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James Briscoe

@jamesbriscoe.bsky.social
6.1K followers 554 following 343 posts

Developmental Biologist working at the Francis Crick Institute. Neural tube, morphogens, and gene regulatory networks. Editor-in-chief, Development. London · briscoelab.org

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Reposted by James Briscoe
The Francis Crick Institute @crick.ac.uk · 05/10/2026
In a piece in @thelondonstandard.bsky.social, the Crick’s @jamesbriscoe.bsky.social and @charlesswanton.bsky.social explain how AI could help us shift from reactive disease management to proactive prevention and true precision medicine. Read the full article ➡️ www.standard.co.uk/news/tech/ai...
standard.co.uk
If AI can learn how life works, it could help us live longer, healthier lives
The Francis Crick Institute’s expert scientists on how AI can help the healthcare industry
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James Briscoe @jamesbriscoe.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
New from Andreas Sagner & co miRNAs and temporal control of neuronal fate across the vertebrate CNS Without Dgcr8, progenitors stay early and late-born neurons are lost. Rising miR-9 silences early temporal TFs to promote temporal progression www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
biorxiv.org
microRNAs control temporal patterning of the vertebrate nervous system
Temporal patterning is essential for generation of neuronal diversity in the developing vertebrate nervous system. A shared sequence of temporal transcription factors (tTFs) partitions neurons by birt...
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Reposted by James Briscoe
James Briscoe @jamesbriscoe.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
AI & biomed research. @charlesswanton.bsky.social & I write for the @standard.co.uk.web.brid.gy about how AI can help us in @crick.ac.uk to understand how life works: what keeps us healthy, what sets disease in motion & why patients respond differently www.standard.co.uk/news/tech/ai...
standard.co.uk
If AI can learn how life works, it could help us live longer, healthier lives
The Francis Crick Institute’s expert scientists on how AI can help the healthcare industry
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James Briscoe @jamesbriscoe.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
AI & biomed research. @charlesswanton.bsky.social & I write for the @standard.co.uk.web.brid.gy about how AI can help us in @crick.ac.uk to understand how life works: what keeps us healthy, what sets disease in motion & why patients respond differently www.standard.co.uk/news/tech/ai...
standard.co.uk
If AI can learn how life works, it could help us live longer, healthier lives
The Francis Crick Institute’s expert scientists on how AI can help the healthcare industry
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Reposted by James Briscoe
The Francis Crick Institute @crick.ac.uk · 29/09/2026
We're looking for undergraduate students at UK universities who are interested in scientific research to join one of our labs or facilities for 12 months as part of our sandwich student programme. Apply by 6 October: www.crick.ac.uk/careers-and-study/s…
crick.ac.uk
Sandwich students
Sandwich students join one of the Crick’s research groups or science technology platforms for 12 months to work on a research project.
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James Briscoe @jamesbriscoe.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
New work from @spinalorga.bsky.social & co PAX3 doesn't just pattern the dorsal neural tube, it links metabolism to mechanics PAX3 sustains upper glycolysis and mannose-dependent glycosylation, which cluster N-cadherin & strengthens adherens junctions www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
biorxiv.org
Transcriptional coupling of metabolism and cell mechanics controls human neuroepithelium morphogenesis
Tissue morphogenesis integrates developmental programs with cell mechanics, yet the mechanisms coupling these processes remain poorly understood. We investigated this link during neuroepithelial morph...
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Reposted by James Briscoe
Joaquina Delas @joadelas.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
If you are curious about quantitative and predictive cell date decisions landscapes but our 14 figure paper seemed just a bit daunting, have a look at James' linked summary.
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James Briscoe @jamesbriscoe.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Our latest paper on building models of cell fate decisions -with David Rand, Marine Fontaine & @joadelas.bsky.social- combines developmental biology, dynamical systems theory and bioinformatics. I wrote a short piece to summarise it & explain ideas behind the approach briscoelab.org/blog-quantif...
briscoelab.org
Quantifying Waddington's Landscape | Briscoe Lab
I have written before about how two conceptual frameworks have shaped our thinking about cell fate, Waddington's epigenetic landscape and Davidson's gene...
