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
Minimal essential requirements for neural tube self-organisation
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Nature-Inspired Nanoparticle Adiposomes Enable Targeted Delivery of Hydrophobic Drug for Anti-Cancer Treatment
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Disordered protein COSA-2 maintains crossover-specific repair compartments to ensure meiotic crossover maturation
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Drift drives phenotypic evolution in a rapid island radiation
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Comprehensive Lineage Tracing Maps the Landscape of Cell Fate Decisions in Mouse Embryogenesis
Combinatorial and Inducible CRISPRa/i Enables Canalized hiPSC Forward Programming and Iterative Refinement via Single-Cell Genomics
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Diversity and Spatial Segregation of TRP Channels in Choanoflagellates Provide Insight into the Evolutionary Origin of Animal Sensory Systems
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09 August 2026
Urvashi Goswami
BAF complexes maintain accessibility at stimulus-responsive chromatin and are required for transcriptional stimulus responses
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08 August 2026
Dina Kabbara
Epigenome editing of human hematopoietic stem cells enables sustained and reversible thrombosis prevention
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06 August 2026
Beth Chopak
Structure of chlorophyll synthase in complex with the LHC-like protein HliD
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04 August 2026
Orestis Savva
PRDM3 and PRDM16 define cranial neural crest cell states in zebrafish development
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04 August 2026
Anushka Patil
Aging increases ovarian cancer growth, metastasis, and immunosuppression that can be alleviated by inhibiting hedgehog signaling
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03 August 2026
Zoha Sadaqat
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Introducing Preprint Highlights for Special Issues
The latest Journal of Cell Science (JCS) Special Issue, Cell Biology of the Nucleus, includes a companion article, Preprint highlights in nuclear cell biology, featuring a selection of recent preprints chosen and highlighted by members of our community. Although JCS has published Preprint Highlights articles previously, this collection represents a…
| Posted on | 8 July 2026 |
From preprint to publication: María Mariner spotlights ZIC2 dynamics during neural induction
A recent Short produced by preLighter María Mariner- Faulí highlights her recently published work in Nucleic Acids Research exploring how the transcription factor ZIC2 orchestrates neural cell fate during early development. Her research uncovers a striking dual role for ZIC2: first priming chromatin accessibility, then later acting as a precise…
| Posted on | 8 June 2026 |
‘Goodreads for Science’: How Paperstars reimagines the way science should be judged
Paperstars was developed to help refocus research culture on doing good science, rather than on where papers are published. Founded by Danny Schnitzler and Jenna Stephen, the platform aims to decouple research quality from journal prestige and give scientists a quick, constructive way to signal which papers really matter. Here,…
| Posted on | 23 April 2026 |
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 |
preLighters’ choice – Handpicked DevBio preprints
preLighters with expertise across developmental and stem cell biology have nominated a few developmental biology (and related) preprints they’re excited about and explain in a few paragraph why. Concise preprint highlights, prepared by the preLighter community – a quick way to spot upcoming trends, new methods and fresh ideas.
| List by | Theodora Stougiannou et al. |
BSDB Spring Meeting: Molecules to Morphogenesis
The British Society for Developmental Biology (BSDB) Spring Meeting Molecules to Morphogenesis was held from 23–26 March 2026 at the University of Warwick (UK). This meeting brought together a vibrant community of researchers to discuss how molecular mechanisms are integrated across scales to drive morphogenesis, spanning diverse model systems and approaches. This preList contains preprints by presenters from the talk and poster sessions at 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 |
Keystone Symposium on Stem Cell Models in Embryology 2026
The Keystone Symposium on Stem Cell Models in Embryology, 2026, was organised by Jun Wu (UT Southwestern), Jianping Fu (University of Michigan) and Miki Ebisuya (TU Dresden) and held at Asilomar Conference Grounds in California (US). The meeting discussed recent advances made in establishing stem-cell-based embryo models, what fundamental insights into developmental processes have been gleaned from them, as well as how they are beginning to be applied more widely. This prelist contains preprints by presenters at the talk and poster sessions at the conference, which our Reviews Editor in attendance spotted. Please do reach out to preLights@biologists.com if you notice any that we’ve missed.
| List by | Ingrid Tsang |
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