Latest spotLight
spotLights is an interview series dedicated to highlighting exciting new preprints in the biological sciences and the early-career researchers driving the work.
Preprint highlights, selected by the biological community
HiExM Enables Scalable Mapping of Organelle Morphology and Spatial Heterogeneity
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Brassinosteroid receptors reveal conserved features of exon-embedded gene regulation
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Fast single molecule localization microscopy in 3D
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Microglia extract neuronal proteolytic organelles via skoupocytosis
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AI semantics for biomedical data integration
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A single genetic innovation at the origin of plant terrestrialization
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MechanoMaST – a multimodal pipeline for spatially registering mechanical and transcriptomic tissue data; Paired-surface spatial mechanomics links tissue stiffness maps to spatial transcriptomics
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Choreographed morphogenetic events underlie early foregut development in the mouse embryo
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Cellquant: a vibecoder’s guide to image analysis
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19 October 2026
Theodora Stougiannou
The Tensile Expansion Microscopy (TExM) cell stretcher: an iris expansion device integrated with automated real-time autofocus and tracking to super-resolve cells
Selected by
19 October 2026
Felipe Del Valle Batalla
HiExM Enables Scalable Mapping of Organelle Morphology and Spatial Heterogeneity
Selected by
19 October 2026
Dina Kabbara
Brassinosteroid receptors reveal conserved features of exon-embedded gene regulation
Selected by
15 October 2026
Karima El Mahboubi
CFM: Confinement Force Microscopy—a dynamic, precise and stable microconfiner for traction force microscopy in spatial confinement
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15 October 2026
Kanishka Parashar
Fast single molecule localization microscopy in 3D
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14 October 2026
Kanishka Parashar
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Register for a free, half-day workshop focussed on scientific storytelling
Want to make your research presentations more engaging, identify the stories within your science and create compelling visual summaries of your work? Join us on 10 November 2026 from 13:00-17:00 GMT for ‘Scientific Storytelling’, a free half-day workshop designed to help researchers communicate their science with greater creativity and impact.…
| Posted on | 15 October 2026 |
New spotLights conversation on machine learning, epistasis and scientific rigor
Machine learning is increasingly shaping protein engineering, but how can we tell whether models truly capture complex biological phenomena such as epistasis, where the effect of one mutation depends on the presence of others? In our latest spotLights episode hosted by Leonie Brüne, Gian Marco Visani and William S. DeWitt…
| Posted on | 16 September 2026 |
New Preprint Highlights published with Development’s Special Issue
The latest Special Issue of Development – titled ‘The Extracellular Environment in Development, Regeneration and Stem Cells’ - includes a companion article that features a selection of recent preprints chosen and highlighted by members of the preLights community. Building on the themed Preprint Highlights format introduced in Journal of Cell…
| Posted on | 7 September 2026 |
‘In preprints’ from Development 2026
A list of the preprints featured in Development's 'In preprints' articles, as part of the new Preprint Editors initiative
| List by | Clarisse Brunet Avalos et al. |
Sainsbury Laboratory Symposium 2026
The Sainsbury Laboratory Symposium 2026, Shaping Life: Mechanisms of Morphogenesis, brought together researchers exploring the cellular, genetic and mechanical processes that shape plant form. This preList highlights preprints that were discussed or mentioned at the meeting. If you notice any missing preprints, please contact us at preLights@biologists.com
| List by | Ingrid Tsang |
Santa Cruz Developmental Biology Meeting 2026
This preList brings together a selection of preprints discussed at the Santa Cruz Developmental Biology Meeting 2026, held at UC Santa Cruz with the theme “Biomedicine, Biomechanics, and the Biosphere.” Reflecting the meeting’s broad scientific scope, from development and regeneration to evolution, tissue mechanics, and emerging technologies, this curated collection showcases work that contributed to conversations throughout the meeting.
| List by | Ingrid Tsang |
Developmental regulation: molecular and ecological niches
This conference was held at the Station Biologique de Roscoff (France) and brought together researchers exploring how diverse niche environments shape developmental processes across scales. Spanning topics from ecological and metabolic influences to signalling networks, mechanics and gene regulation, the meeting highlighted the interplay between intrinsic and extrinsic factors in controlling cell fate and tissue organisation. This preList gathers preprints discussed by speakers and poster presenters during the meeting. Please do get in touch at preLights@biologists.com if you notice any relevant preprints that we may have missed.
| List by | Ingrid Tsang |
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