The Milinkovitch-Tzika lab
@lanevol.bsky.social
Our biologists, physicists, computer scientists & mathematicians investigate the evolution & development of Life’s complexity 🐊 🐍 🦎 @genevunige.bsky.social
Rewatching Prehistoric Planet with my kids and loving how artists #MPCVFX show dinosaurs with scale-by-scale skin colors, similar to some lizards and snakes. Check how our research uncovers the mechanisms behind this phenomenon:
November 20, 2025 at 3:18 PM
Rewatching Prehistoric Planet with my kids and loving how artists #MPCVFX show dinosaurs with scale-by-scale skin colors, similar to some lizards and snakes. Check how our research uncovers the mechanisms behind this phenomenon:
Many thanks to the PhD students and postdocs at D-BSSE in Basel for hosting me in their seminar series — and to the PIs at the Biozentrum, University of Basel, for inspiring conversations. @bsse.ethz.ch @biozentrum.unibas.ch
November 12, 2025 at 10:48 AM
Many thanks to the PhD students and postdocs at D-BSSE in Basel for hosting me in their seminar series — and to the PIs at the Biozentrum, University of Basel, for inspiring conversations. @bsse.ethz.ch @biozentrum.unibas.ch
Wonderful visit to @embl.org Heidelberg! Grateful to Alexandre Aulehla and @aikmi.bsky.social for the invitation and to all the group leaders, post-docs and students for the stimulating discussions.
Amazing science and a great community!
#EMBL #ScienceTalk #DevelopmentalBiology
Amazing science and a great community!
#EMBL #ScienceTalk #DevelopmentalBiology
November 3, 2025 at 9:32 AM
Wonderful visit to @embl.org Heidelberg! Grateful to Alexandre Aulehla and @aikmi.bsky.social for the invitation and to all the group leaders, post-docs and students for the stimulating discussions.
Amazing science and a great community!
#EMBL #ScienceTalk #DevelopmentalBiology
Amazing science and a great community!
#EMBL #ScienceTalk #DevelopmentalBiology
🐊 New 90‑second video: watch the digital model of a #crocodile head side‑by‑side with a stunning multi‑material #3Dprint.
▶️ Video: youtu.be/3roeSI-HBbg?...
📖 Nature Article: rdcu.be/d3dnd
🎬 Full explainer (26K+ views, multiple languages): youtube.com/playlist?lis...
▶️ Video: youtu.be/3roeSI-HBbg?...
📖 Nature Article: rdcu.be/d3dnd
🎬 Full explainer (26K+ views, multiple languages): youtube.com/playlist?lis...
From 3D Modelling to 3D Printing - The Movie
YouTube video by The LANE channel
youtu.be
September 8, 2025 at 12:34 PM
🐊 New 90‑second video: watch the digital model of a #crocodile head side‑by‑side with a stunning multi‑material #3Dprint.
▶️ Video: youtu.be/3roeSI-HBbg?...
📖 Nature Article: rdcu.be/d3dnd
🎬 Full explainer (26K+ views, multiple languages): youtube.com/playlist?lis...
▶️ Video: youtu.be/3roeSI-HBbg?...
📖 Nature Article: rdcu.be/d3dnd
🎬 Full explainer (26K+ views, multiple languages): youtube.com/playlist?lis...
Reposted by The Milinkovitch-Tzika lab
#V4SDBMeeting2025 is family friendly & makes science attractive & accessible to our youngest participants from @sumbalovakoledova.bsky.social lab. Many thanks to Michel C. Milinkovitch @lanevol.bsky.social for the illustrative 3D printed models of 🐊 snout patterning!
September 6, 2025 at 3:36 PM
#V4SDBMeeting2025 is family friendly & makes science attractive & accessible to our youngest participants from @sumbalovakoledova.bsky.social lab. Many thanks to Michel C. Milinkovitch @lanevol.bsky.social for the illustrative 3D printed models of 🐊 snout patterning!
Reposted by The Milinkovitch-Tzika lab
Our invited speaker for this session is Michel C. Milinkovitch @lanevol.bsky.social from the University of Geneva @biology-unige.bsky.social, who will be presenting his lab’s multidisciplinary research into Patterning: How Reptiles Got Their Looks!
#V4SDB2025 #developmentalbiology #evodevo
#V4SDB2025 #developmentalbiology #evodevo
September 6, 2025 at 12:41 PM
Our invited speaker for this session is Michel C. Milinkovitch @lanevol.bsky.social from the University of Geneva @biology-unige.bsky.social, who will be presenting his lab’s multidisciplinary research into Patterning: How Reptiles Got Their Looks!
