Ben Steventon
@bensteventon.bsky.social
Pinned
Ben Steventon
@bensteventon.bsky.social
· Mar 23
Happy to share this work from @alexneaverson.bsky.social where she has dissected the timing and relative contribution of the organiser and its derivates to multiple aspects of early neural development:
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Reposted by Ben Steventon
NeMo is finally out! 🐟
We present our new method to peel cellular layers and extract their nematics.
If you're wondering what a fish has to do with curved nematics, check out the thread and the publication 👀👇🏼
arxiv.org/html/2609.12...
We present our new method to peel cellular layers and extract their nematics.
If you're wondering what a fish has to do with curved nematics, check out the thread and the publication 👀👇🏼
arxiv.org/html/2609.12...
September 23, 2026 at 7:45 AM
NeMo is finally out! 🐟
We present our new method to peel cellular layers and extract their nematics.
If you're wondering what a fish has to do with curved nematics, check out the thread and the publication 👀👇🏼
arxiv.org/html/2609.12...
We present our new method to peel cellular layers and extract their nematics.
If you're wondering what a fish has to do with curved nematics, check out the thread and the publication 👀👇🏼
arxiv.org/html/2609.12...
Reposted by Ben Steventon
What if any dataset, any size, any number of dimensions, opened in a browser tab from a link? 🔬🧪💻
Luxar is out today: write it in Python, share it as a link, explore it in any browser. Open source. 🧵 @biohub.org
Preprint: doi.org/10.5281/zen...
Code: github.com/royerlab/luxar
Luxar is out today: write it in Python, share it as a link, explore it in any browser. Open source. 🧵 @biohub.org
Preprint: doi.org/10.5281/zen...
Code: github.com/royerlab/luxar
September 23, 2026 at 8:47 AM
What if any dataset, any size, any number of dimensions, opened in a browser tab from a link? 🔬🧪💻
Luxar is out today: write it in Python, share it as a link, explore it in any browser. Open source. 🧵 @biohub.org
Preprint: doi.org/10.5281/zen...
Code: github.com/royerlab/luxar
Luxar is out today: write it in Python, share it as a link, explore it in any browser. Open source. 🧵 @biohub.org
Preprint: doi.org/10.5281/zen...
Code: github.com/royerlab/luxar
Reposted by Ben Steventon
To learn more about this work and the people behind it, we talked to Carlos Camacho-Macorra, and Benjamin Steventon @bensteventon.bsky.social.
journals.biologists.com/dev/article/...
journals.biologists.com/dev/article/...
September 18, 2026 at 12:55 PM
To learn more about this work and the people behind it, we talked to Carlos Camacho-Macorra, and Benjamin Steventon @bensteventon.bsky.social.
journals.biologists.com/dev/article/...
journals.biologists.com/dev/article/...
Super happy to see Carlos’s work highlighted in Development. He figured out how the notochord uses Yap signaling to balance the rate of progenitor entry vs anterior expansion
Mechanical feedback coordinates elongation across the notochord
This Research Highlight showcases work by Carlos Camacho-Macorra, @osvaldo-chara.bsky.social, @bensteventon.bsky.social and colleagues from @geneticscam.bsky.social.
journals.biologists.com/dev/article/...
This Research Highlight showcases work by Carlos Camacho-Macorra, @osvaldo-chara.bsky.social, @bensteventon.bsky.social and colleagues from @geneticscam.bsky.social.
journals.biologists.com/dev/article/...
September 22, 2026 at 6:22 AM
Super happy to see Carlos’s work highlighted in Development. He figured out how the notochord uses Yap signaling to balance the rate of progenitor entry vs anterior expansion
Nice commentary Oslvaldo, it was a lot of fun working on this project together!
🧵 What do zebrafish notochord cells 🐟 and Galilean relativity 🚀 have in common?
Quite a lot, apparently. 😄
Check this out in the published version of our article in @dev-journal.bsky.social:
doi.org/10.1242/dev....
1/7
Quite a lot, apparently. 😄
Check this out in the published version of our article in @dev-journal.bsky.social:
doi.org/10.1242/dev....
1/7
Coupling Vgll4b/Yap-regulated posterior cell addition with anterior vacuolation enables robust notochord elongation
Highlighted Article: YAP activation in notochord progenitors of vgll4b mutant zebrafish leads to enhanced progenitor addition to the notochord, compromising the ability of notochord cells to undergo v...
doi.org
September 16, 2026 at 7:03 AM
Nice commentary Oslvaldo, it was a lot of fun working on this project together!
