James Briscoe

From genes to patterns: five key dynamical systems concepts to decode developmental regulatory mechanisms Summary: Dynamical systems theory provides a powerful quantitative and intuitive framework to understand developmental processes. This Primer brings key concepts of this framework to the ever-growing ...

A Summer reading recommendation: new primer in @dev-journal.bsky.social explains how dynamical systems theory unlocks the logic of developmental patterning

Everything from bistable switches & oscillators to phase portraits & more with Python code to explore

journals.biologists.com/dev/article/...

Development presents… Wednesday 13 August 16:00 BST Chair: Yuchuan Miao Image of Toshi Yamada Toshi Yamada (University of California San Francisco) ‘Synthetic organizer cells guide development via spatial and biochemical instructions’ Image of Chrysanthi-Maria (Anthie) Moysidou (Max Delbrück Center) Chrysanthi-Maria (Anthie) Moysidou (Max Delbrück Center) ‘Bioelectronics meet neuromuscular organoids: novel tools for enhancing the maturation and complexity of organoids’’ Image of Daniel Medina-Cano Daniel Medina-Cano (MSKCC) ‘A mouse organoid platform for modeling cerebral cortex development and cis-regulatory evolution in vitro’ #DevPres |@dev-journal.bsky.social Thenode.biologists.com/devprev The Company of Biologists logo Development logo QR code to register

Our upcoming #DevPres webinar focusses on stem cells and organoids, with talks from Toshi Yamada (UCSF), Chrysanthi-Maria (Anthie) Moysidou (Max Delbrück Center @mdc-berlin.bsky.social) and Daniel Medina-Cano (MSKCC).

13 August 16:00 BST

Register here: us02web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

Group Leader - Genome Biology Unit Are you ready to lead groundbreaking research in Genome Biology? Join us at EMBL! We are seeking a motivated scientist to lead an independent research group addressing exciting and original biological...

To all post-docs: The Genome Biology dept ‪@embl.org
has an Independent faculty position. Fantastic place to set up your lab –great package: core funding, fantastic Ph.D. students, cutting edge core facilities & great colleagues. Closing date Sept 19th
embl.wd103.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/EMBL/j...

Our Faraday Discovery Fellowships Accelerated International Route is now open for applications, providing a fast-track option for attracting mid-career researchers looking to relocate to the UK from overseas, providing up to £4m over a five-year period.

#RSGrants

This is a useful summary of how some major publishers are responding to the new NIH policy. We've just updated our policies at @biologists.bsky.social: @dev-journal.bsky.social @jcellsci.bsky.social and @jexpbiol.bsky.social will allow authors to deposit the accepted version with zero embargo.

New In Preprints from @dev-journal.bsky.social by Valdebenito & Diaz-Cuadros

Highlights recent work investigating how the rate of development is controlled from @trayon.bsky.social & Coussement et al

In preprints: setting the tempo of development url: journals.biologists.com/dev/article/...

Marsupial single-cell transcriptomics identifies temporal diversity in mammalian developmental programs Menchero et al. generate a single-cell transcriptomic atlas in the opossum and show rapid progression of transcriptional programs in specific tissues relative to morphological landmarks. This shift in...

Thrilled to share that our latest work on marsupial heterochrony is now online at @cp-devcell.bsky.social @cellpress.bsky.social @lab-turner.bsky.social @crick.ac.uk We used scRNAseq to understand the asynchronous progression of developmental programmes in marsupials www.cell.com/developmenta...

Horizon Europe 2028 - 2034: twice bigger, simpler, faster and more impactful Research and innovation news alert: As part of the next long-term EU budget 2028-2034, the Commission is proposing to double the budget of the research and innovation framework programme to €175 billi...

Very promising news on the next seven-year EU budget, with a proposed substantial increase for Horizon Europe including the ERC.

We are analysing the other parts of this proposal in more detail.

@Vonderleyen @EZaharievaEU

research-and-innovation.ec.europa.eu/news/all-res...

Just published: The cis-regulatory logic integrating spatial and temporal patterning in the vertebrate neural tube

A global temporal chromatin program, operating across the CNS, directs binding of specific spatial TFs & hence when/where neurons & glia are born

authors.elsevier.com/sd/article/S...

Boundary constraints can determine pattern emergence The robust patterning of cell fates during embryonic development requires precise coordination of signalling gradients within defined spatial constraints. Using a geometrically confined in vitro syste...

New work with Saunders & Charras labs

Physical boundaries guide cell fate decisions during human trunk development

Reaction Diffusion model shows how geometry shapes biology with TBXT expression forming consistent domains regardless of colony size & shape

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Robots demonstrate principles of collective intelligence Lessons from developmental biology can be used to guide the behaviour of robot swarms.

What links developmental biology and mini-robots?

- Complex adaptive systems

Nice N&V piece on recent work on developmental biology inspired robotics

www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Excited to share our latest work with @jamesbriscoe.bsky.social .

A global #cis-regulatory temporal program guides how spatial cues are interpreted in neural progenitors. We show how #space and #time can be integrated to generate cell type diversity in the #spinalcord.

Congrats to all authors.

Barcoded Rabies In Situ Connectomics for high-throughput reconstruction of neural circuits Sequencing of oligonucleotide barcodes holds promise as a high-throughput approach for reconstructing synaptic connectivity at scale. Rabies viruses can act as a vehicle for barcode transmission, than...

Great technique from my @crick.ac.uk colleagues in @petrznam.bsky.social lab

Reconstructing neural circuits with barcoded Rabies virus & in situ sequencing

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Life Sciences Sector Plan The Life Sciences Sector Plan sets out a vision and an action plan to drive growth, innovation, and better health outcomes.

