Aldabra giant tortoises (Aldabrachelys gigantea) are exceptionally long-lived. We sequenced the genome and methylome of Jonathan, a 194-year-old Aldabra, to explore the molecular basis of his longevit...

How genome organisation contributes to the evolution of biological complexity is poorly understood. This study shows evolutionary changes in 3D genome architecture rewires gene regulation in coleoid c...

Mammalian embryos see a substantial increase in available oxygen once the placenta forms. This increase in oxygen exposure serves as a trigger for initiating the development of the hindlimb, thus cont...

The amoeba Incendiamoeba cascadensis demonstrates that eukaryotic life can withstand temperatures beyond what was thought possible and sheds light on molecular strategies for survival in extreme heat.

Nature Cell Biology - Keeping time with protein turnover

In this issue of Developmental Cell, Matsuda et al. and Nakanoh et al. reveal that global protein turnover rate controls species-specific developmental clocks. Their findings demonstrate how translati...

EMBL Barcelona researchers develop self-organising bovine tissues that contain muscle, nerve, and blood vessel cells.

Human brain organoids were developed for over five years in culture to demonstrate that brain cells can continue to mature and record the passage of time, following human-specific endogenous programs,...

Drawing inspiration from Hilbert’s list of 23 mathematical problems that have focused the mathematical community’s attention for more than a century, we propose fifteen grand AI challenges to focus the biomedical community’s attention on critically relevant questions, most of which still lack effective predictive methodologies.

Human embryonic development proceeds more slowly than in mice. The segmentation clock offers a tractable model for studying species-specific developme…

Adult intestinal size plasticity is driven not only by epithelial stem cells but also by remodeling of the surrounding visceral musculature. Sex- and reproduction-dependent muscle remodeling controls gut size and transit, revealing the intestinal muscle as an active regulator of adult organ adaptation.

Podcast Episode · The Joy of Why · August 6 · 55m

Basement membranes are scaffolds of proteins, like collagen, that give organs shape. During development, basement membranes must adapt to the growing organ. We infer how fast the basement membrane adapts by measuring collagen turnover. We find that perlecan, another basement membrane protein, regulates collagen turnover to control organ shape.

Highlighted Article: Comparative and mathematical analyses reveal that oil body cell patterning in fossil and extant liverworts is consistent with a local activation-lateral inhibition mechanism, poin...

He won the Nobel Prize for his work on immunology and then went on to define the field of learning and memory.

Naked mole-rat (Heterocephalus glaber) queens produce isopropyl myristate, a low-volatility ester that high-ranking animals detect and avoid, which alters prolactin and progesterone in other females t...

Recent advances in molecular and developmental genetics have provided tools for understanding evolutionary changes in the nature of the epithelial–mesenchymal interactions regulating the patterned ou....

The prolonged developmental trajectory of the human brain is a hallmark of our evolution; however, the cellular mechanisms underlying this delay remain poorly understood. Changes in lipid composition ...

The spatial patterning of mammalian hair follicle precursors in embryonic skin is most commonly studied in the laboratory mouse (Mus musculus), whe...

YouTube video by Matteo de la Torre

Scientists built a synthetic cell that combines more lifelike properties than ever before — proof of concept that it’s possible to bring nonliving materials to life, or something close to it, in the l...

Neural crest evolution reassembled ancient programs in pigment cell lineage, resulting in vertebrate innovations.