Reposted by Ben Steventon
The article was spearheaded by Carlos Camacho-Macorra and led by @bensteventon.bsky.social where @alberto-ceccarelli.bsky.social and I developed a simple 1D mathematical model to understand how notochord cells coordinate their growth during tissue elongation...
2/7
2/7
September 15, 2026 at 10:44 AM
The article was spearheaded by Carlos Camacho-Macorra and led by @bensteventon.bsky.social where @alberto-ceccarelli.bsky.social and I developed a simple 1D mathematical model to understand how notochord cells coordinate their growth during tissue elongation...
2/7
2/7
Reposted by Ben Steventon
New Prelight out! 🐸 @prelights.bsky.social
Neural crest migration and neural tube closure: two tissues in conversation.
Read it here: prelights.biologists.com/highlights/r...
Original preprint from @mayorlab.bsky.social here: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
#NeuralCrest #Xenopus #preLights
Neural crest migration and neural tube closure: two tissues in conversation.
Read it here: prelights.biologists.com/highlights/r...
Original preprint from @mayorlab.bsky.social here: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
#NeuralCrest #Xenopus #preLights
Reciprocal mechanochemical feedback couples neural crest migration and neurulation - preLights
Neural crest migration and neural tube closure: two tissues in conversation. Neural crest cells help the neural tube close by building a fibronectin-rich interface, while neural tube bending mechanica...
prelights.biologists.com
September 4, 2026 at 5:18 PM
New Prelight out! 🐸 @prelights.bsky.social
Neural crest migration and neural tube closure: two tissues in conversation.
Read it here: prelights.biologists.com/highlights/r...
Original preprint from @mayorlab.bsky.social here: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
#NeuralCrest #Xenopus #preLights
Neural crest migration and neural tube closure: two tissues in conversation.
Read it here: prelights.biologists.com/highlights/r...
Original preprint from @mayorlab.bsky.social here: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
#NeuralCrest #Xenopus #preLights
Reposted by Ben Steventon
Dear #LondonEvoDevo colleagues, don't forget to register for our next meeting (deadline on Sep 15th). It would be wonderful to see a lot of our #Cambridge colleagues.
The #LondonEvoDevo goes to Cambridge! Kindly hosted by @emiliapsantos.bsky.social, mark on your calendars *October 2nd* at the Main Theatre in the Department of Zoology (Cambridge). Registration (£0.00): docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F.... All welcome to present: #PI #PhD #PostDocs, submit abstracts!
LondonEvoDevo meeting - October 2026
This event will take place on Friday October 2nd, 2026, at the Department of Zoology (Main Lecture Theatre), University of Cambridge, Downing Street CB2 3EJ, 12:30 - 18:30.
There will be no posters, ...
docs.google.com
August 28, 2026 at 12:28 PM
Dear #LondonEvoDevo colleagues, don't forget to register for our next meeting (deadline on Sep 15th). It would be wonderful to see a lot of our #Cambridge colleagues.
Reposted by Ben Steventon
So happy & excited to see our paper out in @plosbiology.org ! 🎉 With contributions from many past & present members of the Lowell & Wilson labs @edinuni-irr.bsky.social , and a fantastic collaboration with @osvaldo-chara.bsky.social & @alberto-ceccarelli.bsky.social. 🧵👇(1/10)
Neuromesodermal progenitor cells generate multiple tissues. This study by @abinagui.bsky.social @edinuni-irr.bsky.social @osvaldo-chara.bsky.social @cellysally.bsky.social &co maps their functional heterogeneity and links TF expression thresholds to #cellFate.
🧪 #AcademicSky
plos.io/4xWA8Ze
🧪 #AcademicSky
plos.io/4xWA8Ze
August 26, 2026 at 3:24 PM
So happy & excited to see our paper out in @plosbiology.org ! 🎉 With contributions from many past & present members of the Lowell & Wilson labs @edinuni-irr.bsky.social , and a fantastic collaboration with @osvaldo-chara.bsky.social & @alberto-ceccarelli.bsky.social. 🧵👇(1/10)
Reposted by Ben Steventon
Our work on the role of the proteasome in developmental tempo is out!!!! 🐭⌛️👤⏳
Six years after identifying an association between protein stability and developmental tempo, we now demonstrate a causal link between protein turnover and developmental tempo through proteasomal degradation
Six years after identifying an association between protein stability and developmental tempo, we now demonstrate a causal link between protein turnover and developmental tempo through proteasomal degradation
Online now: Proteasome-dependent protein degradation shapes developmental tempo in mouse and human neural progenitors #biology #science
Proteasome-dependent protein degradation shapes developmental tempo in mouse and human neural progenitors
Why do mammalian species develop at different speeds? Nakanoh, Stamataki, et al. show that mouse neural progenitors have faster protein synthesis and proteasome-mediated degradation than human. Manipulating proteasome activity alters the pace of neural development, implicating protein turnover in the evolution of developmental tempo.