#V4SDB2025 #developmentalbiology #evodevo
#V4SDB2025 #developmentalbiology #evodevo
Had a great time at @v4sdb.bsky.social 2025 in Slovakia with James Sharpe & Anne Grapin-Botton. Fantastic talks and flawless organization—huge thanks to our wonderful hosts Zuzana Sumbalová Koledová, Dušan Fabián, Marcela Buchtová & Alexandra Špirková!
v4sdb2025.img.cas.cz
v4sdb2025.img.cas.cz
September 8, 2025 at 9:31 AM
Had a great time at @v4sdb.bsky.social 2025 in Slovakia with James Sharpe & Anne Grapin-Botton. Fantastic talks and flawless organization—huge thanks to our wonderful hosts Zuzana Sumbalová Koledová, Dušan Fabián, Marcela Buchtová & Alexandra Špirková!
v4sdb2025.img.cas.cz
v4sdb2025.img.cas.cz
🐊 Our multilingual video on the mechanics behind crocodile head scale patterning has now reached 25,000+ views!
Discover how skin folds—not genes—shape these stunning patterns.
🎥 Watch here: www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...
#CrocodileScales #Science #NaturePaper #Mechanobiology
Discover how skin folds—not genes—shape these stunning patterns.
🎥 Watch here: www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...
#CrocodileScales #Science #NaturePaper #Mechanobiology
The mechanics of crocodile head scales patterning - YouTube
www.youtube.com
July 11, 2025 at 12:04 PM
🐊 Our multilingual video on the mechanics behind crocodile head scale patterning has now reached 25,000+ views!
Discover how skin folds—not genes—shape these stunning patterns.
🎥 Watch here: www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...
#CrocodileScales #Science #NaturePaper #Mechanobiology
Discover how skin folds—not genes—shape these stunning patterns.
🎥 Watch here: www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...
#CrocodileScales #Science #NaturePaper #Mechanobiology
🐢 The tortoise head is sculpted by physics and genes! Our new research shows that tortoise head scales form through two distinct processes:
👉 Chemical signaling shapes the sides
👉 Mechanical stress folds the top
🔗 cell.com/iscience/ful...
@cellpress.bsky.social @biology-unige.bsky.social
👉 Chemical signaling shapes the sides
👉 Mechanical stress folds the top
🔗 cell.com/iscience/ful...
@cellpress.bsky.social @biology-unige.bsky.social
Chemical and mechanical patterning of tortoise skin scales occur in different regions of the head
Biological sciences; Zoology; Evolutionary biology
cell.com
June 23, 2025 at 10:11 AM
🐢 The tortoise head is sculpted by physics and genes! Our new research shows that tortoise head scales form through two distinct processes:
👉 Chemical signaling shapes the sides
👉 Mechanical stress folds the top
🔗 cell.com/iscience/ful...
@cellpress.bsky.social @biology-unige.bsky.social
👉 Chemical signaling shapes the sides
👉 Mechanical stress folds the top
🔗 cell.com/iscience/ful...
@cellpress.bsky.social @biology-unige.bsky.social
Reposted by The Milinkovitch-Tzika lab
The distinctive pattern of scales on the face and jaws of crocodiles is formed by a precise mechanical process of skin folding, according to a OA study in @nature.com: http://spklr.io/63328fZXu
#Science #Evolution #Crocodiles
#Science #Evolution #Crocodiles
March 28, 2025 at 2:47 PM
The distinctive pattern of scales on the face and jaws of crocodiles is formed by a precise mechanical process of skin folding, according to a OA study in @nature.com: http://spklr.io/63328fZXu
#Science #Evolution #Crocodiles
#Science #Evolution #Crocodiles
Reposted by The Milinkovitch-Tzika lab
📻Interview du Prof. Milinkovitch @lanevol.bsky.social pour la #RTS : Les écailles de tortue se forment de deux façons www.rts.ch/audio-podcas... @genevunige.bsky.social
Les écailles de tortue se forment de deux façons
Chez les vertébrés, la formation des plumes, des poils et des écailles est généralement dictée par des facteurs génétiques moléculaires. Les écailles situées sur la tête des crocodiles font exception,...
www.rts.ch
June 12, 2025 at 6:30 AM
📻Interview du Prof. Milinkovitch @lanevol.bsky.social pour la #RTS : Les écailles de tortue se forment de deux façons www.rts.ch/audio-podcas... @genevunige.bsky.social
Reposted by The Milinkovitch-Tzika lab
Excited to share our new research in @cp-iscience.bsky.social! We reveal that tortoise head scales are sculpted through two distinct developmental processes - chemical signalling and mechanical folding 🐢🔬🧪
@lanevol.bsky.social @genevunige.bsky.social
www.cell.com/iscience/ful...
