite noise? Read more👉 www.hubrecht.eu/erc-sonnen

Today, Sonja Ruttchen Weterings successfully defended her PhD thesis! She investigated how the timing of molecular signals influences cell renewal in the small intestine. Congratulations Sonja! 🎓 www.hubrecht.eu/phd-ruttchen-weterings

🧬 What happens if you bring enhancers closer to their target genes? Today, @akfelder.bsky.social defended her thesis in which she developed a method to answer that question. Activating silent genes in this way could be a new approach to gene therapy. Congratulations Anna!🎓 www.hubrecht.eu/phd-felder

Joost Wijnakker from the @hansclevers.bsky.social group defended his PhD today. He found that the bacterial protein Invasin can support organoid growth without animal-derived Matrigel. A key step toward fully animal-free, defined organoid culture. Congrats! See www.hubrecht.eu/phd-joost-wijnakker/

New publication in @natbiotech.nature.com! Wim de Lau and colleagues from @hansclevers.bsky.social group describe an integrin-activating antibody that enhances organoid growth also in, medical-grade, collagen. An important step toward more affordable and translational organoid culture systems.

The mystery deepens: how did all complex life on Earth originate? In this intriguing VPRO Tegenlicht episode (in Dutch), PhD student Max Raas from the @kopslab.bsky.social talks about his collaboration with Berend Snel. They study the evolution of cell division machinery in single-celled organisms.

Can blood vessel organoids help us generate transplantable blood stem cells in the lab? Fabien Boudia can now explore this question thanks to a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Postdoctoral Fellowship. Read more about his project via www.hubrecht.eu/marie-curie-...

Researchers at Hubrecht Institute and Radboud University developed an animal-free gel in which organoids can grow and expand long-term. The PIC-invasin gel allows for more consistent, ethical and affordable organoid research. @hansclevers.bsky.social @pnas.org  🔗 https://f.mtr.cool/cekttmhhtn

What is this? It is cohesin, a molecular machine inside our cells, looping the DNA. Today, researchers at the Hubrecht Institute and NKI published a new molecular tool that allows them to study the effects of this process in living cells: www.nature.com/articles/s41.... 🎥 Cees Dekker Lab, TU Delft.

Can organoids help us better understand and treat kidney disease? Fjodor Yousef Yengej set out to answer this question during his PhD. Today, he was awarded the cum laude distinction after successfully defending his thesis. 🎓 Congratulations Fjodor! Read more 👉 www.hubrecht.eu/phd-yousef-y...

Save the date! The second Hubrecht Symposium will take place on March 26, 2026. This year’s theme is “Molecular Machines in Development”, with Petra Hajkova, Andrea Pauli and @danielgerlich.bsky.social as keynote speakers. Registration opens soon, stay tuned via hubrecht.eu/hubrecht-symposium/. ‬

Congratulations to @hansclevers.bsky.social for receiving the Spanish Abarca Prize. "By discovering the Lgr5 marker and introducing gut organoid culture, he laid the foundation for a technology that today redefines biomedical research and clinical care." www.abarcaprize.com

We spoke to Miguel Leung, who today celebrates his first year as a group leader at the Hubrecht Institute. His group uses structural cell biology to study reproduction and microbial diversity at atomic resolution. Read the full interview here: www.hubrecht.eu/one-year-in-...

Congrats to @maxmadern.bsky.social from the @marvintanenbaum.bsky.social group! He received the CS&D Best Publication Award for work revealing that ribosomes can help each other when translating tricky sequences. This was made possible by a method using circular RNA to watch ribosomes in action.

Looking for a Sunday activity, suitable for curious minds (young and old)? Visit our stand at Utrecht University on October 5th, during the Weekend of Science! Here, you can discover all about DNA and learn more about the research at the Hubrecht Institute. More details below! 👇