dlvr.it
August 15, 2026 at 8:05 AM
Our work on the role of the proteasome in developmental tempo is out!!!! 🐭⌛️👤⏳
Six years after identifying an association between protein stability and developmental tempo, we now demonstrate a causal link between protein turnover and developmental tempo through proteasomal degradation
Six years after identifying an association between protein stability and developmental tempo, we now demonstrate a causal link between protein turnover and developmental tempo through proteasomal degradation
Happy to see Carlos Camacho-Macorra’s paper now out in Development! It was a fun collaboration with @osvaldo-chara.bsky.social and Alberto Ceccarelli, to determine how the notochord balances its elongation at both ends.
eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com?url=https%3A...
eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com?url=https%3A...
Coupling Vgll4b/Yap regulated posterior cell addition with anterior vacuolation enables robust notochord elongation
Robust tissue growth control requires long-range communication between the rate of progenitor addition and tissue expansion. However, the regulatory mechanisms that couple these processes are unknown....
eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com
August 17, 2026 at 8:52 AM
Happy to see Carlos Camacho-Macorra’s paper now out in Development! It was a fun collaboration with @osvaldo-chara.bsky.social and Alberto Ceccarelli, to determine how the notochord balances its elongation at both ends.
eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com?url=https%3A...
eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com?url=https%3A...
Reposted by Ben Steventon
First published teamwork of the lab 🎉! We wrote a review about emerging concepts of how metabolism promotes, regulates and changes during gastrulation. We hope it will be useful for anyone interested in the emerging field of developmental metabolism. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
A metabolic view of gastrulation: Coordinating signalling, epigenetics and morphogenesis
Gastrulation is the morphogenetic process by which the single-layered pluripotent epiblast is reorganised into the three germ layers and the basic bod…
www.sciencedirect.com
August 6, 2026 at 9:35 AM
First published teamwork of the lab 🎉! We wrote a review about emerging concepts of how metabolism promotes, regulates and changes during gastrulation. We hope it will be useful for anyone interested in the emerging field of developmental metabolism. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Reposted by Ben Steventon
The #LondonEvoDevo goes to Cambridge! Kindly hosted by @emiliapsantos.bsky.social, mark on your calendars *October 2nd* at the Main Theatre in the Department of Zoology (Cambridge). Registration (£0.00): docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F.... All welcome to present: #PI #PhD #PostDocs, submit abstracts!
LondonEvoDevo meeting - October 2026
This event will take place on Friday October 2nd, 2026, at the Department of Zoology (Main Lecture Theatre), University of Cambridge, Downing Street CB2 3EJ, 12:30 - 18:30.
There will be no posters, ...
docs.google.com
August 6, 2026 at 2:35 PM
The #LondonEvoDevo goes to Cambridge! Kindly hosted by @emiliapsantos.bsky.social, mark on your calendars *October 2nd* at the Main Theatre in the Department of Zoology (Cambridge). Registration (£0.00): docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F.... All welcome to present: #PI #PhD #PostDocs, submit abstracts!
Reposted by Ben Steventon
We're hiring! We're looking for a creative and collaborative scientist to uncover how mechanics and metabolism work together to shape mammary epithelial tissues, using tunable hydrogels, fluidics, live imaging and single-cell analysis. MRC funded | Apply: www.jobs.manchester.ac.uk/Job/JobDetai...
August 4, 2026 at 10:15 PM
We're hiring! We're looking for a creative and collaborative scientist to uncover how mechanics and metabolism work together to shape mammary epithelial tissues, using tunable hydrogels, fluidics, live imaging and single-cell analysis. MRC funded | Apply: www.jobs.manchester.ac.uk/Job/JobDetai...
Reposted by Ben Steventon
🎨 job alert 🐠
Come join us! We have two positions open! These are part of our @erc.europa.eu funded project on the mechanisms underpinning convergence of colour patterns in cichlid fishes! Closing date: 16th August.
Postdoc: www.cam.ac.uk/jobs/researc...
Technician: www.cam.ac.uk/jobs/researc...
Come join us! We have two positions open! These are part of our @erc.europa.eu funded project on the mechanisms underpinning convergence of colour patterns in cichlid fishes! Closing date: 16th August.
Postdoc: www.cam.ac.uk/jobs/researc...
Technician: www.cam.ac.uk/jobs/researc...