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Reposted by James Briscoe
Development @dev-journal.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
At Development, we #LovePostdocs. For #NPAW2026, we highlight our 2026 cohort of Pathway to Independence fellows. Read about their unique journeys as they work to secure independent positions, their excitement about the latest advances in their fields & the advice they have received along the way.
journals.biologists.com
Dev | PI fellows 2026 | Development | The Company of Biologists
Dev | PI fellows 2026 | Development | The Company of Biologists .card-list-container { margin-top: 2em; } .card-list-container h2 { margin-bottom: 1em; } .ca...
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Reposted by James Briscoe
Teresa Rayon @trayon.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Our article is on the COVER of this month’s issue of @cp-devcell.bsky.social! Congrats to all the authors for the hard work, especially Shota, Despina and @jamesbriscoe.bsky.social
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James Briscoe @jamesbriscoe.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Please email me
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James Briscoe @jamesbriscoe.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
New book chapter from @jcornwallscoones.bsky.social & me On GRNs as dynamical systems. Wiring diagrams alone can't predict network behaviour. Understanding developmental patterning needs quantitative, experimentally defined rules for how CREs integrate TF inputs books.google.co.uk/books?hl=en&...
books.google.co.uk
Open Questions in Developmental Biology
This book explores the enduring and emerging questions in developmental biology, offering a comprehensive overview that bridges traditional concepts with the innovative inquiries shaping future resear...
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Reposted by James Briscoe
Development @dev-journal.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
@dev-journal.bsky.social Editor-in-Chief @jamesbriscoe.bsky.social, Editors Liz Robertson and Peter Rugg-Gunn, and Executive Editor @amjeve.uk will be at @warwickuni.bsky.social for #HumanDev26 from 7-9 September 2026. If you’re also there, do chat with them about your next paper.
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Reposted by James Briscoe
James Briscoe @jamesbriscoe.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Our latest: Dynamic Landscape Analysis of cell fate decisions provides predictive models of neural development from single-cell data From Marine Fontaine and @joadelas.bsky.social with David Rand in @plosbiology.org A thread 🧵 doi.org/10.1371/jour...
doi.org
Dynamic Landscape Analysis of cell fate decisions provides predictive models of neural development from single-cell data
Applying dynamical systems theory to single-cell data can provide a detailed picture of the cellular states observed during cell fate decisions. This study presents a dynamic landscape analysis (DLA) ...
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James Briscoe @jamesbriscoe.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
In conclusion, DLA offers a quantitative & generative framework to study cell fate decisions This is an ongoing collaboration with David Rand driven by Marine Fontaine & @joadelas.bsky.social who did this together Thanks to Meri Sáez, Rory Maizels, Lizzie Finnie doi.org/10.1371/jour...
doi.org
Dynamic Landscape Analysis of cell fate decisions provides predictive models of neural development from single-cell data
Applying dynamical systems theory to single-cell data can provide a detailed picture of the cellular states observed during cell fate decisions. This study presents a dynamic landscape analysis (DLA) ...
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James Briscoe @jamesbriscoe.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
The model challenges the conventional French flag picture The pMN/p3 and p3/FP boundaries arise from branching decisions, not from thresholds along a monotonic gradient Patterning is hierarchical, and the landscape becomes a testable object Clonal lineage tracing is the next test
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James Briscoe @jamesbriscoe.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
The same landscape appears in human trunk organoids patterned by notochord-derived Shh, circular topology included More notochord (increased Shh) tilts the PreNeural flip towards ventral fates. The other bifurcations remain in the two conditions
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James Briscoe @jamesbriscoe.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
We tested the landscape with model-guided experiments Delaying SAG by 24 h commits cells to pMN, as predicted Removing SAG after 24 h changes nothing, so the landscape does not revert Cells reach p3 by two routes, through an early ventral intermediate or via Olig2 expressing pMN
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James Briscoe @jamesbriscoe.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Cell fate decision points are flip bifurcations. Cells leave the upstream state along a shared route and only then diverge For example, on exit from NMP, Nkx1.2 & Irx3 increase towards PreNeural, or Tbx6 & Foxc2 towards mesoderm, having crossed the same saddle
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James Briscoe @jamesbriscoe.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Each cell fate decision is described by a normal form from catastrophe theory, with a few parameters for the effect of signalling Fitted by Approximate Bayesian Computation, the model reproduces cell fate dynamics, cell state proportions and predicts time points it wasn't fitted on
