Santos lab

Thank you very much @stemcellpodcast.com for highlighting our work (24:00-32:00) @crick.ac.uk

Elias Copin, PhD student in the lab, gave an outstanding talk at the last @embo.org EMBO Cell Cycle meeting! Many thanks to @biologists.bsky.social for the travel grant which supported him. If you are looking for a postdoc keep an eye out for him. I would keep him in the lab forever if I could 😄

🎉 Our paper is out today in @science.org! How does the intestine maintain the right balance of cell types? We find that signalling rhythms matter! So proud of our three shared first authors, Sonja Weterings, @hiromuneeto.bsky.social & @jddeleede.bsky.social! 🔗 www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Recruiting! Joint PhD studentship with the laboratory of Silvia Santos @santoslab.bsky.social at the Francis Crick institute to examine the mechanics and growth control of human post-gastrulation amnioids. Deadline: 03/11/2026. Details on the project: www.crick.ac.uk/careers-stud...

Website for EMBO workshop on cell cycle and development is active. Amazing lineup of speakers. Please spread the word. @matildegalli.bsky.social, @santoslab.bsky.social and I are happy to answer questions. Looking forward to seeing many of you in Amsterdam in June meetings.embo.org/event/27-cel...

Why optogenetics deserves the hype www.wiringthebrain.com/2013/09/why-... (a piece I wrote in 2013 explaining how it works and why modulating specific cell types is so key to understanding how neural circuits and systems work)

Applications are open for @crick.ac.uk PhD student program. This is an outstanding 4 year program run by an incredible team that puts students at the heart of everything they do. Lots of great projects to choose. We have 2 positions in our lab this year! Please apply! www.crick.ac.uk/careers-and-...

Delighted to see our book on Stem Cell-Based Human Embryo Models published in Methods in Molecular Biology. link.springer.com/book/10.1007...

With @rocha-lab.bsky.social we are organizing a workshop on developmental robustness and it is now open for applications for early career participants! These are fantastic interactive meetings and we have a great speaker lineup - if you have any questions don’t hesitate to get in touch!

Exciting VGZT session this week! 🎉 🗓️ Thursday, July 2nd ⏰ 9:30 PDT / 12:30 EDT / 17:30 BST / 18:30 CEST Our speakers are: 👉 Silvia Santos (@santoslab.bsky.social) 👉 Diana Pinheiro (@dianapinheiro.bsky.social) See you there! 👋

Join @davidbalchin.bsky.social, group leader here at the Crick, as he describes the fascinating ways our cells ensure that proteins fold correctly, and what happens when this goes awry in disease. youtu.be/gEgK1JDNlZ8

Great publication by our former Postdoc Nick (Chun) So, now PI at NIBS. Congratulations to So Lab and the team! 👏🎉 🔗 www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

An amazing list of speakers and lots of opportunity to give selected talks! Save the date and join us in Amsterdam next year!

New from our lab @crick.ac.uk. Nascent proteins emerge from the human ribosome into a cytosol packed with hundreds of different molecular chaperones. Which chaperones recognise specific nascent chains, and what dictates their binding preferences? www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Crick evolutionary biologist @margaridamcm.bsky.social is working with conservation charity ZSL to investigate an enduring mystery: how the placenta has evolved with incredible variation across species. Read the full story: www.crick.ac.uk/news/2026-03...

The Crick magazine spring edition is here, with our latest discoveries and science stories. Read about John Diffley’s mission to crack DNA replication and how a giraffe is helping scientists understand placenta evolution ➡️ www.crick.ac.uk/news-and-fea...

Join #EMBOOmics which aims to showcase new technologies and formulate questions to move the systems biology field forward 👉 s.embl.org/omx26-01-bl 📥 Abstract deadline 11 September

How do electrostatic forces impact TF search ? In joint effort with @beatfierz.bsky.social , tour-de-force from @simsakong.bsky.social who single-handedly combined in vitro SPT on DNA & chromatin, in cellulo SPT, ChIP-seq and ATAC-seq www.nature.com/articles/s41...

I am delighted to share that registration for the next @embo.org EMBO Cell cycle meeting is now open! meetings.embo.org/event/26-cel... . We have an outstanding lineup of speakers and several selected talks from submitted abstracts. Look forward to welcoming you in Portugal from 5–7 October 2026!

Two Crick group leaders are joining Cancer Grand Challenges teams to tackle big questions in cancer research. Leanne Li leads a team studying how tumours interact with the nervous system, and Vivian Li joins a @ucl.ac.uk-led team working to rewire cancer cells. 🔗 www.crick.ac.uk/news/2026-03...

Timely review on an important support tissue in development. Thank you for highlighting our work! www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Development builds... But it also breaks! Planarians split to reproduce. Hydra tears open a mouth. Embryos fracture to make cavities. Failure? No. Fracture is essential to development. Our new review on fracture physics and its uses in development: journals.biologists.com/dev/article/...

We wrote a protocol article detailing induction of dormancy in stem cells, embryos, and blastoids. We hope that it is useful to the community. As usual fun to work with @nicolasrivron.bsky.social, Heidar and Dhanur.

This is such hard news to process. Such an amazing scientist and inspiration for so many of us. www.embl.org/news/embl-an...

Lovely little pre-Christmas present to see this out @natcellbio.nature.com! Some 🔥 new results in here since the biorvix incl (1) a new RARE-GFP reporter ✳️🙌, (2) additional NMP quantification 🔢, (3) no neural tube patterning on RA inhibition 🙅 etc. Enjoy! 😍 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

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...

