Sally Lowell
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cellysally.bsky.social
Sally Lowell
@cellysally.bsky.social
Developmental & stem cell biologist, University of Edinburgh

Digs repetition

Also digs local coordination between cells in development and disease

#SustainableConferencing #Music #Science #MoreScience

Mastodon @[email protected]
Pinned
As summer ends, puffins leave Scotland and migrate long distances, heading west across the Atlantic, or south to Africa, and with some individuals venturing into the Mediterranean Sea

This one ended up on the cover of today's EMBO Journal 😃

#GotTheCover

www.embopress.org/toc/14602075...
Reposted by Sally Lowell
We are delighted to announce that @giuliapaci.bsky.social from @ucllifesciences.bsky.social has been awarded the 2026 BSCB Postdoctoral researcher medal

You can read about Giulia's work on how tissues withstand mechanical stress here:

bscb.org/postdoctoral...
January 22, 2026 at 9:49 AM
Birthday party, cheesecake, jellybean, boom 😬

assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/696e0e...
assets.publishing.service.gov.uk
January 21, 2026 at 5:53 PM
Reposted by Sally Lowell
Read our interview with Drenka on how she used a grant from our Fund for Innovations in Sustainable Conferencing to organise an engaging virtual workshop with low environmental impact, whilst maximising inclusivity: www.biologists.com/stories/remo...
Remote meetings – environmental and cost effective
9 January 2026 We launched our Sustainability Initiative to encourage and support ideas that enable biologists to collaborate productively whilst minimising their impact on the environment. We are pro...
www.biologists.com
January 14, 2026 at 2:24 PM
Reposted by Sally Lowell
There's still time to apply to be a 2026 @dev-journal.bsky.social Pathway to Independence fellow

For those about to apply for their first independent academic position, the programme offers

- mentoring
- leadership training
- profile rising
- networking

journals.biologists.com/dev/pages/pi...
Pathway to Independence programme | Development | The Company of Biologists
Pathway to Independence programme | Development | The Company of Biologists Development's Pathway to Independence programme Launched in 2022, Development’s Pathway Independence programm...
journals.biologists.com
January 13, 2026 at 5:29 PM
This meeting will be so great. Only about a week until the early-bird deadline, 9th Feb.
#DevBio
I am absolutely delighted to share the invited speakers for our upcoming @bsdb.bsky.social "Molecules to Morphogenesis" meeting!

Registration and abstract submission is now open - join us!

bsdb.org/meetings/

March 23-26, 2026 - UK
January 9, 2026 at 1:52 PM
Reposted by Sally Lowell
I think the latest cover helps to remind us that Development is not just a faceless brand of a journal eager to line shareholder pockets - it's a group of people who share a love for #devbio and, in my experience, really are trying to do their best for their community.

#not-for-profit
Issue 24 is complete!

Marking the end of #biologists100, the cover features members of our community, including some featured 'extraordinary biologists' #100biologists, as well as our Editors and in-house team.

Thank you to all our authors and reviewers, past and present, for their contributions.
January 8, 2026 at 3:53 PM
Reposted by Sally Lowell
Our final prize-winning essay on 'Innovative ideas for the future of sustainable events' looks at a simple yet effective system to help academics decide which conferences to attend, based on sustainability criteria. Read the essay from
@katherinepaine.bsky.social: www.biologists.com/stories/sust...
Sustainability mapper: an online platform for browsing research events
10 December 2025 By Katherine Paine We are delighted to present to you the third prize-winning essay by Katherine Paine (University of Edinburgh) from our essay competition, ‘Innovative ideas for the ...
www.biologists.com
December 16, 2025 at 9:01 AM
Reposted by Sally Lowell
Honestly, this is pretty cool!
December 11, 2025 at 5:58 PM
Reposted by Sally Lowell
A deep dive into the backstory of @dev-journal.bsky.social and why it changed its name (spoiler - it's not *just* because Journal of Embryology and Experimental Morphology was such a mouthful!). Many thanks to Nick Hopwood for researching and writing this. journals.biologists.com/dev/article/...
Identities of an embryology journal in a molecular age; or, How Development got its name
ABSTRACT. Journals build identities to attract authors and subscribers. Name changes make the stakes explicit. This article explains how the plain Journal of Embryology and Experimental Morphology (JE...
journals.biologists.com
December 11, 2025 at 3:30 PM
Reposted by Sally Lowell
HELP! Please suggest a cool paper/preprint in your field in the last year or so.

For a course I teach, I am collecting papers on: cell/dev bio, microbio, neuro, maths/stats/CS/chem/phys applied to biology.

1/2
December 11, 2025 at 1:19 PM
Hello, here is a review I wrote about how cells sometimes try to synchronise with surrounding cells so that they can do a good job of building tissues during development. It is called "Keeping up with the neighbours"

link.springer.com/article/10.1...

#DevBio 🧪
Keeping up with the neighbours: local synchronisation of cell fate decisions during development - EMBO Reports
Even before the advent of multicellular life, unicellular creatures would communicate with their neighbours to coordinate their behaviours. Multicellular organisms have the particular challenge of orc...
link.springer.com
December 11, 2025 at 3:19 PM
Reposted by Sally Lowell
Very happy to share our 'Evoscape' paper, now published in PNAS ! www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Generative epigenetic landscapes map the topology and topography of cell fates | PNAS
Epigenetic landscapes were proposed by Waddington as the central concept to describe cell fate dynamics in a locally low-dimensional space. In mode...
www.pnas.org
December 10, 2025 at 1:27 PM
A special #PUFFFIN -filled day as we celebrate the successful viva of Dr @lebektamina.bsky.social!

