1st
#prerpint
from the lab together with
@briscoejames
!
Collaborative effort led by
@SNakanoh
& Despina Stamataki, with contributions from
@enabel_sp
,
@azziChiA
, Alex Pokhilko, and help from proteomics (Crick & BI) + bioinformatic teams 🥂
(1/9)
Our work
#aboutime
"Species-specific pace of development is associated with differences in protein stability" is now published . What determines the pace of embryonic development?
I’couldn’t be happier with the news💃🏼🎉👩🔬
The grant will fund our work to understand the molecular & metabolic mechanisms that control developmental timing
#TempoReg
Thanks to all my network for the support.
..and please do reach out if you’d want to join the team! 🐭⌛️ 👤 ⏳
More than 4,000 ambitious young researchers entered the 2021 competition for ERC Starting Grants.
🎊 Congratulations to the 397 who were selected for 🇪🇺
#EUfunded
support this time!
Maybe you know one? List ➡️
#ECR
#PhDLife
#PhDChat
#AcademicChatter
An ex vivo model for mouse peri-implantation by the Hiiragi lab. Amazed to see the morphological changes in the epiblast from pre- to post-implantation live.
A movie is worth a thousand words.
The Institute is also pleased to announce the appointments of Dr Teresa Rayon
@t_rayon
of
@TheCrick
, Dr Sophie
@trefely
of
@Penn
and Dr Philipp Voigt of
@WTcell
They will be joining us over the coming months.
Read more about their research aims here:
First day
@BabrahamInst
today. I know that all wet labs look more or less the same, but this will be the bench for our next
#devbio
experiments.
…and there were two pigeon holes for the Rayonlab!!
#NewPI
Looking for team members to join my lab
@BabrahamInst
.
📢We're looking for an experienced researcher.
📢We're recruiting a PhD student through the Babraham PhD programme.
Please RT 👏👏
🚨we’re looking for a Postdoc
(2-years initially) to develop a project on dev. tempo in mouse embryos 🐭 ⌛️
📩 drop an email for further info
Link:
Closes Jan 31st
🔁Please RT
Our spatio-temporal single-cell atlas of the human developing spinal cord is online. We provide an overall description of the data and comparisons with mouse to identify human-specific features. Samples were obtained pre-covid from the amazing MRC-WT HDBR.
Good news everyone! Our transcriptomic atlas of the human developing spinal cord is online now in
@Dev_journal
. Really proud of the work that
@rorymaizels
, Christopher Barrington,
@briscoejames
& I have put together.
🧵
📢📢Looking for a
#PhD
student for the lab
@BabrahamInst
🐭⌛️👤⏳
Researchers: Please share the info with grad students that you think may be interested
Grad students: Check if this project interests you & get in touch!
VACANCY: Postdoctoral Research Scientist
Looking for a new role this year? Check out this opportunity to contribute to our understanding of tempo in mammalian development ⏰
First 2020 post to share our preprint on the temporal control of motor neuron development 🥳. The pace is ~2.5x slower in humans versus mouse, and speed differences correspond with differences in protein stability. Fun to work with all authors!!
#aboutime
The lab has turned 2 🎂!
Thanks to all lab members, colleagues & everyone
@BabrahamInst
for helping us get on with our science.
..I'm excited for whatever achievements come on year 3
*Science images credit of Jo,
@azziChiA
& Ellie.
Delighted to have this team at the Rayon lab. Shota,
@azziChiA
and I with Eleonore Ocana, the lab’s first brand new PhD student, in our traditional welcoming lunch @ The George.
Can’t wait for all our future experiments and discoveries!
🐭⌛️👤⏳
Research Assistant position (up to 3-years)
💡Develop a project on dev. tempo with stem cells. Use CRISPR-based manipulations, flow cytometry, mass spec and more
✍️ Lab management
🧪 Train lab members
apply OR info:
Closes Sept 8
*Please RT*
@lsn_jobs
Moving out.
Bittersweet feelings as this unrepeatable period
@briscoejames
’ lab at NIMR and TheCrick comes to an end. A 6-year journey supported by the best.
Now onto the next staircases.
*Catch ya later London
@fetzert
@Federomei1
@XJaravel
@a_m_elsner
Indeed, the ERC has sent letters to successful UK-based applicants for Starting, Consolidator and Advanced Grants giving them 2 month to decide if they move to an eligible host institution or give up the grant. We'll be ready to extend this time in exceptional, justified cases.
