Dirk Benzinger

Investigating morphogen and patterning dynamics with optogenetic control of morphogen production Benzinger et al. develop a chemo-optogenetic system for precise spatiotemporal control of morphogen production in vitro. Using light-controlled Sonic hedgehog expression, they recapitulate neural tube...

Good to see the peer reviewed version of this published

A chemo-optogenetic system for spatiotemporal control of gene expression

We use it to:

- Reconstruct SHH mediated neural tube patterning in vitro

- Measure extracellular half-life of Shh

www.cell.com/developmenta...

Hierarchical lineage architecture of human and avian spinal cord revealed by single-cell genomic barcoding The formation of neural circuits depends on the precise spatial and temporal organisation of neuronal populations during development. In the vertebrate spinal cord, progenitors are patterned into mole...

Thrilled to share my main postdoc work with @jamesbriscoe.bsky.social

We used genomic barcoding + scRNAseq in chick & human embryos to reveal a lineage architecture that reshapes how we understand neural tube development & cell fate decisions
🧵👇

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

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.

We are looking forward to spending the next two days discussing INTERESTING THINGS at our workshop on Generative Biology: new approaches to study developmental design principles #GenBio25

Thanks to my excellent coorganisers @jcornwallscoones.bsky.social & @dbenzinger.bsky.social & all participants

Combinatorial BMP4 and activin direct the choice between alternate routes to endoderm in a stem cell model of human gastrulation Inge et al. show that human endoderm originates from two converging developmental routes with distinct dynamics and efficiencies yet similar developmental potential. Combinatorial activin and BMP4 sig...

1/7 Really happy to see my PhD work published in ✨Developmental Cell✨ today! We find human endoderm is specified by two developmental trajectories 🔀, and the choice between alternate routes is dictated by the combinatorial BMP4/Activin signalling. www.cell.com/developmenta...

Thank you 😊

Hahah, amazing! Thank you Sally!

Super excited that our latest work is out!

We use optogenetics to dynamically control and study the formation of morphogen gradients.

If you are interested in optogenetic tools and/or how cells shape and process extracellular signals, check out @jamesbriscoe.bsky.social's thread and the paper.

Large-scale control over collective cell migration using light-activated epidermal growth factor receptors Programmable control over tissue movement is a fundamental challenge for tissue engineering and wound healing. Suh, Thornton, et al. discovered that a light-controlled EGF receptor controls long-range...

I'm so happy to report that our preprint on light-induced collective cell migration has now been published in Cell Systems! This project was a lot of fun and will be the basis for a lot of our ongoing & future work.

It has been fun being part of this.

Interested in design rules governing cis-regulatory element activity and how they can be used to engineer gene expression?

Check out Jake’s thread/paper!

Timely TGFβ signalling inhibition induces notochord - Nature Through analysis of developing chick embryos and in vitro differentiation of embryonic stem cells, a study develops a method to generate a model of the human trunk with a notochord.

Our latest: how to generate the notochord
"Timely TGFβ signalling inhibition induces notochord"

A thread:

www.nature.com/articles/s41...