The tight control of cell division is fundamental to multicellular development, ensuring the formation of tissues and organs with the correct size, shape and function. This EMBO Workshop brings toget…

Optogenetics has come in for some stick lately, with a number of people criticising the hype that this technique generates in some quar...

PhD projects for the 2027 Crick PhD programme.

This book covers diverse aspects of stem cell research and exemplifies some of the developments and improvements in the field.

YouTube video by The Francis Crick Institute

∼50% of fertilized eggs arrest during human pre-implantation development, representing a major bottleneck for assisted reproductive technology. The un…

The Crick Magazine, Spring 2026

This work describes how positive charge in the peptide chain flanking the DNA-binding domain of transcription factors speeds up their search on free and chromatinized DNA, helping to explain why some ...

This Review discusses the mechanisms underlying both cavitation and folding amniogenesis and provides an overview of the various recent stem cell-based human embryo models that have been developed to ...

Summary: This Review presents mechanical fracture as a unifying morphogenetic strategy and describes how developmental systems actively exploit mechanical fracture to drive morphogenesis, reproduction...

EMBL and its community are deeply saddened by the death of Peer Bork, the organisation’s Interim Director General.

Makwana, Tilley et al. generate human stem cell-based trunk-like structures approximating Carnegie stage 13–14 of development. They use them to model and study the development of the thoracic and lumbar trunk.

Benzinger et al. develop a chemo-optogenetic system for precise spatiotemporal control of morphogen production in vitro. Using light-controlled Sonic hedgehog expression, they recapitulate neural tube...

YouTube video by The Francis Crick Institute

The development of a zygote into a functional organism requires that this single progenitor cell gives rise to numerous distinct cell types. Attemp...

Our grants support and encourage the sharing of knowledge throughout the community by facilitating international collaboration, event attendance and the organisation of scientific meetings, conference...