Gert Jan C Veenstra
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gertjanveenstra.bsky.social
Gert Jan C Veenstra
@gertjanveenstra.bsky.social
650 followers 520 following 21 posts
Professor of Molecular Developmental Biology | Director Radboud Institute Molecular Life Sciences | DevBio, StemCells, Heart, Chromatin, SingleCell, Faith&Science
https://veenstralab.nl
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gertjanveenstra.bsky.social
Gert Jan C Veenstra @gertjanveenstra.bsky.social · Mar 5
Our latest work on stem cell-based modeling of human heart development is now out! Excited to see the outstanding and notable work of Rebecca Snabel with our collaborators Carla Cofiño Fabrés and Robert Passier in print.

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Cardiac differentiation roadmap for analysis of plasticity and balanced lineage commitment
Stem cell-based models of human heart tissue and cardiac differentiation employ monolayer and 3D organoid cultures with different properties, cell typ…
www.sciencedirect.com
gertjanveenstra.bsky.social
Today it was announced that Sir John Gurdon passed away.
His ground-breaking discovery was that differentiated cells can be reprogrammed. He was a creative and distinguished developmental biologist, a kind person with a great inquisitive mind and original ideas
www.cam.ac.uk/research/new...
Nobel Laureate Professor Sir John Gurdon dies aged 92
It is with great sadness that the University shares the news of the death of Professor Sir John Gurdon, founder of the Gurdon Institute.
www.cam.ac.uk
October 8, 2025 at 11:56 AM
Reposted by Gert Jan C Veenstra
elife.bsky.social
While academic publishing may not be broken, it isn’t built to serve science either. It runs on a chain of perverse incentives, but everything we need to rebuild it is already in our hands.

#OpenScience #AcademicSky
buff.ly/oSesI1s
Screenshot of article summary of: Toward Science-Led Publishing by Damian Pattinson, George Currie published as an opinion piece, in Learned Publishing Summary The current dynamic of scholarly publishing prioritises the wants of the publishing industry over the needs of the research community. This article explores this theme through the lens of ‘publisher-led science’ as a description of our current status quo, and through ‘science-led publishing’ as an improved future state. We argue that financial motivations central to most publishing distort how research is presented, how it is assessed and even what research is undertaken, leading to a system that hinders, rather than facilitates, scientific progress. We propose three elements of a science-led publishing approach that would accelerate research communication, incentivise collaboration between authors, editors and reviewers, and create a more transparent and equitable research landscape. We believe that research funding and research assessment are two of the primary levers for wider change in research and research culture and consider the future purpose of scholarly publishing in a world where these proposals have been widely adopted.
July 12, 2025 at 10:01 AM
Reposted by Gert Jan C Veenstra
benoitbruneau.bsky.social
long-time coming, multi-lab paper on the evolution of gene regulation in the tetrapod heart. I actually did the mouse and chick embryo heart dissections for this one! onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10....
The Interplay of Ontogeny and Phylogeny at the Transcriptome Level of the Tetrapod Heart
You have to enable JavaScript in your browser's settings in order to use the eReader.
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
July 3, 2025 at 8:32 PM
gertjanveenstra.bsky.social
Did you know that cephalopods (octopus, squid, cuttlefish) have three hearts?
Did you ever wonder how that is possible?
For the first answer to that question, come to the today's afternoon session of #2025ICDB meeting (Saturday 21 June 7PM)
#2025SDB @socdevbio.bsky.social
socdevbio.bsky.social Society for Developmental Biology @socdevbio.bsky.social · Jun 11
🔈 Excited to welcome Gert Jan C. Veenstra as an invited speaker at #ICDB2025!
Gert Jan leads research on gene regulation during embryonic and heart development, utilizing stem cells and model organisms to unravel the complexities of pluripotency and differentiation. 🧬❤️🧪
An announcement slide in white and blue colors, with Gert Jan's name, the SDB ISDB and LASDB logos and text that says Plenary 3: Evolution and Development of Organ Systems. Saturday, June 21st 5-7pm.
June 21, 2025 at 1:56 PM
gertjanveenstra.bsky.social
The 20th International Conference of Developmental Biology kicks off
Looking forward to five days of exciting developmental biology
#2025ICDB #2025SDB @socdevbio.bsky.social
June 18, 2025 at 9:35 PM
Reposted by Gert Jan C Veenstra
socdevbio.bsky.social
🔈 Excited to welcome Gert Jan C. Veenstra as an invited speaker at #ICDB2025!
Gert Jan leads research on gene regulation during embryonic and heart development, utilizing stem cells and model organisms to unravel the complexities of pluripotency and differentiation. 🧬❤️🧪
An announcement slide in white and blue colors, with Gert Jan's name, the SDB ISDB and LASDB logos and text that says Plenary 3: Evolution and Development of Organ Systems. Saturday, June 21st 5-7pm.
June 11, 2025 at 8:16 AM
gertjanveenstra.bsky.social
Just concluded three exciting weeks at MBL @mblscience.bsky.social at Woods Hole for work of my team with that of Carrie Albertin's on heart development in cephalopods.
Beautifully located, MBL is a terrific place with an environment conducive to collaborative ground-breaking discovery.
June 18, 2025 at 3:42 PM
Reposted by Gert Jan C Veenstra
labonnelab.bsky.social
Universities are not passive beneficiaries of government largesse. It is the federal government that depends on universities to conduct the research that keeps our nation healthy, safe and economically competitive.I discuss in the Washington Post.
www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...
Opinion | Universities and the government: Which needs the other more?
From public health to high-tech innovation, universities are the workhorses of national progress.
www.washingtonpost.com
June 3, 2025 at 12:01 PM
Reposted by Gert Jan C Veenstra
stemcellreports.bsky.social
New study outlines a cardiac #differentiation roadmap, mapping cell states that mimic the human fetal heart. ow.ly/lCkh50V8o2w

