preLights

🚨 New call for preLighters!🚨 Help us highlight the most exciting biological #preprints. Share your insights, build your profile, and be part of a supportive community! 🌍 Interested? Apply today & help shape the future of science publishing! 📢 More info: prelights.biologists.com/news/join-th...

Holding on for dear function: how microtubule networks influence mitochondrial morphology and function. Sharvari Pitke covers the latest work of Nida Ul Fatima & colleagues @vaishananth.bsky.social #preprint #CellBio Read the #preLight ⬇️ prelights.biologists.com/highlights/m...

Calling future preLighters! We're looking for early-career researchers to join us at preLights and help uncover exciting #preprints + contribute to constructive discussions around new research. Interested? Apply by 22 November ⬇️ prelights.biologists.com/news/become-...

I’m very excited to share the first big project from my PhD (my first proper-first, yay!) where we use cryoET and a fun new flavour of CLEM to study the re-organisation of photosynthetic machinery of cyanobacteria growing beyond the red limit of light. doi.org/10.64898/202...

How does sperm aster get propelled toward the center of a large egg? In our new preprint, we propose that the ER acts as a cytoplasmic anchor for microtubule pulling forces. From @minclab.bsky.social. @ijmonod.bsky.social, @cnrsbiologie.bsky.social

⏰Last chance to register for “Publish, Review, Curate (PRC): Shaping the future of scholarly publishing,” where we will discuss a new vision for research communication based on the PRC model—a vision that places openness, transparency, community participation, and scholarly judgment at its core.

They said flies could develop without centrosomes. The embryos may beg to differ. Jeny Jose highlights a recent #preprint from Beatriz González & colleagues @araujolabub.bsky.social – post includes an insightful authors’ response #preLight ⬇️ prelights.biologists.com/highlights/c...

The title really intrigued me, but I couldn't have imagined how much I would love this paper! Actually, I was so excited by the findings that I wrote a @prelights.bsky.social😄 If you haven't read it yet, go dive into this amazing paper lead by @noelponte.bsky.social 🤩 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Cellquant: a vibecoder’s guide to image analysis Abani Neferkara & colleagues #PincusLab #UChicago assemble and deploy an LLM–assisted, Python–based script for biological image segmentation. #preprint #preLight by Theodora Stougiannou ⬇️ prelights.biologists.com/highlights/c...

It's incredible how expansion microscopy has advanced in the past few years. Check out @lydia-kisley.bsky.social ’s lab latest preprint showing their new device for this field! @prelights.bsky.social prelights.biologists.com/highlights/t...

Combining HiExM with single-organelle segmentation & machine learning reveals cellular patterns beyond the average. #BoyerLab @dina-kabbara.bsky.social: "What stands out to me most is how often a bulk average concealed meaningful differences..." #preLight⬇️ prelights.biologists.com/highlights/h...

This has been a very fun initiative. To many more!

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 a free half-day workshop: prelights.biologists.com/news/registe...

Hide and seek: exonic sequences harbor cis regulatory elements and regulate spatial expression of brassinosteroids receptors. #PlantBiology @karimaelm.bsky.social covers a recent #preprint by Raúl Denia-Mondéjar et al. @noelponte.bsky.social #preLight ⬇️ prelights.biologists.com/highlights/b...

Intrinsic3D, a new imaging approach that allows researchers to image entire cells + tissues in 3D at single-molecule resolution, making large-volume super-resolution imaging faster & easier. @kanishka03.bsky.social covers work #StJohnstonLab - #preLight ⬇️ prelights.biologists.com/highlights/f...

A new plant-bacteria immunological connection in the first preprint of our group at @mpi-bio-fml.bsky.social @plantevolution.bsky.social! Straight from the top of Mt. Olympus ⛰️🦅 Led by Eirik @eiriklag.bsky.social, in collaboration with @geminiteamlab.bsky.social www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

In preprints – making blood stem cells: how close is close enough? Roshana Thambyrajah @roshanathambyrajah.bsky.social discusses 2 recent preprints by Cwycyshyn & co and Jain & co, asking a fundamental question: what exactly are engineered hematopoietic stem cells? doi.org/10.1242/dev....