Great that Life Science Sector Plan puts support for discovery research at top of the list

But odd that MRC-LMB singled out for 10 year funding. Is MRC no longer responsible for the LMB? Who will do scientific evaluation? What about other research organisations?

www.gov.uk/government/p...

Just published: The cis-regulatory logic integrating spatial and temporal patterning in the vertebrate neural tube

A global temporal chromatin program, operating across the CNS, directs binding of specific spatial TFs & hence when/where neurons & glia are born

authors.elsevier.com/sd/article/S...

Figure 1 (D-G) Visualization of the sparse-grid discretization of the ECS at ≈60% epiboly.

Mind the pores: studying morphogen gradients

Read this Research Highlight showcasing work from Justina Stark, Rohit Krishnan Harish, Ivo Sbalzarini @mosaicgroup.bsky.social and Michael Brand @tudresden.bsky.social:
journals.biologists.com/dev/article/...

MRC Postdoctoral Research Scientists x 5 - MRC Laboratory of Medical Sciences Applications are now open for up to five postdoctoral positions in the area of developmental epigenetics.

Interested in developmental epigenetics? So are we! Apply now to join us for your postdoc!

Multiple positions across multiple groups @mrc-lms.bsky.social

Projects spanning germline demethylation, gene regulation, genome architecture in development & disease 👇👇

lms.mrc.ac.uk/work/vacanci...

It was good to meet with fellow @biologists.bsky.social editors for two days last week to discuss @dev-journal.bsky.social & other journals

Lots of plans and ideas for the coming year

The NAS Council has approved the nomination of Neil H. Shubin to be the next president of the National Academy of Sciences. An evolutionary biologist and science communicator, Shubin would succeed Marcia McNutt when her term ends on June 30, 2026. Read more: www.nasonline.org/news/neil-h-...

Publishing scientific papers is an obstacle course. There are many aspects to this but lengthy review times are one. That's why I am very excited about the new initiative @biologyopen.bsky.social, @biologists.bsky.social open access journal: Fast & Fair 1/n 🧪
journals.biologists.com/bio/pages/fa...

Human Development: Stem Cells, Models, Embryos. 7 - 9 September 2026 University of Warwick, UK. Resgiter your interest. #HumanDev26. Image credit: Susanna Narkilahti, Tampere University, Finland

Save the Date!

Development has teamed up with the Wellcome-funded consortium the Human Developmental Biology Initiative to co-organise a meeting on #HumanDevelopment.

📅7 - 9 Sep 2026
📍University of Warwick, UK

Register your interest for #HumanDev26: www.biologists.com/meetings/dev...

Lab drowning in paperwork? Hire an in-house writer Hiring a postdoc to take over writing tasks makes good sense, argues Béla Z. Schmidt.

For many people (me included) writing is thinking

If you're not thinking you're just the pretty front (wo)man in the band

Do you want to be Noel or Liam?

www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Ep. 299: "Spinal Cord Development" Featuring Dr. James Briscoe - The Stem Cell Podcast Dr. James Briscoe is a Group Leader at the Francis Crick Institute and Editor-In-Chief of Development. His lab uses an interdisciplinary approach, including mice, chicks, and other models, to study de...

I was interviewed recently by @stemcellpodcast.com

I witter on about morphogens, notochord, @dev-journal.bsky.social & how biology is becoming a data science

Thanks @stemcellpodcast.com for talking to me

stemcellpodcast.com/ep-299-spina...

We have a new episode out!

Tune in to hear Dr. @jamesbriscoe.bsky.social from @crick.ac.uk discuss his research on the developmental dynamics of the #SpinalCord, and his position as Editor-In-Chief of @dev-journal.bsky.social.

Listen now: bit.ly/4nzLrCp

Hear from our Editor-in-Chief, @jamesbriscoe.bsky.social, in the latest episode of @stemcellpodcast.com.

Ep. 299: "Spinal Cord Development" Featuring Dr. James Briscoe - The Stem Cell Podcast Dr. James Briscoe is a Group Leader at the Francis Crick Institute and Editor-In-Chief of Development. His lab uses an interdisciplinary approach, including mice, chicks, and other models, to study de...

I was interviewed recently by @stemcellpodcast.com

I witter on about morphogens, notochord, @dev-journal.bsky.social & how biology is becoming a data science

Thanks @stemcellpodcast.com for talking to me

stemcellpodcast.com/ep-299-spina...

The cellular substrate of evolutionary novelty Joseph Parker and Matt Pennell propose gene expression programs — sets of co-expressed transcripts that collectively encode cellular subfunctions — as fundamental entities from which novel organismal ...

Useful perspective incorporating GRNs & gene modules into theory of evolutionary novelty

Parker & Pennell emphasise gene modules, not individual genes, as fundamental units of phenotypic evolution

Provides a needed evolutionary lens for analysing scRNAseq & cell types

www.cell.com/current-biol...

Can using synthetic approaches to build biology help teach us the design principles of how embryos build themselves? 👷‍♀️🔧

If this is a question that interests you, come and share your thoughts at this Royal Society Workshop on Generative Biology

royalsociety.org/science-even...

Human embryo research: how to move towards a 28-day limit The decades-old limit on how long human embryos can be grown in culture is under debate. A new road map outlines how to extend the length of culture responsibly.

A road map to extend the rules for human embryo culture from 14 days to 28 days or neural tube closure

Includes a call for international harmonisation of rules

www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Outstanding life scientists elected to the EMBO Membership – Press releases – EMBO Sixty-nine new members join the community of leading life scientists in Europe and beyond

Congratulations to newly elected @embo.org members

Special shout out to friends & colleagues: Andy Oates, Jody Rosemblatt & Pete Currie

Outstanding life scientists elected to the EMBO Membership – Press releases – EMBO share.google/9z7IS2lZBmll...