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
Fibronectin orchestrates extracellular matrix composition and cardiac outflow tract elongation in Xenopus laevis
Selected by
Circadian Clock Programming of Anticipatory Antiviral Immunity Gates Enteric Virus Infection Susceptibility
Selected by
Inhibition of VP2-mediated entry: a potential antiviral strategy to treat or prevent calicivirus disease
Selected by
Targeting CXADR-mediated AKT signaling suppresses tumorigenesis and enhances chemotherapy efficacy in Ewing sarcoma
Behavioral characteristics of an extremely old rhesus macaque in a zoo: Dementia-like symptoms and implications for quality of life of geriatric animals
Selected by
Ribosome Molecular Aging Shapes Translation Dynamics
Selected by
Cell position is more important than cell shape or age for the acquisition of cell identity in the brown alga Ectocarpus
Selected by
18 June 2026
Urvashi Goswami
Site-Specific Inhibition of Translation Initiation via 2’-O-methylation
Selected by
17 June 2026
Leonie Brüne
Fibronectin orchestrates extracellular matrix composition and cardiac outflow tract elongation in Xenopus laevis
Selected by
15 June 2026
Theodora Stougiannou
Circadian Clock Programming of Anticipatory Antiviral Immunity Gates Enteric Virus Infection Susceptibility
Selected by
12 June 2026
Owen Ang
Inhibition of VP2-mediated entry: a potential antiviral strategy to treat or prevent calicivirus disease
Selected by
09 June 2026
Orestis Savva
Targeting CXADR-mediated AKT signaling suppresses tumorigenesis and enhances chemotherapy efficacy in Ewing sarcoma
Selected by
09 June 2026
TheLangeLab et al.
Sign up to customise the site to your preferences and to receive alerts
Register hereLatest news
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 |
Can we spot scientific breakthroughs before they happen?
How do funding decisions shape the direction of biomedical research? Can we spot transformative discoveries years before they are recognised by prizes, policies, or the wider community? And what can patterns of scientific communication tell us about how breakthroughs actually emerge? In a new spotLights episode, preLighter Jonathan Townson speaks…
| Posted on | 15 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 |
Join us at preLights
- Be part of our friendly, diverse, and international preLighter community.
- Gain science writing and editing experience.
- Stay up-to-date with interesting preprints in your field.
- Engage with preprint authors and help shape preprint discussions.
Check out our poster – download it below and help us spread the word.
What is the best thing preLights offers the biological community?
The video below bundles together some of the lovely responses we’ve received from the preLighters.
Our sister sites
The community site for
developmental biologists
