Toby Andrews
@tobyandrews.bsky.social
Embryologist interested in how organs grow, adapt and evolve 🫀🔬 Transition Fellow at IDRM, Oxford. Previously postdoc Francis Crick Institute, PhD Cambridge.
Pumped about hearts, microscopes and morphospaces.
Pumped about hearts, microscopes and morphospaces.
Pinned
Toby Andrews
@tobyandrews.bsky.social
· Aug 6
Mechanochemical coupling of cell shape and organ function optimizes heart size and contractile efficiency in zebrafish
Andrews et al. demonstrate that multiscale feedback between mechanical and chemical
cues builds a functional heart to support zebrafish embryonic life. Cell recruitment
and organ-scale forces drive tr...
tinyurl.com
Thrilled to bits to see our latest work online in Dev Cell! 🥳
We wanted to know how cells build functional organs with precision🫀🫁📏 Here we show how coupling of cell shape and organ function fine tunes the form and contractile power of the developing #zebrafish heart 1/n
tinyurl.com/cell-stretch
We wanted to know how cells build functional organs with precision🫀🫁📏 Here we show how coupling of cell shape and organ function fine tunes the form and contractile power of the developing #zebrafish heart 1/n
tinyurl.com/cell-stretch
Reposted by Toby Andrews
How the functional architecture of the zebrafish heart is shaped during development
📹 @tobyandrews.bsky.social et al @rashmi-priya.bsky.social
lab @crick.ac.uk in @cellpress.bsky.social Developmental Cell
➡️ bpod.org.uk/archive/2025...
📹 @tobyandrews.bsky.social et al @rashmi-priya.bsky.social
lab @crick.ac.uk in @cellpress.bsky.social Developmental Cell
➡️ bpod.org.uk/archive/2025...
August 18, 2025 at 8:40 AM
How the functional architecture of the zebrafish heart is shaped during development
📹 @tobyandrews.bsky.social et al @rashmi-priya.bsky.social
lab @crick.ac.uk in @cellpress.bsky.social Developmental Cell
➡️ bpod.org.uk/archive/2025...
📹 @tobyandrews.bsky.social et al @rashmi-priya.bsky.social
lab @crick.ac.uk in @cellpress.bsky.social Developmental Cell
➡️ bpod.org.uk/archive/2025...
Reposted by Toby Andrews
Now published in @natcomms.nature.com! 🥳
👉 rdcu.be/eATn3
We developed image analysis tools to capture the nematic orientation field of 3D tissue surfaces. Tested on epithelial aggregates, zebrafish hearts, myoblasts on spheres & micro-vessels, we combined soft matter physics with exp. biology.
👉 rdcu.be/eATn3
We developed image analysis tools to capture the nematic orientation field of 3D tissue surfaces. Tested on epithelial aggregates, zebrafish hearts, myoblasts on spheres & micro-vessels, we combined soft matter physics with exp. biology.
August 15, 2025 at 12:13 PM
Now published in @natcomms.nature.com! 🥳
👉 rdcu.be/eATn3
We developed image analysis tools to capture the nematic orientation field of 3D tissue surfaces. Tested on epithelial aggregates, zebrafish hearts, myoblasts on spheres & micro-vessels, we combined soft matter physics with exp. biology.
👉 rdcu.be/eATn3
We developed image analysis tools to capture the nematic orientation field of 3D tissue surfaces. Tested on epithelial aggregates, zebrafish hearts, myoblasts on spheres & micro-vessels, we combined soft matter physics with exp. biology.
