Transitions in development - an interview with Thibaut Brunet.

Thibaut Brunet is a group leader at the Institut Pasteur in Paris, France, where he works on choanoflagellates (known as 'choanos' for short). These unicellular organisms are close relatives of animals that have the potential to form multicellular assemblies under certain conditions, and Thibaut's lab are leveraging them to gain insights into how animal morphogenesis evolved. We met with Thibaut over Zoom to discuss his career path so far, and learnt how an early interest in dinosaurs contributed to his life-long fascination with evolutionary biology.

The people behind the papers - J. Guillermo Sanchez and Jim Wells.

During development, the gastrointestinal tract undergoes patterning along its anterior-posterior axis to define regions with distinct organs and functions. A new paper in Development derives human intestinal organoids from an individual with duodenal defects and a compound heterozygous variant in the gene encoding the transcription factor RFX6. By studying these organoids, the authors identify novel roles for RFX6 in intestinal patterning. To learn more about the story behind the paper, we caught up with first author J. Guillermo Sanchez and corresponding author Jim Wells, an endowed professor in the Division of Developmental Biology at Cincinnati Children's Hospital, USA, where he is also the Director for Basic Research in the Division of Endocrinology.

The people behind the papers - Jason Ko and Daniel Lobo.

Planarians grow when they are fed and shrink during periods of starvation. However, it is unclear how they maintain appropriate body proportions as their size changes. A new paper in Development investigates the differences between growth and shrinkage dynamics and builds a mathematical model to explore the mechanisms underpinning these two processes. To learn more about the story behind the paper, we caught up with first author, Jason Ko, and corresponding author, Daniel Lobo, Associate Professor at the University of Maryland.

The people behind the papers - Margret Bülow and Pilar Carrera.

Bez is a Class B scavenger receptor in Drosophila that is yet to be characterised. In a new study, Margret Bülow and colleagues uncover a role for Bez in mobilising lipids from Drosophila adipocytes into the ovary for oocyte maturation. To find out more about the people behind the paper, we caught up with first author, Pilar Carrera, and corresponding author, Margret Bülow, Group Leader at the University of Bonn.

The people behind the papers - Yongjun Yin and David Ornitz.

During alveologenesis, multiple mesenchymal cell types play crucial roles in maximising the lung surface area. In their study, David Ornitz and colleagues define the repertoire of lung fibroblasts, with a particular focus on alveolar myofibroblasts. To know more about their work, we spoke to the first author, Yongjun Yin, and the corresponding author, David Ornitz, Alumni Endowed Professor at the Department of Developmental Biology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis.

An interview with Jonathan Slack.

Jonathan Slack is Emeritus Professor at the University of Bath. His research interests have included early development of the Xenopus embryo, regeneration of limbs and tails, and attempts to reprogramme other cell types to ß cells. In September 2023, Jonathan was awarded the 2023 British Society for Developmental Biology Wolpert Medal, which recognizes an outstanding individual who has made major contributions to the teaching and communication of developmental biology in the UK. We chatted to Jonathan at the European Developmental Biology Congress, where he was presented with the medal, to find out more about his career and his experience writing textbooks and the 'A Very Short Introduction' books on stem cells and genes.

An interview with Marysia Placzek.

Marysia Placzek is Professor of Developmental Neurobiology at the University of Sheffield, UK, where her lab studies the development of the hypothalamus. In 2023, she was awarded the British Society for Developmental Biology's (BSDB) Waddington Medal, which recognises outstanding individuals who have made major contributions to UK developmental biology. Marysia gave her award lecture at the European Developmental Biology Congress (EDBC), a hybrid meeting with hubs in Oxford, Paris and Barcelona. We met in Oxford after her talk to learn more about her research, her love of teaching and her thoughts on the future of the field.

An interview with Aimee Jaramillo-Lambert.

Aimee Jaramillo-Lambert is currently an Assistant Professor at the University of Delaware. Aimee was awarded the Society for Developmental Biology 2023 Elizabeth D. Hay New Investigator Award in recognition of her outstanding research in developmental biology during the early stages of her independent career. We caught up with Aimee over a video call to talk about her research into sexual reproduction in Caenorhabditis elegans, the importance of mentorship, and what drives her work in diversity, equity and inclusion.

Craig Montell.

Interview with Craig Montell, whose work focuses on identifying receptors, channels and sensory neurons important in vision, taste, and temperature sensation.

An interview with Christopher Wright.