@lanevol.bsky.social @genevunige.bsky.social
www.cell.com/iscience/ful...
Chemical and mechanical patterning of tortoise skin scales occur in different regions of the head
Biological sciences; Zoology; Evolutionary biology
www.cell.com
June 4, 2025 at 2:39 PM
Excited to share our new research in @cp-iscience.bsky.social! We reveal that tortoise head scales are sculpted through two distinct developmental processes - chemical signalling and mechanical folding 🐢🔬🧪
@lanevol.bsky.social @genevunige.bsky.social
www.cell.com/iscience/ful...
@lanevol.bsky.social @genevunige.bsky.social
www.cell.com/iscience/ful...
Hanging out with Stanislav Smirnov in 'Les Diablerets' (Switzerland). Great speakers at the workshop organised by Karsten Kruse and Jean-Pierre Eckmann. indico.global/event/9640/r...
Will we come up with a math theory of biology?
Will we come up with a math theory of biology?
May 28, 2025 at 12:51 PM
Hanging out with Stanislav Smirnov in 'Les Diablerets' (Switzerland). Great speakers at the workshop organised by Karsten Kruse and Jean-Pierre Eckmann. indico.global/event/9640/r...
Will we come up with a math theory of biology?
Will we come up with a math theory of biology?
Can Turing and Ising models explain lizard skin color patterns—and be reconciled? 🦎📐
We bridge microscopic cell interactions & macroscopic scale patterns across evolutionary divergent lizards.
👉 www.lanevol.org/news/article...
#EvoDevo #TuringPatterns #IsingModel #MathematicalBiology
We bridge microscopic cell interactions & macroscopic scale patterns across evolutionary divergent lizards.
👉 www.lanevol.org/news/article...
#EvoDevo #TuringPatterns #IsingModel #MathematicalBiology
May 14, 2025 at 9:04 AM
Can Turing and Ising models explain lizard skin color patterns—and be reconciled? 🦎📐
We bridge microscopic cell interactions & macroscopic scale patterns across evolutionary divergent lizards.
👉 www.lanevol.org/news/article...
#EvoDevo #TuringPatterns #IsingModel #MathematicalBiology
We bridge microscopic cell interactions & macroscopic scale patterns across evolutionary divergent lizards.
👉 www.lanevol.org/news/article...
#EvoDevo #TuringPatterns #IsingModel #MathematicalBiology
🚨 We make the cover of Open Biology!
Boosting sonic hedgehog signalling in chicken embryos flips the script of skin patterning—chemical pre-patterns give way to mechanical folding.
🧬 From Turing to tissue mechanics.
🧪 ➡️ royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
#shh #DevBio @royalsociety.org
Boosting sonic hedgehog signalling in chicken embryos flips the script of skin patterning—chemical pre-patterns give way to mechanical folding.
🧬 From Turing to tissue mechanics.
🧪 ➡️ royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
#shh #DevBio @royalsociety.org
Exacerbated sonic hedgehog signalling promotes a transition from chemical pre-patterning of chicken reticulate scales to mechanical skin folding | Open Biology
Many examples of self-organized embryonic patterning can be attributed to chemically
mediated systems comprising interacting morphogens. However, mechanical patterning
also contributes to the emergenc...
royalsocietypublishing.org
April 22, 2025 at 8:56 AM
🚨 We make the cover of Open Biology!
Boosting sonic hedgehog signalling in chicken embryos flips the script of skin patterning—chemical pre-patterns give way to mechanical folding.
🧬 From Turing to tissue mechanics.
🧪 ➡️ royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
#shh #DevBio @royalsociety.org
Boosting sonic hedgehog signalling in chicken embryos flips the script of skin patterning—chemical pre-patterns give way to mechanical folding.
🧬 From Turing to tissue mechanics.
🧪 ➡️ royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
#shh #DevBio @royalsociety.org
Reposted by The Milinkovitch-Tzika lab
The March 2025 issue of @plosbiology.org is live, and the cover is finger-lickin' good! Many thanks to @rorylcooper.bsky.social & @lanevol.bsky.social for this stunning cover image of a developing chick embryo wing. journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...