When a neuron’s waste is too big to carry home, microglia pinch it off from the outside – in a process called skoupocytosis, from the Greek for garbage. @chandrrrika.bsky.social covers a #preprint from Renee Pepper et al. @watanabelab.bsky.social #preLight⬇️ prelights.biologists.com/highlights/m...

Crouching AI, hidden connections Theodora Stougiannou covers work introducing an AI-based semantics workflow to facilitate data integration across heterogeneous databases. #preprint James McLaughlin et al. @helenparkinson.bsky.social #OpenScience #preLight⬇️ prelights.biologists.com/highlights/a...

How do plants take shape? The latest preList by @ingridtsang.bsky.social bundles #preprints discussed at #SLS26 A list that features work on plant development, tissue mechanics, stomatal patterning, leaf shape & computational modelling #PlantScience #preList⬇️ prelights.biologists.com/prelists/sai...

🔬📝Here’s our latest #preprint list on FocalPlane. This week we focus on preprints that use microscopy to answer questions in biology. Let us know if you have any recommendations of preprints to add to this list or our future lists. focalplane.biologists.com/2026/10/05/m...

Did you ever wonder how the leopard got its spots? Or how the zebra got its stripes? Wonder no more! In this #Short, @benswedlund.bsky.social talks about his #preprint describing reaction-diffusion architecture for engineering self-organised patterns in mammalian cells. 🎙️⬇️ youtu.be/_HMbr4KE1PI?...

Did one gene family help plants colonise land? Zamar et al. @pierremarcdelaux.bsky.social show how a land-plant-specific enzyme family, p-GPATs, is involved in two different processes: cuticle formation & arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis #preLight by Naveen⬇️ prelights.biologists.com/highlights/a...

Two #preprints detail new & complementary ways to match mechanical readouts from tissues to OMICs. #preLight by @fadelvalle.bsky.social - includes a discussion with the author teams @lindithium.bsky.social @huanting-ong.bsky.social @jennyoung.bsky.social ⬇️ prelights.biologists.com/highlights/m...

I'm excited to share our new preprint: Generation of a transgenic cephalopod tinyurl.com/pc86jxz8 Cephalopods (cuttlefish, octopus & squid) are crazy critters that dynamically camouflage to their surroundings by changing the color, pattern, & texture of their skin, which they control w their brain.

Paid peer review is not science fiction! As part of @prelights.bsky.social, I was joined the #Fast&Fair initiative from @biologyopen.bsky.social. Fast&Fair compensates reviewers who submit a high-quality peer review in a timely manner, so authors get a first decision in seven working days (1/4).

Proud to present our latest work "Tracking human foragers and their prey reveals adaptive predator-prey dynamics", now hosted on BioRxiv! 🧵 doi.org/10.64898/202... @ralfkurvers.bsky.social @scioi.bsky.social @arc-mpib.bsky.social @alexschakowski.bsky.social @dominikdeffner.bsky.social

Watch the story of foregut folding unfold 👀 Ruoheng Li highlights recent work identifying and quantitatively describing the stereotypical sequence of foregut involution. #preprint @jennykre.bsky.social #McDoleLab #preLight + response from the authors ⬇️ prelights.biologists.com/highlights/c...

🧬 Preprint! 🧵 Our goal is to genetically manipulate every embryonic germ layer to enable high throughput in vivo studies. We previously showed mouse ectoderm can be targeted by amniotic injection, enabling cell-specific manipulation, lineage tracing, and knockouts. But how to reach mesoderm?

Excited to share our new preprint! 📜 Here, we used CALVADOS and ultra-CG models to show how the kinetochore establishes a robust attachment to the dynamic microtubule end. Spoiler: IDRs 🧵 1/n www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

DNA barcoding systems that uniquely label progenitors allow us to trace their fate. Marine Secchi highlights a #preprint presenting a novel method to analyse complex clonal patterns @sergeyisaev.bsky.social @alekerickson.bsky.social @adameykolab.bsky.social prelights.biologists.com/highlights/c...