Reposted by Toby Andrews
Hot off the press!!! Proudly presenting our lab's new review on how do cells communicate to control organ size :) We focus specially on dynamic connections that operate at different timescales to regulate organ growth and morphogenesis. #devbio #SizeandShape www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Start-Shape-Stop: Cell communication mechanisms controlling organ size
Accurate growth control is critical for the achievement of proportional organs during animal development and repair processes. Either extra or deficie…
www.sciencedirect.com
August 9, 2025 at 8:39 AM
Hot off the press!!! Proudly presenting our lab's new review on how do cells communicate to control organ size :) We focus specially on dynamic connections that operate at different timescales to regulate organ growth and morphogenesis. #devbio #SizeandShape www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Thrilled to bits to see our latest work online in Dev Cell! 🥳
We wanted to know how cells build functional organs with precision🫀🫁📏 Here we show how coupling of cell shape and organ function fine tunes the form and contractile power of the developing #zebrafish heart 1/n
tinyurl.com/cell-stretch
We wanted to know how cells build functional organs with precision🫀🫁📏 Here we show how coupling of cell shape and organ function fine tunes the form and contractile power of the developing #zebrafish heart 1/n
tinyurl.com/cell-stretch
Mechanochemical coupling of cell shape and organ function optimizes heart size and contractile efficiency in zebrafish
Andrews et al. demonstrate that multiscale feedback between mechanical and chemical
cues builds a functional heart to support zebrafish embryonic life. Cell recruitment
and organ-scale forces drive tr...
tinyurl.com
August 6, 2025 at 2:53 PM
Thrilled to bits to see our latest work online in Dev Cell! 🥳
We wanted to know how cells build functional organs with precision🫀🫁📏 Here we show how coupling of cell shape and organ function fine tunes the form and contractile power of the developing #zebrafish heart 1/n
tinyurl.com/cell-stretch
We wanted to know how cells build functional organs with precision🫀🫁📏 Here we show how coupling of cell shape and organ function fine tunes the form and contractile power of the developing #zebrafish heart 1/n
tinyurl.com/cell-stretch
Reposted by Toby Andrews
New Pre-Print Alert! "Teeth Outside the Jaw: Evolution and Development of the Toothed Head Clasper in Chimaeras." We use fossil evidence, development and CT scans through ghost shark ontogeny to describe the emergence of the tenaculum! 👻🦈🦷 @karlycohen.bsky.social
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
April 8, 2025 at 7:08 PM
New Pre-Print Alert! "Teeth Outside the Jaw: Evolution and Development of the Toothed Head Clasper in Chimaeras." We use fossil evidence, development and CT scans through ghost shark ontogeny to describe the emergence of the tenaculum! 👻🦈🦷 @karlycohen.bsky.social
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Toby Andrews
Latest work:
Review on the evolvability of vertebral number, and the developmental processes underpinning it
Written by Callum Bucklow, @bertaverd.bsky.social, and myself
Check it out here: doi.org/10.32942/X2K...
Review on the evolvability of vertebral number, and the developmental processes underpinning it
Written by Callum Bucklow, @bertaverd.bsky.social, and myself
Check it out here: doi.org/10.32942/X2K...
March 24, 2025 at 9:26 PM
Latest work:
Review on the evolvability of vertebral number, and the developmental processes underpinning it
Written by Callum Bucklow, @bertaverd.bsky.social, and myself
Check it out here: doi.org/10.32942/X2K...
Review on the evolvability of vertebral number, and the developmental processes underpinning it
Written by Callum Bucklow, @bertaverd.bsky.social, and myself
Check it out here: doi.org/10.32942/X2K...
A fantastic opportunity to take on evolution with experimental embryology
Great lab, mentor, department, and model system 🐠 don't miss out!
Great lab, mentor, department, and model system 🐠 don't miss out!
I am recruiting an #ERC funded PostDoc to work on the evolution of vertebral counts in cichlids. This is an experimental project & will be looking for candidates with experience generating reporter lines, live-imaging and experimental embryology.
Application deadline: 25th Feb.
tinyurl.com/33jbu8fa
Application deadline: 25th Feb.
tinyurl.com/33jbu8fa
February 5, 2025 at 9:00 PM
A fantastic opportunity to take on evolution with experimental embryology
Great lab, mentor, department, and model system 🐠 don't miss out!
