Metabolism shapes life
EMBL Barcelona and MPI-CBG Dresden researchers reveal how glycolysis drives early embryonic cell decisions.
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY2025
science-technology
Metabolic activities are not global modulators of developmental tempos
A new study from EMBL Barcelona researchers shows that metabolism is a selective modulator of developmental tempo, contributing to our evolutionary understanding.
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY2025
science-technology
Sweet gene regulation in the mammalian embryo
Researchers in the Boulard group at EMBL Rome demonstrated that the catalytic activity of the OGT enzyme is essential for embryonic development, and that when it’s reduced, embryo development is delayed – especially in males.
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY2025
science-technology
Cute molecules and the scientists who adore them: Maria Costanzo
Maria Costanzo, former predoc at EMBL Barcelona, talks about YAP, her favourite protein in the shape of a heart. This is part of a series of stories about EMBL scientists and quirky, charming proteins that make them smile.
PEOPLE & PERSPECTIVES2025
people-perspectives
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
Father’s gut microbes affect the next generation
Scientists from EMBL Rome and EMBL Heidelberg found that disrupting the gut microbiome of male mice increases the risk of disease in their offspring. Their findings suggest that a father’s pre-conception environment can have lifelong effects on offspring.
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
Why time is of the essence in development
EMBL developmental biologists – with help from other disciplines – pursue the significance of time, timing, and transitions in organisms during their development
EMBLetc2023
The speed of life: a zoo of cells to study developmental time
Researchers from the Ebisuya Group at EMBL Barcelona have used an unprecedented stem cell zoo to compare six different mammalian species and their developmental time.
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY2023
sciencescience-technology
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
Unravelling the origins of the human spine
Scientists at EMBL Barcelona have created for the first time a 3D in vitro model that recapitulates the periodic formation of human somites – structures that give rise to the spinal column.
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY2022
sciencescience-technology
A metaphor for epigenetic inheritance
Recent studies from the Hackett group at EMBL Rome have revealed new insights on the mechanism regulating transmission of non-genetic information during embryonic development, and inspired a scientific illustration
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: Michael Dorrity
Michael Dorrity, one of EMBL’s newest group leaders, is studying how the environment influences early life stages in zebrafish.
LAB MATTERSPEOPLE & PERSPECTIVES2022
lab-matterspeople-perspectives
The Spatial Mouse Atlas: new insights into cell fate
Researchers have combined spatial gene expression information with single-cell genomics data to create a high-resolution atlas of mouse organogenesis.
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY2021
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
EMBL group leader Miki Ebisuya receives ERC Consolidator Grant
Funding by the European Research Council (ERC) will support research on the timing of developmental processes in mammals
EMBL ANNOUNCEMENTSLAB MATTERS2020
embl-announcementslab-matters
Human and mouse cells run at different speeds
The internal clock that governs the development of embryos ticks slower for humans than for mice. Differences in the speed of biochemical reactions underlie the differences between species in the tempo of development.
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
How chromosome structure influences development
EMBL researchers in the Heard group at EMBL Heidelberg explore the interaction between DNA organisation and gene expression in the early embryo
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY2020
sciencescience-technology
Tissue dynamics provide clues to human disease
EMBL scientists examine the molecular causes of a rare hereditary disease of the spine and ribs
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY2020
sciencescience-technology
Accidental beauty
In the Trivedi Group at EMBL Barcelona, Krisztina Arató and Jia Le Lim study the early development of zebrafish embryos.
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY2020
picture-of-the-weekscience-technology
Controlling organ growth with light
The De Renzis group investigated invagination, the first step of organ development in embryos.
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY2018
sciencescience-technology
The scientific origins of Edith Heard
EMBL’s next Director General reflects on the questions that drive her research
PEOPLE & PERSPECTIVES2018
people-perspectivesscience
From blood vessels to blood stem cells
EMBL scientists discover how blood vessel cells become blood stem cells during embryonic development
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY2018
sciencescience-technology
Synchronised waves control embryonic patterning
EMBL scientists show that the rhythm between Wnt and Notch waves enables patterning in embryos.
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY2018
sciencescience-technology
DNA’s twisted communication
During embryo development, genes are dynamically, and very precisely, switched on and off to confer different properties to different cells and build a well-proportioned and healthy animal. Fgf8 is one of the key genes in this process, controlling in particular the growth of the limbs and…
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY2013
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
Uncovering how cells cover gaps
Researchers at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg, Germany, came a step closer to understanding how cells close gaps not only during embryonic development but also during wound healing. Their study, published this week in the journal Cell, uncovers a fundamental…
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY2009
sciencescience-technology
Digital zebrafish embryo provides the first complete developmental blueprint of a vertebrate
Researchers at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) have generated a digital zebrafish embryo – the first complete developmental blueprint of a vertebrate. With a newly developed microscope scientists could for the first time track all cells for the first 24 hours in the life of a…
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY2008
sciencescience-technology
A molecule that protects from neuronal disorders
Many neuronal disorders, including epilepsy, schizophrenia and lissencephaly ─ a form of mental retardation ─ result from abnormal migration of nerve cells during the development of the brain. Researchers from the Mouse Biology Unit of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Italy,…
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY2007
sciencescience-technology
A wandering eye
Eyes are among the earliest recognisable structures in an embryo; they start off as bulges on the sides of tube-shaped tissue that will eventually become the brain. Researchers from the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg have now discovered that cells are programmed to make…
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY2006
sciencescience-technology
A switch between life and death
Cells in an embryo divide at an amazing rate to build a whole body, but this growth needs to be controlled. Otherwise the result may be defects in embryonic development or cancer in adults. Controlling growth requires that some cells divide while others die; their fates are determined by signals…
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY2006
sciencescience-technology
How do cells travel through our bodies?
One of the most basic yet least understood processes in our bodies is how cells crawl along tissues. This behavior is essential to the formation of an embryo and other processes, but it must be tightly controlled. A disturbance can lead to the spread of cancer cells or diseases like Spina…
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY2005
sciencescience-technology
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