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James Briscoe @jamesbriscoe.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
The method recovered the expected states, from NMPs and PreNeural cells through to pMN, p3 and floor plate It also picked out intermediates: Early p3, and DP, an Olig2/Nkx2-2 double-positive state lying between pMN and p3
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James Briscoe @jamesbriscoe.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
We used ES cells differentiated to neural fates by the Shh agonist SAG. 40,000 cells, 10 time points, plus flow cytometry at four SAG levels Clustering produces a 50 to 100 dimensional gene space of cell states and the analysis stays in gene space
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James Briscoe @jamesbriscoe.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Waddington's landscape has a precise mathematical form: fates are attractors, decisions are bifurcations Building this from data is hard. Standard pipelines take thousands of variable genes and project through UMAP, which distorts the geometry the analysis depends on
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James Briscoe @jamesbriscoe.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Single-cell data show the states cells pass through, but not the dynamics that drive them between states We developed Dynamic Landscape Analysis (DLA), which builds a quantitative landscape from single-cell data & predicts how neural progenitors respond to Shh A quantitative Waddington Landscape
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James Briscoe @jamesbriscoe.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Our latest: Dynamic Landscape Analysis of cell fate decisions provides predictive models of neural development from single-cell data From Marine Fontaine and @joadelas.bsky.social with David Rand in @plosbiology.org A thread 🧵 doi.org/10.1371/jour...
doi.org
Dynamic Landscape Analysis of cell fate decisions provides predictive models of neural development from single-cell data
Applying dynamical systems theory to single-cell data can provide a detailed picture of the cellular states observed during cell fate decisions. This study presents a dynamic landscape analysis (DLA) ...
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Reposted by James Briscoe
PLOS Biology @plosbiology.org · 28/08/2026
Dynamical systems theory can be used for cell state mapping during cell fate decisions. This study by @jamesbriscoe.bsky.social &co presents a Dynamic Landscape Analysis, revealing how morphogen signals orchestrate #cellFate decisions during #neuralTube development. 🧪 #AcademicSky plos.io/4wPoVsn
An expanded detail of the dynamical landscape of cell fate decisions for ventral neural tube progenitors illustrating the circular topology of differentiation trajectories that leads to p3 neurons.
(CC BY 4.0; https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
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James Briscoe @jamesbriscoe.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
A bluffer's guide to tissue mechanics Everything you wanted to know but were afraid to ask about the physics of morphogenesis Many thanks to @pflenne.bsky.social & colleagues for writing this for @dev-journal.bsky.social journals.biologists.com/dev/article/...
journals.biologists.com
A developmental biologist's guide to mechanics
Summary: A guide to mechanics in development: unlock how forces, material properties and geometry shape the forms of life.
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James Briscoe @jamesbriscoe.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
Our latest: We develop a dynamical landscape modelling framework based on time resolved single-cell data Applied to neural tube fate decisions it shows cell fate decisions as flip bifurcations, a circular topology & it predicts unseen signalling regimes @plosbiology.org doi.org/10.1371/jour...
doi.org
Dynamic Landscape Analysis of cell fate decisions provides predictive models of neural development from single-cell data
Applying dynamical systems theory to single-cell data can provide a detailed picture of the cellular states observed during cell fate decisions. This study presents a dynamic landscape analysis (DLA) ...
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Reposted by James Briscoe
The Francis Crick Institute @crick.ac.uk · 24/08/2026
Join us for our first online AI for Biological Discovery Seminar, where our Chief AI Scientist Mihaela van der Schaar will host Caroline Uhler to discuss her research at the intersection of machine learning, statistics and genomics. Learn more and book your free ticket: bit.ly/4xAvNLL
bit.ly
AI in Biology Seminar | Professor Caroline Uhler
A new AI for Biological Discovery Seminar Series, presented by the Francis Crick Institute.
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James Briscoe @jamesbriscoe.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
Towards a probabilistic view of cardiac lineage allocation @kenzoivanovitch.bsky.social reframes the question of heart development as stochastic in which epiblast cells have probability distributions of fates that resolve during gastrulation onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Beyond Binary: Cardiac Patterning as Probabilistic Fate Restriction
Are cardiac progenitors committed to fixed lineages, or do they carry probability distributions over heart regions in the epiblast that resolve during gastrulation? Reanalyzing mouse retrospective cl...
