My point is maybe that you should choose a PhD topic youβre obsessed with bc what you need to do for it is analogous to having like a high maintenance pet or maybe a baby
Best wishes for 2026 to everyone from our Lab at
ebrahimkhanilab.bio
We look forward to a year defined by discovery, curiosity, and bold exploration.
Stay tuned for more news coming soon!
#organogenesis #stemcellmodels #syntheticbiology #howtissuesarebuilt
A summary schematic showing morphogen gradients in the developing human embryo, an overview of two screenings performed in the study (one testing factors related to patterning conditions, another one testing factors related to patterning reproducibility) and icons representing the main readouts of the screenings: organoid cell type composition, measures of morphogen interactions, primary atlas comparison and regulon activity.
Your new batch of cortical organoids resulted in mixed regional identities closer to hindbrain. Why is patterning so hard?π©
β¨Our latest paper might help youβ¨
tinyurl.com/neorgpat
#morphogen #neuralorganoids #patterning #scRNAseq
@graycamplab.bsky.social @ethz.ch @nazbukina.bsky.social
Vascular development in the early chick embryo
#DBfeature π£
Unravelling early hematoendothelial development through the chick model: Insights and future perspectives
by Lydia Pouncey, Gi Fay Mok @gifaymok.bsky.social
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Good to see the peer reviewed version of this published
A chemo-optogenetic system for spatiotemporal control of gene expression
We use it to:
- Reconstruct SHH mediated neural tube patterning in vitro
- Measure extracellular half-life of Shh
www.cell.com/developmenta...
Itβs FINALLY out! ππ We have been working on PhotoFiTT for a long time, and itβs now published, introducing a quantitative framework to measure phototoxicity and optimise live-cell microscopy experiments. So excited to finally share the last version! π¬β¨ #PhotoFiTT doi.org/10.1038/s414...
π Day 3 of the 24 Days of Development β¨π§¬
The yolk sac, the oldest extra-embryonic membrane, plays a key role in early nutrient transfer ππ. Mouse yolk sac organoids reveal its function as a choriovitelline placenta and maternal-fetal exchange hub πΒ doi.org/10.1016/j.yd...
Novel markers for haemogenic endothelium and haematopoietic progenitors in the mouse yolk sac https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.11.21.689693v1
Unified Generation of Regionalized Neural Organoids from Single-Lumen Neuroepithelium https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.11.18.689013v1
If youβve ever wondered why you can inject things into the yolk early and it affects the embryo, this phenomena is the reason it works! π #zebrafish
When I was submitting a few years ago and having a similar problem the solution I was recommended by the GRFP support was close to this, a printed and scanned copy of the official transcript. Dumb workaround, but functional.
Dismantling the Institutional Review Board (IRB), that oversees all human subjects research, is bad. Really bad.
I find the Record tool (Plugins>Macros>Record) very useful for this, in case it's helpful - do what I need once and then I have some code that is at least a basis for tweaking.
(1/8) Very Happy to share our labβs 3D post-implantation human embryo model, made via signalling reprograming!
π Huge thanks to the entire team and our collaborators, special shout-out to @cc0447.bsky.social (led the work) and @jinjin-0101.bsky.social (comp. analysis).
www.cell.com/cell-stem-ce...
YO, what's up with all these almost-witchcraft techniques?? In this paper, they develop a way to freeze cells so quickly that it preserves Calcium waves midway!! WHAT??? HELLO??? So now you can do 3D reconstruction of calcium waves with just a normal confocal. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Our latest: We developed a chemo-optogenetic system for precise spatiotemporal control of morphogen production. Using dual light + small molecule control of Sonic Hedgehog production, we recapitulated neural tube patterning in vitro & measured spread of Shh
π§΅
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
"WASHINGTON, D.C. (August 1, 2025) β The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) announced today that it will begin an orderly wind-down of its operations"
cpb.org/pressroom/Co...
Brain Surfaces of 70 primate species
1
To predict the behaviour of a primate, would you rather base your guess on a closely related species or one with a similar brain shape? We looked at brains & behaviours of 70 species, youβll be surprised!
π§΅Thread on our new preprint with @r3rt0.bsky.social , doi.org/10.1101/2025...
(1/10)
I am excited to finally share our work on avian left/right symmetry breaking with you. We reveal a tissue-scale active torque dipole generated at the Hensenβs node, thanks to crazy experiments by Julia @juliapfanzelter.bsky.social and some analysis by me.
doi.org/10.1101/2025...
3D reconstruction of a human Carnegie stage 9 embryo provides a snapshot of early body plan formation www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Have you ever thought about inflating tissues?
Or maybe quickly deflating those inflated tissues?
New #EpithelialMechanics pre-print: doi.org/10.1101/2025...
𧡠with pressure control, multiscale buckling, controlled wrinkling
While helping out on a cool genomics project recently, I came to realise Iβd been taught a pretty big inaccuracy about the events that occur at fertilization. I suspect that almost everyone reading this has the same misapprehension, so letβs do some learning together: 1/
Beautiful work from @santoslab.bsky.social
A 3D model of human amnion from hESCs
These recapitulate amniotic sac development, revealing GATA3 as key amniogenesis driver & autoregulatory BMP/Wnt feedback loops
And check out the size of them in the video
www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...
Our chromosome-scale genome assembly of Nanomia septata, a siphonophore - doi.org/10.1101/2025... . Much larger than many other cnidarian genomes, fewer chromosomes, and highly rearranged. No smoking gun for how they achieve complex colony-level organization. Great work Namrata Ahuja and friends!
How can biological systems anticipate future events? In our new paper with @jordiplam.bsky.social, we show how a simple genetic circuit can predict future trends through a simple (and perhaps widespread) mechanism @drmichaellevin.bsky.social @koseskalab.bsky.social www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Seconding this! Definitely reach out to Mo!
N2B27 media formulations influence gastruloid development https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.03.15.643474v1
Our next western/evening π session seminar is happening next week! Join us to learn about
human embryo models with @bailweatherbee.bsky.social
and
pancreatic organoids with @amandaanderssonr.bsky.social
ποΈ Thursday, February 20th at
β° 09:30 PST / 12:30 EST / 17:30 UTC / 17:30 GMT / 18:30 CET
an email that says "Sarah, One of the hats I wear is secretary of a cub scout pack. We have a space themed Blue and Gold celebration coming up and were expecting an NASA astronaut to be able to talk to us. With everything *waves hands crazily* this unfortunately feel through. Is there someone space themed (Astronomer, astrophysicist etc) that you could put us in touch with. The talk would HAVE to be Feb 24th, at approximately 6:30 pm Eastern (During our pack meeting). thanks for any help in this matter. Regards"
We have a CUB SCOUT EMERGENCY.
Space people, anybody able to help here?
Using social media for this bc
1) urgent
2) at a specific date and time
@philplait.bsky.social @astrochic73.bsky.social @astrokatie.com
The placenta is unlikely to generate blood-forming hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs). This schematic shows how, in mouse embryos, Hoxa13-Cre lineage tracing labels virtually all endothelial cells within the mouse placenta. However, virtually no HSCs are labeled by Hoxa13-Cre. This suggests that the placenta is unlikely to form HSCs. Rather, these results suggest that HSCs are produced elsewhere in the developing embryo and subsequently migrate to the placenta, which serves as a landing pad for HSCs.
Is the placenta is a source of, or merely a niche for, blood-forming #hematopoietic #StemCells? This Primer explores a @plosbiology.org study showing that the placenta does not directly give rise to hematopoietic stem cells. π§ͺ Paper: plos.io/4hl3qZF Primer: plos.io/40R1VeE
