It's difficult to succinctly summarize a entire germ layer, but Aaron Zorn, Scott Rankin and I tried recently! Our "Endoderm at a Glance" review with @dev-journal.bsky.social is out now. shorturl.at/kHf9Y

For #FluorescenceFriday, an E10 embryo showing Pax2 localization. #DevelopmentalBiology

These images show live embryos of animals (jellyfish, crustacean, worm, sea urchin, sea squirt, beetle) and one of animals closest single-celled relatives. They were captured taking advantage of fluorescent proteins localised on the outer membrane of cells, allowing us to observe cell outlines. 1/9

Mapping nerves in a whole embryos. We find that across species and development stages, embryonic nerves display (beautiful) fractal geometry. More here: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

New paper! Self-generated gradients in macrophage chemotaxis. Just published, by the esteemed Abhi Kiran and many collaborators. A short skytorial follows. journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...

Earthset from Artemis II. I am overcome.

🥳 I am happy to share our latest manuscript published in @natcellbio.nature.com We use #Gastruloids to study #CellCompetition during early mammalian development and find not only that this is highly pronounced in our system but also tightly restricted in time. (1/12) www.nature.com/articles/s41...

@lsprahl.bsky.social and Ronald Canlla in the lab just published a detailed study on remote-controlled epithelial budding morphogenesis. We can direct budding, tubule elongation, and perhaps branching in human kidney organoids via a light-activated RET receptor. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

New preprint from the lab! How do tissue shapes influence cell fate decisions? By manipulating brain organoid geometry, we show that lumen rounding directs apical progenitor division mode and promotes the emergence of basal progenitors. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... 1/

organs develop in a dynamic environment where their boundaries are constantly changing shape, relaxing, compressing, etc. in synchrony with the embryo. see how this inspired us to create a material for optimal organoid bioprinting & self-organization! www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Excited to highlight a new preprint about mechanical contributions to tissue homeostasis, from the Manning group in collaboration with the amazing Carien Niessen and Sara Wickstrom @sarawickstrom.bsky.social labs, spearheaded by Dr. Somiealo Azote: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

If you are considering where to publish new research on extracellular/non-autonomous/geometric/physical cause and effect in development, consider our @dev-journal.bsky.social special issue, with @rashmi-priya.bsky.social!

Submit your latest research to our upcoming special issue – The Extracellular Environment in Development, Regeneration and Stem Cells Guest Editors: Alex Hughes (@hugheslabpenn.bsky.social) & Rashmi Priya (@rashmi-priya.bsky.social) Deadline: 1 March 2026 journals.biologists.com/dev/pages/ex...

Developmentally inspired synthetic kidney engineering - @hugheslabpenn.bsky.social @pennengineering.bsky.social go.nature.com/46tacJq

Check out our new @natbiotech.nature.com review on how to build kidneys & other epithelial organs using principles from embryonic development. Led by Emma Warrner and @azyhuang.bsky.social. www.nature.com/articles/s41... rdcu.be/e3fy0

Our new paper just out! pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...

How do cells orchestrate themselves to achieve a directional movement as a group? Hi, I’m @sayukihirano.bsky.social. In this thread, I’ll highlight key mechanisms of how cells communicate with each other to perform directional collective migration.

🚨 PhD Position Available 🚨 I’m recruiting a PhD student to join my lab at the Multiscale Imaging Centre (MIC), Münster, Germany. www.bischofflab.com/jobs Fully funded ✅ #Cellbio #Morphogenesis #Microscopy #Drosophila #PhD (Details Below) Original Posting: stellen.uni-muenster.de/jobposting/d...

Defending PhD student, looking over their thesis: “If I knew then what I know now, I could’ve done all of this in like 9 months.” A thread about my favorite pioneering cave explorers and why I don’t think AI will ever “solve” biology.

With Byung Ho Lee and Kana Fuji as first/lead authors, @anne-grapin.bsky.social group, @utokyoofficial.bsky.social, Inst. of Physics of Academia Sinica, & @igbmc.bsky.social found the shape of lumens in the developing pancreas is controlled by pressure & proliferation. www.mpi-cbg.de/news-outreac...

🎉 Happy New Year! We’re kicking off 2026 with an exciting VGZT seminar! 🗓️ Thursday, January 8th ⏰ 9:30 PST / 12:30 EST / 17:30 UTC / 17:30 GMT / 18:30 CET Our speakers are 👉 Jan Jakub Zylicz (@jzylicz.bsky.social) 👉 Anahi Binagui-Casas (@abinagui.bsky.social) See you there 👋

Blog post: Just quit Quitting projects in science is hard, but we should be doing a lot more of it. open.substack.com/pub/arjunraj...

🚨Preprint 2/2: Several studies implicate condensates in RTK fusion onco-signaling. So we were surprised to find that condensates are entirely dispensable😮(!). A study from proteins to mice, by dynamic duo @davidgonzmar.bsky.social and @trmumford.bsky.social. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... 👇

🚨New preprint(1/2)! We show that RTK fusion oncoproteins broadly suppress EGFR signaling. How? Sequestration of adapters as the shared principle. Led by superb PhD student Carol Gao. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... Implications for drug tolerance/resistance, and includes one big surprise🫧.👇

We wrote two reviews on cell migration, published today in Nature Methods. They provides practical guidelines how to select a cell-migration assay and how to analyze cell-migration data Review 1: nature.com/articles/s41... Review 2: nature.com/articles/s41...