ICYMI - A review where we discuss how the comparison across species in biological contexts may help us decipher the timekeeping mechanisms in development & homeostasis. Hope you like it!
#aboutime
🐭⌛️👤⏳
Really excited about this new role!
Thanks to the SEBD for counting on me, and excited to start with two other great
#devbio
advocates committed to public engagement 🍾
Three new preprints provide single cell transcriptomic data of the human developing spinal cord. Different stages, approaches and new hypothesis in them.
What next? What’s missing? These papers open the path towards experimental validation of hypothesis👩🔬
Key findings👇🏻
“As successful as you are, were, or hope to be in your life and work, you are not going to find true happiness on the hedonic treadmill of your professional life”
Disadvantages for non-native English speakers in scientific research.
*propose a ‘concerted effort, at institutional level, to minimise the disadvantages for non-native English speakers’
* survivorship bias explains disappearing disadvantages
Single cell transcriptomics of the developing neural tube. Our work with Julien, Andreas,
@briscoejames
and co is ready for all to read! We identify with our atlas a temporal programme for neurogenesis common in all domains. Read it in full here:
An important message for
#WomenInScience
day: Diversify senior positions and improve quantitative metrics to ameliorate the academic system.
‘ignorance is found at every step of the process and in every scientific institution’
ESCs, EpiSC, EpiLCs, Rosette-like ESCs.. defining criteria to evaluate all these pluripotency "flavors" might be as important as for totipotent cells. and
An effort to summarize & offer perspective to the signalling implications of glucose metabolism in development from latest preprints. Hopefully enjoyable for authors & community.
*A great excuse to collaborate with my former colleague
@AshleyLibby12
⚡️
💙preprints
👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻
In preprints: puzzling together roles for glucose metabolism during gastrulation
Ashley Libby
@AshleyLibby12
and Teresa Rayon
@t_rayon
discuss four recent
#preprints
on glucose metabolism as a possible signalling axis in the control of gastrulation:
Interested in understanding proteostasis mechanisms and how they fail in motor neuron disease for your PhD?
@Ian_J_McGough
and I have partnered with
@AxolBio
to combine our expertise and address this question.
info:
Apply if keen!
Why SOX2 levels matter. Low-affinity SOX2 sites are co-occupied by T/Bra and CDX in NMPs (low SOX2).
Congratulations to Robert Blassberg and co. Great to see it out! 🍾🎊🥂
*Deletion of SOX2 binding sites in the CDX2 intronic enhancer reduces its activity in NMP conditions😍
Our latest: How does one signal produce different responses in different cell types?
WNT signaling maintains ES cells, posteriors epiblast, induces mesoderm
SOX2 levels determines WNT response by recruiting TCF/b-catenin to different genomic targets
With my amazing
@BabrahamInst
Epigenetics colleagues
@t_rayon
&
@irene_zorzan
, representing at
#StemCellNiche2023
.
A fantastic meeting with very enjoyable science, incredible hospitality and visit to the Copenhagen Opera to boot! 🤩
A changing waddingtonian landscape in vivo versus in vitro? Conserved developmental trajectories in vitro across species can vary in vivo due to extraembryonic signals or morphological constrains (geometry). Interesting proposal to be tested in space and time
Our latest preprint by Anlas et al
@EMBLBarcelona
@the_prbb
describes how in vitro/ex vivo embryo-like systems from different species hint towards an evolutionarily conserved developmental mode of primary (AP and OA) body axis formation.
Effect of temperature stress in developing 🐠
*changes in cell proportions & ⬆️ tempo asynchrony
*independent of heat shock response
*proteostasis burden in the notochord
*opposite to translation inhibition
Beautiful work
@mwdorr
er al! 🎉⚡️
Neat work on human blastoids!! it seems that stem cell models are getting closer to human blastocysts each time.
The latest version provides an exhaustive characterization of their model and includes a *very useful* comparison across all the blastoid publications 👇👇👇
Extremely excited to share our recently published paper in
@Nature
where we report formation of a faithful in vitro model of human blastocyst.
@NRivron
lab
@IMBA_Vienna
A long tweetorial alert! [1/29]
Human stem-cell based embryo models, specially those monitoring implantation and peri-gastrulation, offer new scientific prospects and societal concerns.
Scientists at
@Cam_Repro
are driving initiatives to develop governance framework.
👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻
Stem cell-based embryo models could help our understanding of the problems that can affect early pregnancies.
But their regulation is a grey area. That's why
@Cam_Repro
has launched a project to develop a governance framework for this research in the UK 👇
Thanks for the opportunity, it is a great initiative promoting
#preprints
.