Great lab, mentor, department, and model system 🐠 don't miss out!
Reposted by Toby Andrews
🚨📢 New paper alert! Our work showing that bilateral cellular flows display asymmetry prior to left–right organizer formation in amniote gastrulation is now published in PNAS!! @pnas.org
🥳😃 🐣
Paper link: www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
News article: news.miami.edu/stories/2025...
🥳😃 🐣
Paper link: www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
News article: news.miami.edu/stories/2025...
February 5, 2025 at 5:18 PM
🚨📢 New paper alert! Our work showing that bilateral cellular flows display asymmetry prior to left–right organizer formation in amniote gastrulation is now published in PNAS!! @pnas.org
🥳😃 🐣
Paper link: www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
News article: news.miami.edu/stories/2025...
🥳😃 🐣
Paper link: www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
News article: news.miami.edu/stories/2025...
An ancient patterning system co-opted to position the chordate forebrain 🧠
Amphioxus spilling more evolutionary secrets - beautiful and rigorous work from @giacomogattoni.bsky.social (but no surprises there!)
Amphioxus spilling more evolutionary secrets - beautiful and rigorous work from @giacomogattoni.bsky.social (but no surprises there!)
For my first post on 🦋, I am incredibly excited to share that my PhD paper has been published in #ScienceAdvances!
We compared the development of the anterior neuroectoderm to uncover how the chordate #forebrain evolved 🧠. Have a look at the summary 🧵 below!
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
We compared the development of the anterior neuroectoderm to uncover how the chordate #forebrain evolved 🧠. Have a look at the summary 🧵 below!
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
An ancient apical patterning system sets the position of the forebrain in chordates
A conserved Wnt-regulated molecular signature sets forebrain position and identity in chordates.
www.science.org
January 31, 2025 at 9:30 AM
An ancient patterning system co-opted to position the chordate forebrain 🧠
Amphioxus spilling more evolutionary secrets - beautiful and rigorous work from @giacomogattoni.bsky.social (but no surprises there!)
Amphioxus spilling more evolutionary secrets - beautiful and rigorous work from @giacomogattoni.bsky.social (but no surprises there!)
Reposted by Toby Andrews
Registration and abstract submission for YEN 2025 is officially open!
We are looking forward to seeing you at the 17th Young Embryologist Network Conference on the 19th May 2025.
Attendence is FREE thanks to our amazing sponsors: @biologists.bsky.social @10xgenomics.bsky.social and Azenta.
We are looking forward to seeing you at the 17th Young Embryologist Network Conference on the 19th May 2025.
Attendence is FREE thanks to our amazing sponsors: @biologists.bsky.social @10xgenomics.bsky.social and Azenta.
January 30, 2025 at 4:36 PM
Registration and abstract submission for YEN 2025 is officially open!
We are looking forward to seeing you at the 17th Young Embryologist Network Conference on the 19th May 2025.
Attendence is FREE thanks to our amazing sponsors: @biologists.bsky.social @10xgenomics.bsky.social and Azenta.
We are looking forward to seeing you at the 17th Young Embryologist Network Conference on the 19th May 2025.
Attendence is FREE thanks to our amazing sponsors: @biologists.bsky.social @10xgenomics.bsky.social and Azenta.
Reposted by Toby Andrews
Tools to analyse early heart morphogenesis in detail are limited. @noelresearchlab.bsky.social &co develop computational package called morphoHeart that allows for integrated 3D analysis of both #heart & extracellular matrix morphology in live #zebrafish embryos 🧪 @plosbiology.org plos.io/42DlqtJ
January 30, 2025 at 10:08 AM
Tools to analyse early heart morphogenesis in detail are limited. @noelresearchlab.bsky.social &co develop computational package called morphoHeart that allows for integrated 3D analysis of both #heart & extracellular matrix morphology in live #zebrafish embryos 🧪 @plosbiology.org plos.io/42DlqtJ
Reposted by Toby Andrews
Spheroids are simple systems with only convex curvature. What about more complex systems?