Many thanks to @aidarodrigo.bsky.social and @tristanrodriguez72.bsky.social for examining and huge congratulations to the brilliant Dr Lebek!
December 5, 2025 at 4:57 PM
I do like the @dev-journal.bsky.social "Research Report" format for shortish papers

This one is valuable. "Is it the N2B27?" is the stem cell biologist version of "Is it the magnesium?"

Congrats Tina Balayo @dias-andre.bsky.social David Turner & all authors
journals.biologists.com/dev/article/...
N2B27 media formulations influence gastruloid development
Highlighted Article: This work explores the cellular and molecular sensitivity of the mouse gastruloid model system to variations in N2B27 media formulations, highlighting the need for careful media s...
journals.biologists.com
November 25, 2025 at 11:22 AM
Reposted by Sally Lowell
🌱During #COP30, we invite you to explore what is the carbon footprint of an event and learn about easy steps to take to minimise it.
🟢Learn more with our free event carbon calculator: biologists.com/sustainabili...
November 14, 2025 at 10:26 AM
Reposted by Sally Lowell
Development that lasts a life time. Check out the 2025 special issue of @dev-journal.bsky.social on Lifelong Development: the Maintenance, Regeneration and Plasticity of Tissues

journals.biologists.com/dev/issue/15...
Volume 152 Issue 20 | Development | The Company of Biologists
journals.biologists.com
November 5, 2025 at 8:54 AM
It was such a pleasure to host @joadelas.bsky.social at @edinuni-irr.bsky.social yesterday. What a great talk- fascinating insights into how Cis Regulatory Elements process spatial and temporal information to build complicated and beautiful things such as embryos. Bravo Joaquina!
Go to sleep in London, wake up in Edinburg! Great experience aboard the Caledonian Sleeper train.

Looking forward to a fun day full of science at the CRM. Thank you so much @cellysally.bsky.social for hosting me.
October 31, 2025 at 9:06 AM
Reposted by Sally Lowell
Go to sleep in London, wake up in Edinburg! Great experience aboard the Caledonian Sleeper train.

Looking forward to a fun day full of science at the CRM. Thank you so much @cellysally.bsky.social for hosting me.
October 30, 2025 at 8:08 AM
Reposted by Sally Lowell
Read the 1st prize winning essay from our competition 'Innovative ideas for the future of sustainable events'. Read Liew Yao Rong’s essay and learn about his innovative approach that combines participants’ management, location and logistics: www.biologists.com/stories/peop...
October 28, 2025 at 8:15 AM
Reposted by Sally Lowell
Thank you @scholarlykitchen.bsky.social for featuring our Event Carbon Calculator in your article.

Read more for many great #sustainability tips.
October 28, 2025 at 10:59 AM
Reposted by Sally Lowell
“Developmental biology is fundamentally beautiful. We are no less beautiful for our variation. Instead, perhaps we are more so. Perhaps we are remarkable. Perhaps we are full of wonder.”

Read this insightful post by Bethan on the Node.

thenode.biologists.com/developmenta...

#Disability
Developmental Biology and Disability - the Node
Hopeful monsters. Morphospace. Mutation. Natural variation. Mutagenesis screens. Polymorphism. Deformity. Phenotype. Disease. Adaptation. Anomaly.
thenode.biologists.com
October 22, 2025 at 1:15 PM
The Possible vs. The Actual: can #GenerativeBiology reveal fundamental design principles of complex life?

@philipcball.bsky.social closes #GenBio25 with a magnificent synthesis of the past two days of discussions, and guides us towards an agenda for the future of the field.
October 21, 2025 at 5:43 PM
Reposted by Sally Lowell
Good afternoon #GenBio25. @bensteventon.bsky.social uses a flock of sheep as an analogy for multi-level reciprocal interactions between cells and how to engineer them.
a herd of sheep walking down a grassy path
ALT: a herd of sheep walking down a grassy path
media.tenor.com
October 20, 2025 at 12:53 PM
Reposted by Sally Lowell
Who are our (cellular) neighbours? @matt-mala.bsky.social is addressing this question now at #GenBio25, using characters living on a conceptual ‘Cell Street’. Learn more in his @dev-journal.bsky.social Primer: doi.org/10.1242/dev....
Enabling neighbour labelling: using synthetic biology to explore how cells influence their neighbours
Summary: This Primer reviews emerging approaches for engineering synthetic signalling between cells and discusses how these could be applied to study the influence cells have on their neighbours durin...
doi.org
October 20, 2025 at 8:44 AM
Reposted by Sally Lowell
Good morning from Generative Biology! @bernasozen.bsky.social starts by taking a closer look at metabolism in early embryogenesis.

Learn more about stem cell-based embryo models in her recent @dev-journal.bsky.social Review: doi.org/10.1242/dev.... and interview: doi.org/10.1242/dev....
Transitions in development – an interview with Berna Sozen
Berna Sozen is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Genetics at Yale University, USA. Berna's lab studies early mammalian development, metabolism, and maternal–fetal interactions using mouse an...
doi.org
October 20, 2025 at 8:12 AM