We had covered the history of traction force microscopy (TFM) earlier: bsky.app/profile/epim... But what about applying TFM into more physiologically relevant systems, such as those in 3D? I am @barrasa-fano.bsky.social and I'll be your guide through this thread on #3DTractionForceMicroscopy.

We summarised the many roles of material phase transitions in development (and they are not just mechanical 🤔)

😂

Hello epithelial mechanics fans!! I’m Juanma @juanmagararc.bsky.social 👋 I work on cell mechanics (see celldynamicslab.com) and use Flipper-TR FLIM to probe membrane biophysics in cells. Join me on this tour about Flipper: what it measures, strengths, advice, cool case studies, and cute drawings!

@marineluciano.bsky.social recreates intestinal Villi geometry by growing epithelial cells on wavy rolling substrates. Unexpected intrication of curvature effects is observed. Thanks to all! @caterinatomba.bsky.social @sgabriele.bsky.social @sciencesunige.bsky.social www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Following on from her beautiful featured image post on FocalPlane, Christina Daly @christinaadaly.bsky.social shares her top tips for imaging cytonemes. @labogden.bsky.social. focalplane.biologists.com/2026/01/19/c...

Dimensionality of cell migration. Cells can move along 1D tracks, in 2D sheets, confined between a hard surface and fluid (2.5D), and within a 3D tissue. Pick the optimal cell migration assay for your application using our review paper here: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

How can structures at the vertex of 3 cells have effects at the tissue level? Join me, @laura-rustarazo.bsky.social, to explore how tricellular junctions (TCJs) act as local tension sensors and regulators of global tissue organization. 🧵⤵️ doi.org/10.1126/scie...

This photo was taken in 1911 using glass plate technology by Herbert Ponting who was part of Scott's Antarctic expedition, The composition and detail are exquisite with the band of white snow/ice creating a perfect frame around the two people and the ship in the distance Iconic imo

New year, new beginnings! Join us for all things animal & plant devbio at the 2026 @bsdb.bsky.social meeting in Warwick! Abstract submission closing NEXT FRIDAY 16th JAN - join us!

I'll be presenting about "Breaking Biological Barriers" at Night Science Seminar Series on 12 Jan. I'll also try to say some things you don't normally hear people say about the academic process... cassyni.com/events/TjxgV...

📣Registration deadline approaching !📣 Check out @embo.org @biologists.bsky.social workshop "biophysical & molecular mechanisms of animal homeostasis & repair" 6-10th April, with a fantastic lineup of speakers! meetings.embo.org/event/26-hom.... Register/Abstract submission by 10th January.

A thorough review of deep-learning approaches (I prefer that to "AI") for enhancing super-resolution microscopy by @orangeroad2017.bsky.social, Yang Zhang and colleagues in @natmethods.nature.com: doi.org/10.1038/s415...

Fuck it I don’t care anymore

Wow, this sounds like an incredible opportunity!

I’ve already highlighted this landmark #lipidtime paper by @nadlerlab.bsky.social & colleagues, but ICYMI, do read André’s thread — this study is a huge leap forward in understanding the logic of intracellular lipid flux & is a phenomenal example of #chembio probes 🤝 quantitative imaging 🤝 modeling!

A bit delayed, but excited to still share our latest paper, showing that intercellular forces transduced by E-cadherin activate EGFR-ERK signaling in epithelia by inducing EGFR ligand shedding! Mechanical and biochemical signals can act together within a single, linear cascade! tinyurl.com/mr9mj9j2

🍀🔬 MSL10 is a high-sensitivity mechanosensor in the tactile sense of the Venus flytrap @natcomms.nature.com from Toyota lab. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Cell migration is a key cellular process that drives major developmental programs and diseases. Different assays have been developed, but they are often used interchangeably. In our new paper, we describe how to select the optimal assay. More details here: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

"Results from experiments with N = 4 or less are shown to be highly misleading (...). For a cut-off of 2-fold expression differences, we find an N of 6-7 mice is required to consistently decrease the false positive rate to below 50%, and the detection sensitivity to above 50%"

Of the hundreds of millions of people living with IBS worldwide, about two-thirds are women. Now, researchers have identified a biological pathway in the guts of mice that may help explain this disproportionate toll—a finding that could one day lead to new treatments. https://scim.ag/3YD8H78

Not that long ago, in vivo mouse enhancer design was a dream. Today, it's a reality! Using transfer deep learning to design de novo synthetic embryonic enhancers active in the heart, limb, and CNS. Great collab with @alex-stark.bsky.social lab! @ucibiosci.bsky.social @impvienna.bsky.social

Attention scientists from all over the world🙃 The Call for Letters of Intent for #HFSPResearchGrants 2027 is now open! 🧪 Get your international & interdisciplinary team. It's time to put your bold research idea into practice! 🔗https://bit.ly/48VsGCG 📅 15 Dec 2025–26 Mar 2026 #sts #LifeSciences

This entire weekend

Amazing!! Women Help Women (womenhelp.org) is manufacturing their own abortion pills in order to make abortion safer, simpler and more accessible across borders. They designed an eco-friendly combi-pack that's easier to mail discreetly and centred around women’s experiences and needs.