We teamed up with @tobyandrews.bsky.social & @rashmi-priya.bsky.social, and analyzed the ventricular myocardium of Zebrafish hearts ... and it works! 👇
(Directors: high alignment = red, misaligned = blue)
We teamed up with @tobyandrews.bsky.social & @rashmi-priya.bsky.social, and analyzed the ventricular myocardium of Zebrafish hearts ... and it works! 👇
(Directors: high alignment = red, misaligned = blue)
January 29, 2025 at 11:01 PM
Spheroids are simple systems with only convex curvature. What about more complex systems?
We teamed up with @tobyandrews.bsky.social & @rashmi-priya.bsky.social, and analyzed the ventricular myocardium of Zebrafish hearts ... and it works! 👇
(Directors: high alignment = red, misaligned = blue)
We teamed up with @tobyandrews.bsky.social & @rashmi-priya.bsky.social, and analyzed the ventricular myocardium of Zebrafish hearts ... and it works! 👇
(Directors: high alignment = red, misaligned = blue)
How can we accurately measure features on curved 3D tissues? 📐
Normally we rely on lossy 2D projections, but @juliaeckert.bsky.social's new method detects nematic orientation fields on surfaces of arbitrary geometry
We tested it in hearts, and works a charm! 🫀 More in Julia's thread below 👇🏻
Normally we rely on lossy 2D projections, but @juliaeckert.bsky.social's new method detects nematic orientation fields on surfaces of arbitrary geometry
We tested it in hearts, and works a charm! 🫀 More in Julia's thread below 👇🏻
Thrilled to share our new preprint on detecting the nematic orientation field on surfaces of 3D multicellular systems!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Huge thanks to all authors: @tobyandrews.bsky.social,Joe Pollard, @rashmi-priya.bsky.social, @yap-lab.bsky.social &Richard Morris
Any 3D systems?👇
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Huge thanks to all authors: @tobyandrews.bsky.social,Joe Pollard, @rashmi-priya.bsky.social, @yap-lab.bsky.social &Richard Morris
Any 3D systems?👇
January 30, 2025 at 10:10 AM
How can we accurately measure features on curved 3D tissues? 📐
Normally we rely on lossy 2D projections, but @juliaeckert.bsky.social's new method detects nematic orientation fields on surfaces of arbitrary geometry
We tested it in hearts, and works a charm! 🫀 More in Julia's thread below 👇🏻
Normally we rely on lossy 2D projections, but @juliaeckert.bsky.social's new method detects nematic orientation fields on surfaces of arbitrary geometry
We tested it in hearts, and works a charm! 🫀 More in Julia's thread below 👇🏻
Reposted by Toby Andrews
Andrews, T. G. R., & Priya, R. (2024). The Mechanics of Building Functional Organs. Cold Spring Harbor perspectives in biology, a041520. Advance online publication. #EpithelialMechanicsReview
https://cshperspectives.cshlp.org/content/early/2024/06/15/cshperspect.a041520.abstract
https://cshperspectives.cshlp.org/content/early/2024/06/15/cshperspect.a041520.abstract
January 30, 2025 at 7:00 AM
Andrews, T. G. R., & Priya, R. (2024). The Mechanics of Building Functional Organs. Cold Spring Harbor perspectives in biology, a041520. Advance online publication. #EpithelialMechanicsReview
https://cshperspectives.cshlp.org/content/early/2024/06/15/cshperspect.a041520.abstract
https://cshperspectives.cshlp.org/content/early/2024/06/15/cshperspect.a041520.abstract
Reposted by Toby Andrews
For my first post on 🦋, I am incredibly excited to share that my PhD paper has been published in #ScienceAdvances!
We compared the development of the anterior neuroectoderm to uncover how the chordate #forebrain evolved 🧠. Have a look at the summary 🧵 below!
