Thrilled to present our comparative study on the evolution of zygotic genome activation (ZGA)!! 🥚🧬

Amazing PhD work of @campobes.bsky.social together with @fedemantica.bsky.social and many collaborators! @melisupf.bsky.social @crg.eu. Thread below 1/15

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Rethinking Cell Differentiation and Development: A Unicellular Perspective Date: 6-9 December 2026 Location: Buxted Park, East Sussex, UK Organisers: Elena Casacuberta and James Gahan Early-career researchers apply for a funded place

Apply for a funded early-career researcher place at our Workshop on Rethinking Cell Differentiation and Development: A Unicellular Perspective, organised by Elena Casacuberta & James Gahan @jgahan.bsky.social. Find out more www.biologists.com/workshops/de...
#BiologistsWorkshops

Efficient genome editing using CRISPR–Cas9 in reef-building corals - Nature Protocols In this protocol, the authors present straightforward and efficient methods to genetically modify corals and study gene function throughout various life-history stages using CRISPR–Cas9-based mutagene...

To increase the use of gene editing in corals, we have made a comprehensive methods paper describing the protocol. We hope this helps the field of functional genetics in corals. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Introducing a Clytia planula cell atlas, and demonstrating broad-level relations with medusa cells via another updated atlas. By @annaferraioli.bsky.social with @juliarmateu.bsky.social and collaborators in a project led by @rcply.bsky.social @biodev-vlfr.bsky.social www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

We‘re looking for a motivated Master student to join our team!

Do you want to optogenetically control metabolic activity to see how metabolism affects patterning and morphogenesis? 💡🧫🧬🔬

Then please apply!
#optogenetics #metabolism #devbio #hESCs

Please RT. Thank you!🙏

How have concerted and mosaic evolutionary mechanisms shaped the expansion of the human cerebellum?

Our review with @tyamadat.bsky.social and @ioansarr.bsky.social available free till March 29:
authors.elsevier.com/a/1ma2wFzn7a...

Brain with puzzle overlay to show that our study provides missing pieces of the puzzle of human brain development by delivering the most comprehensive picture of hindbrain development to date. We have strived to go beyond just another multi-omics atlas to gain deep insights by: 1. Meticulously annotating cell clusters 2. Extracting regulatory programs in terms of coordinated gene sets and accessible regulatory elements 3. Using deep learning to identify regulatory syntax 4. Resolving context-specific TF activity

Excited to share our preprint on our new multi-omic atlas of human hindbrain development. Led by postdoc Piyush Joshi, in collaboration with @kaessmannlab.bsky.social and Pfister labs, our atlas represents the first comprehensive view of human hindbrain development. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

@arnausebe.bsky.social has put together a fantastic thread explaining the work—check it out here 👇 bsky.app/profile/arna...

A particularly exciting finding is that, while effector gene usage groups functionally similar cell types, regulatory similarities beautifully reflect known ontogenetic relationships!

We dissect the regulatory logic underlying cell identity in the cnidarian Nematostella, laying a foundation for comparative regulatory genomics.

And to @xgrau.bsky.social, @zolotarg.bsky.social, @lukasmahieu.bsky.social, @steinaerts.bsky.social, plus Didac Cañas and the Genomics, FACS & ALMU teams at @crg.eu for amazing support

Decoding cnidarian cell type gene regulation - Nature Ecology & Evolution This study reconstructs the gene regulatory networks that define cell types in the sea anemone Nematostella vectensis, providing a valuable resource for comparative regulatory genomics and the evoluti...

Lovely Xmas gift 🎄—our paper is out today in @natecoevo.nature.com www.nature.com/articles/s41...! Huge thanks to everyone who made it possible, especially @aelek.bsky.social and @arnausebe.bsky.social

Stoked that this paper, summarizing a vast series of experiments from past and present members of the team is out. A great way to end this year.

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Two nerve nets are formed in Hydra vulgaris: the endodermal (cyan) and the ectodermal (purple) net. (B) Intraepithelial neurons are randomly scattered between the epithelial cells of the two germ layers. (C) Two types of connections have been found between Hydra’s neurons. (D) Endodermal neurons are in physical touch with each other by forming neural handshakes by digiform endings, which get intertwined. (E) In other places, clusters of vesicles of different types can be released to mediate volume transmission between neurons and between neurons and other cells.

Our dispatch:

www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S096...

on the recent Hydra volume EM paper by Zhang, Rafa Yuste and colleagues:

#connectomics, without synapses

www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S096...

#neuroscience

Ectopic head regeneration after nervous system ablation in a sea anemone Via genetic ablation of neurons, Mazloumi Gavgani et al. show that the nervous system is essential for defining axial polarity during whole-body regeneration in the sea anemone Nematostella vectensis.

Our paper on the role of neurons in Nematostella head regeneration is now out at @currentbiology.bsky.social Big thank you to all collaborators, it was a pleasure!

Ectopic head regeneration after nervous system ablation in a sea anemone: Current Biology www.cell.com/current-biol...

Separation of the Early gastrula into oral and aboral halves shows that some neural cell tupes derive from aboral ectoderm, and others from i-cells

Drawing together findings from several projects over many years, we make a case that neural cell types in the Clytia larva have two embryological origins: i-cells and ectodermal.
bioRxiv 2025.11.17.688882; doi: doi.org/10.1101/2025...

We are pleased to announce our next #SEBD2026 meeting! The meeting will take place in El Rompido, Huelva, from the 28th to the 30th of October 2026 #savethedate @cabd-upo-csic.bsky.social @isdb.bsky.social @gfeev.bsky.social @ijdb.bsky.social @devbiol.bsky.social @devdynamics.bsky.social

Staufen2 modulates the temporal dynamics of human neurogenesis in vitro RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) play a central role in post-transcriptional regulation during brain development, yet their specific functions in coordinating human neural lineage decisions remain poorly u...

🚨New preprint from the lab! This work led by @akshayjg.bsky.social & @smfernandezmoya.bsky.social shows how the RNA binding protein STAU2 regulates the timing of neurogenesis in iPSC-derived human cells
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Quantification of transcript isoforms at the single-cell level using SCALPEL - Nature Communications Single-cell RNA-seq facilitates the study of transcriptome diversity in individual cells. Here, authors introduce a tool for isoform quantification at the single-cell level using 3’ scRNA-seq data, co...

I’m really happy to present #SCALPEL, a new #Nextflow tool to quantify transcript isoforms at the single-cell level using conventional 3’ scRNA-seq data #scRNA-seq #single-cell #tools #isoforms
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

I am very happy to have posted my first bioRxiv preprint. A long time in the making - and still adding a few final touches to it - but we're excited to finally have it out there in the wild:
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Read below for a few highlights...