Christopher Wright is Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology and the director of the Program in Developmental Biology at Vanderbilt University. His lab works on pancreas organogenesis and how it relates to disease, using techniques spanning from single-cell technology through to high-resolution imaging. Chris was awarded the 2022 Society for Developmental Biology (SDB) Victor Hamburger Outstanding Educator Prize and we talked about what winning this award means to him, as well as discussing his career and his hopes for the future of developmental biology.

An interview with Valerie Wilson.

Valerie Wilson is Professor of Early Embryo Development and a group leader at the Centre for Regenerative Medicine at the University of Edinburgh, UK. Val's lab works on the development of the vertebrate head-to-tail axis, focusing on the differentiation potential of axial progenitors. In 2022, she was awarded the British Society for Developmental Biology's (BSDB) Waddington Medal, which recognises outstanding individuals who have made major contributions to UK developmental biology. After her award lecture, we spoke to Val about her career and heard her thoughts on the past, present and future of the field.

An interview with Andreas Prokop.

Andreas Prokop is a Professor of Cellular and Developmental Neurobiology at The University of Manchester, UK. His research group studies the mechanisms of axon homeostasis and degeneration, using primary neurons of the fruit fly Drosophila as a model system. In April 2022, Andreas was awarded the 2022 British Society of Developmental Biology (BSDB) Wolpert Medal, which recognizes an outstanding individual who has made major contributions to the teaching and communication of developmental biology in the UK. We chatted to Andreas at the BSDB Spring Meeting, where he was presented with the medal, to find out more about his career, his research and his valuable contributions to the teaching and advocation of developmental biology.

The revolutionary developmental biology of Wilhelm His, Sr.

Swiss-born embryologist Wilhelm His, Sr. (1831-1904) was the first scientist to study embryos using paraffin histology, serial sectioning and three-dimensional modelling. With these techniques, His made many important discoveries in vertebrate embryology and developmental neurobiology, earning him two Nobel Prize nominations. He also developed several theories of mechanical and evolutionary developmental biology. His argued that adult form is determined by the differential growth of developmental primordia. Furthermore, he suggested that changes in the growth parameters of those primordia are responsible for generating new phenotypes during evolution. His developed these theories in his book 'Our Bodily Form' (Unsere Körperform). Here, we review His's work with special emphasis on its potential importance to the disciplines of evolutionary developmental biology (evo-devo) and mechanobiology.

The people behind the papers - Chunyan Fang and Xiaoling Tong.

Hox genes play a key role in determining body plan, but previous research indicated that forewing development occurs independently of Antennapedia, the Hox gene expressed in the thoracic region. Now, a new paper in Development describes an essential role for Antennapedia in wing development of silkworm, Drosophila and Tribolium. We caught up with first author, Chunyan Fang, and corresponding author, Xiaoling Tong, a group leader at the State Key Laboratory of Silkworm Genome Biology at Southwest University in China, to find out more about their research.

An Interview with Mansi Srivastava.

Mansi Srivastava is a John L. Loeb Associate Professor of the Natural Sciences at Harvard University. This year, she was awarded the Elizabeth D. Hay New Investigator Award by the Society of Developmental Biology, which recognizes new group leaders who have performed outstanding research in developmental biology during the early stages of their independent career. Mansi's research focusses on investigating wound response and stem cell biology during regeneration in an evolutionary context. We talked to Mansi to discover how she feels about receiving this award, and about her career and her activities outside of the lab.

Transitions in Development - an interview with Alberto Roselló-Díez.

Alberto Roselló-Díez is a Group Leader at the Australian Regenerative Medicine Institute, Monash University. His lab is developing new tools to ask fundamental questions about limb development. We met with Alberto over Teams to discuss his career, his transition to becoming a group leader and his research plans.

The rise of developmental biology in China.

Developmental biology research in China started from experimental embryology, in particular from studies on aquatic and reptile animals. The recent growth of the developmental biology community in China parallels the increased governmental funding support and the recruitment of overseas talents. This flourishing field in China embraces the activities of developmental biology-related societies, national meetings, key research initiatives and talented scientists. The first Development paper from China, published in 2000, marked the beginning of a new era. More recently, the second decade in the 21st century witnessed the blossoming of developmental biology research in China. Significant research spotlights, technical advances, and up-and-coming areas will be discussed in this overview.

Unraveling the heritage of lost traits.

We synthesize ontogenetic work spanning the past century that show evolutionarily lost structures are rarely entirely absent from earlier developmental stages. We discuss morphological and genetic insights from developmental studies reveal about the evolution of trait loss and regain.