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Reposted by James Briscoe
Teresa Rayon @trayon.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
Our work on the role of the proteasome in developmental tempo is out!!!! 🐭⌛️👤⏳ Six years after identifying an association between protein stability and developmental tempo, we now demonstrate a causal link between protein turnover and developmental tempo through proteasomal degradation
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Reposted by James Briscoe
Cedric Boeckx @cedricboeckx.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
2 great papers on species-specific developmental tempo now @cp-devcell.bsky.social Congrats @trayon.bsky.social @jamesbriscoe.bsky.social @ebisuyamiki.bsky.social & their teams 🧪 1. On protein degradation in neural progenitors 2. On differences in protein stability www.cell.com/developmenta...
cell.com
Proteasome-dependent protein degradation shapes developmental tempo in mouse and human neural progenitors
Why do mammalian species develop at different speeds? Nakanoh, Stamataki, et al. show that mouse neural progenitors have faster protein synthesis and proteasome-mediated degradation than human. Manipu...
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James Briscoe @jamesbriscoe.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
Good to see this out Mouse neural progenitors degrade proteins faster than human, driven by higher proteasome activity Increasing IRX3 turn over speeds OLIG2 induction, implicates protein stability in developmental tempo Great work by @trayon.bsky.social & co authors.elsevier.com/sd/article/S...
authors.elsevier.com
Proteasome-dependent protein degradation shapes developmental tempo in mouse and human neural progenitors
The pace of embryonic development differs between mammalian species, yet the molecular basis for this remains unknown. By comparing protein dynamics i…
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Reposted by James Briscoe
Benoit Bruneau @benoitbruneau.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
deeply honoured and humbled. This really reflects the fantastic scientists that have come through the lab and made wonderful discoveries
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Reposted by James Briscoe
Hubrecht Institute @hubrechtinstitute.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
Applications for the Hubrecht International PhD program are open until September 15! PhD students at the Hubrecht work on various themes, including ‘Developmental biology and regeneration’. Curious what kind of questions PhD students Rahul and Andy work on? Read the comments! www.hubrecht.eu/hipp/.
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Reposted by James Briscoe
Richard Sever @richardsever.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
arXiv has spun out as an independent non-profit like openRxiv. Today they announce their new CEO and founding Board blog.arxiv.org/2026/07/30/a...
blog.arxiv.org
arXiv welcomes inaugural CEO and founding Board of Directors
arXiv welcomes inaugural CEO and founding Board of Directors
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Reposted by James Briscoe
Benjamin Swedlund @benswedlund.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
Check out my first preprint highlight with @prelights.bsky.social! How cells read the room - coordinated symmetry breaking and proportional cell fate allocation in neural organoids, from Hannah T Stuart et al. Lovely story with solid back-and-forth between modelling and perturbative experiments.
prelights.biologists.com
Minimal essential requirements for neural tube self-organisation - preLights
How cells read the room - coordinated symmetry breaking and proportional cell fate allocation in neural organoids
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James Briscoe @jamesbriscoe.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
It's not often single author primary research papers are published in our field & it's even rarer when the author is a Nobel Prize winner Check out the new work by Eric Wieschaus in @dev-journal.bsky.social Flattening maternal gradients in Drosophila embryo journals.biologists.com/dev/article/...
journals.biologists.com
Maternal patterning in early Drosophila embryos: how much information can single maternal gradients supply?
Highlighted Article: Comparison of the patterning capacity of Drosophila embryos that have only one of the three maternal gradients known to control anterior posterior patterning.
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James Briscoe @jamesbriscoe.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
New from @vmetzis.bsky.social & co Vagal & trunk neural crest cells share transient epiblast origin, but temporal regionalisation preconfigures their identity before crest induction Cdx1 acts before Cdx2, setting distinct chromatin and HOX state in the epiblast www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
biorxiv.org
Temporally distinct CDX programmes preconfigure vagal and trunk neural crest
Neural crest cells (NCCs) are progenitor cells vital in establishing the head, heart, gut and peripheral nervous system of vertebrate embryos. Disruptions to NCC development underlie neurocristopathie...
