What a year it's been at the DB unit @embl.org! 2025 brought us hard work, exciting discoveries, and numerous initiatives that advanced our science. As we wrap up this year, we want to wish everyone a restful and joyful winter break. We'll be back in 2026, ready for new challenges. See you then! 🎉

🎓 Congratulations to Victoria Witte from the Arendt group @embl.org who has defended her PhD thesis titled “A single cell transcriptomics investigation of the adult Platynereis dumerilii mushroom bodies” #DevelopmentalBiology

Well done Paco Majic @hhydrochaerus.bsky.social, Santi Herrera and colleagues 👏

Axolotl can regrow lost limbs, matching their body size. How? Our new theory-experiment paper in @pnas.org proposes how oppositely oriented morphogen gradients scaling with animal size promote proportional growth. Great collaboration with @tatianasg.bsky.social @cmcb-tud.bsky.social

Very happy to share our 'Evoscape' paper, now published in PNAS ! www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

🎓Congratulations to Adriaan Meiborg @ymeiborg.bsky.social, from the Vu group @hanhtkvu.bsky.social @embl.org who has defended his PhD thesis titled “A single-cell view of Schmidtea mediterranea growth dynamics” #DevelopmentalBiology

🎉 Congratulations to Idoia Quintana @idoiaeu.bsky.social on receiving an ERC Consolidator Grant! Exciting research ahead. #ERCCogGrant #Research

✨ This week's DB seminar was presented by Sosuke Fujita a postdoc in the Ikmi group @aikmi.bsky.social @embl.org. His research focuses on the role of neuropeptide signaling in development and regeneration using Nematostella as a model organism #devbio #regeneration #cnidarians

🎄 Day 3 of the 24 Days of Development ✨🧬 The yolk sac, the oldest extra-embryonic membrane, plays a key role in early nutrient transfer 💛🎁. Mouse yolk sac organoids reveal its function as a choriovitelline placenta and maternal-fetal exchange hub 🌟 doi.org/10.1016/j.yd...

Two heads are better than one, unless you’re a land planarian trying to find some grub. FORCE pilot project - check! Video credit: Daniel Stoga #nightscience #WormWednesday @hanhtkvu.bsky.social @aikmi.bsky.social @embldbunit.bsky.social @martaalvarez.bsky.social

Applications are open for @dev-journal.bsky.social 2026 Pathway to Independence (PI) programme, supporting postdocs applying for group leader positions: Mentoring Profile raising Leadership training Network building Spread the word... www.biologists.com/grants/devel...

🎄 Day 2 of the 24 Days of Development ✨🧬 This study uncovers a key role for foxl2l in zebrafish sex differentiation. 🐟 Loss of foxl2l blocks meiosis, causes germ cells to accumulate, and results in complete female-to-male sex reversal. ❄️🔍🌟 doi.org/10.1016/j.yd...

🎄 Day 1 of the 24 Days of Development ✨🧬 This study shows how different fixation methods (PFA vs. TCA) change what researchers can visualize in chicken embryos using HCR or IHC. 🔍🐣🔬 doi.org/10.1016/j.yd...

✨This week at the DB Unit Seminar @embl.org, Gabriel Gastelum Urbina @gabyga16.bsky.social, a postdoc in the van Gestel Group @jordivangestel.bsky.social, presented her work on how predation shapes microbial community dynamics in soil #predation #microbialecology #microbialdynamics

We are hiring! Interested? Apply here: go.mbl.edu/AS1887

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

Next Monday, 24th November at 2:30 PM (UK), we are welcoming two ERCs: Meng Zhu @zhumeng123.bsky.social (Harvard University) and Alex Plum @alex-plum.bsky.social (University of California San Diego). Don't forget to subscribe to our mailing list to receive the Zoom link! Hope to see you all! :)

In this week's DB unit seminar @embl.org, Eva Pillai @evapillai.bsky.social , a postdoc in the Arendt, Diz-Muñoz @diz-lab.bsky.social and Brunet groups @thibautbrunet.bsky.social , shared insights on the role of cell surface mechanics in multicellularity, using choanoflagellates as a model organism

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)

Exciting opportunity: EMBL CPP Fellowships are open for applications until 30 Nov! Stay for 1–6 months at any of EMBL's six sites 🔬 Who's eligible: • Currently employed PhD researchers or postdocs • All nationalities, no age limit • First-time visitors to EMBL https://s.embl.org/cpp-fellowship

One more week to apply for this exciting symposium on collective behaviour 👇👇👇

Searching for physical principles of morphogenesis In this #OpenAccess Spotlight, Nikolas Claussen, Fridtjof Brauns and @streichan.bsky.social highlight the ‘physics of development’, focusing on the interplay between quantitative experiments and mathematical theory doi.org/10.1242/dev....

✨This week at the DB unit seminar @embl.org, Noa Ottilie Borst, a PhD student in the Crocker group @justinmcrocker.bsky.social presented her work on cell-type-specific interallelic interactions, and how they simultaneously allow for robustness and evolutionary innovation.

You only have one more week to submit your abstract for 'Collectivity in living systems: emergence, function, and evolution' 👉 s.embl.org/ees26-01-bl Don't miss #EESCollectivity which will explore how collective behaviours arise from fundamental principles across biological systems🦠🐒🧬

Check out this month's handpicked preprints in developmantal & stem cell biology on the Node thenode.biologists.com/prelighters-...

This is happening TODAY 2:30 pm!