April 14, 2025 at 2:31 PM
The March 2025 issue of @plosbiology.org is live, and the cover is finger-lickin' good! Many thanks to @rorylcooper.bsky.social & @lanevol.bsky.social for this stunning cover image of a developing chick embryo wing. journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...
Thrilled to share that our light-sheet #microscopy image has been selected as @plosbiology.org's Featured Image for March 2025!
This visualization captures the role of the sonic #hedgehog pathway in #feather morphogenesis.
🧬 Dive into the details: www.lanevol.org/news/article...
This visualization captures the role of the sonic #hedgehog pathway in #feather morphogenesis.
🧬 Dive into the details: www.lanevol.org/news/article...
April 14, 2025 at 11:58 AM
Thrilled to share that our light-sheet #microscopy image has been selected as @plosbiology.org's Featured Image for March 2025!
This visualization captures the role of the sonic #hedgehog pathway in #feather morphogenesis.
🧬 Dive into the details: www.lanevol.org/news/article...
This visualization captures the role of the sonic #hedgehog pathway in #feather morphogenesis.
🧬 Dive into the details: www.lanevol.org/news/article...
🐍 New in Genome Biology! We show #CLCN2 is key to #colorpatterns in corn #snakes. LTR-retrotransposon mutation drives Stripe phenotype. Genomic & transcriptomic analyses reveal insights into trait diversification!
Full study: genomebiology.biomedcentral.com/articles/10....
Full study: genomebiology.biomedcentral.com/articles/10....
Regulatory and disruptive variants in the CLCN2 gene are associated with modified skin color pattern phenotypes in the corn snake - Genome Biology
Background Snakes exhibit a broad variety of adaptive colors and color patterns, generated by the spatial arrangement of chromatophores, but little is known of the mechanisms responsible for these spe...
genomebiology.biomedcentral.com
April 10, 2025 at 12:00 PM
🐍 New in Genome Biology! We show #CLCN2 is key to #colorpatterns in corn #snakes. LTR-retrotransposon mutation drives Stripe phenotype. Genomic & transcriptomic analyses reveal insights into trait diversification!
Full study: genomebiology.biomedcentral.com/articles/10....
Full study: genomebiology.biomedcentral.com/articles/10....
Reposted by The Milinkovitch-Tzika lab
🦖➡️🕊️ La RTS met en lumière la dernière publication de @lanevol.bsky.social sur l’évolution des plumes! Découvrez comment cette étude révèle les secrets fascinants de leur formation. 🧐✨
À lire ici 👉 rts.ch/info/science...
#science #évolution #plumes #dinosaures
À lire ici 👉 rts.ch/info/science...
#science #évolution #plumes #dinosaures
Du dinosaure à l'oiseau, les secrets de l'évolution des plumes révélés dans une étude genevoise
Les plumes, essentielles à la thermorégulation, au vol et à la communication chez les oiseaux, trouvent leur origine dans des appendices plus simples, les protoplumes, présents chez certains dinosaure...
rts.ch
March 24, 2025 at 3:04 PM
🦖➡️🕊️ La RTS met en lumière la dernière publication de @lanevol.bsky.social sur l’évolution des plumes! Découvrez comment cette étude révèle les secrets fascinants de leur formation. 🧐✨
À lire ici 👉 rts.ch/info/science...
#science #évolution #plumes #dinosaures
À lire ici 👉 rts.ch/info/science...
