Minecraft-ing our way into studying cell sorting
A theoretical model involving tiny Minecraft-like cubes can help us understand dynamic biological processes, such as cell sorting in embryos.
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY2024
science-technology
Casting new light on gene regulation in development
New research from EMBL Heidelberg shows how cells in developing embryos undergo a major shift in the way they regulate gene expression as they mature and differentiate.
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY2024
sciencescience-technology
Spotlight: Creating an artificial uterus
EMBL researchers have created an engineered uterus that allows a closer look at a mouse embryo’s development and its interactions with the uterine environment.
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY2023
picture-of-the-weeksciencescience-technology
Shining light on the mechanics of embryo development
A new microscope built by EMBL researchers, based on Brillouin scattering principles, allows scientists to observe the dynamics of mechanical properties inside developing embryos in real time.
LAB MATTERSSCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY2023
lab-matterssciencescience-technology
New evolutionary insights from stepping outside the lab
EMBL researchers are stepping outside the lab and thinking outside the box to understand the basic principles that underlie the development and evolution of organismal characteristics.
2023
science
Zooming in to get the full picture
EMBL and UW researchers plus additional collaborators have constructed a complete map of fruit fly embryonic development using machine learning. This research is foundational to better understanding overall embryo development in other species, including humans.
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY2022
sciencescience-technology
A 3D culture model to study embryo growth
A recent study by EMBL researchers proposes a new method to grow early embryos in the laboratory. With a 3D culture set-up, scientists can closely monitor the changes embryos undergo around the time of implantation.
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY2022
sciencescience-technology
Converging lenses on embryo development
Researchers from the Furlong group at EMBL have come up with a way to observe the development of fruit-fly embryos simultaneously at the genetic and cellular levels, generating a high-resolution and integrated view of how different cell lineages form.
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY2022
sciencescience-technology
Welcome: Ana Boskovic
The new group leader at EMBL Rome will study how embryos can inherit non-genetic information from their parents that causes stable and heritable effects
LAB MATTERSPEOPLE & PERSPECTIVES2021
lab-matterspeople-perspectives
Welcome: Nicoletta Petridou
New group leader Nicoletta Petridou explains her fascination with the complexity of early embryo development, and how the interdisciplinary nature of EMBL will aid her research.
LAB MATTERSPEOPLE & PERSPECTIVES2021
lab-matterspeople-perspectives
Not a galaxy far, far away
While this may seem like a nebula made up of interstellar clouds of dust and ionised gases, this image isn’t of a galaxy beyond the Milky Way.
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY2020
picture-of-the-weekscience-technology
Tracing the origins of cells
Researchers from the Sharpe group at EMBL Barcelona have published a method to track the developmental history of a cell using the gene editing tool CRISPR–Cas9, but without the need to create transgenic organisms.
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY2020
sciencescience-technology
Unprecedented single-cell studies in virtual embryo
Researchers from EMBL Heidelberg have created a complete description of early embryo development, accounting for every single cell in the embryo.
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY2020
sciencescience-technology
The zebrafish earned its stripes
Despite missing the characteristic stripes one would expect from a zebra – or a zebrafish – the fractals in this Picture of the Week show a zebrafish; or at least some cells in a zebrafish embryo, a few hours after fertilisation. Zebrafish are not only popular aquarium fish, they are also an…
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY2019
picture-of-the-weekscience-technology
An in silico hope for biology: machine learning
How EMBL scientists are using machine learning to advance biology
LAB MATTERSSCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY2018
lab-mattersscience-technology
Controlling organ growth with light
The De Renzis group investigated invagination, the first step of organ development in embryos.
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY2018
sciencescience-technology
Welcome: Vikas Trivedi
An engineer’s approach to understanding morphogenesis
PEOPLE & PERSPECTIVES2018
people-perspectivesscience
Parental chromosomes kept apart during first division
Mammalian life begins differently than we thought
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY2018
sciencescience-technology
Without a trace
Migrating cells, it seems, cover their tracks not for fear of being followed, but to keep moving forward. Scientists at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg, Germany, have now shown that cells in a zebrafish embryo determine which direction they move in by effectively…
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY2013
sciencescience-technology
Cells eat themselves into shape
The process cells use to ‘swallow’ up nutrients, hormones and other signals from their environment – called endocytosis – can play a crucial role in shaping the cells themselves, scientists at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg, Germany, have found. The study,…
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY2013
sciencescience-technology
Sync to grow
Gene expression wave in the lower part of the future vertebrae column of a mammalian embryo. As the wave goes forward, new pre-vertebrae are formed and the future vertebrae column elongates. (Image and video credit: Nature) In a nutshell: The size of pre-vertebrae in a mammalian embryo is…
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY2012
sciencescience-technology
Stop and go
A traffic policeman standing at a busy intersection directing the flow of vehicles may be a rare sight these days, but a similar scene appears to still frequently play out in our cells. A protein called Lem4 directs a crucial step of cell division by preventing the progress of one molecule while…
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY2012
sciencescience-technology
Video Release: Filming life in the fast lane
“This video shows a fruit fly embryo from when it was about two-and-a-half hours old until it walked away from the microscope as a larva, 20 hours later,” says Lars Hufnagel, from the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg, Germany. “It shows all the hallmarks of fruit fly…
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY2012
sciencescience-technology
Need for speed
Like any law-abiding train passenger, a molecule called oskar RNA carries a stamped ticket detailing its destination and form of transport, scientists at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg, Germany, have found. They show that for this molecule, moving in the…
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY2012
sciencescience-technology
Collective action
If you wanted to draw your family tree, you could start by searching for people who share your surname. Cells, of course, don’t have surnames, but scientists at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg, Germany, have found that genetic switches called enhancers, and the…
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY2012
sciencescience-technology
Pregnant mice block out unwelcome admirers to protect their pups
Mouse mothers-to-be have a remarkable way to protect their unborn pups. Because the smell of a strange male’s urine can cause miscarriage and reactivate the ovulatory cycle, pregnant mice prevent the action of such olfactory stimuli by blocking their smell. Researchers from the European…
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY2008
sciencescience-technology
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