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
We compared the development of the anterior neuroectoderm to uncover how the chordate #forebrain evolved 🧠. Have a look at the summary 🧵 below!
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
An ancient apical patterning system sets the position of the forebrain in chordates
A conserved Wnt-regulated molecular signature sets forebrain position and identity in chordates.
www.science.org
January 27, 2025 at 5:22 PM
For my first post on 🦋, I am incredibly excited to share that my PhD paper has been published in #ScienceAdvances!
We compared the development of the anterior neuroectoderm to uncover how the chordate #forebrain evolved 🧠. Have a look at the summary 🧵 below!
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
We compared the development of the anterior neuroectoderm to uncover how the chordate #forebrain evolved 🧠. Have a look at the summary 🧵 below!
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Reposted by Toby Andrews
Thrilled to see #choanoflagellates on the cover of Science Advances🤩. Our latest work "Electrical signaling and coordinated behavior in the closest relative of animals" out now. Link: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... 👏 @jeffcolgren.bsky.social @msarscentre.bsky.social
January 8, 2025 at 7:49 PM
Thrilled to see #choanoflagellates on the cover of Science Advances🤩. Our latest work "Electrical signaling and coordinated behavior in the closest relative of animals" out now. Link: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... 👏 @jeffcolgren.bsky.social @msarscentre.bsky.social
Reposted by Toby Andrews
A tail of two tissues: post-gastrulation tissue scaling in zebrafish ensures proper body proportions
Read this Research Highlight showcasing work from @dillansaunders.bsky.social, Carlos Camacho-Macorra & @bensteventon.bsky.social @geneticscam.bsky.social:
journals.biologists.com/dev/article/...
Read this Research Highlight showcasing work from @dillansaunders.bsky.social, Carlos Camacho-Macorra & @bensteventon.bsky.social @geneticscam.bsky.social:
journals.biologists.com/dev/article/...
January 10, 2025 at 9:57 AM
A tail of two tissues: post-gastrulation tissue scaling in zebrafish ensures proper body proportions
Read this Research Highlight showcasing work from @dillansaunders.bsky.social, Carlos Camacho-Macorra & @bensteventon.bsky.social @geneticscam.bsky.social:
journals.biologists.com/dev/article/...
Read this Research Highlight showcasing work from @dillansaunders.bsky.social, Carlos Camacho-Macorra & @bensteventon.bsky.social @geneticscam.bsky.social:
journals.biologists.com/dev/article/...
Reposted by Toby Andrews
The outer ear is a mammalian innovation but where did it come from? In our study in Nature, Mathi Thiruppathy and colleagues find that the outer ear arose from modification of an ancestral gill program first originating in marine invertebrates. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
1/n
1/n
Repurposing of a gill gene regulatory program for outer ear evolution - Nature
Nature - Repurposing of a gill gene regulatory program for outer ear evolution
www.nature.com
January 9, 2025 at 4:48 PM
The outer ear is a mammalian innovation but where did it come from? In our study in Nature, Mathi Thiruppathy and colleagues find that the outer ear arose from modification of an ancestral gill program first originating in marine invertebrates. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
1/n
1/n
Reposted by Toby Andrews
🎉 We're excited to share our new research in @nature.com ! We reveal that crocodile head scales self-organize through compressive folding of the skin - a mechanical twist on their development & evolution!
Please read & share 🐊🔬 @genevunige.bsky.social
Please read & share 🐊🔬 @genevunige.bsky.social
Self-organized patterning of crocodile head scales by compressive folding - Nature
Crocodile head scales self-organize through purely mechanical compressive skin folding rather than a patterning process controlled by gene interactions.
www.nature.com
January 8, 2025 at 12:15 PM
🎉 We're excited to share our new research in @nature.com ! We reveal that crocodile head scales self-organize through compressive folding of the skin - a mechanical twist on their development & evolution!
Please read & share 🐊🔬 @genevunige.bsky.social
Please read & share 🐊🔬 @genevunige.bsky.social