Dirk Benzinger
@dbenzinger.bsky.social
Postdoc at the Crick in the Briscoe Lab. Previously PhD student with Mustafa Khammash at ETHZ. Development, synthetic biology, and optogenetics. And Art and stuff.
Pinned
Dirk Benzinger
@dbenzinger.bsky.social
· Aug 27
Our latest: We developed a chemo-optogenetic system for precise spatiotemporal control of morphogen production. Using dual light + small molecule control of Sonic Hedgehog production, we recapitulated neural tube patterning in vitro & measured spread of Shh
🧵
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
🧵
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Investigating morphogen and patterning dynamics with optogenetic control of morphogen production
Morphogen gradients provide the patterning cues that instruct cell fate decisions during development. Here, we establish an optogenetic system for the…
www.sciencedirect.com
Super excited that our latest work is out!
We use optogenetics to dynamically control and study the formation of morphogen gradients.
If you are interested in optogenetic tools and/or how cells shape and process extracellular signals, check out @jamesbriscoe.bsky.social's thread and the paper.
We use optogenetics to dynamically control and study the formation of morphogen gradients.
If you are interested in optogenetic tools and/or how cells shape and process extracellular signals, check out @jamesbriscoe.bsky.social's thread and the paper.
Reposted by Dirk Benzinger
Thrilled to share my main postdoc work with @jamesbriscoe.bsky.social
We used genomic barcoding + scRNAseq in chick & human embryos to reveal a lineage architecture that reshapes how we understand neural tube development & cell fate decisions
🧵👇
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
We used genomic barcoding + scRNAseq in chick & human embryos to reveal a lineage architecture that reshapes how we understand neural tube development & cell fate decisions
🧵👇
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Hierarchical lineage architecture of human and avian spinal cord revealed by single-cell genomic barcoding
The formation of neural circuits depends on the precise spatial and temporal organisation of neuronal populations during development. In the vertebrate spinal cord, progenitors are patterned into mole...
www.biorxiv.org
October 26, 2025 at 5:15 PM
Thrilled to share my main postdoc work with @jamesbriscoe.bsky.social
We used genomic barcoding + scRNAseq in chick & human embryos to reveal a lineage architecture that reshapes how we understand neural tube development & cell fate decisions
🧵👇
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
We used genomic barcoding + scRNAseq in chick & human embryos to reveal a lineage architecture that reshapes how we understand neural tube development & cell fate decisions
🧵👇
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Dirk Benzinger
The Possible vs. The Actual: can #GenerativeBiology reveal fundamental design principles of complex life?
@philipcball.bsky.social closes #GenBio25 with a magnificent synthesis of the past two days of discussions, and guides us towards an agenda for the future of the field.
@philipcball.bsky.social closes #GenBio25 with a magnificent synthesis of the past two days of discussions, and guides us towards an agenda for the future of the field.
October 21, 2025 at 5:43 PM
The Possible vs. The Actual: can #GenerativeBiology reveal fundamental design principles of complex life?
@philipcball.bsky.social closes #GenBio25 with a magnificent synthesis of the past two days of discussions, and guides us towards an agenda for the future of the field.
@philipcball.bsky.social closes #GenBio25 with a magnificent synthesis of the past two days of discussions, and guides us towards an agenda for the future of the field.
Reposted by Dirk Benzinger
We are looking forward to spending the next two days discussing INTERESTING THINGS at our workshop on Generative Biology: new approaches to study developmental design principles #GenBio25
Thanks to my excellent coorganisers @jcornwallscoones.bsky.social & @dbenzinger.bsky.social & all participants
Thanks to my excellent coorganisers @jcornwallscoones.bsky.social & @dbenzinger.bsky.social & all participants
En route to Brighton—for the 1st time—for the @royalsociety.org Generative Biology meeting organised by @jcornwallscoones.bsky.social, @dbenzinger.bsky.social & @cellysally.bsky.social. Happy to chat about @dev-journal.bsky.social, @the-node.bsky.social & @biologists.bsky.social. Also have freebies!
October 19, 2025 at 5:00 PM
We are looking forward to spending the next two days discussing INTERESTING THINGS at our workshop on Generative Biology: new approaches to study developmental design principles #GenBio25
Thanks to my excellent coorganisers @jcornwallscoones.bsky.social & @dbenzinger.bsky.social & all participants
Thanks to my excellent coorganisers @jcornwallscoones.bsky.social & @dbenzinger.bsky.social & all participants
Reposted by Dirk Benzinger
1/7 Really happy to see my PhD work published in ✨Developmental Cell✨ today! We find human endoderm is specified by two developmental trajectories 🔀, and the choice between alternate routes is dictated by the combinatorial BMP4/Activin signalling. www.cell.com/developmenta...