What is psychosis and how can we treat it? Crick group leader @kathaschmack.bsky.social explains how her lab is working to uncover new ways to treat psychosis by finding its biological roots. youtu.be/EUb3_5ecatU

We are hiring for a web developer position, ideally with some experience in bioinformatics. This position is aimed at helping us turn our research in human genetics into useful tools. A background in either bioinformatics or web development is required. jobs.ethz.ch/job/view/JOP...

Great to see this published: Fitting dynamical landscape models to single-cell data, creating interpretable maps of cell decision making & developmental logic Applied to neural tube patterning, we show how morphogen signals reshape landscapes and drive fate decisions www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

📣 We are moving to Barcelona to join the amazing @crg.eu and explore how centrosomes & cilia work, evolve & respond to the environment. We are looking for PhD students www.crg.eu/en/content/t... Postdocs gimm.pt/jobs/postdoc... Other calls to open, also for an experienced lab manager. Get in touch!

Applications are open for @dev-journal.bsky.social 2026 Pathway to Independence (PI) programme, supporting postdocs applying for group leader positions: Mentoring Profile raising Leadership training Network building Spread the word... www.biologists.com/grants/devel...

The new issue @cp-devcell.bsky.social brings the final form of our opossum heterochrony work www.cell.com/developmenta... And it also brings two great papers from @oliveringe.bsky.social @santoslab.bsky.social and @tobyandrews.bsky.social @rashmi-priya.bsky.social 🙌 great #DevBio from @crick.ac.uk

Emergence and Self-organisation across biological scales! I hope you are ready for next year conference! It will be an incredible event April 20-22 2026. The first of many #LakeConference organised by @ehannezo.bsky.social @alleninstitute.org and James Sharpe @embl.org

Check out that spindle 🤩🔥 At 63C, most eukaryotic cells would be busy exploding noisily, forget even trying to divide. The microbial universe never ceases to astound 😍 Thanks for letting us be a tiny part of this! #ExpandThemAll

Ten days left to apply to be a @crick.ac.uk Early Career Group Leader Closing date 27th November www.crick.ac.uk/careers-stud...

Crosstalk between tissue mechanics and BMP4 signaling regulates symmetry breaking in human gastrula models

We have an exciting PhD position in our lab to explore phototropin receptor diversity in Begonia. If you’re interested in plant photobiology and receptor signalling, we’d love to hear from you! Deadline for expressions of interest: 20 December 2025.

We had a blast tonight at the ‘Curious about the Crick’ event showcasing the science in our lab. Lots of enthusiasm and so many interesting questions. Was awesome to share this with my wonderful lab from brainstorming to communicating the science we love. Thank you to @crick.ac.uk for having us

The Crick PhD program is open and there are amazing projects including our lab's. I couldn't recommend enough joining the program: brilliant community and excellent training and mentorship. Specific project with us will be decided based on your interests. Apply here www.crick.ac.uk/careers-stud...

new preprint: Ubiquitin is a protein modification linked with degradation but known to regulate other functions. Over 100k ubiquitination sites have been discovered and here we (@julianvangerwen.bsky.social + others) try to prioritize those most critical to the cell www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Many of you know, we lost Béla Novák this year. John Tyson, Francis Barr & I tried to capture his wonderful character & great mind so that those that didn't know him can see what a fantastic person he was. Thanks to @jcellsci.bsky.social for publishing. journals.biologists.com/jcs/article/...

Opening my lab @crick.ac.uk two years ago has been a privilege, a delight and ultimately the most transformative experience of my sciencific career. Discovery science without boundaries, inspiring colleagues and infinite possibilities. Come join us!

2026 PhD recruitment is now open. As well as our main PhD recruitment, which is open to all, we are pleased to be offering scholarships for candidates of Black or mixed Black heritage. Learn more and apply on our website: www.crick.ac.uk/careers-stud...

Very sad news, John Gurdon has died. A developmental biologist's developmental biologist, Nobel prize winner His work is the foundation of much of today's dev & stem cell bio. An inspiration to many, including me. Always asking questions & wanting the answers www.magd.cam.ac.uk/news/profess...

Outstanding talk today at #CABDseminars by Silvia Santos @santoslab.bsky.social! Silvia showcased the latest work understanding the deciding cellular signals during early human development. Silvia was hosted by Fernando Casares. Thanks for coming Silvia!

Congratulations Isabela from the Dev Bio MSc program @imperialcollegeldn.bsky.social for finishing successfully your viva! Was an absolute pleasure to train you and have you in the lab! Beautiful work on cell cycle and fate and never ending enthusiasm! Best of luck with your next adventure!

EEE meeting is BACK! Early Embryogenesis & Epigenetics conference in Berlin 02/2026. Checkout great program and over 12 slots for (not so) short talks for submitted abstracts!. Early registration now open - w.molgen.mpg.de/embryo2026

Farewell dinner for @oliveringe.bsky.social with our wonderful Santos lab family. Ollie was our 1st Crick PhD student! Lots to celebrate and many fun memories. We are so grateful to have had Ollie in the lab and cannot wait to see what’s next for him in the Morris lab at Harvard! Best of luck,Ollie!

The goal of a PhD is not to learn some facts or read a few papers or learn a bunch of techniques. The goal of a PhD is to learn independence, problem solving, how to finish things you start, resilience, & gain the ability to adapt & think creatively. Learning these things is hard.