🚨 New preprint from the lab! 🚨 Transcriptomic profiling identifies cellular and molecular transitions during Merkel cell regeneration www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Check out our new preprint: a very cool fluorescence tool developed by @samwalds.bsky.social www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

What molecular mechanisms underlie the needle-in-a-haystack search for homology required to fix a DNA break? In this preprint, we reveal multiple controls of homology search in cells: onset, coordination, reach and inactivation. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Paying peer reviewers: it's not Science Fiction As a postdoc involved in Fast & Fair peer review @biologyopen.bsky.social, @jontytownson.bsky.social reflects on what paid peer review could mean for the future of research publishing #NPAW2026 #preLight ⬇️ prelights.biologists.com/highlights/e...

To see, or not to see... 👀 @lochlanw.bsky.social highlights recent work showing that fruit flies selectively suppress visual input via electrical transmission of an efference copy. #neuroscience #preprint @fleyes.bsky.social #preLight ⬇️ prelights.biologists.com/highlights/v...

Reading recommendation for #PeerReviewWeek @ethanewe.bsky.social highlights a study that looks at 115,000+ PLOS papers to explore who chooses open peer review and whether openness relates to article quality. #preprint Adrian Barnett & Matt Spick #preLight⬇️ prelights.biologists.com/highlights/w...

SPOT(-TER) the difference: spatial proteomics painted by (TMT-channel) numbers Felix Kraus from @philipplange.bsky.social's lab highlights recent work from the #ZhangLab which represents a promising implementation of spatial #proteomics #preprint #preLight⬇️ prelights.biologists.com/highlights/s...

In her latest preList, @ingridtsang.bsky.social brings together a selection of #preprints discussed at the Santa Cruz Developmental Biology Meeting 2026, themed ‘Biomedicine, Biomechanics, and the Biosphere’ Did we miss any? Please do let us know! #preList⬇️ prelights.biologists.com/prelists/san...

Hand in hand - E-cadherin with E-cadherin 🤝 Supported by @girishkalephd.bsky.social, Chiara Hüttner highlights work showing that the number of E-cadherin connections influences morphogenetic tissue movements. #preprint Lerchbaumer et al. #TepassLab #preLight⬇️ prelights.biologists.com/highlights/e...

How liver endothelial cells decode blood flow to kick-start #regeneration Rather than viewing increased blood flow as a single mechanical signal, the authors demonstrate that LSECs decode a sequence of distinct physical cues. #preprint #preLight by Tran To⬇️ prelights.biologists.com/highlights/t...

Critical evaluation is an essential part of science. Leonie Brüne speaks with @gmarcovisani.bsky.social and @wsdewitt.github.io about their technical comment #preprint re-examining conclusions from the MULTI-evolve paper. #preLight: prelights.biologists.com/highlights/a... youtu.be/n1ijJ0ZoDBY?...

A common epigenetic circuit may unite genetically diverse Acute Myeloid Leukemia subtypes. Targeting the SAGA complex dismantles leukemic identity. #preprint @anideshpande.bsky.social Take a look at Zoha Sadaqat’s latest #preLight⬇️ 👀 prelights.biologists.com/highlights/d...

The surprising plasticity of node endoderm in early development #DevBio Alexandra Neaverson covers recent work from Panagiotis Oikonomou & colleagues @nerurkar.bsky.social Lab #preprint #preLight + author response ⬇️ prelights.biologists.com/highlights/a...

Can parasite genomes tell us more than prevalence? Genomic data reveals localized #schistosomiasis transmission, cross-village connectivity and persistent parasite diversity despite prolonged control efforts. #preprint #preLight by @halataha.bsky.social ⬇️ prelights.biologists.com/highlights/p...

🔬🔦In our Imaging spotlight, @inesfournon.bsky.social & team highlight their work on epithelial cell extrusion. Check it out to learn more about their experimental pipeline: from keeping the sea anemones alive during imaging to their bespoke image analysis. focalplane.biologists.com/2026/09/07/i...

Preprint highlights in extracellular biology Read these @prelights.bsky.social posts relevant to our special issue #DevSIextracellular by @fadelvalle.bsky.social, Sristilekha Nath, @kanishka03.bsky.social, Zoha Sadaqat and @jontytownson.bsky.social. journals.biologists.com/dev/article/...

Is opting into open peer review an indicator of article quality? Papers with published peer-review reports had lower retraction rates over time. To me, it is telling of a broader trend: groups that favour transparency produce more reliable science. Read the @prelights.bsky.social on these findings!