I used it to reach out and meet
@Jellevda
- insightful & fun interaction🔝
and also..the very first written output from the lab!
🐭⌛️👤⏳
In preprints: releasing the brakes on neuronal maturation
@t_rayon
and
@Jellevda
discuss developmental timing in the CNS, highlighting three preprints that describe different mechanisms that determine the timing of cortical neuron maturation.
Our Special Issue, Development at the Single Cell Level, is now complete!
The cover features the winning entry from our
#singlecell
cover competition and depicts two iconic developmental biology models: chick and zebrafish.
So sad I’ll miss
#ISDB2021
.Lots of great talks &
@SEBiolDev
assembly meeting.
For the lucky ones that manage to be there… please tweet and keep us posted :)
I’m extremely excited about this conference!!
Thanks for the invitation 🍾
Please join us: small size conference, beautiful city & loads of interesting talks on genomics and evolution
#EMBOevoAnimalGenomes
Still open spots for the
@EMBO
workshop "The evolution of animal genomes"🐷🐸🐭
A fantastic speaker line up and many opportunities for young researchers to present their work 🤓
Child care and travel grants available 👇
THREE amino acid substitutions in KIF18a and KNL1 cause a prolonged metaphase and fewer chromosome inheritance errors specifically in neural apical progenitors of modern humans than in archaic humans and apes.
Beautiful work and congrats to all authors 🎉
Identification of endogenous cell competition in the pre-implantation epiblast by the Hippo pathway. Great preprint from Hiroshi Sasaki's lab. Read our joint
@preLights
with
@SarahBowling15
:
Time to take a moment to think and remember what 2021 has been like in the lab, a very challenging year in the midst of a pandemic and missing in person interactions with mentors, family and friends.
As the end of this bizarre 2020 approaches, it feels is time to reflect on my scientific year. Most of the successes come from the support and interaction with great people & friends around me in the
@briscoejames
lab and beyond. Thanks :) Can't wait for 2021.
1/10
Live long and proteostasis! My latest
@preLights
about the role of protein turnover in long-lived organisms like the bowhead whale and the naked mole-rat.
Thanks to Kyle Swovick from Sina Ghaemmaghami's lab
@UofR
for his response :)
Research Assistant position (up to 3-years)
💡Develop a project on dev. tempo with stem cells. Use CRISPR-based manipulations, flow cytometry, mass spec and more
✍️ Lab management
🧪 Train lab members
apply OR info:
Closes Sept 8
*Please RT*
@lsn_jobs
Synthetic embryos
*Develop AP & DV axis 😱
*Without the need to go through implantation 🤯
*Where there any other consistent morphologies in the remaining ~99% embryoids? or only one morphology can be attained?
We caught up with
@t_rayon
, a postdoc in
@briscoejames
's lab, for our preprints by preLighters series.
Find out about more about Teresa and her new work here:
A revised model of early cardiac development using lineage tracing and single-cell transcriptomics in mouse embryos (with incredibly pretty confocal images). Congratulations to all authors 👯♀️💃
My top 3 applications for CRISPR/Cas in
#devbio
:
1. Simultaneous tagging/deletion of multiple genes
2. Works in less established model organisms
3. Simple editing/deletion of regulatory (non-coding) elements
New on the Node: The 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry: CRISPR/Cas technology
Hear from
@Dev_journal
Editors how CRISPR has impacted their research.
We'd also love to hear from you so leave your thoughts and stories in the comments!
“Failure to secure UK association to Horizon Europe would be a lose-lose for health, wealth and wellbeing and would do a disservice to future generations in Europe and beyond”
…Still waiting for it to be resolved…
The UK's association with
@HorizonEU
in mainstream media
It's time to end the uncertainty. Both sides gain by association & it would demonstrate compromise is possible
BBC News - Universities warn of EU-UK research scheme 'close to precipice'
Los embriones de humanos y ratones no crecen al mismo ritmo debido a la tasa de producción y eliminación de las proteínas celulares, más rápidas en el caso de las células de ratón
@ComunidadCeru
@TheCrick
@briscoejames
and I wrote a review where we discuss how the comparison across species in biological contexts may help us decipher the timekeeping mechanisms in development & homeostasis. Hope you like it!
