Ben Steventon

The 2026 Santa Cruz Developmental Biology Meeting website is LIVE!!! Go see the incredible list of scientists who will be speaking at the meeting next summer! (...and check the site early next year for info on registration and abstract submission.)

scdb2026.sites.ucsc.edu

How does Ras signalling affect actin?

Some answers in a new review from Joe Tyler & I @mcb-sheffield.bsky.social

authors.elsevier.com/a/1m8v-3PA3s...

We discuss how Ras proteins coordinate local and global changes to the actin cytoskeleton and contribute to cytoskeletal plasticity in cancer.

Modelling co-development between the somites and neural tube in human trunk-like structures - Nature Cell Biology 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.

Lovely little pre-Christmas present to see this out @natcellbio.nature.com! Some 🔥 new results in here since the biorvix incl (1) a new RARE-GFP reporter ✳️🙌, (2) additional NMP quantification 🔢, (3) no neural tube patterning on RA inhibition 🙅 etc. Enjoy! 😍 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Check out this work from @yuritakahashi.bsky.social that reveals reciprocal interactions between cell migration and fate specific to drive collective cell invasion. And follow Yuri at the same time

It is not time

We have a new lab photo. Busy times in the Delas Lab!

Last month Maria and Shaun joined us to start their PhDs.

Learn more about our research and our team: delaslab.com

We will be recruiting another postdoc next year so have a look through our recent work and get in touch if you are interested.

This was such a fun conversation. Thank you for having me.

New preprint led by the brilliant @aleksandra-marconi.bsky.social on cichlid brain diversification, fgf8a signalling and regulatory divergence with TEs on the mix! All part of a wonderful collaboration with @ebablab.bsky.social

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

@camzoology.bsky.social

Thrilled to see this published!

Well done Ahmed on spearheading a project revealing mitotic errors in human embryos arise much later than anticipated.

Thank you to collaborators @bensteventon.bsky.social Leila Muresan and all of the wonderful teams at Bourn Hall and Create Fertility clinics!

Long-term imaging of cell divisions in human preimplantation embryos - Nature Biotechnology An optimized approach for live imaging of human embryos enables visualization of mitotic errors during blastocyst development.

This is an excellent news and views article from Corentin Mollier & Jean-Léon Maître @maitrejl.bsky.social

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

Congratulations Ahmed and colleagues in the @niakanlab.bsky.social on this beautiful work tracking mitotic errors by live imaging the human embryos!

Targeting SARM1: from inhibition for neuroprotection to activation for neuroablation Sterile alpha and TIR motif-containing protein 1 (SARM1),is a central enzyme that drives programmed axon degeneration and has gathered significant interest as a therapeutic target. Despite preclinical...

In this review @Andrea-Loreto.bsky.social and I discuss the breadth of therapeutic potential for the neurodegenerative enzyme SARM1

- Challenges for SARM1 therapeutic inhibition

- SARM1 in non-neuronal cells

- SARM1 activation for selective peripheral neuroablation.

www.cell.com/trends/pharm...

Frontiers | Systemic identification and characterization of the conserved core NuRD complex in planarian The nucleosome remodeling and deacetylase (NuRD) complex, well known for its ATP-dependent chromatin remodeling and histone deacetylation activities combined...

Planarian #NuRD Alert!

"the NuRD complex may drive differentiation into somatic lineages in planarians"

Yeah it does. #NuRDIsTheWormyWord
#Chromatin #Transcription

doi.org/10.3389/frag...

(Bicentenary) Applying a multidisciplinary approach to uncover the mechanisms underpinning successful regeneration of the spinal cord after injury at The University of Manchester on FindAPhD.com PhD Project - (Bicentenary) Applying a multidisciplinary approach to uncover the mechanisms underpinning successful regeneration of the spinal cord after injury at The University of Manchester, listed...

Looking for an interesting interdisciplinary PhD on spinal cord regeneration? Join us to explore how tissues rebuild after injury — combining biology, physics, and computational approaches!
PIs: Karel Dorey, @ramandas.bsky.social, and @osvaldo-chara.bsky.social.

👉: www.findaphd.com/phds/project...

Next Monday 20th October, we’re delighted to welcome
@pflenne.bsky.social for a talk co-hosted with @tlmcambridge.bsky.social. For further information and updates, please visit our website!
ucammorphogenesisseries.com

Delighted that Ziqi Dong's PhD paper is out for all to read! Hypoxia is fundamental to normal development, and fascinating! Thanks to all of our co-authors including @jamesnathanlab.bsky.social @jellevda.bsky.social authors.elsevier.com/sd/article/S...

