Really happy to see my PhD first-author paper published in @nature.com! I’m very grateful to have worked with such a great team. Huge thanks to Urša Uršič, Michael Staddon, and Jan Brugués, as well as the @brugueslab.bsky.social, and the @poldresden.bsky.social and @mpi-cbg.de community!
Interested in the MBL Physiology Course and want to learn more before you apply?
Join our Virtual Open House on Tues, Jan 6, 2026 | 2–3 PM ET to meet the team, hear what the course experience is like, and get your questions answered.
🔗 Register/Join: https://go.mbl.edu/r5q
HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO ALL OF YOU!🎄✨
The Center for Computational Biology at the Flatiron Institute is accepting applications for summer intern positions. CCB is a great place to work, and the intern program is excellent. Please check out the Computer Vision and Developmental Dynamics groups in particular. apply.interfolio.com/177779
Exciting new #Zebrafish research from the #WeinsteinLab, led by Jong Park!
“Specialized gas-exchange endothelium of the zebrafish gill” —
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Amazing to see red blood cells moving through the gills! Don’t forget to check out the supplemental movies ;-)
Now out from our lab in @currentbiology.bsky.social!
An mTOR-Stat3-Stathmin pathway controls #centrosome and #microtubule dynamics for #oocyte polarization
www.cell.com/current-biol...
It was a joy to co-organize this meeting. The work presented and discussed at the meeting was exceptional. The experimental methods for quantifying key aspects of germ cell development are getting better — and the time is ripe for proposing and testing mathematical modeling of these processes!
Congrats Ben, Claude, et al! A beautiful characterization of roles of Ca++ waves and gap junction functions in tissue patterning!
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Check out our latest issue where we interview Cassandra Extavour, who studies the evolution of the genetic mechanisms employed during early animal embryogenesis to specify cell fate, development, and differentiation at Harvard University. www.cell.com/current-biol...
Was a pleasure to participate in ScoRe - Scientific Conference On REproduction - celebrating 150/y since the observation of sperm and egg pronuclear fusion in @flatironinstitute.org.
A stellar gathering discussing all things germ cells!
Thanks @haysconun.bsky.social, Stas Shvartsman for the invite!
New Online! Signal control during tissue regeneration in adult animals
Four large circular bulbs are spread out like a square. Between the colourful bulbs, and in the background, are long, differently-coloured tendrils, which take up most of the rest of the image.
This image shows neurons being grown on a surface with tiny patterns that resemble human tissue to ‘steer’ their growth.
Models like this allow us to learn more about our nervous system and conditions like motor neurone disease.
Image credit: Cathleen Hagemann and @andreaserio.bsky.social
Got to love studies that were clearly conducted "for the love of the game" (“self-decapitating sea slugs”, “plants that see and use that for mimicry”, “worms that jump in the air”, aka papers you sometimes find in @currentbiology.bsky.social
) References to all of this bellow👇
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)
Super impressive study by the group of Stefano di Talia on the segmentation of zebrafish notochord. There might even be a SNIC ! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
🧵Does the nucleus set the cell cycle clock? 🕒
In frog egg extract “mini-cells” we see that as nuclei grow, cycles slow down. The period scales with the nuclear-to-cytoplasmic ratio, across Xenopus species, and even when DNA replication or transcription are blocked.
👉 doi.org/10.1016/j.cu...
Latest on Waddington Landscapes: Computational methods to fit dynamical landscapes directly to single cell data
Applied to neural tube patterning shows morphogen-signalling landscapes can be linearly interpolated
Connects interpretable landscape models with data
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Synthetic materials accumulate damage with every mechanical challenge. Epithelial tissues are regularly loaded, yet healthy epithelia rarely rupture. Why?
We are @epmech.bsky.social and @baldaufsci.bsky.social and in this thread we introduce you to cyclic loading.
bsky.app/profile/epim...
Rotation 1 introduced me to the amazing Physarum 😍💛 Amy, Zach, Ameya, @haysconun.bsky.social and Vita from @gladfelterlab.bsky.social were encouraging TA's.
Thrilled to share our work using live imaging to understand how Epiblast (future embryo proper) and Primitive Endoderm (future extraembryonic tissues) cell fates segregate in the preimplantation mouse embryo. Gargantuan effort led by amazing @rpkimyip.bsky.social, David Denberg and Denis Faerberg!
Belated post, but I really enjoyed working as a theory buddy with the Gladfelter lab at MBL physiology. Was refreshing to work on an array of beautiful problems in fungi and slime molds. These big, syncytial cells challenge preconceptions about cell cycles, distribution of resources, and more.
That's a wrap! The results of the first #cryoEM heterogeneity challenge are up on biorxiv!
biorxiv.org/content/10.110
Just noticed a super nice preview of our paper by @ditalialab.bsky.social and Alexandra Hiestand. As always, good editorial experience with @cp-cellsystems.bsky.social
www.cell.com/cell-systems...
Watch: 6 Science Short Films Created by Flatiron Institute Researchers and Filmmakers www.simonsfoundation.org/2025/06/18/w...
New work on dynamics of morphogen signaling:
Cells decode BMP gradient via temporal integration of signaling level, not instantaneous thresholds. While GRN gates response to provide additional spatial input
Morphogen signalling dynamics + GRN for tissue patterning
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Excited to share this newly published work: link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/...
This is the product of a collaboration with Jianping Fu’s lab. We proposed a mathematical model for fate patterning by mechanical stresses. This model made a non-intuitive prediction that was confirmed by follow-up experiments.
Bear corn (Conopholis americana)
Bear corn (Conopholis americana) in front of a black oak (Quercus velutina) tree
What is this? Believe it or not, a plant in bloom!
Conopholis americana goes by several common names (bear corn is my fave). As a parasitic plant, it lacks chlorophyll and does no photosynthesis. Rather, it connects to oak roots and thieves the resources it needs
In a new special series called “Science, Promise and Peril in the Age of AI,” @quantamagazine.bsky.social looks far beyond AI-based research tools to explore how #AI is changing what it means to do #science and what it means to be a scientist.
www.quantamagazine.org/series/scien...
Our short film about our co-founder Jim Simons was nominated for the @Telly Awards. Help amplify the story of his incredible life and contributions to math and basic science by voting for our film here: peoples.tellyawards.com/PublicVoting... #science #philanthropy
For my first science post here, I’m proud to advertise our latest work exploring why germ cell connectivity is really important for meiosis 🐁
Done with some awesome colleagues @florpratto.bsky.social
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