We’ve highlighted some wonderful images and researchers in our ‘Featured image’ series in 2025. To celebrate, we’re inviting you to vote for your favourite in our image competition! #FluorescenceFriday Check them out here: focalplane.biologists.com/2025/12/19/v...

Leybova, L., Biswas, A., Sharan, R., Trejo, B. M., Kim, K., ..., Phillips, B. K., & Devenport, D. (2024). Radially patterned morphogenesis of murine hair follicle placodes ensures robust epithelial budding. Developmental cell, 59(24), 3272–3289.e5. #EpithelialMechanics buff.ly/z1wX1O6

Apply for Development's Pathway to Independence programme The programme aims to support a small number of researchers in the fields of developmental biology, stem cells and regeneration as they transition from postdoc to group leader. Read more ⬇️ thenode.biologists.com/apply-for-de...

My lab is hiring a postdoc (ERC funded)! If you're interested, get in touch!

❗PREPRINT ALERT❗ doi.org/10.64898/202... The lab of M. Lisa Manning at @syracuseu.bsky.social in collaboration with Ale Mongera at @ucl-cdb.bsky.social show that in the avian presomitic mesoderm, Contact Inhibition of Locomotion has a tissue-wide effect, making tissue act like a fluid under tension.

🎄 Final VGZT seminar before Christmas! 🎄 We’re excited to welcome keynote speaker Olivier Pourquié ✨ “Recapitulating human somitogenesis in vitro” 🗓️ Thursday, December 18th ⏰ 9:30 PST / 12:30 EST / 17:30 UTC / 17:30 GMT / 18:30 CET

📢 New extended abstract submission deadline: 6 January 2026! Outstanding speaker list, plus many slots for short talks by students, postdocs, and junior PIs. Join us in March in Barcelona! events.ibecbarcelona.eu/embl-ibec-co...

To build the body plan of an animal, cells must adhere to one another via cell-cell junctions. We now know these assemble as punctate protein complexes containing thousands of proteins, but how this occurs remains mysterious. 1/n 🧪 www.molbiolcell.org/doi/full/10....

So excited to share this as a new junior PI: My brand-new lab website! 🎉🪰🌀 www.bischofflab.com Please pass it on to young, motivated researchers looking for PhD positions 😊 And for the #FluorescenceFriday community: don’t miss the SciArt Gallery! #CellBio #DevBio #PhDjob #PhDposition #Science

Cells can sense the geometry of their environment, from tiny subcellular features to whole-tissue patterns. How can we engineer environments to systematically probe these responses? 🧵 I'm @lhinderling.bsky.social from @olivierpertz.bsky.social lab, let’s do a short tour on microfabrication!

Super cool new work from my @hugheslabpenn.bsky.social colleagues on rhythmic nephron-forming signals in the developing kidney!

For more on how branching creates rhythmic local mechanical stresses, check out @lsprahl.bsky.social's paper here: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

*New preprint alert* uncovering a mechanical pacemaker that synchronizes nephron formation with branching of the kidney's epithelial tubule tree. Read below to learn about this twisty journey lead by Sam Grindel and Sachin Davis in the lab. [Movie by Nils Lindstrom] www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

This movie shows lysosomes (orange) and keratin (gray) in a cultured cell over 10 minutes.

Very excited to see our paper, led by @amilangscience.bsky.social, out today in @pnas.org! This one was a true adventure, filled with surprises at every turn. “Erythroid precursors regulate local oxygen tension and repair outcomes in the bone marrow niche.” www.pnas.org/eprint/NJ8XC...

ASCB President Mary Munson awards Francis Collins the ASCB Public Service award, noting this is the first time it’s been awarded for defense of science #cellbio2025

Attending #CellBio2025? Come join the Signaling Squad at our mini symposium on “Spatiotemporal Control of Cell Signaling Across Scales” in Room 120 from 9-11 am! I’m not saying we’re the best because there are so many great sessions, but it may be a save the best for last situation 😉

Celebrating #ASCB leadership at #CellBio2025 with four Presidents across the years: Elizabeth Chen (2027), Sandra Ann Murray (2024), Mary Munson (current), and Rong Li (incoming). Learn more: www.ascb.org/cellbio2025/

Interested in cell adhesion, evolution of multicellularity, or developing tools for emerging marine models? My lab at UM is hiring a postdoc, and the application is now open: 🔗 tinyurl.com/28jvu4aa If you know anyone looking for a postdoc, please pass this along!

Our lab neighbors @bugajlab.bsky.social are presenting some cool cell signaling science today and tomorrow at #CellBio2025!

#Cellbio2025 come see the latest from the lab, including on opto/thermogenetics, condensates, RTK fusions, stress granules, biosensors of clustering. Talks and posters today and tomorrow!

#cellbio2025 please stop by my talk (Mon 4:35 evolution) and poster (Mon 12:45 #B479 optogenetics) tmr! Title: Intraprotein domain competition dictates pulsatile response of photoreceptors shaped by temperature and evolution. BcLOV4 as a model. I’m also looking for postdoc opportunities!

Thank you for coming to our session yesterday! We had a blast and we hope you enjoyed the talks! Big thanks to our speakers for showcasing what physical based thinking can bring to biological problems at all scales! See you all next year 😉

I taught Genetics again this year. We need to include discussion of the problematic history of our field, especially as the claims of eugenics are once again centered in our political discourse. Last year I wrote this piece, explaining my reasoning and approach 🧪 1/n www.cell.com/trends/genet...

"The only reason I don’t have this funding is because my last name is Rodriguez,” he said. “It has nothing to do with the science." STAT on the betrayal of early-career researchers: www.statnews.com/2025/12/08/t...