#aboutime
🐭⌛️👤⏳
It's time's time! Our special issue addressing current questions to dynamics in biology is out. Thanks to all the contributors, the
@royalsociety
, and to my partner in crime
@BertaVerd
No huge changes in preprints pre- and post-publication (peer-reviewed) means we can use & disseminate preprints with the same trust as we do with published papers. Personal critical reading is a must. *Congrats all authors for this very interesting analysis 🧐 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
We found that over 70% of published preprints that we analysed were classified with “no change” or only superficial rearrangements to panels and tables upon publication. Although, ~20% of articles had “significant content” added or removed from the figures
Excitingly, our findings are complementary to those on the species-specific oscillation periods of human and mouse segmentation clocks by
@EbisuyaMiki
. Beautiful work 😍. Now the search for what determines species-specific rates of protein turnover starts!
Revisiting the inverse scaling of somatic mutation rates with lifespan paper:
@ATJCagan
@imartincorena
~3X variation of mutation load per cell at the end of lifespan across species
No association with body mass, basal metabolic rate or litter size
Transient inhibition of epigenetic regulators in progenitors leads to faster maturation in 👤 cortical neurons.
*Is the mechanism conserved in 🐭? The 🧠 cortex is quite divergent across species
*What changes between fast- & slow-maturing neurons?
Congrats to the team!!🍾👏🏻🎉
Why human neurons mature so slow?
Is it possible to accelerate their maturation?
Excited to share our work as a preprint. We tackled this question using human pluripotent stem cells (hPSC). Thanks to everybody involved in this work
@studerl
1/8
Really excited to give a talk at the
@SEBiolDev
meeting. Last year the EDBC meeting in Alicante was a blast! Final program is out:
Will you attend this year?
The first scientist was a woman! The term was coined for Mary Somerville, to avoid calling her a 'man of science'.
I learned something new,
@Magda_Skipper
--thanks for the inspiring talk and the visit
@NUnetsi
!
Nuestro siguiente Wow!Science desde
@ibis_sevilla
con la inigualable
@t_rayon
, asegurada ciencia de la buena y arte en la diseminación cientifica. No dudes en unirte a
#WowScience
. Escribenos para el link virtual.
@unisevilla
Great panel & discussions on gastrulation and adapting the 14-day rule for human embryo research on the first day of the
#ISSCR2021
. This
@Dev_journal
article on beliefs about ensoulment and individuality in various religions is one of a kind 👇👇👇
Curious to see the number of
#devbio
labs implementing it in the coming years.
~80% survival may make it compatible with studies of genetic mutant alleles inherited 1/8 & “delayed” phenotypes.
next in my wishlist: combined with imaging 🙏
All the data is available at to explore. Datasets and code also available. We hope that the community finds it useful!!
*Special thanks to the reviewers and
@Dev_journal
for making the process constructive and smooth.
Coding and regulatory changes increase TRNP1 activity and are positively selected either as a cause or a consequence of increases in brain size and cortical folding.
Phylogenetic comparisons & massively parallel reporter assay. What’s not to like from this work
👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻
Our paper on TRNP1 co-evolution with brain size and folding is finally out in
@eLife
! Here, we combine the analysis of both protein and regulatory sequence evolution across a broad range of mammals.
Paper from Auston Smith’s lab confirming a role for Rbpj (Notch in our case) blocking naïve pluripotency always nice to read similar findings from various labs 🙂
The final version of our previous
#preprint
on
#Notch
activity during preimplantation development is now out in
@eLife
Transitions in cell potency during early mouse development are driven by Notch
Congrats to
#ERCStG
awardees & to all of those that put in the effort.
- Success rate is higher than 2021.🤞funding trend continues
- Writing the proposal is useful, regardless of the outcome
- No UK association in 2021 = funds for EU researchers up on the waiting list
New human transcriptomic atlas covering gestational weeks 4-6. Includes various organs & validates our findings on the spinal cord 👏😍.
*Propose a global temporal regulation in development based on the conserved dynamic expression of LIN28A across tissues in vertebrates.
Our preprint online! 1) First single-cell transcriptome of whole human embryos at CS12~16; 2) 333 cell types with deep annotation; 3) high-resolution map of limb bud with 14 spatial domains; 4) paralogous compensation of a master TF; 5) systemic temporal regulation in vertebrate.
“Estábamos dedicados en comprobar la diferencia entre los bailarines de la coreografía, cuando realmente la diferencia reside en la música que bailaban.” Gracias
@amloii
por cubrir nuestro artículo
@TheCrick
👩🏼🔬📢🧫⌛️🐭⏳🚻
Human Specific Notch-2NL isoforms cause the expansion of human neocortex. Nice to see the finding coming from three different labs, and with mechanistic insight