@isscr.org @cellpress.bsky.social @gairdnerawards.bsky.social @sickkidsvs.bsky.social
March 4, 2025 at 7:32 PM
gertjanveenstra.bsky.social
Our latest work on stem cell-based modeling of human heart development is now out! Excited to see the outstanding and notable work of Rebecca Snabel with our collaborators Carla Cofiño Fabrés and Robert Passier in print.

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Cardiac differentiation roadmap for analysis of plasticity and balanced lineage commitment
Stem cell-based models of human heart tissue and cardiac differentiation employ monolayer and 3D organoid cultures with different properties, cell typ…
www.sciencedirect.com
March 5, 2025 at 9:45 AM
Reposted by Gert Jan C Veenstra
moritzmall.bsky.social
#CellPlasticity—the ability of cells to change their identity—is vital for tissue growth and repair. But when it goes unchecked, it can fuel #cancer. Our latest study examines how to block #LiverCancer by actively suppressing plasticity. www.nature.com/articles/s41... #CancerBiology
February 13, 2025 at 12:16 PM
Reposted by Gert Jan C Veenstra
svobodalab.bsky.social
This thread ... LIFE OF PIs ... is being brought to you by one and only Buster Keaton ... I hope you will enjoy it. #LifeOfPI
January 21, 2025 at 1:50 PM
gertjanveenstra.bsky.social
All you ever wanted to know about mollusks 🐙🦑🐚🐌 and then some ...
1800 pages of wonderful biology 😍
Arrived yesterday
January 25, 2025 at 5:19 PM
Reposted by Gert Jan C Veenstra
epimechfc.bsky.social
Is endothelium a type of epithelium?

I am @icfortunato.bsky.social & I would like to discuss this with a short🧵 focused on cell-cell junctions, specifically adherens junctions.
January 18, 2025 at 9:34 AM
Reposted by Gert Jan C Veenstra
neilshubin.bsky.social
Your reminder that many of the muscles, nerves and bones you use to hear and talk with correspond to gill structures in fish. 🧪 #evolution #paleontology
November 24, 2024 at 8:30 PM
Reposted by Gert Jan C Veenstra
zebrafishrock.bsky.social
Light-sheet image of a two-chambered embryonic #zebrafish heart. Credit to @noelresearchlab.bsky.social #ZebrafishZunday 🧪
Ventral view of an embryonic zebrafish heart with cardiomyocytes labeled in green and endothelial cells labeled in magenta
November 24, 2024 at 2:36 PM
gertjanveenstra.bsky.social
Interesting work by Jonathon Muncie-Vasic, Benoit Bruneau et al.

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Heart tube morphogenesis is regulated by segment-specific gene regulatory networks controlled by MEF2C
The transcription factor MEF2C plays a critical role in the development of the linear heart tube, but the specific transcriptional networks controlled by MEF2C remain largely undefined. To address thi...
www.biorxiv.org
November 25, 2024 at 10:16 AM
Reposted by Gert Jan C Veenstra
alexdemendoza.bsky.social
SOX and POU are crucial Transcription Factors in animal development, believed to be innovations of this group. Here we find them in unicellular relatives of animals. And hold tight, you can use a choanoflagellate 🦠 SOX gene to make a full chimeric 🐁 ! Read more here 🧵: rdcu.be/d0dPN 1/6
The emergence of Sox and POU transcription factors predates the origins of animal stem cells
Nature Communications - The pluripotency program is maintained by transcription factors from the Sox and POU families. Here they identify SOX and POU factors from unicellular relatives of animals...
rdcu.be
November 14, 2024 at 5:15 PM
Reposted by Gert Jan C Veenstra
erictopol.bsky.social
A mechanism for why durable weight loss is so difficult: epigenetic memory of fat cells
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
November 18, 2024 at 4:36 PM
gertjanveenstra.bsky.social
This is my first post on BSky, trying this after losing interest in Twitter/X and Mastodon not really catching on.

Will mainly post about my core scientific interests:
* Developmental Biology and EvoDevo: Heart development, Stem cells, Early embryonic development
* Gene regulation, Chromatin
November 18, 2024 at 9:59 PM