{"id":79085,"date":"2026-04-15T09:31:27","date_gmt":"2026-04-15T07:31:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/?post_type=awards&#038;p=79085"},"modified":"2026-04-15T09:31:28","modified_gmt":"2026-04-15T07:31:28","slug":"new-funding-to-explore-how-embryos-survive-temperature-stress-in-the-era-of-climate-change","status":"publish","type":"awards","link":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/awards-honours\/new-funding-to-explore-how-embryos-survive-temperature-stress-in-the-era-of-climate-change","title":{"rendered":"New funding to explore how embryos survive temperature stress in the era of climate change"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Most living cells operate within a narrow temperature range. Even slight changes can disrupt essential processes, from metabolism to cell division. As climate change causes more frequent and unpredictable temperature fluctuations worldwide, studying how life adapts to these shifts is essential to understanding how life can persist despite these challenges and where the limits are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>EMBL Barcelona researchers and their collaborators are working on understanding how one of the key processes of life \u2013 early development \u2013 responds to changes in temperature. This highly collaborative project recently received funding of $1.5 million (\u20ac1.3m) from the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/posts\/human-frontier-science-program-hfsp_hfsp-hfspresearchgrants-hfspnewawardees-activity-7441789385676591104-zupn?utm_source=share&amp;utm_medium=member_desktop&amp;rcm=ACoAAAbHPZkBAHBdS29zmX5rfnO-tm4U92_lyMo\">Human Frontier Science Program (HFSP)<\/a>. HFSP grants are some of the most prestigious and competitive grants in the biological sciences, with only 3% of applications funded this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe starting point of our project is a paradox,\u201d said <a href=\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/groups\/trivedi\/\">Vikas Trivedi<\/a>, Group Leader and Co-Chair of Theory@EMBL as well as the coordinator of the awarded project. \u201cTemperature affects nearly every physical and chemical process in the cell. While an embryo is developing, changes in temperature should affect (or even break down) development. Instead, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/people-perspectives\/we-are-embl-jia-le-lim-on-zebrafish-temperature-and-johann-sebastian-bach\/\">Jia Le Lim<\/a>, a very talented former PhD student in the lab, found that zebrafish embryos are resilient. How on earth is that even possible?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"vf-figure wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"282\" class=\"vf-figure__image\" src=\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Photos-together-2-1-1024x282.png\" alt=\"Four adults stand side by side in a bright, modern indoor hallway with large glass windows and greenery visible outside. The group faces the camera, smiling or with relaxed expressions, dressed casually.\" class=\"wp-image-79089\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Photos-together-2-1-1024x282.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Photos-together-2-1-300x83.png 300w, https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Photos-together-2-1-768x212.png 768w, https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Photos-together-2-1.png 1975w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"vf-figure__caption\">From left to right: Miguel Concha, Agathe Chaigne, Vikas Trivedi and Michael Stumpf. Credit: AI-generated composite based on original portraits<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Under normal conditions, cells of the embryo divide cleanly into two identical daughter cells. However, findings from studies in zebrafish embryos show that embryos can continue developing normally at sub-optimal temperatures even when a fundamental cellular process like cell division goes wrong. \u201cIt\u2019s fascinating that the basic molecular building blocks of cell division are shared across the tree of life, but different enough to function only within a narrow temperature range &#8211; yet the embryo can still compensate.\u201d said <a href=\"https:\/\/www.uu.nl\/staff\/AEDChaigne\">Agathe Chaigne<\/a>, an expert on cell division from Utrecht University.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The new project brings together scientists from across three continents to examine this surprising phenomenon. Together with Trivedi, researchers from the Utrecht University in the Netherlands, the University of Chile in Chile, and the University of Melbourne in Australia will work on embryo resilience over the next three years. Understanding <a href=\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/about\/info\/planetary-biology\/\">life in context<\/a> has been a growing focus at EMBL; for instance <a href=\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/groups\/aulehla\/\">Aulehla<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/groups\/dorrity\/\">Dorrity<\/a> groups have been studying how the timing of development is affected by temperature.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The project aims to uncover how such resilience works. \u201cWe have a unique opportunity: by comparing species such as annual killifish, which inhabit extreme environments, we can understand how biological processes, and in particular those responsible for generating form during embryonic development, adapt to temperature variations,\u201d said <a href=\"https:\/\/ontogenesis.cl\/\">Miguel Concha<\/a>, developmental and mechanical biologist at the Biomedical Neuroscience Institute and Institute of Biomedical Sciences, University of Chile, and director of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/selfo_chile\/\">SELFO<\/a> Millennium initiative. By combining experimental biology, physics, and computational modelling, researchers will investigate whether embryonic cells ending up with multiple nuclei is not simply a failure of division, but an adaptive strategy that helps tissues cope with environmental stress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As the theoretician in the team, <a href=\"https:\/\/theosysbio.org\/staff\/michael-stumpf\/\">Michael Stumpf<\/a> from the University of Melbourne, explains: \u201cCellular systems exist far from equilibrium. Life requires an influx of energy and matter, and cells continuously adapt their metabolic and wider physiological states in response to environmental cues.\u201d&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This international team of scientists aims to bridge the gap between temperature and organism function at the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/picture-of-the-week\/spotlight-zebrafish-embryos-to-make-this-season-jolly\/\">molecular<\/a>, cellular, and tissue scales. In the long term, this research could help identify molecular targets to combat embryonic lethality.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>An international team coordinated by Vikas Trivedi at EMBL Barcelona has been awarded an HFSP grant worth $1.5 million (\u20ac1.3m) to study how developing organisms stay on track despite climate-driven temperature instability<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":94,"featured_media":79093,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","tags":[497,819,55,565,563,507,679,931],"award-type":[17601],"award-unit":[17631],"award-site":[17609],"class_list":["post-79085","awards","type-awards","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-barcelona","tag-climate-change","tag-development","tag-developmental-biology","tag-embryonic-development","tag-grant","tag-trivedi","tag-zebrafish","award-type-grant","award-unit-tissue-biology-and-disease-modelling","award-site-barcelona"],"acf":{"vf-news-ah-unit":[17631],"vf-news-ah-type":[17601],"vf-news-ah-site":[17609]},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.2 - 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