I ignored the strip.clip argument in #ggplot2 for way too long 😲 Combined with a small negative margin tweak, you can place facet labels inside each panel. A tiny trick that makes small multiples feel so much cleaner. 🔵 no manual coordinates 🔵 inherits theme styling 🔵 scales nicely when resizing

Have you heard about the Night Science Podcast, where we talk about the creative process of doing science? We explore this with discussions with brilliant scientists & philosophers and artists, to figure out the tricks of the creative scientific trade. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/n...

A deep dive into the backstory of @dev-journal.bsky.social and why it changed its name (spoiler - it's not *just* because Journal of Embryology and Experimental Morphology was such a mouthful!). Many thanks to Nick Hopwood for researching and writing this. journals.biologists.com/dev/article/...

The new version of TrackMate, the v8.1 has just been released. It builds upon the recent v8, linked below, and offers two main improvements 👇

Aneesa Shaikh, Maddy Parsons and colleagues investigate ligand- and integrin-independent mechano-sensitive EGFR activation in lung cancer cells. journals.biologists.com/jcs/article/...

Pleased to say that Jonas Hartmann (bs-less) and I have finally released DySTrack (“diss track”) - Dynamic Sample Tracking. It’s a Python-based, modular tool that brings smart microscopy to everyday imaging on commercial systems. Preprint: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... [1/6]

Very cool radioactive fungus news From @chelleraiser.bsky.social www.sciencealert.com/chernobyl-fu...

Something to be thankful for ~ our paper on the intersection of fatty acid metabolism and host-pathogen response in #Celegans is now published in DMM! journals.biologists.com/dmm/article/...

We should definitely try this..

Highly recommend 💪

Thinking only of Rosalind Franklin today, and what was stolen from her (and so many other female scientists alongside her).

Check out the awesome new website of my favourite club!

Rats when they heard bats called "rats with wings"

Wow! we didn’t expect this kind of response! 🚀 Huge amount of papers were uploaded in the past two hours, and our servers are feeling it, so we’ve temporarily reinstated a waitlist. We’ll gradually let everyone in, don’t worry. Thank you for the incredible enthusiasm and support!

Big news! Our week-long #bioimageanalysis bootcamp is BACK! Learn how to think about bioimage analysis like the pros do, learn what corrections you should (and shouldn't!) apply to your images, learn open source tools, and more. Apply NOW at broad.io/BAB3 for our January 2026 course!

📣 It is my pleasure to announce our recent review with Margherita on the current approaches, challenges, and perspectives in studying human maternal-fetal interface using in vitro models www.cell.com/cell-stem-ce... 🚀✨️

Gómez-González, M., Latorre, E., Arroyo, M., & Trepat, X. (2020). Measuring mechanical stress in living tissues. Nature Reviews Physics, #EpithelialMechanics www.nature.com/articles/s42...

We're now recruiting early career group leaders at the Crick to lead ambitious research programmes and explore bold scientific questions. Hear our Director, Edith Heard, explain why the Crick is a unique place for curiosity-driven research. Apply now ➡️ www.crick.ac.uk/careers-stud...

Happy to share the last version of our story @currentbiology.bsky.social on the role of interfacial tension in mechanical cell competition led by @leovalon.bsky.social and Alexis Matamoro Vidal www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

The Ig Nobel is incredible , one year an Indian guy won it for calculating the average surface area of an elephant and during his acceptance they had an elephant hold up a sign with the surface area of the scientist on it, they do showbiz better than the Oscars

Dr. Jane Goodall filmed an interview with Netflix in March 2025 that she understood would only be released after her death.

So proud that my picture is used to advertise this year's fete de la science at @institutcurie.bsky.social !

Join us this Thursday for our mini-symposium with the membrane trafficking webinar series Featuring talks from @nickader.bsky.social, @maiblab.bsky.social and Mónica Quiñones-Frías, and a keynote lecture from Gillian Griffiths @griffithslab.bsky.social. focalplane.biologists.com/2025/09/16/f...

Allergen-induced airway matrix remodeling in mice can be prevented or reversed by targeting chitinase-like proteins | Science Immunology www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... 🎉🎉 @hetompkins.bsky.social @drtesutherland.bsky.social @mattoburgess.bsky.social @james-ep.bsky.social @profjudiallen.bsky.social

Delighted to see that this year's Ig Nobel Physics Prize is about the phase behavior of Cacio e pepe sauce. Paper: pubs.aip.org/aip/pof/arti... Pop Sci article: phys.org/news/2025-09...