Please join us for this exciting new conference on the emergence, function and evolution of biological collectives - unpacking the wonderful world of self-organization: www.embl.org/about/info/c...

Only a few days left for abstract submission at the brand new EMBO|EMBL Symposium Collectivity in living systems: emergence, function and evolution. We have stellar speakers in cell, animal collectives & beyond @priscaliberali.bsky.social @icouzin.bsky.social @ricardsole.bsky.social Join us!

✨ In this week's DB unit seminar @embl.org, Hidenobu Miyazawa, a postdoc in the Aulehla group, shared insights on the role of glycolysis in mouse embryo axis segmentation #DevelopmentalBiology #Glycolysis #MouseEmbryos

Exciting day for the lab: our 1rst paper is officially out in @currentbiology.bsky.social 🥳 Wonderful collaboration wt @gautamdey.bsky.social showing how Cryo-ExM achieves consistent immunostaining in diverse diatoms, from the lab and the natural environment 1/n #ProtistsOnSky tinyurl.com/2zxaund7

🔥 A new review by @aikmi.bsky.social and @mohannad-dardiry.bsky.social challenging the paradigm of organismal terminal differentiation #developmentalbiology

✨Thomas Beavis, a PhD student in the Vincent group @floravincent.bsky.social @embl.org , was our speaker at this week's DB seminar. He discussed his research on how diatom-ciliate symbiosis affects cell fate and function #symbiosis #marinebiology #protists

What are these? You are looking at embryos of a sea squirt. Each of the 'soap bubbles' is a living cell, about a fourtieth of a millimetre in size. The outlines of the cells are visible thanks to fluorescent markers identified by Hitoyoshi Yasuo @hitoyas.bsky.social see doi.org/10.1101/2024... 🧵

Soraya Zwahlen, a PhD student in the Vincent @floravincent.bsky.social group @embl.org, was our speaker at the DB seminar this week. She discussed a cell-ecosystem approach to studying marine microbial interactions under pollutant stress. #MarineMicrobiology #MicrobialInteractions

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

Welcome on board, Corentin Bisot! Corentin is a new postdoc in the van Gestel group @jordivangestel.bsky.social in the DB unit @embl.org. He will study the link between multicellularity and the physical constraints of migration in soils.

Have you submitted your abstract for #EESCollectivity? No? It's about time! This new event will discuss how collective behaviours arise from fundamental principles across biological systems, from cells to animal groups. 🦠🐾 👉 Join us and submit your abstract by 18 Nov: s.embl.org/ees26-01-bl

✨Luc Lederer, a PhD student in the Aulehla group, spoke at the DB seminar @embl.org this week. He investigates whether phase waves during somitogenesis contain functional information for tissue patterning, as well as how we can manipulate and understand the mechanisms behind them #DevBio

Latest from ours: www.cell.com/cell-reports... This is two stories in one: a case study/cautionary tale on developing genetic tools in new organisms, and the first hint at a gene regulatory network for choanoflagellate multicellular development (which turn out to involve a Hippo/YAP/ECM loop!) A 🧵

🚨 TLM Online Seminar Series - 08.10.25 | 16:00 UK Pablo Sáez: "Decision-making during cell migration" Please repost & to attend online please register to our 📧for the zoom link: lists.cam.ac.uk/sympa/subscr...

Here it is! Postdoctoral position to identify the progenitors sensory organs in the regenerating legs of Parhyale apply here: www.averof-lab.org/pages/tracman 1/3

Don’t miss this upcoming #LMBSeminar from Bonnie Bassler! Join us at 11am on Monday 13th October to hear all about ‘Quorum sensing across domains: From viruses to bacteria to eukaryotes’ More details: www2.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk/news-and-eve...

The DB unit also celebrated Anne Ephrussi at this wonderful symposium! Anne was our unit head from 2007-2021. Congratulations on a remarkable career, Anne! 🎉

How to swap the foot for a tentacle and vice versa? Find out in our new story featured in @dev-journal.bsky.social uncovering a transcription factor toggle switch behind the identity of Hydra's extremities.

Dear all, registration for the upcoming EMBO/EMBL Symposium on "the cellular mechanics of symbiosis" is now OPEN 🤩 ! Feel free to register ! www.embl.org/about/info/c... #EESSymbiosis #ProtistsOnSky #SymbioSky @hassansalem.bsky.social @berasymbionts.bsky.social @embl.org

Hassan Salem will be co-hosting the EMBL/EMBO Symposium “The Cellular Mechanics of Symbiosis: Sensing Friend from Foe” from 17–20 March 2026 in Heidelberg next year. Registration and abstract submission will open next month! For more info: tinyurl.com/bdhyv3ht

✨ Back from summer break with 2 great DB seminars @embl.org! Andrew Hogan (van Gestel group) on protist predation defences & Simon Knoblich (Aulehla group) on calcium waves in Medaka gastrulation. Exciting research happening in the DB unit 🔥 #DevelopmentalBiology

🚀New research from the Aulehla group @embl.org shows that metabolism not only fuels growth, but also sends signals that control the speed of embryonic development 🔬 #Metabolism #DevelopmentalBiology #BiologicalClock

🔥 Are you curious about the similarities between the brains of sharks and mammals? Read Idoia Quintana-Urzainqui's new preprint from the Arendt lab at @embl.org to find out more. #Neuroscience #Evolution #BrainResearch

Very excited to share - the ERC StG is a game-changer for us 🙏 We're going to learn the rules for timing control across cell types in the embryo and we think we can tune them too 🎛️ ⏳📈- reach out if you’d like to be involved !