#science #évolution #plumes #dinosaures
Reposted by The Milinkovitch-Tzika lab
The Shh pathway is a key regulator of feather development. @rorylcooper.bsky.social & @lanevol.bsky.social show that inhibiting Shh during chick embryogenesis results in unbranched #feather buds, similar to those seen in some of their #dinosaur ancestors 🧪 @plosbiology.org plos.io/4bIYQCx
March 21, 2025 at 6:27 PM
The Shh pathway is a key regulator of feather development. @rorylcooper.bsky.social & @lanevol.bsky.social show that inhibiting Shh during chick embryogenesis results in unbranched #feather buds, similar to those seen in some of their #dinosaur ancestors 🧪 @plosbiology.org plos.io/4bIYQCx
🦖➡️🕊️ From dinosaur simple proto-feathers to bird intricate feathers? Our latest study shows that feather development is highly resilient to perturbations. 🧐✨
Read more here 👉 www.lanevol.org/news/article... #evolution #feathers #dinosaurs #birds
Read more here 👉 www.lanevol.org/news/article... #evolution #feathers #dinosaurs #birds
News
www.lanevol.org
March 21, 2025 at 9:01 AM
🦖➡️🕊️ From dinosaur simple proto-feathers to bird intricate feathers? Our latest study shows that feather development is highly resilient to perturbations. 🧐✨
Read more here 👉 www.lanevol.org/news/article... #evolution #feathers #dinosaurs #birds
Read more here 👉 www.lanevol.org/news/article... #evolution #feathers #dinosaurs #birds
Reposted by The Milinkovitch-Tzika lab
🎙️🦖🌑 Il y a 150 millions d’années, le pelage des mammifères était sombre! Une équipe sino-belge l’a découvert, et Michel Milinkovitch (@lanevol.bsky.social) en décrypte les implications dans CQFD (RTS). Ne manquez pas son analyse! 🔎✨
Ecoutez ici: avisdexperts.ch/fr/intervent... #évolution #science
Ecoutez ici: avisdexperts.ch/fr/intervent... #évolution #science
L'évolution du pelage des mammifères | Avis d’expert-e-s
avisdexperts.ch
March 18, 2025 at 2:41 PM
🎙️🦖🌑 Il y a 150 millions d’années, le pelage des mammifères était sombre! Une équipe sino-belge l’a découvert, et Michel Milinkovitch (@lanevol.bsky.social) en décrypte les implications dans CQFD (RTS). Ne manquez pas son analyse! 🔎✨
Ecoutez ici: avisdexperts.ch/fr/intervent... #évolution #science
Ecoutez ici: avisdexperts.ch/fr/intervent... #évolution #science
Reposted by The Milinkovitch-Tzika lab
🔬 Conférence | Oncologie de précision : la révolution de l’IA
Avec Pr. Olivier Michielin, médecin-chef, Département d’oncologie aux HUG.
📍 INGE, Rue Jean-F. Bartholoni 6, Genève — 1er étage, Les Salons
📅 Lu 24 mars, 18H30
ℹ️ Plus d'infos : inge.ch/evenements/o...
Avec Pr. Olivier Michielin, médecin-chef, Département d’oncologie aux HUG.
📍 INGE, Rue Jean-F. Bartholoni 6, Genève — 1er étage, Les Salons
📅 Lu 24 mars, 18H30
ℹ️ Plus d'infos : inge.ch/evenements/o...
March 13, 2025 at 3:25 PM
🔬 Conférence | Oncologie de précision : la révolution de l’IA
Avec Pr. Olivier Michielin, médecin-chef, Département d’oncologie aux HUG.
📍 INGE, Rue Jean-F. Bartholoni 6, Genève — 1er étage, Les Salons
📅 Lu 24 mars, 18H30
ℹ️ Plus d'infos : inge.ch/evenements/o...
Avec Pr. Olivier Michielin, médecin-chef, Département d’oncologie aux HUG.
📍 INGE, Rue Jean-F. Bartholoni 6, Genève — 1er étage, Les Salons
📅 Lu 24 mars, 18H30
ℹ️ Plus d'infos : inge.ch/evenements/o...
🧐🔬 Les écailles des crocodiles ne sont pas programmées génétiquement, mais émergent sous l'effet de contraintes mécaniques ! Découvrez comment notre étude éclaire ce phénomène fascinant dans @pourlascience.bsky.social
👉 www.pourlascience.fr/sd/biophysiq...
👉 www.pourlascience.fr/sd/biophysiq...
La formation des écailles des crocodiles est guidée par des facteurs mécaniques
Une étude révèle que l’apparition des motifs sur la tête des crocodiles ne résulte pas de la génétique, mais d’un processus purement mécanique de compression de l’épiderme.
www.pourlascience.fr
February 25, 2025 at 11:54 AM
🧐🔬 Les écailles des crocodiles ne sont pas programmées génétiquement, mais émergent sous l'effet de contraintes mécaniques ! Découvrez comment notre étude éclaire ce phénomène fascinant dans @pourlascience.bsky.social
👉 www.pourlascience.fr/sd/biophysiq...
👉 www.pourlascience.fr/sd/biophysiq...
Reposted by The Milinkovitch-Tzika lab
Check out this baby crocodile emerging from its egg 🥚 🐊 And read our recent article in @nature.com to learn how compressive forces sculpt their intricate head scales 🧪
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
@lanevol.bsky.social @genevunige.bsky.social
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
@lanevol.bsky.social @genevunige.bsky.social
February 7, 2025 at 3:55 PM
Check out this baby crocodile emerging from its egg 🥚 🐊 And read our recent article in @nature.com to learn how compressive forces sculpt their intricate head scales 🧪
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
@lanevol.bsky.social @genevunige.bsky.social
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
@lanevol.bsky.social @genevunige.bsky.social