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Reposted by James Briscoe
Paul Francois @pfrancois.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
Remarkably, some very recent experimental results are consistent with this. In this preprint from last month, @jamesbriscoe.bsky.social and coauthors observed and modelled a landscape tilt based on the occupancy by the floor plate precursors ! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
biorxiv.org
Minimal essential requirements for neural tube self-organisation
The reliable generation of diverse cell types in precise proportions is essential for the formation of functional tissues during embryonic development. Three-dimensional organoid models derived from p...
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Reposted by James Briscoe
Daniel Ríos @yosoyden.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
Go check out @girishkalephd.bsky.social in preprints article, now out in @dev-journal.bsky.social! This is my first commissioned article as preprints editor (: thank you Girish! In preprints – light, cluster, friction: a cell dance on the gastrulation stage journals.biologists.com/dev/article/...
journals.biologists.com
In preprints – light, cluster, friction: a cell dance on the gastrulation stage
Multicellular organisms, as the name suggests, are composed of many cells that work together. Cells need to stick together to ensure efficient cell coordination. Cadherins, which are calcium-dependent...
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Reposted by James Briscoe
James Briscoe @jamesbriscoe.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
New in @dev-journal.bsky.social: how tissue shape tells cells what to become Using human stem-cell neuruloids, we show how that physical boundaries encode positional information that drives cell fate patterning in a model of trunk formation A thread 🧵 journals.biologists.com/dev/article/...
journals.biologists.com
Boundary constraints can determine pattern emergence
Summary: A reaction-diffusion mechanism recapitulates pattern emergence in an in vitro model of neuromesodermal progenitors under a variety of boundary and geometrical perturbations.
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Reposted by James Briscoe
James Briscoe @jamesbriscoe.bsky.social · 02/07/2026
Paying peer reviewers Interview with @danielgorelick.bsky.social about @biologyopen.bsky.social Fast & Fair trial in which peer reviewers were paid £220/review Spoiler: it works - fast, high quality reviews www.nature.com/articles/d41...
nature.com
Why paying peer reviewers works, according to a journal’s editor-in-chief
A biology journal that paid peer reviewers found that the approach cut the time to a first editorial decision by 85% and maintained high-quality reviews.
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James Briscoe @jamesbriscoe.bsky.social · 02/07/2026
Five toed chicken anyone? Nice work from @matt-towers.bsky.social & co on reconstructing the evolutionary pathway to digit loss in birds
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James Briscoe @jamesbriscoe.bsky.social · 02/07/2026
Paying peer reviewers Interview with @danielgorelick.bsky.social about @biologyopen.bsky.social Fast & Fair trial in which peer reviewers were paid £220/review Spoiler: it works - fast, high quality reviews www.nature.com/articles/d41...
nature.com
Why paying peer reviewers works, according to a journal’s editor-in-chief
A biology journal that paid peer reviewers found that the approach cut the time to a first editorial decision by 85% and maintained high-quality reviews.
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James Briscoe @jamesbriscoe.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
Work led by Yi Ting Loo and Juliet Chen in an ongoing collaboration with Guillaume Charras and @timesaunders.bsky.social journals.biologists.com/dev/article/...
journals.biologists.com
Boundary constraints can determine pattern emergence
Summary: A reaction-diffusion mechanism recapitulates pattern emergence in an in vitro model of neuromesodermal progenitors under a variety of boundary and geometrical perturbations.
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James Briscoe @jamesbriscoe.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
By day 3 the ring resolves into discrete clusters, more of them in larger colonies, with a characteristic spatial organisation Conclusion: geometry carries positional information, and reaction-diffusion turns boundaries into pattern
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James Briscoe @jamesbriscoe.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
But no, a surprise: blocking Wnt secretion with IWP2 left the early pattern intact at 24 h, yet by 48 h morphogenesis failed and the doughnut shape was lost Conclusion: establishing molecular pattern is separable from initiating morphogenesis and Wnt is not the whole story. FGF is a likely partner
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James Briscoe @jamesbriscoe.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
What is the activator? LEF1, a readout of Wnt activity, mirrors the TBXT pattern, and single-cell data place Wnt and DKK ligands in the mesodermal cells. Wnt looked like a strong candidate for the boundary signal
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James Briscoe @jamesbriscoe.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
How does signalling control cell fate? We coupled the activator to a minimal network in which SOX2 and TBXT repress each other. The result is bistable: progenitors co-express both at intermediate signal, and commit to mesoderm (high TBXT) where the signal is strong
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