Fluorescent microscopy images of transgenic chicken resources maintained at the NARF, The Roslin Institute. (A) GFP chicken embryo with a ‘red’ graft placed into the limb bud with micro-surgery. The graft is about 50–100 μM. (B) Stage 32 HH limb bud from the CSF1R-eGFP embryo. Macrophages (green) are concentrated in areas of cell death, blood vessels (red) are labelled with SNA lectin. (C) ACTN line embryo spinal cord stage 16 HH. (D) Dorsal Root Ganglion of the nervous system of a Chameleon transgenic chicken embryo. Nerves going into the dorsal root ganglion are red, and nerves coming out are green. (E) Fluorescent image of the dorsal skin (periderm) from a membrane GFP chick embryo. (F) FUCHI cell cycle reporter embryo stage 23 HH. All images were provided by members of The Roslin Institute Chicken Embryology (RICE) group.

#DBfeature

Research facilities in the UK, France, and Japan maintaining transgenic lines for Avian developmental biology

By Lindsay Henderson, Yuya Okuzaki, Christophe Marcelle, Mike McGrew, and Ken-ichi Nishijima

tinyurl.com/4drw4d6a
#SpecialIssue on Avian model systems

I wrote something on developmental biology and disability and put it up on the node last night:

thenode.biologists.com/developmenta...

I've been nervous to share because some of it veers a bit personal but they are thoughts that won't stay quiet. Would love to know what people think about it!

🚨 Excited to introduce FuChi (Fucci chicken), the first avian cell cycle reporter line. Thank you to all those who contributed to putting this paper together. I really think it showcases the power and beauty of the chick embryo as a developmental biology model. 🐥 🥚 🔬 @roslininstitute.bsky.social

FuChi: A cell cycle biosensor for investigating cell-cycle kinetics during avian development. https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.09.24.678103v1

Are you interested on how regenerating tissues transit between stages? Am sharing here our work showing that during #Xenopus tail regeneration, tissue stiffening activates a Piezo1-Yap1 mechanosensitive cascade to allow wounded epithelia to transit into regenerative states!

A dual enhancer-attenuator element ensures transient Cdx2 expression during mouse posterior body formation Amblard et al. dissect the function of cis-regulatory elements regulating transient Cdx2 expression during mouse caudal body formation. They highlight the requirement of an attenuator, a transiently r...

Great to see this from @vmetzis.bsky.social & co published

Dissection of CDX2 regulatory elements identifies a repressive element that converts to an enhancer with a nuclear receptor motif switch

www.cell.com/developmenta...

🚨 The International Developmental Mechanics Zoom Seminar Series is back on Sept 25!
🎤 We have an exciting line-up of speakers this fall. See the image below for details
🌐 Website: sites.google.com/view/devmech...
📝 Interested in presenting? Sign up here: tinyurl.com/2munv5bv

An image of two BSDB supplement covers from Journal of Experimental Embryology and Morphology.

The Company of Biologists and the British Society for Developmental Biology: a model partnership

As part of the #biologists100 anniversary, Saanjbati Adhikari and Raman Das review the relationship between @biologists.bsky.social and @bsdb.bsky.social

doi.org/10.1242/dev....

Building and rebuilding complex tissues: strategic visions from a research-led workshop ABSTRACT. How complex tissues develop and regenerate post-injury is one of the most fascinating and important processes in biology. Recent technical advances that enable the generation of a quantitati...

New article out now!

Our researchers @sumrubayin.bsky.social, @bensteventon.bsky.social, and @storerlab.bsky.social share key takeaways from a workshop on complex tissue regeneration, highlighting the need for more collaboration and interdisciplinary work.

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

We have a fully funded 3y postdoc position open!!!! Come join us @mpi-cbg.de and @poldresden.bsky.social to understand the role of Membranes in Controlling Biogenic Crystallization :) this is part of our #HFSP funded project with @noemijimenezrojo.bsky.social and @vmonje.bsky.social! Applications👇

Lovely piece on five model organisms for the origin of animal multicellularity and on the community who studies them. It was a pleasure to make a small contribution.

FEBS Press It is easier for young animals to regenerate damaged or missing tissues. In this Viewpoint, we propose that this is, in part, attributed to epigenetic changes, with chromatin becoming more closed and....

Excited to share our recent viewpoint with @storerlab.bsky.social led by Kirsten Sadler, on epigenetic mechanisms of regenerative resilience.

Ageing versus developmental silencing: Answers from the epigenome - Sadler - The FEBS Journal - febs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Features extraction from a LSCI recording of the blood vessels in a chicken egg

#DBfeature 🐣❤️

Automated non-invasive laser speckle imaging of the chick heart rate and extraembryonic blood vessels and their response to Nifedipine and Amlodipine drugs

by Carol Readhead, Simon Mahler et al
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...