Callipterus Cichlid Collecting Shell
ALT: Callipterus Cichlid Collecting Shell
static.klipy.com
July 14, 2026 at 3:05 PM
🎨 job alert 🐠
Come join us! We have two positions open! These are part of our @erc.europa.eu funded project on the mechanisms underpinning convergence of colour patterns in cichlid fishes! Closing date: 16th August.
Postdoc: www.cam.ac.uk/jobs/researc...
Technician: www.cam.ac.uk/jobs/researc...
Come join us! We have two positions open! These are part of our @erc.europa.eu funded project on the mechanisms underpinning convergence of colour patterns in cichlid fishes! Closing date: 16th August.
Postdoc: www.cam.ac.uk/jobs/researc...
Technician: www.cam.ac.uk/jobs/researc...
Reposted by Ben Steventon
Pleased to be part of such an enthusiastic team of PhDs + postdocs, engaging with equally enthusiastic pupils eager to learn more about development and the tools we use!
Year 12 students from the Emmanuel College Summer Residential Programme joined us in the Department of Genetics for hands-on activities exploring developmental biology, genetics, and biomedical research. Many thanks to our postdocs who led the sessions. #ScienceOutreach #STEM
July 18, 2026 at 9:23 AM
Pleased to be part of such an enthusiastic team of PhDs + postdocs, engaging with equally enthusiastic pupils eager to learn more about development and the tools we use!
Reposted by Ben Steventon
How does an embryo generate the right cells in the right place?
Delighted to share our latest findings on how neural crest cells acquire vagal or trunk identities
Spoiler alert: The timing & combination of CDXs preconfigures cell identity & distinct HOX states
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Delighted to share our latest findings on how neural crest cells acquire vagal or trunk identities
Spoiler alert: The timing & combination of CDXs preconfigures cell identity & distinct HOX states
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Temporally distinct CDX programmes preconfigure vagal and trunk neural crest
Neural crest cells (NCCs) are progenitor cells vital in establishing the head, heart, gut and peripheral nervous system of vertebrate embryos. Disruptions to NCC development underlie neurocristopathie...
www.biorxiv.org
July 17, 2026 at 7:56 PM
How does an embryo generate the right cells in the right place?
Delighted to share our latest findings on how neural crest cells acquire vagal or trunk identities
Spoiler alert: The timing & combination of CDXs preconfigures cell identity & distinct HOX states
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Delighted to share our latest findings on how neural crest cells acquire vagal or trunk identities
Spoiler alert: The timing & combination of CDXs preconfigures cell identity & distinct HOX states
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Reposted by Ben Steventon
Fintastic and elegant fate mapping work from @vprincelab.bsky.social 🐟🧪 #zebrafish
Congratulations to Elaine Kushkowski whose very cool fate map paper came out today doi.org/10.1002/dvdy...
Zebrafish ventral gastrula fate map reveals neural crest progenitor domain
Background
Fate maps relate progenitor cell positions to later fates and locations of their progeny, revealing early embryonic organization. Previous zebrafish fate maps identified the origin of ger.....
doi.org
July 17, 2026 at 5:51 AM
Fintastic and elegant fate mapping work from @vprincelab.bsky.social 🐟🧪 #zebrafish
Reposted by Ben Steventon
We had an amazing day #Morpho5🖐️ last Friday!
Thank you to everyone who joined us for a fantastic day of science, discussion, and community!!|
We're currently gathering and preparing the photos from the symposium. Stay tuned! 📸
Thank you to everyone who joined us for a fantastic day of science, discussion, and community!!|
We're currently gathering and preparing the photos from the symposium. Stay tuned! 📸
June 8, 2026 at 3:53 PM
We had an amazing day #Morpho5🖐️ last Friday!
Thank you to everyone who joined us for a fantastic day of science, discussion, and community!!|
We're currently gathering and preparing the photos from the symposium. Stay tuned! 📸
Thank you to everyone who joined us for a fantastic day of science, discussion, and community!!|
We're currently gathering and preparing the photos from the symposium. Stay tuned! 📸
Reposted by Ben Steventon
DEADLINE EXTENDED! There's still time to register for the Santa Cruz Developmental Biology Meeting! Great science, great people, big trees! Join us!
scdb2026.sites.ucsc.edu
scdb2026.sites.ucsc.edu
Santa Cruz Developmental Biology Meeting
scdb2026.sites.ucsc.edu
June 5, 2026 at 12:49 PM
DEADLINE EXTENDED! There's still time to register for the Santa Cruz Developmental Biology Meeting! Great science, great people, big trees! Join us!
scdb2026.sites.ucsc.edu
scdb2026.sites.ucsc.edu
Reposted by Ben Steventon
🚨 New preprint 🚨
Massive shoutout to first author @abinagui.bsky.social !!!