Combinatorial BMP4 and activin direct the choice between alternate routes to endoderm in a stem cell model of human gastrulation
Inge et al. show that human endoderm originates from two converging developmental
routes with distinct dynamics and efficiencies yet similar developmental potential.
Combinatorial activin and BMP4 sig...
www.cell.com
September 9, 2025 at 8:01 PM
1/7 Really happy to see my PhD work published in ✨Developmental Cell✨ today! We find human endoderm is specified by two developmental trajectories 🔀, and the choice between alternate routes is dictated by the combinatorial BMP4/Activin signalling. www.cell.com/developmenta...
Super excited that our latest work is out!
We use optogenetics to dynamically control and study the formation of morphogen gradients.
If you are interested in optogenetic tools and/or how cells shape and process extracellular signals, check out @jamesbriscoe.bsky.social's thread and the paper.
We use optogenetics to dynamically control and study the formation of morphogen gradients.
If you are interested in optogenetic tools and/or how cells shape and process extracellular signals, check out @jamesbriscoe.bsky.social's thread and the paper.
Our latest: We developed a chemo-optogenetic system for precise spatiotemporal control of morphogen production. Using dual light + small molecule control of Sonic Hedgehog production, we recapitulated neural tube patterning in vitro & measured spread of Shh
🧵
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
🧵
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Investigating morphogen and patterning dynamics with optogenetic control of morphogen production
Morphogen gradients provide the patterning cues that instruct cell fate decisions during development. Here, we establish an optogenetic system for the…
www.sciencedirect.com
August 27, 2025 at 10:52 AM
Super excited that our latest work is out!
We use optogenetics to dynamically control and study the formation of morphogen gradients.
If you are interested in optogenetic tools and/or how cells shape and process extracellular signals, check out @jamesbriscoe.bsky.social's thread and the paper.
We use optogenetics to dynamically control and study the formation of morphogen gradients.
If you are interested in optogenetic tools and/or how cells shape and process extracellular signals, check out @jamesbriscoe.bsky.social's thread and the paper.
Reposted by Dirk Benzinger
I'm so happy to report that our preprint on light-induced collective cell migration has now been published in Cell Systems! This project was a lot of fun and will be the basis for a lot of our ongoing & future work.
Large-scale control over collective cell migration using light-activated epidermal growth factor receptors
Programmable control over tissue movement is a fundamental challenge for tissue engineering
and wound healing. Suh, Thornton, et al. discovered that a light-controlled EGF receptor
controls long-range...
www.cell.com
March 25, 2025 at 6:29 PM
I'm so happy to report that our preprint on light-induced collective cell migration has now been published in Cell Systems! This project was a lot of fun and will be the basis for a lot of our ongoing & future work.
It has been fun being part of this.
Interested in design rules governing cis-regulatory element activity and how they can be used to engineer gene expression?
Check out Jake’s thread/paper!
Interested in design rules governing cis-regulatory element activity and how they can be used to engineer gene expression?
Check out Jake’s thread/paper!
Excited to share my latest work with @joadelas.bsky.social and @jamesbriscoe.bsky.social
Predictable Engineering of Signal-Dependent Cis-Regulatory Elements
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
1/11
Predictable Engineering of Signal-Dependent Cis-Regulatory Elements
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
1/11
Predictable Engineering of Signal-Dependent Cis-Regulatory Elements
www.biorxiv.org
March 12, 2025 at 1:45 PM
It has been fun being part of this.
Interested in design rules governing cis-regulatory element activity and how they can be used to engineer gene expression?
Check out Jake’s thread/paper!
Interested in design rules governing cis-regulatory element activity and how they can be used to engineer gene expression?
Check out Jake’s thread/paper!
Reposted by Dirk Benzinger
Our latest: how to generate the notochord
"Timely TGFβ signalling inhibition induces notochord"
A thread:
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
"Timely TGFβ signalling inhibition induces notochord"
A thread:
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Timely TGFβ signalling inhibition induces notochord - Nature
Through analysis of developing chick embryos and in vitro differentiation of embryonic stem cells, a study develops a method to generate a model of the human trunk with a notochord.
www.nature.com
December 19, 2024 at 8:52 AM
Our latest: how to generate the notochord
"Timely TGFβ signalling inhibition induces notochord"
A thread:
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
"Timely TGFβ signalling inhibition induces notochord"
A thread:
www.nature.com/articles/s41...