The common view is that regenerative competence declines with age. We challenge this idea by showing that axolotl tail regenerative competence is emerges during a defined embryonic window. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Massive shoutout to first author @abinagui.bsky.social !!!
The common view is that regenerative competence declines with age. We challenge this idea by showing that axolotl tail regenerative competence is emerges during a defined embryonic window. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
www.biorxiv.org
May 24, 2026 at 6:45 AM
🚨 New preprint 🚨
Massive shoutout to first author @abinagui.bsky.social !!!
The common view is that regenerative competence declines with age. We challenge this idea by showing that axolotl tail regenerative competence is emerges during a defined embryonic window. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Massive shoutout to first author @abinagui.bsky.social !!!
The common view is that regenerative competence declines with age. We challenge this idea by showing that axolotl tail regenerative competence is emerges during a defined embryonic window. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Deadline fast approaching to register for this great meeting! And that’s not just because of the stunning poster illustration
The 2026 Santa Cruz Developmental Biology Meeting is gonna be awesome! DEADLINE to register is June 1st! Sign up now!
scdb2026.sites.ucsc.edu
scdb2026.sites.ucsc.edu
May 11, 2026 at 7:54 PM
Deadline fast approaching to register for this great meeting! And that’s not just because of the stunning poster illustration
Reposted by Ben Steventon
(1/15)
Thrilled to share new Evo-Devo work where we address the molecular, cellular & morphometric basis of an extreme axis segmentation program in the Japanese eel — an animal that forms 120 vertebrae.
Thrilled to share new Evo-Devo work where we address the molecular, cellular & morphometric basis of an extreme axis segmentation program in the Japanese eel — an animal that forms 120 vertebrae.
www.biorxiv.org
May 5, 2026 at 11:41 AM
(1/15)
Thrilled to share new Evo-Devo work where we address the molecular, cellular & morphometric basis of an extreme axis segmentation program in the Japanese eel — an animal that forms 120 vertebrae.
Thrilled to share new Evo-Devo work where we address the molecular, cellular & morphometric basis of an extreme axis segmentation program in the Japanese eel — an animal that forms 120 vertebrae.
Reposted by Ben Steventon
Really exciting to see our new review published!
This review explores the evolutionary history of the extra-embryonic endoderm, an evolutionarily ancient tissue co-opted to form the yolk sac, and explores how in vitro models are uncovering its biology.
Check it out here: doi.org/10.1242/dev....
This review explores the evolutionary history of the extra-embryonic endoderm, an evolutionarily ancient tissue co-opted to form the yolk sac, and explores how in vitro models are uncovering its biology.
Check it out here: doi.org/10.1242/dev....
The vertebrate yolk sac: evolutionary origins and current advances in in vitro models
Summary: This Review examines the evolutionary history of the extra-embryonic endoderm, an evolutionarily ancient tissue co-opted to form the yolk sac, and explores how in vitro models are uncovering ...
doi.org
April 30, 2026 at 11:20 AM
Really exciting to see our new review published!
This review explores the evolutionary history of the extra-embryonic endoderm, an evolutionarily ancient tissue co-opted to form the yolk sac, and explores how in vitro models are uncovering its biology.
Check it out here: doi.org/10.1242/dev....
This review explores the evolutionary history of the extra-embryonic endoderm, an evolutionarily ancient tissue co-opted to form the yolk sac, and explores how in vitro models are uncovering its biology.
Check it out here: doi.org/10.1242/dev....
Reposted by Ben Steventon
Physics of Living Matter 19
@bensteventon.bsky.social announces that the Physics of Living Matter conference is back in Cambridge, UK, for its 19th edition. Find out more in this post on the Node. ⬇️
thenode.biologists.com/physics-of-l...
@bensteventon.bsky.social announces that the Physics of Living Matter conference is back in Cambridge, UK, for its 19th edition. Find out more in this post on the Node. ⬇️
thenode.biologists.com/physics-of-l...
Physics of Living Matter 19 - the Node
We are pleased to announce that the Physics of Living Matter conference is back in Cambridge for its 19th edition! This will be on
thenode.biologists.com
April 29, 2026 at 3:10 PM
Physics of Living Matter 19
@bensteventon.bsky.social announces that the Physics of Living Matter conference is back in Cambridge, UK, for its 19th edition. Find out more in this post on the Node. ⬇️
thenode.biologists.com/physics-of-l...
@bensteventon.bsky.social announces that the Physics of Living Matter conference is back in Cambridge, UK, for its 19th edition. Find out more in this post on the Node. ⬇️
thenode.biologists.com/physics-of-l...